parthenon

[AmirSobati]

Dear FriendsAs some of you know, I have been working on a comic book for Alexander DG. I wish to invite you all to see a sample of my work at http://www.london2athens.com this site is my work on the Parthenon and the Marbles taken by lord Elgin. you are also invited to sign and take part in the forum.
The Alexander comic pictuers are in draft form, and I will be happy to show them to you some time soon, as I find this forum very intresting and helpful.Amir

[marcus]

Amir,This is looking really good - congratulations.I'm looking forward to seeing some of the Alexander the Great artwork - will you post some on the forum, or can you send directly to those of us who can't wait for the book to be finished? :-)All the bestMarcus

[Nicator]

Nice site!Before I went to Greece, I studied the history of Parthenon and all of its glory (before the Romans). The Parthenon has seen many battles and different rulers. One of the most notable was the Peloponesian war started right at the completion of the construction of the Parthenon (and beautification of the Acropolis in general), the outset of Athens Golden age (indeed because of it), and the rule of Pericles. An interesting footnote was that Pericles died from the Black death (429 b.c.) early in the 30 year conflict while much of Athens crammed onto the Acropolis. The Spartans of course eventually won. It could be argued that Pericles was primarily responsible for the construction of the Parthenon and the war. One of darker stories was that one of Alexanders former generals used the Parthenon as a whorehouse. My favorite story was probably when Athens was under seige by some Roman army around 200? to 250 b.c.? (can't remember?) The situation grew a bit desperate while two greeks were overheard arguing from the other side of the wall. Apparently, the greek in authority was giving the other a severe reproach for leaving a particular section of the wall weak and vulnerable. The following morning the Romans bashed through that section and sacked the acropolis. Another interesting tidbit was the cost of the construction. Something like 10 million drachma to build the Parthenon, and another 10 million drachma to erect and carve the 40 foot high statue of Athena. According to my book (which I have since heard was grossly inaccurate) she had 2 plates embedded into her base with over 2500 lbs of solid gold each. She had gold inlaid and plating all throughout her entire length. This statue was eventually dismembered and removed during one of the sacks. Of course, prior to this, all of the gold was removed and used to pay for wars and payoffs. After her removal, she dissappeared into antiquity...an extremely sad footnote to a great legacy. later Nicator

[yiannis]

Whorehouse, Alexander's general? When, how, who? Never heard of this before and it sounds quite improbable.
Parhtenon was also transformed as a Temple dedicated to Holly Mary when the Christians prevailed. Later it served as a gunpowder storehouse under the Ottomans (thus destroyed in the Venezian siege of Athens by Morozini).
Later on it was destroyed once more by the Scots this time...
http://www.culture.gr/6/68/682/index.html

[Nicator]

"Whorehouse, Alexander's general? When, how, who? Never heard of this before and it sounds quite improbable. "Sorry, can't remember the details on any of this stuff, and don't have access to the book it was taken from. I read it right before my trip to Greece, and that was in 1998. If I recall correctly, this particular general took up residence in the Parthenon around 299 b.c. Whether or not he was one of Alexanders direct generals or just some later lesser general is beyond my memory as well? Probably the latter. I would say that nothing about it seems improbable though. Keep in mind that the successors didn't have the same manners or ethical code that Alexander seemed to have had. The Macedonian crowd was a tough battle hardened ruthless pack of barbarians. This was well within their capabilities.

[susan]

Sorry it's taken so long to reply, I've been looking at your site and I enjoyed it - well done !Susan