More on Athens

Before I move on to the other locations we visited, I want to talk about the populated Acropolis.

The word “acropolis” means “top of the city,” and many cities in the ancient world had them, but Athens has the one that enjoys the greatest fame. On the acropolis stands The Parthenon. The word parthenos in Greek means “virgin,” and a “parthenon” is generally a temple to a virgin goddess.

As the story goes, Athena and Poseidon duked it out over who got what is now Athens, and I’ll bet you can guess who won. Of the numerous structures on the acropolis in Athena's city, the Parthenon is the finest. We capitalize it and refer to it as The Parthenon, even though it’s not the only one in the world, because it’s the preeminent one.

My favorite structure atop the hill is the Erechtheion, a shrine dedicated to the legendary Greek hero Erichthonius, with its famous Porch of the Caryatids—sculpted female figures that serve as architectural supports in place of columns or pillars. “Karyatides” literally means “maidens of Karyai.” Karyai was an ancient town whose women danced with baskets on their heads. Apparently one thing leads to another... you start out with something innocent like a basket of reeds, and pretty soon you’re holding up entire buildings.

Also on the acropolis is the Temple to Athena Nike. You know those shoes you wear? They’re named for the goddess of Victory. She was sometimes a stand-alone goddess and sometimes closely associated (i.e., assumed to be) Athena. This Athena-persona of Nike has her own temple on the hill. When we were in Ephesus, we saw a beautiful sculpture of Nike, and we stuck a baseball cap on her head. I know—where’s the respect?