Greece!!! The Beauty of the Acropolis

I love Greece! <3 Maybe that's just because I am Greek, lol. I love learning about it's history, the mythology, their gods and goddesses, and of course, the art! There are a lot of Greek pieces I admire, but what strikes me the most is the beauty of the Acropolis.

This temple was constructed for the goddess Athena, daughter of Zeus and Hera, and goddess of love, wisdom, courage, warfare, strength, justice, and skill. In about 490 BC, work on the temple began. Only 10 years passed when the Persians attacked and the temple remained unfinished. Of course damage was done, so the Greek architects had to rebuild; they were ordered to design a larger temple using the existing foundation and stone elements.

The Parthenon was built so proportionally; the columns swell and tilt with a curve upward stlightly from the bottom up so that if you look up from the bottom, it looks perfectly straight. Also, the corner columns and their next-door neigbor columns at all four corners were built closer together for stability.

And of course there are statues of gods and goddesses inside the temple, though many with missing pieces.

Knowing the history of any piece of art makes it more appreciating, and of course beauty helps too. I think the Parthenon is the epitome of a work of art: Meaning, hard work, and a passionate history. I would love to go to Greece and see this some day, along with many other works of art. I was there once when I was very young, much too young to remember any part of the trip, but I'm sure my Thia Nikki and Thio Stabros would have no problem with me paying a visit. =)  OPA!!!