#parthenon reflection

[stevenmathens-blog]

ASCSA/Parthenon Reflection

(Praying Athena comes in clutch to help me remember all the artists in this book.)

One cannot dismiss Dr. Tsakirgis as an expert on the subject that she is presenting. The first almost ten minutes of the video was someone listing off her impressive and varied accomplishments in both academia and in field work in the ancient world. Even an appointment to the Tennessee Architectural Society by the governor! Her credentials just didn’t stop!

The thing that stood out the most to me was how the art of the mosaics evolved from their earliest forms. Many of the designs and images initially were used only for decoration and to be aesthetically pleasing. Eventually, these beautiful images evolved to take on more important symbolic meanings to the Ancients, such as the rosettes becoming a ward for evil or malignant forces, or the many, many interpretations of the wheel, or the bird from Aphrodite.

Another fascinating piece of the presentation was just how widespread and almost standardized these mosaics came to be. They have been found all around the Mediterranean, in Greek and Roman cities as the Greeks came to be dominated by Rome during the Hellenistic period (a period that was cited as Dr. Tsakirgis’s expertise). 

I see this as just another piece of evidence showing how truly connected the Ancient world was. These peoples from all around the Mediterranean were using all the same images, possibly not for the same purposes or same interpretations, but they were still using the same images. And even within the same culture, there were different interpretations and uses, such as between men and women, young and old.

[its-ella-arndt-blog]

Parthenon Reflection

This lecture was given by Neil Siberman, a retired archeologist. His focus during the lecture was on rebooting archeology, which he believed can be achieved by four updates. He first covered the advances in technology and how this has affected the world of archeology. With the advance of 3D images, an entire excavation can be rewatched, while still supplying the full effect of being there in person. The first update that he gave was social context recognition software. ISIS has been destroying important historical sites and people need to be aware of this. Members of ISIS need to be tried in international criminal court. He then moved on to talk about the rise of multicultural cities, which have counteracted the norm of archeological finds. I was slightly confused when he said this because it seemed like he was implying that heterogeneous culture is a bad thing, which I would disagree with. 

The second update consisted of alternative narrative construction software, which is basically the danger of connecting the past and present. I wasn’t sure whether or not he was saying that this was good thing. The third update was about the archaeological experience design problem found with Indiana Jones. I found this very interesting, yet it’s an outdated concept. He said that the movies and books of Indiana Jones misrepresent what archeology is truly about. By demonstrating that Indiana Jones always knows what he has found and never has any questions, the writers are implying that archeology is a treasure hunt, which is untrue. 

The final update was about multiple significance software and,  frankly, I was pretty confused about what the “updated” part of this was.

[classicsaremeanttobereadalo-blog]

Formal Parthenon Reflection:

At the Nashville Parthenon on September 29th, I attended the first of a two-part lecture series. Listening to a lecture inside a full-sized replica of the Athenian Parthenon made focus quite difficult, but Joseph Rife’s fascinating account resulted in three pages of notes on the last blank pages of my copy of Philoctetes. 

The lecturer discussed his archeological excursion to “Roman Kempiai” (or Campreaí). His lecture centered around the religious implications of artifacts discovered around this coastal town; a Greek cup; Christian lamp; statues of three deities that protected the town’s harbor; lead tablets in cemeteries laden with curses meant for the living; a two-sided ring; and the Octagon. The ring in particular drew my attention. Made of blue glass, the ring’s opposite sides depicted the goddess Aphrodite and god Osiris. I asked the lecturer which side would have faced outward. He suspects that Aphrodite decorates the inside of the ring and Osiris the outer. I asked about the significance of this placement, and we speculated a bit. Unfortunately, Dr. Rife remarked, no concrete evidence indicates the use of this beautiful artifact, so speculation is the most his archeology team can do. 

After surmising the religions indicated by the artifacts, he concluded that traditional Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Christian beliefs thrived in this region, as well as the practice of magic. To have so many religions saturate one area reminds me of how small the world is. Movements overflow their regional cups and spill onto others to stain the soil in new places daily. 

The Parthenon embodies this phenomenon. I recognize the privilege of experiencing both the lecture and its setting.

[persephosydney]

Neil Silberman delivered a lecture at the Parthenon in Nashville on October 27, titled “Rebooting antiquity: How Holy Wars, Media Hype, and Digital Technologies are Changing the Face of 21st Century Archaeology”. His message was cleverly delivered in a format akin to a software update. He believes that archaeology is in need of four different updates, a “social context software” update that would include the answer to the classic question of “how today, in a world of changes and technological advances, do we relate to the past?” He also believes that archaeology is in need of an “Alternative narrative construction software update”, which would help explain to the community that single spaces and things can have multiple purposes, and cultural rights are politically legitimate. Next he believes in an update that would help archaeology develop past entertainment. Not everything that is found is valuable, recognizable, or inherently valuable to the public, but it may still have historical value or context. These things can have new meanings, because, “Archaeology is really not treasure” in Silberman’s eyes. Lastly, Silberman believes in a software update that would enhance and multiply the meaning behind archaeological finds. He questions where authenticity lies in objects and places uncovered by archaeological digs. From the lecture I gathered that a community’s heritage and values are important, and that the past is the raw material for the foundation of the future. Listening to this lecture given under the great statue of Athena in the Parthenon made me feel as though the information was so vastly important and grand. There is nothing like an echoing voice telling you to preserve history.