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• History
of Christianization of Europe
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Union, Communist influence
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of European ethnic groups
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in Europe (1922-75)
• History
of Islamic conquest in Europe
• Religions
& ethnic groups in Russia
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map of French colonization
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map of British colonization
• Napoleon's
conquests & legacy
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• Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
• Stalin's private summer home
• Ravenna: capital of Gothic empire
• Czar Nicholas II's Ukrainian palace
• European traditional costumes/dress
• Inside the Vatican, house of all wealth
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• Islamic Mujahidin
vs. Spain & El Cid
• Poland-Lithuania vs. Teutonic Order
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• Mussolini vs. Libyan Islamic fighters
• Qadafi: Europe will soon be Islamic
• Ivan the Terrible vs. Muslim Tatars
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• The Gypsies in history and today,
Europe's public enemy
• History of Jihad in Chechnya & Caucasus vs. Russians
• History of the Muslim Tatars in Russia
• Ethnic & religious history of Serbs, Croats, & Bosnians
• Breakaway
states and independence movements in Europe
• The ancient Germanic Runic alphabet and
Runestones
• Inside Bulgaria, 1st Slavic nation, land of Thracian masters of gold
• Visual history of Yugoslavia
• 4,000-year-old white mummies of China,
bringers of Buddhism
--MORE
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Gallery of the Greek
Parthenon, the jewel of the Greeks
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
Print
this Article • About
the Author • Bibliography/Sources
Resting atop the Acropolis
mountain and built in the 5th century BCE, the Greek Parthenon
of Athens is considered one of the greatest structures ever
built as well as one of the best preserved still standing.
It reminds the Greek culture and its observers that the Greeks
are responsible for some of the ancient world's greatest architectural
works. Included are my photos from my 2007 vacation.
For a brief historical background,
around the time of the construction of the Parthenon, what
is today the nation of Greece was divided into regional and
warring Greek tribes. It was built and ruled by the city-state
of Athens (Athena), which acted as a wealthy political buffer
between the neighboring Greek powers of Sparta and Macedonia
in their numerous internal squabbles and wars against themselves
and the invading Zoroastrian Iranians. It ushered the birth
of the concept of a republic, not in the American-borne sense
of universal freedoms, weak government, regional rights, and
racial and minority powers, but rather that instead of an
inherited king, a small council of ultra-wealthy elites was
able to elect each successive leader and be involved in national
issues. It offered some of the greatest earliest philosophers
like Aristotle and Socrates. The city declined to virtually
uselessness due to internal conflict, economic decline, and
the growth of foreign power by the Iranians and Arab Phoenecians,
and was later annexed upon the creation of the first Greek
unified state under Alexander the Great, when the city's presence
became unimportant. After Alexander's death, the short-lived
unified "Greece" collapsed and split, never to be
unified again until the 19th century nearly two millennia
later. The Roman conquest annexed and absorbed the warring
Greek tribes and states after Alexander's death.
Compared to the other ancient
sites of the ancient Greek period, the Parthenon is actually
quite marginal, disappointing, and does not live up to its
near-mythic stereotype. It appears to be a way for Greeks
to pride themselves for a nation they once had, much as the
Italians pride themselves in a quite young nation by deriving
from the Roman period. It is sadly not realized that any religious
monumental construction task of any civilization is bound
to be glorious when a state and population sacrifice years
of labor and virtually bankrupt their coffers for their gods.
Such accomplishments should never be indicative of a nation's
civil and technological advancement or historical role. Though
the Parthenon and its surrounding treasures on the Acropolis
mountain are indeed in fantastic condition, they as architectural
accomplishments or vastness are virtually insignificant compared
to the works of other Greek tribes outside of Athens, especially
in Ephesus of today's Ku in Muslim Turkey or Olympia to the
west in Katakolon.
The huge mountain (the Acropolis)
which houses the Parthenon can be seen for miles and miles
all throughout the city. Its base is reached via a short drive
or walk through a very poor slum area with a large criminal
Albanian Muslim population, interestingly. Communist rebels
(usually immigrants) have made their mark by spraypainting
anti-Nazi, anti-Greek, and pro-Communist remarks on nearly
every wall with hammers and sickles much like in USA and Italy.
The mountain is flooded with tourists, taxis, and tour guides
for hire on the spot. The walk to the Parthenon and the greatest
structures on the mountain are miles and miles up a steep
path made of original and restored stone paving. From nearly
every angle and corner, amphitheatres, temples, and other
structures can be seen all the way up the mountain. Most are
in quite good condition. To the distance, other mountains
in vision reveal more temples and pillars. To the far distance
at the base of the mountain, an ancient graveyard claims to
offer the actual graves of Socrates, Aristotle, and other
fantastic historical figures. Christianity has adopted a role
here to link these very pagan and pre-Christian scholars to
Christ with the placement of crosses and churches nearby.
Closer to the top of the mountain, nearly every few paces
reveal some ancient temple, archway, set of pillars, and intricate
statues. The walk to the main Parthenon is reached through
a huge temple with pillars and arches whose floors are quite
slippery and prone to injury. From the top of the mountain,
the entire city of Athens can be seen from all angles. The
selection of the Acropolis mountain by the Athenians for this
religious construction is quite meticulous and wise. The main
area on the summit offers several huge temples to female gods
opposite the Parthenon itself. The buildings nearby are easily
as fantastic as the Parthenon itself, though not as intricate.
Huge open-air temples are decorated with pillars and arches
covered in huge and realistic female and male statues. Many
pillars used to support the structure are actually humanoid
goddesses (Athena of course), with very large heads to support
the weight; very intricate and impressive.

the Parthenon in the background of lovely Greek red wine and
mussels. (click to enlarge)

Athens visible in the distance from a courtyard, in all its
smoggy and polluted glory. (click to enlarge)

a fantastic-condition amphitheatre on the Acropolis. (click
to enlarge)

a major and impressive temple next to the Parthenon, with
Athena carved into the pillars. (click to enlarge)
The structures are indeed
collapsing and decaying due to entropy, weather, and erosion.
Etchings on the temples of stretched nude men are either half-collapsed
or disappearing. Many pillars have completely collapsed or
broken apart, with many being blatantly and hugely cracked.
Many pillars in the temples are interestingly bright white
and dark beige. This is due to restorative effort to support
the collapsing surfaces. Scaffolding all around the Parthenon
reveal this imminent fear of total ruin, with international
aid and donation from the UN (as it is of course a UNESCO
'world-funded' site). Multi-tonne pillars can be seen all
around the temples that are being restored, recreated, and
added to the structures; every piece of marble on the ground
that collapsed is treated as a treasure at one time glorious
and upright. The temples cannot be entered.
The Parthenon itself is imposing,
large, intricate, and in remarkably good condition. Massive
etched pillars seem to have no end. Intricate arches with
etched designs cover every part of the structure. In part,
it appears to have been built by creating a strong foundation
in the ground, as the perimeter of the Parthenon has a number
of holes deep into the earth. The surface has by majority
collapsed. The temple can only be entered by the local employees
and archaeologists, and there seem to be hundreds carefully
and hastily working away to restore it. The interior and ceiling
are impressive indeed, and Greeks pride themselves in the
fact that such could be built some 25 centuries ago with no
glasses, no [modern] sunscreen, and no aspirin to alleviate
burning headaches from the blinding sun atop the mountain,
though far more impressive monuments by Greek and non-European
alike exist much earlier elsewhere. From the edge of the Parthenon,
the whole city again can be seen. The distant amphitheatres,
classrooms, and temples at the very distant base are dwarfed
by the once-standing Temple of Zeus. It appears to have been
equally as impressive as the Parthenon, though it was obliterated
as an infidel temple by the Muslim Turks when the Jihad of
Islam had conquered the Byzantine lands in Greece proper throughout
the 15th century. Laughably, other Greek Christian and pre-Christian
treasures were also destroyed by the Christian Venetians by
accident in their pan-Christian war against the superior Muslim
conquerers.

the Parthenon in its glory. (click to enlarge)

the Parthenon close-up.

the treasures at the base of the Acropolis, and the Temple
of Zeus (left) destroyed by the Jihad. (click to enlarge)

a local stone covered in Arabic graffiti. Immigration is causing
a major backlash in Greece.
The Acropolis is a must-see
for any avid traveler, and its Parthenon warrants world marvel,
but pales in comparison to the fantastic works of other Greek
tribes even earlier.
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is the owner
and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working
for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic
and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures,
ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical
evolution in relation to and against each other.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
Personal observations, photographs.
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