It's All Greek To Me.
Why take a trip to Athens next week? A confused mixture of rational, (some perhaps quirky), others at first sight of a superficial nature.
I had not visited Greece since 1963, but have formed the view over many years that whereas travel when young is an important part of education; in the elder, (which I certainly am), it is a part of experience. How much so I've yet to judge, as fortune is invariably full of fresh variety. The Athenian statesman Solon pointed out that a man lives many days, and every day brings something different; therefore presumably you can call no man "happy" until he is dead!
The trip could also be a nostalgia for my youth; but then by definition, that would be insignificant if one considers visiting a city with a recorded history spanning 3,400 years. And even if, (like Homer in the "Odyssey,") it is comparable to the setting sun; the grandeur I believe remains, even if the intensity has waned.
On a superficial level, I have already factored into my imagination the goals of drinking "ouzo" on a balcony overlooking the sheer magnificence of the "Acropolis." To also indulge in proper Greek cuisine in local tavernas; and even get my current patriarch's style overgrown white beard, transformed into something more formal, dare I say "classical?"
It will also be of some interest, (combined with sympathy,) to view in context, the effect on the Greek character and spirit, of nine years of crippling austerity with the cruel sapping effects of; unemployment, real poverty and associated consequences.
It is important to remember that the dignity and the weakness of man is the ultimate source of that tragic note that runs through all Classical Greek literature. So far was the Greek from thinking that Man was a mere nothing in the sight of the gods that he always had to be reminding himself that Man is not God, and that it is impious to think it. It was in effect a display of a superb self-confidence in humanity itself.
Thus the tragic note which we note in the "Iliad" and in most of Greek literature has been produced by the tension between two forces; a passionate delight in life, and a clear apprehension of what was then regarded as its unalterable framework.
In Greek thinking the quality of a man matters more than his achievements. This was very much apparent in the Spartans, where it would not be unfair to say that Sparta created not so much things in words or stone, but in men themselves.
Homer had taught that habit of mind - essentially aristocratic, in whatever class of society it may be found- which puts quality before quantity, noble struggle before mere achievements, and honour before opulence.
Perhaps therefore as I wander through long, weather worn antiquities; living columns may emit confused words, and disguised derelict symbols may observe my presence with familiar glances?