Unconscious discord: The battle between modern Greece and its ideal in the mind
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history 1789 to present
presentation
published 07/07/2008
review : Completed
level : Advanced
requested 0 times
In the 18th and 19th centuries, many men from the West journeyed to Greece, trading in their comfortable existences in Europe and America for exciting adventures where many risked their lives in the face of pirates, brigands, and plague; and for some of these men, traveling to Greece was by far the boldest undertaking in their lives (Constantine 6). They went to see with their own eyes the land which they had heard so much of in school, the educational system of that time being a very classical one, rich in the mythology, legend, art, and ancient history of Greece (Andersen xiv). This vision of antiquity they were fed created within the minds of these educated men a certain Greek Ideal or Idea, that is, a conceiving of Greece as a pure greatness or perfection (McNeal 1). They came to associate Plato, Homer, Theseus, and the rest of those famous names with a kind of magic quality, placing in such Ancients admirable attributes and values which they longed for in their own time (Constantine 6). And with this Ideal in mind the neoclassical man was enchanted, and eagerly accepted the risk of traveling to Greece, being sure to write down everything he witnessed along the way (McNeal, 1).
Table of Contents
- 'Greece seemed to be known ground' for Andersen.
- Andersen's conclusive thoughts greatly opposed those of Biddle.
- Why would both Biddle and Andersen leave Greece with such different perspectives?
- From the cases of these men some insight may be gained.
