Photos from the Nashville Parthenon

Laurelei & I just got back from a Caribbean cruise vacation, and on the way driving down to the port of Miami we decided to make a stop at the Nashville Parthenon. Here are some of the highlights.
Laurelei & I outside of the Parthenon.

The glorious 40 foot statue of Athena Parthenos. To give an idea of size, that statue of Nike in her palm is six feet tall.

Detail of the shield.


The interior of Athena's shield. Notice the figure of her near the handle, with her owl, overlooking Heracles.

Erecthonious gazes from a safe place behind his step-mother's shield.

Replica of the western pediment Parthenon marble of Athena.

Zeus watches as Nike presents Athena with laurels.

Detail of Nike and Athena.

Athena battles Poseidon.

The entire vacation was stupendous. I will share more about it soon. Hail, Athena!

Greater Dionysia

We are well into the City, or Greater, Dionysia festival, Elephbolion 10 -17. It is an annual festival celebrating the coming of spring and honoring the God Dionysus.

Like most Greek festivals the City Dionysia began with a pompe, a kind of parade. The pompe featured a large phallus and the carrying of wine mixed with water. The pompe ended at the theater. Bulls were sacrificed at the theater, and a city wide feast of the meat was held. After the feast a second less formal parade through the street took place, the komos, which resembled a drunken revelry more than a stately pompe.

The following day a goat was sacrificed at the theater and a series of tragic plays were performed as a competition. It is thought that the word "tragedy" comes from the Greek for "goat song".

Wikipedia states:

Dionysus was often seen as the god of everything uncivilized, of the innate wildness of humanity that the Athenians had tried to control. The Dionysia was probably a time to let out their inhibitions through highly emotional tragedies or irreverent comedies. During the pompe there was also an element of role-reversal - lower-class citizens could mock and jeer the upper classes, or women could insult their male relatives...

The plays themselves could highlight ideas that would not normally be spoken or shared in everyday life. Aeschylus' The Persians, for example, while patriotic to Athens, showed sympathy towards the Persians, which may have been politically unwise under normal circumstances. The parodies of Aristophanes mocked the politicians and other celebrities of Athens, even going so far as producing his anti-war play Lysistrata at the height of the Peloponnesian War. The circumstances of the Dionysia allowed him to get away with criticisms he would not normally be allowed to voice.

In tribute to Dionysus, here is a photo of myself, wine-soaked and vine-crowned, at a Dionysian festival last year. I'm so pleased that the Greater Dionysia is upon us. Spring is here in full force, and camping festival season is coming quickly. I've put my maenad crown aside for the winter, and am looking forward to donning it again soon!

Athena Shrine Photos

These are from our old apartment. We have new-and-improved shrines at our new residence. I'll try to get some new photos up shortly.

The shrine features an iron Spartan Cyclic-influenced statue of Athena from Basil Street Galleries which I like because it displays Athena with wings, her owl and a crescent moon, all of which are older symbols of this Goddess. At her feet is a hand-sculpted Gorgon head that I made to honor her Aegis and her relationship to the dark serpentine energy of Medusa. To the right is a goblet filled with red roses, owl feathers and prayer scrolls filled with hymns to Athena. I hope to replace the roses with olive branches eventually. Also to the right is an owl's skull, which was a gift from a dear friend. Behind that is a large holed stone. At her feet is a bronze oil lamp embossed with owls that I picked up at the Nashville Parthenon gift shop. The lamp is lit with prayers to Hestia and is filled with olive oil. Beside it is a small skein of undyed wool -- as Athena is the weaver's Goddess -- and an ancient silver tetradrachm which depicts Athena's profile on one side and her little owl on the reverse, a gift from Laurelei. To the icon's is a black-feathered replica of an Athene Noctua owl, the owl depicted on her coins. I like the symbolism of the black feathers, as Athena has some very dark (almost chthonic) roots. Behind everything is a painting of Athena I did in acrylics.