Living Ruins, Value Conflicts

The temples of the Athenian acropolis, fundamental to the ideology of both the modern Greek nation and western culture as a whole, stand at a crossing point of ideas on the conservation and restoration of historic monuments. This wide-ranging, critical, and up-to-date account of changing ideals and practices focuses on a period of major work on the monuments and their surroundings. J.J. Coulton, formerly University of Oxford, UK Using the classical Greek legacy of monuments and ruins by way of illustration, this book examines them as symbolic, ideological, geographical, aesthetic and social phenomena, while also discussing the importance of Greek classical iconography for the Western world. Using the classical Greek legacy of monuments and ruins by way of illustration, this book examines the symbolic, ideological, geographical and aesthetic importance of Greek classical iconography for the Western world. It presents the complex historical process of monument restoration and enhancement and analyses the nexus of changing perceptions, aesthetic visions and formal principles over the past two centuries, which originated in the European space. The book examines how classical Greek monuments are simultaneously perceived as sublime national symbols and as a mythological and archetypal reference against which Western modernism is measured, investigating the dialogue this double identity leads to, as well as frequent clashes between ancient but also later monuments and their modern urban or regional environment. Constant themes running through the book are the ways in which archaeology and monumentality affect modern life, the modern aesthetic, our notions of nationhood, of place, of self and the limits and possibilities for national development imposed by the need to ensure ruins are kept 'alive'. Contents: Preface;Introduction; Ancient Greece for modern Greece and the Western world; Part 1: The social construction of monumentality: ancient monuments and the monumental in space; The aesthetics of protection of ancient architectural heritage; Landscaping of archaeological spaces. Part 2: The organization of ancient heritage protection in Greece; The Central Archaeological Council; The Acropolis of Athens and its immediate environment; Conclusions; Index. About the Author: Dr Argyro Loukaki is Associate Professor in the Department of Hellenic Culture, Open University, Greece and an architect in the Archaeological Service of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Greece.