July 21: Travel Month
Kalaureia
The Greek island of Kalaureia is famous for its Doric temple of Poseidon. In this sanctuary, the famous orator Demosthenes took refuge on his flight from the Macedonian rulers. Demosthenes is known as the best public speaker ever, and the most perseverant. He had to plead his first case as a young orphan, to get the inheritance that he was owed. To overcome his stammer, he practiced with pebbles in his mouth. To enhance the volume of his voice, he shouted against the crashing waves. And to make sure he would stay inside to study, he shaved half of his head. Most of his political speeches are about uniting Greece to withstand the expansion of Macedonia under Alexander the Great. He didn’t succeed, and at the age of 62, he had to flee. His last speech was a plea for mercy to Poseidon. But the seagod’s sympathy was with the Macedonians, ever since Alexander had sacrificed a golden, four horse chariot to him. In the end, Demosthenes unalived himself. And Poseidon didn’t lift a finger.
Demosthenes on the seashore, Eugène Delacroix,
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
Demosthenes Polyeuctos, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
Did you know?
Kalaureia forms the Northern part of the island pair of Poros and sits close to the coast of Troezen in the Peloponnese.
The three Greek “orders of architecture” are Doric, Ionian and Korinthian. Doric columns are unadorned, while Ionian ones are topped with “volutes” and Korinthian ones with acanthus leaves.
Alexander the Great (356 BC - 323 BC), son of Philippos II, was the king of Macedonia and created a large empire by the time he was thirty, stretching from Greece to Northwestern India. About Alexander the Great: cfr. “A Special Request”, “Tying the Knot”, “Followers” and “A Pit for your Brother”.
About Poseidon (Neptune): cfr. “Old Money”, “Victim Blaming”, “The Weight of the World”, “A Crowded Mountain”, “A little Snowman”, “Shiny Seawater”, “A little Lamb”, “The Kingmaker”, “The last Stand”, “High Flyer”.