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Attica abounds in secluded nooks and panoramic crannies that the tourists never get to see. Athenian Days is offering a set of tours this summer for small groups to the parts of Attica the mass operators never take you to. From the idyllic shrine of Artemis at Brauron to the remote and rugged hill forts at Eleftherai and Aegosthena, from the secluded glen in which the shrine of the healing god Amphiaraus nestles, to the ancient industrial gulag above Lavrio, unknown Attica awaits the adventurous spirited explorer. Unknown Attica: One-Day Tailor-Made Trips to Areas of Attica and Environs Off the Beaten Track is a package of four day-long programmes. We are sure that you will find something here that you will enjoy. Contact us on info@atheniandays.co.uk for more details and prices.

1. The Healing God: North East Attica and Euboea.

We travel north to the borders of Attica and Boeotia to visit the shrine and oracle of Amphiaraus, set in a secluded pine glade on the remote northeast coast of Attica. Amphiaraus was a hero who eventually mutated into a healing god and a highly successful local rival to the more widespread Asclepios. At the shrine patients would spend the night, in the hope of being visited by the god in their dreams. Hopefully, the god would offer advice and effect a cure. The shrine also housed an oracle. Among the excavated remains is a rare example of a clepsydra or water clock.

We then cross by ferry to Eretria. The modern town, a typical example of a slow-rhythmed small country town, is laid out over a sprawling ancient settlement. We visit the small, but attractive museum, which displays an impressive collection of grave finds from all periods, from the Swiss excavations at Eretria. We visit the striking 4^th century B.C. pebble mosaics, reminiscent of work at Philip’s capital of Pella in Macedonia. We look at well-preserved examples of Classical domestic architecture, which give an insight into living conditions in the ancient world. We then take a brief tour through the town, to visit various classical landmarks, including the Hellenistic baths.

After our visit to Eretria, we drive north to Chalcis, where the fleet of Agamemnon is supposed to have lain becalmed before the voyage to Troy. We drive through Chalcis, over the waters of the swiftly-flowing Evripus, before briefly visiting the Karababa fortress, a Turkish fort of 1686 built in anticipation of the subsequent Venetian invasion. We then return to Athens by way of the motorway.

2. Demeter, Divine Benefactor of Mankind and the Bulwarks of Athens: Eleusis and the Border Forts of Attica

We travel around the bay of Salamis from Athens to visit the impressive fortified sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis. The Eleusinian Mysteries guaranteed the initiate some sort of eternal survival after death, in contrast to the normal run of ancient Greek belief. What was originally a minor cult became entangled with the fortunes of Athens at its peak as a city-state superpower. The Mysteries thus became one of the major cults of Greco-Roman antiquity and one of the numerous rivals to Christianity.

We then drive up into the range of mountains lying to the north, between Attica and Boeotia. Along this mountain chain was a string of impressive intercommunicating border forts, dating to 4^th century B.C. and after, designed to protect Attica and Athens from invaders from the north. We pass the isolated tower at Oenoe, before making an excursion to visit the still functioning monastery of Osios Loukas, notable for the wall paintings in its narthex.

We lunch at the idyllic spot of Porto Germeno, ancient Aegosthena, at the head of the Corinthian Gulf, before examining the mighty and enigmatic fort, standing today amid an olive grove. We then retrace our steps and turn north to visit the equally enigmatic, and massive, 4^th century fort of Eleutherai, guarding the pass down to Boeotia and Thebes on the far side of Parnes, before we return to Athens.

3. Death in the Stadium: The Athletic Sites of Isthmia and Nemea

The leading athletic festivals of Greco-Roman world were the Olympic Games, the Pythian Games at Delphi, the Nemean Games at Nemea and the Isthmian Games at Isthmia. Isthmia and Nemea lie within easy reach of Athens and both offer a sharp insight into what ancient games and athletic life were about.

We drive along the motorway to Corinth, with its stunning views over the Saronic Gulf. We cross the Corinth canal and drive down to the south end of the Canal. Here, in a cafe overlooking this small but busy waterway, we take time to examine the role of sport in the life of the ancient Greeks, before heading on into the Peloponnese to the site of Nemea

We then head further into the Peloponnese to Nemea. Control of a prestigious set of games was something politically highly desirable. Thus the guardianship of the Nemean games oscillated between Argos and Cleonae, finally to end up in the hands of Argos. At the idyllic site of Nemea, we see the gymnasium bath, the guesthouses for visitors to the shrine and the temple itself, which is gradually being reconstructed. We then visit the museum.

We then return to Isthmia. Isthmia contained a sanctuary of Poseidon and the Isthmia games revolved around his temple. Isthmia belonged to the third superpower of the Greek world, Corinth, and was the scene of dramatic happenings. For example, Alexander was proclaimed leader of the Greeks, prior to his expedition against the Persians. Later, Nero proclaimed the freedom of the Greeks at Isthmia, with politically disastrous results.

We examine the site, including the temple of Poseidon, the starting gate of the stadium and a magnificent Roman bath. We then look at the museum, which contains inscriptions relating to ancient sporting superstars and also contains a display of extraordinary late Roman glass panels.

Conditions permitting, we then go for a dip in the sea at Kenchreai, where St Paul stepped ashore, before enjoying lunch at a taverna on the sea shore and returning to Athens.

4. The Courts of Artemis and the Mines of Hephaestus: The Sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron, the Ancient Mine Workings at Lavrio and the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion

When we think of the ancient Greeks, we think perhaps of philosophy and art. But the ancient Greek world had considerably more, good and bad, to it than that. This tour aims to give a flavour of all sides of life in Classical Greece.

The site of Brauron (modern Vravrona), about 25 k outside Athens, with its reconstructed portico, stream and overhanging eucalypts, is one of the most beautiful and least known of ancient sites in Attica. In ancient times, it was the site of the cult of Artemis. The cult site was attended by the ‘little bears’ of Artemis, young girls of the Athenian elite, who spent some time at the shrine, before they progressed to womanhood and marriage. The site museum contains remnants of this cult, including dedicatory plaques and charming statues of young girls, dedicated to Artemis.

After the visit to Brauron, we visit the site at Lavrio, on the southern tip of Attica. Next to one of the oldest theatres in Greece is an ancient industrial area and set of mine-workings. In stark contrast to idyllic Brauron, even today it gives a good picture of the other side of Greco-Roman civilization and what it meant to be a slave in Classical antiquity, as well as giving an idea of the nature of industry in the ancient world.

Conditions permitting, we then visit Agrileza, in the hills about Lavrio. At Agrileza was an ore washing complex, which processed the material from the nearby mines. Again, the remains give an insight into the workings of a preindustrial world that rested upon slaves.

Finally, we visit the temple of Poseidon at Sounion. Poseidon was the next most important deity for Athens after Athena herself. A fortress as well as a shrine, the temple is perched on the heights of cape Sounion. In modern times, Sounion’s ‘marbled steep’ was a magnet for 18^th and 19^th travellers, including Byron, who famously left his name as graffiti on the wall of the temple.

ii. Cultural Studies

From sick as a parrot to over the moon: Greece's amazing triumph in the UEFA cup final

Athenian Days is as astonished and as delighted as the rest of the population of Greece over Greece's amazing triumph in the UEFA cup.

As Athenian Days keys this in, two days after the extraordinary victory of the Greek national team in the European Cup Final, the occasional rhythmic celebratory tooting of a car horn can still be heard and blue and white flags flutter from taxis, buses and balconies. The rejoicing that followed the victory was unparalleled. Not even England winning the World Cup under Beckham could have provoked such a frenzy of rejoicing.

So, what was the reason for it? For Greeks, just as for everyone else, football isn’t a religion, it’s more important than that. But even this view of reality doesn’t account for the three-day long nationwide orgasm of rejoicing that gripped the country. The reasons lie deeper. First there is sheer delighted surprise. Greek football at home has the reputation for being a swamp of corruption, attended by thuggish fans whose creative nastiness leaves far behind the simple bull-dog loutishness of England fans. This gloomy reputation has been further confirmed in the mass mind by the dismal showing by the national team until the victory of a few days ago. Secondly, Greece, ever ambiguous over ‘Europe’, has suddenly, apparently effortlessly, scaled the heights of European sporting grandeur, thus becoming truly European, while also showing the condescending Europeans a thing or two. Finally, the local pols, ever quick to hitch their wagon to national success stories, have said some illuminating things, though perhaps not in the way they intended. The victory, it is said, shows the victory of co-operative, civilized teamwork over a traditional untrammelled individualism that Achilles would have related to.

But there was an edge of hysteria to the proceedings that even Greek friends and acquaintances of Athenian Days acknowledged. Economic times are tough and have been since the introduction of the Euro and waving a flag in the streets of Athens was a much-needed holiday from the memory of credit card debt. Above all, there is nervousness and defensiveness over the Olympic Games. Already, many a talking head on the box has said, with hope but no obvious logic, that the football victory shows that the Olympic Games will go very well indeed. There is the unspoken fear that any episode, particularly a terrorist episode, will be magnified by a malicious world press and so reduce Greece’s status to resident joke third-world country of the EU. This will be particularly unjust, because Greece took on the Games before 9/11 and the subsequent security concerns. These concerns have sent the costs of the Games rocketing up as well as making them riskier.

Indeed, the Games loom over Athens in these final weeks of fevered preparation, and, although the official message is one of happiness and joy, there is a private sense of strain, irritation and subdued longing for it all to be over. Few Athenians that Athenian Days has talked to say that they will stay in Athens for the Games. So, let’s hope the thing goes OK, reveals to visitors the charming city that central Athens is rapidly becoming and makes squillions for the tourist trade.

Pecs washed by the Scamander: Is Troy a good film?

Athenian Days pronounces its opinion on Troy. Definitely worth going to see, but, like Pope's translation of the Iliad, you cannot call it Homer.

Lately, whenever the paparazzi break through the tight ring of bodyguards that surrounds Athenian Days on lightning dashes from boardroom to limo and from heli-pad to nightclub, the flash-bulbs pop and the questions are always the same. ‘What does Athenian Days think of Troy and is it worth seeing?’ Up to now, the answer has been a tight-lipped ‘No comment’, but Athenian Days recently took time out from a busy international schedule to hole up one Saturday afternoon in the local multiplex with a Coke and a bucket of pop-corn, to give the matter the attention it deserves.

As Dr Johnson would (perhaps) have said, ‘It’s very good, but you cannot call it Homer.’ The divergences from Homer are legion. There are no gods, Patroklos has turned into Achilles’ nephew (presumably to avoid any hint that Achilles might be differently oriented), and the ten years of the Trojan War have contracted into a lightning campaign of Gulf War II speed, lasting only a few days (and short-circuiting Aeschylus’ magnificent poetry on weariness and boredom of war). There are also other glaring divergences from the Greek literary tradition. Menelaus gets killed in a fight with Hector, Briseis does in Agamemnon (who, like Menelaus, is played as a cross between a Mafia don and an ancient Greek Hitler, out looking for Lebensraum for the Greater Greek Nation). Most eye-popping of all, if you are looking for fidelity to Homer, is the fact that Achilles actually makes it to the sack of Troy, which he spends running around looking for Briseis, the love of his life, only to be done in by wimpy little Paris and his bow.

Similarly, if you go looking for Homeric archaeo-reality, then holes can be kicked in the plasterboard. It is some time since Athenian Days did Homeric Archaeology 101, but the Greeks seemed to be dressed in 8^th c B.C. hoplite gear, Troy seemed to be made up from bits and pieces of Arthur Evans’ reconstruction of Knossos and the ships seemed to 5^th c B.C. triremes.

Thus the film may provoke donnish sniggers. This, however, seems to be the wrong way to take it. In the first place, you can’t do a historical reconstruction of Homer, because Homer isn’t of course giving a historic picture. Instead, he gives us a poetically concocted mishmash in 8^th c B.C. of sometimes poorly remembered detail from the 16^th c B.C. and after, but he creates a masterpiece in the process.

Yet the film certainly looks good and comes close to Homer in other ways. The view of the Greek fleet (which seemed to Athenian Days to be distantly inspired by memories of the D-Day landings on Omaha Beach), even if computer-generated, is extraordinary, while the sweeping (if, again, computer generated) camera work depicting the Greeks invading Troy by night, is superb. And this, too, is sort of like Homer. What is Homer but a swarming panorama of the battlefield? Secondly, and more importantly, the film gives a very, very good view of the filth of war, with swords thudding into guts and wasted lives gurgling away through cut throats. What could be truer to the message of Homer than this? Thirdly, Achilles is fairly well done. He is, most of the time, a thuggish and efficient killing machine, but occasionally has his conflicted doubts about it all. Homer’s figure is rather more complex, but in general terms, this is it and Brad conveys it well and one can sort of see why Briseis likes him. The only minor quarrel that Athenian Days has is that Achilles does indeed seem to make sense as a younger man (a sort of Wayne Rooney-figure turned thuggish and nasty, capable of the vicious rage that makes him drag Hector’s body round Troy). The Bradster, despite a splendid constitution, seems to be getting on a bit for this sort of thing.

The end is ludicrous, with Achilles’ desperate chase through Troy, looking for Briseis, but, well, this is Hollywood and you can’t have everything. Likewise, Athenian Days was expecting the infant Astyanax, son of Hector, whom we see gurgling in his mother’s arms several times, to be chucked graphically over the walls by a thuggish Greek, as happens in Euripides. In fact, he makes it away in arms of Andromache, together with Aeneas (correctly lumbered with Anchises), down a secret escape route.

Thus, there are some things the punters just won’t buy. Among these things are the gods and it was probably a wise decision to bin them. Pundits on TV programmes about ancient Greeks always excitedly assure us that the Greeks had Universal Concerns. True, but they weren’t that universal and there are some things that modern audiences simply can’t take. Gods are among these and in these sorts of films bearded actors in the clouds make the film look silly to a modern audience, who don’t believe that Zeus runs the world. Whenever Hollywood has attempted the Greek gods, appalling silliness and/or campness has resulted. Consider, for example, Jason and the Argonauts or Clash of the Titans. Either you do the gods camp, which wouldn’t be right for this film, or you don’t do them at all.

The film is greatly helped by superb acting. It is a glaring paradox of the film that the dialogue is very often clunkier than the clunkiest sword’n’sandals epic of the 50’s, but the skill of the actors brings it off.

So, the film is not Homer, but it’s not meant to be, even if it does frequently get the spirit of Homer across powerfully. It’s far from being a masterpiece, but, for Hollywood, it’s good and better than any other toga saga that Athenian Days has so far seen. In the meantime, expect something more from Athenian Days, when Alexander hits the screen this autumn.