Tanagra Figurine: Lady in blue (Dame en bleu)

Public Domain Photo: Lady in Blue, painted terracotta figurine of the type Large Herculaneum Woman, Tanagra Figurine dating 330 to 300 BC, height 32.5 cm (12 ¾ in.), Louvre Museum, Paris

The Lady in blue (Dame en Bleu) is a terracotta figurine that used to be produced in Tanagra, a town north of Athens in Greece from the later part of 4th century BC. They were often painted with natural colors, and were about 4 to 8 inches tall.

Tanagra figures were discovered by ploughmen of Vratsi in Boeotia, Greece by the end of the 1860s when they dug up ancient tombs. The largest collection of figurines were found in 1874 from the tombs of the Hellenistic period, which shows that the city was the main source of these figures which were also exported to distant places.

Christmas Tree at Syntagma Square, Athens

Public Domain Photo: Syntagma Square in central Athens at night with a huge illuminated Christmas Tree, 21 December 2005.

Syntagma Square, located in central Athens, Greece, is named after the Constitution that King Otto was forced to grant the people after a popular and military uprising on September 3, 1843.

Syntagma Square, a site of political demonstrations, is quite near Syntagma station of the Athens Metro, with the Greek Parliament across Amalias Avenue. It is a hub for many forms of public transportation with a stop for the Athens Tram and buses or trolley-buses plying to several locations in Athens. Travel between Syntagma Square and the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport is available via special airport buses and metro lines. Free wireless Internet access at high speeds is offered by the Municipality of Athens at the Square.

Syntagma Square is also located near many of Athens' most famous neighborhoods and tourist attractions such as Plaka, Monastiraki, Psiri, Kolonaki, and sites of ancient Athens including the Acropolis, the Theater of Dionysus, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Philopappos Monument on the Hill of the Nymphs, the Areopagus, the Ancient Agora of Athens, the Tower of the Winds in the Roman Agora, the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, the Arch of Hadrian, the Pnyx, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Lycabettus Hill, and historic churches dating from the Middle Ages.

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The cave of Orpheus' oracle in Lesbos and other stories

PD Image: The cave of Orpheus' oracle in Antissa, Lesbos, Greece

Orpheus has a special importance in Greek mythology, with the inspiration for Orphic cults, literature, poetry and drama of ancient Greece and Rome and Western classical music.

According to one myth, in the later part of his life, Orpheus disdained the worship of all gods except the sun, whom he called Apollo. One day he went to the oracle of Dionysus at Mount Pangaion to salute the sun at dawn, but was rent to pieces by Thracian Maenads for not honoring his previous patron (Dionysus) and buried him in Pieria.

Ovid’s account of his death gives it a bizarre twist: the Ciconian women, Dionysus' followers, killed him, when they were spurned by Orpheus, who had hated women after the death of his wife Eurydice, who died of a snake bite, after which he had taken only boys as his lovers. First the women threw sticks and stones at him, but his music was so powerful and beautiful that even the stones and sticks refused to hit him. However, finally, the enraged women tore him to pieces. In an Albrecht Dürer drawing a ribbon high in a tree is lettered ‘Orfeus der erst puseran’ (‘Orpheus, the first sodomite’); an interpretation of the passage in Ovid where Orpheus is said to have been ‘the first of the Thracian people to transfer his love to young boys.’

His severed head and lyre, still singing mournful songs, floated down the Hebrus River (Maritsa or Evros) to the Mediterranean Sea, and the winds and waves carried them on to the shores of Lesbos island (now in Greece), where the inhabitants buried his head and a shrine was built for him near Antissa. There his oracle prophesied, until it was silenced by Apollo.

Lesbos, the Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea, is the third largest Greek island and the largest of the numerous Greek islands scattered in the Aegean, and separated from Turkey by the narrow Mytilini Strait.

Interestingly, one meaning of the word lesbian is derived from the poems of Sappho, who was born in Lesbos and who wrote with emotional content towards other women. It is due to this that Lesbos and especially the town of Eresos, Sappho’s birthplace, are a hot destination for lesbian tourists/ LGBT tourism. But, the deeply conservative Greek Orthodox population of the island disapproves of it strongly. In 2008 the Lesbian islanders lost a court battle against the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece. The Lesbian islanders had requested a legal injunction to bar homosexual groups from using the word ‘lesbian’ in their names, because the petitioners’ claim it violates their human rights as it is ‘insulting’, and the usage of the word ‘lesbian’ to refer to certain sexual preferences of women disgraces the people of Lesbos island.

The Parthenon dominates the skyline of Athens

The Parthenon's position on the Acropolis allows it to dominate the city skyline of Athens, the city whose name is evolved from the Greek Goddess Athena.

Ruins of the Temple of Hera at Agrigento, Magna Graecia

In classical Greek Mythology Hera, the wife of Zeus (Jupiter), was as the goddess of women and marriage, Juno being the equivalent in Roman mythology. Hera was worshipped at her sanctuary that stood between the ancient city states of Argos and Mycenae, where festivals in her honor were celebrated, and her other main center of cult was at Samos. There were also temples dedicated to Hera in Olympia, Corinth, Tiryns, Perachora and the sacred island of Delos. In Magna Graecia, in present day Italy, two Doric temples dedicated to Hera were constructed at Paestum in the period between 550 BC and 450 BC, according to historians.

The Stadium at Olympia, Greece

The Olympia Stadium with the surface made of grass and stones with a capacity of 20,000 spectators, tenanted by 2004 Olympic Athletics.

Olympic Race Track in modern Olympia, Greece

The 'Exedra', the stone platform on which the judges sat, located on the south embankment of the stadium.

The stadium is located at the ancient archaeological site of Olympia, to the east of the sanctuary of Zeus in Greece. It was the location of the sporting events at the Ancient Olympic Games. It is considered a holy place for the ancient Greeks, because here sports and games dedicated to Zeus were held. The original location was within the temenos, and spectators could view the sports events from the slopes of Mt. Kronos. But, gradually, it was relocated east until it reached its present location in the early 5th century BCE.

Ruins of the Philippeion, Greece

Photo: Temple of Philip II of Macedon in Olympia, photo taken in July 2006

The Philippeion in the Altis of Olympia, an Ionic circular memorial built of ivory and gold and the only structure inside the Altis dedicated to a humans, contained statues of Philip II's family, Alexander the Great, Olympias, Amyntas III and Eurydice I. It was created by the Athenian sculptor Leochares in celebration of Philip's victory at the battle of Chaeronea (338 BC).

Socrates seeking Alcibiades in the house of Aspasia

Image: Socrates seeking Alcibiades in the house of Aspasia (1861) by the French painter Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904)

Greek Interior by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Greek Interior (1848), sketch by French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme

Venus de Milo

Aphrodite of Milos, better known as the Venus de Milo, currently on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, is an ancient Greek statue that is one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. Created at some time between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty. The marble sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) high with its arms and original plinth lost, is thought to be the work of Alexandros of Antioch. Earlier, its creation was mistakenly attributed to the sculptor Praxiteles.

The Holy Monastery of Varlaam

The Holy Monastery of Varlaam is the second largest monastery in the Metéora complex. A church dedicated to All Saints is in the Athonite type (cross-in-square with dome and choirs) with spacious esonarthex (lite) surrounded by a dome. It was built in 1541/42 and decorated in 1548, while the esonarthex was decorated in 1566. The old refectory is used as a museum while at north of the church there is the parekklesion of the Three Bishops built in 1627 and decorated in 1637.

The Varlaam Monastery was built by Saint Nectarios of Aegina and Theophanes. Access to the monastery was originally difficult, and it was deliberately built so, requiring either long ladders put together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. Climbing up required quite a leap of faith; the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only when the Lord let them break. In the words of UNESCO, "The net in which intrepid pilgrims were hoisted up vertically alongside the 373 meters (1,220 ft) cliff where the Varlaam monastery dominates the valley symbolizes the fragility of a traditional way of life that is threatened with extinction."

Meteora Complex of Greek Orthodox Monasteries

Meteora is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second to Mount Athos. The now-existing six monasteries were built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios River and Pindus Mountains in central Greece. The nearest town is Kalambaka. The Metéora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The exact date of the establishment of the monasteries is unknown. It is believed, in the 9th century, an ascetic group of hermit monks moved up to the ancient pinnacles. They were the first people to inhabit Meteora. They lived in the hollows and fissures in the rock towers, as high as 1800 feet (550 meters) above the plains.

By the end of the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire's reign over northern Greece was being threatened by Turkish invaders who wanted control over the fertile plain of Thessaly. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge and built more than 20 monasteries, out of which only six exist today; five are inhabited by men, one by women, with fewer than 10 inhabitants in each.

The six monasteries are The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron (the largest of the monasteries at Metéora), The Holy Monastery of Varlaam (the second largest), The Holy Monastery of Rousanou/St. Barbara, The Holy Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas, The Holy Monastery of St. Stephen, and The Monastery of Holy Trinity.

In the 1920s there was an improvement in the arrangements. Steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. During World War II the site was bombed and many art treasures were stolen.

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Mount Olympus: view from Litochoro

Mount Olympus, the highest mountain range in Greece, has its highest peak Mitikas (Mytikas), which is 2,919 meters high (9,577 feet). It is located in the borders of Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 km away from Thessaloniki. The mountain has been regarded as the ‘home of the gods’, specifically of the Twelve Olympians, the twelve principal gods of the ancient Hellenistic world, according to Greek mythology. The mount is popular with climbers, though it is a non-technical hike, except for the final 30 minute section from Skala summit to Mitikas summit. Climbers mostly start from the town of Litochoro. (Photo dated: Jan 21, 2007.)

Alexander fighting Persian King Darius III

This image of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon, 356-323 BC), the king of Macedon, on his horse Bucephalus fighting the Persian King Darius III, is from Alexander Mosaic from Pompeii, Naples National Archaeological Museum. He held such varied titles as Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Shahanshah of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt and Lord of Asia.

Alexander, credited in history as the conqueror of one of the largest empires in ancient history, had classical Greek education as a student of the famed philosopher Aristotle, and succeeded his father Philip II of Macedon to the throne in 336 BC after the King was assassinated. He died thirteen years later at the age of 32 in Babylon. Though Alexander's reign and empire were short-lived, the impact of his conquests lasted for centuries. He is remembered for his tactical ability and for spreading Greek culture to the East, heralding Hellenistic civilization.