Download The Acropolis of Athens: The History of Greece's Most Famous Landmark AudioBook Free
"What I would prefer is that you should fix your sight every day on the greatness of Athens as she really is, and should land in love with her. When you understand her greatness, then represent that what made her great was men with a heart of experience, men who understood their work, men who were ashamed to land below a certain standard. If they ever failed within an enterprise, they made their brains that at the very least the city should not find their courage lacking to her, and they provided to her the best contribution that they could." - The Funeral Oration of Pericles, quoted by Thucydides The Acropolis, which basically means "a city on the levels", is a citadel whose currently surviving structures were mostly built through the fifth hundred years BC in honor of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens. It functioned as a sacred precinct that comprised the city's most significant religious and municipal structures, many of which have remained relatively intact for over 2,000 years. The Propylaea (the gateway to the Acropolis), the Parthenon (the main shrine to the goddess), the Erechtheion (a shrine that supposedly houses the burial grounds of mythical Athenian kings), and the Temple of Athena Nike all make it through to this day, and for these reasons, the Acropolis could very well be the definitive & most eloquent manifestation of classical architecture, if not of the classical form itself. To be able to understand whether and how this might be the situation, it's important to represent not only on the visual quality of the structures themselves but also to seek out the historical, religious, and philosophical contexts that clarify the structures' purpose and significance.
