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Feature Articles 

The Heights of Athens

/Athens is not only the capital of Greece, it is also considered to be
the cradle of democracy. But what is less known is that Athens, as a
city, has its own sacred geography, echoing the Greek philosophy for
which it would become famous. /

Philip Coppens

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What we see today on the Acropolis is relatively recent. The earliest
artefacts that have been recovered date from the Middle Neolithic era,
although there have been documented habitations in Attica from the Early
Neolithic (6000 BC). There is little doubt that a Mycenaean megaron must
have stood on top of the hill in the Bronze Age, housing the local
potentate and his household. The compound was surrounded by a thick
Cyclopean circuit wall. Homer in the Odyssey (7,81) referred to this
site as the ?strong-built House of Erechtheus?. It was during that time
that an earthquake caused a fissure near the northeastern edge, one that
ran all the way down to the marl layer and in which water duly
collected. An elaborate set of stairs was built and the well was used as
a protected source of drinking water.
Two large temples were built on top of the Acropolis during the 6th
century BC. The Hekatompedon, ca. 566 BC, was under the present
Parthenon and seems to have had a number of treasures grouped around it.
From ca. 529 to 515 BC, a temple of Athena Polias was built, occupying
the presumed site of the palace of Erechtheus. It was oriented towards
the horns of Mt. Hymettos, with the cones of Mt. Kaisariani also in view.
The first Parthenon was begun in 490 BC, on the site of the
Hekatompedon; neither seem to have contained a holy image. In 480 BC,
the Parthenon and the temple of Athena Polias were burnt by the Persians
while the Parthenon was still under construction. Its placement was the
location of the present building. It is believed that the Temple was
dismantled by the Athenians themselves, with the sacred image rehoused
in a temporary shrine on the site of the later Erechtheion. The Greeks
then pledged the so-called Oath of Plataia, which stated that Greeks
would leave as untouched memorials the ruins of all the temples that the
Persians had destroyed. But this was soon abandoned.
Today, huge cranes and scaffolding try to maintain what was rebuilt
under the leadership of Pericles, during the Golden Age of Athens
(460?430 BC). The new Parthenon got underway in 452 BC, to be followed
by the Propylaia and the Erechtheion. What we see is largely the work of
Phidias, a great Athenian sculptor, and Ictinus and Callicrates, two
famous architects. But in their time, they were just one of a line of
people that had built and rebuilt the sacred precinct of Athens ? it is
only the work of these 5th century scholars that has remained ? barely.

The blue-grey limestone of the Acropolis rises sharply from the plain of
Attica, with steep cliffs on three sides. It is accessible by foot to
the west, where it is linked by a low ridge to the hill of the
Areopagus, which sits, when facing the acropolis, to your left. Beneath
that rock sits the Agora. Together, these three structures form the
sacred landscape of Athens ? the centre of democracy, the centre of the
Greek world and everything it stood for.
The Acropolis of Athens is the Greek capital?s best known feature ?
though few people know that it isn?t actually Athens? highest point. It
is however very distinct and the Parthenon on top has made it into one
of the world?s most recognisable sites. Though today known as ?the
acropolis?, this is in essence just a generic term; many Greek cities
have an acropolis. The ?Acropolis of Athens? was in ancient times known
as the Cecropia, in honour of the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the
founder and first Athenian king. Cecrops means ?face with a tail?, and
though often said to have the bottom half of a serpent, some sources say
it was a fish-tail ? thus bearing some resemblance to Oannes of
Babylonian fame. Like Oannes, Cecrops was identified as a bringer of
culture, teaching the Athenians marriage, reading and writing, and
ceremonial burial.
So why is Athens called Athens, not Cecropia? During his reign as king
of the city, Athena became the patron goddess after winning a
competition with Poseidon, a contest which Cecrops judged. They would
each give the people of the city one gift. Poseidon struck the ground
with his trident and a spring sprang up; the water was salty and hence
not very useful. No-one seemed to realise that Poseidon used the spring
symbolically, representing sea power for Athens over neighbouring
states. Athena struck the rock with her lance and an olive tree sprung
up. Cecrops judged in favour of Athena, for the olive tree brought wood,
oil and food.

The centre of the Greek world was carefully constructed, with eye for
symbolism. It followed the composition of what the Greeks saw a human to
be: body, mind (reason), and soul (spirit). The Agora represented the
mind and body; the Acropolis the soul, the highest we could attain and a
sacred precinct, set aside from the mundane and commercial heart of the
city, which was the Agora. As to the Aeropagus Rock, this was the ?hill
of the supreme court? and matters of state, where judgments were held ?
a task that exceeded the mundane world below, as it judged it; but at
the same time, this was the judgment of men, not the divine judgment,
which was still higher ? literally, on the nearby Acropolis.
The sacred layout of Athens was not purely static ? if anything, life
was a process. The Greeks saw life as a road, in which man had to try to
attain ?Mind?, which was to live a life according to the divine
principles. For those who took up this challenge, it involved
initiations, which for Athens was closely linked with the Mysteries of
Eleusis. The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for
the cult of Demeter and Persephone. Details of the mysteries were kept
secret, though it is known that the initiation rites united the
worshipper with god, and included promises of divine power and rewards
in life after death. But though secret in many regards, the mysteries
did include public events, such as ritual processions. These occurred
within the sacred landscape of Athens and were there to portray the path
the initiate walked ? which is what a procession is ? towards Mind, the
world of the gods.

There were four categories of people who participated in the Eleusinian
Mysteries: the priests, priestesses and hierophants; the initiates,
undergoing the ceremony for the first time; those who had already
participated at least once; those who had attained ?epopteia?, who had
learned the secrets of the greatest mysteries of Demeter. For the
procession, the priests walked from Eleusis to Athens, where the sacred
objects were placed in the Eleusinion, a temple at the base of the
Acropolis. This occurred on the first day of a nine-day long event (on
the 14th day of Boedromion, the first month of the Attic calendar, which
corresponds in our calendar to July).
On 15th Boedromion, the hierophantes (priests) declared ?prorrhesis?,
the start of the rites, with ceremonies commencing in Athens the
following day and the celebrants washing themselves in the sea at
Phaleron, sacrificing a young pig at the Eleusinion the following day
(4th day of the festival). The procession to Eleusis began at Kerameikos
(the Athenian cemetery) on the 19th Boedromion, from where the people
walked to Eleusis, along what was called the "Sacred Way", which ended
Athens? involvement with the Greater Mysteries.

This annual spectacle was not the only religious festival that occurred
at the start of the Greek calendar. The Panathenaia celebrated the birth
of Athena Polias, ?Athena of the city?, the patron goddess. The calendar
was therefore aligned with this saint?s birth and the festival was their
New Year. In 566 BC, at the initiative of Peisistratus, the festival was
extended every four years over a number of days with many public events
and is now known as the Great Panathenaea. This involved Panathenean
Games, similar to the other games that were held elsewhere in Greece,
such as at Delphi and Olympia.
The central part of the festival was a procession, which assembled
before dawn at the Dipylon gate, in the northern sector of the city. The
procession then moved through Athens on the Panathenaic Way, through the
Agora. Some sacrifices were made on the Areopagus and in front of the
temple of Athena Nikę, next to the Propylaea that mark the access to the
Acropolis. The procession then mounted under the cave of Apollo, from
which the priests watched for the lightning flash of Zeus upon the long
summit of the Attic Harma, to the north. On the rear wall of the cave of
Apollo were attached votive plaques dedicated to Apollo Hypo Makrais
(Under the Long Rocks) or Hyp' Akrais (Under the Heights). Only Athenian
citizens were allowed to pass through the Propylaea. The procession
passed the Parthenon on the right and stopped at the great altar of
Athena, in front of the Erechtheum. Every four years, a newly woven
?peplos? ? a woven wool robe ? was dedicated to Athena, the work of
sacred weavers, whose sole task seemed to be the weaving of this ritual,
sacred garb which would clothe Phidias' massive ivory and gold statue of
Athena in the Parthenon.

The Parthenon is the best known monument on the Acropolis. But even
though it is impressive and the most popular, the nearby Erechtheion is
definitely as intriguing ? and identified as such by tour guides and art
experts. Why? Because whereas the Parthenon seemed to be the place to
idol-worship Athena, the Erechtheion was the ?treasure trove? of Athens
and may have been the true ?heart? of the limestone plateau. For one,
the temple itself was dedicated to Athena and Poseidon Erechtheus, the
two deities that were instrumental in the wager ? won by Athena. The
structure contained the Palladion, which was a ?xoanon? ? defined as a
wooden effigy fallen from heaven and thus not man-made ? of Athena
Polias. What this artefact precisely is, is unknown. It could be a
meteorite, others have argued it may have been a very ancient statue of
Athena; most likely, it sits within the category of sacred stones, which
in many early cultures was said to allow for communication with the deity.
The Erechteion also contained the tomb of Cecrops and the tomb of
Erechtheus, both kings of Athens. But it also showed the marks of
Poseidon's trident and was the location of the salt water well that
resulted from Poseidon's strike. The sacred olive tree planted by Athena
stood right outside the building. As such, it seems to have been the
true heart of the Acropolis ? rather than the Parthenon.

The Acropolis and its surrounding area is but one aspect of a larger
sacred landscape in which the Greek capital sat. The highest point of
Athens is the Likavittos Hill, 277 metres above sea level. Today it sits
within the city centre, but in Antiquity, it was outside the polis. The
hill looks like a pyramid and it received its name from the belief that
there were once wolves there. The Athenians had a legend of how Athena
had dropped it there by accident upon hearing of the fatal disobedience
of the Cecropidae. She had been intending to add her load to the
Acropolis hill. It is described as ?a naked force, especially as seen
from the southwest, and it is as such that it appears from the
Acropolis.? The myth indicates an intimate bond between the Acropolis
and this hill. Francis Penrose, a British archaeologist studying the
Parthenon in 1891, suggested that the site is oriented towards the
rising of the Pleiades in the constellation of Taurus. But Vincent
Scully added that the Parthenon was also aligned to Likavittos Hill. An
inspection on site makes it clear that some alignment can be in evidence.
Scully added that directly opposite the korai was the spot in the rock
of the Acropolis in which the image of Gaia was placed, as if she were
rising out of her own earth. This location is on line between the cone
of Likavittos Hill and the Parthenon?s northwest corner, thus tying the
Hill into the sacred plan of Athens? sacred layout.
But this suggestion becomes a likelihood when we note that there is a
further alignment to another hill, situated behind Likavittos Hill. This
is Mount Pentelikon, known to have produced the white marble used
exclusively for the construction of the Parthenon and its accompanying
sculptural components. It shows that there is a divine link between that
hill ? its ?divine body?, the hill identified with a specific deity ?
via Likavittos Hill, and finally the Acropolis. In later centuries, no
less than 160 pits would be opened on the slopes of the mountain and the
Romans would export its marble throughout their empire. By then, the
sacredness of the mountain and hence the reason why its body ? its
marble ? symbolising the body of the mountain god, which melted with the
highest abode the Greeks could attain to (the Acropolis), had long
diminished.

With the Acropolis largely synonymous with Athena (wisdom), few have
paid much attention to the nearby Aeropagos. Pagos means rock, Areios is
thought to be Ares, the Greek god of war (equivalent to the Roman Mars),
hence the ?Rock of Ares?. It was also the site of the caves of the earth
goddesses, the Eumenides. Ares was supposed to have been tried here by
the Gods for the murder of Poseidon's son Alirrothios. But he was not
alone: in The Eumenides of Aeschylus (458), the Areopagus is the site of
the trial of Orestes for killing his mother and her lover, Clytemnestra
and Aegisthus.
Before the 5th century BC, the Areopagos was where the council of elders
of the city held session. Its membership was restricted to those who had
held high public office, in this case that of Archon. In 462 BC,
Ephialtes put through reforms which deprived the Areopagos of almost all
of its functions, in favour of another court, Heliaia. It thus became
the site for murder tribunals only, though later, it was also the
location where the Apostle Paul delivered the famous ?What therefore you
worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you? speech, after seeing an
altar ?to the Unknown God?.
As to the agora? this was ?The City?, the commercial heart, but like
London?s City, it was not void of temples. It was reorganized by
Pisistratus in the 6th century BC, which resulted in the removal of
several houses, the closing of wells, making it the centre of Athenian
government. Pisistratus also built a drainage system, fountains and a
temple to the Olympian gods. Cimon later improved the agora by
constructing new buildings and planting trees. In the 5th century BC,
temples to Hephaestos, Zeus and Apollo were added to the complex,
nestled beneath the acropolis that somehow seems quite distant, almost
unattainable, but in reality merely a few minutes? walk away. But it is
the visual impression that makes it seem as if the world of body and
mind and that of soul are far apart? whereas in reality, they are just
next door. That was the message that the Greek philosophers tried to
portray in the reorganisation of their capital: a divine structure
projected onto the landscape of Athens, the cradle of ?democracy?, but
which in truth could seldom aspire to attain the heights of Mind which
the Acropolis symbolised. Climbing a mountain was one thing, climbing
the Mind another.