Day Ten

Wednesday, July 6th

Today we went to my favorite site!

We went to Eleusis, which is where the sanctuary to Demeter is. It was kinda like an Acropolis. This is where the abduction of Persephone happened, which I especially loved because that was my favorite story as a child. Of course, my childhood myth story made it sound a bit different than an abduction and rape, but it was still my favorite.

Lauren also explained it to me in a way that gave me a new perspective. Hades took his wife, yes, but most gods did this. However, he was willing to share her with Demeter, which even though he had pressure from Zeus to do, he didn’t have to do. He wasn’t actually as awful as he’s made out to be, but the whole guardian of the underworld thing doesn’t help him any.

The area was dedicated to Demeter. Athenians used it for storage and the Romans looted the area and built their own statues and structures. There is a temple dedicated to Poseidon and an open area was also used for a festival for Demeter that happened. This area was not only important for mythical reasons, but it was also important for antiquity- unlike most religious sanctuaries, this was public and open to anyone.

However, there was a sanctuary to Demeter that involved an initiation. You had certain secrets given to you here. They seemed to learn things about the underworld. Anyone could be initiated, even children and slaves, you just had to be sponsored by someone already in there. This is so cool, seriously!

After Eleusis we went to Corinth. Not much survived from Greece. There is the Temple for Apollo (well, what we assume is the Temple for Apollo) and a fountain. Everything else was destroyed in 146 BC. The columns of the temple for Apollo were one piece of stone, would take someone a month or six weeks to make one. In ancient times there would have been a forum here with shops and a gated entrance just like in Rome. This was a place where Julius Caesar looked to settle some of his soldiers, in its earliest days it was a retirement community but it grew.

Paul was in Corinth around 52 AD and stayed for about 18 months. He stayed for a long time because there were a lot of people there that he could talk to, not just the Jewish people.

Corinth had been destroyed (which is why not much from Greek times exists still) to make an example. The people had tried to revolt and stand up against the Romans rather than simply let them take over, so they were Romans and destroyed it to make an example. Other people learned from this, which is why cities like Athens were left standing. Thank god, because if they had just destroyed all Greek cities, I would hate the Romans. And I think Latin is really pretty, so I don’t want to hate the Romans.

After we finished at the site we went to lunch nearby. The gyro was a lot more seasoned than we have been having, and something about all the salt on it made me sick. The salt combined with the heat made me puke for the first and only time on the trip. Also tried Ouzo, which is complete and utter trash. Now we are off to Nafplio!

Nafplio is incredible! Our hotel we are staying at is built into a cliff or cave or something with stones. Almost everyone got these really cool cave rooms. I didn’t get one (Kelsey and I got screwed), but that’s okay because our view was bomb. The walking tour proved that Nafplio is as beautiful as it is hilly. We enjoyed a nice pizza dinner after our walking tour and some great gelato (or, in my case, sorbet) after pizza. It was a great night!