Author: Angela Zafiris

Hello! I'm a Artist/Writer/Photographer who lives in Athens, Greece. I have many creative ways from writing, photography, collage art, mixed-media art and poetry. I love sharing my work with people from all over the world through my blog.

View of Acropolis/Θéa της Aκρόπολης

View of the Acropolis from the Agora below

The Acropolis from Below

A model of how the Acropolis looked like in ancient times.

A model of the ancient city

View of the Temple Of Hephaestus within the Agora

“A great city, whose image dwells in the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome  represents conquest; faith hovers over the towers of Jerusalem; and Athens embodies  the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art.” Benjamin Disraeli

 

Temple of Hephaestus/Ο Ναός του Ηφαίστου

After years of living in Athens I paid my first and overdue visit to the ancient Agora.  For the past few weeks I felt drawn to the Temple  of Hephaestus. The temple is located  just below the Acropolis in the ancient Agora (market place). Hephaestus is the God of blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, fire and volcanoes.  The temple is the best preserved ancient temple in all of Greece. Upon visiting the temple I was awe-struck by its beauty and energy.  Even though I don’t work with metals I do get crafty, I am good with my hands. What a coincidence that I would feel a pull to visit this place!

The temple with the Agora below

The temple with the Agora below

View of the temple from the front with its Doric columns

The west side of the temple facing Thiseio

DSCF2167

Not a bad-looking temple for a God who was considered the ugliest God of all, and who was crippled by Zeus!I walked for hours that day and the next I could barely walk. I felt crippled just like Hephaestus!

Akovos/Arkadia

These are some black and white photographs from the pictures that I took from my fathers’ village of Akovos in Arcadia, Greece.  He’s so proud! He was happy that I finally went there. It’s not an easy feat getting up there though.. In a earlier post I had published photographs of the Arcadian mountains and of a memorial service for a revolutionary battle that took place in the 19th Century.

Wild Mountain Flowers

Lonely Burnt Tree

Cars Parked on a Cliff

Aghia (Saint) Paraskevi Church

Small VIllage Path

Village Grannie (Giagia Panayoula)

Charybdis and Precious Time/Χάρυβδις και Ο Πολύτιμος Χρόνος
Charybdis and Precious Time

Paper collage on 40 x 40 cm canvas
By Angela Zafiris

When I began making my artwork I had no idea what the theme would be i just worked from intuition placing images together on the canvas. When I was done, I decided that I was going to call it ‘Precious Time’ since I used jewels and faces of watches. That same day I was on the internet when I cam across an article n about mythological creatures. One creature that caught my attention was that of Charybdis.  In Greek mythology Charybdis was the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia . She was once a beautiful naiad who was turned into a sea monster by Circe, a witch, who was extremely jealous of the maiden. Charybdis is the personification of a whirl pool in the ocean that sinks Greek ships. She is referenced in Homers’ ‘The Odyssey’ where Odysseas is faced with Scylla (another monster) and Charybdis in a narrow strait and where Scylla took the lives of some of his crew men.

Was it mere coincidence? Fate? Whatever it was I just thought it was so odd how I came across this mythology that I wasn’t very familiar with on the day that I was to name and publish my artwork on my site.  Artwork that might  have been inspired by the mythology but was not-or maybe it was… perhaps subconsciously?

Arcadian Mountains/Battle of Drabala

A few weeks ago I paid a long overdue visit to my fathers’ village called Akovos in Arcadia. The village has a very beautiful and rugged mountainous landscape where many battles were fought in ancient and modern times. I arrived on the day of a memorial service that takes place every year at Aghia Paraskevi church (near Akovos village) which over looks the landscape called ‘Drabala’  A very important battle  took place at the site called the ‘Battle of Drabala’ ( June 5-7 1825) This is where the fierce battle for Greek  independence against the Ottoman Turks unfolded.  To commemorate the death of the soldiers wreaths were layed at the statue of Greek independence war hero Theodoros Kolokotronis.  Then there was a moment of silence  followed by Greek soldiers singing the national anthem.

Memorial For the ‘Battle of Drabala’ (June 5-7 1825) Wreaths at the statue of Greek leader of Independence Theodoros Kolokotronis

Greek Soldiers’ Instruments

Greek Soldiers’ Instruments