IF YOU CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE GREAT PYRAMID, WHAT WILL YOU SEE TO...

8. If you climb to the top of the Great Pyramid, what will you see to the west?

a. smaller pyramids

b. the Sphinx

c. Libyan Desert

d. modern city of Cairo

The early Greeks used to build parts of their cities on hills. Hills were easy to defend against

the enemy. The Greeks called this kind of hill-city an Akropolis. The name means “high city”. The

most acropolis is in Athens.

If you stand on the Akropolis of Athens, you can see the modern city below you and the blue

Mediterranean not far away. On the Akropolis itself you can see the ruins of some of the most

beautiful buildings in the world.

The Greeks originally build the Akropolis for protection from the enemy. But gradually they

began to use it for religious purposes. On the Akropolis they began to build temples of white marble to

their gods and goddesses. On the temples and in the temples there is some of the finest sculpture and

carving of all time. There were temples on the Akropolis before 500 BC, but many of them were

destroyed in wars with the Persians. Most of the remaining temples were built during the Golden Age

of Athens, about 450 BC. During that time Pericles was the best known ruler of Athens.

The most impressive building on the Akropolis is the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a temple of

white marble. Its beautiful pillars support a heavy marble roof. Inside, there once was a great gold and

ivory statue of the goddess Athena. Athena was the goddess of wisdom. To the Greeks of ancient

Athens wisdom was very important, and they honored it highly. During the Golden Age the ceiling of

the Parthenon was painted red, gold, and blue. The tops of the pillars were painted red, and the

building was decorated with beautiful marble statues of Greek gods and goddesses.

The Parthenon has suffered from war, storms, and the wear of time. The Turks ruled Greece in

the seventeenth century and used the Parthenon to store gunpowder. When the Venetian army attacked

the city of Athens, a shell hit the temple and the powder exploded. This explosion destroyed the center

of the Parthenon and ruined the building. Today most of the marble statues are gone. Many of the

marble pillars lie about on the ground, and the great marble roof has fallen.

The Greek government has rebuilt part of the great temple. At night white and colored lights

shine on the marble ruins, and the words of Pericles come from microphones on the Akropolis.

Sometimes the words are in Greek, and sometimes they are French and English. If you watch the

lights on the marble ruins and listen to the words of Pericles, you can almost believe that you are

living in Athens during the Golden Age.