Poseidon

One of the things that made Greece an attractive destination for a year away from home is that it's a maritime country. Who doesn't love the sea, and the feeling of knowing that one is close to water?

Poseidon

Who doesn't have mad respect for Poseidon, Greek God of the Sea?


The ancient Greeks sure did. Because the Gods were considered quite fickle, religion was propitiatory in nature - based on the idea that to avoid misfortune, one must constantly seek the favour of the relevant gods with prayers, gifts and sacrifices. Due to Greece's maritime location, the sea occupied a high position in the divine hierarchy - Poseidon was considered second only to Zeus.


When he was feeling nice, Poseidon created new islands (there are over a thousand Greek islands, though only 227 of them are inhabited) and offered calm seas. If offended, he would strike the ground with his trident and stir things up on the open ocean. His implacable wrath caused earthquakes and storms, which led to countless shipwrecks and drownings. 


To avoid such calamities, sailors prayed to Poseidon for safe voyages, sometimes drowning horses as a sacrifice. Before the Battle of Issus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore, prayed to Poseidon, and ordered a four horse chariot into the waves.

I'm not just spewing Greek mythology because I've got nothing better to talk about - I'm telling you about Poseidon because two days ago, I went to his temple at Cape Sounion, the southernmost point of Attica, (70 km East of Athens). Two other teaching fellows and I took a pleasant two-hour bus ride along the coast from Athens. We could see the sea the entire way.


The Temple was built in the 5th Century BC, and sits atop a cliff that towers 60 m above the sea. In antiquity and today, sailors knew they were nearing Athens when they could see the Temple's columns.

The Temple

So here's the temple. Beautiful, right? I hate to admit it, but like many tourist destinations, the Temple itself (roped off and surrounded by tourists like me), was actually kindof underwhelming. I sometimes find it difficult to appreciate the things I should appreciate most. 


By the way, you're not supposed to call them ruins. It's rude.


What impressed me, however, was the view of the water below, which stretched out into open ocean.


The ocean in Greece is a blue like I haven't seen anywhere else before - it's somewhere between the dark hue of the Atlantic and the warm, turquoise of the Caribbean. Because it was so hot up on the cliffs, all I could think about the whole time was how I wanted to throw myself into the ocean...



Which brings me to the legend of King Aegeus, who did throw himself into the ocean, off this very cliff! 


Upon the cliff, King Aegeus anxiously awaited his son Theseus's return from Crete, where he had travelled to slay the Minotaur. Every year, the Athenians were forced to send 7 boys and 7 girls to Minos, where they would be devoured by the Minotaur. Theseus had volunteered to attempt to put a stop to this madness and slay the beast.

If only Theseu's ship had looked like this

Aegeus told his son to have his ship return with white sails if he survived the encounter, and with black sails if he met death in the labyrinth. In the joyous excitement of his victory, Theseus forgot to change the sails, and returned home with black sails, instead of white. When Aegeus saw the black sails on the horizon, he threw himself, devastated, into the sea - forever after known as the Aegean. 


I opted not to jump, and waited until we got down to lower ground to get in the water. The beach was extremely windy - One of the things I've loved about being in Greece is that there's always a breeze, even when it's crazy hot out. A couple of people were windsurfing, zipping by at an unbelievable speed. 


Mandee and I immediately put our towels down and fell (half) asleep for about an hour, while Lizzie got right in the water. When the wind calmed down a bit, I went in too. The water was just warm enough, and incredibly shallow. We could walk out about 100 m before the sand started to drop off. 

By the way, in the short time I have been in Greece, I have seen some fabulous swimwear, especially on the men.


It's a shame I didn't research all of this mythology stuff until after I got back and decided to blog about the Temple. However, even if I didn't know what I now know about the Temple two days ago, being close to and in the water put me in touch with Poseidon in a way that wikipedia never can. 

                                All hail Poseidon, God of the Sea.