The Temple of Hephaestus Photo

Photographer’s Note

Click here or on the image to see the large version.

My earlier post was shot near this temple, turning my back to it.

While the Stoa of Attalos is larger, the Temple of Hephaestus is the most impressive construction of the Ancient Agora of Athens, imposing in size, elegance and position, on the top of a verdant gentle mound. It is said to be the best preserved ancient Greek temple, in part thank's to have been used as a church from the 7th to the 19th century.

The construction of the temple, on the site of an earlier small sanctuary destroyed by the Persians some decades earlier, began in 449 BC, two years before the Parthenon, but it wasn't finished until 415 BC, 17 years after the the Parthenon, was done, because much of the funds and workers were diverted to the latter.

The full name of the monument is Temple of Hephaestus and Athena Ergane, but it is also known as Hephaisteion, Theseion and Temple of Theseus. Hephaestus was the Greek god of metal working, while Athena Ergane was the title of the Athena as patron of craftsmen. Athena is more usually known as the goddess of wisdom and reason, but she had other facets, each one with its own epithet (for instance, Athena Parthenos, the goddes of virginity, to whom the Parthenon was consecrated). It made sense consecrating a temple to both of those deities, as they were boss patrons of artisans, and archaeological excavations in the area indicate that there were many potter and metal workshops in its neighbourhood. On the other hand, I wonder if Athena liked to share the temple with Hephaestus, who once tried to rape her - the story is told in the legend of Erechtheus. This figure I mentioned in the note of my post of the Erectheion, was born from the semem of the ejaculation Hephaestus had during the frustated rape - the semem fell on the earth and its goddess, Gaia, got pregnant. Then, the baby was reared by Athena and later became one of the first kings of Athens.

The association of the name of Theseus to the temple comes from the assumption (wrong, according to many) that the remains of this hero who was another early mythological king of Athens were housed in the temple. The whole area of the Ancient Agora is officially named after him the Park of Theseus.

The photo is a stitch of 3 vertical shots.

WS #1 - Another perspective from much the same place, a stitch of 2 vertical shots.

WS #2 - Frontal view of the temple from below

Location of the POV (latitude, longitude): 37.97531,23.72161

Emile, jusninasirun, xuaxo, lucasgalodoido, phwall, Bluejeans, jhm, ciakgiak, pablominto, leonorkuhn, paura, Docarmo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Emile (19999) 2009-10-29 22:17

Hola José.
Magnifica composición, la definicion, colores y marco estan estupendos. Precioso templo. Tu versión grande nos enseña muy buenos detalles. Buen trabajo.
Abrazos a ti y tu familia.

mkgoyal2004 (672) 2009-10-29 23:05

Hi Jose,

You have beautifully captured this historical building. In the foreground green haze and blue sky is enhancing the beauty of the structure. Nice photo. Congrats.

jusninasirun (10209) 2009-10-29 23:44

Hi Jose: This is just an amazing panoramic wide view with such a stunning perspective. I have always love your composition and that signatory saturated blue sky. The hedges and the ruin lined up so well in the frame. Best regards. Jusni

serp2000 (9537) 2009-10-30 0:22

Hello, Jose,
I never been here. Mthanks for this photo! Excellent colors, interesting note! TFS!
Serghei

Greg1949 (8507) 2009-10-30 4:16

Nice one Jose, the straight perspective lines are great
as are the shadows within the temple structure itself. In addition to the stitch was there any correction to the perspective?

Great work.

Greg

Yves-triga (3497) 2009-10-30 4:44

hello jose,
very nice view from this temple,a nice composition
beautifull light too.
well see
yves

coco (27866) 2009-10-30 4:51

Hola Jose.

I wanted to post a panoramic view of the Acropolis, but I forget that photo it has been posted... Sorry.

I like a lot this picture, much better than the WS (especially than the other perspective with only two photos stitched).
The colours and exposure are good, and I like the perspective and POV.

Well done.

xuaxo (5739) 2009-10-30 4:56

Olá Stego!
Boa vista do templo, tudo bem posicionado.
Mas o lado direito é assim tão "bicudo", ou há aqui algum efeito das correcções?
Cumprimentos,
F.

lucasgalodoido (16605) 2009-10-30 12:53

Olá José,
ficou uma beleza essa panorâmica da contrução, com boa qualidade nas duas versõe, o que me incomoda um pouco é esse céu manchado pelo polarizador, já que ele não consegue atuar em todo o céu, nessas situações da panorâmicas prefiro fotografar sem ele, mas é uma opção minha.
Parabéns e Abraço

phwall (5570) 2009-10-31 0:07

Hello Jose,
A wonderful image of this magnificent temple, for Roma, we have clementi, and for Athens your good self.
I like your perspective very much, the diminishing perspective is extremely pleasing to the eye.
Superb quality, the detail throughout is excellent.
The stitch works well, although I think you have managed to capture the girl in the blue hat twice. :)))
A beautiful presentation.
Regards
Peter

Bluejeans (32391) 2009-10-31 4:26

Oi amigo ,
Bonito panorama deste templo grego, as colunas parecem enormes comparadas com as pessoas , bom ponto de visão em diagonal ,parabéns!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Bom fim de semana

jhm (82601) 2009-11-01 2:54

Hola José.

A nice classic picture but always very lovely for look at.
This is just an amazing panoramic wide view with such a stunning perspective.
The colors and the light are at their best and you knew how to work with the elements.
Very well done, TFS.

Nice sunday,
John.

ciakgiak (10730) 2009-11-01 13:42

Ciao Jose,
le tue immagini sono sempre molto interessanti, sia per i soggetti sia perchè corredate da note esaustive e da interessantissimi WS. Molto bella la panoramica stretta enfatizzata dalla large version. Congratulazioni.
Un caro abbraccio.
Giorgio

pablominto (40754) 2009-11-01 22:08

Hello José,

An interesting point of view on what is left of the classical structures!
Fine repetition effect in the columns, that also constitute and make an important part of this famous architecture...
Lovely colours and good details, the blue sky makes a fine topping..!

Greetings,
Pablo -

carper (64936) 2009-11-02 9:31

good one Jose,
a fine composition, fantastic place, good contrast, good balance in the shot, a good one here, have a good evening.
regard jaap

leonorkuhn (13599) 2009-11-02 12:05

Olá José,

Que panorama espetacular! Ótimo trabalho de stitch. Não concordo com a observação do Lucas, o céu não tem uma coloração uniforme em um dia de sol, só se for falso, uma montagem. Gostei muito da perspectiva, excelente luz e magníficas cores e perfeita nitidez.

abraços
Leonor

guitianmiranda (3632) 2009-11-02 13:58

Perfecta elección del formato panorámico para encuadrar el templo, el ángulo también es bueno, supongo que muchos trataríamos de centrarnos ante él.

Un saludo Jose.

crckt (7076) 2009-11-02 18:06

Hi Jose,
The large version does justice to the shot. Wonderfully taken, great colors.
Regards,
Shaeri
PS: great to get back in touch :)

Rafer (4313) 2009-11-03 4:55

Perfecta...y bien bonita....saludos

paura (38456) 2009-11-03 15:42

José,
a fotografia está excelente para mostrar essa magnífica construção. Gosto especialmente das cores e da nitidez.

Abraço

Paulo

Docarmo (8840) 2009-11-10 10:32

Olá José,
Excelente trabalho de "stitch"! A perspectiva é fantástica, muito bem executado. As "gêmeas" (li o que o Peter escreveu e tua resposta) são um charme a mais.
Parabéns!
Docarmo