There are NO Parthenon Marbles!
Published on
All these months, since the New Acropolis Museum was opened and we at the Athens local team tried to open the file of the Parthenon marbles and their possible reunification I was thinking of what should be mentioned from our part in order to give another dimension to the issue.
Dozens of articles and books have been written to cover these issues and still very few actually came up with the true dimension of the problem. First and foremost lets clear something : . Nor sculptures or statues. Greeks were wise enough to create such a language that could express even the slightest difference of what a thing resembled. That is the reason they called these artifacts, ''άγαλμα'' (agalma). The world ''marble'' definites the identity of the material they have used in order to create them. The word ''sculpture'' was used in order to express the outcome of human work over a material. But the word ''αγαλμα'' (agalma) wanted to present the of the sculpture, which was the main reason for its creation. The word agalma comes from the verb ''αγάλλομαι'' (agallomai) which means jubilate. Means the joy of the soul.
Should we write about where should the sculptures be ? Should we write why or why not should they be returned to Athens?The Parthenon Marbles are not Marblesmetaphysical dimensionBut why they have chosen this name ? What is the thing that provokes joy, that jubilates the soul ?
The answer to the above questions, is the one which defines the difference of the greek civilization, of the greek way to comprehend the world and ourselves within it. The Greeks do not created these magnificent buildings and artifacts in order to show the world their abilities. Nor for the people around the globe to be able to compare them among other artifacts from different civilization (as the British Museum suggests).. It is the joy of the soul when it faces what is We all tend to believe that when an ancient Greek sculptor made Hermes, Aphrodite or Zeus had a model in his atelier where he depicted the model. Well, this is not the case. In , the ancient culture tries to depict, to resemble the nature through . The artist tries to remove from the sculpture what is temporarely. He wants to magnify the elements that make a man being a man, a woman being a woman etc. . Greeks do not want to add things that are needless, unnecessary.The reason for their creation is metaphysicalreally real, the ''όντως υπαρκτόν''.total contrast with the RennaisanceablationThe ancient Greek civilization doesnt want to impress
It is not the era that it was created, nor the means that were used for its construction. If you visit the Acropolis in Athens and stand before the Parthenon No extra decorations, no corinthian columns instead of doric. And this is the apocalypse of the Greek art. Parthenon is greater than other landmarks because it . A world full of harmony - a harmony full of logical relations. What is really real cannot be corruptible nor temporary according to them. This ideal is embodied in every event of the ancient greek life: from the Parthenon to tragedy and from language to democracy.. I would be really amazed if one out of all the millions of tourists in the Acropolis or the British Museum could understand this without just taking photos. I would be also amazed if modern Greeks or modern British could understand this. . It doesnt mean that modern Greeks have the monopoly of the ancient legacy. Let us hope that one day in our modern societies we will set the same priorities as they did. Until then we will daze in front of them without reason..Did anyone thought what is the element that makes the Parthenon more important to humanity than e.g. The Eiffel Tower, or the Big Ben?, you can easily notice that the building isn't impressive at all.Nothing but the nudity of the building.resembles the way the ancient Greeks understood the world This ideal is embodied in the ''αγάλματα'' (agalmata) of ParthenonThe return of these magnificent agalmata to their birthplace is not a romantic demandIt is our common duty, to a monument, to a civilization which affected the course of humanity throught the eons.