The Parthenon and the Myth of the Alhambra

The Parthenon is a brilliant monument because it shows us what we've done to Western culture in making it classical. But it also reveals how false that vision is. The Alhambra is really there. It's genuinely beautiful. You can walk into it. If you're allowed to, you could even live in it. I fear Robert has played to his audience rather well. All this stuff about aesthetics, readers, literature, flawed geniuses. What is a better line in the L.B. shop than talking about flawed genius and Plato and all the rest? So I'm having to throw myself on your mercy without these very excellent rhetorical tropes.