The site of the Acropolis was used as a sacred place since the Neolithic period, and would later be a place of cult worship for Athena, the patron goddess of Athens. Athena was said to have been the daughter of Zeus and Metis. After sleeping with Metis, Zeus got angry because he was told the child would be more powerful than even he, so Zeus ate the pregnant Metis and thus the unborn child.
Later Zeus complained of having a headache and summoned the other gods to use an ax to cut his forehead open. Upon doing so, out leaped a fully grown and armed Athena. She would later compete with Poseidon for power over Athens. Athena presented the people with the worlds very first olives, while Poseidon turned water into salt. The people chose the olive tree and by doing so, making the warrior goddess Athena as their protector.
To honor her, between 447 and 406 B.C. the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion were all erected on the site of the Acropolis and remain standing today.Then Parthenon is the center piece of it all and once was surrounded by statues depicting the birth of Athena and the competition with Poseidon among other events such as the Trojan War.
The Parthenon itself endured a long history of conquerors that destroyed parts of it, turned it into a church, a mosque, stole it's marble statues, and eventually bombed it. Even so the Parthenon along with the rest of the Acropolis stills remains a testament to the ingenious and detailed Greek art and architecture. It is an awe-inspiring monument that can be viewed in all its glory from every point in the city. A truly ancient marvel that still amazes and impresses today.
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