Fwd: Athens: Greek's Crowning Glory

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Kenwood Geigel" <kenwood.geigel@gmail.com>
To: "kenwood geigel paradiseken" <kenwood.geigel.paradiseken@blogger.com>
Cc: "sarameansc" <sarameansc@aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2010 3:57:32 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Athens: Greek's Crowning Glory

PIRAEUS FOR ATHENS, GREECE--Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Until last night, we were not sure that our ship would stop at Athens because of the political demonstrations that resulted in three casualties. We received a letter from our captain on Tuesday relating that a protest rally may be planned for the day of our arrival. If we had the opportunity to go ashore, we were to "keep well clear of any gathering crowds or demonstrations, as the situation can deteriorate rapidly and there have been instances of violence associated with these large political gatherings."

Fortunately, Princess Cruises' security department that had been monitoring the situation with support from the U.S. State Department, determined that the city was safe and secure for its passengers. Four other cruise ships came to the same conclusion making our ship one of five in the port of Piraeus, which should have helped the Greek economy. Our guide, Aliki, who told us to call her Alice said that she was not Alice in Wonderland but rather Alice in Wonder Greece.

Piraeus and Athens are one large city of approximately 5 million people. In World War II, Piraeus was destroyed by the Nazi who did not bomb Athens out of respect for the ancient Greek architecture. So Piraeus is a very modern city while Athens is home to the treasures of the ancient Greeks. As all affectionados of Greek mythology know, Athena, the patron goddess of the city, sprung full-grown from Zeus' head (of course, there is a much more detailed account of this miraculous birth that you can read in Greek mythology). Then when the Olympians wanted to determine who should become the protector of the country, Athena battled it out with Poseidon, who promised to make the country the greatest naval power for all eternity. In a war of one-up-womanship, Athena hit her foot on the ground and an olive tree appeared. She stated that with this tree, she would give the country peace and wealth. (Today, Greece has more than 140 million olive trees, that can live more than 3,000 years.) The vote was a tie with the senior official breaking the tie by choosing Athena.

Our first stop was the Old Olympic Stadium, built in 1896 over the ruins of the original stadium, to host the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. During the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, it was used for archery and the finish of the marathon. The original games were played every five years until 390 AD when the emperor decided the games should not exist. And they did not until the end of the 19th century AD. In the ancient games, only Greeks were permitted to compete and only the first place winner was announced. The entire city of Athens was renovated for the 2004 Olympics, with the best addition, according to our guide, being the new metro system.

Next we visited the National Archaeology Museum, which holds more masterpieces of ancient Greek art and sculpture than any other museum in the world. We arrived at the same time as a school field trip of fourth graders. What a wonderful way to learn about Greek mythology and ancient Greek history! The headsets that we were issued were wonderful because we could hear everything our guide said.

When workers excavated the Acropolis, they found six graves with 19 skeletons: eight women, eight men and three children. Among the items buried with the dead were 24 kilos of gold, mainly in the form of Byzantine jewelry, and five burial masks on the men, one of which was gold and had been dated back to the 16th century BC. Alice also taught us how to date ancient Greek statues. The earliest ones, which were inspired by the Egyptians, were larger than life (size did count!), had no motion and no visible anatomy. Later, the Greeks added motion with one foot in front of the other, visible anatomy, smiles (for the most part, these people lived in peace and harmony), and arms that were still attached to the body. In the 5th century BC, the sculptors added muscles and more definition, hair styles, attempts to separate the arms, vivid colors but no smiles, because the Persian Empire had invaded Greece so the statues represented the serious mood of the citizens. Until the 4th century BC, there were no statues of naked females because the Greek believed that the males had a more pleasing body. All men wanted to be either athletes or warriors.

We also gazed with wonder on two "perfect" male bronze statues that must be the impetus for a woman's comment about a handsome man being "he's a Greek god!" The first was the perfectly balanced body of either Poseidon about to launch his trident or Zeus with his thunder bolt. Take your pick. Sara decided that the scholars should study drawings of both gods and determine which one had the body most like that of Ken to make their decision. The second was either the handsome prince who handed the golden apple to Aphrodite as the most beautiful Greek goddess or Perseus who was the half-god, son of Zeus who was holding the head of Medusa. Our guide thought that the way the statue was holding his hand down in disgust indicated that it was Perseus. When we asked her if she had seen the statue of David in Florence, she replied that it did not count in the same league because David was a boy. These statues were grown men! We did detect the presence of love handles!

Almost as impressive were the Grave Stele or tombstones. Two figures appeared on the funerary monuments--the one seated was the deceased while the one standing was a maid, relative or spouse. The two figures were in the pose of a handshake, indicating that they were saying goodbye to each other with the standing figure providing gifts to the decreased for the afterlife. One woman was holding an open birdcage so that the soul is free to fly closer to the creator.

Our guide's favorite statue was of Aphrodite holding a sandal in her hand while an extremely ugly creature, who loved beautiful women, tried to get closer to her. The creature was named Panic. While the ancient Greeks lived a simpler lifestyle, they had the same fears that modern people do and the same need to look beautiful.

Before touring the Acropolis, we enjoyed an authentic Greek lunch complemented by delicious Greek wine. Then we started to climb the 80 steps to at the Acropolis. Our guide told us not to be concerned about the dogs sleeping on the steps because they have been adopted by the guards and are friendly, harmless, adorable and have all their vaccinations. Vendors wanted to sell us umbrellas to protect us from the sun.

The Acropolis, which means "upper town" is the grounds while the Doric temple is the Parthenon, the largest such structure in Greece and the crowning achievement of Greek civilization's golden age. The white marble temple, built in the 5th century BC in 15 years by free citizens was dedicated to Athena Parthenos or the Virgin Athena. Only three buildings on the Acropolis have been preserved. Our guide had us check the distance between the columns, which was not equal, and note that the columns tend to bend. If one continued the columns to the sky, they would meet and create a very high pyramid. The Parthenon is decorated with reliefs of battle scenes, the fall of Troy and centaurs fighting against man. All the battles represented one thing, the Greek victories over the barbarians. The other buildings on the Acropolis are the Temple of Athena Nike of which the Greek's cut off Nike's wings to keep Nike in Greece for good, the Erectheion that honors both Athena and Poseidon and the porch of the Caryatids that features columns of marble maidens supporting the roof.

Then our guide led us through the narrow, twisting streets with many stairs to the Plaka, Athens' most famous shopping district with its cobbled pedestrian lanes lined with jewelry stores, souvenir shops and boutiques. Prices for Grecian goods seemed very high. As we rode back to the ship, we were glad that we had the opportunity to have a taste of Athens.