Book description
Athens is an historical anomaly. Excavations date its first settlement
to over seven thousand years ago, yet it only became the capital of
Greece in 1834. During the intervening centuries it was occupied by
almost every mobile culture in Europe: from its earliest likely
settlers, tribes from what is now Albania, to Nazi forces during the
second World War, and in between by successive waves of Persians,
Macedonians, Romans, Slavs, Goths, Venetians, French, Catalans, Turks,
Italians, Bulgarians and the clans of various kings and tyrants of the
region's early city-states. There has been a structure on its 'high
city', the acropolis, since at least the bronze age, although it was
subsequently altered by successive occupiers, becoming a fort, castle,
temple, mosque, church and even a harem. its 'Golden age' peaked in the
fifth century BCE, with the great building projects of Pericles and
Themistocles, and its later history is one of a city already nostalgic
for its past, although at a time when other European cities had yet to
begin constructing a past. Its standing as the birthplace of democracy
and western civilisation, while based in fact, is largely a romantic
fantasy dreamt up by nineteenth-century north European artists and
intellectuals: democracy has a checkered history in Athens, and 'western
civilisation' was an amalgam of many cultures. The city now is a jigsaw
of pieces from its past, where you can still walk along streets laid by
Romans and Ottoman Turks, and where the city's population is almost
constantly refreshed by newer waves of arrivals. John Gill's cultural
guide explores the origins, development and contemporary face of Athens,
offering an accessible analysis of its social history, architecture and
representation in painting, literature and film. Looking at the role of
religion, migration and popular culture, its in-depth coverage of the
city, past and present, goes beyond conventional guidebooks to provide a
fresh insight into its living identity. Athens is an historical
anomaly. Excavations date its first settlement to over seven thousand
years ago, yet it only became the capital of Greece in 1834. During the
intervening centuries it was occupied by almost every mobile culture in
Europe: from its earliest likely settlers, tribes from what is now
Albania, to Nazi forces during the second World War, and in between by
successive waves of Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Slavs, Goths,
Venetians, French, Catalans, Turks, Italians, Bulgarians and the clans
of various kings and tyrants of the region's early city-states. There
has been a structure on its 'high city', the acropolis, since at least
the bronze age, although it was subsequently altered by successive
occupiers, becoming a fort, castle, temple, mosque, church and even a
harem. its 'Golden age' peaked in the fifth century BCE, with the great
building projects of Pericles and Themistocles, and its later history is
one of a city already nostalgic for its past, although at a time when
other European cities had yet to begin constructing a past. Its standing
as the birthplace of democracy and western civilisation, while based in
fact, is largely a romantic fantasy dreamt up by nineteenth-century
north European artists and intellectuals: democracy has a checkered
history in Athens, and 'western civilisation' was an amalgam of many
cultures. The city now is a jigsaw of pieces from its past, where you
can still walk along streets laid by Romans and Ottoman Turks, and where
the city's population is almost constantly refreshed by newer waves of
arrivals. John Gill's cultural guide explores the origins, development
and contemporary face of Athens, offering an accessible analysis of its
social history, architecture and representation in painting, literature
and film. Looking at the role of religion, migration and popular
culture, its in-depth coverage of the city, past and present, goes
beyond conventional guidebooks to provide a fresh insight into its
living identity.
