Temple of Poseidon

On Monday we headed to Sounion to the Temple of Poseidon. On the way we passed some amazing views. We took the scenic route, which was along the coast most of the way. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 Tunnel anyone :)

 

 

 

 Sharp curve ahead....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 First views of the Temple of Poseidon...

 

 

 

 Work near the area...

 

 

 

 Best attempt at a family picture....

 Looking down the cliff.

 

 History says that Lord Byron carved his name in a column and that started all the engravings that are now etched in the Temple ruins.

 

 Beautiful girl in a beautiful area.

 Love that she is looking back toward the Temple.

 If you look closely you can see some of the columns that have rolled down the hill and landed in the water...we thought that was pretty cool.

 

We decided this would be our first day trip after Elijah had told us a myth he remembered from History. It was great going and essentially picturing how it would have happened and being in that area. We wanted to find Lord Byron's name, but we got way too hot, too quickly and had left our water in the car. It was a fabulous outing, great to be away from Athens and one that we will definitely do again.

 

If you are interested here is the Legend, taken from Wikipedia:

According to legend, Cape Sounion is the spot where Aegeus, king of Athens, leapt to his death off the cliff, thus giving his name to the Aegean Sea.The story goes that Aegeus, anxiously looking out from Sounion, despaired when he saw a black sail on his son Theseus's ship, returning from Crete. This led him to believe that his son had been killed in his contest with the dreaded Minotaur, a monster that was half man and half bull. The Minotaur was confined by its owner, King Minos of Crete, in a specially designed labyrinth. Every year, the Athenians were forced to send seven men and seven women to Minos as tribute. These youths were placed in the labyrinth to be devoured by the Minotaur. Theseus had volunteered to go with the third tribute and attempt to slay the beast. He had agreed with his father that if he survived the contest, he would hoist a white sail. In fact, Theseus had overcome and slain the Minotaur, but tragically had simply forgotten about the white sail.