That's right. I couldn't believe it when someone told me. It was built for the Tennessee Centenial Exhibition in 1897 and is now an art museum.
It's impressive from the outside, but more so inside. As you enter, there's a full-scale, gold-plated replica of Athena looming before awe-struck visitors. It's massive and shimmering, transporting you immediately to serious, stately cities of Europe and certainly seems a world apart from the banjo-pluckin', fried chicken-munchin', Whiskey-swillin' culture of Tennessee...
I think Nashville is pretty proud to have one-upped the Greeks by actually building a complete Parthenon, and not left it as a few crumbling pillars on a hill. The way they talk about it, you'd think Aristotle was a cotton-picker.
2 comments:
Well dear daughter, had you paid even the slightest bit of attention when we took you to see Robert Altman's tour de force, "Nashville" you would have remembered that this greco landmark was significantly featured thoughout this masterpiece. Once again I feel the cultural film education I attempted to give you was like pearls before swine ;) I hope you will now remember Robert Altman as worthy of inclusion in the Pantheon of filmakers. C U soon
well, dear father, if you'd have ever have taken even the slightest of interest in my childhood or adolescence, you'd have remembered what an immature and irritating teenager I was when you took us to see 'Nashville'... and as such, I silently raged against seeing the film, not appreciating its mastery and influence until much (much) later.
see you soon indeed!!
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