Destination: Athens, Greece
Book: Mythology by Edith Hamilton
All this week we are celebrating the opening of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens next Saturday. The heat is on Britain to return the Parthenon marbles so obviously missing in the new museums’ displays.
It helps, when you travel to Greece, to make the acquaintance of gods and goddesses and their cavorting ways if you hope to understand the classical Greek statuary that adorns the Parthenon (or did adorn it before time and thievery took its toll). A little catechism in the religion of the classical age helps. Edith Hamilton’s [amazonify]0316341142 ::text::::Mythology,Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes[/amazonify], can help.
Athena
The basics–Athena was designated the protector of the city named after her, and the Parthenon housed a gigantic statue of Athena, which has long since disappeared. If you want to get an idea of what that statue was like, travel to Nashville Tennessee, where they built an exact full-sized replica of the Parthenon for a World’s Fair in 1897. The building itself is so accurate that the restorers of Athen’s Parthenon flew over to Nashville to check out measurements.
Since Athena’s statue had disappeared so long ago from her Greek temple, the sculptor in Tennessee used written accounts, which might have been a tad bit exaggerated. Scholar’s have established that the classical Greek statues, far from being the pristine white we are used to, were painted in bright colors and adorned with metal and jewels. I’m having a hard time coming to terms with that picture, and my impression of Nashville’s Athena, was that she resembled the girl in Walmart that we dismiss as trailer trash. (See her picture on the continuation)
You can’t help being impressed with the effort, though. Acres of gold leaf substitute for the alleged solid gold in the original.
The Parthenon Frieze
At any rate, every year in classical Athens, as the Great Panathenaea procession wound through Athens and up to the Acropolis where a troupe of virgins clothed the statue in hand-woven robes. That procession was immortalized on friezes around the temple that were made in the workshop of the superstar sculptor of the day, Pheidias.
The frieze, installed around the inner temple, very high up, could not be seen by ordinary mortals. Today, a portion of what is left after a few earthquakes and the explosion of gunpowder when the Ottoman Turks were using the temple as an armory, resides in Athens (40%), the British Museum (40%) and scattered around the world (20%).
Phidias’ genius exhibits itself in the rhythmic arrangement of lifelike figures and particularly in finding ways to fit the picture into the sloping ends of the pediment. This becomes very clear with the close up view that is rendered if you are a tourist in Athens at the New Acropolis Museum.
The Mythology
You may not immediately recognize the gods and heroes represented, but if you have done your reading, you will at least be able to nod sagely when a guide points out who is whom. Edith Hamilton wrote the best guidebook to mythology in 1940. You can find it in newer editions, but you will be hard put to find a better, more readable guide. Hamilton’s book illustrates that the ancient Greeks knew how to tell a darned good story.
If you want something simpler and quicker, do not hesitate to visit the children’s book section in your library or book store. Kid’s books can be great guides for complex subjects like mythology.
Sign a petition to join my favorite cause, asking the British Museum to return the marbles missing from the New Acropolis Museum.
See other articles about Greece from a Traveler’s Library.
Your thoughts? On the Parthenon, on Greek statuary, on the controversy–feel free to express any opinions here.
PDF Tags: Athens, British Museum, goddesses, gods, Greece, mythology, Parthenon
Thank you for this great information. I’ve read several of Hamilton’s books and she was truly a Greek in spirit if not by birth. I agree the marbles have been a big controversy but Britain is not the only country with stolen art from other countries. I hope the new museum will inspire people of all cultures to learn about one another. I also hope the increase in tourism will encourage the country of Greece to improve its roads and its healthcare system beyond the captial. I have been to Greece many times and my parents live in the Peloponesos. There is much more to Greece than just Athens and ancient mythology. There are real issues that need to be addressed that affect those living today. http://bitsandpiecesofgreece.blogspot.com/
Twitter: pen4hire
says:
Pam: I agree entirely. I have been there often enough to see many of the problems but my job here, fortunately, is to recommend books and movies that will enhance the experience of a traveler to Greece. It is a much happier job than solving Greece’s infrastructure problems.
I also understand that the problem of stolen art is nearly worldwide. I just feel that the British arguments in this case do not hold water. In the U.S. we have been able to work with native American tribes to return things that are important to them, when they are ready to care for them. Museums around the world are responding the demands for repatriation, and I believe the New Acropolis Museum shows that Greece is ready to take care of the Parthenon marbles. I’ll be talking more about the subject on Friday and Saturday, and encourage you to read my very first post, and perhaps the book it describes, Loot, if you have not seen it. Very thought provoking on this subject.
Thanks for coming by and for joining the conversation.