Oregon's Hurwit to be part of NOVA's Parthenon special

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Jan. 17, 2008) -- When NOVA, the popular science television show on PBS, reports on the ongoing restoration of the Parthenon atop the Acropolis of Athens on Tuesday, Jan. 29, viewers will hear from art historian Jeffrey M. Hurwit of the University of Oregon.

Hurwit is a leading art historian on the archaic and classical periods in Greek art, and he has published extensively on the Acropolis and its history. In 1987, he dismantled and reconstructed the Kritios Boy, the Acropolis sculpture that best documents the appearance of the classical style. Hurwit also is the author of a recent book, "The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles," which was published in 2004. It is now the standard work in its field.

NOVA producers contacted Hurwit in fall 2006 as they were about to embark on a documentary on the restoration of the Parthenon, built in the fifth century B.C. He served among a handful of scholars from Greece, England and the United States as technical advisers in the production.

The Acropolis of Athens is perhaps the best known sanctuary of the ancient world. It rises 514 feet above sea level. The Parthenon is one of several great marble structures built upon the summit of the Acropolis during a great building program initiated by Pericles.

Restoration work at the Acropolis of Athens (public domain photos)

"The documentary will focus on the technical aspects of restoration, which began in 1975," said Hurwit, a professor in both the department of art history (School of Architecture and Allied Arts) and the department of classics (College of Arts & Sciences). "It will look at engineering, architecture, design and planning issues -- more on how to build such a place and restore it than on its sculptural adornment."

A major part of the restoration, Hurwit said, is inserting titanium connectors in place of iron dowels used in previous restoration efforts to hold the deteriorating marble together. The iron has since corroded.

Hurwit was interviewed in November. His comments  will appear throughout the documentary ("Secrets of the Parthenon"). A longer version of the conversation will appear on a companion Web site. Hurwit describes how spectacular the Parthenon may have appeared in its day "with worshippers paying tribute to a 40-foot-tall gold-and-ivory statue of the goddess Athena within its vast central hall." Hurwit also dispels some long-held notions about ancient Greece's most legendary building.

"The show is an investigation of specific puzzles in the design and construction of the Parthenon," Evan Hadingham, senior science editor for NOVA wrote in an email. "But NOVA could not present such an inquiry without a broader perspective on the ancient Athenians and the political and social circumstances that led to this crowning achievement of ancient Greek culture. Jeff's main role in the film is to bring this broader picture of the Athenians to life, which he does in a brilliant, lively interview that we have woven throughout the program. He also made an invaluable contribution to NOVA by advising us on numerous points of accuracy and approach."

The Parthenon, Hurwit said, "was built as the central repository of the Athenians' perceptions of themselves, both architecturally and culturally."

"An interesting aspect of the architecture is that almost everything is curved or tilted. The steps, for example, bow upward, and the columns don't stand straight. If you followed imaginary lines based on their tilt they would intersect in space," he said. "A lot of the architecture of the Parthenon was built based on anthropomorphic and anthropocentric beliefs. Columns swelled at their center much like the muscles of arms do as they hold up great weights. The Parthenon was built deliberately yet its effects can be gauged intuitively."

The ancient Greeks, who considered themselves the center of the universe, "weren't always the most ideal of people," said Hurwit, who joined the University of Oregon faculty in 1980.

"They had slavery, but Athens was more democratic than any other ancient state had ever been. It was where the paradigm of democracy was developed for use by other societies, including our own,” he said. “In many ways, the cultural and political forms of institutions and ideas that we value in the United States and throughout the West, in general, can be traced to the Golden Age in Greece, with its democracy, sculpture, and harmoniously constructed buildings, as well as its cultural ideas that fueled drama and tragedy."

With Hurwit's participation, three of the first four NOVA productions of 2008 will have boasted University of Oregon contributions. On Jan. 15 and 22, a two-part documentary on the scientific quest for absolute zero was the direct result of $2.5 million in public and private funding to UO physicist Russell J. Donnelly, who did not appear on the show.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: Jim Barlow, 541-346-3481, jebarlow@uoregon.edu

Source: Jeff Hurwit, professor of art history, 541-346-3652, jhurwit@uoregon.edu