The island of Aegina

A jewel of an island an hour's boat ride from Athens, Aegina and Athens were fierce rivals until Athens simply assimilated the island, kicked its inhabitants out, and re-settled Athenians in their homes. After the Peloponnesian War, the Aegenians were able to return to their island. In myth, this was the home of the brothers Peleus and Telamon - the fathers of Achilles and Ajax respectively. Eventually, both brothers had to leave (after Peleus killed their half-brother with a discus . . . on purpose), but this was their first home.


Only one column remains of the Temple of Apollo at the settlement called Kolonna. It's a very scenic spot.










A few miles away is the Temple of Aphaia. It's in pretty good shape, all things considered. They have even found a good deal of the pediment sculptures - too bad it's all in Munich.

Nobody knows much about Aphaia. She was from Crete and came to Aegina after she spurned King Minos' advances. She's supposed to watch out for children, but it seems like a pretty big temple to dedicate to a relatively obscure deity. Chances are, the temple was also associated with Athena, whose image was on the pediment sculptures. [btw, we know this temple is dedicated to Aphaia because of inscriptions describing the completion and repair of the temple, found on the site]


I've got to include a couple more photos of this amazingly scenic spot.




















Did I mention that this is an island? This is where I had lunch and a swim.

Pretty nice.