K. Temples as time frames

Pillars of temples as time frames for perceiving man's inner world as being different from the outer world would allow for the 'inner reflection of the social being' as well as begin to understand how the imagination facilitates man's perception of the world and of reality.

Ancient Greece existed like a rare space in-between all other civilizations. It was and still is a unique world rich in thoughts, human experiences and aspirations. As an outstanding culture filled with visions, it managed to perceive and to anticipate the developments of man. In order to do this, Ancient Greece created for itself time frames by which it was possible to know about man's movement, namely the temples as measures of time. As the German philosopher Ernst Bloch would say, 'the slave society build the Acropolis, but the Parthenon has survived the slave society by now more than 2000 years'.

In-between spaces are cracks in an otherwise homogeneized worlds ruling out alternatives, points of differentiations and even usage of other categories at levels of complexities in which the wonders of the world can resound. Not to simplify, but to magnify the achievements of man in terms of his maturing ideas about the cosmos started then, as may be the case today, with the simple question: 'ti kanome' - what are you doing as related to how are you doing. The welfare of the human being as a matter of both the soul, the psyche, and the body, the physis. Although linkages to nature faded as a result of having become identified as the lawless world, the intelligible reality made accessible through thought, transformed these in-between spaces into places of whorships were the people and the Gods could meet.

Some modern thinkers like Bachelard perceive in-between spaces as something where 'no rules' prevail, but time resounds endlessly like the drops of water in a cave. Listen. They had put Athena on the Acropolis in a darkened room where only a tiny hole in the ceiling let in light. There was water around her feet. Double silence, and light whispering as if a wish of the day for the night with this mysterious mirror. She was not meant to be seen, but there, powerful, ever present. It gave her and Athens omniscence, and to the citizens a sense of belonging to Polis protected by her.

This concept of omniscence relates to the dialogue of the shadows with light. What was there in abundance, had to be modified. Such a holy space for the mediation between different spheres ruling over man had not been found as of yet, but because of their mythology moving towards the rationality of man, they had to be in-between the morality of men and the immortality of the gods.

The in-between space was not as of yet defined as a sense of freedom, but it is here where the first poetic sounds come from and deeper thoughts risk disappearing before they have ever been spoken. Again Bacchylides would account that "Storming the gates of song is no small task". For feelings are difficult to put into words, even though some knowledge can be gained out of making further observations when asking more questions about what caused them.

In the Classical Age of Ancient Greece, the sculptures started showing inner emotions, independent of outer events such as war. Not heroic gestures were depicted, but a sadness which had overcome the emotions like a sudden shadow casting a spell and making people look up to the sky not to see the light, but to ask if this is an omen for things to come.

In the philosophy of knowledge it is known as refining the terms through questioning the empirical world, while the observations allow for newer definitions, or dialectical thoughts.

For lack of words or rather terms of self-measures, comparisons were made: was it not that the Egyptian sculptures were still static, a part of the wall or stone work without any freedom of movement, like man in society? Looking back, the Greeks realized that they had come a long way. Hand in hand with the development of writing, the sculpturers followed the inspirations of great deeds and even greater words.

Some started to link the perfect free standing sculpture with the ideal society of which only a philosopher would be knowledgeable of, so at least in the opinion of Plato. That question of perfection had been transformed already by Daedalus into a question of seeing the nothingness between pillars as ideal distance (as described by Ernst Schnabbel in: "I and the Kings"), while Plato through Socrates in 'EUTHYPHRO' would let it be known, that the relation between a perfect free standing sculpture and spoken words is far greater than everybody thought of until then:

Socrates

What you are saying, Euthyphro, reminds me of the statues made by my ancestor Daedalus (Robert Payne explains that the legendary hero was said to have made sculptures that moved of their own accord, in: Ancient Greece, p.378). Now if I were the one who carved them or made them move about, you might well have laughed at me for the family resemblance you saw in them, saying that my words too go running about and don't stay still. But as it happens, you are the one who made the statements, and so some other jest is needed. Your statements don't stand still, as you can see.

Euthyphro

I think your jest is very much to the point, for it is not I who made those statements wander about and never remain in the same place. You are the Daedalus. They would have stayed still if it had depended on me.

Socrates

Apparently then, my friend, I am a more clever artist than Daedalus, inasmuch as he was only able to make his own works move, while I, so it appears, can give motion to the works of others as well as my own. And the most exquisite part of it is that I am wise against my will, for I would rather have my arguments stay fixed and stable than possess the wisdom of Daedalus or possess all the wealth of Tantalus. Enough of this! Since you seem to be indolent, I will make bold to suggest a way in which you can instruct me on the nature of holiness....

It would be too simplistic to link this solely to the problem of 'holiness', as did Karl Popper in his critique of Plato, insofar there is never any knowing of the whole. To the Greek mind, everything depended upon a standpoint of perception, even when it is a matter of man having to realize himself on how to free his thoughts. There was a simple truth, namely that nothing can be seen as a whole at one and the same time. In order to see a greater reality in which man lives, he must create in-between spaces, for seeing and moving to look from another spot or angle, something which can delineate one impression from another one, and in so doing help unify the perception other than Parmenides had thought to be only achievable by stepping again outside the borders of the Polis.

In Greek history the temples have been replaced by the Byzantine churches, but they still function very much in the same manner, and that is the exact difference to the literal speech about changes going on. For to ask a question does not mean to find immediately an answer, since it is most normal that first this question has to be lived prior to being answered not by the Gods themselves, but under their guidance by man himself. That would mean gaining the freedom needed to live under the condition of self-recognition. Many did not realize, however, how important that was to life itself, or any understanding thereof.

It took, therefore, utmost strength to reconcile the differences between realizing this kind of lightness in life and yet continuing to experience such a heaviness which comes with failures. Poets, philosophers and writers for the theatre let it be known that under such circumstances the deeper seated emotions are not free to be expressed. There have to come other times, other men or something else has to be created to make this possible. Hence Demeter and Atlas as Earth-bounded Gods and creatures were creations of the mind weighed down by heavy thoughts - as if the gravity of the earth had to be felt besides the pillars rising to the blue sky. But as a time frame, it meant to describe the existence of man on earth differently, not so much fatalistically but more prone to a cultural disposition completely open to what the world and hence also the stranger had to say. It depended only upon recognizing and acknowledging that the stranger had come in peace and without any feeling of revenge while the world is filled with exciting news.

The agony in realizing that the 'freedom of man' is not a simple thing to accomplish, that was the beginning of the Greek journey through the 'cosmos'. It meant the mind became involved in things no one had tried to understand until then, and once the scenes were painted and the pillars standing, then the time frames were set to let mankind perceive the difference between inner and outer worlds. It was more than a mere glimpse at what was possible for human beings to create once they had learned to conceptualize things and bring it into existence. All it took for the power of concepts to be felt, was to realize the difference between static and moving pictures.

The secret of the Greek temples was not to be a shroud of mystery and hence an awe of power. Rather as an edifice of enlightenment, the temples allowed for an insight into the real unfolding nature of perceiving things. For they made plain the difference between inner and outer world once paintings were seen out of the perspective of moving, that is nothing could be perceived at once nor as a whole, but only through the dialectical process of verifying inner visions with outer realities as things come along or could be seen in-between the pillars as a part of the whole. Such simulation of a model of thought was why deities belonged to the men who worshipped them without recurs to some absolute exclusivity, the mistake made when life itself is banned out of the temples.

Measures become more important when construction of not only houses but temples took on an art form combining leader, architects and sculpturers. This know-how on how to bring together different talents while distributing wealth throughout the society since everyone was partaking in the enterprise, this became a special measure: the 'logos' or the reason(s) for doing things while keeping in mind that justice must prevail in order to keep society in balance.

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K. Temples as time frames