I’m as excited as kid on a field trip! We’re whizzing through the Peloponnese, the Southern peninsula of Greece. Where

fields of wild flowers flirt the olive trees. Where Prehistoric and Classical Greece leap to life. And like back in the old school days, we have a solemn schoolmarmish guide shepherding us — Ms Makos, knowledgeable and courteous, but decidedly reserved! Yet, when did that ever rain on our excursion?! 😅

It’s a scenic, winding road through the hills. Wineries beckon. As do villages, with colorful craft shops. Tavernas serve tasty fish and Greek salad. The feeling is laid-back, open, generous… like the landscape! Stops on this itinerary jostle the memory: the earliest of cities, greatest of empires, epic wars…  Gathering layers all the way from prehistory, or mythology — or whichever’s earlier! Yet this serene wilderness bears no battle scars, and the friendly Greek lot wear their 5000 years lightly. Ms Makos?! Ah, I foresee a thaw there too — she’s just hiding her inner Greek well!

We reach Epidaurus, famed healing town of the Classical period (5th – 4th centuries BC). The renowned open-air amphitheater wows us — first by its size: 14000 spectators?! Then by its design — leaving it semicircular, back open like that, makes the valley form a lush backdrop! But the most dramatic effect is its exceptional acoustics! We’re at last row

seats, when Ms Makos, standing center stage, sighs! And all of us hear it clearly!! Amazing! Ms Makos explains how the Classical Age designers used every trick (even the limestone seating!), muting lower frequency sounds, to enhance sounds on stage. Thrilled, we’re scampering to catch each other’s “sigh’s” 😆😅, when I suddenly notice Ms Makos — she’s all indulgent smiles now! Aha! Or as they say in Greek, “Eureka!” (I found it!)

Seeking more ancient? Greece can almost always fulfill that quest! Next stop, Mycenae. Ms Makos recounts from mythology: “In Iliad, Homer speaks of the mighty kingdom of

Mycenae, and their great King Agamemnon, who led them in the Trojan War — to rescue the beautiful Helen, his brother’s abducted wife”. Ageless story. And in its telling, and our many questions to Ms Makos, her standoffish mask is quickly coming unraveled. Endearingly, it’s our obvious interest in her legends

and history that tickles her Achilles heel, and she starts engaging, all heart and soul!

But she’s pointing out already, the ruins of Mycenae — the excavated site of the historical bronze-age city that actually existed, nay flourished,

between the 15th – 13th centuries BC. Seat of the Mycenaean civilization at its very peak! And yes, just like that, we flow seamlessly from mythology into history, the swim lanes never too clear in these waters of Greek prehistory! How to keep straight, the myths from reality, and which was which..!! They’re so beguilingly intertwined!

The ruins are on a hill, Mycenae had been strategically situated. Ms Makos leads us through the impressive Lion Gate, the emblem known from descriptions, even before the excavators started digging! She points out the “cyclopean” wall — so called because it’s believed only Cyclops, the mythical giants, could’ve moved such massive stones! Ms

Makos explains how they found high quality pottery, frescoes, a palace with a throne room, and even a written script — “all indicators of a highly advanced civilization with urban organization. Excavations revealed the Mycenaean had developed innovations in many fields of engineering, architecture and warfare, had trade with civilizations far away, and a hierarchical society — a cradle of civilization in Europe”. Then she leads us to the famous graves that made Mycenae a Rockstar among excavations!

“Schliemann, the 19th century excavator, was intent on proving the histrocity of Homer’s epics”, Ms Makos explains. “When the excavations in Mycenae confirmed it had indeed been a prosperous civilization, as described, they were ecstatic. Yet though Homer’s Mycenae was fabled as “rich in gold”, actually unearthing the near 19 kilos buried here with their dead, was a stunning vindication!

Decorated cups, exquisite jewelry, ceremonial swords… a whole array of precious artifacts that would tell us so much about life then!”

We’re drawn into her narrative as we peer down graveside. “Finally, when they came across the ultimate — a funeral mask made of sheet gold, depicting an aquiline face with a beard — there was no doubt in their minds they’d found the great King Agamemnon!” Wow! Amazed, I ask “And was it really him?” Ms Makos smiles: “Later research by modern archeologists found the “Mask of Agemenon” actually precedes the calculated period of the Trojan War, by about 300 years!”

Wha…?! I feel the bottom of History fall out! Three centuries older than the oldest stories from mythology?! So who was this then?! “No one knows! It remains among the most intriguing mysteries from prehistory”, Ms Makos informs us, positively beaming now!

We go on to see the beehive tombs, their vaulted stone graves from later years. Architectural feats of that time, hidden in hillocks! We continue our journey, on to

many other memorable sites: Napflio, a delightful seaport from the Middle Ages, famed Olympus, where international athletes first competed in front of cheering crowds, and beyond the Peloponnese to Delphi — a site as swirling in mysterious aura, as its amazing Oracle, who foretold the results of wars for every King of the time!

Greece is a kaleidoscope of beautiful images — not all steeped in ancient history! The Greece of your dreams could be jaw-droppingly beautiful islands and delectable food, or charming countryside, or glorious Athens (alas! several more

posts!). Yet when I gaze upon the “Mask of Agamemnon” (that misnomer stuck!) at the National Archeology Museum, for me, that is most mesmerizing. That art, an expression of tender regret maybe, for an unknown historical King! And how it passed down the ages, being mistaken for another King — who’s the stuff legends are made of, yet who is still… well, a legend!

And getting lost in that quagmire of history and mythology, led by an intensely impassioned guide, are just part of the wondrous Greek experience! The Golden death mask encapsulates not just the visage of a great king, but a narrative that spans over thousands of years — a story we don’t even know. And while the rational me seeks all the answers, another part almost wants some eternal mysteries to continue, still seducing travelers in, like their Sirens of old…

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