Tag: sketchbook

The Treasury of the Athenians


I move my gear to another structure just below the Temple of Apollo, the Treasury of the Athenians, and set up shop. This should be a good spot for painting, and it’s probably the last one I’ll have time for today. I pick up my packet of finished paintings and glance through them. It’s ironic that all the paintings look so tranquil, as if I were the only one there. In reality it’s quite the opposite, as hordes of people in tour groups continually pass by while I draw. This demonstrates one advantage of drawing over photography. Not far off, I notice a person drawing in a sketchbook, the first artist I’ve seen drawing so far. My first thought is to go say hello since I wouldn’t mind talking to another artist, but she looks shy, or at least shows a desire not to be bothered, so I leave her be.

With daylight now beginning to fade, I finish my last painting and walk back to the hotel

Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece

After finishing my third painting of the Tholos at the Temple of Athena, I walk back up the hill towards the Temple of Apollo, set up just below it, and paint a quick watercolor. The finished painting is kind of quirky and too brightly painted, but as the path up to the Temple is still blocked because of falling rocks, I can’t find a better angle worth painting.

A tour group gathers nearby, and I overhear the tour guide talking about the Temple and its Oracle. The Oracle was a woman, chosen for her good character and virtue from among the peasants of the local community. When she became Apollo’s priestess, the Pythia, she prophesied the future by channelling the words of Apollo. She sat on a tripod above a fissure in the earth and answered pilgrims’ questions. A gas, probably ethylene, rose from this fissure causing a trance-like state and allowing her to channel the voice of the god. Her words, which came in poetic hexameters, were then transcribed by priests. Pilgrims came from all over the Greek world to consult the Oracle about everything from personal matters to the advent of war. Recently, geologists have discovered that two fault lines intersect just below the Oracle chamber, providing further evidence of the fissure and its gasses.

The Temple of Athena Pronaia, Delphi

Upon arriving at the ruins of Ancient Delphi, we learn that two-thirds of the site is closed due to technical difficulties. Grrrrr! This is very disappointing. We walk back to the entrance and talk to a woman at the ticket office at the gate. She tells us they’ve recently had rocks fall down the mountain onto the upper portion of the site. It’s very dangerous up at the Temple of Apollo and beyond. Understanding the situation better, we both calm down and look around, analyzing our options. My dad suggests I draw another part of the site, the Temple of Athena Pronaia, just across the road and a short way down the hill.

Once I’m at the Temple of Athena, I walk around to determine what might occupy me for the rest of the day, and I see plenty. Before me stand the ruins of the Tholos, a circular building of the Doric order, the function of which is still a mystery to archeologists. I’ll have no problem drawing here. What a relief. I pull my chair from its bag, unfold it, and begin to draw.

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin’s Grave, St Pancras Churchyard

Mary Shelley, who wrote the book Frankenstein, regularly visited her mother’s grave in the St Pancras Churchyard in London. Mary never had a chance to know her mother as she died of septicaemia a few days after Mary was born in 1797. Although her father remarried, Mary despised her stepmother for favoring her own children over her, and the peacefulness of the graveyard provided a welcome escape from the tense atmosphere back home. Mary would often pack a lunch and spend an entire afternoon at the grave eating, napping and reading her mothers books.

On occasion, Percy Shelley, Mary’s future husband, secretly met her at the gravesite. As their affections grew for each other, it was here that the two confessed their love for each other. Percy was already married, with one child and another on the way.

While on a layover in London on my way to Greece, I had just enough time to visit Ms. Goodwin’s gravesite. While there, I wondered around the churchyard and imagined Mary’s peaceful afternoons. Sitting next to Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin’s grave as Mary had done so long ago, I created this drawing in my Moleskine sketchbook.

Although Mary Goodwin’s remains were later moved to Bournemouth, England in 1851, her original tombstone still remains.

Goats and Delphi’s Oracle

Delphi, Greece

While enjoying the view on the hotel balcony, I hear the rhythmic sound of bells, as if someone is playing music nearby. But when I listen more closely, I realize that the sound is coming from down the hill. I lean out over the rail to determine the origin of this mysterious music. Strangely, it’s a herd of goats. The clinks and clanks come from the bells around their necks as they walk. According to legend, goats found the site that became Delphi’s Oracle. Their goatherd noticed them bleating strangely and gamboling about. The goatherd himself also received the manic enthusiasm when he approached a crevice that emitted a fragrant gas. It smelled like the sweetest and most expensive perfume.

Sunset at Delphi Over Looking the Pleistos Valley

As we pull into town, I can tell that Delphi is different than any place I have been before. The town clings to the side of the mountain and is defined by narrow, shop-lined streets terraced one above the other. Long staircases climb the mountain between streets, providing shortcuts for pedestrians and additional sidewalks for tavernas. Young people, most likely college students on a field trip, cluster in small groups, giggling and running about.

The first hotel we walk into, Hotel Athena, has a room available with a view overlooking the valley. I throw my backpack on a bed and step outside on our balcony, which seems to hang over the gorge. The sight is breathtaking, so I reach for my supplies and attempt to paint the Pleistos with the sun setting in the background. I’m aware that I’ll never capture its vastness or presence, but maybe I can reproduce some of the sunset’s colors.

Cafe at Mycenae

As we exit the hotel, the evening sunset splashes brilliant orange across the sky and paints the landscape in a warm glow. The street is still devoid of life, but a little farther on, we see two groups of diners on the patio of a restaurant. A host seats us near the other patrons, and we enjoy an Italian dinner of pasta, salad, and crusty bread while discussing our travel plans. Tomorrow is a big day for us since Mycenae is one of our more anticipated stops. We’ll walk amongst the ancient ruins and learn about the Mycenaean culture that flourished here.