Greece trip, part 7

Day 6: Friday, March 27
Athens

I was excited about this day because we were scheduled to see views of Athens from Mount Lykavitos and then have lunch in a tavern in Plaka. That, and it was the day of the Acropolis. We had another hurried breakfast (Nate sleeps like a log) and jumped on the bus for Mount Lykavitos. It was fun to drive through Athens and see the bustle of the city; we stopped at a Starbucks on the way and had a little downtime there while we waited for Eugenia to meet us nearby. Certain others in our group (and here I poke fun at a certain Miss Holmes) were REALLY excited to see Starbucks in Greece; I really could have cared less. Yorgos impressed us all by deftly maneuvering the bus through a gauntlet of tightly packed cars up Mount Lykavitos. He is like the Bisu of Greek tour bus drivers. Mount Lykavitos was awesome; we got to see panoramic views of Athens. We were higher than the Acropolis and hungrily gazed at it in the distance. The girls were excited because they were able to get a lot of good Vogue shots on the mountain, and Ashley got to climb up a bunch of rocks and yell taunts at the rest of us below. It’s funny how homogenous Athens looks from above—all the buildings have the same construction and almost all of them are the same color, with similarly colored roofs—it doesn’t look at all like Seattle or other United States cities that I can think of. On our way to the Acropolis we saw a sculpture of the runner from Marathon (his name escapes me at the moment; I’m sure you can find it in Appendix B). It was beautiful, made of layered slabs of glass. He ran 26 miles in full armor without stopping, and then died of exhaustion soon after relaying the message. We loaded up and then finally made it to the Acropolis. First we passed by the Odeon of Herodicus Atticus and the Theater of Dionysus. I did my report on those two but Dr. Pappas and Eugenia explained the bulk of the information while I threw in my two bits. I was excited about the Odeon because it was only for music and also because Yanni performed there in 1993. Here I became more aware of a theme that had been recurring, under the radar, for the entire trip: hubris. Museums don’t allow you to pose with the statues, Ashley got yelled at for posing her sock monkey by a royal guard, and now the example that brought me here: across from the Acropolis is the tomb of Philippos, a king of some sort, Ottoman Turkish or Persian perhaps; I don’t remember exactly. He was scorned after his death because the tomb was too close to the Acropolis and it insults the buildings there. Dr. Stacy likes to mention hubris quite a bit, and it was really underscored by the entire trip; the Greeks are very sensitive about insults or frivolous treatment of their artifacts. Hubris is still around (indeed, we make a hobby out of it in our country), and the Greeks are adamantly opposed to it. I’m sure there were many more minor incidents on the trip that could also support this point, but I glazed over many of the minor incidents and jokes on the trip. Damn! Well, I will simply have to return again someday and conduct a more diligent study.

As we climbed up to the Propylaia, Eugenia explained that the Parthenon was more social and political than religious. I felt my blood boil as she explained that ninety percent of the Parthenon’s statues were carted off by British and Scottish diplomats and officials and are now resting in the British museum. I should get involved in the campaign to return them to Greece. Before we passed through the Propylaia, Eugenia pointed to the square straight across from us and said, “That is the birthplace of democracy.” She continued that that was where the Supreme Court met and speeches were made. Her voice faded away as I found myself rooted to the spot, shivers convulsing up and down my body. I stared at that spot for a minute straight, not even blinking. I imagined Perikles giving his speeches, and later the confrontation between Nicias and Alcibiades, ringed by a congregation of ancient politicians. All I could think was, “this is where it all began.” I imagined Socrates being tried and convicted as Plato’s face fell silently into his hand, wet with his tears. I was glad to have my sunglasses; had Eugenia not pressed on, I might have sat down and cried for an hour. This was probably the most powerful moment of the trip for me…but I have said all I can here. I have poured as much as I can into these keys and pixels. They can hold no more. A thing happened inside me then. And it’s still happening now, April 19, 2009. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know when I figure it out.

As Eugenia turned, she showed us the rock where Paul preached the gospel to ancient Greeks and Romans—the Chi Alphans were very excited about that, but I really could not have cared less. What is the legacy of Christianity compared to the legacy of the Greek Pantheon? Even as we went up to the Parthenon I lagged behind, weak from the profundity of what I was seeing.

The Ottoman Turks really treated the Parthenon like garbage—they used it as an armory and it was bombed, weakening it further. What a testament to the mastery of the ancient Greeks that it still stands! Eugenia explained how it was constructed with a curvature that was supposed to correct the inaccuracies of the human eye and give a picture of a perfectly formed building with perfectly straight columns. Not only that, but each column disc fits only with its partner and will not fit anywhere else. Amazing! We spent a lot of time up there, taking pictures and marveling. Next we went down to the agora, where Socrates walked around questioning the sophists of the day and talking to anyone who would listen (the impact of this place hit me later on the plane; I was still reeling from the Supreme Court experience).
We passed through the agora and went inside the museum there. It had some cool stuff, including a vase with a picture of the fight over Patroklos’ body and the induction of Herakles on the other side. We then walked to the Temple of Hephaistos, the best-preserved temple of the ancient world. Eugenia told us the story of Erecthonius, the snake that is always with Athena—it came from Hephaistos’ semen as he fired a shot at the fleeing Athena, and is considered a kind of virgin birth by Athena. For this reason, the temple was later dedicated to Mary. It was a stunning day, and we continued on to Plaka for lunch at a gyro joint. We were careful to avoid the grifters and thieves on the street; after lunch I went with Nate, Ryan, and George and walked around looking at shops. We met a guy who had great English and liked the United States better than Greece, which was really trippy. We took the subway back to the Hotel and hung around until nighttime, when we went out to the Hard Rock Café across from Lava Boré for Jessica’s 19th birthday. We had a lot of fun and everyone was merry. Some others might have gone out after that but I’m not sure; I retired to my journal and my bed.