The next stop we had in the Peloponnese was something I really did not think about, although it was always on my bucket list to see it in person. I remember the book ‘First Eden’ by British documentarist and author David Attenborough which meant the fundamental of my knowledge of the Mediterranean region. There were many photos in the book related to ancient Greek culture as well, and if I am not mistaken, the archetypical example for ancient Greek theaters was the one from Epidaurus, which is still the most preserved theater from those times.

That is why it was unbelievable for me to walk in the stairs of the Epidaurus theater, sit where ancient Greek audience used to sit and observe other visitors down in the stage clapping to check how the perfect acoustics of the building worked. Although the whole area is an archeological site nowadays and there is no contemporary town or settlement directly planted by the theater, it is in such a great condition that there are still drama plays performed there – just like in Arena Verona or in the amphitheater of Pompeii. 

The slopes, hills and woods all around suggest a lot of harmony and eternal calmness, so no wonder that Epidaurus once upon a time was such a spiritual centre for all Hellenes like ancient Olympia was. While Olympia was a sacred place for Zeus, Epidaurus was mainly connected to Asclepius, god of medicine and son of Apollo. The international symbol of pharmacies, the snake on the stick was actually an ancient totem animal of Asclepius, that is why it is still so popular in many countries.

Asclepius had not only a temple, but also a sort of shelter which we can consider as a type of ‘ancient hospital’, where sick people were separated in different floors and wings based on their sickness. The pilgrims who went to the temple for Asclepius mostly wanted to get better, that is why they brought many votive gifts – the most general one was to have a statue of Asclepius or another deity made by a craftsman and to donate it to the temple. 

The priests of Asclepius were not only of a sacral function but also the first physicians in the same way as science, medicine and spirituality was not separated completely in many ancient (and tribal) societies. The priests used anesthetics and sedative drugs in order to make the sickness not to feel anything and, of course, not to remember the ceremony and what happened exactly. No one really knows what happened during these surgeries and healing ceremonies and the priests kept their secrets passing it from one generation to another one. 

So the pilgrims coming and begging for Asclepius, god of medicine were obviously the diseased, but there were other temples in the area as well. For example, Hecate, goddess of night, underworld, moon and witchcraft, who was considered as a counterpart of Artemis also had a worship here. My host added that many of the ancient Egyptian gods were also known and followed by Greeks, but they were considered in the divine hierarchy as impure deities of the underworld, not the same as gods from the Olympus (maybe a bit like the difference between Æsir and Vanir in Scandinavian mythology). 

By the way, one version of the myth says that princess Coronis, lover of Apollo and mother of Asclepius gave birth to her son near Epidaurus and the newborn baby was fed by goat milk. The other version says though that Coronis, after getting pregnant from Apollo, cheated on the god with someone else, and the furious and jealous Apollo made her to dye by burning alive on a pile. (Or other variants say that either him or his twin sister Artemis shot Coronis by an arrow.)

In the last moment, Apollo felt pity for his son and cut princess’s belly to save at least the unborn child, who later became the god Asclepius. Coronis later became the constellation called Corvus (Raven) and ravens which used to be white birds before, turned to black since then to mourn her. Since the name of Coronis means ‘crow’, sometimes it is the same story, but explains the color of crows instead of the one of ravens – the two birds are related so it is no wonder that the border between them is blurred.

Traveling, as I usually emphasize that is not just about seeing hundreds of sights and taking a lot of pictures, but it is also about meeting another culture and its people. I was already familiar with Greek hospitality, because I also had an excellent welcome in Thessaloniki, but I could not complain this time either, because I would have never seen a lot of wonders without such a great host I had. 

However, the kindness, attention and awareness of locals were present during my whole stay, and it was not related to whether they knew me or not. For instance, when people saw it in the shop that I had only a few things to buy, they let me go forward and take them over in the queue. It was similar when people noticed that someone was in a hurry, was a foreigner or somehow more vulnerable than them: they let them go first or helped them without a single question, and this level of overall social solidarity indeed amazed me.

When shopkeepers realized based on our conversation that I was a foreigner, they immediately switched the language to English, but, from the other hand, they could extremely appreciate the few phrases I knew in Greek. It was not so natural for them that a foreigner speaks their language as it is for Spanish natives for example, and although they knew that most probably my knowledge was just about a couple of words, locals really expressed me that I made their day with that.

There was a situation too at the terrace of  a restaurant when two people starting smoking close to my table. I did not like it and I was about to say them something, because they could not see my reactions and my face, but then these people realized that on their own and asked me before I could complain whether they could smoke or not. Since they had this human gesture, I let them to do so even if I did not like it. A little bit of attention really makes a difference!

Greeks, as most foreigners suppose based on popular culture, are indeed very chill. They start work later as elsewhere in Europe and have more freedom, while sometimes they also have a kind of siesta (in Greek: ύπνος – ypnos) due to the hot early afternoons. The fact that the rules are taken looser in Greece means that the traffic is sometimes – just as in Italy or Spain – more chaotic, but it also requires a higher level of mutual trust, which might be connected to the attentiveness of local people.  

Most of the streets in Athens have one direction which makes things easier, and maybe it is annoying for some passengers that the city bus does not stop if no one waves for it, but again: people are forced to be aware in traffic, which is eventually not a bad aspect at all. In the countryside, however, you can see many road signs referring to domestic animals like cows or sheep which might be crossing the road, so for the third time, I can just conclude again that Greek mentality is indeed based on awareness. 

Last thing on traffic: be careful while driving a car in the city, because there are strange random people waiting for you at the traffic lights, and while you cannot move, they are trying to clean your front and back window! Of course, they will ask for money in return, but don’t worry, since you have not asked for the service, you cannot be forced to pay anything: it is just a cheap trick to stimulate people’s conscience and guilt. If you ask me, entertainers like jugglers in Valencia who performed various tricks for car drivers while waiting in the queue was more authentic and honest than this, but actually mostly it is not the Greeks, but the immigrants doing this.

There is something else what makes Greek traffic culture similar to the Italian one. Namely, believe it or not, Athens is as full of scooters as Rome is known for it. I have also got questions about Athens whether it is true that it is dirty and full of garbage. I guess the reason is that the stereotypes on Italian cities are somehow transferred to the Greek ones, and maybe I do not know about the rest of Greece, but the streets of Athens in general are clean and the situation is not worse than in other metropolitan cities. Of course, there are old and abandoned buildings, but come on, where not? Is Budapest different? I don’t think so.