Who Saved the Parthenon? : A new history of the Acropolis before, during and after the Greek Revolution / William St Clair.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

St Clair, William, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Antiquities.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 876 pages) : illustrations

Other Title:

Who Saved the Parthenon?

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK : Open Book Publishers, 2022.

Summary:

"In this magisterial book, William St Clair unfolds the history of the Parthenon throughout the modern era to the present day, with special emphasis on the period before, during, and after the Greek War of Independence of 1821 32. Focusing particularly on the question of who saved the Parthenon from destruction during this conflict, with the help of documents that shed a new light on this enduring question, he explores the contributions made by the Philhellenes, Ancient Athenians, Ottomans and the Great Powers. Marshalling a vast amount of primary evidence, much of it previously unexamined and published here for the first time, St Clair rigorously explores the multiple ways in which the Parthenon has served both as a cultural icon onto which meanings are projected and as a symbol of particular national, religious and racial identities, as well as how it illuminates larger questions about the uses of built heritage. This book has a companion volume with the classical Parthenon as its main focus, which offers new ways of recovering the monument and its meanings in ancient times." -- Publisher's description.

Contents:

Why another book? The place The people The encounter

Communities, real and imagined

The evidence

The new science and its enemies

Towards a practical theory of history

Romanticism and its rhetorics

The choices

The Siege of 1826 and 1827

The surrender

The last days of Ottoman Athens

The living

The dead

"The world had need of them"

The secret

The bargain

The silence

The stories

Which pasts, which futures?

Still a dark heritage

Whose Parthenon?

The Parthenon in our time

Heritage

Appendix A: The Firman obtained by Lord Elgin in 1801 and related documents

Appendix B: The Firman of 1821

Appendix C: The intercepted letters of the Ottoman military commander (Seraskier) Reşid Mehmed Pasha, often Known as Kiutahi or Reschid

Appendix D: The Firman of 1826 and other primary documents relating to the preservation of the ancient monuments of Athens issued by the Ottoman government

Appendix E: Primary contemporary documents recording the views of those who opposed the Greek Revolution

Appendix F: Four local descriptions of Athens from the long millennium.

Notes:

Description based on: online resource; title from PDF information screen (directory.doabooks.org, viewed May 16, 2023).

Includes bibliographical references and index.