The Living and the Dead

(Sorry about the jacked up formatting--tooooo tired to fix it!)

Today we hit it hard! Okay, first, hotel breakfast are usually average at best. If I had only eaten the Greek Yogurt mousse with cherry sauce, I would have been a happy camper. I did not get pictures, but I will in the morning. There were other assorted goodies including several types of fresh baked breads, cheeses, olives, eggs, meats, and pastries--great way to start the day--pictures tomorrow, I promise...oh, and the same view that we had yesterday--they serve breakfast on the rooftop. :)

After breakfast, we hopped on a tour bus and headed to The Acropolis. I admit--the tour was rushed as far as picture taking because our guide (Do all Greek people talk as if they're ticked about something?) talked far more about Greek mythology and some of the current politics than I cared to hear. As an English teacher, Greek mythology was not my favorite--still isn't. But I'll tell you, the architecture was hard to take in. The size of the buildings were stunning. Without standing their among them, the scale is hard to capture. My pictures are no better than a history book.

Parthenon 

Parthenon

Old Temple of Athena

Old Temple of Athena


Propylaea


Propylaea


Temple of Athena Nike

What did get my attention was this:


The Aeropagus


The Aeropagus


The Aeropagus

Still--what's the big deal?

The Areopagus--a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Ares Rock" (Ancient Greek: Ἄρειος Πάγος). In classical times, it functioned as the court for trying deliberate homicide, wounding and religious matters, as well as cases involving arson or olive trees. Ares was supposed to have been tried here by the gods for the murder of Poseidon's son Halirrhothius (a typical example of an aetiological myth).

So that's the wikipedia definition above.

Here's why it matters to me:

Acts 17:16-34

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

It is not lost on me that Paul preached the gospel of Jesus Christ publicly, the freedom of a once-for-all death, on the very "hill" where criminals were judged and condemned to die. Nice move Paul. :)


Looking up to the Acropolis from The Aeropagus

From there we took a tour of the Acropolis Museum (nice to visit--pictures relatively boring). We grabbed lunch at a local place called Athens Eats.


Good bread and roasted red pepper hummus


Quinoa salad with shave zucchini, cherry tomatoes, cashews, and avocado with a light lemon and olive oil dressing


Grilled cheese (for the life of me, I can't remember what kind--Greek name I didn't recognize) with fig jam

Lunch was perfect--light and delicious. I especially liked the fig jam on the cheese--the sweetness of fig with something savory--can't figure out what!

After lunch, we took a tour bus to The Temple of Poseidon:







I feel like my thirteen-year-old self at the Grand Canyon, but really, while I am amazed at the architecture...don't roll your eyes at me, but they all start to look alike. :)

We drove back into rush hour traffic in Athens, arriving at the hotel around seven. We made a few plans for the rest of our time here then headed out to dinner in the Plaka. We were hungry enough that we only got one shot of both of our half-eaten dinners--lamb in a clay pot and lamb souvlaki. The lamb in clay pot was better than the souvlaki.




Off to bed!