PHOENIX RISING JULY P.A.D. TRAVELOG – DESTINATION: POETRY (PARTHENON)

The Parthenon

The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron.  It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered the zenith of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, Athenian democracy and western civilization, and one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of selective restoration and reconstruction to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure.

Although the Parthenon is architecturally a temple and is usually called so, it is not really one in the conventional sense of the word. A small shrine has been excavated within the building, on the site of an older sanctuary probably dedicated to Athena as a way to get closer to the goddess, but that is all that can be claimed.

In many writings of the Greeks assertions have been made that there were many treasures stored inside the temple, such as Persian swords and small statue figures made of precious metals.

Since the Greeks contributed much of the following to Western Civilization, make a point of one such item and use it as your focus for your poem:

1. Democracy.
2. Tragedy, Comedy, Drama, and Theater.
3. Logic. The science of logic was first formulated by Aristotle.
4. Science.
5. Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting.
6. Philosophy. The word literally means, Love of Wisdom
7. Poetry

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