Simon Critchley, Athens in Pieces

Dark Portrait of Simon Critchley
(image source: wiki)
no copyright infringement intended

Simon Critchley is a professor of philosophy at The New School for Social Research and the author of What We Think About When We Think About Soccer and the forthcoming Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us. He is the moderator of The Stone. Here are some of his essays about Athens (trying in today's Athens to catch a glimpse of Pericle's).

• The Art of Memory

Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

The Art of Memory https://t.co/1A6ZCW6ZbM

— Pierre Radulescu (@pierreradulescu) March 1, 2019

• The Stench of the Academy

An archaeological site at Plato’s Academy
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Athens in Pieces: The Stench of the Academy https://t.co/TXxG4nuEbw

— Pierre Radulescu (@pierreradulescu) March 1, 2019

• In Aristotle's Garden

Philosophers
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
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... and...

Stones
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
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Athens in Pieces: In Aristotle’s Garden https://t.co/p7S8mVnJyz

— Pierre Radulescu (@pierreradulescu) March 1, 2019

• The Tragedy of Democracy

The upper portion of the Monument of Lysicrates
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Athens in Pieces: The Tragedy of Democracy https://t.co/UbxkeeMYhk

— Pierre Radulescu (@pierreradulescu) March 1, 2019

• What Really Happened at Eleusis?

Elefsina in a 1955
photograph by Andreas Embiricos
image source: NY Times
(Courtesy of the Embiricos family and Agra publications)
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The entire layout of Eleusis is extremely theatrical
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
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An almond tree in blossom at Eleusis
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Caverns at the site recall the entrance to the Underworld
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Demeter gave human beings two gifts: the return to life personified by Persephone, and the cultivation of grain
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

A modern view of Elefsina
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Athens in Pieces: What Really Happened at Eleusis? https://t.co/VXiwrm4WFZ

— Pierre Radulescu (@pierreradulescu) March 14, 2019

• We Know Socrates’ Fate. What’s Ours?

A statue of Socrates in Athens
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

An inscribed stone at the side of the Panathenaic way
that passes through Agora and leads to the Acropolis
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Hephaisteion, the temple for the god of sun and fire,
Hephaestus, sits just above the Agora
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

The base of a black-glazed cup with the name Simon etched on it
It provides archaeological support for the story of Simon the Cobbler
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

The orator's bema, the ancient speaker's podium at Pnyx
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Athens in Pieces: Democracy Isn’t Written, It Speaks https://t.co/zruvsfNBOW

— Pierre Radulescu (@pierreradulescu) March 20, 2019

• The Happiest Man I’ve Ever Met

The only way of approaching Mount Athos
is by water
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
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Mount Athos, seen from a distance,
emerging from the clouds
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
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The cross is the most sacred symbol
of Orthodox church
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
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The flag of the Greek Orthodox Church
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
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In Athos, the day begins at sunset
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
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Athens in Pieces: The Happiest Man I’ve Ever Met https://t.co/9ZrqXb3poT

— Pierre Radulescu (@pierreradulescu) April 3, 2019

• An Offering to the Soccer Gods

John Skotidas has been running
a club for Liverpool Football fans in Athens
since 1995
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Liverpool are the most popular English team
in Greece
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Watching from the wooden benches
at the Wee Dram pub
credit: Maria Mavropoulou for The New York Times
no copyright infringement intended

Athens in Pieces: An Offering to the Soccer Gods https://t.co/MB9X6a5MXr

— Pierre Radulescu (@pierreradulescu) April 16, 2019

(A Life in Books)