Essay On Athenian Acropolis

The Athenian Acropolis stands as a engineering and design marvel of the Classical Era of Greek civilization, constructed between 447 and 432 BCE. Contained within the mount, is the complex of temples dedicated to Athena-Nike and Athena-Parthenon, the Parthenon, as it is typically referred to, is the most well known structures in this temple complex. All made of marble, the Doric structure is a masterpiece of construction, created in the wake of the destruction of the previous structures during the Greek city-states war with Persia. The Parthenon sculptures typically “alluded to the Greeks' struggle against the Persians, for instance, through famous mythological contests...” (Destruction and Memory...) While the metopes of the Parthenon show
The pieces were damaged, hacked burned even, but can one account for the time and the reasons for this effacement? This “city on a hill” was distinct in its presence and expensive in its “right” to be constructed. However its use over time has worn or even destructed all of its original purpose: the roof, the cult statue of Athena-Parthenon, among a great deal of other things. Can the Acropolis be seen as only a memorial to a war? Greece/Athens fought a great deal of wars, but perhaps the zeal and the nationalism, perhaps even hubris that the ancient Athenians felt forced them to reconstruct their most holy site in what we see today. Athens certainly celebrated their past, but also worshipped their Gods/Goddesses with fervor, can we view their relationship with the Divine in the same way we interpret the Divine