GLOBAL HELLENISM

"THE BENEFACTORS' ATHENS"

Benefaction during antiquity is presented in the first introductory unit. The first benefactor; the benefactor of mankind, was Prometheus, who, in his attempt to help man survive gave him the gift of fire that proved of "common benefit to all mortals". Zeus, (the king of the gods), punished Prometheus severely for his disobedience. He commanded Hephestus to tie him to a stake in the Caucasus and an eagle sent by Zeus pounced on him and ate at his liver. Thirty years later, Heracles delivered him from his suffering. In Ancient Athens, sponsorship was yet another form of collaboration since the sponsor the individual, that is who laid out the money for the preparation of the Chorus during drama competitions was an important factor and was received with the same honours as the poet. The sponsors` monuments one of them being the surviving monument of Lyssicratus in Plaka show the importance of the institution of benefaction. During the Hellenistic Period, the leaders of the various states created after Alexander the Great hastened to become benefactors of the Greek cities. Athens accepted the generous offerings of Attalus I, Antioch of Epiphany, Attalus II of Philadelphia, et. al., while during the Roman Period, the Emperor Adrian, admirer of the Greek spirit, became known as the benefactor of the city since he completed the Temple of Olympian Zeus and founded the acquaduct, the Adrian Library and the Adrian Gymnasium. Tiberius Claudius Herod the Attican (101-178 A.D.) was the true benefactor of Athens. Herod, among other things, tended to the general construction of the marble Stadium and created the Herod Atticus Odion in memory of his wife Rigillas.

Athens went through a long period of decline, without the spirit of education and intellectual life ever really being extinguished. Even during Turkish rule, the small Turkish village that had fallen into decline retained something of the ancient spirit. The appointment of Athens as the capital of the country was to trigger/spark off the prosperity of the city that was the cultural capital of Europe. In its new peak/zenith, the great national benefactors will play a major role; well-to-do individuals the majority of whom achieved great things abroad and who offered the fruits of their labour to a city that many of them never got to know.