Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Parthenon

We are currently on vacation and stopped by in Nashville last weekend for some sight seeing (ie: school field trip) before travelling on to our destination. We have been studying Ancient Greece in our Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Unit 3 and I was thrilled to find a scale model of the original Parthenon in Centennial Park in Nashville. It was the perfect field trip to go along with our studies.

Notice how huge this building is.





Here is daddy and the children on the front steps of the Parthenon.


The children are standing in front of the huge iron doors of this temple, that originally housed the goddess Athena in Athens, Greece. It was one of the many buildings in the area of the Acropolis in Greece.

Notice how HUGE these pillars. The children could not even go half way around using themselves as a chain. They were quick to tell me that these were doric columns. There was a very interesting film in the museum that told all about how the structure was built. Oldest son was especially interested in this as he has been very curious about ancient architecture.

Here is a guilded duplicate of the false goddess Athena. This was what was beyond those huge doors. She was the height of those doors as well. As the children turned the corner and got their first glimpses of her they commented, 'No wonder they wanted to worship her'. Her sheer size was overwhelming. I too was in awe.
This a photo of the serpent that was wrapped around her and the shield as she was the goddess of war and protection.
As we arrived back at our hotel, we discussed the awesomeness of her as well as how much more great that God of heaven is. We read from Acts where Paul addressed the greek people that were such prevelant worshippers of her.
"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things...therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising"
Acts 17:24-34 NKJV

Have a blessed day, Suzie


4 comments:

Molly said...

We visited this several years ago when the kids were younger. Now that we are on TOG Y1, I am hoping we can go again this year. It's doubtful with gas prices being so high....but one can always dream, right? Thanks for posting the pictures!
Blessings,
Molly

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad I found your blog. We enjoyed meeting your lovely family at the Buffalo Park. Sydney said that Naomi was so nice and fun.
May the good Lord bless you,
Heather, Sydney, Joseph, and Zoey

Lepidoptera said...

We are planning to visit the Parthenon in April as part of our TOG Y1 studies. I am so glad that you posted these pictures and told about the film. I am sure that we will talk to the children about the Lord when we make that trip too and appreciate the Bible verses that you shared.

Cara R. said...

As soon as I saw the title of this post, I thought: "I wonder if they have been to the Parthenon in Nashville...." LOL! Robert & September have been there, but I have not (even though I am in Nashville every year in July). My parents live an hour away!