In addition to the actual archaeological site, Olympia has an exceptional museum. Our guide Niki was excellent, as all of the
Rick Steves guides have been – on all of our trips.
I won’t bore you with all of the exhibits, but the griffins were particularly interesting. A griffin, as you may remember, has the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. But these seemed to be more like dragon heads.
There were numerous shields, cauldrons,
and weapons of all types. Many of the
artifacts found on this site were offerings placed in the
treasury houses. There was also a large
collection of small carved animals and crude feminine forms, the earliest
offerings to the mother goddess.
Again, I was struck by the small size of the helmets. There is no way that my fairly normal size head would have fit in there.
The “Shield of Apollo” was set above his temple, as in this replica. Apollo is credited with creating the games as a way for the city states of Greece to compete without making war with each other--something that they did constantly. Only once did they come together to defeat the Persians. But that collaboration was short lived, and they went back to killing each other.
The statue of Hermes by the sculptor
Praxiteles is the supreme piece of classical Greek work, expressing the
serenity of the face and the harmony of the body. The marble form shows Hermes carrying his
half-brother Dionysus to the Nymphs so that they could raise him and to protect
him from Hera, who would have killed him because Zeus had been unfaithful –
again.
The musculature and form are wonderfully done, even down to the veins in the feet of Hermes. It is perhaps the best sculptural feat until Michelangelo’s David.
Hermes is holding a bunch of grapes in his missing right hand, and the toddler, the future god of wine and “partying”, is reaching for them.
From here we walked down to the site itself.
Unlike Delphi, Olympia was not a
town. No one lived here. They came once
every four years to compete and only for that reason.
It was a huge complex, with temples for Apollo, Hera, and Zeus, as well as training grounds, and large fields where there were statues of winning competitors – including horses, because it was the horse that won the race, not the rider or charioteer. There was also a place where anyone found guilty of cheating was immortalized with their names on a stone placard. Athletes who taunted or derided other athletes could also see their names on this list. Competitors would spit upon this stone when entering the area.
The temple of Zeus is mostly collapsed, with only the bases of columns left in place. The entire site had been covered in 27 feet of earth, and archaeological work is still under way. Several columns in the Temple of Hera still stand. It is just outside of this temple where, every four years, the official Olympic torch is lighted by a mirror that focuses the sun’s rays. The torch is then given to a runner, who starts the journey to Athens, where the torch then travels to whichever country is holding the games.
Side Note – I went shopping in the town
after our visit, and chanced upon a store where the owner beckoned me over to a
picture of a man carrying the torch. She
said that it was her brother and that he had carried the torch 4 times. After that they gave him the torch. She showed it to me and took a picture of me
holding it.
She said that he no longer carried the
torch but that he made the jewelry in the store. And of course I bought a pair of Greek
earrings.
So now back to the story...
Next to the Temple of Hera was the Philipeon, a memorial that King Philip of Macedonia erected to honor himself. His son Alexander (the Great) later enlarged it to be a complete circle with statues of various family members.
Athletes competed nude, for several
reasons. First, it would be very hard to
run or wrestle while wearing a toga.
Also, the games were not supposed to be political, or have any regard to
class or wealth. Thus, nude athletes,
whether rich or poor, would be on equal footing.
They would enter the stadium through this tunnel, of which only one arch remains.
The gymnasium consisted of two rows of columns supporting a roofed area that surrounded an open courtyard where men exercised and competed. The Greeks believed in training for both the body and the mind. Thus the young men trained their bodies in the open areas of the gymnasium, and sat with the elders to train their minds in the covered outer surroundings.
After some free time for lunch, we traveled to the site of a modern olive oil production facility.
The processing of olives to extract oil used to be quite a labor-intensive process. Olives were removed from the tree using a soft rake, or by gently shaking the tree. Nets under the tree collected the olives, which then had to be separated from any leaves that had also fallen.
Then they were crushed by huge stone mills in to a paste. At one time the mill was turned by hand or using oxen or mules. Later a diesel motor was used.
The resulting mash was transferred to a
press, which pressed the oil and water from the mixture.
In the large gathering tray, oil and
water would naturally separate, and the oil could be scooped up using the hand
tool sitting on top of the tray.
Today, olives are processed on the same day they are harvested. After the leaves are separated out, the olives are weighed. Generally, about 30 kg or oil can be produced from 100 kg of olives. Mechanical crushers produce the mash that moves into the pressers using a screw conveyor.
At all points in the process, each producer’s olives and product remain separate.
The resulting oil and water are then separated and the oil goes into containers provided by the farmer. The entire process takes about an hour. The mill owners retain one-tenth of the oil as their payment. This they bottle for sale, sometimes adding flavorings (orange, mint, cinnamon, etc).
It is very important to check the
acidity of the olive oil. Extra virgin
oil can only have an acidity of 0.8% or lower.
If oil from different suppliers is blended at the mill, only oils of the
same acidity are blended together.
After the explanation, we were invited to taste some of the olive oil. (Here Patti and Julie are tasting).
If you're having a good time on this journey, you'll love Kardamyli !