Watching the Olympics' opening prompted me to revisit my journey to Greece. In addition to two islands, I spent several nights in Athens. By tradition, this year’s Olympic flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, the origin of the ancient games. From there, it traveled through Greece, arriving in Athens, where it spent one night on the Acropolis. In Athens, the flame was transferred to Paris 2024 organizers for the remainder of its journey.
The first modern games were held in Athens’ Panathenaic Stadium in 1896. The stadium was initially built in 330 BCE. When I viewed the marble stadium last year, guides shared the history, but the significance didn’t connect until I watched pieces of the opening of the Olympics this year. From the stadium, the flame traveled to Athens’ Port of Piraeus to a French three-masted sailing ship built in 1896 for the next leg of travel. The Port of Piraeus was also the point of my sailing to the Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorini on a far more useful vessel.
The Olympics triggered a flood of memories from my Greek journey. I have been to these places and seen these sites, but the Olympics in Paris began to connect history to place for me. Having visited Greece last fall and Paris the year before, these Olympics caught my interest in new ways. The traditions and ceremonies meant more than the events I have focused on in past years. I congratulate the organizers in France and Greece for honoring these important traditions.
First Impressions
When I arrived in the Capital of Greece in the fall of 2023, the most striking impression was of the Golden Era of Greece with the Acropolis and its iconic temple, the Parthenon. The peak of the rocky hill with its nearly flat top basks in sunlight in view from much of the city. At night, the subtle glow of lighting draws eyes from across Athens streets and its rooftop bars and restaurants to this ancient temple built for the city’s namesake, the goddess Athena.
Walking through the central sections of Athens, I saw what seems on its surface to be a haphazard collection of preservation at various levels and infill of modern buildings and shops. Crumbling blocks of ancient rock structures with markers defining their import rest beside remarkable restorations like the Temple Hephaestus, while a row of restaurants and shops is across the street. It appears to me that locals have acclimated to this extraordinary juxtaposition of antiquity with the 21st Century.
Following my trip to Athens, I connected the seemingly discrete experiences gained by simply walking to dinner from the hotel. I pondered Greek guards, Homer, and the Acropolis. I remembered dinner near the ancient Agora, remarkable, unplanned views of Hadrian’s Arch, and a simple but time-worn doorway framing a view of what used to be. The Mediterranean Sea and the faint scent of salt air brought to mind the historic traditions of exchanging goods, ideas, and people.
Greek Guards
As our cab ferried us from the airport to our hotel I looked out to see the changing of the
guard at the National Parliament and Presidential Mansion. Founded in 1868, the soldiers wear traditional Greek uniforms with a fez, a kilt, fringes, and garters. It reminded me a little of the traditional changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace but with very different uniforms. These guards were a modern visual compared to the world suggested by the nearby Parthenon, and yet they seemed ancient next to daily life in the city I wandered through. I thought of this current-day changing of the guard as an indicator of the interconnectedness of tradition with the strengths and challenges of modern Greece.
Greek Gods and Goddesses
As described in Homer’s epics and celebrated in the temples of Athens, Greeks viewed their deities as higher forms, though with many human emotions. The gods were to be honored and feared. The Acropolis was designed to lift people’s eyes to the temples of the gods, placing them above man’s daily business. In addition to the Parthenon, which honored Athena, there is a temple to the goddess Athena Nike on the top of the hill. You didn’t need to be male to be a Greek deity.
There was a reminder that my visit to the Acropolis was long after Greek deities were considered the ultimate rulers of Athens. From a distance, I saw what I first thought was a pipe running down the side of the sacred hill. As I got closer, I discovered it was an elevator for people with disabilities to access the mountaintop. That’s an appropriate modern improvement, but was there a way to disguise or construct it in a less central location? Maybe not, and I am glad everyone has the opportunity to summit to the top of the site.
Ancient Agora
Wandering along narrow streets, finding my way to dinner, I saw tile floors at some sites missing their surrounding buildings. Everywhere were rows of columns, often damaged but still standing, that had once supported a temple or market. The Stoa of Attalus was once a trade market with columns supporting a roof over those selling their wares, but it serves as a museum today.
I gazed at the ruins and historic settings during dinner with two American ex-pats on our first night in Athens. The most exciting interplay of modern Greece and ancient ruins was in the ancient Agora or marketplace across the street just past our table. I fear I was not an attentive dinner guest.
By turning my head from right to left, I surveyed a fantastic range of cultural history without taking a step. Up the hill behind us was the Temple of Hephaestus, built around the same time as the Parthenon to honor Hephaistos, the patron of metal workers, and Athena Ergane, patroness of potters and crafts. Left of that was Mars Hill, where the Apostle Paul spoke to
the Greeks to persuade them to abandon their polytheistic practices. The Agora appeared as a large set of fields in the foreground overrun with ruins. The area once served as the gathering place for all of Athens to hear philosophers like Socrates, observe trials, and listen to politicians. Further to my left was the Parthenon on the Acropolis, turning gold as the sun began to set.
Immediately in front of me, I observed a unique example of the fusion of modern Greece and ancient ruins as a commuter train ran along the edge of the Agora every few minutes through a short tunnel formed by the remains of an ancient arch. The arch was left in place by digging out the rail bed enough for the train to continue its route.
All this was at dinner. I watched the train pass several times before we departed to walk the area in the early evening. Around the edge of the Agora opposite our restaurant was the beginning of the thriving tourism-based markets that served me in 2023 and the millions of others who come each year. A five-minute walk took me from one world into another.
Hadrian’s Arch
As I wandered back and forth, I sometimes looked up to see unbidden, stunning scenes when passing along the narrow, congested city streets. Near my hotel, I glanced left. Then, I stopped after stepping into the street to stare before instinct prompted me to get out of the road. In this way, I discovered Hadrian’s Arch or Gate, a spectacular structure separating ancient Greece from the area Hadrian developed during his rule. Hadrian built a new quarter on the east side of the old Athens, which included the Temple of Zeus.
Door Frame to the Past
I remember looking for a postcard at a shop and turning to see across a narrow alley a stone doorframe standing upright without its supporting walls. It possessed an ornate arch above the lintel piece and rested at the top of a couple of steps overgrown with vines and a vacant lot behind it. The lot had the first pomegranate tree I had ever seen. At first glance, I thought the fruit was apples, but when I stepped closer, I saw the pomegranate's characteristic shape. This tree behind the ruins beckoned me through the doorway to the past.
Mediterranean Sea
Ancient adventurers sailing to unknown places engaged in trade, establishing Greece as a connection point for people from many lands. The sea continues to be a source of connection and friction. The summer of 2024 saw a return of tensions with Turkey, including conflicts around fishing rights in the Aegean Sea.
Like most of the northern tier of Mediterranean countries, Greece struggles to manage an influx of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. The Hamas attack on Israel was on October 7, 2023, the day before I arrived in Athens. During the week, hotels reported struggling to meet the needs of many fleeing that conflict.
Along with others in the region, Greece is facing challenges with climate change and has been one of the first to hire a climate minister. While I wrote this section in August 2024, The Washington Post and other sources reported on the wildfires near Athens that prompted large-scale evacuations and cloaked the Parthenon in other-worldly colored orange smoke. The expat couple I met and had dinner with near the Agora shared with our mutual friend that they were not forced to evacuate, though many of their colleagues were.
Tourism challenges are a concern, particularly in the Greek Islands and Athens. The distribution of tourism revenue from Airbnb rentals isn’t shared by all who bear the burden of tourist presence. The crush of cruise ship passengers who spend nothing on local hotels or housing and little on meals is a source of ongoing frustration in Athens and more so in the nation’s islands.
Being Greek
From my point of view, the people of Greece remain fundamentally the same, stalwart and innovative. They remain leaders and farmers. They remain entrepreneurs, craftspeople, service people, fishermen, and tradespeople. They remain partners with nations of the world through NATO, seeking to protect democracy, a concept they devised. The archeological remnants and potent ideas from centuries before Christ's time stay at the heart of who they are. This journey to Greece shaped my perspective on culture and history, expanding my interest in the larger Mediterranean region.
I left Greece with an impression of place, of the rootedness of modern-day Athens to its historic beginnings. The Greek narrative begun by Homer shows that despite revolutionary level change, the bedrock of the Peloponnesian Peninsula remains.
Almost a year later, I think about what life as a Greek in Athens might be like. They see the ruins mixed in with the new businesses, the metro stations, along with the crowds of tourists. It’s all part of their everyday existence. What you see daily becomes the background for your experiences and how your life plays out. Imagine the Ancient Agora as the periphery of your trip to a routine business meeting. I contrast that with my newly transplanted existence in Florida. Before leaving Athens, I bought the magnet with this saying by Heraclitus, “Nothing endures but change.” It spoke to where I live now, but I wonder what he would think of all that has endured in Athens.
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