A Trip to Nashville

 John and I had a week free with no doctor's appointments or babysitting requires ( our daughter's family was in Florida).  We had to go somewhere, preferably south to see springtime in all of its glory. In St.Louis the redbud trees were starting to pop out, but that was all. We just had to see more than that, as well as some green- maybe trees with leaves. Winter can be so grey and we were so done with that! Nashville is not much further south than St.Louis, but we soon discovered that it had a bit more to offer in the way of springtime at this time of the year. Unfortunately, our first day in Nashville was overcast and a bit cool to our taste. But that was still okay as we were out and about, doing something different than our usual routine back home!  The weather did get better before we returned home!

In 1897 Nashville held a Centennial Exposition to celebrate Tennessee's first 100 years of statehood. At the close of the six month Exposition all of the buildings were dismantled except the Parthenon. Back in the time it was designed as a Fine Arts Building. In the 1920s its pediments were crumbling and the plaster decaying. The building was not made of any permanent materials. The city authorized the reconstruction of the building with permanent materials. It was to be a complete replica of the original Athenian temple,inside and out. What had been the basement of the old building became gallery space to exhibit fine art. The Nashville Parthenon reopened in 1931, and the city gained the nickname "Athens of the South".  It is a good distinction as there is no where else in the world a replica of the Parthenon. The title Athena Parthenon translates into "Temple of the Maiden".  In Greek mythology Athena, born from the head of her Father Zeus, inherited her Dad's power and wisdom. She is considered a goddess of wisdom and useful arts, as well as a protector of cities. In 438BCE Athena was the protector and patron of Athens Greece.

When we first entered the Nashville Parthenon we were on the lower level where there were exhibits detailing the history of the building, and also the Cowan Gallery of American Art. On the next level, in the East and West Galleries, we saw Athena. The modern copy of her was sculpted between 1982 and 1990 by Nashville artist Alan LeQuire. It is made of gypsum cement, reinforced with fiber glass on a steel frame and gilded with 8 pounds of gold. She stands 41'10" tall. The statue of Nike, goddess of victory, is in her right hand. She stands at 6'4" and has in her hand a laurel wreath with which she is preparing to crown Athena.  Nike is pictured below. Hard to believe that she is over 6' high!

One last picture here is that of the shield of Athena.

It is fifteen feet in diameter and is also awesome to see up close! On the exterior is a depiction of the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons. In the center of the shield is the grotesque head of Medusa, slain by Perseus with assistance from Athena. Perseus was so thankful for her help that he gave her the head to put on her shield as an additional defense weapon. Greek mythology is fascinating, I remember learning a little of the stories in my high school Latin classes.  We had a couple more interesting days in Nashville touring the Hermitage as well as the Cheekwood mansion and  gardens. More on them next!