Friends, my new masthead photograph show what is left of the Parthenon in Athens after the tribulations caused by nature and man.
The Parthenon or the Temple of Athena is, as you would know, a large building built in the 5th century BC on the site of the Acropolis which, overlooking Athens, contained many fine buildings made from marble. In its original form it must have been a glorious sight, one that symbolized a civilization that could be argued to be the most noble and advanced one in the history of the world (sorry, Obama).
Of course following the demise of the Greek Empire, the Acropolis has had to contend with many different invaders to say nothing about earthquakes. But surely the arrival of Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin was an event that caused a huge amount of damage. For example, from 1801 to 1812 he removed 274 feet of marble frieze plus various pediments from the Parthenon as well as assorted statues from the Acropolis and carted them off to London where they still remain like fish out of water.
The photo I’ve included shows a section of the marble pediment which once embellished both ends of the Parthenon.
Notice how it begins from nothing then gradually gets higher and higher as it approaches the centre of the pediment. You can imagine the workers Elgin employed remorselessly hacking off what remained of the sculptor’s beautiful work and in so doing, caused even more damage to the wonderful edifice that the Greeks built. Pollution is further damaging what remains of the former glory.
I guess that, right down through history, brutish invaders have sacked cities. If you looked at Baghdad today, you would find ample evidence of this fact (the British were also involved in its destruction). But to partly destroy a building of the magnificence of the Parthenon by hacking off its embellishments so you could steal them and put them in a museum in another country must surely count as one of the most artistically barbaric acts ever carried out by human beings. I guess it’s just as well the Pyramids and the Sphinx were too big to move, eh?
I would argue that since the Golden Age of Ancient Greece it’s been all downhill for the human race. We seem to live among the ruins of that Golden Age and nothing we’ve created can compare with their achievements in art, science, drama, philosophy, building, democracy, etc.
What do you think? Have I got it wrong?
Certainly the works of the labouring masses, as opposed to the ruling elite who in the time of the building of the Parthenon would never have demeaned themselves with labour and who also believed that the labouring masses were not human and had no souls, were of breathtaking quality and beauty during this ‘Golden age’. I am currently reading an interesting book titled ‘The Ancient Lowly’ by C. Osborne Ward (now, sadly, out of print and requiring a goodly proportion of my meagre resources as a humble dole-scum to obtain) which shed some light on the social conditions of the time and the struggle by the labourors which brought democracy to Greece despite the oppositon of strangely vaunted figures such as Plato, the great enemy of Democracy!
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What a paradigm shift in seeing after reading this comment by David-the humble dole-scum…thanks
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Thomas was a vandal. Just like the man who chopped down the oldest tree on the planet, just to confirm that, indeed it was the oldest tree.
I have been thinking about how much further along we all might be had there not been centuries of book burning , killing of the medicine “witches” and shamans. What was vandalized and destroyed in Iraq was too terrible of a loss for all Iraqis and all of Humanity – and that was all too painfully recently. Sociopathic leaders have called for these acts over time. People ‘just doing their jobs’ carry out their orders. Which feeds their families and multiplying the numbers(overpopulation!) of ignoramouses that carry out ignoramous orders. Forever removing from our collective history of who we really are. Making more people more pliable to the wills of ruthless leaders.
Finding medicine in the plants of the rainforests, just MIGHT save the rainforests. I mean they are finding miraculous cures to all our diseases in these forests almost as quickly as they are being chopped down!
Who will win?
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“We seem to live among the ruins of that Golden Age and nothing we’ve created can compare with their achievements in art, science, drama, philosophy, building, democracy, etc”
You forgot to mention the wars that ancient Greece inflicted on other countries eg Alexander the great. In the ancient Greece, many people shared a sentiment similar to nationalism of the modern times, within the framework of which they looked down upon other peoples, Greeks owned slaves where torture was the method of selecting these slaves. I suggest you read about Melos and Scione (Read Thucydides (author of the pelopenesian wars account) and what the so called civilised greeks did to these people for simply resisting Athenians domination, much like the War on Terror today but thousand of years ago (450bce). The planning for the total destruction of Troy and eventual success is a war crime even in ancient greek times. Sure they may have done some good and acknowledge for it but no one looks at their dark war like domination side where crimes against humanity were first documented by .
I would argue that the pinnacle of human civilisation was when humans lived in Harmony with nature and the only effects human had was beneficial for biodiversity.
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David and Kemosobi, you are both correct to point out that things weren’t perfect during the time of the Golden Age of Greece. But if we think of the context of how things were in the world at that time and accept that the Greeks were part of that world, there still seems to me to be a sudden, wonderful outpouring of ideas and art and philosophy and science and democratic political ideas, etc, that was unusual for those times.
Grace and Kate, thanks for your contributions. I agree, Thomas was a vandal and his countrymen still are! Interesting point about the rain forests. Who knows what goodies they might contain?
Had the Grecian Golden Age been able to continue, who knows what kind of world we might have ended up with, one perhaps without the Roman Empire and without fanatical religions.
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To me it illustrates our concern (to the point of obsession) with ownership. Thomas saw something beautiful, and wasn’t content to enjoy it and leave it. He had to posess it, so of course he cut it off and carted it home. Modern society is completely contaminated with this concept, the more you have, the better you are.
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The Golden Age of Greece was a great time if you where male. Women where held in contempt and keep subservient like children. They had no rights.
What great contributions could half of humanity have made if only they had been allowed to lead as full a life as a man could.
Our Golden Age probably occured before we became “civilized”.
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Northmoon, sadly you’re right.
Jeannie, I agree. Women in most societies of that time were similarly treated. But there were important signs of a new paradigm developing during that period in Greece including contempt for those who spent their lives chasing gold coins.
What would have happened if Greece had continued to flower, no one will ever know but I feel that an important civilization was stopped in its infancy and it was replaced by the notion of Empires and Religion!
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David
I agree with you comment to Jeannie and have pondered if Anient Greece stayed around a lot longer maybe they could have eventualy changed some of their bad ways, they certainly had the potetial as we do.
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David G Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I guess we’ll never know, Kemosobi, but I feel that that civilization was our best hope. The mess we live in now could hardly be called a civilization!
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