All throughout many of the classes I took Freshman and Sophomore year I heard about the Acropolis in Athens. From Classical Archaeology to Pre-Modern history, we looked at pictures and even learned about the gradual building of the structures over time. But nothing prepared me for the pure joy and excitement I would receive walking up the steps of a site like the Acropolis.

There was a long walk up a hill but as you continued up, the buildings on top of the acropolis began to peek through. When entering the sanctuary up a flight of stairs, you are first greeted with a small temple of Athena Nike. This temple contains scenes of the Athenian victory against the Persians in the Persian war. Furthermore, the temple is made as a sign of Athens military prowess and victory over their enemies, despite the odds against them. Then, you walk through the propalayion which is a massive gate with columns, serving as the entrance to the Acropolis sanctuary. This grand entrance was surely created to wow any visitors to the sanctuary. Then, you are immediately struck by the site of both the Parthenon and the Erecthion. The Erecthion served as the main cult practice building inside of the sanctuary. The side of the building contains statues of women priestesses known as caryatids. It is interesting because even though people generally believe that the Parthenon is the main temple it was actually used as a treasury for the Delian League and for Athens. The holiest of ground was in and around the Erecthion for cult practice. When looking at the Parthenon our class was absolutely amazed by its scale and the columns which were built at a certain angle to prop up the structure. The Parthenon has a frieze containing the Panathenaic processions which happened yearly in Athens which was in the Acropolis Museum. We also looked at the metopes which have the Centaurs vs the Lapiths, the Gods vs the Giants, the Trojan War, and the Greeks vs the Amazons while in the Acropolis Museum. This personifies the Athenians as always being on the right side of history and also as the forces of order and good as compared to their enemies which sow chaos. Pisistratus used the monumental buildings on the Acropolis to signify both the glory and greatness of Athens while also by giving his people a project to collectively work on as part of his administration. Our class also had the opportunity to discuss the symbol of the Acropolis both then and now politically.

It was the experience of a lifetime to get to learn all of this in the actual ruins of the Acropolis and see so much that you may normally take for granted in an art history book or textbook. We were on top of Athens and had the most excellent view. From a place such as this it is easy to see why Athens served as a major center of the Greek world.

Thats all for now,

Ya Sou!