Terror Strikes Home, But Always Remember The Choices Of Our Ancestors

As bombs are falling in Afghanistan , and New Yorkers are still sifting through the wreckage of the World Trade Center at Ground Zero, I found myself thinking about the similarities between the history of my homeland and recent events here in the US .

I had just spent two months visiting Greece , visiting family and friends and acquiring new products for my shop. I returned home to New York City on September 9th, 2001 to prepare for the Christmas shopping season.

No more than I had begun to unpack, life in NYC was changed forever. And while Ground Zero will always be sacred ground in America , I believe we should still rebuild as all mankind --- of the most enduring variety --- always has.

I remember the words of Emerson, that "Whatever great monuments to himself mankind makes, there will always be those who seek to take them down" again. Just as there have been men who shot the nose from the Sphinx’s face, and who assembled work crews to try to take down a pyramid. 

Just as the White house was burned in America ’s own Revolutionary war. Monuments of nations have always been targets in times of war and conquest. 

The attack against America on September 11th, 2001 was indeed a declaration of war. But not merely one of differing peoples, or differing beliefs, or countries, or religions, or skin colors, or races and nations, it is a war made of feeling and of jealousy that has existed since the beginning of time and will continue until there is nothing for people to be jealous of anymore. And Not rebuilding will not alleviate that.

It is a fact of life as we know it that there is no monument that will not become a target to those who feel oppressed, and there is no way to irrevocably prevent mankind from his own nature, which is to destroy the Art works of those we dislike or of whom we are jealous.

In each town where a great city has stood, archaologists will tell you that there have been times of great destruction also. No wall that has gone undamaged from man’s own attacks against men. No castle exists that hasn’t been burned, no citadel where mankind hasn’t killed his fellows and knocked down their walls. Just because we live in the year 2001, perhaps it is naïve to think we are immune to this history of bloodshed and broken buildings.

Art comes in many forms, and one of these forms in our world today is architecture. And, not unlike the architects of the past in Greece , much of what we build today will go on as monuments to our perseverance in the future world to come. And, like my forbears, who designed and built the Parthenon after a former building’s destruction in the Persian war, we too should rebuild our fallen monuments.

And while a monument of some kind is certainly appropriate, I believe that the reconstruction and return of a pair of twin towers to the New York Skyline would serve as a constant reminder and monument to our ability to resurrect hope form the ashes and persevere through any attacks that may come against us. 

I was reminded of my homeland’s vast experience of rebuilding and recreating from the ashes of war over its long, long history as these dark events unfolded recently here in America. And as I look out over our city I remember that Historical Greece encountered strong adversity similar to this during the Persian wars of early to mid-fourth century BC. 

By 490 BC, the Persians controlled almost the entire world including Asia Minor , Lydia , Judah , Mesopotamia , and Egypt . Among these expeditions, the Persians launched a campaign against Athens and met the Athenian army at Marathon in Attica . In this epic battle, from which the English language gets its word Marathon , meaning “a contest of Great Endurance”, the Athenians defeated the invading army. Had the Athenians lost, Greece would have eventually come under Persian Control and the face of the world might have been changed forever. And though the Athenians prevailed, in the battles many of their incredible works of architectural art were lost forever.

It is interesting to note that many were never rebuilt because of oaths that some of the victors are believed to have made, promising to leave the destroyed ruins in place as a reminder of the Persian impiety. Another part of the oath stated that they would also not build any new temples in those locales where the destroyed temples had been. They kept this oath for almost thirty years, at which time a new peace between the Greeks and the Persians had started to absolve the need for such an oath and construction was begun on the Parthenon on the grounds of a former temple that had fallen to the Persians thirty years earlier.

Why did they rebuild as they did and create such a magnificent building as the Parthenon, in defiance of the oath, and the first of many fine works to come in that period? There are probably many reasons and motives. But primarily I think it is because of a truth that history has born out over time and through the rise and fall of many, many civilizations. And that is the simple fact that when civilizations are at their strongest, highest point, the architecture and art of those societies is also at its very most impressive. My ancestors probably wanted to make a point that their buildings may be destroyed, but their spirit could never be broken.

It has been estimated that the clean-up and evidence gathering in the ruins of the World Trade Centers will take at least a year. When the clean up is finally completed, people will gather to decide what kind of memorial would best honor those who died in the airplanes and in the twin towers on September 11th, 2001.

I will always remember the choices of my ancestors. First, they chose that the destroyed structures should be a memorial for all time. Then they chose to build a new magnificent structure to carry their values and traditions into the future and to show the world they were still a major power to be reckoned with.

I for one fervently believe that we should build a memorial upon Ground Zero, and then return a new pair of towers to the New York City skyline. I believe that in doing so, we would be bestowing the greatest honor upon those who have died at the hands of terrorists, by moving into the future --- without fear.