ARROW - 165. Chapter 165

On the bus going to Dion, “Dad, how many gods did the ancient Greeks have?”

“Some you already know, Athena, Apollo, and Poseidon Beside these, there was Aphrodite who was the goddess of love and beauty. Her father was Uranus who was thrown into the sea by his son, Titan Cronus. There was the goddess of the hunt, Artemis. The god of war was Ares. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture. Ivan, you listening?”

The boys laughed. “There are stories about these gods and goddesses. I think there is a museum and you can read more about them there.”

“Who was the supreme god?”

“His name was Zeus. Do you remember the story of how he had two eagles?”

“Yes. Did he have a wife?”

“Yes, and her name was Hera.”

“Who was Poseidon? He raced against Athena and lost.”

“Poseidon was the god of the sea. I think for every phase of life they had a god. The god of the underworld was Hades.”

“What was the underworld?”

Ronnie leaned over and whispered in his ear. He looked at Ronnie, “Hell?” Ronnie nodded yes.

Arnaud started to explain the origin of the gods. “The people of ancient Greece could only explain the phenomenon of life by allotting these changes to a power greater than man. So they created these gods and the gods had to have a father and mother so they created Zeus and Hera. Their children were the gods and goddesses of daily life. Each god or goddess had rule over some section of life. There isn’t much to see except the mountain. Maybe we can come back and climb the mountain and stay at Zeus’s house.”

The older boys chuckled but the younger boys were believing.

Arriving at Dion, the boys were anxious to check out the city. It was obvious it was a tourist city, there were several hotels as well as statues representing the gods and goddesses. I noticed on the outskirt of the city as we enter Dion a museum. I knew we would head there first. The boys took photos of the mountain and then the games started,

“Dad, look you can see a palace at the top of the mountain.” All of the boys affirm there was a palace at the top of the mountain and they could see it. Then they saw two big birds, they were eagles. There were birds but no eagles. Colin and I laughed.

“They would mess their pants if a giant of a man with two eagles walked down that mountain.”

They wanted to head toward the museum. After we stopped for drinks, we headed to the museum. The boys were excited when they saw the bookstore. I thought more books for our library.

As we enter the museum, there was a plaque in several languages. The boys looked for the English plaque although they were reading plagues in French and Italian. The information on the plaques gave an overview. Mount Olympus is located in the region named Thessaloniki of which Ancient Dion was the sanctuary of the goddess Isis. Mount Olympu's highest peak, Mytikas, was 2917 meters and was reached in 1913.

The boys were anxious to enter the Archeological museum, There were statues of Dionysos, Isis, and Aphrodya Hypolmpa daughters of Asklepios. There was a votive for Isis and Aphrodite. Several heads of Demeter were on exhibition.

There was a glass-covered tray of coins, silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great. There was the head of Apollo, a racing chariot with two horses, the head of Heracles, and Zeus. There were several vases, jugs, ancient keys and locks, stone processing tools, and a water organ. We had to stop and look at it. It was the oldest in the world. When they were excavating this area they came upon a house with this organ. The organ pipes were arranged in two rows. They consisted of 24 pipes and 15 narrow pipes. The pipes were decorated with silver rings. The unit was built in the 3rd century BC by engineer Celsius in Alexandria. This unit was excavated from a building opposite the villa of Dionysos.

I had to read everything that was printed on the plaque. I was totally fascinated by this musical instrument. The 24 pipes were wet 120 cm high and the 16 narrow pipes were 70 cm high. The 24 pipes had a diameter of 18mm and the 16 pipes had a diameter of 10mm. There was a keyboard and when you pushed a key the valve would open allowing air to flow through the tube causing the sound. This unit used water to push the air through the open key., What I found amazing the concept of operating this instrument has not changed. A device is still used to push air through the tubes, only now they use an electrical air pump. I found this totally amazing.

As I read additional information, they modified the air system by using a bellow and having someone stand on the bellows to push the air through the reeds. I started to laugh as I saw several bellows and several young men stomping on this bellow to keep the air pressure constant.

The museum was laid out in sanctuaries. The first sanctuary was the sanctuary of Asclepius, the healer, and protector of the body. There they had thermal baths. Additional statues of Epione, his wife, his sons, Podaleirios and Macheon, and his daughters, Hygiene, Panacea, Aces, and Iaso,

The next room was the Isis cult which replaced the Artemis cult. The room had statues of Isis Tyche, and Isis Lochia, protector of childbirth. Statues of Aphrodite Hypolympiada, Julia Phraugione Alexandra, and Harpokrates, companion of Isis.

The next room was the sanctuary of Demeter. The oldest statue dates back to the 6th century BC. The head of Demeter from the 4th Century BC, The head of Aphrodite from the 1st century AD. A Roman copy of Artemis was found in the river Baphyras and designated Artemis Baphria. They also noted that the original was found in the 4th century BC, but was not in this museum.

The next floor was the sanctuary of Zeus. This sanctuary contains information concerning the last king of Macedonia. There was his statue, Perseus, 179-168 BC, There was a letter to King Antgenus Gnats about the possession of a large tract of land. A letter from King Philips V to Dion. 180 BC concerning the recognition of a religious status of a city, Cynics, in Asia Minor.

Fragment of a writing tablet (200 BC) confirming an Alliance between King Philip and citizens of Lysimacheia. A letter from King Phillip (206-205 BC) to citizens of the Thessalian cities of Dherrai and Demetrius.

Confirmation of Alliance between King Perseus and the Boeotians (172BC)

The next Sanctuary was of Zeus Hypsistus. This sanctuary contained cultic statues of Zeus and Hera and 2 stone statues of eagles.

Mosaic from the Villa of Dionysus depicting a medusa head in a circular frame.

“Dad, we’re getting hungry.” I checked my watch and it was half past one. Recognizing we had left Athens early this morning, I was surprised they didn’t mention being hungry sooner.

“Arnaud, let’s stop and have lunch.” I think he was getting hungry as well. Before leaving the museum, Arnaud asked the lady at the entrance the name of a good restaurant. Smiling we followed him to the Ariadne restaurant.

When the waitress came, Ronny said. “We are hungry.

The waitress smiled and showed us outdoor seating. Two young men came over and pulled the tables together so we all could sit together, Our waitress came to take our drink order. The boys had iced tea, the men had Greek coffee. After she brought our drinks she suggested we order a little of everything. Which she pointed to on my menu. I agreed and the food began to arrive. The plates were small but after 90 minutes we were full. Colin took care of the tab. Arnaud led us to the archeology dig,

The archeologic park sanctuaries were found from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Ancient Dion had a prominent place in the history of Pieria,

We spent two hours at the archeology dig. The young boys were looking for artifacts. As you walked through the park you had the feeling of the people who lived there. The thermal bath was quite large and the heating system employed to heat the water was clearly excavated. Along the wall were stone figures. It was obvious that this bath was important to the people of Pieria and Dion. As we walked through the dig, we could see ruins of old temples, a gymnasium, a theater, and tombs. Walking among all of these artifacts one could sense the passion and the lives of these people. Mount Olympus, the home of the Gods, gave Dion a special status. It was more than a city, it was a sacred place and recognized as such in all of Macedonia.

Before heading back to Athens we needed to make one more stop, a bookstore. I wanted a book on that organ we saw in the museum. I was fascinated by it. The boys discussed each book they picked up, they said they wanted to be sure they didn’t have duplicates. I knew we would have duplicates as each boy would like a particular chapter the duplicated book didn’t have. I was okay with that Colin balked on a few. The boys would make an argument for buying the book but there were times when Colin’s no stood. I listened and if the boy’s logic was sound, I’d pick up the book and buy it. On the bus going back to Athens, I’d give the boy the book.

Arriving in Athens, the boys wanted a snack. I told the boys we could have a snack at the hotel. They were okay with that only their snack turned out to be more like a late dinner. I was satisfied with a coffee but the others went along with the boys. Before going to bed, I stopped at the desk to make arrangements for a company to crate all of our souvenirs and have it shipped home. In the morning I’ll have all of the boys bring their books and souvenirs to our room.

“I want to go to a few art museums here in Athens and while I do that, maybe you can take the boys to the museum on the Acropolis. I’ll let Carl decide where he wants to go either with you or me.”

“What do you have in mind for our last days?”

“I’d like to check out the islands and maybe let the boys fish.”

At breakfast, I mentioned Colin taking the boys to the Acropolis museum and me going to check out some art museums. Jean and Roger opted to go with me. Arnaud was happy to take the boys to the museum. Walking back to our room, Carl followed me. “Dad, I want to go with you but also to see the museum.”

‘Okay, you can come with me and I’ll see that you have a chance to see the museum.” I wasn’t sure how I would accomplish this but I’ll make sure he has the opportunity.

We met in the lobby, I told Colin to let the boys visit the shops. Laughing, “Okay, get ready for more books.”

I didn’t ’t mind them getting books. I knew they would read them and we would have discussions at home. The idea of having a home library was appealing to me. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea.

The first museum we visited was the National Gallery of Greece. We stopped in front of a painting by Theodoros Vryzakis titled Exodus from Missolonghi dated 1853. This painting commemorates the historical event of the Greek War of independence on April 1826 from the Ottoman Empire.

The next painting we looked at was a painting of Alexandros Mavrokordatos defending Missolonghi by Peter von Hess.

“Dad, these paintings are different styles but the same subject, the war of Missolonfht. Why did these different artists paint a picture of a war? I would think one painting would be enough. I would also think that if the war were to be painted it would have been done by one artist.”

I looked to my two companions to answer Carl.

The museum has 2620 artworks, After reading this, I knew we would be spending all of our time here. I whispered to Carl, “Take note of the artist in the paintings you like. Here take this program and mark the painting you like. We can discuss why you like it when we get home.” I was hoping he would see the difference in the styles. I wanted him to develop his own style. Although I would prefer he didn’t prefer cubism. There are some paintings reflecting Picasso’s influence.

Roger asked him what aspect of a particular painting he liked or didn’t like. Depending on his answer, Jean would comment. I noticed the glimmer in Carl’s eyes when he was discussing a painting. I think Roger and Jean were beginning to appreciate Carl’s opinion. I knew he would be a great artist, his sensitivity was apparent in his discussions with the guys.

We had lunch in the museum's dining area. Over lunch, “Dad, Uncle Roger said he would help me when we got home, and Uncle Jean said he would give me a private tour of the Louvre when we are in Paris.” I didn’t know whose eyes shone more, Roger’s, Jean’s, or Carl’s. I knew that Carl’s training will be in the best hands with these two. In my mind, I saw GG smile.

It was 5 pm when we left the gallery. I think Carl forgot the museum at the Acropolis until Roger mentioned we had time to check how Arnaud was doing. “Dad” I nodded.

A half-hour later we arrived at the museum. “Dad, can you carry this?” It was a book showing all of the paintings in the museum we just left. I open the cover and there were the signatures of Roger and Jean. I just smiled.

We fell in line, where a young lady was leading a group through the museum.

“If I remember, a section of this frieze was stolen by an English man who sold it to the British Museum.”

There were statues from the old museum which has been closed. There was a section in the new museum that showed the dig uncovering the floor plan of a building. There was a store with artifacts from the museum. A lot of copies which good be bought.

Where did we meet up with the boys, at the bookstore, They surrounded Carl and began telling him about what they saw. I laughed knowing we had seen most of what the boys told him.

They saw the book Carl was carrying. “What is that book?”

“It’s a book of paintings in the art museum we visited today.”

Carl was riding high, he had his book and he knew it was special. I’d expect he would try and copy some of the paintings, in a few years.

Walking back to our hotel, I told the boys to make sure all of their books and artifacts were in my bedroom before they turned in for the night. “The company will be here tomorrow morning to crate everything up and ship it to the States.”

In the morning I waited until the men came to crate everything for shipment to the States. Colin along with Roger, Jean, and Arnaud took the boys to go fishing. I'd catch up with them.