Visiting Athens: Pagan Wrought Shrines

I like pagan pantheons and gods. They’re fundamental forces in their belief system, but inheritly flawed in temperament and action. I always found it compelling that the major Greek god who meddled the least and tended his realm of influence best was a deity of absolutes, Hades of death and the Underworld himself.” – Old Sean

At the Agora

After four days of redefining sloth and finally, finally catching up on all my paperwork in Tirana, I left for Athens.

My bus followed a wide, shallow river surrounded by mountains and sleek white stones.  After four. Blasted. Hours. At the border checkpoint, I was pretty happy to roll into Athens at 4 AM.

First impressions regarding the birthplace of democracy, the vaunted city-state, towering tribute to a contest between Athena and Poseidon, and notorious site of saltwater fountains vs olive trees? 

Real ghetto.

Granted, I found out the following night that Athens is a bit of a party city. 

The downtown area was littered with the previous night’s festivities. As such, the trash-sweepers or city-cosmetics-team hadn’t arrived to bundle things up. There were also vast groups of snoozing homeless folks on the sidewalk, which forced me to walk in the center of the road.  When I looked at the metal slats over closed shops, it looked like Athenians took it as a personal insult if there was too much non-graffiti surface space.

First impressions of cities can hit hard and be difficult to revoke. If a visitor meets a city in the dark or heavy rain, it tends to color one’s disposition towards it quite a bit. 

The Athenian Light

Despite not having the best initial impressions, my opinions were drastically reversed the following day.

The sun was up, the graffiti-shuttered doors hiding shops were opened, the sidewalk sleepers moved off to greener pastures and the party-rubble was swept up.

Athens is cool. 

There are so many shops with absolutely zero consensus on goods to sell, window shopping was a real treat.  Some places sold secondhand books, others had clothes so out of style I assumed I was in a museum and a pair of run down shops sold clothes so odd I assumed they were two months ahead of the fashion curve.  There were trumpets in windows, brassy plates as food platters, heaps of fish, vibrant fruit stands, old-school record shops, and antiques towering over my head.  Athens had it all.

But most impressive are the ruins. 

First of the West

Athens has been under a steady restoration-preservation project saving its most ancient Greek features for viewership today. 

The millennia-old marble stones summoned from the Earth crop up across vast fields, white surfaces taking on the changing hues of a harsh sun.  Some of the steps and stones themselves (often a ruddy, mottled red) are finely polished by foot-tread, making the city surprisingly slippery.

It’s not a great city to be wearing open-toed shoes and sandals. Which is somewhat ironic, if all the marble depictions are to be believed.

Pagan Prayers

Back in the US, I’ve got a buddy in the Air Force doing some exams (which I’m happy to report he performed commendably on). To bolster his chances, I thought leaving a few coins around the relevant Greek alters would be fitting. 

Hence, I planted some golden change near Zeus’ Temple (on the logic that the Air Force probably has vibes with the sky). Later, I deposited more change at Hephaestus’ Temple (He’s a mechanic and Hephaestus is all metalworking). Finally, I also dropped off coins at Athena’s Temple.  Because wisdom prior to an exam never hurt anyone.

Granted, I don’t actively worship any ancient pagan deities, but if you’re going to send good vibes abroad you might as well do it with pizazz.  And Greek myths have pazazz in spades.

Full Strides

One of the next places I visited was called Little Kook Kitchen, a outlandishly bright eatery full of eye-searing visuals and decent snacks. The place is targeted towards children, but it remained entertaining enough.

After lunch, I wandered around the National Garden which I would also recommend for toddlers as it has a bunch of fountains and parks and a mini-zoo.

Surprisingly, the National Garden was under heavy security.  Wired fence surrounded a secondary series of cages, all topped by some rather sharp tines.  Either animals in Greece are really conniving escape artists or Greek citizens are super keen on petting goats.

Finally, I got to see the illustrious Acropolis of Athens, the Parthenonos, the Ancient Agora of Athens, the Themistoclean Wall, Socrates’ lovely little Prison (hole in the wall with bars) and Syntagma Square.

All of those locations are located roughly in the same area, but each holds a vital cornerstone in Greek history, mythology and philosophy. I spent hours at each site, scarcely able to believe I cloud draw near and witness the physical forms.

Overall, I adored visiting Athens. I can’t get enough of old ruins and Athens has some of the greatest in human history.

Tomorrow, I’m heading to Thessaloniki. Buying the tickets was a bit of a gut-wrench, as long distance buses in the country are surprisingly expensive.

But regardless, there’s more of Greece to see.

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written September 8th, 2018

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