Paris 2,000 Years Later 1950

Alfred Bendiner sketched this vision of "Paris, 2,000 Years Later", but I see how motifs endure, transformed yet familiar. Consider the lovers beneath the ornate lamppost. Is this not Echo and Narcissus playing out in the Parisian streets of the future? The lovers are intertwined by the light. They are drawn together like moths to a flame, their fates intertwined in an eternal dance of connection and longing. Note also the market women, their baskets full, echoing the ancient Roman "annona," the supply of grain that sustained the empire. These women, haggling over prices, embody a ritual as old as civilization itself. It is a tableau of commerce and community. These images linger. The "fight" reminds me of classical depictions of mythological struggles. The symbol resurfaces across cultures, mirroring our primal instincts. It is ever changing. The city may evolve, but deep within, the old myths and archetypes, resurface, weaving through the fabric of our collective consciousness.