Sydney’s Corner: All About the Acropolis

Have you ever wanted to see the Acropolis in Greece?  If you have not been there you might want to know a little about it.  The Acropolis is in Athens, Greece.  The Acropolis means hill in Greek.  The Parthenon is on top of the Acropolis.  The Parthenon took 10 years to build.  It had lots of statues on the building at one point.  In the middle of the Parthenon was a 40-foot tall statue of Athena.  The giant Athena was made out of ivory and gold.

I bet you wondering if I was at the Acropolis.  The answer is yes I was.  I thought the Acropolis was okay.  For me it was kind of boring.  To me it was just this giant old building.

Did you know this?  Athena is the patron goddess of Athens.  She was born with no mother.  Here is how she was born.  Zeus was having a major headache.  The worse headache you could ever have.  He called in Hephaestus, the god of craftsmen and fire.  Hephaestus took a hammer and nail and split open Zeus’ head.  Out jumped Athena full grown and in armor holding a spear.

Athena is one of the youngest goddesses. She is the goddess of wisdom, war, and weaving. Athena invented the flute, the plow, the yoke, and the rake. She also taught woman to sew and to weave. So Athena was also very helpful. In war she was better then Ares, the god of war.

Here is the story of how Athena became the patron goddess of Athens. When a god or goddess grows up he or she can be a goddess or god of a city.  Athena and Poseidon, god of the sea, both wanted to be the patron of Athens. The people of Athens decided that the god or goddess with the most useful gift would be the patron of the city. Poseidon produced water. The Athenians thought that Poseidon would win. But when they tasted the water it was salt water.  Athena produced an olive tree. The people of Athens decided that Athena would be the patron goddess, because you can use the olive tree for wood, oil, and food.

Facts about the Acropolis

• The Parthenon columns are Doric
• Part of the statues of the Parthenon are in the British Museum and the Acropolis Museum.
• In 1816, Lord Elgin put the statues in the British museum. When the women saw the statues they were shocked by the naked men statues.
• The Acropolis was a treasure storage not a temple.
• At one point the Parthenon was a church and a mosque.
• The Acropolis was once painted with bright colors

Now you know all about the Acropolis.