The Greek Gods are mythical legends, with epics and stories that display their grand values, a lot like the Indian Gods, yet unlike the Indian Gods, worship to the Greek Gods have been long lost to the advent of the Romans, then the Christians and then the Turks, now becoming a tale in the chaos of the ruins in Greece. With enough on their plate, the economic crises, the unemployment crises, Greece also now has to deal with the crippling effects of global warming, environment change and over-tourism. The day we were at the acropolis, 18000 people were said to be visiting and slotting people into different times also did not seem to help. Present day Greece is probably a lot different from that of the antiquity, yet many phrases and even ideologies of the present, if I may say even philosophy come from the times of Ancient Greece. The idea of the individual and views of the individual, hence democracy came from the country that had to look seaward as the land was untenable. The azure blue waters of the Mediterranean connects Greece and its over 6000 islands to different countries and cultures, a confluence of many parts that were as different as ever.
The Greek revolution cemented its form and created a basis for a republic in the 18th century, yet it was one of the first countries in Europe to become a republic soon after the Industrial revolution. Early civilisations were found even under the archeological site of Olympia and by the looks of Greece, digging under its untenable lands a whole new world could easily be found anywhere in Greece, and an expensive task at that, the government stops excavations more due to the lack of funds rather than a lack of content! Greek philosophers like Socrates, Epictetus, mathematicians like Pythagorus, thinkers Plato, physicist like Aristotle, are a few of the many that have laid foundations of the way we derive and experience the modern world. The modern Olympic games that happen once in 4 years finds its base from the land of the Peloponnese, the mainland of Greece, that began in great earnest and even had the power to pause wars as the people of the land prepared to compete earliest for running followed by wrestling, boxing, javelin and discus. Over the centuries it was paused by early Christian emperors before being revived in the 18th Century by historical enthusiasts.
My journey across the Peloponnese brought me up close with the ancient and the modern Greek culture, to its Gods, who apparently threw rocks at each other bringing forth the make of the land, with its modern day architecture and its ruins of the past, with concepts in architecture like those of the golden ratio, the use of light in architecture, the significance of white in architecture and the stories that its culture weaves. The modern day country is juxtaposed against its past, having lost most of its mythology, unless for the sake of tourism, Zeus isn’t worshipped, yet his stories of valour and pomp surround the world. The Romans are said to have adopted the Greek Gods, and Indian Gods are some where likened to their Greek counterparts, yet many of the major Greek impressions are in ruins or ruined by the advent of the following centuries and its rulers who imposed new religions and wiped out the past not just in reality but also from the minds of the people. While the ancient Greek states fought for power against each other, the Athenians against the Spartans, the Ionions against the Corinths, they finally united against the Turks, expanding their Naval power. Yet the Byzantium empire ruling from Constantinople extrapolated a branch of Christianity that now is known as Greek Orthodoxy paving its way all across the east of Europe and all the way to Russia.
While the Gods may have their stories of eating stone, marrying each other and then the mortals to form a web of Gods, Titans and Demi-Gods, all scripted in the Greek epics of Iliad and the Odyssey, they are rather confusing and hugely complicated, just try reading one of the Homer’s epics and you would know what I am talking about, beautiful faces still dot the country rich in its culture and heritage, faces that could still launch a thousand ships! The rather handsome country is beautiful in its people and also the landscape at large. Th idea of beauty is something even the ancient greeks took very seriously, for a beautiful body is a vessel containing a beautiful mind, a beautiful soul and hence a strong moral compass. Each of the 6000 islands have their own distinct quality apart from the mainland, the white buildings of Mykonos and Santorini are the most popular, but even Naxos, Paros and the mighty of them all, Crete have their beauty intact. While Athens, the capital is notorious for its protests, Athens is also called, “The City of Protests”, it is home to the mighty Parthenon, that every architect would want to visit. Even with it’s roof blown off by the Turks, its Doric columns still stand towering and a plenty to give a glimpse of what it would have been like. From on top of the Acropolis, Athens looks wild and mighty, yet all white till where the eyes can see. In the past the great Greek temples were all painted in vibrant colours in reds, blues, greens that contrasted with the shite of the building stones or stuccos, many of the islands and towns delectable pastel combinations that truly work today. The idea that buildings look best in white against the blue sky is not lost on the people today of Athens but mostly of Mykonos and Santorini, an architectural insight that totally resonates with me. The beauty? Well, its Greek to me!
The places featured in this journey are Kalambaka, Meteora, Delphi, Olympia, Nafplio, Galaxidi, Mycenae, Epidaurus, Athens, Mykonos and Santorini.
Vedasri Siddamsetty 