Theseum

Theseum, temple in Athens dedicated to Hephaestus and Athena as patrons of the arts and crafts. Its style indicates that this, the best-preserved ancient Greek temple in the world, is slightly older than the Parthenon (i.e., c. 450–440 bc), and its unknown architect may even have changed his plan for the interior after seeing Ictinus’s Parthenon designs. The temple has been known as the Theseum since the Middle Ages, apparently because some of its sculptures represent the exploits of the hero Theseus. The Theseum is a Doric peripteral (i.e., surrounded by a single row of columns) temple, with 13 columns at the sides and 6 at the ends.

Enough fragments of the east pedimental sculpture have been discovered to recover the theme, the apotheosis of Heracles. The frieze contains sculptures only in the metopes of the east front and in those of the sides immediately adjoining it; the frontal metopes represent the labours of Heracles, the lateral the exploits of Theseus. As in the Parthenon, there is a sculptured frieze above the exterior of the cella walls; this, however, extends only over the east and west fronts and the east ends of the sides. The eastern frieze represents a battle scene with seated deities on either hand, the western one a kentauromachia (battle of centaurs). The temple is of Pentelic marble—except for the foundation and the lowest stylobate step, which are of Piraic stone, and the frieze of the cella, which is Parian marble. Fragments of the polychromatic decoration are housed in the British Museum in London. The outstanding preservation of the temple is due to its conversion into a Christian church in the Middle Ages.