A Pagan Pilgram

[Pelta]

Deoridhe

Pelta

midara the happy banshee

I'm trying to convince my parents to let me drive down there with a friend over the summer...

Wait... Replica Parthenon? confused

You mean they built the full thing, or is it just a few pillars like the one is in Athens? Did they use Hellenic marble?

They build the whole thing as it's believed to have looked. I'm not sure what marble they used, though. http://www.nashville.gov/parthenon/

Um. Why? I mean, the real thing already exists. Granted, it was blown to pieces by idiots storing gunpowder in it but the whole point is that it was given as a gift to Athena. It was entirely for her glory, overlooking her city, and built entirely by people singlemindedly devoted to their goddess. Does the one in Nashville have that to claim for it?

Also, I would be wary of their claim to a replica of the statue that sat inside it. Firstly, there are no known records of what it actually looked like, aside from the fact that it was built of gold and ivory on a wooden frame, which was why it degraded so quickly. The Parthenon was merely an elaborate casing/shrine to the statue held within, and since it was for their goddess it was particularly extravagant in every way. The work on every part of it was astonishing.

It took months to haul the marble from Mount Pentelicon, and often some of the oxen and donkeys that had done so were given to pasture for the rest of their lives for the great work they did for the goddess. There were some couple hundred artists working so devotedly to the art and architecture that you can see their styles and practises develop and merge over the span of the decades it took to build it. There are even beautiful friezes on the part of the Parthenon bordered by a sixty foot drop that nobody would ever see or walk on. Hell, there are meticulous friezes behind the friezes that definately nobody would see. This was not a building made to be looked at. It was a building for the glory of a goddess, and for nobody else.

The years of effort and devotion put into it still live on today. The Elgin Marbles are still extant, and the building itself was and still is part of an ancient temple district. They even believe one of the olive trees on the Acropolis is the same (or at least descended from) the ancient holy one the Greeks used to worship before. The whole place is part of the temple, part of the holy devotion the Greeks showed to their gods.

And I'm ranting.

So about this replica which I'm having difficulty comprehending; I again have to ask the question... Why?  

[Deoridhe]

Pelta

So about this replica which I'm having difficulty comprehending; I again have to ask the question... Why?

I would suggest reading their website for their rationals. Having never been there and having no association with them, I don't feel I can answer for them.  

[Neko_Bast]

I don't consider it a pilgramage, but I want to go to Ireland and Scotland someday.  

[TeaDidikai]

In other news- I am hoping to attend the St. Sarah festival in Vancouver this year, and in three or four years- attend the festival in France.  

[IH_Zero]

I'd like to eventually visit Egypt, and see temple ruins and the Sphinx. Not too interested in the Pyramids. I'd first have to not be broke, though, and that's going to take a while.  

[SonarP]

I'm not sure one without an established faith or anything of the sort can make a pilgrimage...but I'd really like to visit the farther side of the Americas, like, really hot n' dusty Arizona and the like...also, I'd like to visit the souther tip of Africa, Egypt, and various spots in Europe.

sweatdrop But that probably sounds like something to much for a "baby".  

[Pelta]

I like to go to Killiney Beach. 3nodding Tis pretty, and has spiritual significance. There's also a tree in my area I journey to. Not sure that really counts as a pilgrimage, though. It's about a ten minute walk away... xp