ATHENA PARTHENOS

Athena Parthenos, or "Athena the Virgin" is the title of a massive gold and ivory sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena, made by Phidias and his assistants and housed in the Parthenon in Athens. Its epithet was an essential character of the goddess herself. A number of replicas and works inspired by it, both ancient and modern, have been made.

It was the most renowned cult image of Athens,^[considered one of the greatest achievements of the most acclaimed sculptor of ancient Greece. It continued to stand in the Parthenon in the 5th century AD, when it was removed by the Romans. 

The statue itself is made of ivory, silver and gold. On the middle of her helmet is placed a likeness of the Sphinx and on either side of the helmet are griffins in relief. The statue of Athena is upright, with a tunic reaching to the feet, and on her breast the head of Medusa is worked in ivory. She holds a statue of Victory about four cubits high, and in the other hand a spear; at her feet lies a shield and near the spear is a serpent. This serpent would be Erichthonius. On the pedestal is the birth of Pandora in relief.

I've always wanted to see this statue but the history tells us that this valuable piece of art was stolen by the race enemy of Greece. It had a huge replica at Nashville, Tennessee. I saw it on a movie called Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. They battled a five headed Hydra in front of the replica.

When the Roman Empire conquered Greece, they took the Parthenos as a way of breaking Greece's spirit. As Athena became Minerva, she lost her status as a war goddess; the capture of the Parthenos was seen as an act of belittlement to Athena, and the source of the seemingly eternal conflict between Greek and Roman  demigods. According to legends among the Romans, every civil war between the Greeks and the Romans was started by children of Athena. In every subsequent generation after the Parthenos's capture, Athena charged one of her children to recover the statue, by following the Mark of Athena through the city of Rome. The Parthenos itself was protected by Arachne, who wove spider webs around it to contain its power, though the Parthenos was still powerful enough that monsters burrowed up under the floor, leaving only a thin layer of tile and spider webs between Arachne's chamber and a pit straight to Tartarus. All of Athena's children, up to Annabeth Chase, had failed in retrieving the statue.

credits to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_Parthenos

ANGELS AND DEMONS (Dan Brown)

I sincerely have to agree that Dan Brown's books have reflected his one of a kind intelligence in history, symbology, codes, and the lot. This is the second masterpiece of Brown that I have read and I have nothing else to say but BRAVO to each page. The book presents different facts, trivias and historical places and people, artists, artifacts, work of arts, puzzles, codes, and numerous brainiac stuff. Read it. You won't regret you did. :)

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The Prince of Broken Vows

This picture was captured from Katy Perry's music video of the song 'Wide Awake'. This hand signal connotes the unfaithfulness of a promise made, that's why it is done behind the back. When a person makes a covenant and does this foreboding hand sign, it means he / she is lying and will break his / her promise somewhat in the future. It's like saying "Duh, I'm not that serious on this, and fingers crossed, I will break this agreement."

People are people. We are tied to the perennial fact that not everybody in this world is capable of holding their oaths until the very end of their existence. However, there are some that fail to bungle their vows, instead, carry it with them until their last breath. But those kinds are like endangered species. Parents have an abundance of promises to their children. Friendships have agreements and some indifference. Men have numerous vows to their women. Almost all people in the planet are subjected to covenants barely knowing if they could, or would be able to do what they pledged on to until they demised.

The most excruciating part is this: We learn to expect. We learn to give full trust. We hope for things that would eventually fail in the end. Then we will be disappointed. We will get hurt. It will break our heart. It will turn us so brimful of hatred, so bitter that we can barely recognize ourselves. I was a criminal and a victim of a broken promise. I suffered and endured as much as the oath I've been guilty on breaking. I was devastated, but eventually, I've moved on. You see, it is very rare that we spot the perfect people, perfect time and perfect situation all together that would make a particular promise whole. We can't blame it all on people. We can't blame it all to that person, because we are all bound to make mistakes. The way things go wrong, it for us to learn how to be wise enough to trust, and how to be strong enough when everything else fails. A broken promise doesn't necessarily state that we should stop trusting people, that they are mean and they will break everything. A broken vow is a profound lesson that teaches us that nothing, NOTHING in this whole world will last. Everything will be pushed through oblivion and we can't change it but we can learn from it. We can't break it but we can acquire strength from it. We can die through it, yes, but also we can LIVE through it.

-- Yerhayness

A Letter Like No Other

This letter is a from The Mortal Instruments. Read that book. It's worth it :)

Clary,

Despite everything, I can’t bear the thought of this ring being lost forever, any more than I can bear the thought of leaving you forever. And though I have no choice about the one, at least I can choose about the other. I’m leaving you our family ring because you have as much right to it as I do.

I’m writing this watching the sun come up. You’re asleep, dreams moving behind your restless eyelids. I wish I knew what you were thinking. I wish I could slip into your head and see the world the way you do. I wish I could see myself the way you do. But maybe I don’t want to see that. Maybe it would make me feel even more than I already do that I’m perpetuating some kind of Great Lie on you, and I couldn’t stand that.

I belong to you. You could do anything you wanted with me and I would let you. You could ask anything of me and I’d break myself trying to make you happy. My heart tells me this is the best and greatest feeling I have ever had. But my mind knows the difference between wanting what you can’t have and wanting what you shouldn’t want. And I shouldn’t want you.

All night I’ve watched you sleeping, watched the moonlight come and go, casting its shadows across your face in black and white. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. I think of the life we could have had if things were different, a life where this night is not a singular event, separate from everything else that’s real, but every night. But things are different, and I can’t look at you without feeling like I’ve tricked you into loving me.

The truth no one is willing to say out loud is that no one has a shot against Valentine but me. I can get close to him like no one else can. I can pretend I want to join him and he’ll believe me, up until that last moment where I end it all, one way or another. I have something of Sebastian’s; I can track him to where my father’s hiding. And that’s what I’m going to do. So I lied to you last night. I said that I just wanted one night with you. But I want every night with you. And that’s why I have to slip out of your window now, like a coward. Because if I had to tell you this to your face, I couldn’t make myself go.

I don’t blame you if you hate me, I wish you would. As long as I can still dream, I will dream of you.

- Jace