Today on Li360 there’s a sense of history in the air… Or rather, we’re flying above it. We’re once again enjoying the company of the BBC’s 360 degree team who are continuing their look at historic buildings.
This time however the team have moved out of London, and the gems hidden behind closed doors to Athens. Capital of Greece and home to a remarkable number of locations showing the wonder and splendour of the country’s ancient heyday. A time of gods and monsters, legends and heroes. Ancient Greece has fascinated me ever since I first studied it briefly as part of my late primary school history class before it was taken slightly more seriously in secondary school as we really sunk our teeth into the stories behind the myths.
There is perhaps one building that symbolises both the city and the time more than any other – the famed Acropolis of Athens and more specifically the Parthenon. A white marble temple, it was dedicated to worship of Athena who was also known as Athene and would later become the Roman goddess Minerva when the pantheon was ‘adopted’ so to speak. Commonly symbolised by an owl, Athena was goddess of many spheres of influence most notably wisdom and war. But specifically, also courage, strategy and strategic warfare, as well as inspiration, civilisation, law and/or justice, mathematics, strength, arts and crafts and also skill.
The Parthenon itself is actually newer (if you can really call a period BC as ‘new’) than the other buildings around it, built after the other buildings were damaged in a raid by the Persians. I’ll let the BBC tell you more.
“Fly above the Acropolis – a sacred hill in the heart of Athens with the Parthenon on its peak. Beside it is a smaller temple known as the Erechtheion. It’s named after Erechtheus, a mythical king of Athens. The ancients believed that the Gods Athena and Poseidon once walked here.
Step inside and you can find out how it was specially designed to preserve the sacred mythology of Athens. The Erechtheion is an enduring monument to the ancient history of this extraordinary city.”
You can watch the video below. We’ll be back on Friday with another Life In 360° at the usual time here on VRFocus.