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| A sample of my photography. |
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| This is me, almost at the top of Y Mountain! |
Sometimes I wonder how people were able to live in ancient Greece. Sure, there was a functioning society, your life tended to not be in immediate danger, and there was success to work towards. But I mean live it up! I'm specifically referring to the ability to capture special moments in someone's life. Forgetting about cameras for a minute, even just trying to crudely sketch something like when your little boy Paxton scored his first goal in the Greek version of Hockey would have been difficult. The reason for this is art supplies were expensive and hard to find because of the pains of making papers during this time in history. (Learn more about Greek culture
here.)
Athens was the Greek city that centered itself the most around the Arts and Sparta was the city that cared more about military might. If I had to choose a city to live in I definitely would choose Athens. I love nature and allowing myself to be surrounded by it, and as a result I could call myself an amateur nature photographer. Athens would be my best shot at still creating the art I love to create without my trusty camera.
I wonder if they had a different means of remembering certain events in lieu of actual physical representations. Interesting point about the cities too, how they were so focused in one area.
ReplyDeleteI think we can all relate to the pains of making papers and the expense of materials. :P Joking aside, the age we live in solves almost every problem our ancestors faced when it comes to keeping a detailed record of day to day life, but the sheer amount of blogs and Instagram accounts from our generation pose a new dilemma: Does anything we create actually matter? The Iliad is partially so celebrated because it's the only record we have of the Trojan War. We cherish the remnants of love letters written in the early A.D.'s. However, without more extreme effort, it's likely that our own blog posts on comments on this page will be lost amidst the seemingly endless bytes of data that will be available to our descendants.
ReplyDeleteI suppose when you don't have the luxury of a camera, memories must be recalled through other mediums like written or spoken word. Still, we shouldn't underestimate the human mind--it's a powerful thing! We may surprise ourselves by how many sensations and views we really can remember.
ReplyDeleteBut hey, if you were interested in visiting Athens, I am sure your tourist dollars would be greatly welcomed right now after the default. (Too soon?)