Mount Pentelicus in the context of Athenian Acropolis


Mount Pentelicus in the context of Athenian Acropolis

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⭐ Core Definition: Mount Pentelicus

Mount Pentelicus or Pentelikon (Greek: Πεντέλη, Πεντελικόν or Πεντελικό Όρος) is a mountain in Attica, Greece, situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon. Its highest point is the peak Pyrgari, with an elevation of 1,109 m. The mountain is covered in large part with forest (about 60 or 70%), and can be seen from most of the Attica basin (including northern and southern Athens) and mount Parnitha, as well as far as Elefsina and the east coast of Attica. Human habitation, especially houses, surrounds the mountain, with the districts of Vrilissia, Penteli, Ekali, Dionysos, and the north part of Gerakas being on its foothills. Marble from Mount Pentelicus is of exceptionally high quality and was used to construct much of the Athenian Acropolis. Later, Pentelic marble was exported to Rome, where it was used in construction and in sculptures.

In antiquity, it was also called Brilēssos or Brilēttos (Ancient Greek: Βριλησσός, Βριληττός), which is the origin of the name of the nearby suburb of Vrilissia.

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Mount Pentelicus in the context of Parthenon Frieze

The Parthenon frieze is the low-relief Pentelic marble sculpture created to adorn the upper part of the Parthenon's naos.

It was sculpted between c. 443 and 437 BC, most likely under the direction of Phidias. Of the 160 meters (524 ft) of the original frieze, 128 meters (420 ft) survives—some 80 percent. The rest is known only from the drawings attributed to French artist Jacques Carrey in 1674, thirteen years before the Venetian bombardment that ruined the temple. Along with the 64 Metopes of the Parthenon and 28 figures Pediments of the Parthenon, it forms the bulk of surviving sculpture from the building.

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Mount Pentelicus in the context of Gargettus

Gargettus or Gargettos (Ancient Greek: Γαργηττός) was a deme of ancient Attica. From the mythical story of the war of the Pallantidae against Theseus, we learn that the demoi of Pallene, Gargettus, and Agnus were adjacent. When Pallas was marching from Sphettus in the Mesogaea against Athens, he placed a body of his troops in ambush at Gargettus, under the command of his two sons, who were ordered, as soon as he was engaged with the army of Theseus, to march rapidly upon Athens and take the city by surprise, But the stratagem was revealed to Theseus by Leos of Agnus, the herald of Pallas; whereupon Theseus cut to pieces the troops at Gargettus. In consequence of this a lasting enmity followed between the inhabitants of Pallene and Agnus.

The road from Sphettus to Athens passed through the opening between Mount Pentelicus and Mount Hymettus. A monastery there by the name of Ieraka (or Hieraka) is the site of Gargettus. The proximity of Pallene and Gargettus is indicated by another legend. Pallene was celebrated for its temple of Athena Pallenis, in front of which was the tomb of Eurystheus.

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Mount Pentelicus in the context of Vrilissia

Vrilissia (Greek: Βριλήσσια) is a suburban town and a municipality of the North Athens regional unit, in the Attica region. It is located in the Athens basin, at the southwestern foot of the Penteli Mountain. At the 2021 census, the municipality had 32,417 residents.

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Mount Pentelicus in the context of Penteli

Penteli (Greek: Πεντέλη) is a village and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. Belonging to the Athens rural area, it takes its name from Mount Pentelicus.

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Mount Pentelicus in the context of Hagnus (Attica)

Hagnus (Ancient Greek: Ἁγνοῦς, romanizedHagnous) was a deme of ancient Attica. From the mythical story of the war of the Pallantidae against Theseus, we learn that the demoi of Pallene, Gargettus, and Agnus were adjacent. When Pallas was marching from Sphettus in the Mesogaea against Athens, he placed a body of his troops in ambush at Gargettus, under the command of his two sons, who were ordered, as soon as he was engaged with the army of Theseus, to march rapidly upon Athens and take the city by surprise, But the stratagem was revealed to Theseus by Leos of Agnus, the herald of Pallas; whereupon Theseus cut to pieces the troops at Gargettus. In consequence of this a lasting enmity followed between the inhabitants of Pallene and Agnus.

The road from Sphettus to Athens passed through the opening between Mount Pentelicus and Mount Hymettus. A monastery there by the name of Ieraka (or Hieraka) is the site of Gargettus. The proximity of Pallene and Gargettus is indicated by another legend. Pallene was celebrated for its temple of Athena; and we are told that Eurystheus was buried at Gargettus in front of the temple of Athena Pallenis. We know further that Pallene lay on one of the roads from the city to Marathon.

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Mount Pentelicus in the context of Xenokrateia Relief

The Xenokrateia Relief is a marble votive offering, dated to the end of the fifth-century BCE. It commemorates the foundation of a sanctuary to the river god Kephisos by a woman named Xenokrateia.

The relief, currently on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (NAMA 2756), was found in Neo Phaliro in 1908, in the area inside the Long Walls, which in Antiquity connected the harbor of Piraeus with Athens proper, around the walls’ intersection point with the bed of the Kephisos river. It is dated on stylistic grounds to 410 BCE, and is made of Pentelic marble, while the pillar on which it stands is made of limestone.

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