#ancient nemea

[lokkie83]

During a very cold windy Sunday, we went to explore Nemea, whose name might be familiar because of the lion and Hercules and so.

But Dim told me the story of this archaeological site and it was very interesting. There was this american guy, Stephen Miller, that back in the 70s asked to the greek government permission to excavate in Nemea, because he knew what he was going to find: The stadium, the Zeus temple, and some more. And he did! All with his money and donors money, Greece didn't have to pay for any of these. The guy spent decades in there, unearthing, restoring and finally opening both the site and the museum. He even managed to bring back the Nemean games (similar to the ancient olympic games) and now they're celebrated every 4 years, anyone can attend!

So, bless Mr. Miller, because this site was amazing and actually this was one of the few places where they actually let you step into the ruins and the temple itself :)

#nemea #ancient nemea #ruins #archaeology #nemean games #stadium #temple of zeus #stephen miller #greece #peloponnese

[thebrthofvns]

greece, as seen through my digital camera

temple of nemean zeus

ancient korinth

temple of aphaia

parthenon

#greece #ancient greece #classics #nemea #athens #korinth #corinth #aphaia #acropolis #greek mythology #greek temples #greek posts

[kararadaygum]

..

#ancient greece #archaeology #landscape photography #antiquity #ancient ruins #nemea #traveling #ellada #original photography #peloponnisos #travel #reise #original photographers #antike #travelling #reisen #greece #griechenland #architecture #architektur #columns #säulen #archaeological site #archäologie #landscape #landschaft #ancient #antik #ruins #ruinen

[sgiandubh]

By Zeus, they are stupid!

Back to our favorite mythomaniac, now suddenly proclaimed an expert on all things Greek/Olympic.

I had to howl. I mean, it's mandatory, at this point:

Calling all stations: there is NO Mount Olympia in Greece, you lost soul who thinks she's clever.

You should never have touched a sacred topic on this page: the Peloponnese. And you have finally managed to anger me. Seriously so: pursue at your own risk.

Archaia (that is 'Ancient' for you, Sinister Stupid Savant) Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, is one of my favorite places on Earth. It is situated in the North-West of the Peloponnese Peninsula, in the region of Ilia, beyond Corinth. That is Southern Greece for you, self-appointed Derailed Encyclopedia.

Mount Olympus, the cradle of the entire Greek Pantheon (that's all the Greek Gods, for you, Pretentious Idiot) is situated near the town of Litochoro, in Eastern Macedonia (as that guy, Alexander, you might have heard of him), in the region of Pieria. That is Northern Greece, for you, Arrogant Liar.

Distance between the two is very clear on a map:

557 kilometers, which means 347 miles. It would take me more than six hours to drive Zorba the Car from point A to point B and it took people like the ancient Olympic (not Olympian, you Faceless Pretentious Nobody) athletes probably more than one week.

Doubling the religious dimension of the athletic events, Archaia Olympia always functioned as Ancient Greece's UNGA (United Nations General Assembly, you Parochial Twat), with envoys from all the Greek city-states and overseas congregating there for the Games, but also (more often than not) to negotiate trade and/or peace agreements (Olympic truce, anyone?). This is perhaps why, unlike Nemea's stadium light cheerfulness, there's still a palpable sense of solemnity, today, in Olympia.

This cat, photographed by me in July 2022, in front of the Archaeological Museum of Olympia (I have already written about it in here: https://www.tumblr.com/sgiandubh/724219876757176320/a-stupid-shippers-guide-to-the-peloponnese-part) doesn't seem to give a damn about all of this, though:

Your credibility was already subzero, madam. I will soon be done with you, finally debunking your uninformed lies about S's copyright EUIPO trial. Even when you do not spew your gratuitous hatred, your overinflated ego and your foolishness betray the Aggressive Fraud that you are.

God, you're brainless. And your denseness is absolutely insulting, at this point. And to think there are people actually believing all the crap that you send into this world!

PS: torch is lit ahead of EACH and EVERY Olympic Games (Summer AND Winter), you Unspeakable Imbecile:

[Source: USA Today https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/09/29/olympic-flame-relay-sochi-games/2890815/]

#fandom #shitshow #Peloponnese #Greece

[thedansemacabres]

wines for some theoi

feel free to send asks for theoi not listed! and of course, this is my personal opinion from my wine knowledge.

A fun wine for any theoi of importance are blends from Rapsani, which is located on Mt. Olympus.

Aphrodite: commandaria, which is made from the mavro and xynsteri grapes. Along with Moschofilero, for its striking, romantic, and rose-garden aromatics.

Apollon: for those who see him as a sun god, straw wines, and for plague Apollon, Botrytis wines such as Tokaji. For a more Gaulish Apollon, Vins de paille. The cretan wine Dafni could also work for being named after Daphne

Ares: sparkling reds, such as Lambrusco for their striking nature in carbonation and red hue.

Artemis: natural wines, those made with the yeast upon the grape skins, or traditional orange wines for the "wild" aspect of them.

Ariadne: traditional Cretan wines, such as Shiraz, Vidiano, Vilana, Thrapsathiri, Malvasia, etc.

Dionysus: all wines, but Retsina in particular.

Eros: romantic reds in general, I do not have a particular wine for him.

Helios: some ancient authors said one should not offer wine as he shouldn't be drinking on the job, but who listens to that? Straw wines and Sicilian wines match his nature as a sun god, though mead also holds a special place in my heart for him.

Hephaestus: Sicilian wines, for their volcanic nature, especially those around Mt. Etna such as Nerello Mascalese

Hera: aromatic reds and roses, such as muscat d'asti, and for Hera of Samos, Samos Vin Doux

Herakles: Agiorgitiko, for its home in Nemea, where he bested the Nemean Lion.

Hestia: table wines such as Chianti and Prosecco, though I have always found her in orange wine due to orange wine being a common style of the ancient world. Agiorgitiko is the most popular Greek wine, and as such I also see it with her in her ability to unite the hearth.

Hermes: wines from central Greece, but I would also argue Greek Chardonnay and Syrah for their international travel to Greece.

Pan: Savatiano, for its origin in Central Greece

Zeus: as Hestios and a household god, table wines, and very light wines, such as vignoles. Pyment could also be lovely for his love of bees.

#vīnum #hellenic polytheism #hellenic paganism #helpol #hellenic polytheist #hellenic pagan #paganism #theoi #dragonis.txt #I just love talking about wine <3

[deathlessathanasia]

why was Zeus and Hera’s marriage so unstable and did ancient people like ancient writers think it was unstable?

There isn't a definitive answer for why their marriage is portrayed this way, only theories and interpretations. You'll probably often see their dynamic claimed to represent the forced merging between a matriarchal culture (Prehellenic Greece) and a patriarchal one (the Indo-European invaders), the subordination of a powerful, originally independent goddess by the newcomer god against whose authority she revolts and all that, but of course this is just speculation and the idea of matriarchal prehistory is very controversial.

Another possibility (and this seems quite plausible) is that Hera was an important regional goddess who was not very harmoniously integrated into the Panhellenic Olympian pantheon. Whereas in her main center of worship she was the dominant power, as wife in a patriarchal marriage she has to give way to Zeus. Here's an excerpt from Jennifer Larson's Understanding Greek Religion:

„Interestingly, the diction of Homeric Greek preserves the unexpected formula posis Hērēs (“husband of Hera”) for Zeus, which leaves the impression that Hera is the more important of the two partners. With respect to the religion of everyday social exchange, she was undoubtedly more important to the people in the Argolid peninsula. It was Hera, not Zeus, with whom they interacted most, and on whom they depended for prosperity and victory. Homer repeatedly makes Hera and the other gods acknowledge the overwhelming power of Zeus, yet cultic arrangements in Greek cities did not reflect his supreme status in myth. Instead, nearly the opposite was the case: although all honored him, relatively few poleis made Zeus their patron deity. His early cults were typically situated in remote rural mountaintops and valleys, and he was also worshiped in domestic contexts. The supreme power of Zeus was recognized at Olympia and Nemea, two Peloponnesian sanctuaries which served during the Geometric period as regional gathering places. In the Argolid itself, however, there is little early evidence for the worship of Zeus in his own right. Instead, he seems to have been regarded as the “husband of Hera”: lead plaques depicting Hera and Zeus as a divine couple have been found in three of her eastern Peloponnesian sanctuaries.

This state of affairs created a logical conflict between the mythic, Panhellenic understanding of Zeus as ruler of all the gods and the cultic situation in the Argolid, where the preeminent deity was Hera. Homer and his predecessors were not men of Argos or Mycenae, and they were more concerned with the narrative than the devotional impact of epic song. They responded to the discrepancy between myth and cult by fashioning a theology: Hera, the ferocious partisan of the invading Greeks, comes into constant conflict with Zeus, who sees the bigger picture because he is responsible for the cosmos as a whole. Time and time again, Zeus must bully his deceitful, headstrong wife into submission. … Homer’s portrait of Hera as a disobedient, shrewish wife is a poetic construct fashioned in the service of Panhellenic epic, which insists on the primacy of Zeus. Epic depicts the gods as members of an Olympian family with Zeus as a patriarchal husband, a narrative strategy which requires that Hera, like Shakespeare’s formidable Katharina, be tamed. … The unyielding character of Hera in epic is a product of Homeric artistry, but it also reflects certain characteristics of regional “great goddesses,” such as Argive Hera and Spartan Orthia, who were by turns nurturing and bloodthirsty.”

Did the ancients themselves see their marriage as unstable? Well, they could and did criticize the way the gods were portrayed by the poets, and that definitely included Zeus and Hera. For example, there seem to have been several attempts to interpret Zeus hanging Hera from her wrists with anvils attached to her feet allegorically, suggesting that it was considered quite problematic; „Next, the audacity of those who fasten on Homer finds fault with the binding of Hera. They think they have here rich material for their impious rage against him”, Heraclitus says, after which he proceeds to provide an allegorical interpretation. Aristarchus athetized the lines from Iliad 14 in which Zeus lists several of his sexual unions with women and goddesses to Hera, one of the reasons being that it is inappropriate for the situation and would serve to repel Hera more than anything. And of course there is also Plato, who takes issue with several incidents where the gods behave in a questionable way: „But Hera's fetterings by her son and the hurling out of heaven of Hephaistos by his father when he was trying to save his mother from a beating, and the battles of the gods in Homer's verse are things that we must not admit into our city either wrought in allegory or without allegory. For the young are not able to distinguish what is and what is not allegory.” Lucian of Samosata found much material to satyrize in the marriage of Zeus and Hera, first and foremost his cheating and her negative reaction to it. He outright has her say that she is neglected by Zeus, has Leto mock her over the fact that being the wife of Zeus and sharing his throne will provide her little satisfaction when he'll be off cheating again and she'll be crying about it, + several interactions between Hera and Zeus that are far from loving and harmonious.

We of course can't know what the average ancient Greek thought about their relationship in myth, but clearly there were people who found some aspects of it questionable.

#ask #hera #zeus

[gemsofgreece]

https://twitter.com/FreshSummerWind/status/1623961164416688130?t=yNPRu014GXgk50jAvxCIXg&s=19

It's a small clip but as a Greek i didn't know that this man did it to Sparta and other regions in Greece..i mean why does it brought him joy destroying ancient ruins? For what? France? It makes no sense and it's sad because they took advantage of Greece being occupied by the ottomans back then they did as they pleased.

Call it envy? Jealousy? I have no idea why destroy history. Thankfully now archeologists fixed many ruins but still..

So when I first saw this, I was convinced it was some hoax, because I couldn’t wrap my head around it. But no. It really is true. I searched Wikipedia about this asshole.

The video is about French priest Michel Fourmont (1690–1746).

“He was one of the scholars sent by Louis XV to the eastern Mediterranean to collect Byzantine inscriptions and manuscripts. He is now best remembered (what a phrasing, wiki) for the destruction of antiquities in Ancient Sparta and for having presented as genuine some forged inscriptions.

Fourmont made collecting ancient Greek inscriptions his primary focus. Fourmont would report to Count Maurepas that he copied 1,500 ancient inscriptions (300 in Sparta). His technique was brutally direct. Workmen were hired to dismantle any structure that might contain ancient stones with letters on them. Fourmont reported paying 1,200 man-days of labour to dismantle monuments in search of ancient marbles. In a letter to Bignon dated 20 April 1730, Fourmont wrote:

For more a month, although ill, I am working with 30 laborers for the complete destruction of Sparta; hardly a day goes by without finding something, and some days have produced as many as 20 inscriptions. If I could do at Tegea, Antigonia (Mantineia), Nemea and one or two other cities what I have done at Hermione, Troezen, and Sparta, it wouldn't be necessary to send anyone here. There would be nothing left. I have not been able to knock down the remains of the former places, because of the plague, without which they would be totally destroyed. For lack of books, these destructions shall be the only way to make illustrious a voyage which has caused such a stir. (…) Speaking frankly, I myself am astonished at this expedition. I have read nowhere that, since the restoration of literature, anyone has had the idea of turning whole cities upside down to find these marbles, which are the only irreproachable evidence of antiquity, the only things capable of shedding light on the dark corners of history, of the administration and religion of ancient peoples. Only in this manner can one contribute usefully to science. So convinced am I that Sparta is the fifth city of the Morea I have destroyed. Hermione and Troezen have had the same fate. I have not spared Argos, Phliasia, and some others. I am currently working to dismantle the temple of Amyclaean Apollo down to the foundation stone. Every day one finds things you will be pleased to see. ... I would destroy others with the same ease if I were left to do so.

Fourmont was called back to France before he could visit ancient Olympia as planned. (Thank God). Later travelers to Greece were horrified at Fourmont's descriptions of the ancient monuments he destroyed. Fourmont is alleged to have written in one of his letters that he had destroyed certain inscriptions after transcribing them. The British traveler Edward Dodwell reported that when he visited Sparta (in 1806) he was shown marbles that Fourmont had mutilated so as to make their inscriptions illegible. That some of Fourmont's most important inscriptions from Amyclae could not be relocated helped fuel scholarly suspicions that he had either forged or seriously misrepresented the inscriptions he reported.”

Like, this is an actual person that existed. Not a Disney villain.

And for some visual context:

What’s left of Ancient Sparta

Ancient Hermione

Ancient Troezen

In case you wondered why mighty and famed Argos isn’t a better known archaeological attraction like others, apparently we have this gent to thank

#Greece #ancient greece #western colonialism #Ancient Greek ruins #history #greek history #Sparta #Laconia #peloponnese #peloponnisos #mainland #anon #mail

[invested-in-your-future]

Kingdom of Mistral

The Logistics and Landscape of Kingdom of Mistral, 793 E.A

Unlike the three other Kingdoms, The Kingdom of Mistral (In full "The United Free Cities of Mistral") is a coalition of multiple city-states, each often referred to as a Hearts - well-defended ancient metropolises that date to the ages of Once Upon a Time. Through the ages, the free city-states came together to represent themselves in the changing world, eventually earning the title of the Kingdom. Mistral as a unified whole was further solidified by them allying themselves with the Kingdom of Mantle during the Great War.

Each free city has its sphere of influence and a web of villages, logistics, and infrastructure it is responsible for.

Unlike, for example, The Kingdom of Vale, Mistral's Huntsmen don't travel through the continent clearing the Grimm. The Kingdom prides in it's ability to measure the spikes in Grimm pollution and the use of the Grimm Purges to prevent the expansion of the Neverlands areas or formation of the new ones.

Instead, most of the effort focuses on developing and expanding the Hearts, their surroundings, and specific logistics routes between them. The logistics network of roads and village outposts connects the industries and economies of the city-states, while anyone beyond is left on their own. Within the last century, Mistral's logistics further improved via the construction of Mistral's Railway - an achievement of technology and infrastructure that connects the remaining post-war Hearts with the newly expanding Argus and Haven.

The Dragon Fortress

In the northern Dragon Plateau lay Ryugu-jo, The Dragon Fortress, Mistral's heart of science and conquest. Built around a giant Anima Tree that dwarfs even the skyscrapers, the fortress houses the Kingdom's libraries and universities. Here thinktanks, corporations, research organizations, big or small, tirelessly work to explore the foundations of the world. Ryugu-jo also serves as the research point for Kingdom's military, developing technology and designing the next generation of war machines and naval ships.

Ryugu-jo's research initiatives are crucial keystones that also built the foundation on the environmental monitoring formula used to determine the state of the Grimm within Mistral, as well as in determining the threshold areas for the Grimm purges.

The fortress's position at the northmost point of the continent also makes it a crucial waypoint for interactions with the Kingdom of Atlas that lay across The Land of Roots - a highly poisonous part of the ocean and the key element of Mistral's folklore.

The Everforge

The outline of Nemea's districts.

Down south, surrounded by the Cedar Forest in the northeast and the Midsummer Forest in the northwest and almost touching one of Anima's Neverlands areas in the south, Nemea endures. The city's unique structure, defensive capabilities, and self-sufficiency have allowed it to persevere for a thousand years now.

Nemea is divided into multiple districts, each separated from the rest by Nemea's ancient walls.

In its center lay the titular Everforge - built by King Mistral a thousand years ago as he made the first huntsman weapons upon the dawn of Ever After. Through the centuries, the rest of the city slowly grew around it.

Around the Everforge sit the Administrative and Industrial districts, opposite of each other. Within the confines of the Administrative District of Nemea, one can find its governing institutions like the Council Hall, as well as the residences of The Noble Families of Nemea - Tramontane, Levante, Ponente, and Sirocco - four of Mistral's many nobility to claim that the blood of ancient kings of Mistral glows in their veins.

Around the Administrative and Industrial Districts lay the Residential and Commercial districts. The Commercial district primarily serves as the "tourist enclave" - most of the smithies and companies of Nemea offer their wares there. From weaponry to clothing and technological marvels - all the goods available make it easy for any traveling huntsman to part with their money. The district also contains a variety of taverns, hotels, and bars. The positioning of the Commercial District also ensures that any visitors to the city don't end up wandering into the Residential, unintentionally distracting their well-being.

The Judicial District, betraying the circular logic, pierces all the layers of Nemea, separating all the opposing districts from each other. The Judicial District is where most of the Kingdom of Mistral's laws emerge and the trials of the most heinous criminals happen. The military facilities here also handle the training of Mistral's police and sometimes even recruit promising candidates for the Department of Harmony. The Judicial district also houses the Kingdom of Mistral's most secure prison, where the criminals await their judgment.

And in its outer layer lay the farmlands, where the luckier Mistral's farmers dwell, unbothered by the encroaching tides of monsters that slither through the forests.

The Eternal City

In the far east, across the steppes, beyond the Lake Varun, sits Youdu, The Eternal City, Mistral's heart of Harmony and Union. Cradled inside a long-dead volcano, The Eternal City's title comes from the Kingdom of Mistral's mythological roots that label it the Birthplace of Humanity. A bustling metropolis surrounded by rock and long-since frozen lava, Youdu houses Mistral's economic and commerce center, with most of Mistral's wealthy elite nesting inside its skyscrapers peeking out of the crater. The city also houses the most crucial government facilities for the Department of Union and the Department of Harmony. The Council of Mistral convenes here once a year to decide the future of the entire Mistral, too. Beneath the modern buildings, wealth, and factories lies the labyrinthine Old City(known to locals as Siyue), whose existence dates back a thousand years to the original cataclysm, likely even predating it. The forces from The Department of Unity diligently guard the entrances to the old city, and only the most esteemed researchers get the license to enter.

In the thousand years since the City's myth came to be, it hasn't suffered a single breach or attack, rightfully being labeled as the safest place on the surface of Remnant. The self-sufficient metropolis with nearly unbreakable protections has long since become an inspiration to other similar projects like Kingdom of Mantle's Atlas Project or Kingdom of Vale's ill-fated Mountain Glenn.

The Eternal City also houses the primary copies of the Extinction Records - a thousand-year-old document that chronicles the rise and fall of life on the surface of Remnant.

Despite the growing turmoil and division in regards to The Faunus population and the political tension between the noble families, within the last century, Mistral saw many stories of successful growth and prosperity - notably the rise of the new future Heart in the port city of Argus and the ever-growing Huntsman Academy of Haven - as the Kingdom faces a promising and bright future ahead.

#rwby #rwby au #rwby rewrite #rwbyr stuff mine #rwby stuff mine #rwbyr lore

[jandjodyssey]

Napflion to Kefalari

We rolled out a little later this morning and after leaving town cycled along lovely country lanes and onto the ancient site of Mycenae. It is a fantastic site dating back to the 12th and 13th century BC. There is a circular burial chamber that may or may not have been Agamemnon’s.

After a walk around Mycenae we had a nice climb and then descent to lunch in modern Nemea. Unfortunately I saw from a distance but missed going into the ancient site. One of Heracle’s labours was defeating the Nemean lion and there after he wore the skin and head of the lion as a cloak of sorts.

Lunch was in a taverna and very nice but unfortunately about 6km after lunch we had a 14km climb that got rather testy. At the steepest parts we were climbing through villages and there were heaps of grates 🙄. I finally succumbed and walked the very last steep bend.

After that it was a descent before another pinchy climb to our accommodation. I walked the last 400m, my legs had gone 😳

Tonight we are staying in a small village. The group is split across two guesthouses and for dinner tonight we ate in the local tavern and the food was all beautiful traditional home cooking - delicious 😋

Jose has been adopted by one of the local dogs. He sat outside our room waiting for Jose and followed him down when they were doing some bike cleaning, lubing, etc. He turned up again tonight as we left dinner, such a big sook ❤️

[nantosueltas]

Aelian, On Animals 12. 7 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) :

"They say that the Lion of Nemea fell from the moon (selene). At any rate Epimenides also has these words : ‘For I am sprung from fair-tressed Selene the Moon, who in a fearful shudder shook off the savage lion in Nemea, and brought him forth at the bidding of Queen Hera.’" 🤍✨🌙

happy birthday to my daughter Aradia ✨🌙 the constellation of Leo is assigned to rule the month of her birth, thus the quote above (which was also perfect due the association with The Moon, her patron Arcana and source of her magic).

when i first created Aradia i didn't know exactly where i was going to her lore, her appearance, her personality, etc, i just knew there was this game (the arcana lol) that was intere enough for me to start creating my own OC's and to actually put all the creative potential i was locking for so long.

at first i just had a name, Yasmin, and i imagined her with some sort of arab background. but as i kept playing the game and getting to know more the plot and the characters it was like everything i've ever read about magic, symbolism and mythology came forward: the immediate inspiration in a pagan folk legend of Aradia, daughter of goddess Diana, queen of witches and fairies and her association with the Moon; the Mediterranean background mythological lore; the new acquired fascination with ancient Egypt and it's divine culture, all of that added my political leaning views and aspirations for a combative posture for social justice i sometimes feel too drained and weak to apply irl.

it's like she created life of her own and decided to tell her own story through the chaos of my mind and inconsistency of my raw writing, yet to be polished into something reasonable to be read.

i enjoyed the journey with her so far, even though it's still a short one and she became relevant to me to the point of awake in me the willing to create her own main story and world building, yet in drafts and in posts to come.

i greatly cherish and appreciate your support so far. it's not easy to be so insecure and fearful of judgment and still insisting in sharing your work. thank you for being here 🤍

#art #characterillustration #illustration #original character #the arcana oc #the arcana #the arcana apprentice #the arcana mc #digital artist #the arcana main character #yaradraws #Aradia Pellegrini #my ocs #procreate #digital art #oc artist #oc artwork #oc stuff #tagamemnon

[julianworker]

Nemea

Nemea is roughly halfway between Corinth and Nafplio. The name is famous as it was here that Hercules carried out the first of his twelve labours, namely the slaying of the Nemean Lion that lived in a nearby cave. After strangling the poor cat, Hercules wore its skin as a trophy.  Nemea was also famous as the site of one of the four great competitions of ancient Greece along with the games in…

View On WordPress

#books #greece #greek #hercules #nemea #peloponnese #stories #story #tale #travel

[paganplaces]

Heroön at Nemea

The Heroon at Nemea is an ancient Greek sanctuary located in the Peloponnese region of Greece.

Read more at: https://paganplaces.com/places/heroon-at-nemea/

[seasthedayingreece2023]

Day 5! Today we went to the ancient ruin of Nemea. We learned that Nemea was more of a religious complex than a city, though it did have supporting infrastructure for those that tended the temples. Primarily, though, Nemea was the site of games every four years involving city states from all over Greece in honor of Zeus. 

Our tour guide, Ilias, started by guiding us through the museum of artifacts found during the excavation of the site. We learned that this was one of four Panhellenic stadiums in ancient Greece (Olympia, Corinth, Delphi, and Nemea). Every four years it would host 30 to 40 thousand Greeks who would have to stay in tents outside the stadium. 

Ilias went on to explain that during the archeological dig they found coins from many major city states and that’s how they can determine which ones were present at the games. The excavation was primarily undertaken by Stephen Miller from UC Berkeley, as well as Greek archeologists. The original complex consisted of several guest houses, the houses of those that worked within the temple, treasuries to store offerings for Zeus, a complex bathhouse, a temple to Zeus, and a stadium. During the 6th century BC, at the height of the Byzantine empire, Christians built a basilica on top of the former guest houses with stones from the temple for Zeus. Barbarians from the north then raided the area and it fell into ruin and actually became a marsh. Then in the late 19th century, the marsh was drained and the site was rediscovered and several excavation projects began.

We then toured that actual dig site and got to see everything we had just learned about. Then Ilias took us to the stadium. To walk from the complex from the stadium, the patrons had to walk past an old locker room (from which a few columns still remain) and through a tunnel. One patron carved his name into the stone to create what amounts to 2,000 year old graffiti. We ended our tour within the stadium, which had a basin with water for the patrons and a packed sand track. Some students raced each other while some enjoyed the breathtaking countryside of Greece, either way, all the students found the experience enriching and interesting. We were very grateful to Ilias, our tour guide, for his wisdom about the site, to Silvia, our trip planner and cultural expert, for her joy and enthusiasm, and to our professors for their continued care and dedication to making the trip run smoothly! 

-Daniel Sieminski

[rogerwilliamson]

Ancient Nemea, Peloponnese, Greece. Features remains of Temple of Zeus and exquisite gold jewellery from Aidonia. #ancientgreece #nemea #greekwinecountry #templeofzeus#greekmythology #peloponnese #ancientgreekarchitecture https://www.instagram.com/p/CohBEjgMYtz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#ancientgreece #nemea #greekwinecountry #templeofzeus #greekmythology #peloponnese #ancientgreekarchitecture

[sgiandubh]

A stupid shipper's guide to the Peloponnese, part 2: Mycenae, my Craigh na Dun

Forgot to mention: Praxiteles' statue of Hermes still has faint cinnabar traces in its curls. Which makes that Hermes a ginger, hehe. You simply can't make this shit up. /end of poetic justice moment

Anyways. The very minute your car, bus or bike crosses the Corinth Canal, even if you cannot see it from the modern, German highway, you just know you are in the Peloponnese. Everything changes: the light, the landscape and even the silence. In summertime, cicadas reign supreme: mercifully, after a while, you don't hear them anymore and sleep like a log in daytime. Summer nights are always for something else, in this land.

Odysseas Elytis, my favorite Greek poet, knew something about all this:

"Drinking the sun of Corinth Reading the marble ruins Striding across vineyards and seas Sighting along the harpoon A votive fish that slips away I found the leaves that the sun’s psalm memorizes The living land that passion joys in opening."

So really, forget about the islands, spare some unsung, almost unknown gems. The heart of this country beats South of Corinth, and once you've realized this, there is no turning back.

Olympia and her little sister, Nemea, are all about joy and cheer and the sort of organized happiness the Ancient World was so adept at. But at Mycenae, we hit a different chord. It is home to this guy - the filthy rich, ruthless, rogue King Agamemnon.

"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair":

Mycenae and I go back a couple of years and too many repeated, insistent expeditions to count properly. Even Zorba the car knows the way by himself, so all I have to do is wait for the right week-end, climb at the wheel and enjoy the scenery. Many dinners in town and embassy receptions have been traded for the simple joy to be awaken by kyria Panagiota's impertinent rooster (across the street) at 5 am and open my room's French doors to this view:

A mix of olive groves and vineyards, with the odd cypress tree randomly thrown around. 354 inhabitants. Two churches. Two stone bridges, built somewhere at the narrow end of the Stone Age and still treaded by tractors, cattle and unsuspecting pedestrians. And also this:

The Lions' Gate (the real one, not TPTB related), as photographed by me the day before yesterday, for the umpteenth time, proudly standing at the end of a steep-ish climb cursed daily in tens of different languages by thousands of tourists. As for Angkor Wat, you'd have to see it at sunrise or sunset to fully get the magic, in complete silence. Patience and determination will certainly be rewarded. For this place is rich with all the memories of those who once called it home, back in the day when it was one of the most powerful political and trade centers of the known world. The Cyclopean fantasy of a demi-god, which is all about flawless ownership of space and aggressive affirmation of one's worth. Or, as the obscure Alpheus of Mytilene aptly put it in an epigram, written some time around 0, AD: "a city built by giants and passing rich in gold".

Pic taken by me in late October 2021, that blessed age of innocence when I had no frigging idea of Craigh na Dun. Different light, same arresting view that plunges all the way to Argos and farther away, to the sea.

Cats rule the world. We know that (January 2023):

And then there's the Vault, half a mile down the road. If the Lions' Gate is about Space, the incorrectly named vault - a mausoleum, really - is about Time. Or rather the complete irrelevance of it:

Because I am not only stupid, but also nuts, I sometimes flip a coin, once inside. All binary answers were proven to be eerily accurate, with time. But things like this only show themselves to the believer. Last question asked is still technically up for confirmation, yet I - along with all of you here - know already it's a yes:

And yeah, I did it. What the heck. I had the place just for myself, and that is rare. Wouldn't you?

Mordor, I don't care about your pearl-clutching reaction. There is poetry to be found in the most unlikely of places. Especially in the most unlikely of places.

Walking back, I challenge you to pinpoint an exact year. It is impossible and there is a reason to it. This place and this view are timeless, of course:

In an unexpected, involuntary homage to the Atrides, the 354 inhabitants of modern Mykines still bury their dead all around Agamemnon's Vault.

Around an almost icy jug of Retsina wine, I asked my treasured friend V, the archaeologist: do you really think they ever left?

Are you nuts? And what would we do without them?

Coming back to a sweltering Athens, just imagine my head shake in disbelief watching Lasagna Lady once again clinging to that poor guy's T-shirt, the bickering between C's stans about who is the most telepath of them all and the wailings about the lack of secksay content in Episode 7.

Seriously, Fandom? Is this the best you can give me?

Episode I am hurrying to watch, nevertheless. But first, the laundry. Fair's fair.

[athenstoursgreece2023]

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Visitable locations in Greece include:

Here is a list of Greek cities that you can visit while there. The travel agency offers multi-day excursions in a variety of cities.

Gain more knowledge about this subject: Delphi-Meteora (2 Days) Argolis–Olympia (2 Days) Corinth–Mycenae–Nafplion-Epidaurus–Olympia (2 Days) Sparta-Olympia (2Days) Mainland (4 Days)

Argolis-Sparta- Delphi (3 Days)

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