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Human Geography: Acropolis, Athens

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Recommended: Greek architecture and its impact on us

Kristian Dewitt
Professor Pena
Human Geography
August 6, 2017
Acropolis, Athens Greece is considered to be one of th most beautiful countries on Earth. Millions of people flock to this country to see many of the beautfil monuments, beaches, and masterpieces of land that it holds. Greece is especially known for it’s monuments that hold tremendous cultural significance of it’s past ancestors. There are numerous monuments within the country that symbolize their religious culture, and the importance that art has on Greece. Though, the monument that witholds the greatest culturual value and is the most unique is called the Acropolis of Athens. This monument is the most chartestic monument in the whole country of Greece. For example this site of …show more content…

“The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patron goddess of the city of Athens and goddess of wisdom. It was built under the instructions of Pericles, the political leader of Athens in the 5th century BC” (The Acropolis of Athens 1). The monument was constructed between 447 and 438 BC, and was then later inscirbed as a World Heritage Site ( UNESCO) in 1987. This monumnet is recognized by UNESCO due to it’s cultural significance in the country og Greece. According to UNESCO, “The Acropolis of Athens and its monuments are universal symbols of the classical spirit and civilization and form the greatest architectural and artistic complex bequeathed by Greek Antiquity to the world” ( UNESCO …show more content…

It is a great reminder that the heart of the Greek religion and tradition lies to the gods. "The Sacred City", is designed only to house and welcome, if they could, the gods themselves. The essence of the imperfect and unworthy mortals, is something that is left absent in the acropolis. Within all the temples, and alters, only those individuals who were of the gods, or those mortals who were worthy enough to be remembered, were somehow engraved into the site which would stand against time. Any god is worthy enough to be remembered through the temples, but only people of legend like former king of Athens, King Erechtheus, is worthy of such an honor to be kept together with the gods on this sacred site. There is only one exception to this value that Phidias, the main planner of the acropolis allowed. With the Parthenon, is the gigantic statue of the god Athena. Engraved onto her shield is Phidias's face, a detail that disgusted many who laid eyes upon it. This daring move gave Phidias the image that he is among the gods, he is above the rest of human race, and that he also should be honored in the way the gods are. And as expected this piece was deeply criticized and rejected. The very presence of a mortal who is not worthy enough, walking along side the gods defiles and degrades the way the Greek people looked up to the gods. The fact of the divine sanctuary is eliminated, and the image of the

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