Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-06-19

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Tour of the permanent collections of the New Acropolis Museum

[02] Let cool-headedness prevail

[03] ASE opening : Rise

[04] Athens Newspaper Headlines

[01] Tour of the permanent collections of the New Acropolis Museum

THE PARTHENON

Once the Sacred Rock had been cleared of the ruins left behind from the Persian Wars, the Athenians quickly repaired the ruined temple of Athena Poliados and continued their worship. A new temple was not built on the Acropolis until the middle of the 5th century BC. At that time, Pericles launched a new construction program. He assigned the direction of all work on the Parthenon to the sculptor Pheidias and the program began in 447 BC. The temple, dedicated to the Athena Parthenos, was constructed in 15 years and was the collaborative work of a large number of architects, sculptors, painters and others.

The Monument

The 92 metopes were the first of the sculptural decoration to be made for the Temple. They were carved on the ground by different teams of sculptors and stone-cutters, who undertook the work in separate teams. Among them were also metics, (resident aliens), who had come to Athens mainly from the Aegean islands. This explains the slight differences of style in the metopes.

On the metopes of the Parthenon there are four main themes, known from the sculptures of many other Greek temples, as well as from various other works of art. The themes are connected with The Contest, the struggle between two adversaries, whoever they may be. This expression of The Contest is unsurpassed and stands as a symbol of the eternal fight between the opposing and counterpoised forces in nature, in human society and in the human soul.

The Pediments

The pediments, the triangular spaces formed by the horizontal and raking cornices of the roof at each end of the Temple, were the last parts of the building to receive sculptural decoration (437-432 BC). They comprised colossal statues in the round and the themes were drawn from Attic mythology.

The East pediment above the Temple entrance depicted the birth of the Goddess Athena from the head of her father, Zeus, in the presence of the Olympic gods. The West pediment illustrates the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the claim of the land of Attica, a legendary fight that resulted in Athena's victory.

The Frieze

[02] Let cool-headedness prevail

"Society needs a strong and united Left," he said in Ioannina on Thursday night.

"We are alive, and present in the upcoming battles. What doesn't kill you makes you more alive. In the difficult hours weare going through, we have a responsibility towards the citizens and our voters. We must remain calm and lucid, and have unity and comraderie. Even at the last minute, let cool-headedness prevail, so as to take our decisions on Monday," Tsipras said.

He was referring to the surprise announcement mid-week by the SYN-led Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA parliamentary alliance) parliamentary group leader Alekos Alavanos to resign from both the SYRIZA leadership and his seat in parliament, in the aftermath of the parliamentary alliance's disappointing results in the recent Euroelections.

The SYRIZA secretariat on Wednesday decided unanimously not to accept Alavanos' resignation, and to continue discussions on Monday, while Alavanos on Thursday reaffirmed his intention to resign.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (Synaspismos)party leader Alexis Tsipras.

[03] ASE opening : Rise

Individual sector indices were moving mostly upward, with the biggest gains in Health, up 1.78 percent; Public Utilities, up 1.12 percent; and Construction, up 0.89 percent.

The biggest losses were in Technology, down 2.80 percent; Financial Services, down 0.64 percent; and Industrial Products, down 0.60 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 0.48 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.11 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 0.43 percent.

Of the stocks moved, 65 were up, 23 were down, and 15 were unchanged.

[04] Athens Newspaper Headlines

Illegal migration, the recent terrorist killing of a police officer and political developments, dominated the headlines on Friday in Athens' newspapers.

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Emotion and rage over the policeman's murder".

APOGEVMATINI: "Parliament members must be reduced to 200 (Greek parliament has 300 MPs) - The Constitution foresees it and the economic crisis demands it".

AVGHI: "No Guantanamo for the migrants".

AVRIANI: "Greek Police (ELAS) on alert ahead of the New Acropolis Museum's inauguration and the NATO-Russia ministerial summit on Corfu".

ELEFTHERI ORA: "Turkey provocatively disputes Greece's borders".

ELEFTHEROS: "High profile New Democracy cadres putting big pressure on Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to proceed with changes in the party and the government".

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Police on red alert in fear of another terrorist attack".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "What prompted the crisis in the Synaspismos party"?

ESTIA: "For how long can New Democracy withstand following the defeat in the Euroelections".

ETHNOS: "Turkish provocations over the Aegean Sea ahead of (Turkish prime minister) Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Athens".

KATHIMERINI: "EU divided on markets' supervision".

LOGOS: "Terrorism upsurge brings another headache to government".

NIKI: "Greek police grandeur: Useless bulletproof vests, old weaponry and dilapidated patrol car".

RIZOSPASTIS: "Greece to give over innocent people to USA when and whenever they demand it".

TA NEA: "Defence Minister Evangelos Meimarakis joins the rebels and sends warning messages to Karamanlis".

TO VIMA: " It's your problem" - The EU does not bother with the illegal migration problem in Greece".

VRADYNI: "'Terrorist look-out gave the signal for the assassination via SMS".

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