Athens. Acropolis. Awed.

Having arrived in Athens late in the day, our brilliantly located hotel allowed us just enough time to stop by Syntagma Square, eye the famous Grand Bretagne Hotel and see the changing of the (bizarrely attired) guards in front of the tomb of the unknown  soldier at the Parliament Buildings, before heading over to dinner near the Acropolis. 

Although it was not tourist season – confirmed by Hotel Lozenge’s receptionist asking why we had traveled there at this time of year and also having inconveniently shut off the hotel’s air conditioning for the season which resulted in far too many bug bites from the open windows – the city was still abuzz.

Athens – named after the god, Athena – is world-renowned for its Acropolis.  The Acropolis is an ancient fortified town, dating back to the 5^th Century BC, the late Bronze Age.  It was home to the Greeks during their Golden Era, which turned out to be approximately 70 years in length, and the time when the city of Athens gave birth to the concepts of theatre, philosophy and democracy.

The Acropolis – meaning highest point in the city -  is a UNESCO heritage site and was one of the first grand buildings built for the people and by the people, without the use of slaves.  While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited in the 4^th millennium BC, it was really Pericles in the 5^th Century BC that coordinated the construction of many of the key buildings in the Acropolis, including the Parthenon, the temple of Athena Nike and the Erectheion (a temple to Athena and Poseidon). 

Although much of the Acropolis has been destroyed – first by the Persians during the war that led to Athens’ Golden Era, and then later by various other wars (Spartans, Romans, Ottomans etc), many of those who conquered Athens over the centuries appeared to recognize its importance and thus did their best to protect it.  As such, there are a number of important buildings still standing in the Acropolis including the three built by Pericles.

A testament to its importance, the Acropolis was visited by Roman Emperor Hadrian during his reign.  Hadrian protected the Acropolis and enhanced it to ensure its continued prominence. Hadrian was also responsible for ensuring the completion of the Temple of Zeus (then called the Temple of Jupiter) because of its prominence and beauty in the city.  Many now claim Hadrian to be a co-founder of Athens because of his desire to blend the new Rome with classical Athens, symbolized by Hadrian’s Arch which has both Roman and Greek inscriptions about the joining of the city.  

The Romans became fond of Greek architecture and adopted it for their own buildings.  Traditionally, Romans built with a fairly simply column structure but upon seeing the Greek Corinthian style (a more ornate column structure with leaves atop the column), they decided to take this back to Rome and incorporate it into their architecture.  You can now see this Corinthian style on the Roman Coliseum and also places like the US Senate Building.

The Greeks were passionate about architecture and adjusted the style depending on the type of building.  We learned that the three styles could be “easily distinguished” – Doric is the simplest type of column with a rectangular top and used primarily for banks – the “money” buildings.  The Ionic had scrolls on each end and is primarily found in education and health buildings – the “wisdom” buildings.  And the Corinthian were on the parliament and show buildings – the “power” buildings.

Under Hadrian’s rule, a Roman theatre was built in the Acropolis to supplement the Greek Theatre.  The Greek theatre, which housed 17,000 seats and was free for all Athenians, was said to be the birthplace of theatre.  The semi-circular and open air design as well as the shape of the seats (which sat at 97 degree angles rather than 90 degrees) are responsible for the excellent acoustics.  The Roman theatre that was built in the 2^nd century AD was for music and had a roof and a much smaller size, housing 5,000 guests. 

The Roman Theatre

The Greek Theatre

As part of the democratic process, the Greeks changed the taxation system to promote the arts.  While everyone paid taxes, the wealthy were expected to also fund the theatre performances, paying for the writing, acting and tickets to ensure that all Athenians were able to attend for free.  This would ensure the importance of the arts that they viewed as critical to a modern, thriving and evolving society. Demonstrating equality and the valuing of both age and the arts, the only special seats in the theatre were for retired actors.

The Erectheion sits on the North side of the Acropolis and is an ode to both Athena and Poseidon, who vied to be the patron of the city.  To win over the citizens of the city (a concept that shockingly put humans and gods at the same level – another Athenian first), Poseidon thrust his trident and made water spout out in and around the Acropolis. Ultimately though, the Athenians preferred Athena’s offering of the Olive Tree.  As a way to appease both gods, the Eretcheion was built in both of their honour, with Poseidon’s side being smaller and slightly less ornate. 

On the north side of the temple, there is a large porch with six Ionic columns and the famous “Porch of the Maidens”.  These 6 maidens have had an important and lasting impact.  It is understood that a mould of one of the maidens was used to create the Statue of Liberty and another was used as an inspiration in the creation of the Mona Lisa.  Perhaps most controversial is the removal of one of the original maidens by Lord Elgin in the 19^th Century and its current housing in the British Museum. 

The other 5 originals are housed in the Acropolis Museum with a spot for the 6^th maiden left open in hopes that one day she will be returned. The poet Byron was instrumental in stopping Lord Elgin from stealing more antiquities, which has resulted in statues of him and streets named after him, all over the city.

The Parthenon, however, is considered the prime building of the Acropolis and was built as a thank you to Athena and the gods for their victory against the Persian invaders in the 400s.  With a vastly superior army, the Persians were expected to dominate the war but the Greeks’ strong navy and excellent strategy helped them to ultimately win the war and become known as the prominent power in the region.

The Parthenon as with all the other temples seemed to have lots of columns around the exterior of the building but also inside, making it hard to understand how so many people could actually go inside to pray to the gods.  It turns out that the temples were actually more like shrines with the people praying outside of the building and looking inwards.  Perhaps that was for the best as when the Ottomans took over and decided to use it as a storage facility, the ammunition they were housing in the Parthenon exploded accidentally, seriously damaging this historical monument.

Also notable in the Acropolis is the Temple of Athena Nike, dedicated to goddess Athena in hopes of raising their fortunes in war.  Nike means “victory” and legend has it that the Athenians clipped the wings to make sure she would never abandon them and always lead the city to victory.  Today’s Nike swoosh taking on so much more meaning.

We also learned of the downside of greed. Athens’ Golden Age was funded by levies imposed on the Athenian league members by Athens after the great victory over the Persians. Athens over-taxed their allies, leading to the Peloppenesian War and the ultimate downfall of the Greek Empire.