Day Five - Mars Hill and the Parthenon

On the road again...
On our way to the Acropolis we passed this beautiful building which I later found out was a library. To be specific it is the Gennadius Library, which houses 117,000 volumes and archives, and is devoted to post-classical Hellenic civilization.

We have arrived and the view of the Parthenon from our first stop is impressive.

We are sitting at the foot of the Parthenon in an outdoor cafe where Kay is going to teach before we go on to tour the ruins. From here (over Tony's shoulder - where the sun is rising!) we can see the temple of Athena (she was called Minerva by the Romans) and she was the goddess of peace and wisdom. (See below)

I wanted to go on and plug in this picture of the Temple of Athena because as Kay began to teach she had us look upon the temples around us. It is likely that Paul had toured the city and observed the pagan temples and idols. While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy to arrive from Macedonia, he carried on discussions in the Athenian agora daily.

"Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present." (Acts 17:16-17)

It was at this point that Kay asked us to ask ourselves what do we believe about God? If we were to be asked to tell another person what we believe about God: "Why are we here?" "Who we represent?" "Why we are living?" "What is the purpose of our life?" Would God have anything to do with it? If you said it is because I believe in God and they would say well what do you believe about God? What would you say? And would it be accurate, would it be comprehensive and would it be convincing?! I guess to put it simply (in "Judy words") Paul was prepared and not ashamed, are we?

Temple to Hephaestus aka the Thission in the Ancient Agora.

The Propylaea is a prelude, an overture in stone. It was built on the rocky slope of the Acropolis and constituted one of the grandest approaches to a temple ever built.

I borrowed this from one of the university websites because it gave a wonderful rendering of the Propylaea and the general layout of the Acropolis.

A view of the Areopagus Rock (Mars Hill). The Areopagus Rock is a low rocky hill located just below the Acropolis . (I included this picture of Mars Hill because it gives you an idea of where it is and the people standing on it and the relationship to the town below.) In Ancient Greece, the Council of Nobles and the Judicial Court met on the hill. Many years later, Paul preached from this location that many consider sacred.

I am standing in front of the Erechthium which is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis. It was built between 421 BC and 407 BC and was built entirely of marble as is everything at the Acropolis.

If you look at the marble above my head you can see the damage that the pollution from Athens is doing to the marble. There is an ongoing battle to restore the marble edifices and they once even considered encasing the entire Parthenon in class to protect it from the environment!

According to Greek mythology, The Erecthion is said to sit on the most sacred site of the Acropolis where Poseidon and Athena had their contest over who would be the Patron of the city. Poseidon thrust his trident into the rock and a spring burst forth, while Athena touched the ground with a spear and an olive tree grew. Athena was declared the victor and the great city of Athens was named for her.

Within the foundations of Erecthion lived the sacred snake of the temple, which represented the spirit of Cecrops and whose well-being was thought essential for the safety of the city. The snake was fed honey-cakes by the priestesses of Athena Polias, who were by custom the women of the ancient family of the Eteoboutadae. The snake's occasional refusal to eat the cakes was thought a disastrous omen.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised." (Romans 1:20-25)

Several obvious observations I want to point out: 1) it is a very popular spot to visit and I can only imagine what it is like when school isn't in session 2) it is very hot on the top of this bluff and 3) this archaeological site is one of the biggest and hardest jigsaw puzzles I could ever imagine piecing together!

Tony with the Parthenon in the background being pieced back together!

Theater of Herod Atticus which was built in 160 A.D. by a rich Roman in memory of his dead wife. It is still used today for classical concerts, ballet, and for performances of high cultural value.

The Parthenon was designed by architects Ictinus and Callicrates according to the dictates of the Doric order - employing fluted columns with a round molding and a thick square slab at the top.

All the apparently straight lines of the Parthenon are, in truth, slightly curved - but the architects knew these lines would give the impression of being correctly linear. To compensate for the eye's tendency to see a column as thinner in the middle, the designers bowed each column. The columns were also slanted inward slightly. In a final refinement, the columns at the temple's corners were made thicker, since they catch more sunlight than other columns and so would appear thinner unless the architects compensated.

Building the Parthenon took only nine years, a remarkable achievement. That I can appreciate, what it was built for and what it represented is terribly sad!

Over my shoulder you are looking southwest of the acropolis on to the "Hill of the Muses" beyond the view sweeps from the Saronic Gulf to the Argolic Hills. The hill is now known as Philopappou Hill. The monument which you can just see on the top of the hill was placed there in 115 AD in memory of the Roman Gaius Ioulius Antiochus Philopappos, a benefactor of the town.

I am standing on the Areopagus (Mars Hill) with the Acropolis behind me. According to Acts 17:18-33, Epicurean and Stoic philosophers took Paul to the Areopagus, the Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war. Mars is the Roman (Latin) name for Ares, so the hill is also called Mars Hill. It was on this hill that Paul delivered the following sermon.

"So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD ' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:22-31)

After spending the morning at the Acropolis, many of us want to go to the Plaka to go shopping but there is a transportation strike from noon to four in the afternoon. So our wonderful bus driver offered to drive us to the Plaka and that is when I noticed that we were in the very area we were told to stay away from! The building in the picture is their Parliament building and you'll notice their riot police standing at the ready! Thankfully, things had not developed as anticipated and people just didn't show up for work or stopped working for 4 hours!

Pláka is the picturesque old historical neighbourhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residential areas of the ancient town of Athens. During the early modern age (XVth century) and until the early 20th century Plaka was inhabited by an Arvanite community. Apparently the name stems from Arvanitika “Pliak Athena”, meaning “Old Athens”. Plaka is the Athens that became capital of Greece in 1834. It is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists around the year, and is under strict zoning and conservation regulations, being the only neighborhood in Athens where all utilities (water, power, cable television, telephone, Internet, and sewage) lie underground in fully accessible, custom-made tunnelling. Motor vehicles are not allowed in Plaka, and most streets are too narrow, thus not being able to accommodate them anyway.

After spending the afternoon shopping the Plaka, looking for a replacement for one of our converters and pretty much ending up where we started we found a rooftop cafe where we could rest and enjoy a cup of coffee! We were looking out over Constitution Square and over to the Parliament Building. As we got our second wind, we decided we could walk back to the hotel rather than take the subway so that we could walk through the zoo and over to the Panathinaiko Stadium. What were we thinking?!

Do I look tired, hot and exhausted - I am and we have a ways to go to get to the hotel. I'm having any dessert I want tonight!! I am standing in front of the Panathinaiko Stadium. It is the only major stadium in the world built entirely of white marble (from Mount Penteli). In ancient times, it was used to host the athletic portion of the Panathenaic Games, in honour of the Goddess Athena.

The stadium was built long before dimensions for athletics venues were standardized and its track and layout follow the ancient hairpin-like model. It could seat about 80,000 spectators on 50 rows of marble steps and currently holds 45,000 spectators.

In the 2004 Olympic Games, the Panathinaiko Stadium hosted the archery competition, and the finish of the Marathon. If you look closely, you can see the olympic rings still displayed.

Once again, it was good to return to the hotel for a wonderful dinner and superb fellowship! You just couldn't help but return to the roof garden to say good night to the city and give thanks to God for His Word, His love for us, and for my parents who raised me to know my Savior!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16