Finishing at the beginning
Welcome to Greece. It is sunny and mild, blue seas around us and ancient ruins to be investigated, with new levels of meaning to the words ancient and antiquity. One of our guides in Vienna had said that no European historian would make the itinerary we did. They would start with Greece. Everything started in Greece. After they said it, sure it made sense, but I can't think of doing it differently now! Next time?
In preparation, John and I read a graphic novel summary of the teachings of Plato, with some cameos by Socrates and Aristotle. While they were asking some excellent questions, the places they looked for answers did not necessarily lead to satisfaction. However, with regard to morality and ethics, I like Plato’s view that morality is not relative, it does not change with the times, the individual, the situation. It is absolute. I asked John what he liked about the book, and he said it really made him think about justice, good and bad. What they are and what the words really mean. We were both a little offput at his view that the state should take care of everything and make sure that everyone has enough, but no one has more.
Athens is a city of 1.5M people and it is the capital of Greece. In ancient times it was not a capital city, it was not the biggest or the most cosmopolitan. We did find our way to the first capital of liberated Greece, Nafplion (1821-1833). Our car broke down there and we were able to get more steps in than we would have otherwise! Greece is turning out to be a favorite of John’s…there are cats and dogs literally everywhere. They are not really stray, they just belong in the places that they hangout. Everyone feeds them. John included.
Greece is so dense with archeological ruins, you can’t dig a ditch without finding something. A guy bought some property back in the 1970’s, and decided to change the contour of his backyard, and he uncovered an ancient amphitheater. The government said that he would have to either become the caretaker of this thing or move out. He spent the rest of his life as the caretaker.
It is challenging in the moment, to keep all the history straight. We are studying the Mycenaeans (bronze age 1600-1100BC), the classical era (510-323) and then we sporadically deal with the Romans, Byzantium, the Turkish (Ottoman) occupation and liberated Greece. Simultaneously, and in order of geographical occurrence instead of linear in time. Killing my linear sensitivity.
We walked the grounds of Olympia. It was eerie, it felt like more temple than stadium. It felt like religion as opposed to sport. The first written record of the Olympic games is 776 BC. The games required a 3 month sacred truce for all warring nations. It took a month for all the warrior-athletes to get to Olympia, 1 month to enjoy the preparation and competition, and then a month to return home, or to the battle lines. Sometimes, the warring parties forgot why they were fighting and the truce became treaty. I was wondering to whom we should propose reinstatement of this requirement for the 2018 winter games??
The Parthenon...built as a temple for Athena, the God protector of Athens. Pericles started the major construction project on the Acropolis in the 5th century BC. The strategic location had been a citadel in the bronze age and inhabited in some way since neolithic times. The temple was turned into a church after Greece converted to christianity, but the Ottomans turned it into a mosque, It was mostly destroyed during the war of Greek liberation from the Turks. The Athenians thank the preservation initiative for their clear skies and healthy breathing. Factories and other sources of pollution were moved far outside of the city center and a underground metro was constructed.
The theater of Epidauros is the most perfect and renowned monument of its kind, combining superb acoustics and physical symmetry. It was built in the 4th century BC, and it was not modified during the Roman era, which is unusual. Our guide made us climb to the top and listen to the acoustics. It was amazing how the lowest spoken words could be understood, especially from the center position. You could even hear rustling clothing. No microphone required!
Jumping to the Middle Ages for a moment, this is the Bourtzi water castle, built by the Venetians who held Nafplio off and on. We are standing on a high promontory, that has water on both sides. the next picture is looking at the sea from the other side.
Looking out over the other side. People were sunbathing and swimming below, so we could not throw rocks as we originally intended...
The city square in Nafplio, yes the whole thing is marble. All the mountains are made of the stuff. They use marble like we use plywood. If you want to impress with extravagance in Greece, use wood. Everyone has marble to spare.
Olympia was the site of the Olympic Games for 12 centuries. This are was for wrestling competitions.
The Temple of Zeus. A 40 foot high statue of him sitting in the temple was made out of gold and ivory. It was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Here is an interesting thing about temples to the Greek Gods-- the temple is for the God. All celebrations, offering and praying happens in the area around the outside of the temple. kind of like a church picnic without the service beforehand, I guess.
John is sizing up the competition on the race track. There were no stands, the spectators sat on the ground. Women were not allowed to compete, or to watch, under penalty of death. After one mother dressed as a man to watch her son compete, the rules were changed so that not only the athletes were nude...spectators as well from then on.