OUR HEADMASTER'S WELCOME
A.LEMPESIS
Dear friends, colleagues and students,
We welcome you in our school, which is a small general lyceum, as you know, and in the city of Aigaleo, in Greece, which is a small country with great history in human civilization.
Today, Greece faces economical problems, social changes and adjustments but we smile, have faith and optimism (due to our good weather) that our country will succeed in the recent global and European economical crisis, as we act with smile and optimism everyday in our school.
We believe in the prosperity of European nations, beyond race and religion diversities. Believing in a Europe with democracy, freedom and social justice, we hope markets could be controlled for the sake of the citizens prosperity struggling against poverty. Human value must be our priority in every section such as education and civilization. We want an open-minded European culture, with respect on differences. Our civilization must be based on each-other understanding and dialogue.
Pass this message to your local communities, as we do, in a common effort to maintain peace in Europe, in a wide Europe, as her name says in greek.
We thank you for your cooperation in this educational program and we wish you to have five nice days here in Athens.
SOUNION
Cape Sounion is a promontory located 69 km SSE of Athens, at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula in Greece.
Cape Sounion is noted as the site of ruins of an ancient Greek temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in classical mythology.
In a maritime country like Greece, the god of the sea was bound to occupy a high position in the divine hierarchy. In power, Poseidon was considered second only to Zeus (Jupiter), the supreme god himself. His implacable wrath, manifested in the form of storms, was greatly feared by all mariners. In an age without mechanical power, storms very frequently resulted in shipwrecks and drownings.
The temple at Sounion, therefore, was a venue where mariners, and also entire cities or states, could propitiate Poseidon, by making animal sacrifice, or leaving gifts.
The temple of Poseidon was constructed in approx. 440 BC, over the ruins of a temple dating from the Archaic Period. It is perched above the sea at a height of almost 60 m. The design of the temple is a typical hexastyle i.e. it had a front portico with 6 columns.[9] Only some columns of the Sounion temple stand today
As with all Greek temples, the Poseidon building was rectangular, with a colonnade on all four sides. The total number of original columns was 42: 18 columns still stand today. The columns are of the Doric Order. They were made of locally-quarried white marble
At the centre of the temple colonnade would have been the hall of worship (naos), a windowless rectangular room. It would have contained, at one end facing the entrance, the cult image, a colossal, ceiling - height (6m) bronze statue of Poseidon.[11] Probably gold-leafed, it may have resembled a contemporary representation of the god, appropriately found in a shipwreck, shown in the figure above. Poseidon was usually portrayed carrying a trident, the weapon he supposedly used to stir up storms.
No other city in the world is surrounded by so many myths and legends, as Mycenae. A short narration of all these myths is this:Atreus, was the king of Mycenae. When Atreus’ brother Thyestes seduced his wife Aerope, Atreus took his revenge by killing Thyestes’ two sons, and then serving them to their father. Filled with rage and disgust, Thyestes cursed Atreus and his children, and only unhappiness was to haunt them thereafter.
Atreus’ two sons were Agamemnon and Menelaus (Atreidae). Agamemnon, who was the oldest, inherited the kingdom of Mycenae. He extended his dominion by conquest and became the most powerful prince in Greece. Menelaus became king of Sparta. They married the two sisters Clytemnestra and Helen respectively. Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had four children: one son, Orestes, and three daughters, Iphigenia, Electra and Chrysothemis. They all were at first very happy. This was not to last, though.
When the Trojan prince Paris was called to decide who of the three goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite was the most beautiful, they each tried to bribe him. Aphrodite had promised him the most beautiful woman in Greece, and when Paris chose her, Helen was his prize. With the help of the goddess, Helen went to Troy with Paris, leaving Menelaus to declare war on the Trojans. He asked his brother for help, and together they raised an army of Greek kings and heroes.
Agamemnon prepared a fleet of ships to carry the Greeks to Troy. Just before the ships were ready to sail, however, he insulted the goddess Artemis by boasting that he was a better hunter than she and by killing a sacred stag. As punishment, Artemis caused the winds to die down so that the Greek fleet could not sail.
A prophet told Agamemnon that he could please Artemis and gain favorable winds by sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess. The king tricked Clytemnestra into sending Iphigenia to him by saying that she was to marry the great warrior Achilles. Agamemnon was prepared to kill his daughter, but Artemis accepted a deer in her place, and took her away to Taurus in Crimea as her priestess. So, Artemis was pleased and allowed the Greek ships to sail to Troy.
After ten years of war, the Greeks managed to win with the help of Odysseus’ trojan horse. After the capture of Troy, Cassandra, doomed prophetess and daughter of Priam, fell to Agamemnon's lot in the distribution of the prizes of war.
When Agamemnon and Cassandra arrived in Mycenae, they were murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.
Agamemnon's son Orestes later avenged his father's murder, with the help or encouragement of his sister Electra, by murdering Aegisthus and Clytemnestra (his own mother). Orestes went mad after the deed being pursued by the Erinyes (goddesses , whose duty was to punish crimes against the natural order) until he was claimed innocent in a court of justice held jointly by human and gods. So, this circle of blood came to an end.
NAFPLIO
Nafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf.
The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 to 1834. Nafplion is now the capital of the prefecture of Argolis and the province of Nafplion.
Acronauplia, the ancient acropolis of Nafplio, has walls dating from pre-classical times. Subsequently, Byzantines, Franks, Venetians, and Ottomans added to the fortifications. Nafplio was taken in 1212 by the French crusaders of the Principality of Achaea, then in 1388 was sold to the Venetians. During the subsequent 150 years, the lower city was expanded and fortified, and new fortifications added to Acronauplia. The city was surrendered to the Ottomans in 1540. The Venetians retook Nafplio in 1685, and strengthened the city by building the castle of Palamidi, which was in fact the last major construction of the Venetian empire overseas. However, only 80 soldiers were assigned to defend the city and it was easily retaken by the Ottomans in 1715.
During the Greek War of Independence, Nafplion was a major Ottoman stronghold and was besieged for more than a year. The town finally surrendered because of starvation. After its capture, because of its strong fortifications, it became the seat of the provisional governments of Greece.
Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, first head of state of newly-liberated Greece, set foot on the Greek mainland for the first time in Nafplio on 7 January 1828 and made it the official capital of Greece in 1829. He was subsequently assassinated by members of the Mavromichalis family on the steps of the church of Saint Spyridon in Nafplio on 9 October 1831. Nafplion remained the capital of the kingdom until 1834, when King Otto decided to move the capital to Athens.
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| Ioannis Kapodistrias' murder. |
Palamidi
Palamidi is a castle constructed by Venetians during the 17th century. It is located on a hill north of the old town. During the Greek War of Independence it played a major role. It has been captured by Staikos Staikopoulos (Στάικος Σταικόπουλος) on 31 November 1821 It was used as the prison cell of Theodoros Kolokotronis, hero of the Greek Revolution.
The fortress commands an impressive view over the Argolic Gulf, the city of Náfplio and the surrounding country. There are 857 steps in the winding stair from the town to the fortress. However, to reach the top of the fortress there are over one thousand.
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The castle of Palamidi |
Bourtzi
Bourtzi Castle, Nafplion
The castle of Bourtzi (Greek: Μπούρτζι, from Ottoman Turkish برج - burc meaning "tower") is located in the middle of the harbour of Nafplio. The Venetians completed its fortification in 1473 to protect the city from pirates and invaders from the sea. Until 1865 it served as a fortress. It was then transformed into residence of the executioners of convicts from the castle of Palamidi. From 1930 to 1970, it served as a hotel. Since then, it is mainly a tourist attraction hosting occasionally parts of the Summer Music Festival.
Γ. ΣΕΦΕΡΗΣ ( 1900-1971)
ΒΡΑΒΕΙΟ ΝΟΜΠΕΛ ΛΟΓΟΤΕΧΝΙΑΣ 1963
G. SEFERIS ( 1900-1971)
NOBEL PRIZE OF LITERATURE 1963
ΑΠΟ ΤΟΝ ΠΛΑΤΩΝΑ ΣΤΗ ΝΕΟΤΕΡΗ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ, ΜΕΣΑ ΑΠΟ ΕΝΑ ΠΟΙΗΜΑ.
FROM PLATO TO EARLY GREEK HISTORY, THROUGH A POEM.
‘Epi aspalathon’ is the last of Seferis poems and it was published three days after his death ( 1971) during the dictatorship (1967-1974). It was based on a part of Plato’s work ‘ Politeia’ which describes the punishment of the unfair people after their death and especially the punishment of Ardieus the dictator. The visit of the poet to the temple of Poseidon in Sounio on the day of the Greek national celebration for the revolution against the Turkish Empire , brought to his memory the punishment of Ardieus and reborned the hope that the contemporary dictators will be also punished.
The poem connects three periods of the Greek history: the ancient years-the revolution in 1821-the early Greek history.
“Epi aspalathon…”
( over aspalathus bushes)
It was beautiful, Sounion, that day of the Annunciation
again in the spring season.
A handful of green leaves among the rusty rocks
the red earth and the gorse
with big needles ready and yellow bloom.
Far off the ancient columns, strings of a harp still echoing…
Tranquillity.
-What could have reminded me of Ardieus?
I think one word in Plato, lost in the channels of the mind:
the name of the yellow bush
has not altered since those times.
In the evening I found the passage:
“ They bound him hand and foot”, he tells us,
threw him down and skinned him,
drew him farther and tore him apart,
over the aspalathus thorns,
“ they threw him down and flayed him into hell, in rags”.
So in the world below he paid his crimes,
Pamphylian Ardieus, most miserable tyrant.
31 of Mars 1971.
"Επί ασπαλάθων ..."
Ήταν ωραίο το Σούνιο τη μέρα εκείνη του Ευαγγελισμού
πάλι με την άνοιξη.
Λιγοστά πράσινα φύλλα γύρω στις σκουριασμένες πέτρες
το κόκκινο χώμα κι ασπάλαθοι
δείχνοντας έτοιμα τα μεγάλα τους βελόνια
και τους κίτρινους ανθούς.
Απόμακρα οι αρχαίες κολόνες, χορδές μιας άρπας αντηχούν ακόμη ...
Γαλήνη.
- Τι μπορεί να μου θύμισε τον Αρδιαίο εκείνον;
Μια λέξη στον Πλάτωνα θαρρώ,
πάλι με την άνοιξη.
Λιγοστά πράσινα φύλλα γύρω στις σκουριασμένες πέτρες
το κόκκινο χώμα κι ασπάλαθοι
δείχνοντας έτοιμα τα μεγάλα τους βελόνια
και τους κίτρινους ανθούς.
Απόμακρα οι αρχαίες κολόνες, χορδές μιας άρπας αντηχούν ακόμη ...
Γαλήνη.
- Τι μπορεί να μου θύμισε τον Αρδιαίο εκείνον;
Μια λέξη στον Πλάτωνα θαρρώ,
χαμένη στου μυαλού τ' αυλάκια·
τ' όνομα του κίτρινου θάμνου
δεν άλλαξε από εκείνους τους καιρούς.
Το βράδυ βρήκα την περικοπή:
"Τον έδεσαν χειροπόδαρα" μας λέει
"τον έριξαν χάμω και τον έγδαραν
τον έσυραν παράμερα τον καταξέσκισαν
απάνω στους αγκαθερούς ασπάλαθους
και πήγαν και τον πέταξαν στον Τάρταρο, κουρέλι".
Έτσι στον κάτω κόσμο πλέρωνε τα κρίματά του
ο Παμφύλιος Αρδιαίος ο πανάθλιος Τύραννος.
31 του Μάρτη 1971
τ' όνομα του κίτρινου θάμνου
δεν άλλαξε από εκείνους τους καιρούς.
Το βράδυ βρήκα την περικοπή:
"Τον έδεσαν χειροπόδαρα" μας λέει
"τον έριξαν χάμω και τον έγδαραν
τον έσυραν παράμερα τον καταξέσκισαν
απάνω στους αγκαθερούς ασπάλαθους
και πήγαν και τον πέταξαν στον Τάρταρο, κουρέλι".
Έτσι στον κάτω κόσμο πλέρωνε τα κρίματά του
ο Παμφύλιος Αρδιαίος ο πανάθλιος Τύραννος.
31 του Μάρτη 1971
