A Week Away (The Images)

As promised, here are some photos I took while on my long study tour in Greece. It was an experience going from the gargantuan Athens to the tiny, mountainside town of Delphi. At the Acropolis, the absence of the gods was felt acutely, the massive sprawl of tourists and the incessant snap of phone cameras driving away the sense of sacredness.

Yet, this feeling of malcontent dissipated on the island of Aegina at the Temple of Aphaia. There we, the educational tourists, had the space virtually to ourselves. The magnificent 360 degree view of sea, island and forest was the benefit of the temple’s exalted space. Within this location I could finally think as we began of journey with Heidegger. Yet, this was not the most overwhelming place; that would be the temple of Poseidon in Sounion. Accompanied once more by Heidegger’s writings from fifty years earlier, one felt the magnitude of the place and understand why the temple was situated in this location. Fitting was a potent wind sweeping across the rocky outcrop, it’s chilly embrace soothing; a sign the divine hadn’t fled this place.