23 January ’05, Sunday. Hermes of Praxiteles taking infant Dionysos to Mt Nysa.
Nestor’s Palace is supposed to be the best preserved Mycenaean palace…well, it must be, because they covered the whole thing with a roof that is supported by 12 steel poles. What we saw was a exterior wall that is original and stands about 2 feet high, and a number of interior walls (all marking the rooms in the castle), that stood about 1 foot high. They did have most of the rooms and passageways marked well, and it was easy to go through. The highlight of the stop, was the terracotta bath tub that was still in place. The tub was decorated nicely and colorfully, but because of age (13th century BC) the colors have faded quite a bit. They also discovered over twelve hundred Linear B script tablets that went on to explain about the functions, colors and details of the palace. It was highly colored inside and out.
This morning we were out early to visit Ancient Olympia and the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. The sun was out bright and it was going to stay that way…I said so… The origins of Olympia date back to Mycenaean times. The Great Goddess Rea in the 1st millennium BC…then superseded by Zeus. A small regional festival, which included sporting events began in the 11th century BC. The FIRST Olympic Games were declared in 776 BC, and by 576 BC they were open to all male Greeks. Every four years on the first full moon of August, they held their sporting Olympic Festival, which included wrestling, chariot and horse racing, discus and javelin throwing, long jump and running. They also had pancratium (a very vicious form of fist fighting). Slaves and women were not allowed to enter the sanctuary as participants or spectators. Women trying to sneak in were thrown from a nearby rock. In AD 67, Nero entered the chariot race with 10 horses and ordered that all other competitors could have no more than 4 horses. Despite this advantage, he fell and abandoned the race. Even then, the judges declared Nero the winner…now come on, is that fair ??? I want a re-run… Back to the moment…our visit to the museum was one of the best we have seen. It was well laid out and all items in the museum were properly identified in English and at least 2 other languages. The inventory was wonderful and the quality of the inventory was even better. The site of Olympia was huge and was also laid out so that it was easy to get around to see and identify everything. Louise and I had our turn at the starting line in the Olympic Stadium. They have the original starting line (a solid marble line completely across the starting and finish). It is set for the 120 meter (220’), which is the longest run that can be done “all out”. I won’t tell you who won… (well, I was close anyway…). Some of the buildings were very large, and had lots of columns surrounding the exterior and the interior of the structures. The stone carvings are outstanding. It is amazing as to how many really good artists there were at that time. Tomorrow..North…
Nestor’s Palace is supposed to be the best preserved Mycenaean palace…well, it must be, because they covered the whole thing with a roof that is supported by 12 steel poles. What we saw was a exterior wall that is original and stands about 2 feet high, and a number of interior walls (all marking the rooms in the castle), that stood about 1 foot high. They did have most of the rooms and passageways marked well, and it was easy to go through. The highlight of the stop, was the terracotta bath tub that was still in place. The tub was decorated nicely and colorfully, but because of age (13th century BC) the colors have faded quite a bit. They also discovered over twelve hundred Linear B script tablets that went on to explain about the functions, colors and details of the palace. It was highly colored inside and out.
This morning we were out early to visit Ancient Olympia and the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. The sun was out bright and it was going to stay that way…I said so… The origins of Olympia date back to Mycenaean times. The Great Goddess Rea in the 1st millennium BC…then superseded by Zeus. A small regional festival, which included sporting events began in the 11th century BC. The FIRST Olympic Games were declared in 776 BC, and by 576 BC they were open to all male Greeks. Every four years on the first full moon of August, they held their sporting Olympic Festival, which included wrestling, chariot and horse racing, discus and javelin throwing, long jump and running. They also had pancratium (a very vicious form of fist fighting). Slaves and women were not allowed to enter the sanctuary as participants or spectators. Women trying to sneak in were thrown from a nearby rock. In AD 67, Nero entered the chariot race with 10 horses and ordered that all other competitors could have no more than 4 horses. Despite this advantage, he fell and abandoned the race. Even then, the judges declared Nero the winner…now come on, is that fair ??? I want a re-run… Back to the moment…our visit to the museum was one of the best we have seen. It was well laid out and all items in the museum were properly identified in English and at least 2 other languages. The inventory was wonderful and the quality of the inventory was even better. The site of Olympia was huge and was also laid out so that it was easy to get around to see and identify everything. Louise and I had our turn at the starting line in the Olympic Stadium. They have the original starting line (a solid marble line completely across the starting and finish). It is set for the 120 meter (220’), which is the longest run that can be done “all out”. I won’t tell you who won… (well, I was close anyway…). Some of the buildings were very large, and had lots of columns surrounding the exterior and the interior of the structures. The stone carvings are outstanding. It is amazing as to how many really good artists there were at that time. Tomorrow..North…