Nature and the City

Today our City as Myth class took an adventure into the heart of Athens to follow in Socrates' footsteps. We read Plato's "Phaedrus" this week which describes the journey of Phaedrus and Socrates outside the ancient city walls along the banks of the Ilisus River. In modern times the river is buried beneath the city. It isn't completely gone but the city has forced it underground so it no longer flows. We walked in the only visible part of the river bed, a rare open space in the city center near a church.

 The church

 Walking in the dry riverbed

 Where the "river" dead-ends into, a reminder of the city that surrounded us

It was amazing to see such lush greenery with plenty of moths and butterflies fluttering nearby

I felt slightly underwhelmed by the remnants of the dry riverbed but taken aback by the amount of greenery in the center of Athens. Grass, bushes, trees, and all sorts of flower bearing plants sprung up around us and defied the modern infrastructure closing in around them. The subterranean river still nourishes these plants even though it has been abused by the city and forced into exile. I unexpectedly enjoyed our bonding time with the Ilisus on an unusually humid day here.

After the river that is not a river, we made our way to the National Garden that is very close to Syntagma Square, home of the Greek Parliament building.  The space wasn't very popular, or maybe it had to do with the time of day that we visited (around noon). We walked down pathways surrounded by trees and manicured bushes, passing the occasional statue or park bench. The atmosphere was calm in the cool shade as we meandered through lazily.

 Our class strolling beneath the trees

 A statue of Eros, representing pleasure and leisure

The calm and mostly empty Garden stretched out before us

A pretty tree lined street running through the Garden

We continued our journey moving from the west end to the east until we reached a small zoo tucked away inside the leafy sanctuary provided by the trees. We also came across a small clearing with Roman ruins and an open park with more exposed ruins, exactly the kind of romantic natural decay that I find beautiful.

 The central lake/pond

 The bird sanctuary, part of the small zoo

 A peacock, he was a little aggressive toward the other birds in the sanctuary

Goats! I think...

 The Roman ruins

Says something about a Caesar, but not Julius Caesar as far as we could tell

 The other exposed ruins

 This one had some neat stonework going on

 An inscription nearby

Possibly part of a pillar?

After the exposed ruins we wrapped up our class trip. The Garden was an interesting adventure that juxtaposed contemporary ideas of beauty (like the manicured shrubs, imitation sculpture art, and zoo) with the small pockets of exposed ruins and their decaying beauty. I could appreciate both perspectives as they melded together to give us a unique experience.