Athens,
the prize in a divine contest. The god of the sea and the
goddess of wisdom each wanted Athens for their own. They
descended from Olympos to vie for the city considered to be the
most beautiful in the world. Athena won and bestowed upon the
city her sacred tree, the olive, and her name.
Athens, the city of Athena. Once the centre of the world, with
the most eminent philosophers, the greatest writers, the best
sculptors humanity has ever known. It was truly a golden age.
The Athenians used their artistic masterpieces for their
everyday needs, they flocked to the theatre to see Sophocles’
latest tragedy, and they climbed up to the Acropolis to be alone
with their gods. For on the Acropolis you spoke with the gods.
At
some point, the golden age ended, as does every age in the
history of mankind, but what was created then has remained with
us. Neither catastrophes, war, nor time have been able to
tarnish the beauty of the Acropolis. The ancient, immortal
spirit lives on in Athens. It is with us in the streets, in the
spring mornings, in evenings at the Theater of Herodes Atticus.
It is with us when we are born and when we die, when we love and
when we weep, when we say “good morning”, and when we gaze at
the moon. For the gods have never left Athens.
At any step of yours you can meet them; Be it
at the cape Sounion, among the proud columns of Poseidon temple,
or even on Aegina – a Saronic Gulf island – facing the temple of
Aphaia Athena. |
