If you didn't guess it from the title of this post then you really need to brush up on your pop culture. We saw the site where the 300 Spartans took a stand against the Persian army. There is a bronze statue of King Leonidas and though he is wearing a cape there is no metal speedo. For those who don't know the Persian army, lead by King Xerxes, was attacking Greece. OH NO! He sent a message to King Leonidas, king of the Spartans, telling him to lay down his weapons. Leonidas' response, "Come and get them." (This is engraved on his statue in Greek). The 300 Spartans stood and fought the enormous Persian army and were slaughtered. However, their stand gave the Athenians the time they needed and they were able to defeat the Persians in the end. WOO HOO! Our tour guide told us that everyone in Greece wanted the Spartans on their side in battle but no one actually wanted to be a Spartan. They are kind of intense about training for war. They leave their mothers and their home around the age of ten and they are thrown into the wilderness and told to fend for themselves for a bit. Sounds like a jolly good time right? (Sorry I've been watching a lot of British TV lately).
After this we went onto Meteora, where we saw these monasteries built on top of these huge gray rocks (think little houses on top of skinny mountains). These were really cool because they are virtual Byzantine museums containing manuscripts, frescoes, and Byzantine icons since the 14th century. They were really interesting and they gave us a look into the Greek Orthodox faith, which I really knew nothing about until this trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment