Join us on our virtual webinar tour through ancient Greece when we follow in the footsteps of three of Greece’s most prominent heroes; Theseus, Pericles and Herodes Atticus, who guide us through a time span of a thousand years, covering the time frame of the Bronze Age of Heroes (second millennium BC,) when Theseus ruled as the 10th King of Athens; through the Golden Age of Athens (449 to 431 BC) the period between the Persian and the Peloponnesian Wars when the brilliant Pericles the Statesman reconstructed his city; to the Roman Period (second century AD) when the most intelligent and one of the wealthiest men alive Herodes Atticus restored many of the monuments built by his predecessors. The lives of these men are interwoven into a tapestry of ancient Greek culture, cemented in the archaeological ruins, we can visit today. To many, archaeological sites are “just a pile of rubble” but imprinted on those stones is a rich history of myths, dreams, hopes, and a full range of all the human emotions, as well as those of the ancient gods.
Our itinerary of course starts in Athens, on the Acropolis, where Theseus ruled his city and the 12 cities of the synoikismos from a megaron on top of the holy rock. Several ancient temples predate the constructions of Pericles, which can be seen today. We take a closer look at the Parthenon and the Erecththeion and then we stroll from the Greek to the Roman agora, where the trial of Socrates took place and Herodes Atticus walked. Landmarks in Athens such as the marble Panathenic Stadium was renovated by Herodes Atticus, and he built the Odeon below the Arcopolis. Many of the heroes were buried in Kerameikos, Athens’ necropolis, where Pericles held his Funeral Oration.
The seductive scenery along the east coast of Attica overlooking the Aegean Sea, easily lures one back to an era when mythical gods and goddesses still claimed the land and implored their heroes to build temples for them and their heroines to serve in their sanctuaries as priestesses. We visit Artemis at Brauron, Nemesis and Themis at Rhamnous, Demeter and Eos at Thorikos and Poseidon at Sounion, even some mysterious Egyptian gods near Marathon, which may hold a key to the murder of Herodes’ wife.
We meet Theseus at Marathon as well the heroes of the Greco-Persian Wars during the Battle of Marathon - which was the birth place of Herodes Atticus. We travel to the Oracle of Delphi, who spoke to King Aegeus father of Theseus, warned Athens to retreat behind a wall of wood during the invasion of the Persians and Herodes Atticus decorated the stadium at Delphi. Then we cross over to the Peloponnese and test our strength at Olympia, where Herodes’ wife Regilla was the only woman to preside over the Olympic Games, before her tragic death. And finally we trace the footsteps of St Paul in Corinth, where Herodes built the Stadium, before we head back to Athens.
All along our journey we are accompanied by the gods and goddesses whose lives were intertwined with the mortals.
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"23529","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"619","style":"width: 150px; height: 225px; float: left; margin: 5px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"412"}}]]Dr. Micki Pistorius editor of the Premium Ancient-Origins has doctorate’s degree in Psychology and an honors degree in Biblical Archaeology. She is an Ancient Origins tour leader to Greece where she blends mythology and history into a rich tapestry and bring the stones to life!
