NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In one of our scrapbooks is a picture from 1972 of our then-teenage daughters, Jerilyn and Debra, hiking up the hill of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, toward the Parthenon at its crest. Although we could admire the remnants of the building that is the epitome of Greek culture, in some ways we found the Parthenon a sad sight, with rubble lying on all sides.
Imagine our surprise in December when we visited in Nashville�s Centennial Park the world�s only full-scale replica of the Parthenon as it was in its days of full glory, beginning in 456 B.C. before time, wars, vandalism and foreign "appropriations" had taken its toll.
Why is the Parthenon in Nashville? In keeping with its reputation as the Athens of the South, the city built a temporary replica of the Parthenon in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. The builders got permission to make plaster replicas of the Elgin Marbles, which were displayed along the sides of the interior. The building was so popular it was left standing. When it began to show its age, the city rebuilt a complete permanent replica that was opened in 1931. As marble is extremely expensive, it was built principally of reinforced concrete. Later renovations included unveiling a nearly 43-foot statue in 1990 of Athena, a replica of the original statue inside the Parthenon.
In 1687, the Parthenon was the victim of a gunpowder explosion when the Turks were using it as a munitions dump. A shell launched by the attacking Venetians made a direct hit. Before that incident, the Parthenon was in excellent condition because of the quality of the original construction.
Because they felt the Greeks could not take proper care of them, the British removed the elaborate friezes to the British Museum in London in 1801 and renamed them the Elgin Marbles after the Brit who sought to save them. We have viewed the Elgin Marbles several times, and they are beautiful.
The Greeks would dearly love to get them back, but if the British complied, that might start a run on other exhibits from other countries, which would not leave much for the Brits to display because many of the other exhibits in the British Museum also could be considered to be in protective custody.
Despite the extensive damage, the Parthenon is still listed as No. 21 on Hillman�s 100 top wonders of the world. It is a 2,400-year-old symbol of the Greek civilization that has had such a major influence on our Western culture. In addition, it was a Christian church for more than 1,000 years and a Muslim mosque for more than 200 years.
Inside the Nashville Parthenon are small replicas of the east and west pediments as they would have appeared in ancient times. The east pediment focuses on the birth of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who sprang full-grown in a suit of armor from a cleft in the skull of Zeus. According to Wilbur Creighton, author of "The Parthenon in Nashville," this myth reflects the idea that "wisdom is the one creation, or �child,� of man that springs, full grown, from the head."
Athena was also the goddess of useful arts and of defense and the arts of peace. In the west pediment, she is shown ready to battle Poseidon, the god of the sea, to determine who shall become the patron god of the city. As her gifts related to the olive tree were used daily and were the leading exports, they were considered more valuable, and the city took her name.
The original statue of Athena inside the Parthenon disappeared in ancient times, but small models and pictures on coins existed. This allowed the sculptor Alan LeQuire over a period of seven years to re-create Athena. Unveiled in 1990 and gilded in 2002 with 8 pounds of gold, she stands in all her grandeur just as she did in the fifth century, the largest indoor statue in the world.
Her 15-foot shield is also covered in gold leaf. In her right hand, she holds a statue of a winged Victory, which is 6 feet 4 inches tall. This is as close to what Plato, Socrates and Aristotle saw as we can expect to see.
A small, excellent art museum has been set up in the basement area. A short film explains the innovations incorporated in the original building and the reason it was considered such a step forward in construction. For example, it took creativity and mathematical skill to construct and space columns so that they would appear uniform to the naked eye.
Sixpoint Brewery of Brooklyn, New York, produces a long line of canned craft beers. Global Warmer is a 2013 release, labeled as a “winter warmer” style beer. In their blog post about it, Sixpoint wanted to show that you could follow the prevailing trend of cramming a lot of hops into every beer style.
The beer pours a cloudy reddish brown color with a coarse white head that leaves behind sheet-like lacing.
The flavor follows the aroma to the letter. It’s like drinking a glass of concentrated grapefruit juice into which a Christmas tree has been steeped for two or three months. It’s bitter and unpleasant. To call it a winter warmer is to insult all other winter warmers. The only thing that warmed my heart about this beer was that I bought only a five-ounce sample. It warmed my heart to know that once that sample was gone, I’d never have to drink this beer ever again.
The Beer Advocate folks gave it an 88 or “very good” rating with over 130 reviews. Rate Beer gives it an 84 overall. For me, this is just not what I want, expect, or like in a winter warmer, so it gets a 3 out of 10.
I sampled it at The Daily Growler in Upper Arlington, but I’ve seen Sixpoint’s products at various local retailers in Columbus.