Wednesday, August 15, 2007

History with Legos

It's time for a little history. The girl and I recently caught the last fifteen minutes of a show about the ancient wonders of the world. We saw the part about the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. If you want to know all about it, here's a very easy to read description.



Being instantly inspired, we bring you this:


The Saga of the Poor Greek Peasant

"Ah me! I have no livestock. My crops are dead. I am alone in this miserable little hovel. My existence is empty and void of meaning."


In an attempt to bring a change to his stagnant existence, our hero decides to make a pilgrimage to the newly constructed temple to Zeus built in Olympia. Perhaps there he will receive the god's blessing and his life will become whole. So off he sets, over mountains, across rivers and deserts and through creepy forests and swamps. Luckily, the whole way was well marked.


"That must be the Temple up ahead there. Boy, that is a whopper! Where did they get all that marble anyway? Zeus must be very pleased with such a monument to his glory. I hope there's no admission price..."



"Look a the size of this door! My hovel could fit in it three times!"



"Whoa! Look how big he is! ZEUS! You are indeed mighty. I have traveled a long and hard way to pay tribute to your greatness. Pity me, my Lord! I am put your poorest hovel dwelling servant!"




Our hero lowers himself beside the reflecting pool with Zeus looking down upon him. And as he prays, he feels a lifting of his spirit as if all his troubles were sliding off his shoulders.



The poor Greek peasant, overwhelmed with emotion, throws himself into the reflecting pool and begins to thrash about wailing and sobbing. He's never been so happy.



"Excuse me sir. Temple Security here. We're going to have to ask you to please get out of the holy pool and exit the temple immediately."

Feeling renewed, like his life once again has purpose, our hero marches home, ready to devote himself to Zeus and becoming a better peasant. Unbeknownst to him, there is a surprise waiting at home...

"But...but...What is this?!?!? My fields are green? Where did all these animals come from? And who is THAT? Oh, Zeus! Have I been rewarded for my toils? I am not worthy!"


"Wow! And she's a babe, too! Thank You, Zeus!"



So that's our story. Here's a few more shots of the temple, without our hero. I would like to say that we left the one side open on purpose, so you could see inside, but the truth is we just plain ran out of white Legos. None of the websites mention this, but on the show said that they now believe there was a shallow pool of water in front of Zeus to catch his reflection. We added that detail to ours as well. We hope you enjoyed your history lesson!


2 comments:

J. said...

Since no one else will comment, I will. "Wow, that is really cool! You guys make the most wonderful creations with Legos! Make more stuff and post pictures!"

Okay, we will!

Anonymous said...

I thought this was cool! In case you don't get over to see the Olympia..

You could stop by the Parthenon in Nashville during your next road trip. They have the only full size replica which was originally built in 1897.
http://www.nashville.gov/parthenon/

I thought it was really cool and based on your project I bet you might too.