Dancing at the Parthenon
Via Waxy, I encountered this hilarious story of Matt, who got in trouble while dancing at the Parthenon:
I’ll admit that as the dancing video goes, standing in front of the ancient stuff is largely obligatory. There are places like Angkor Wat and Abu Simbel that leave me truly astonished. They have a magical quality. But the Taj Mahal? Pyramids? Parthenon? To me, it’s just a pile of rocks that doesn’t say anything worth saying.
In the comments that follow the story, there's some debate as to how much of an ignorant tourist Matt was or was not. I wasn't sure, but this is what I had to say:
I'm of two minds on this. Would you dance anywhere? Would you dance in Notre Dame? Would you dance at the Vietnam Memorial? Would you dance in Flanders Fields?
I'm not arguing for or against the law–clearly that was an overreaction by the Greeks.
I am arguing for being a respectful visitor. This is the question you should ask, and find an answer to before you indugle any, well, unorthodox behaviour:
"Would a majority of locals consider my actions disrespectful?"
If the answer is yes, and you proceed with your behaviour anyway, that doesn't reflect very well on you, does it? And I'm afraid that, like it or not (and particularly when you're American), when you travel, you're also a representative of your country.
I don't know what the answer is in this case. I've been to the Parthenon, and (despite being there when it was largely empty, on Christmas eve), I wasn't struck by the contemporary spirituality of the place. But, then, I'm not Greek, so I have no say in the matter.
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