Olympia

Part of the pediment on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia

Well no internet in our Delphi hotel so this will be a day late! Yesterday after our break we went to the Olympia museum for two hours or so. I actually enjoyed it a lot. My favorite piece was the pediment from the Temple of Zeus. A pediment goes on top of the temple and is the shape of a triangle and consists of a collection of sculpture that often tells a story. The temple of Zeus pediment is of particular interest because the two sides of it are so different.

The east side is a depiction of Pelops and King Oinomaos about to start their chariot race in which the prize is the Princess’ Hippodamia hand in marriage. It shows the scene right before they begin their race with Zues standing in the middle. The myth of Pelos is one of the founding myths for the Olympic Games. King Oinomaos heard a prophecy that one day is son-in-law would overthrow him and take the kingdom. He thought he could beat his fate so whenever suitors came to court Hippodamia he would challenge them to a chariot race which they could never win. King Oinomaos had magical horses that could not be beat. He would let the suitor get a head start and then would decapitate them, while Hippodamia was riding with them, when he caught up to them.


Pelos knew this so he bribed the chariot maker to replace the pins in the wheels of King Oinomaos chariot with wax instead of metal. So while King Oinomaos was just about to kill Pelos the wax melted and he was thrown from his chariot, fell into the river and drowned. Thus beginning the games at Olympia.
The west side depicts the battle of the lapids and centaurs after a wedding reception got a bit out of hand. A god figure in the middle is said to be Apollo but no one knows for sure. This side of the pediment has much more movement and emotion whereas the east side is much more vertical and placid. They are equally beautiful and very interesting, I would have loved to see them on top of the Temple still.

After the museum we decided to stay into town and get dinner. We got gyros and tzatziki and I got a diet coke as dessert. We walked back towards hotel and the night was beautiful. As we were close to the hotel we became aware of someone following us, it was a little boy probably about 7 with the smallest kitten I have ever seen. It had the pattern of a cat already but it was so tiny! He held it out to me and I surprised myself and took it. It was purring and trying to cling to my clothes, it was adorable. I don’t particularly like animals so I congratulated myself on overcoming another challenge of experience!

He ran along and we continued back to the hotel. We hung out for a bit, chatting and playing on our computers waiting for the World Cup game to start. It was Spain versus Germany, I was rooting for Germany because I’m German and they had the cuter players. Once down there we realized we were surrounded by Spanish people decked out in jerseys so we decided to just sit quietly and not react to anything.

It ended up being a very intense and exciting game with Spain winning 1-0 close to the end. They were freaking out! Everyone was screaming in Spanish at the TV, it literally sounded like a riot was breaking out. I’ve never seen anyone get into a game as much as these people. It really fascinates me how Europe and the rest of the world are so into soccer and the US still doesn’t really care. It’s actually entertaining and I could definitely become a fan! I’ve seen this all summer with the World Cup. I’ve been to restaurants where they clear a table and bring out a huge plasma screen to watch the game and the waiters completely ignore you until it’s over.

Then we headed to bed and got nine hours of sleep, it was glorious! We had breakfast and left for Delphi. We drove about an hour and a half to a little town for a two hour lunch and beach break. Justine, Sam and I just grabbed something at the bakery and sat at the beach for awhile. It was surprisingly cool and windy so we didn’t even need to get into the water! Then we got back on the bus for another hour or so ride to Delphi. We get a little break and then we do half of the site tonight at 5. Hopefully I’ll learn something new today!