A Talking Picture Page #3

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You have a lovely little girl.

If I can help in any way,

I'm at your service.

Excuse my boldness,

but when I saw you,

I just had to speak to you.

Don't stand on ceremony.

Please speak.

This is the first time

I've met an Orthodox priest.

We are Roman Catholics.

I teach history at Lisbon University,

and I was trying

to explain to my daughter

what the Acropolis is.

You did well to ask me.

I'm at your disposal

for whatever you may need.

That's very kind of you.

The Acropolis is a real treasure.

Someone once said,

"Never have my eyes seen

such a glorious sight

as this little mount. "

I'm sure anyone who comes here

would say the same.

But as you are probably aware,

the most important monument

in Greece

is the Parthenon over there.

Inside stood

a colossal ivory statue of Athena

draped in gold robes.

It was 33 feet high.

Athena is the goddess of wisdom,

the goddess you Latins call Minerva.

The statue was enormous,

and legend has it

that it was taller than the temple

and could be seen

from no matter

where you stood in the city.

That must have made

the citizens feel protected.

Exactly.

Even more so

because in Greek mythology,

Athena conquered Poseidon

and is now

the patron saint of the city.

What happened to that statue?

Which statue?

The statue of the legend disappeared,

and nobody ever heard of it again.

But the original statue was removed

at the same time

as another even larger statue

cast in bronze,

which was situated

between the great portal

and the Temple of Erechtheum.

In the fifth century AD,

both were taken to Constantinople.

During the reign of

the Christian emperor Theodosius?

Exactly.

- I can see I'm talking to a history teacher.

- What are you saying, Mommy?

We're talking about the statue

of the goddess Athena.

- Was there really such a goddess?

- No, just a statue - actually, two.

But they disappeared, or rather

they were taken to Constantinople.

Can you steal a goddess?

No. You can't steal a goddess.

What was stolen was the statue

that represented

the patron saint of the city.

So was the city left unprotected?

No, darling.

It's the Greeks who protect Greece.

The story of the statue is an ancient

legend that was lost in the mists of time

once the city became

prosperous and rich.

- These are the ruins of those times.

- And what about that one?

What's that one over there?

That's the Temple of Erechtheum

where Poseidon and "Athina"

were worshipped.

Excuse me if I say "Athina. "

That's Greek for Athena, isn't it?

Exactly.

It's the Greek name for Athena.

The name we give

to the goddess of wisdom.

The wisdom of the philosophers,

playwrights, poets and musicians -

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