Greece – The Peloponnese, From Athens to Sparta Part 1

ATHENS

To put a locational stake in the ground, our itinerary starts its final leg of the trip in Athens.  You know, the home of the Acropolis …

the Parthenon …

(Madeline, this is Athena's house)

 the Erechtheion with its porch of caryatids …

and friends, Greek sun, beer, wine and food *.

(* Actually I took some artistic liberty here ... aka alternative facts.  This photo is taken from the isle of Patmos, Greece located in and overlooking the Aegean Sea on the way to Athens.  A wedge of spanakopita for the first person to name the book of the New Testament and its credited author who died in prison on this island.)


But our travels this time did not begin in Athens, they began in Mycenae.  But before we go there a word about the southern part of the mainland – the Peloponnese.  I decided to group several days of travels into this one blog to both discuss the entire southern region and get caught up on the blogs.  So bear with me, this will be a bit longer than usual.

The area to the east faces the Aegean Sea; the area to the west faces the Ionian Sea.  In between, the Peloponnesian War took place (431-404 BC) and reshaped the ancient Greek world.  Athens, the strongest city-state in Greece prior to the war's beginning, was reduced to a state of near-complete subjection, while Sparta became established as the leading power of Greece. This changed much later as Sparta was completely defeated.

The Peloponnese and Athens in particular has been subjugated by many conquering nations.  But as our guide said, no matter, Greece exported love not war.  She reminded us that at the center of Greek culture was the human being and the arts.  Greece offers philosophy, drama, and sculptures representing the human form. And as our priest, Becky, reminded us at Easter, love wins.    

MYCENAE 

Mycenaean Greece represents the first advanced civilization on the mainland with its urban organization, works of art and writing system.

For those of you who attended architectural school, you’ll remember the Lion Gate of Mycenae from a 7:30 a.m. ancient civilizations history class. You know, the slide just before you fell asleep in the darkened theater after a design class all-nighter.

The Lion Gate was the main entrance of the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae and located on the northwest side of the acropolis.   With the use of the lions (likely a Sphinx with a head of different animal/material), it symbolized the power the Mycenaean kings to both subjects and foreigners.

Just to the right as you enter the fortifications you’ll see Grave Circle A.  This is odd because like Grave Circle B and others, these cemeteries are normally found outside of the fortifications.  Seems that A was for the royal families. 

The Lion Gate was erected during the 13th century BC about the same time as  Pharaoh Akhenaten ruled Egypt … remember him?  I mention this because the gold for the crowns of the Mycenaean kings, found in the Circle A site came from Egypt in exchange for their assistance in the Egyptian Army.

CORINTH

Anchored by the Temple to Apollo …

the ancient Greek City State of Corinth stands about half way between Athens and Sparta.

Ancient Corinth was one of the most important cities of Greece, with a population of 90,000 in 400 BC. Not only did it give us the Corinthian order of Greek Architecture *…

(* Look closely on the ground and you'll see the capitals.)

it also gave us the concept of the agora of Greek urban 
planning and the context for Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.

Imagine if you will the foundations in front (i.e., to the right) supporting the columns to support the porticoes of stores to the left. 

Now imagine all of the merchants shouting out their wares for sale, as the shoppers wandered under the shade of the roofed enclosures.  And all of this activity organized around a large open plaza for public interaction known in Greece as the agora. Which, by the way, was the same urban planning model found on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The Romans demolished Corinth in 146 BC, and built a new city in its place in 44 BC, and later made it the provincial capital of Greece. 

Known as the ancient Las Vegas (alternative fact) Corinth was in fact known for its night life and one reason it was so attractive for St. Paul to visit.  Maybe I should rephrase that, but you know what I mean.  It was pretty amazing to stand on the spot where, after an 18 month stay, Paul was put on trial in the forum (Roman name for the Greek “agora”) by Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia.  If you want to find out what happened go to Acts 18: 12-16.

Tune in to Greece – The Peloponnese, From Athens to Sparta Part 2