EPILOGUE TO THE BRONZE AGE AND PROLOGUE TO THE RELIGIONS OF EUROPE
The Parthenon stands on the Athenian acropolis where the Mycenaean palace once dominated the city, and it is the Parthenon of classical Athens (and not Mycenae or Knossos) which is the hallmark of ancient Greece.
In the same fashion, the goddess Athena has been linked to the city since Mycenaean times (and known to Homer as “Athena Potnia”), but it is the classical Athena, associated with philosophy, independence and steadfastness, who symbolizes the West.However, Phidias’ renowned khruselephantine (“gold and ivory”) statue of Athena Parthenos which once stood at the centre of the Parthenon has long since disappeared (as have the hundreds of tons of silver which were once stored on the other side of the wall behind Athena). Indeed, the building itself has seen better days: quite aside from the missing segments of columns and the roof, the magnificent sculptures which adorned its pediments are spread around the globe. Yet even bereft of its artistic treasures, the ruins of the building still dominate the imagination of the West.