Catch Greece: Secrets of the Past

Have'nt stepped into the Singapore Omnimax Theatre (just next to the Singapore Science centre) since my secondary school days? The theatre is shaped like a giant golf ball, the screen "surrounds" you and I bet you can even take a photo when the ruins behind you and it will look as if you are there. Was sorely tempted to try but nahhhh.

The film we caught last weekend was Greece: Secrets of the Past, as we are ardent lovers of greek mythologies. Though it didnt touch much on that, the storytelling was nonetheless fantastic on unearthing more information on how the volcanic eruption created Satorini ( a now famous holiday greek isle) and wiped out the entire population.

Fast facts:
The Thera volcano erupted around 1646 BC. The explosion was the most powerful of any volcano in the last 10,000 years, about 200 times as powerful as the explosion of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. 7 cubic miles of magma were released in the initial explosion and the column of ash from the eruption was likely about 23 miles high. The boom was so loud, people heard it in Sweden.

Sheesh, imagine...

But the coolest part of the whole documentary was they were able to RESURRECT the orginal Parthenon and the statue of Athena inside Parthenon using ground-breaking 3D modelling computer graphics. Parthenon is the temple built for workship of Athena- Goddess of Wisdom also the Proctector of Athens. So from the current ruins that we see now, we can instead have a look at it back then, in all grandeur.

Now

Recreated: The Roof back then


and last but not least, the Goddess Athena, which now can't be found.
"The vividly painted statue of Athena was 42 feet tall and took the sculptor Phidias about 9 years of work. More than 1,000 KG of gold was used to create the gold and ivory statue."

It was so huge and lifelike, that I can't help but feel a little creeped out when the camera did a whole scanning of the of statue.

Alrite, Greek History Lesson 101 is completed for the day. :)