Greece trip, part 4

The Navel of the World


Mountains around Delphi


George, Jeff, and me at Delphi


The Sphinx in the museum at Delphi


I need to give you some more information before I go on. People on the trip:
Davis
George
Nate
Kelvin
Jeff
Ryan
Amy
Jess
Shannon
Becky
Kate
Katelyn
Ashley
Rachel
Jessie
Dr. Pappas
Eugenia (tour guide)
Yorgos (bus driver)

Also, a lot of things aren't defined in my journal because I studied this stuff all last quarter so I didn't need to cite or define a lot of it for myself; also keep in mind that for this reason I knew a lot more coming in than did anyone else (which earned me the whole Lord thing, I suppose). If you have any questions about anything just let me know.

Day 3: Tuesday, March 24
Delphi, Itea, Thebes, Cithaeron, to Athens

We had a delicious and satisfying breakfast in Delphi. When I got up I was greeted by a view of a nearby mountainside; the mountains around and in Delphi are beautiful. I was always proud of my Pacific Northwest heritage and I’m a huge fan of the Cascades, but these mountains blew me away. I remember remarking to Amy that the mountains in Greece are curvy and the trees pointed, while in the States it is just the opposite. Funny. Yet another sign of the reversal that I experienced there, and the greater reversal that was about to come into my life. (The night before, Eugenia had provided us with some information about what we were to see today. Delphi holds one of the only four bronze statues in all of Greece: the Charioteer (whose badassery is cemented by his prominent sideburns)!!! She also mentioned that the Priestess was the most respected person of the ancient world, even above politicians.)
First we stopped at the Tholos of Athena, farther down a different mountainside than the uncovered portion of Delphi, which is in fact only eight percent of what stood there (and perhaps still waits to be uncovered). The Tholos is one of only three round structures in all of ancient Greece, so it was very exciting. Eugenia mentioned here that the ancient Greeks were in fact not that religious; that is, they did not believe in the gods as devoutly as we think they did. She explained that worship and sacrifices were mainly made to gain and hold political favor. Funny how they had the same political maneuverings that we do; yet theirs were elegant and beautiful, while ours call to mind maggots feeding on feces. She told us that the Greeks would occupy an area and then invent a myth to justify their presence—after all, nothing comes from nothing.

As we left the Tholos we gazed up at the Oracle, majestically built right into the side of the mountain. I could hardly breathe as we walked up to the entrance gate, where I was denied yet another beautiful ticket. As began our climb up the mountain, I could feel my spirit rising. Delphi! Here we were! First we came to the Roman forum, with a walkway and shops for buying holy items and sacrifices. Eugenia turned and pointed out a nearby mountain where Aesop (Aesopos) was cast off after disbelieving one of the priestess’ oracles. We then saw the Navel of the World, the place where Zeus’ two eagles met from opposite ends of the world. The whole time we climbed, the view kept getting more and more beautiful., the steep wooded mountains shrouded in mist and dimmed by sunlight. I liked the treasury because its frieze depicted Theseus’ battle against the Minotaur. We also saw a wall with the names of emancipated slaves scrawled all over; masters had the right to free slaves at any time. I took this opportunity to pick up Greek phonemes and to learn to (haphazardly) read some of the writing (see Appendix B).
Finally, we made it up to the temple. I was pleased to learn that it has three sections, just like the megaron at Mycenae. It was truly majestic when it still stood. The foundation is very beautiful, and leads the imagination to think of what type of rooms were in there and what each might have been used for. As we continued to ascend I imagined lines and lines of men and donkeys bearing lavish gifts for the Oracle, each hoping to hear a bounteous fortune, each bending her words to his own will. We saw the theater of Delphi on the way up to the highest uncovered portion, the stadium of Delphi. There were signs prohibiting climbers from mounting the cliffs; I’m sure many have tried. At the top, we admired the stadium as Dr. Pappas told us about Mr. T (I also remember that Nate got some, shall we say, attractive pictures of the scenery). On the way down, I joked about how great of a job the priestess had: she got smashed and then got to look at the mountains all day. Sounds good to me. Eugenia told us that the water has ethylene in it, which is why the fumes gave the priestess her high; she added that the people of Delphi are slower than most, for this reason. As we walked back down the mountain, I remarked to Dr. Pappas what a great journey this was in the ancient times. It’s not like Oedipus hopped in the car to go to Delphi! It was a great pilgrimage through mountainous terrain, slow, hot, and tiresome, I’m sure. Though I would endure it all just for a glimpse of the pristine beauty of those mountains.

We stopped in the Museum of Delphi before heading out. We got to see the tripod that the Oracle sat on, as well as a statue of the Sphinx (the same one that Oedipus killed; there is only one). Here, the big things were the Kouroi, the Catalonian Boar, and the Charioteer. Eugenia explained how the Kouroi and the Charioteer show the progress of sculpture as they get progressively more realistic. Here we also saw the first musical notation. It consists of symbols above the text of a bardsong that dictate what techniques are to be used there. Here it was, the beginning of man’s transformation from beast to sentient. It was amazing! Eugenia moved on too quickly for me; I was stunned by the shock of such a magnificent finding. They really did do it all first. A pox on Rome! Though they tried, they could never best the Greeks. How can any accomplishment match the magnitude of these ancients? They did it ALL first.
We moved through to the Charioteer. It was great, but I was still reeling from the musical notation. He is one of only 4 bronze statues left in Greece; the rest were melted down after being copied, the bronze used for other things. Before we left, I asked Eugenia about the real locations of some of The Odyssey; see Appendix B.

We stopped for a delicious lunch in the port of Itea, along the coast near the base of Delphi. We got to take some beautiful pictures of the Aegean Sea, whose name was explained to us later. I touched it; I have touched the Aegean Sea. The meal was great; I tried a fried whole small fish. It was disconcerting to have to eat the bones and the scales, but it was delicious. The wine went especially well with the fish. Here I earned my new nickname when Dr. Pappas yelled, “Tim! Tim! Tim!” to get my attention. He did it again several times throughout the trip, though I think after this it was less of an accident than he made it out to be. We passed through Thebes on the way back to Athens. Eugenia pointed out the mountain where Oedipus was left to die (!!!). It’s quite far from Corinth—Oedipus did a much better job of running away (at least physically) than I had first thought. We also stopped briefly at Cithareon before making it back to the Hotel Stanley. Everyone was tired but really excited for the cruise the next day! No museums for a day!