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After many hours in the air, I was finally able to check into my hotel. Before I settled in, I explored the basement and the top floor. I found history from the bottom (Classical ruins) to the top (the view from the roof)! After that, the next order of business was to succumb to jetlag and take a nap.
A few hours of sleep did wonders. It was time to visit the most famous symbol ancient Greece: the Acropolis. It's the rocky plateau 500 feet above the center of Athens. You've seen it in modern times, but how about in ancient ones?
Before we delve into archaeology, let’s begin with a story:
A very long time ago, the people needed a name for their city. Two gods wanted to be the patron, which resulted in an argument. In order to break up the bickering, Zeus, the king of the gods, hurled a lightning bolt that struck the ground on the Acropolis. At that spot, he determined there would be a contest to decide which deity would be the most beneficial to the city. Poseidon, the god of the sea, touched the ground with his trident causing water to pour forth. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, touched the ground with her spear resulting in a single tree to emerge from the rocky soil. The victor was the goddess, and the city was called Athens. Why was a tree better than water? It was an olive tree which provided food, oil, medicine, and fuel that was essential to the Greek way of life…and it still is! (Don’t feel too bad for Poseidon. Another city in the southwest part of Italy was named after him: Poseidonia.)
Let's begin our long climb to the Acropolis.
The first structure you encounter is the Temple of Athena Nike which was to encourage victory over enemies (more about those later).
The Propylaea is the monumental entrance. After reaching the top, ancient people would have been greeted by a massive bronze statue, 30 feet high. Unfortunately, it is gone with only the base remaining. Faced with the entire Acropolis to explore, most immediately turn right. We can't blame them. The Parthenon is there and it is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. However, as archaeology students, we know two important things:
1. The main entrance is actually on the other side, not the side we're now facing.
2. The story of Athens is best told through the less famous building on the left.
So, let's turn away from the Parthenon and instead head to the Erechtheion.
Greek temples were renowned for perfect rectangular design, linear symmetry, and to be viewed evenly from every side. The Erechtheion, however, has none of these characteristics. Where is the front? Why is it on various levels? The inconsistency has good reasons. The building encompasses the very foundation of Athens.
Remember the story about naming the city? The Erechtheion is where the action occurred. There, you'll find a hole in the roof where Zeus' lightning bolt entered. You'll see the remains of Poseidon's trident strike and the saltwater pool. Most importantly, the building surrounds a descendant of Athena's sacred olive tree.
But that's not all! It was constructed near an older Bronze Age structure (more on Mycenae later), it contains a shrine and possible tomb dedicated to one of the first kings, and it stands as a monument to the earlier temple destroyed by the Persians. Wow! That's a lot of history in one building. The Greeks were committed to their foundation stories, even across hundreds of years.
Next, it's time to learn about the more popular attraction: the Parthenon.
Before we begin, it's important to point out the pediment. It is the triangular area just below the roofline, now missing. It was large enough to hold human-sized marble statues. Guess what was depicted on the west side? You guessed it! The contest between Poseidon and Athena to name the city. (Pssst! Even though statues today are white, they weren't that color in antiquity. They were painted with vivid colors. How do we know? Archaeologists analyzed them and discovered remnants of pigment.)
Many people identify the Parthenon as a temple, but there's more to the story. Its ultimate purpose wasn't god. It was gold.
To gain context, let's travel to 480 BCE. Athens was at war with Persia. Both sides had won various battles, but the Persians just accomplished the unimaginable: sacking Athens itself. Soon afterward, the Greeks rallied and expelled them. Among the smoking ruins of the Acropolis, the Athenians vowed that such an atrocity would never happen again. They convinced most of the city-states to form the Delian League, similar to NATO. Funds were collected to create a mighty navy. Over the next few years, the warships accomplished their goal to keep the Persians away. But as the threat decreased, Athens continued to demand contributions from its "partners." What had begun with the purest of intentions, slowly turned into a old-fashioned protection racket...years before the Italian mafia (so I guess Greeks invented that too?). A couple of city-states raised objections and tried to leave. In response, Athens sieged their city, tore down their walls, destroyed their fleet, and demanded an increase in their "tribute." So much for freedom and independence.
The excess money gave Athens the free time to further develop many things we associate with them today like politics, philosophy, art, science, and law. It also permitted massive building projects. The Parthenon was constructed at that time. It had two main rooms: one contained a statue of Athena. The other was the treasury to hold the cash that came pouring in from throughout the region.
Today, the Parthenon isn't in great shape. (Don't judge. How would you look in 2000+ years?) There are many reasons. It's been around a while, it was converted to a church then a mosque, and then it was riddled with cannon fire in 1687. Today, the government has been restoring it for years, much longer than it took to build. Here's a 3d reconstruction to better help you visualize it.
If you want to experience the Parthenon as it was in ancient times, there's no need to cross any oceans. You'll find a full-size replica in a place you may not expect: Nashville, Tennessee. It was built for the state's centennial exposition in 1897.
The designers made exacting efforts to get everything right, both outside and in. Other that a few minor differences, it's as close as you're going to get to 438 BCE. There isn't any treasure inside, but there is a 42-foot statue of Athena, finished in 1990.
Here is a photo looking outward from the Acropolis (you can see why it means "high city" in Greek) and also how close the sea is.
I left the Acropolis and focused on my next task: find dinner. I made the decision to sit down at the first restaurant I encountered. To my luck, it was one with an amazing view of the Roman Agora and the best Moussaka in the city (the owner assured me).
After dinner, I felt it was important to pay tribute to another invention of the Greeks: theater. Many cultures created stories for entertainment, but it was the Greeks who fashioned it into a true artform -- investing in playwrights, actors, and monumental construction. One of their projects was the Theatre of Dionysus built upon the south slope of the Acropolis. It's aptly named. Dionysus is the god of good times: wine, festivity, madness, ecstasy, and theater. You can see the connection: actors transform themselves into someone else, which leads the crowd to an altered state. If you need a case study, kindly refer to my sister when she watches MJ: The Musical. The euphoria she experiences is the gift of Dionysus.
So, what did the Greeks write about? Given their aristocratic image, some people are surprised to hear there were roaring comedies and even crass satyr plays that included sexual situations, phallic images, and bodily functions.
However, when most think about Greek theater, it's the tragedies that come to mind. Playwrights like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides would take audiences captive through pity, pain, and fear. Here's the basic structure: Character is unique among others. Authority figure gives a warning. The warning is ignored or bypassed. Character's actions cause prediction to come true. Character attempts to avoid results. Character suffers the consequences. Many were based on stories the Greeks already knew from their religion or their history.
Why would people put themselves through this gut-wrenching experience? Ask yourself the same question. Why did you willingly attend Les Misérables or The Phantom of the Opera? The end result was a catharsis, or impassioned cleansing. The theater allows us to participate in an emotional simulation, without suffering the real-world effects. Long term, these experiences can change our lives. I was sixteen years old when I suffered a devastating catharsis after Macbeth. Since that time, I have avoided ambition at all costs. In another example, my business was built upon my catharsis from Death of a Salesman. I could go on, but how about you? How has the invention of drama affected the direction of your life?
My first day in Athens wasn't intended to cause a catharsis. Let's lift the veil of tragedy to search for a lighthearted glimpse of Greek theater. I found it beneath the shadow of the Acropolis. While I waited for the show to begin, the sun slipped beneath the horizon.
It was after 10:00 PM when I took the long walk back to the hotel in search of a welcoming bed. Something I need to get used to: Greeks stay up late!
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