Art History, Architecture: Acropolis Parthenon/Ise Shrine

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Art History, Architecture: Acropolis Parthenon/Ise Shrine
1 Although both are sacred sites, the Ise Shrine is exclusive in paying respects to the Kami; however, the Acropolis is also a symbol of the economic wealth of the state based on the material used in making the sacred sites, as well as the statues inside the Acropolis. In the building material, the Acropolis is made from expensive marble stones that encompass the columns, the flooring, and the walls (Ching et al., 132), while the Ise Shrine is made from old-growth timber (297). The Acropolis also houses different giant marble statues and reliefs that have symbolic value for the honoring of Greek Gods and Goddesses. For instance, the archeologists found evidence that a giant statue of Athena was located inside the Parthenon that was said to be made from ivory and gold (Lobell, 34). In a way, the Acropolis also represent the treasury of the state.
In Greek, they believed that a specific God or Goddess directly engages with humans by affecting the immediate surroundings. Depending on the intensity of environmental change, the Ancient Greeks will give offerings to thank or appease the anger of the deity in the Acropolis, which is the ritual and spiritual center of the state (Ching et al., 129). For instance, when Athens was infected by a terrible plague, the daughters of Leos was sacrificed to save the city (129). Additionally, the Goddess that was honored in the Athens Acropolis is the Greek Goddess Athena, which is the Goddess of wisdom and warfare. In the Nara Period of Japan, the Japanese respect every aspect of nature (297). Unlike the Ancient Greeks, the Japanese do not have religious creeds or images of deities, rather they have the host called “Kami.” Kami is mistranslated to “God,” but “Kami” have a broader implication at it can mean a deity, nature, ancestors, heroes, etc. (297). Since the Japanese attributes a soul to their immediate surrounding, such as the tress, the mountains, and bodies of water, the Japanese acknowledge and respects their surroundings as opposed to some deity controlling nature.
In the temple architectures, the changes in some areas of the Acropolis to be structural support for natural calamities like earthquakes. Additionally, the ancient Greeks designed the Ionic order based on the natural spirals of vegetation, unlike the Doric order that was derived from structural systems (Ching et al., 136). In the construction of Japanese shrines, most of the design holds symbolic qualities that are relevant to the spiritual nature of "Kami" (Reynolds, 318). They believe that the shrines are the physical form or the embodiment of the spirit, so the architectural parts, such as the roof ridge that are arranged in cross planks, which hold symbolism related to the "Kami" (318). In the Ise Shrine, the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, a deity that hosts the sacred area.
2. In Ise Shrines, pilgrims and local tourists are allowed to enter the compound of the shrine (Reynolds, 317). However, only the Shinto priests and higher-ranking court officials are allowed to enter the inner areas of the shrine while the pilgrims and tourists are only allowed at the o...