Decyphering the Ancient Greek Writing on the Themopyles (Thermopylae) Plinth

Themopyles is how the name of the area is spelled in its Greek modern alphabet form. In English it often spelled Thermopylae (often prononced "thermop-ul-lee"), and it may appear so on English maps and guides. If one asks a native Greek how to find "thermop-ul-lee" they may stare at you cross eyed since in Greek it is pronounced "terrmoepeelay". Out of respect to Greece, the author will have de-anglicized it into how it appeared in English letters within Greece - Thermoyles.

Why Thermoyles?

This is the site of a battle which occurred in the year 480 B.C. It witnessed some of the best characteristics of man at war: courage, intelligence, loyalty, and ultimately betrayal and defeat - as honorable a defeat as has ever been achieved by men at war.

I recall some years ago, when as a young child I watched the movie "The 300 Spartans" on television. This was the 1961 movie with Richard Egan, and which was recently released on DVD. While the film itself is not a great spectacular production on par with other great epics, the story made such an impression on me that combined with my love of ancient history I promised to visit Thermopyles some day. So for our honeymoon I offered to take Marlene to Greece, but while there were many places to visit I told her that there was something so special about Thermopylae that this first trip to Greece should be considered a "mission", with military like planning and precision whose ultimate objective was the visit to Thermopylae. So while we first visited and stayed in other locations, it was Thermopylae that was most on my mind.

Right: Thermopyles, the monument associated with the final location of the Spartan position where they were overwhelmed by Persian archers (47,012 bytes). Click on the image to see enlarged view (524,130 bytes).

I planned this trip so that we would be able to visit Greece at a time of modest congestion. I anticipated the weather would be cool and moderate in September and early October ranging from lows of about about sixty on the mainland up to ninety degrees F on the Island of Santorini. I also chose these dates on which to make my visit because the area would be free of most other tourists, there would be no storms and clear weather for the most part, and the amount of daylight per 24 hour period was still reasonable.

Over the course of about three weeks we visited Santorini staying in Oia but seeing Fira and Akrotiri too (five days). Then to Athens (three days), then we drove North along the coast to Thermopylae, and Trikala. From Trikala we drive to Metora where we visited three of the operating monasteries including the ÒHoly Monastery of Grand MeteoronÓ. From Meteora we toured the country over a day or two ending up in Delphi for a couple of days Ð I had to visit the Sacred Spring, the Tholos, and of course walk the Holy Walk through the ruins of the main complex. From Delphi we drove south then west along the coast eventually crossing on a Ferry to the Pelopennese. We spent several more days touring Olympia, then driving to Tripoli and then to visit Sparta. From Sparta we drove east to the coast and worked our way north through Argos on to Mykines. From there we returned to Athens with with enough time to walk the plains of Marathon!

The trip was a resounding success. I too many pictures and put together 1222 photos in an album on my Macintosh computer. There is so much in Greece that is photogenic Ð I even took pictures of my favorite foods so I can enjoy the meal over and over again (in my mind) through the years. And yet we saw only a small fraction of Greece, and only had a brief glimpse at the Greek experience so I know we will return someday.

The most critical components of the trip would include layered clothing, good sunglasses (ideally polarized and photochromic), comfortable walking and hiking shoes, and a pocket digital camera with a pocketable tripod stand. I chose to wear my trusty weather proof Leica Trinovid 10 x 32 BN Trinovid binocular in its Holster conveniently accessible outside my rain shell on a belt. I thought of taking a larger 42mm binocular but light gathering requirements for daytime observing did not justify the extra weight or bulk and I do prefer to "hike light". I also considered taking a portable astronomical telescope. However noting the latitude was close to that of my home and so I would see no particularly new areas of the night sky, and I would need to take a large bulky telescope to do better than what I could do with my largest telescopes at home, I concluded the effort was not justified.

Traffic Signs: Merely suggestions:

A noteworthy aspect of this journey were the experiences of courtesy from the residents whom we encountered in Nova Scotia; it was uniformly downright disarming. As we moved through the airport, drove the roadways, and at all destinations, consideration would be the normal experience. One could not tell "rush hour" from any other time of day since the roads remained uncluttered and passable throughout the day. Slow traffic stayed to the right lane, most obey the speed limits - no radar traps seemed necessary and few people were in such a hurry to pass on the left anyway. And the gasoline stations offered a Full Service lane; imagine that, someone asking if they could check your oil as they cleaned the windshield and filled up our tank! There were miles and miles of tranquil forest and countryside lining our travels, the air was pure, and the sounds serene. This was all a culture shock for us coming from the overdeveloped, congested, stressful Washington, D.C. area - and yet we too soon found ourselves happily returning consideration in kind - of course that was until we returned home...

Reading the Writing:

There are few astronomical events whose effects can be readily observed with the naked eye, among these are the tides. Tides result from the gravitational pulling effects exerted by the Sun and Moon on the Earth. In part because of these effects the Earth is not a perfect sphere, it actually is somewhat distorted bulging around its girth in directions both toward and away from the Moon. So the circumference of the Earth at the Equator is greater than that measured around the North and South Poles. As the Earth rotates the bulges move across the Earth so that the elongation of this circumference is always in line with the Moon. It is because water is more fluid than land that the sloshing produces the tides.

Left: Image of Monument Engraving (33,788 bytes). Click on the image to see enlarged view (192,951 bytes).

Left Below: Monument Letters after some image processing to Enhance the contrast, colors and show the lettering better - first attempt (33,788 bytes). Click on the image to see enlarged view (192,951 bytes).

The lettering was rather worn, and in this lighting the colors did not appear as intense as shown above
also note the Laurel leaves and wreath left by visitors.

While the tide effect seen along the Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company Limited Wharf is impressive, it is at Burntcoat Head where the tide rose to a record sixteen meters (52.6 feet) as measured by the Canadian Hydrographic Service in 1960 farther East at a Hants County bluff jutting into Noel Bay in the Minas Basin. Burntcoat Head is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest recorded tide. After Burntcoat Head, the tide table lists seven other local spots and then Hantsport with their local record of 14.9 meters (49.5 feet).

I have come to understand how much time can be wasted trying to discern where to go, how to interpret directions, looking for missing road signs, etc. And so to save the readers who plan to make this trip some time and effort I include the "blow by blow" directions and my impressions of this visit.

Our flights were arranged on Air Canada departing from Baltimore-Washington International Airport. We arrived at the airport too early for our 6:15 am flight, but in time to photograph a spectacular dawn. It seems that a one hour advance arrival for such early morning flights provides plenty of time to check in and clear the security checkpoint in a sparsely populated airport. After just under a two hour flight on the Dash8 turboprop to Toronto we changed to an A320 jet for the two hour flight to Halifax. Picking up a rental car at the Halifax terminal we found it a pleasant forty five minute drive heading north and west on Highway 101 to Hantsport.

Our prior arrangements included reserving a Lincoln Town Car, this was assuming another couple would join us (they diss'd us). Soon after our arrival in Nova Scotia we would realize the value of ordering a premium car since the longer wheelbase, quieter and better ride suspension would speed negotiation of the often patched and potholed smaller roads we would travel.

Nova Scotia Road Signs: we came to appreciate the value of a good local road map since those who put in the road signs must approach their task quite casually, they seem to evaluate the need and labeling from the perspective of a local and not that of a visitor. While planning this trip I had contacted the Nova Scotia Tourism Office at 800-565-0000, and they provided a road map and a tour guide; we found the road map was good for the cities but it lacked the detail we needed in the country and so we soon bought a better map at a local gas station. More on this subject later...

Continuing north beyond the exits to the city of Windsor, we left Highway 101 at Exit 8 for Hantsport. The signs to Hantsport from the exit directed an approach to town on Route 1 (Willow Street at this point) and we soon stopped to visit the Hantsport Tourist Bureau at 3 Willow Street. Here we were provided additional timetables and other hints about local sites from which to observe the tides and the tidal bore. A short drive further into town and we came to the intersection of Holmes Hill, Willow and Main Streets where we turned right continuing on Main Street. At William Street we turned right for the short drive to visit the wharf mentioned in the Observer's Handbook. This wharf is property of the Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company Limited. It is open to the public daily from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. We arrived there in the early afternoon of 2 June near the low tide and we were amazed to find the tugboat "Atlantic Juniper" (pictured above) resting quite happily in the red iron rich mud of the Minas Basin.

We parked our car on the wharf, and then strolled about sightseeing and taking pictures. There were no other visitors there at this time of day but we observed one crewman on the tug, he smiled up at us seemingly knowing how amused we (and the other thousands who visit) must be.

After an exciting first stop on our journey we checked into "Pleasantrees" Bed and Breakfast; this appears to be the best if not the only B&B very close to Hantsport although there are others in surrounding communities too. It is not what we consider within casual walking distance of the waterfront. Pleasantrees is a modern home designed to be a B&B on an eighty acre forested lot. The proprietor Mrs. Lorraine McQueen insured this stay would be a pleasant and convenient aspect of our exploration of the region. Pleasantrees offers a choice of three bedrooms, use of a large heated indoor swimming pool, in a smoke free environment. The comfortable guest bedrooms share two clean and modern bathrooms and so this B&B can not (by the ratings system) earn more than two and a half stars. The better two of the three rooms each include a larger Queen size bed, and a wash sink. Since there were no other guests in during our stay we had the three bedrooms and two full baths to choose from.

Hantsport is a small community with few accommodations or eating establishments. We found the "R&G Family restaurant", a popular local spot which provides an indoor dining area overlooking the Minas Basin. The restaurant features nightly specials and on our visit of Wednesday night, the restaurant is quite populated with those eager to have their Haddock "Fish Bits", something like shredded nuggets of Fish and Chips. One did not find a bad meal at any of the destinations we dined in. However, we later came to learn that paying upscale prices at an upscale restaurant did not necessarily find one leaving feeling any more satisfied that after dining at a small town local restaurant.

Just down the road from this is Avon Street which parallels the Minas Basin, this is just west of the Gypsum and Power industrial area. The drive along this road is accentuated by several lovely Victorian houses overlooking the shore, and a small park at the end of the street with access steps down to the muddy shoreline.

To Wolfville, and the trek to Cape Split

Wolfville: our first road trip headed west from Hantsport on Highway 101 to Exit 10 onto Highway 1 West. Our first stop was Wolfville which is a larger community located on the southern shore of Minas Basin, about a 16 km drive from Hantsport. To our right along the drive we enjoyed a panorama of vast shore and river areas with a muddy bottom uncovered by the fallen tide. While we visited in early June, we were informed about the peak migration in July and August of hundreds of thousands of shorebirds passing from the Arctic to South America. This must provide some spectacular vistas as the birds probe the mud for the hearty meals needed before their often several day nonstop flight to South America. It will be within a couple of hours of the high tide when these birds are pressed into the most congregated masses along the remaining exposed peak areas of the shore.

For an excellent discussion of the battle one should read the book "Time and Time Scales" by Roy Bishop.

Conclusion of this Journey

Right: Thermopyles, the modern white marble monument with statues commemorating the battle. It is actually sited just East of the North-South highway on what was then shallow water and shoreline at the time of the battle. (47,012 bytes).

Note the great capacity of modern Greek Power Company to undermine monuments to their heritage. High tension power lines and towers pollute the plains just to the east of this otherwise lovely photo opportunity.

Click on the image to see enlarged view (524,130 bytes).

Right: Headstone of small boy laid to rest among the other victims of the Titanic. White Star Line received many requests from donors to pay the child's burial expenses, but it was the request from Captain Lardner and crew of the recovery ship MacKay-Bennett that was granted. Six MacKay-Bennett crew members carried the small white coffin, covered in flowers, to the hearse for burial at Fairview Cemetery. The headstone reads "Erected to the memory of an unknown child whose remains were recovered after the disaster to the Titanic, April 15th, 1912" (75,198 bytes).
Click on the image to see enlarged view (146,300 bytes).

I was told by a friend that this is a special place, and so on 6 June our last day in Halifax, we made the trip to the nearby Fairview Cemetery to complete the loop. The rows of dark gray granite headstones are engraved with a number which indicates the order in which that victim was recovered, the date and mention of the disaster. Some headstones also note the occupants name, date of birth or age, and maybe something about that person, or they are otherwise marked "Unknown". Recent efforts to identify more of the unknowns have employed DNA technology with some success.

Images can not do justice to the magnitude and breadth of the scenery. This is a country, a people, and a natural effect that can be read about; but all are best when experienced first hand. We at Company Seven hope this article will bring those who can never make the journey some semblance of what we experienced.