The New Seven Wonders of the World GMG Votes!!

[Kullervo]

Did you take that picture yourself?

No, I've never left the States. 

[M forever]

Why not? Are you afraid that people will be mean to you in other countries? Don't believe everything they say on TV. But do be careful when you go to Mexico. They will be mean to you, or at least try to rid you of your money. At least when they figure out that you are American.

[Kullervo]

Why not? Are you afraid that people will be mean to you in other countries? Don't believe everything they say on TV. But do be careful when you go to Mexico. They will be mean to you, or at least try to rid you of your money. At least when they figure out that you are American.

No, it's just a lack of opportunity. I haven't the money to make any kind of luxury trip.

[EmpNapoleon]

FEDERER

[Sarastro]

hey, the people voted for Gore, if you want to blame somebody, blame the electoral college, they make the decisions.

Did the electoral college mess up the second time either? I thought it was only in 2000. Anyway, it is ridiculous how they made all this ballot hodge-podge in Florida, and it resulted to benefit the central USA, whereas all the advanced and more (much more) populous states, such as California, New-York and others, just lost.

[Wanderer]

We are fortunate we still have what remains of the Acropolis to give us that option. It was in good condition until the 19th cent, however the main temple was used as an arsenal in the wars with the Ottomans and it blew up.

A most unfortunate incident of the Turkish-Venetian wars. The 1687 Venetian bombings resulted in the greatest by far damage the Parthenon had ever suffered after centuries of withstanding major earthquakes and human intervention. Morosini then tried to plunder the site for fallen sculpture; and his example was eminently followed by others later on.

There were serious plans in the middle of the 19th cent to build an enormous royal palace on the High Place and this would have involved partly clearing the site. The only thing that saved the ruins was a lack of money to enable the scheme to come to fruition.

Schinkel's designs for a royal palace on the hill of the Acropolis was one of those beautiful romantic fantasies, too extravagant or impractical to materialize. The Parthenon, Erectheion, Propylaea and the other ancient buildings weren't to be touched, but integrated into the landscaping as part of the gardens; the palace itself was to be built on the north-eastern part of the hill (where the old Acropolis musem is situated now) and it was to be lower than the Parthenon itself so as not to obscure its view from below. The young king, Otto von Wittelsbach (son of king Ludwig I of Bavaria) wasn't even remotely endowed with the financial means to pursue such a luxurious project and there were other considerations (e.g. water supply) as well as the inevitable argument against building anything new on the Acropolis that finally burried the project.

Still, it's an interesting "what if" situation to envision...

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1GcU9OrEgdIC&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=Schinkel+acropolis&source=web&ots=uc7D-u9XWd&sig=UrW0gL9-sShuL28ki5Y86WXVj6I&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA79,M1

[knight66]

Tasos, Thanks for filling that information out. It would probably have been a remarkable site with the new palace on it, but it would have so changed the site. I think it best that we see it as it is now.

Mike

[Wanderer]

I think it best that we see it as it is now.

I think so, too. I can't wait for the completion of the current restoration project (that will take a while) and the opening (in about a month from now) of the new Acropolis museum. 

Edit: added link.

[Sarastro]

How beautiful! Do you live in Athens, Wanderer?

Lucky you. I remember how I was fascinated with Ancient Greek culture (and currently am, though not much to see here, in the USA, just Getty's Villa on
the ocean coast with a small antiquity collection), read books about the history and a lot of mythology. There was a time I even learnt gods and goddesses in English, like Zeus, Demeter, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Tanatos, Hades, Persephone, Geba, Hera, Hipnos, Hymenaeus, Nemesis, Artemis, Appolo, Athena, Dionysus, Hekate, Iris, Helios, some myths about Jason and his adventures for the golden fleece in Colhis (?), the statue of Athena Pallas in Troy to be stolen by Odysseus, Hercules' Labors, other heroes, creatures, and monsters....well, now I'd better stop.

One of those my friends even started studying Greek, and went to Greece several times.

[Wanderer]

How beautiful! Do you live in Athens, Wanderer?

Affirmative.

I remember how I was fascinated with Ancient Greek culture (and currently am, though not much to see here, in the USA, just Getty's Villa on
the ocean coast with a small antiquity collection), read books about the history and a lot of mythology. There was a time I even learnt gods and goddesses in English, like Zeus, Demeter, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Tanatos, Hades, Persephone, Geba - you mean Gaia, the Earth goddess ? -,  Hera, Hipnos, Hymenaeus, Nemesis, Artemis, Appolo, Athena, Dionysus, Hekate, Iris, Helios, some myths about Jason and his adventures for the golden fleece in Colhis (?), the statue of Athena Pallas in Troy to be stolen by Odysseus, Hercules' Labors, other heroes, creatures, and monsters....well, now I'd better stop.

One of those my friends even started studying Greek, and went to Greece several times.

That's always good to know. And you do remember too many names. 

Personally, I've always been slightly more drawn to medieval (Byzantine) rather than ancient history; they form a fascinating, seamless narrative  but it's mostly the ancient period that seems to fascinate people.

in Colhis (?)

...or better, Colchis; being situated, ironically, in present day Georgia.

[Sarastro]

That's always good to know. And you do remember too many names. 

Oops, actually, I just didn't check with the dictionary, it is Hebe - Hera's daughter. But was Gaia a goddess? I always thought she was one of the initial world forces that later bore Uranus the Sky, and then they produced giants, cyclopses, titans, and Aphrodite, I think, although this last one was somewhat self-standing and appeared from the Ocean...am I right?

Personally, I've always been slightly more drawn to medieval (Byzantine) rather than ancient history; they form a fascinating, seamless narrative  but it's mostly the ancient period that seems to fascinate people.

"Medieval" Russia, or better Kievan Rus', drew almost all its culture from the Byzantines after converting into Christianity, including icons, dressing, frescoes, religion as I said, architecture, cathedrals, churches, most of the alphabet, etc. So that is probably why it doesn't look so "fresh" to me. Besides, first it was a part of the Roman Empire, if I am not in error, and later became the Ottoman Empire, and now Constantinople-Istanbul is in Turkey. On the contrary, the Ancient Greek Art was rather peculiar and later attracted immense attention and was "revived" to be Classicism. It is simple and fine with the perfect proportion, that will always attract people to it, I think. It is also famous for its mathematicians and physicists, philosophers, no wonder why people get interested in it.

...or better, Colchis; being situated, ironically, in present day Georgia.

Right, and I think Tauris (or Tavridis? Tavrida?) is present day Crimea.
How did the Greeks call Phoenicia then?

[Wanderer]

Oops, actually, I just didn't check with the dictionary, it is Hebe - Hera's daughter. But was Gaia a goddess? I always thought she was one of the initial world forces that later bore Uranus the Sky, and then they produced giants, cyclopses, titans, and Aphrodite, I think, although this last one was somewhat self-standing and appeared from the Ocean...am I right?

Gaia and Uranus were not believed to be just some abstract initial forces, but deities proper (that personified nevertheless those cosmic forces). Note that in Hesiod's Cosmogony Gaia represents not only Earth but the material world as a whole, from which Uranus also descends/derives. As for Aphrodite's birth there exist a number of myths; Hesiod maintains that she came from Uranus (in a manner of speaking).

"Medieval" Russia, or better Kievan Rus', drew almost all its culture from the Byzantines after converting into Christianity, including icons, dressing, frescoes, religion as I said, architecture, cathedrals, churches, most of the alphabet, etc.

The term "Byzantine" itself is a neologism to connote the Eastern Roman empire which succumbed to the Ottomans in 1453. Constantinople's official name at the time of its foundation by Constantine was New Rome, a name still to be seen in the official title of the Oecumenical Patriarch. Its role in preserving classical and late ancient (hellenistic) culture (while suffusing it with the other major force of the era, Christianity) and eventually spurring the Renaissance in western Europe cannot be stressed enough. The Ottomans were alien and hostile to all those elements, so they aren't regarded as continuing the legacy of the fallen Byzantium, rather than trying to supplant their own culture over the conquered lands.
The Slavic people that were influenced by the empire and imitated its culture are a lasting proof to its far-reaching cultural hegemony; however, Byzantine culture proper being Greek in nature (having also preserved its Roman roots in areas such as law and administration), there are considerable and fundamental differences between Byzantium and the Slavic world.

How did the Greeks call Phoenicia then?

That's the name they used, Phoenice (Φοινίκη). Phoenos=scarlet, an allusion surely to the Phoenicians' trade of porphyra (porphyros also meaning scarlet), although the adjective precedes the name.