The Acropolis of Athens witnessed a miracle
▓ Zhang Changning
Acropolis IC photo
Founded in the fifth century BC, the Acropolis of Athens is one of the world's seven most man-made architectural wonders, consisting of its mountain gates, theaters and temple complexes, which embody the humanistic spirit of Greek sculpture art: the unity of noble simplicity and magnificent grandeur. Even with the anticipation, when I was there, I was still amazed by the architectural wonders and myths and legends here.
The entrance to the ruins of the Acropolis is an ancient and ornate giant mountain gate with a height and a depth of 18 meters each, and the double passage that protrudes outward symbolizes the open wings of the goddess of victory, welcoming pilgrims from all directions. According to the introduction, more than 5 million tourists from all over the world visit this mountaineering tour every year.
Sandwiched among tourists of all colours, I was clustered up the steep slopes at the western end. When I enter an amphitheater with a capacity of 18,000 people, I see that the fan-shaped side of its circular stage is carved out of the mountain, and the steps for the audience to seat are in addition to limestone and marble, which is one of the miracles in the history of ancient architecture.
Open-air theater IC photo
Climb to the top of the Acropolis, which is about 80 meters high, full of broken walls, temples and temples with collapsed ceilings, reliefs and erosion, and remnants of marble pillars can be faintly seen in the ruins of the ruins. Known as the "temple of the temple", the Parthenon is half the size of a football field, and the Athenians mastered the technique of pulley lifting more than 2,500 years ago, with 46 marble columns up to 34 feet high, supporting the imposing pillar-beam temple.
It is a legend full of wisdom and excitement: the city of Athens was first built by the Phoenicians, and Poseidon, the goddess of the sea, competed with Athena, the goddess of wisdom, for the naming and guardianship of the city until the trial of mount Olympus. It is easier to hold a trial and adjudicate than to judge. To the chagrin of Zeus, the king of the gods, Poseidon was a brother and Athena was his precious daughter. For the sake of justice, Zeus proposed that whoever could show something that would satisfy the people of the city would win. Poseidon immediately beat the ground with his invincible trident to conjure up a war horse, while Athena smiled and conjured up an olive tree. Warhorses were then thought to represent war and tragedy, while olive trees symbolized prosperity and peace. The city was voted on, and after a vote, Athena won, and the city-state was henceforth named "Athens" and blessed by incorporating it into the goddess's sphere of influence.
Coming to the Temple of Erechtheion on the south side of the ruins of the Acropolis is even more amazing. On the ruins of a rocky temple, what I saw supporting the roof beams were six women's sculptures with flowerpots on their heads, the "Goddess Pillar". The introduction board explains that the designer considered that the weight of several stone pillars must support the entire roof, but did not thicken the neck of the relief goddess into a "thick neck disease", so the craftsmen carved a thick braid on both sides of the neck of "their", and the two were all beautiful!
In order not to make the goddess's neck a "thick neck disease", the craftsmen carved a thick braid on each side. IC photo
There are three shrines in the temple, and the statues enshrined are: Zeus, who presided over the trial impartially in the "Lawsuit of the Ownership of the City", Poseidon, who was able to cooperate in the execution of the "court judgment" after losing the case, and Hephaestus, the god of fire. The Vulcan owes his credit to casting the "Judgment Book" to which Athens belongs into the "Golden Book of Iron Coupons".
Although the name of the Vulcan is strange and difficult to remember, the fame of his wife Venus, the beautiful goddess, and the illegitimate son Cupid, who was secretly born to Venus and the god of war, Marius, are well known. Venus was named Aphrodite in ancient Greek mythology, and legend has it that she was born in the foam of the sea. When she came to Mount Olympus for a beauty pageant, she was forced to marry the ugly and lame bastard son of Zeus, Hephaestus, the god of fire, because she refused Zeus's repeated courtships.
As I descended, I made a face-to-face with the Temple of the Triumphal Woman on a steep platform jutting westward on the north hill. Although its architectural style is not as imposing as the temples such as parthenon, it gives people a relaxed, lively, elegant and noble heroine temperament. The temple has been looted by war for more than 2,000 years, and more than ten existing columns stand in obscurity, as if telling visitors about the vicissitudes of time.
Listen to a local guide who is the cousin of Athena, Neki, who has done a great job in protecting the peace of athens. On the relief on the south side of the temple, the original carved statue of Nagi is not only a armored hand holding a shield, but also a pair of innate wings. However, in order to allow the goddess of victory to remain in Athens for permanent settlement, the Greeks artistically made her relief wings invisible.
Known as the "cradle of Western civilization", Athens is fascinating to the world, and traveling to the Acropolis allows you to appreciate a large number of historical sites and works of art representing the wisdom of the athenian ancestors, and these Greek myths and epics show the perfect products of human childhood, and show the eternal charm.
Zhang Changning, born in Nanjing in 1954, has a bachelor's degree in Chinese from Nanjing University, and has been engaged in news gathering and editing business in Nanjing Daily and Xinhua Media Group for 30 years. The travelogues included in this series are all articles that the author has published in many newspapers and periodicals in recent years.