Myths about the Greeks

Acropolis 

My tryst with Greece began at the age of 11, when we were introduced to the Legends of Greece and Rome by Mrs.Bhattacharya (Bhatta) The legends spun its web of imagination and managed to transport me to another world where Zeus ruled from the Olympus and was surrounded by men who looked as macho as Apollo and by  women who were brave and beautiful like Diana.  

And then came a calendar picture of the Acropolis, with the majestic pillars of Parthenon on a sunset evening and my dreams found its wings.

Honestly, I never thought I would see all this ever , because dreams are just dreams and I never acquired a passport till I turned 45 :)But like I said, some dreams come true,as I found myself walking up the steps of Acropolis to look up at the temple of Athena, that took 20 years to build and had seen destruction through the stages in civilization. 

And to say the least I was disappointed !! The climb was arduous with my arthritic knee and the guide has timed us so we needed to complete the entire scaling within 

The Pillars of Parthenon

an hour.I did manage to reach the destination and clicked photos on an exceptionally hot afternoon with the sun blazing, people from all over the world teeming and under the circumstances, those majestic pillars lost its sheen with the proverbial "Yarrow unvisited and Yarrow visited" perspective.Bhaskar of course was totally "unawed" by the structure ravaged by time, complaining ,"Keno j lok ei purono  bhanga chora dekhte aashe?"(Why do people want to see things broken and old)much to my chagrin. 

Climbing down I pondered on my infatuation with all things Greek, the legendary men and the amazing women and stopped for a while to take a shot of Athens from the Acropolis - sighed a bit and trudged down. My sunset beyond the pillars remaining a dream.

But somethings are unpredictable,and it so happened that Rashmi  missed the tour bus and took a cab along with Anjan and came up with a plan that changed the entire trip.

In the evening we took a cab driven by George, who was a lawyer , but was working as a cabbie to beat the economic crisis, as he did not want to leave Greece. He told us the tales of Athena and Poseidon and their fight for supremacy as he drove us up yet another hill, taking care that I do not fall mountain sick on the winding roads. He told us the tales from Greek mythology - of slaying of the monster Minotaur and the tragedy of King Aegeus of Athens, whose only son Prince Theseus killed the monster but forgot to change the black flag to white that signaled victory , leading to the 

My calendar picture at Poseidon 

King's untimely death.The trip was like going on a time machine that re-colored my imagination as the blue sky melted into the Aegean Sea. The trip up the hill was less arduous and the ruins of the Poseidon Temple took my breath away - cos I found my calendar picture against the sunset sky,surrounded by the Aegean blue gradually turning dark with the night. I spent a long time taking in the beauty of the place, enjoying the solitude of the ancient ruins and the legendary tales. 

When I look back I realize that the best moments in life happen without a plan. And the strategies are best left for something that is required on a war footing - The unplanned spontaneous moments are what comes close to a dream that you may have cherished for a long time. And George turned out to be as close I got to a Greek hero - and he did not carry a sceptre :)

And Greek men have a tendency to lose hair as they grow older  :) 

Ahh... so much for truths and myths :)