Reply #3: I'm sorry. [View All]

I was being sarcastic about the "silliness" as you called it, and I just noticed that you posted this in the Rural/Farm duscussion group. In actuality, I can see the reason why a statue of Demeter would be a thoughtful addition to adorn a civic building in a rural town.

Ancient Greece was the cradle of Western Civilization. Our democratic system is based on their original. Our legal system (with later improvements by the Romans and English) was greatly influenced by theirs. The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek (the lingua franca of the time,) and much of our Christian theology stems from St. Augustine having used the philosophical ideas of Plato to interpret the New Testament. That says absolutely nothing about art, math, philosophy,etc..

I don't know what, if anything, that the Ancient Greeks contributed to agriculture, but they obviously respected it. It is the source of life, then as now, and they saw fit to put a major goddess figure in charge of it.

In short, I see the appropriate use of Demeter as an object of art and a symbolic link from the root of Western Civilization (in Ancient Greece) to the height of Modern Western Civilization (in the USA.) It connects us not only to our beginnings, but also to the achievements, grandeur, and longevity of the Ancient Greek Civilization. We continue that tradition today, and it makes a statement not only regarding the place of our culture in the world, but also the importance of farming in that culture.

(I hope that makes sense. It is late, and I just lost my whole first version when the server went out. I hate it when that happens!)

Sorry again! :hi: