ALTHAIA
THE REALITY OF
PARTHENON
Moving from one city-state to another was harder than she thought. Even with the same culture, the overwhelming differences were distinct. Everything was in much greater size and grand looking. It was hard to take in everything at the same time. There were too many people in towns, too many buildings. Who would need such an enormous house, she wondered? Sit in front of her was the supposedly generous merchant, who brought her to this whole new world. She hated the idea that her fate was in some stranger's hand and not her. Then again, in this new land, he was the only one she knew, but not necessarily trust. The dreadful reality, to a certain extent, got better with the marvelous architecture in the city of Athens. It was a dumbfounding experience for her as a foreigner. Scanning her eyes through the Acropolis with disbelief, she stopped and glued on a masterpiece of the Doric order of architecture: the Parthenon. It was impossible to describe the beauty of this magnificent structure. The architecture was still under construction at that time, but for Althaia, she had already understood its beauty. Her eyes got a bit teary when they were shined upon by the golden light from the statue of Athena Parthenos.
430 BC
From the moment she was born, people had compared her beauty to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Despite this, she had always modeled herself to the image of Athena. She wanted to be strong like her, to be smart like her, and most importantly, to have something people could respect rather than just her beauty. The more she looked, the more respect she had for the people involved in this magnificent project. The architects for the project were Ictinus and Callicrates, with the world-renowned Phidias on the sculptures. Only the best of the best could trick your brain to think a curvature was a straight line. The four corners of the building droop down gracefully to make everything in the middle curve slightly upward. The intentional curvature was there to prevent the optical slumping. It also made it feel like the building was floating upward. She could not keep herself from shaking. She was emotionally unstable. That was enough, she thought to herself. She decided that it was time to walk away and come back to the waiting merchant. At that moment, she knew what she wanted to do. She knew that she wanted to change the current social structure in the Hellenic culture. She wanted to be Athena Parthenos as she shouted out the words. Suddenly, the merchant, who was watching her, let out his hideous laugh and told her, “No, you will be a hetaera.”
Citation
John Leonard, The Optical Illusions that make the Parthenon perfect, (Greece Is, 2018)
Ioanna Venieri, Acropolis of Athens, (Ministry of Culture and Sport, 2012)
J.J. Pollitt, Decoding the Parthenon, (The New Citation, 2014)
Mark Cartwright, Parthenon, (Ancient, 2018)
Evan Hadingham, Unlocking the mysteries of the Parthenon, (Smithsonian Magazine,2008)