inside the temple. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches the parthenon was the most decorated monument of its time, celebrated as an important milestone in the history of world art. but looking at it only from the perspective of artistic value misses an important point, namely the deeper meaning of the iconography of the two sets of sculptural reliefs on the outside and the inside of the colonnade adorning the temple. this iconography includes ordinary athenian citizens, shown in the continuous frieze, juxtaposed with the stories that adorn its 92 metopes, depicting fights against the gigantes or mythical giants, against the half - human, halfhorse centaurs, as well as the amazons and the trojans. these stories had been very popular in greece since the archaic period, but they are given a new dimension here. created only one generation after the sack of athens by the invading persian army, followed by the eventual victory of democratic athens over the might of the persian king, these images were allegories of the conflict between liberty and democracy on the one hand, and autocracy on the other, and of the victory of the former over the latter. so, you see, the parthenon is not just a miracle of architectural harmony ; it is also a symbol of the resilience and eventual victory of democratic institutions, and of a form of government based on the will of the people, over the absolute power of an authoritarian ruler. the essence of this unity between the spirit of democracy and the flourishing of creativity, manifested in the parthenon, was revisited again and again in later centuries. the rediscovery of classical civilisation, preserved in the monastic traditions of eastern and western christianity in medieval times, was rekindled in italy as early as in the 13th century, with the poetry of dante and the paintings of giotto, and culminated in the renaissance, when an erudition leading to the concept of homo universalis was pursued. the renaissance, which spanned over the 15th and the 16th centuries, was intellectually based on a version of humanism derived from the roman concept of humanitas, but also on a rediscovery of classical greek philosophy, including protagoras'famous statement that " man is the measure of all things ", 1 essentially reestablishing the human at the centre of the cosmos. this new way of thinking introduced by the renaissance affected art, architecture, politics

, science and literature, and inspired magnificent progress in all these areas. it was a way of thinking that emanated from a renewed interest in the art and values of classical antiquity, as well as from a drive to understand the world and change it. it was in such a context that there emerged the scientific revolution, and the works of francis bacon and john locke, among others. the renaissance also sowed the seeds for the upcoming movements of neoclassicism and, of course, the enlightenment. neoclassicism was born in rome in the 18th century, after the discovery of pompeii and herculaneum, but its popularity spread all over europe, as a generation of europeans, who visited italy as part of their grand tour, returned home with newly refound greco - roman ideals. the primary neoclassical belief was that art should express the ideal virtues in life, which were aligned with ancient greek ideas, such as purity and simplicity of form, decorum, verisimilitude or realism, and should serve a purpose. art was also seen as 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches capable of improving the viewer by imparting a moralising message that resonated with these ancient ideas. neoclassicism in its most part coincided with the enlightenment, which centred around ideas such as the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and also ideals such as natural law, liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, etc. of course, our world today is very different from that of the golden age of athenian democracy. however, important dimensions of the bond that unites us, as europeans, harken back to ideas and developments which first emerged, albeit in fledgling form, in the streets, groves and civic meeting places surrounding the acropolis of athens. so, as europeans today, we believe in democracy, we strive for science and knowledge, we have faith in human accomplishment, we admire beauty, we go after excellence. certainly, our contemporary european values have also been enriched with fresh ideas, new trends and norms. the contemporary world has been shaped by multiple revolutions and long processes of evolution, producing often disruptive, but mostly positive, change which could not have been imaginable in 5th - century athens. this is not to say that there aren't other aspects, emerging from ancient greece, that could serve as points of inspiration today. the victory after the naval