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| Old Chapel on the North Ascent of the Acropolis |
Athens, the birthplace of Democracy…we can blame the whole
thing on the Ancient Greeks and their philosophising! Back in Greece and
(ancient) civilization!
We arrived to perfect weather, if somewhat chilly and windy,
with brilliant sunshine and zero pollution. Between rain and wind all smog had
disappeared, and Athens and the Acropolis were visible from the ship which was
anchored in Piraeus.
I splurged on a hop on hop off bus which costs 20 Euros for
the whole day, and had more or less guaranteed scheduled trips between Piraeus
and Athens, a distance of about 40 minutes, if there is not much traffic. Taxis
are too expensive. There is a ‘Metro’ which connects almost all ports of Athens
with Piraeus, however – the station was a respectable 45 minute hike away; or
one takes another taxi.
I ‘hopped on’ the tourist bus in Piraeus beside the ship’s
dock and ‘hopped off’ at Syntagma Square in the centre of Athens in front of
the Parliament building, a locale which has become world famous as it is
showplace of all recession demonstration during the last few years of economic
crisis in Greek.
The city was still somewhat asleep, as it was early morning,
so I headed ‘for the hills’ where the Parthenon shone marble white in the
morning sun. Strolling through the old section of Placa I arrived at the foot
of Acropolis, the mountain on which the Iconic temple to Athena is located. I
had planned just to admire from afar, however, a Mexican family including
grandparents was studying their city
maps, gazing sky-wards and being obviously confused by what looks like trails
through people’s balconies in their search for the lesser known ascent up via
the ‘northern slope’. Sounds like Mount Everest, and it almost feels like it
once one starts climbing up.
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| Arceologists at work |
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| Straight down - or up - Placa is almost vertical below the Acropolis Hill |
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| Olive Tree in Bloom - Athena won with this tree over Poseidon and his water |
I had found, and lost, the path up in earlier years, and
offered to show them the where and how, as they turned back each time, when
they encountered somebody’s rickety garden furniture blocking the path. Well,
that had me committed to go the whole way, and soon we negotiated blue and
white painted stone staircases, where one had to turn sideways to squeeze
through. Residents hanging up their laundry stepped aside, greeted us and made
room for us to pass. Well, it may be steep like Mt Everest, but it is
mercifully a whole lot shorter. It was important in olden days due to the
presence of The Spring of Klepsydra, who ‘stole’ (hence kleptomania) some of
the water during the summer and sent it via underground aqueducts to Phaleron,
where it ensured survival during sieges. Archeological digging is still in
progress here – as almost all over Athens, which seems to be built on the
remnants of history.
On the upper slope, I invested another 12 Euros in an all-round
entry ticket, and I was off to the Acropolis once again. But, it is surely
worth more than one visit in a life time. As soon as one passes the Propylaea,
the Grand Entrance built 430 BC atop a massive marble staircase; one enters the
Acropolis, the High Point.
The Parthenon itself is dedicated to Athena as well. No
wonder, after all, she won the contest for becoming the Patron Deity of Athens.
Poseidon wanted to win the old citizenship with an offer of spring water,
Athena offered Olive trees. Athen’s citizens voted for Olive trees, hence the
Goddess of family and home lends the city her name.
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| Odeon of Herodes Atticus |
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| Erechtheion, the maidens with the skinny necks holding up a whole temple |
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| Columns of the Pantheon |
Athena was no slouch; she also was the Goddess of wisdom and
the goddess of war – busy heavenly job indeed!
Well, she was born out of the head of Zeus.
Like so many Greek Gods before him, Zeus had swallowed
Athena who had previously decided to remain a perpetual virgin, which did not
cause him a stomach ache but an industrial strength headache. Surrounded by
fellow Gods, a heavenly hero whose name escapes me offered Zeus a cure, as long
has Zeus would not punish him afterward. By this time Zeus would do anything to
get rid of his headache, which any perpetual virgin would cause when trapped in
a numbskull that swallows people. The hero cleaved Zeus’ head open, and out
comes young Athena taking Zeus’ brains with her and turning into the Goddess of
Wisdom…that’s why Greek people maintain, that women are smart and men are
stupid.
Athena (like the Virgin Mary) never knew carnal love.
However, the God of the Forge, Hephaestos (Vulcan for the Romans, originator of
the word volcano, earth violent furnace) fell in love with Athena, without a
chance of success, especially as he was mobility challenged and she would not
even grant him a glance. But he got a) very excited one day and b) close enough
to Athena, to spill some of his semen on her thigh. And guess what, she managed
give virgin birth to the first King of Athens, whose name escapes me as well.
Anyway…after that all Athenians are demi gods because of this early mishap.
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| Sculpture on the Pantheon Pediment |
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| Hiding from the Sun |
Greek Gods were definitely into Love, Drugs and Rock and
Roll with some earth moving battles, incest, homicides, fratricides,
infanticides, patricides and hundreds of universe shattering fits of wraths thrown
in for good measure – who says today’s youth is going to the dogs. Maybe they
revert to being Gods??
The Parthenon, Athena’s glorious mountaintop temple, is
relatively ‘new’, only built in about 447-432 BC, after the Persians destroyed
an earlier version in 480 BC. Pericles took matter in hand, and he hired
Pheidas to design and built the ‘newer’ version to designs be the most gifted
architects, Iktinos and Kallikrates. The result: a perfectly proportioned
elegant temple supported by 10 Doric columns on the sides, and eight on each
end. Unfortunately the decorations of the upper parts are now either housed in
museums or have disappeared: the Battle of the Gods and Giants (Gigantomachy),
the Lapith and the Centaurs (Centauromachy), the Athenians and the Amazons
(Amazonomachy) and the Trojan War are left to the imagination. A few sculptures
remain, such as a resting hero and a horse’s head.
I descended through the theater of Dyonisos, the God who
loves Entertainment in a big way. A whole gaggle of kids was practising their
Demi Gods in Training program, all dressed up in God gear.
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| Greek Deities in Training |
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| On the way back to the halls of wisdom |
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| Antique model of modern CROCS |
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| Needing a shave |
The other ancient theatre, the Odeum of Herodes Atticus, has
been reconstructed to accommodate current cultural events where the audience
still sits on the tiered seats, the same as the old Greeks and Romans did.
Through the Gate of Hadrian into the old impressive temple of
Zeus I descended back to the city. Zeus may have been housed in an imposing
temple, however modern day Greek Dogs have their own contemporary temples
within the grounds. Design and architect unknown. Dogs seem neutered, no Greek
Demi Dogs in the works!
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| The Temple of Zeus |
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| A large Park surround the temple of Zeus |
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| Athens, home of the Dogs... |
Enough of history! After a little more meandering, I found a
hill side restaurant hidden away from the tourists crowds covering the
Acropolis like thousands of ants chattering away in every language of the
World, and did some R&R before ‘hopping’ on for my return journey to the
ship.
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| Hill side restaurant away from the crowds |
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| Tourist Trap |
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| And back 'home' after a last look.... |
The recession left its mark in upper Placa, as some of the
restaurants which flourished a few years ago are now boarded up and their
garden furniture is slowly overgrowing with weeds – graffiti appears overnight.
