By Ramona Shelton
Motlow Buzz Managing Editor
SMYRNA,
Tenn. – These words pop to mind when you think about Tennessee, but to that
list should be added the Parthenon. The original Greek version sits atop the
Acropolis in Athens, a temple dedicated to Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom. Built
in the fifth century B.C., the Parthenon was the center of all things Athenian.
So how did Tennessee get its replica of
the famed Greek temple? Twenty-five members of Motlow Smyrna’s Honors American
and World History classes took a field trip to Nashville on Sept. 29 to answer
that question for ourselves.
Thanks
to the nickname, “Athens of the South,” Nashville was inspired to build our
Parthenon as the centerpiece of the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition.
Although it was only supposed to be temporary, the popular exhibit was not torn
down at the end of the exposition like the other attractions. Unfortunately,
the wood and plaster structure was not built to stand the test of time and had
to be redone in concrete, starting in the 1930s. Its last full renovation was
done in 2002.
Nashville’s
Parthenon includes cast replicas of the marble carvings found in its namesake,
but it has something the Greeks lost over time: Athena herself. The centerpiece
of the exhibit is the 42-foot-tall statue of the goddess, gilded with over 8
pounds of gold and holding a 6-foot-tall statue of Nike, Greek goddess of
victory in her hand. The effect of standing in front of this statue is
overwhelming!
Once
you are finally able to tear yourself away from the piercing stare of the great
one herself, the Parthenon includes an interesting and connected-to-controversy
gallery behind the Athena statue. There are replicas of a series of statues
known as the “Elgin Marbles.” On the original Parthenon temple were a border of
statues representing many of the gods, goddesses, and characters in Greek
Mythology sculpted by Phidias during the fifth century B.C. In 1801, while
Greece was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, the Earl of
Elgin, made a deal with the Ottoman sultan to remove about half of the statues
and add them to his own personal collection. In the 200-plus years since, many
including the poet Lord Byron, have denounced this deal as antiquities looting.
The original statues are now in the British Museum.
For
all of you Greek Mythology movie fans, the Parthenon may look familiar. In
2010, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” was filmed in the
Athena gallery. Percy and his friends fought against the Hydra, destroying much
of the ornate column work in the room. Luckily the damage was Hollywood magic
rather than reality.
On
a more local note, in the second-floor gallery, Tennessee artists often hold
exhibitions of paintings, sculptures and other forms of artwork. At the time of
our visit, the featured exhibition was “My Tennessee Home” by impressionist oil
painter Camille Engel. If that name looks familiar to you, you might have read
in another article in this issue of The Buzz
that Ms. Engel is a friend to our own
Buzz creator, Professor Charles Whiting, and will be here at Motlow Smyrna
as a part of the “Famous Communicators” lecture series. Her amazing paintings showcased things like
the iris, Tennessee’s state flower, and the ladybug, Tennessee’s state insect.
If
you have never been to the Parthenon before, we highly encourage you to visit.
Not only is it slightly overwhelming to have the eyes of the goddess of wisdom
boring into your soul, but it is also cool to realize that you are standing
inside of a building that is important to Tennessee, America and World
Histories!
No comments:
Post a Comment