The Parthenon is a beautiful building where every statue, every column is an expression of a civilization whose values still speak to us. At a time when other countries were ruled by godlike emperors, ordinary Athenian citizens voted to build the Parthenon.
The Parthenon tells the story of the rise of Athens—from the religion that nurtured it, through the wars that tested it, to the democracy that ennobled it, culminating in the great temple on the Acropolis. To see the Parthenon is to see the height of Athenian culture, and the roots of our own.
"The author leaves readers buzzed about one of the great works of architecture."—Booklist