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Can a landscape become a teacher? What is the nature of clarity?
Pericles Giannopoulos, Divine Appearances: the Greek Line & the Greek Color
Page 3
Observe the flowers of asphodels near you; one by one looks at you like a person; observe the fewest stripes of its petals; to a distant one you can count all of its spherical seeds. Extend your sight upon the flourished asphodels, which decorate all the lowering of the hills before you, with their pink, vibrating lights that expire mild voluptuousness. As far as you extend your sight, you distinguish asphodels one by one and have the feeling of the distance among them, of the air and light. Observe, carefully, observe on every massive stone, on every mass of the ground, on every rocky projection water colored blue gray; observe all the fine works, veins, waters, shades; on every hill, all of its cuts, carves, on every distant hill all the arabesques of the nature that makes them playing with the matter, just like you do, when you hold in your hands a case of carved wood sandal. A goat is on the distant hills of the slaughterhouses or upon the Filopappos; you see her the way you see the goat of the fine work you hold in your hands. On the distant mountains you distinguish all of their construction along with their precipices falls, all their body lines, you understand, feel entirely their character as well as their expression. Observe the olive trees land, which the position shows as a big thickening; where there is some thinness, distinguish the olives one by one. Moreover, the Attica's trees are top personalities. Observe the three or four cypresses near the open-air small church. Any tree stands up, imposes, is distinguished, the way a minister is, an ambassador, a gentleman after all, a prime minister or a King in a country road.
Cf. Images of Greece * Oscar Wilde, I stood upon the soil of Greece at last! * Jules Verne, Not anyone can see Naxos on the moon! * Mark Twain, Seeing Athens by stealth and moonlight * W. Davis, The Physical Setting of Athens
