Walking in Athens

15 The mythology of the landscape T he Acropolis evokes a sense of ecstasy in its beholders… but did it always? At New Year, when it represents the city, the country and the whole imagined reality of the nation, we can hardly picture the city without it. The same goes when Athens is covered in snow, or heralds a new century, or celebrates the full moon or a na- tional anniversary. I found myself deep in an ocean of associa- tions as I walked along Apostolou Pavlou Street, over the hills of Thiseio, observing the change in perspective of the Acropolis. Yes, in a handful of places you can still have a ‘sense of landscape’ in this immense city. But even the very notion of landscape is a modern one. I had been absorbed in a superb book over several days, and under its in- fluence I saw the city again: through its openings, clearings, ravines, skies, ascents, descents, on the city slopes themselves. From Mets, Makrygianni, Monastiraki and the Lycabettus Hill, the image of Athens remains idealised – changeless, stripped bare; a confirmation of existence. The book was Photography and the Greek landscape. Between myth and ideology by Hercules Papaioannou (Agra Publications). Caught in eddies of thought, associ- ation and reflection, I ventured out to meet the city anew. Hercules Papaioannou writes of the