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The Parthenon vs. Noah’s Ark
Cultural symbols square off in America’s Upper South
The Parthenon and Noah’s Ark. Have there ever been two more incongruous symbols of human endeavor? One is a soaring Classical Athenian tribute to humanity’s victory over chaos; the other a fragile emblem of humanity’s near-dissolution within it. Yet in America’s Upper South, specifically Nashville, Tennessee and Williamstown, Kentucky, two towering replicas are separated by only a four-hour drive.
Like dropping the White House into Red Square or opening a Disneyland at Alcatraz, such unlikely juxtapositions jar the brain into critical-thinking alert. What to make of these warring cultural totems as they battle for mindshare across the plateaus and bluegrass of the heartland? What stories do they tell? And where do they fit in the simmering disputes between humanism and creationism, science and Bible history, urban and rural, artifacts and artful facts, the rainbow covenant and climate-change-juiced floods, hurricanes, and killer storm surges? I went to the land of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett to find out.
Parthenon on Parade
