A Greek History Lesson

We arrived in Piraeus, the main port of Athens for an overnight stay. For our first tour we headed two hours out of town to visit Delphi and the Temple of Apollo. Located in the foothills of Mount Parnassos, the area is also the ski center of Greece. For many centuries starting in the 11th c. BC., Delphi was the must visit location in the ancient world. The myth was that Zeus had released two eagles from the ends of the universe to find the center or navel of the world and they met at a specific spot in Delphi. The temple of Apollo was established at this sacred point and a visit to seek advice from the God and an oracle was a must for most leaders before they made a significant decision. Ordinary citizens also tried to make at least one visit. There was even a school, theater and sports stadium to entertain and teach.

An excellent museum at the site has artifacts from periods as early as the 14th c BC. It seems that if there was an earthquake or fire all the previous creations were buried and a new temple was built on the old. This has allowed many decorations and sculptures to survive.

The mountains surrounding Delphi

Decoration from the archaic period (about 525 BC)

Sphinx of the Naxians (about 560 BC)

Charioteer in bronze (about 574 BC)

Socrates or is that James (about 2016 AD)

We transitioned outdoors to walk the site.  On the lowest level was the Roman Agora. You can still see the market stalls where they sold souvenirs, fruits, vegetables and gifts to be presented to the Pythia or Priestess of the Temple to receive your oracle. A little language trivia, the Agora was usually very crowded with people, so if you were scared of being around large crowds you were agoraphobic.  Walking up the hill from the Agora there were a series of Treasuries for the different city states of Greece. You wanted to show the God and your neighbors how pious and prosperous you were, so these building housed riches or treasures. The next level up was the Temple of Apollo. Once you were purified and had your offerings, you would enter the temple to hear a response from the Pythia to your question. Now the Pythia was in a trance from smoking bay leaves and the priests of the temple would translate her oracle from the God. There were travelers from all over the known world and the priests would spend time with each of the groups waiting for their turn in the temple. In this way the priests were in a perfect position to know more of what was happening and therefore had a great track record of advising a wise course of action. So was it words from the God or just good intel?

Agora or shopping area

The treasury of the Athenians

Temple of Apollo

Navel of the World

The next day was definitely one from the bucket list. The Acropolis is in the middle of the Athens, and by definition sits high on a hill.  It was the place of worship for Athena, the city's patron goddess.  In the 5th century BC, Pericles built most of the monuments that we know today to include the Parthenon. You can see it from miles around. It was spectacular. 

The monuments are dedicated to how Athena became the patron of Athens. The story goes like this, King Cecrops (part human and part snake), the first king of Athens wanted a patron god for his city state. Since Athena and Poseidon were already fighting over the city, it was decided to hold a contest to see who would present the city with the finest gift. The grand prize would be the city itself. All the citizens turned out to see the gifts and judge the winner. Poseidon went first, stuck the earth with his trident and a spring appeared. Unfortunately it was a salt water spring so of little use to the citizens of the city. Athena was up next and produced the first olive tree. This was very useful in not only providing sustenance, but also oil for lamps and for trade. Her gift was declared the winner by Cecrops and Athena became the protector of the city. Not wanting to anger either god, both Poseidon's spring and Athena's olive tree are represented at the Acropolis.

The Temple of Nike

Erechtheion Temple dedicated to Athena and Poseidon

Olive tree representing the gift of Athena to the city of Athens

Caryatids

James at the Parthenon

Below are two views of the Acropolis.  One looking up from the New Acropolis Museum and another was a gift from Australia, done entirely in Legos.  The legos were not that far off as a building block used at the real site.  The bottom picture shows us the secret of ancient building.

Quite the climb from the street level

Proof that the temples are really built with ancient Legos

Piraeus is located at 37.96N, 23.58E. The weather was partly cloudy and 74 degrees.

Next stop is the Island of Santorini.

Cheers,
P&J