Mycenae

Writing this blog has been fun and gave me an opportunity for a different kind of reflection on what I might otherwise have simply seen, heard, felt and casually left behind.

Knowing that many of you were following it was supportive, motivating and this too felt good.

Each day was its own experience and this simple yet profound cartoon became my theme for each day.











My visit to Mycenae was another special day.

This picture is taken at the Lion Gate, the entrance to the ancient citadel of Mycenae - yet another place I had only dreamed of visiting, never expecting to actually walk this place.










Mycenae and Troy both figure prominently in our own history. Lines drawn from these ancients reach all of us who belong to 'western civilization'.


This is an aerial view of Mycenae. The Lions Gate is bottom left, where the shadowed area is just before Grave Circle A [the round circle site]







Mycenae was a city state mentioned by Homer.

Homer, and all his  characters and places, were considered myth until the late 1800's when Heinrich Schliemann, a German self-made millionaire, who was also self educated, concluded they may be real places waiting to be found.

Mycenae, [1400-1100 BCE] and what took place there, and preserved through Homer,  laid the foundation for Greek art and literature and the Greek ancient and classical cultures define our heritage.

This is what the sit looked like about 1200. It was from here that the epic Battle of Troy was launched, a war that now appears to have been a real historical event, and the outcome of which influenced everyone.

Through his fascination with Homer, Schliemann observed there was simply too much detail in these epic poems to be just fiction. 

This is an amazing time in history. Similar observations were being made by many observant people at this period of history. These decades of the mid to late 1800's were the years many smart people were making new conclusions based on the evidence around them. 

Darwin had just published the "Origin of the Species," Hegel had a seminar class that had three rather bright students in it: Karl Marx, Sigmond Freud and Feuerbach.  Many people were concluding that a formal education for their children was a good idea. The concept of childhood as a phase of critical development, and thus unique opportunity, was first described in terms that we would recognize in the 1870's

The story of the recovery of knowing about Mycenae a couple of 1000 years after its 'loss' is a true detective story.

Schliemann looked at the details of Homer's sagas of the Iliad and the Odyssey, focused on the details, travelled to the Aegean, explored, asked questions, kicked over dirt, actually purchased the  sites with greatest potential, hired local labourers, taught them archaeological techniques that he was developing on the spot including the importance of 'in situ' interpretation and dating.

He discovered the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations and artifacts that still amaze us today. Here I am beside the "mask of Agamemnon" in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. This was found in the shaft graves in the royal tombs in Grave Circle A.

Other graves sites uncovered at Mycenae include the tholos tombs.

Tomb of Aegisthos ( c. 1500 BC), the Lion Tholos Tomb (c. 1350 BC), the Tomb of Clytemnestra (c. 1220 BC).

  These great royal tombs were 'beehive' shaped caverns dug   into the sides of hills and, we think, reopened from time to time as members of royalty died.



  Look at the size of this stone I'm leaning on below!












The dead were buried with incredible wealth of gold and other treasures, yet, like the tombs of Egypt, many were found and robbed over the centuries.


















These tombs, of which there are four found so far, are about 40 ft in diameter and about 50 ft high!

See me - bottom left, dwarfed by these walls. Ground level is where the large ring of stone is placed.

The cistern at Mycenae was an amazing place I would like to visit again when I have a flashlight. It begins inside the fortress walls but goes down through the mountain to a spring far below and outside the walls.


One advantage of traveling in the winter is that, in most cases, I was either alone or with very few others at these sites. The disadvantage is that some things do not have the light on, or a guide with a handy flashlight!

When I came across the cistern entrance it was black inside. The tunnel goes down and turns several times. I couldn't resist the invitation of this intriguing entrance.

Not having a light, I would take a picture with the camera's flash on -  using the flash of light to see the next couple of steps and go down, repeating this several times.

 Finally, after three turns and deep into the pitch black, I could see this in front of me, but had no idea what it was,

...so thought maybe I should go back up.

Oh well. It was fun.

Finally, these are two new friends I made in Athens.

Dimitrios, an American-born Athenian with a deep interest and pride in Greek history and archaeology,  took the day off work to drive me to Mycenae.

His daughter, Valentina, 11, and just beginning to learn English, took the day off school to come spend a rare day hanging out with her dad.

She was astounded by her own history and went back to class with stories of her homeland she had not known.

Sharing this day of exploration with my new friends made it a truly exceptional experience and I am so grateful to them for sharing their country with me.

Now For Something Completely Different, The Dreadnaught Averof

I have long had a great interest in naval history and one of my hopes of this trip was to make it to the Greek Naval Museum in Paliofaliro.

The main attraction there is the Averof

The Battleship Averof [really a heavy cruiser] is the last 'dreadnought' heavy cruiser of its kind in the world.

The first dreadnought [a category of ship named after the first of its kind HMS Dreadnought] was built in 1906 and marked a change in naval architecture.

The Averof was built in 1910 and thus features the early form modern battleships took.

Through the years the great battleships, with ever bigger armament , ever thicker armour and faster speeds, were the masters of the oceans.

This evolution would culminate in the great battleships of early WW2 when the world learned how vulnerable these ships were to air attack.

The Averof has a history of humour and distinction.

For many years it was it was the greatest weapon platform in the Aegean.











It almost single handed won two great naval confrontations against the Turks in the First Balkan War [1912-13] .

This gave the Greeks uncontested control of the Aegean following the First World War until 1941, and this ship was the reason.

It's main armament were 4 - 9.2 inch guns that could hurl a 1000 pound shell accurately over 20 miles.











This is the exterior of the magazines where the shells and propellants were stored. On the black rails, hanging from the ceiling, the munitions were run to elevators that lifted the explosives to the turrets, three decks above.

I could barely stand up in this space and had to take care not to whack my head. That door was a real challenge to get through. The further into the ship I went the more claustrophobic I became. Unbelievable that men could function here.







After surviving the Battle for Greece and the Battle for Crete [1941] the Averof served as an escort ship for convoys in the Indian Ocean.
















It remains in active service today. It is assigned to 'long term repairs' at its birth where it is a proud symbol of Greek naval ability where it also serves as a museum.

On the humorous side of this ship's history is the story of when it sailed to England for the coronation of King George V. The Greek crew was served blue cheese. They had never seen such food. They rioted- causing a near mutiny. I might rebel as well- I do not care for rotten cheese either!

This is the crew's mess. Note the bags hooked on the wall- these are their kits where each stored his entire personal belongings.







These are the officer's dinner service.

Doesn't compare very well does it?

Such was turn of the century life. Remember the Titanic where the difference between first class and third class represented world's apart.

This is how the crew's beds are arranged for sleeping.

Note the table and benches have been attached to the ceiling.

This is how it was at the turn of the century- the 'old world' separation of officer and sailor was a gulf across which few ever crossed.







Recently a wealthy Greek shipping tycoon and actress used the ship for a wedding reception, without permission, causing a scandal.

Some things never change!

This is the officers mess-

no beds in sight here-

they each had their own room!










A senior officer's  room










                               



An officer's 'head'














The captains's quarters. This space appears to match the space of all the others combined!

This was part of the disaster of WW1-

old habits, old ways, entitlement, and family hierarchy against a new world of mechanized killing that 19th century outdated values simply had not adapted to.

As a result- millions died.

The Averof represents a living example of the past rarely experienced anymore. Most all of these great ships have been destroyed in war or laid to scrap long ago.

Paul in Athens

Christianity had its real roots in Greece. It was Paul's churches that went on to survive all the turmoil that accompanied the first few centuries of the first millennium.

As a result, Paul's letters became incorporated into the Christian scriptures [New Testament to those still using 'old' language], and all the others were lost to history.





Acts contains a record of Paul in Athens speaking from the Aeropagus of the "unknown God". The Greeks were thorough. So thorough that they had a sacred site to the unknown god, just in case they might have overlooked one!

Good insurance - because Greek mythology makes it clear:  do not make the gods angry as  they can be quite child-like, jealous and vengeful. Just like us I guess.

Here I  am on the Areopagus, just below the Acropolis, where Paul preached to the Athenians.




When Paul came to Athens, he spoke from this site to the Athenians. He introduced this unknown God as the Jewish God - Yahweh, or Jehovah, or possibly Adoni. Perhaps like many Jews of his time, he might never mention a name at all but rather a silence.

It was here that the first Athenians, probably Greeks already attracted to Judaism with its ancient scriptures, were converted to the Jewish Christian slant on the new faith. One of those present became the first bishop of Athens. It would be many more decades before the first 'Christians' emerged from this confused cauldron of faith.

The words Acts record as Paul's words are written on this  bronze plague on the rock wall.

The way up to the top of the rock is via this  treacherous original stone stairway cut in the rock. They are literally polished smooth.

I'm sure that if this site existed in Canada it would be closed to the public as too dangerous. Here however a simple warning is posted and "Darwin takes care of those who are not attentive"

There is a gentler path of to the side- I took it coming down!









Another view of the stone stairway up the rock.











Here is a view from the Acropolis entrance looking down on the rock where Paul spoke.

And yes- it is that steep.

This is one impressive site that pictures hardly begin to capture.

This is the first time I have stood on a Biblical site!

Nice!





This is view of Athens at night looking over the Acropolis and down toward Pireaus in the distance.

In the far distance is the Salamis Strait in front of Salamis Island. It is here where the Athenian navy defeated the Persian navy in a desperate battle over 2500 years ago - and changed the course of world history.

Interesting to note it is within site of Athena's temple. Huuumm, causes you to wonder doesn't it?  Such is Athens.

One does a lot of thinking here!

The Acropolis

Athena, The Gracious Lady of Athens, [from the root word Atana], a wise daughter with a strange birth, is the goddess of Athens and after whom Athens may have been named.

There is evidence to suggest the name Athens is older than Athena, but the long relationship the two have held, going back to linear B writings, is undeniable.














Athena, by myth, came about this way. The sea nymph Metis was impregnated by her cousin Zeus. Metis was known for her wisdom and discretion, although becoming pregnant by her cousin might challenge the latter.

There was little doubt among the gods that their children would be clever.

Zeus learned that he would have a daughter by Metis, and then a son, who would seize his power. So, he swallowed Metis. That sounds straightforward enough however,










it caused Zeus a "growing" problem. He became pregnant. But Zeus was not equipped to give birth.













So Athena sprang forth through the forehead of Zeus.

Isn't mythology wonderful?













Within this mythology she held many roles and is credited with many achievements. She was incorruptible and invincible. In the Trojan war she protected Achilles, Herakles and
Odysessus. She helped Perseus cut of the head of the Gorgon Medusa.  In peace she helped promote culture and technology. She taught people to build ships, to weave and she invented the flute.























Poseidon challenged her to a battle to see who was worthy to be the protector of Athens. They met on the Acropolis where Poseidon hit the rock and brought forth water. Athena grew the first olive tree and showed that it could provide the people food, oil and wood. She won.

Here the olive tree grows beside the temple of Poseidon on the Acropolis- the tree Athena planted- the first olive tree.

It is great to see the places associated with these great myths.




The Parthenon is Athena's Temple.

It has stood here since 432 BCE

It dominates the skyline of Athens














To get to the Acropolis I walked the Sacred Way or Panathenaic Way on the very stones Socrates, Euripides and Pericles would have walked.





















On the walk up - and is a long walk, wonderful views unfold such as this one of the north face of the Acropolis.



















It is being restored after the damages of time and war. Old stones recovered are interwoven with new stone to fill in the missing pieces. Here you can clearly see the old and new in the Temple Athena Nike [Athena the Victor] at the East flank of the Acropolis.







The view from the entrance is amazing. One thing I have learned on this trip is how pictures cannot begin to do justice to what this site is like.


















These are the last steps up to the Acropolis.






















I simply do not have words to describe this place. The years it represents, its sanctity, its size all simply have to be seen and experienced.

Again, it is a privilege to have this opportunity!