It is a hill full of ruins that dominates Athens. Today we continue our tour with the Erechtheion, a temple dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Poseidon, god of the sea.

The ancient Greeks (and their Roman counterparts) had lots of gods, none of who seem to have been able to deliver in a pinch. You would think that might have caused people to figure out that these entities weren’t divine at all, but merely fictional. Maybe the Athenians knew that, but were too polite to let on that they knew these gods weren’t real.

They did build them some impressive structures though. And I doubt anything we were to build today would last 2,500 years like this structure has. Yes, it is a little worse for wear, but it is still standing. Everything is roped off of course, you can’t actually go wandering through the ruins.

I remember learning a bit about Greco-Roman mythology when I learned Latin. That was 50 years ago, which means I can’t remember why Poseidon and Athena are paired in this temple. There must have been a good reason. I could look it up, but today is a non-research day, for me anyway.

That doesn’t mean you can’t look it up and tell me. I’d actually encourage you to do that – that is why I allow comments here.

Then again, given that Athena and Poseidon are long gone from the list of deities people worship, you probably don’t have much interest in them. Except for architecture. Enjoy the photos.