“Zeus was here”
Athens, Greece. June 2018 (15 photos)
This is Part 5 of my Greece 2018 photo series, and also Part 22 of my Europe 2018 photo series.
Let’s leave Vienna and return to Athens.
The Titans were deities in Greek mythology and were the children of the primordial deities Uranus (heaven) and Gaea (earth). The Titans included Oceanus, Tethys, Hyperion, Theia, Coeus, Phoebe, Cronus, Rhea, Mnemosyne, Themis, Crius and Iapetus. In Ancient Greek mythology, the Titan Cronus overthrew his father Uranus. In turn, the Titans were overthrown by Cronus’ children (Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera and Demeter), known as The Olympians. For my version of the Clash of the Titans we’ll start with Zeus and include some other Titans of Greek history (in the broadest sense of the word) that I encountered.
In the photo above you see the Temple of Olympian Zeus, dedicated to Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder and the head of the Olympian gods. Construction began in the 6th century BC, but it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. During the Roman period the temple was renowned as the largest temple in Greece.
“Acropolis nightfall”
Athens’ most famous historical site is the Acropolis. The Acropolis is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon.
“Acropolis now”
The Parthenon is a former temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, daughter of Zeus. Construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the peak of its power. It was completed in 438 BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered the zenith of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, Athenian democracy and Western civilization, and one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments.
“It’s all Greek to me”
The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a programme of selective restoration and reconstruction to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure.
“Once upon a time in Ancient Greece”
On the north side of the Acropolis sits The Erechtheion, an ancient Greek temple which was dedicated to both Athena (daughter of Zeus) and Poseidon (brother of Zeus).
In the foreground lay ruins which were the site of the Old Temple of Athena, built around 525-500 BC. Until its destruction by the Persians in 480 BC, it was the shrine of Athena, the patron deity of the city of Athens.
“Ancient of days! august Athena! where,
Where are thy men of might, thy grand in soul?
Gone,—glimmering through the dream of things that were:
First in the race that led to glory’s goal,
They won, and passed away,—is this the whole?” (Lord Byron)
In ancient Greek mythology, the Goddess Athena is the daughter of Zeus. She sprang full grown in armour from his forehead, and therefore has no mother.
“Ancient v. Modern Greece”
This is the view looking down from the Acropolis along its north side. Much of the greenery is on the site of the Ancient Agora of Athens. An Agora was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is “gathering place” or “assembly”. The Agora was the centre of the athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city. The Ancient Agora of Athens was the best-known example.
The temple you can see with the columns is the Temple of Hephaestus, a relatively well-preserved temple.
“Shadowplay”
Hephaestus is the Greek God of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes. Hephaestus’ Roman equivalent is Vulcan. In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of the gods.
“Death by Centaur”
The Metopes of the Parthenon are the surviving set of what were originally 92 square carved plaques of marble originally located above the columns of the Parthenon peristyle on the Acropolis of Athens. Some are on display in the Acropolis Museum. The one above depicts the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths, a legendary ancient tribe of Athens. The Centaurs and the Lapiths are both believed to be descended from the god Apollo, son of Zeus.
“Walls of knowledge”
The fall of the ancient Greek civilisation to the Roman Empire began in 146 BC. The Roman emperor Hadrian, in the 2nd century AD, constructed a library, a gymnasium, an aqueduct, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge and financed the completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Above is part of the surviving wall of the Library of Hadrian.
“All things must pass”
The Arch of Hadrian, supposedly built to celebrate the arrival of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and to honour him for his many benefactions to the city, on the occasion of the dedication of the nearby Temple of Olympian Zeus in 131 AD.
“Cloudy with a chance of rain”
On the site of the Roman Agora sits The Tower of the Winds or the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes, an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower that functioned as a horologion or “timepiece”. Built around 50BC, it is considered the world’s first meteorological station.
“Moon over Poseidon”
Over an hour’s drive south out of Athens is Sounion. Cape Sounion is the promontory at the southernmost tip of the Attic peninsula. Here, surrounded by the sea on 3 sides sits the Temple of Poseidon. One of the Olympians, Poseidon was god of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses and is considered one of the most bad-tempered, moody and greedy Olympian gods.
“Poseidon in a good mood”
People come here to watch the sunset. Surprisingly, most do that while on the slopes below the Temple with the Temple behind them. I much preferred to watch the sunset against the temple itself, to get my photos.
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight”
…
This is Part 5 of my Greece 2018 photo series.
This is Part 22 of my Europe 2018 photo series, including Czechia (The Czech Republic), The Netherlands, France, Italy, Austria, Greece and Germany.
The Olympians were always a favorite subject for some students – I could have used your photos to enlighten them as well. The night shots with the sunset are my absolute favorites.
I learned and relearned a lot of history going to Athens and seeing all these monuments. It is awe inspiring stuff!
Thank you so much, Sounion is a beautiful area. Standing on the other side of the Temple of Poseidon you see the sea and several small islands – beautiful!
I guess I will have to return some day – so many years since I went. I think I was 25. I went for a classical tour of Greece. In fact I don’t remember much of it – had about 40-45 degrees every day. I enjoy your tour now!
That kind of temperature would be energy sapping. Fortunately it was more comfortable for me, but warm.
The dragon must have felt right at home here. I can just hear someone shouting “Release the Kraken!” Interesting you mentioned Hadrian here. It pinged a memory that had me scrolling through my files. There are some flowers that grow in Scotland and England (along Hadrian’s Wall to be exact) that I have a photo of.
Well, in the recent movie, Theseus was played by an Australian. And I do happen to have a photo of me eating a meal of Greek Octopus which I call “Draco defeats the Kraken” LOLOL 🙂
Hadrian sounds like he got around.
Now that’s a photo I’d like to see! And you know how those ancient Romans were… always invading and conquering somewhere.
Exactly! That photo may never be seen in public, but just know I’m smiling in it and it tasted fabulous. 🙂
Darn! 🙂
🙂
Awesome shots, as always. Temple of Poseidon: what are those white things on the ground, below the temple? Are they fragments of the temple itself that crumbled away and rolled down the hillside?
Thank you. That area was fenced off but I’ve just magnified some of my daylight photos taken at the same area. Yes, they’re pieces of white material rather than rock, some geometric in shape. Almost certainly fragments of the ruined columns I suspect. You have a good eye for detail.
Lovely ruins. The old Greek seemed to reserve the best of places for their temples. I like the time of the evening when buildings are just becoming brighter than the sky; you caught the temple of Poseidon at such a moment. It looks very good.
Maybe the better the location, the better the gods are appeased? Thank you. They have a restaurant about a 100m down from my position and to the right. I was there until complete nightfall. It’s quite a spectacular site to see the temple illuminated against the black night as well.
Greece is one place that I haven’t visited yet. Should try to fix that.
Travel/tourism is a recognised important factor in Greece’s economic recovery. Most things cost less there than at home.
sigh, you’re living my dream life. how about yu take housekeeping, the kids and the insanity, i’ll take the road and the camera? lol.
I hadn’t known the olympians overthrew the titans. and i admit, there are a lot of names in there i’ve never heard.
LOL. I have enough of my own insanity, thank you. 🙂
Yes, ancient Greek mythology weaves quite a tangled tale.
Acropolis museum is really worth the visit.
Seen it all except Cape Sounion. I’m in love with that temple.
I love how detailed you are. You never miss anything.
I spent a few hours at the museum. The ruins underneath the building haven’t been completely excavated yet but when they are and go on full public display that will be incredible.
Thank you. The temple of Poseidon is at a fabulous location, and the seaside road that takes you there offers amazing views.
I bet. One fine day…
🙂
And the rest of the story is that Thanos and his Infinity Stones destroyed The Titans, The Olympians and a bunch of Avengers. So sad…
But that’s not the end of the story either. Then, Thanos encounters Draco. I won’t go into the details but I’m still standing. 🙂
I knew you had the Time Stone!! Well played…well played.
Shhh… Some things must not be revealed. 😉
I’m currently in the Tate Gallery in Liverpool and it’s pouring outside. Bliss to wander into this. Off home now 😃😃
Thanks for taking a quick interlude into the Greek sunshine, Jo. I hope you didn’t get too wet on the way home.
Absolutely gorgeous photos! I just love seeing your Europe pictures. 😍
Thank you very much. Have a great weekend ahead.
Wow…so many of the sites that featured in my studies of early Greek philosophers, when I was a young philosophy student! Great shots!
It was good to see all these sights with so much historical significance.
Thanks LD for the wonderful history lesson and photos to accompany it. I’m useless when it comes to mythology, whether Greek, Roman or Norse. I can never remember who is the father or mother of whom. All my photos of Athens are well pre-digital and very sparse, so I have thoroughly enjoyed being back there again with you. And what a lovely photo to end the post with. Thanks 🙂
My pleasure, Jude. Thank you. Google is a big help to me in putting the information together. The mythology is too intricate for an amateur to remember.
There was a restaurant at the Temple of Poseidon which I chose to eat at to watch the slow sunset transition to darkness. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Well I very much appreciate all your effort into researching the myths and all your lovely images to accompany them.
My pleasure, Jude. Thank you.
I will have to stop reading your excellent posts. Makes me jealous. There I confessed, so hopefully that heavy burden is off my chest now🤣
LOL I’m glad you got that off your chest. You’ll have a better weekend that way. 🙂
😊😊😊
🙂
Such history! Such beauty! Lovely post!
Thank you. It’s amazing to experience all this mythology and history.
I probably told you already, but Greece is one of the very few European countries that I never got around to visiting. I tried on several occasions, but it just never fell into place. Your account and photos give me a bit of regret. I wanted to visit the Temple of Poseidon in particular, and that last photo is so intriguing.
You did tell me. It’s a shame you didn’t get to see what you wanted to, but life offers different choices repeatedly. I stayed at Sounion until total nightfall. The Temple was illuminated against a black sky, as if home of the god Poseidon was floating on air.
Ah, you know I can’t really complain. I’ve visited so many places and you never know what the future may bring.
True.
These shots… taking my breath away.
It’s almost impossible to capture majesty of the place. You did, every single one of them. Wow!!!
Thank you for sharing, Dragon. 🙂
Thank you very much, Amy. It wasn’t easy avoiding the crowds, but I got my photos when it counted.
PS I hope all is well with you. When I didn’t hear from you on my previous post about Vienna and then you didn’t make your usual late week post, I was starting to wonder. Hopefully you’re just busy. Appreciate the visit. Have a good weekend ahead, Amy.
Thank you for your concern, Dragon. I went to CA to visit my relatives for a few days, came back yesterday. I saw your previous post. I kinda remember I left a comment. If not, it could be the WiFi. 🙂
You’re always travelling! I can’t keep up with you. 🙂 🙂 🙂
No one can fly like Dragon! 🐉
LOL. Hope your bird radar is active. 🙂 🙂 🙂
😀 🙂 🙂
:))
Gorgeous photos! I haven’t been to Greece (I know… how come?). But it’s definitely one of my destinations next year.
Thank you very much. Make sure you go to a Greek island as well. You’re going to have a great time.
Can hardly wait! 🙂
I’ll bet. 🙂 Planning and anticipation is almost half the fun of travel.
Im-depth history lesson. The world’s first meteorological station looked like a low-key one, one that would have worked based on weather patterns and directions.
From my reading on the internet it was mainly used to determine wind direction. So yes, low key but still an important step forwards.
Oh to walk among such architectural marvels. Thank you for taking me here. What a tour. Your compositions are magazine quality worthy and captions quite humorous. And of course, embracing all things nautical, I love the nod to Poseidon at the end the of the post
Thank you. Yes, I’m guessing Poseidon is of particular importance to you, on a daily basis. 🙂
Interesting to see The Tower Of The Winds. I wonder how reliable their forecasts were or whether they were of the white stuff on tower = snow; tower wet = rain; cannot see tower = foggy type.
My reading suggests it was mainly about evaluating the winds. The octagonal shape of the tower is aligned to the points of a compass. I’m not sure if it was used for rainfall, etc.
Because “it’s NOT all Greek to me”. Your post came up as a recommendation. I liked it. I followed it. YOU have a Greek eye. I have a Greek soul…
I’m glad my photos have been able to portray the beauty of Greece to you. Thank you so much.
Gorgeous images Draco, a treat as always. Your captures at Sounion are magical, wrapped in the colours of this sunset 🙂
Thank you very much. The views of and from the Temple of Poseidon were beautiful.
Some amazing photos and good information.
Thank you very much. It was good to see these monuments to ancient mythology/history.
What a great post Mr Draco … 🙂 And the images at Sounion are stunners! I did wonder at the white material on the ground .. near the Temple of Poseidon
Thank you very much, Julie. I can only imagine they were fragments of old ruined columns. There was no other white material in the area.
Amazing picture, friend
Thank you very much. Athens has so much history to absorb.