The Parthenon would not be as beautiful if it were intact today. Man and weather have scared it for centuries, and their mark has taken its toll on its ancient body. But they have also enriched it with the sweet aesthetics that only time can bestow on an object. And it is this "Time" that I find most interesting to witness on the stones. The marks of the ancient mason's chisel--still visible on stone, the shifting of the earth on the mis-alligned column segments, the violent defacing of the statues, all speak a story more compelling that the individual parts themselves.
But I had to move on. I was in the way of the temple's memorable photo with some unknown tourists who have been patiently waiting for their time with the ancient stones.