The Theseion (Temple of Hephaistos)

Dateca. 1865

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. William Knight Zewadski

Dimensions10 11/16 x 15 in. (27.1 x 38.1 cm)

Object number1991.012.258

Label TextThis temple, begun in 449 BC, was mistakenly called the Theseion in medieval times because the deeds of the hero Theseus are depicted on the some of its metopes and on the frieze of the porch. Pausanias, writing in the second century AD, properly identifies it as the temple dedicated to Hephaistos, the god of metalworking, and to Athena. The two gods are linked here because of the story of Hephaistos's attempted rape of the virgin goddess. She fought him off, but his seed spilled on the earth, Gaia, who then gave birth to the legendary king of Athens, Erichthonios, whom Athena reared as a foster son. The temple's nearly perfect state of structural preservation is attributed to the fact that it was converted to a Christian church in the seventh century AD and remained so until 1835.
Exhibition HistoryThe Eye of Greece: Athens in Nineteenth-Century Photographs, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 25 - November 24, 2004

ProvenanceEx coll. William Knight Zewadski, United States.

Status

Not on view

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