Nikky Nemzer  Walking tour of Athens Scrap Book    

THE PARTHENON Parthenon was built between 447 BC and 438 BC in honor of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens. It was built by orders of Pericles, a powerful Greek politician to celebrate the end of Athens war with Persia. It is111 feet wide and 228 feet long. The Parthenon in Athens is considered to be the finest example of Doric-style construction. This is me posing by the statue of the Goddess Athena, designed by Phidias, a famous sculptor. In the Pantheon, a statue in her honor stands 35 feet tall, made out of gold and ivory. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill

THE AGORA Farmers in Athens could only grow olives., so there was a lot of trading going on. There was linen from Egypt, ivory from North Africa, spices from Syria, and dates from Phoenicia. Me shopping for Egyptian linen for my new chiton or tunic. Souvenir shopping at Agora to bring some keepsakes home. In Athens women shopped with a male relative or slave. Only very poor women would shop in the markets alone. The central shopping area of a city was called the agora. Athens had a large open area where local merchants could set up displays and sell their products. Athens used a currency known as the drachma. The rich carried their money in purses, while the poor kept coins in their mouths. A coin that I brought back, that shows Pegasus, on one side and Athena wearing a helmet.

Wealthy Household Wealthy house is a building inclosing a rectangular court, aka Andronitis (the Court of the Men),. The rooms get their light from this court, while they are quite shut off from the world outside. A wife of the house master ran the household and took care of children with the help of many slaves. Here I am welcoming you into a household that I run. Wealthy households are surprisingly simple in their furnishings. The accumulation of heavy furniture or wall decorations was considered offensive to an Athenian—contradicting the ideas of harmony and "moderation." It was believed that one should "marry only your equal in fortune.“Marriages were arranged and often bride and groom never saw each other before the wedding. Women married at age of 14-16, men at age of I was invited to a wealthy Greek Wedding and saved a wedding invitation with a small painting of bride and groom.

Drama The play that I watched was by a famous play write Sophocles. It was a very popular comedy and all 15,000 seats were filled. Even prisoners were released from jail temporarily, so they could also attend. I visited theater of Dionysus ( god of harvest and wine). Here I am standing before the play started. I was glad I got to see a comedy with good humor and happy ending. I do not enjoy tragedies were the main hero is suffering.

Education I noticed Athenian boys started school at 7 years old, and stayed until they were about 14, but Athens girls never went to school. They were educated in housekeeping and how to look after the family. So I was the only girl at the Academy. At school in the mornings we learned to read write and do simple math. We also Homer’s poetry by heart. In the afternoon we practiced sports at wrestling schools. At the age of 14, children of rich Athenians went to the Assembly, the market place and the gymnasium to watch, listen to and learn from the older men. Aside from being a girl, I was too young to attend. Here I am taking a writing lesson. I am using wax- covered board with a stylus to carve out letters in the wax. I brought the wax-covered board that I used to learn to write Greek