Tripping on a Fort today

The small but glorious Castello del Molo (Koules) at the port of Heraklion in Crete.

In awe of the super snowed Mount Ida (or Psiloritis, Zeus' birthplace, which is the highest on the island at 2456 m) in the back, on a super hot -22 C - day...

...so hot that I started seeing double...

The natural wonders of Attica

Trail map of Mt. Parnitha (source: Oreivatein)

Stalagmitic & stalactitic decor of the cave (photo: P. Matsouka)

This Saturday I went on an amazing hike with two friends at the southwest foot of Mt. Parnitha. We took the not-so beaten path (not the green one marked on map) and started off on the west side of the Kleiston Monastery, passed through forested areas, clearings, traversed west around Omali peak, made a small beautiful climb down the left side of Goura gorge and hit Giannoula's stream with it's gorgeous silver colored pools to climb up again and reach Panos Cave. This beautiful "alive" cave (770 m), was the site of worship of Pan, the ancient goat-legged god who protected mountains, forests, caves and the flocks. It amazes me every time how gorgeous Attica is, all these places just a few minutes away from the city center.

Useful mountaineering link: Oreivatein

Halcyon days aka Global Warming?

The Kingfisher

It's 15 degrees here today and the sun is shining bright, and I am wondering whether this is normal or not?

Halcyon days have long been regarded as a rise in the temperature occuring towards the end of January in Greece. Universally, they are the two weeks around the Winter solstice.

However, the name was coined in ancient Greece and the association of the kingfisher with halcyon derives from a Greek myth about Alcyone, the god Aeolus' daughter. Alcyone married Ceyx, King of Thessaly, Ceyx died in stormy seas, and grief-stricken Alcyone threw herself into the ocean. But before hitting the water, she transforms into a bird, enfolding Ceyx's lifeless body with her wings. Feeling her deep grief, the gods changed the couple into kingfishers. Alcyone carries her love to his burial, builds a nest and launches it out to sea. There, she lays her eggs and hatches her chicks, brooding over her sea-borne nest for seven placid days before the Winter Solstice and seven calm days after. While she broods, Aeolus himself reins in the wind and sea, protecting his daughter and his grandchildren.

We were doing just fine all the while only the gods were able to manipulate the climate...

Off to the mountains

I'm off to Pavliani village in the morning, one of 22 surrounding Mt. Iti (2152 m) and its gorgeous National Park. Mythology has it that this is the place where Hercules lived his last days before he died from Dianera's poisoned cloak.

Happy holidays!

Wonder Woman: Greek mythology - inspired - superheroine

Ever since I was a kid (and guess what - a tomboy) I was really into comics such as DC and Marvel. Wonderwoman however has been a recent addition to my favorite characters, especially since I realized her origin and nature:

Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superhero. Co-created by William Moulton Marston with his wife Elizabeth (Sadie) Holloway Marston, Wonder Woman first appeared in All Star Comics #8 (Dec. 1941). She is one of the first female superheroes and arguably the most famous.
In most adaptations, Wonder Woman is Princess Diana of the Amazon warrior tribe of Greek mythology. "Diana" is the Roman name for the Greek goddess on whom this character is based; "Artemis" is her Greek name. The Amazon ambassador to the larger world, she possesses several superhuman abilities and gifts from the Greek gods including the Lasso of Truth created from the Golden Girdle of Gaea and indestructable silver bracelets formed from the shield Aegis. Marston designed Wonder Woman as a distinctly feminist character and many subsequent writers, especially those of the 1970s and afterward, have written her as such.

In this 1995 published story, The Contest, after winning a contest of physical and mental challenges, Princess Diana was elected to go to Patriarch's World to teach them the Amazon ways as the super-heroine Wonder Woman. But years later, Diana's mother is unsatisfied with her limited progress to bring an end to all acts of hate on Earth, so she institutes another contest to name a new champion. Attempting to defend her position, Diana enters the games but in the end is bested by the arrogant and powerful Artemis. Now, a defeated and dejected Diana can only watch as Artemis, a skilled warrior with a penchant for violence, journeys to Man's World as the new Wonder Woman.