Good Buy and Good Nite

On our way to the airport the city suddenly went dark. Thought it was a utility strike at first. After all that time with George and Hank begging the authorities to dim the lights on the temple in the Agora... and we could have just waited for Earth Hour.

Yia sou + kali nichta !

7 Wonders

7 Wonders of the World ???????
* Great Pyramid of Giza
* Hanging Gardens of Babylon
* Statue of Zeus at Olympia
* Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
* Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
* Colossus of Rhodes
* Lighthouse of Alexandria

Seven wonders of my world:
1. I wonder why the Parthenon is not on the list above
2. I wonder how they make Greek yogurt so creamy and delicious
3. I wonder if I will be able to find Greek yogurt when I get back home
4. I wonder what I will do with my last few hours in Greece
5. I wonder how we are all getting to the airport
6. I wonder what was up with Julia last night
7. I wonder if we will pay for revealing the secrets of the Mysteries

Family of Org

When I scan the list>> WHAT WE OWE TO THE GREEKS I think about how my Psych prof keeps harping about family of origin. Starting with Freud, how it is what all that psychology theory stuff is based on. Freud, Jung...now I'm seeing how much it all comes down from ancient Greek philosophy and theater... myth and religion.

Maybe I will write my final Psych paper on the screwed up family system of Persephone. Classic kid of divorce, two houses, accusations of abuse...
full bibliography coming soon

Here's another short film from YouTube that tells the story of Persephone in an arty black and white style. But THIS ONE is much sexier. A third video, Kiss of Lord Hades may have some copyright issues. And this one is just plain problematic.

Euro up / Budget down

Back in Athens now. The Greeks seem happier today with the news of some economic help from the rest of Europe. The Euro is up. But the Greek economy is still teetering on the brink. Either way, George says it's not really great news for THE MYSTERIES production budget. He agrees that it's important to act on fact not on fiction.

I'm off to run around Athens on my own. My last full day here... I want to go see a few museums, pick up some trinkets, and meet up with the crew at our favorite cafe near the Agora. This recce trip is zipping by like a Prius with its gas pedal stuck...

Copy-wrong

Did I mention that the sacred Mysteries of Eleusis were kept strictly secret and an initiate could reveal nothing of the rites, on pain of exile... or even Death.

In Athens they voted with pottery shards when exiling someone... (see Ostracism).

The great playwright Aeschylus was born in Eleusis. Later in life he was put on trial for revealing the secrets of the Mysteries in his plays. One defense was that he had never been formally initiated. He was acquitted. whew. I mean... you shouldn't be executed for breaking an oath you never made, right?


even more research...
In search of the Divine: Philosophy and the Eleusinian Mysteries in Plato’s Symposium *This is a work in progress. Please do not cite or quote without the author’s permission.*

Legomena (Things Said)

The rites inside the Telesterion were made up of three elements: Dromena (things acted), Deiknumena (things shown) and Legomena (things said). These were known as the apporheta (the unrepeatables)...

Repeat them, and it's curtains for you.

I'm not so sure that's true for THINGS WRITTEN though. I mean, you can find an awful lot of info on the internet these days. Like here's a scan of the whole rambling Hymn to Demeter. So... if ancient texts don't fall under copyright law... do ancient secrets? Seriously, would anyone really give a hoot at this point...if you told what happened in the Mysteries? WTH.

Deiknumena (Things Shown)

Supposedly, the rites at Eleusis were started for sharing agricultural secrets...

Here is the giant bas relief from the Eleusis museum. I guess that's Demeter and Persephone showing Triptolemus how to plant grain? I'd like to know more about Triptolemus. Was he some sort of god-child? does he represent the next generation?

Julia hasn't even mentioned his role in the film.

And, in terms of showing sacred objects... what were the deiknumena? What was in the Kiste Mystica?
When they opened the chest... did they show the crowd... sacred symbols like... serpents and seed cakes, pomegranates and poppies, stalks of grain and statues of...
genitalia?

Dromena (Things Acted)

No body knows for sure... but in the DROMENA the initiates might have acted out the myth/story. Maybe the priest was the original foley artist, hitting the gong to invoke the Underworld. Maybe they pantomimed the abduction of Persephone, the grieving of Demeter, Persephone's visit with Hades, the mother/daughter banquet when she returns.

Rerouted Parade

Our trip back into Athens was a bit pokey. Backed up traffic and people lining the streets, another detour. Thought it was another protest, until we figured out it is Greek Independence Day. Duh!

ΖΗΤΩ Η ΕΛΛΑΣ!!! VIVA GREECE!!

The hotel clerk explained that the Greek Independence Day Parade was less impressive this year because of the economic crisis. No helicopters flying over the Parthenon like last year. He seemed sad and tired.

Show and Telesterion

A few thousand years ago, there were quite a few buildings at site of Eleusis. The largest was the Telesterion of Demeter. It served as the initiation Hall and Temple for the Eleusinian Mysteries. Built, destroyed, and rebuilt a number of times over the years, in its largest incarnation it could seat 3000.

That seems like a lot of folks to keep a secret.

It was sure big enough, (8 tiers of seats on 4 sides divided by openings for 2 entrances on each of 3 sides) for a good show. Oooops, I meant Telesterion. Telesterion, not Telestrion... comes from the greek > for initiation, equiv. to teles-, s. of teleîn to fulfill, initiate (see tele-2) + -tērion neut. n. suffix denoting place.


Maybe it was the ancient place to go for a tele-vision? Or at least a vision of death. Going through the rites was supposed to help you transcend any fear of death or afterlife... Sophocles wrote : " Oh, thrice blessed the mortals, who, having contemplated these Mysteries, have descended to Hades ; for those only will there be a future life of happiness — the others there will find nothing but suffering."
I found this text by Dudley Wright THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES & RITES

Even Slaves and Women

Julia is not the only one who wants to make a movie about the Mysteries. I've been finding some other efforts on YouTube:


Happy to learn that The Mysteries was pretty class leveling. Anyone who spoke Greek could be initiated, even SLAVES and WOMEN. Pretty sure I'm both. Και μπορώ να το Google Translate ελληνικά!

Hey Mom... I got your message. Thanks for the great news about the Health Care Bill. We have been on the road, and no one picked up the Herald Trib in the last few days. GOBAMA CARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I can finally graduate and you can take me off your plan.

BTW : Don't worry about me. I'm safe. Can't call. Still no cell charger. Only 2 more days in Greece. Back to Athens, then home on Sunday. (You are still picking me up, right?)

Kykeon Chemistry 101

Ok, this is kinda trippy.

When she was grieving, Demeter was down on Dionysus and so she refused to drink any wine. Her beverage of choice became something called Kykeon. It was some kind of mash up of barley and herbs... probably non-alcoholic. But there are some alternative theories about Kykeon's psychoactive properties. I will do more research on Entheogenic Theories. Jonathan suggested I read The Road to Eleusis and another book called Persephone's Quest. (I'll get them on interlib loan.)



The Hidden World - An Interview with Prof. Carl A. P. Ruck, who wrote a bunch of other books and is a professor in Boston. He invented the word ENTHEOGEN which I have never heard until today.

The podcast host keeps mispronouncing Eleusis as Ulysses. (a bit too much Kykeon??)

El·eu·sin·i·an /ˌɛlyʊˈsɪniən/ [el-yoo-sin-ee-uhn]

Looking for supplies... maybe try here

The Curse of Demeter

Julia Hauenstein standing with the caryatid in the museum at Eleusis.



It was one of two giant female statues that flanked an entrance to a decimated building on the sacred site. I thought it was Demeter. But the brochure says it is not a sculpture of the goddess, but of a priestess is who carrying the mystical objects on her head in a basket. (Called a KISTE?) No one is sure what was carried in the basket/chest, but the objects were sacred and secret.




The matching caryatid was smuggled away to a museum in England. A British professor found it buried up to its neck in a pile of manure. It was keeping the fields fertile. The locals have been trying to get it back for years. Our waiter told us that some people believe the theft caused the CURSE OF DEMETER. The area became an industrial cesspool of sorts. There is some movement by environmentalists to raise awareness and restore the area.

Philippos Koutsaftis made a film about Elefsina called Agelastos Petra (Mourning Rock). Julia said she's been trying to get her hands on a dvd of this documentary, but hasn't had any luck. I found a clip on YouTube.

Notes from the Underworld

Today we finally made it into the Eleusis sacred site. Not crowded at all, I took quite a few photos and some video of the remnants of culture here. I will eventually upload all the pix and video but the ancient greek internet in our new hotel must be dial-up. I'm not even going to try now.

Posted later>>>

George pointing to the actual cave of Hades on site...

Jonathan Demann is the actor who will play Hades in film. He is really well known in Canada I guess. He flew into Athens over the weekend and joined us for the trip to Delphi and Eleusis. He seemed unimpressed by the cave at the Eleusis site...thinks it needs to be much bigger, more believable.

Detour on the Sacred Way

Got up really early so that we could shop for traditional theatrical masks on the way. Julia thinks they are made by inmates at a correctional facility near Corinth. George says they are probably made in China, by slaves. But Krys shelled out for at least twelve of the authentic ancient masks. She also bought me a small hand-painted vase (geometric period). Very sweet of her. Said it was a gift for locating a farmakeío that was open on Sunday. (I did finally find a place that would fill her anti-itch prescription without costing an arm and a leg.)


Krys, Julia, George and Hank... in jesting.

We did make it all the way to Elefsina in time to meet up with Hank and the others at the Eleusis archaeological site, only to remember that it is Monday. ΚΛΕΙΣΤΟ. No duh.

Krys said it was meant to be. That it was time to consult the Oracle. George said it might be better to consult wikipedia and get some reasonably useful info, but off we went on our detour to Delphi. Which was NOT closed today! Two car loads of us now... with Hank, the scenic designer Andrea, and what's-his-name the actor who will be playing Hades.


Delphi was SO amazing. Krys was right. We needed to go there. George was happy, really good cell reception way up in the mountains. Go figure. And Julia had an epiphany. Or at least that's what she kept saying on the long drive back down. She kept laughing and shaking her head. I'm sure it will all be made clear ... eventually.

First Aid

We heard that the austerity plan has killed off ten thousand Greek businesses in two months. Taxi drivers and petrol station owners keep going on strike but George still figured that hiring a cab is better than renting our own car (gas prices tripled here recently). We lucked out and found a guy who would take us all the way from the Piraus ferry dock to the Pelopennese penninsula. The great thing is that the cabbie speaks English! It’s just four of us now. Hank went back to Athens to meet up with Andrea who is flying in tomorrow. I guess they will meet us at Elephseena on Monday?

Everyone took turns napping on the drive to Epidaurus. There was a Yanni concert playing on the taxi dvd. Mom, you would have loved it. We twisted and turned along the way, passing near the REAL PLACE where the Greeks defeated the Persians, right after the 300 suicide mission. The rocking motion of the cab (and probably the Yanni) kept putting me to sleep, then jerking me back and forth from weird dreams to the snaking landscape.

The fourth day of the Mysteries was was dedicated to the god Asklepios. He’s the one with the staff and serpents we see on health care logos. Apparently even ancient doctors were time-challenged. Arriving late for purification, he held up the whole Mysteries schedule.



When we finally got to Epidaurus, Krys and Julia woke up from their snooze complaining of itching and burning around their ankles and legs. Yesterday they were sitting under a pine tree on Aegina... George thinks it could have been those goofy greek caterpillars. Now Julia and Krys are off in search of topical cream. George and I are heading to the ancient Theatre while I charge my laptop.

oh yeah, sorry Mom... I left my cell charger at hotel in Athens, that’s why I havent called. :( I would call you on George's cell, but as you can see, he's always on it. Don't worry about me! :)

The acoustically correct amphitheater at Epidaurus...

March of the Pillars

Still on Aegina Island. (It's sooooo beautiful here!) Spent more time with the producer today. He was venting about the shift in art direction and the power struggles within the team. There is still a possibility we will shoot the pig scene here on the beach, though that is now in flux. I guess it would be tricky to control this area in the summer when it is over-run with tourists and long waits at the ferry pier. Too bad, I'd love to come back here.


video clip of George schooling me on film production


That's something I've never seen before... PROCESSIONAL CATERPILLARS parading in formation.

Color Wheel of the Gods

OK... so after that beautiful day spent at the Aphaea Temple and ALL THOSE SKETCHES ... Julia had a conversation on the phone with the scenic designer (who is NOT on this recce trip for some reason). But SHE is in the states doing a shitload of research about authentic visual treatments for the picture. AND she alerted Julia about the recent discovery that these temples were NOT all lovely, creamy, glowing tones of white and off-white marble, as Julia thought. As we all thought. I mean, I took Ancient Art History my freshman year and I don't remember learning about this. (Well it was an 8AM and I did skip sometimes.)

But the bottom line is this: The temples were painted. The sculptures were painted. The pediments and metopes and architectural doodads were all painted.
Kitchy, garrish, vinyl-toy, saturated. Primary AND secondary AND tertiary colors!


So, we probably won't be shooting at Aphaea this summer. Even Aphaea didn't look like Aphaea. There was a big exhibit ... Gods In Color: Painted Sculpture Of Classical Antiquity. All about it, touring the world. The designer saw it at the Getty in LA. The research was done by guess who? Yep, Germans.

...more like this really. Byzanteenish color.

Julia says they will still use some of my storyboards, just not in the exact way we planned. Now they are having a big pow wow about how to create the temple locations, maybe moving away from ancient sites completely. The scenic designer (Andrea Hardy?) might fly in to Athens later this week. SO, what the bleep are we doing here?!

If necessary, I guess could get used to this place in glorious technicolor...

like this


or this


or this


yep, I could get used to this

Location Location Location

Everyone is in MUCH better spirits here on the Island of Aegina. We zipped here by boat from Athens, but it feels like we time-traveled to some other era. Shot some video and stills of the Aphaea Temple site which I will post later. It's not a temple to Demeter, but it is more intact than most of the other ancient sites. (Apparently Eleusis is a pile of rubble, so we can't shoot there). As Krys says : The Aphaea location is SO lovely! The temple is located on a dramatic hill overlooking the Seronic golf. I think this is one of the most stunning places I've ever been.

Julia and Krys asked to see the sketchbook I've been using on the trip. I guess they were impressed, because they asked me to start storyboarding some of the scenes they are planning. (Yay! something real for my portfolio finally!) They said it's super helpful to be right on LOCATION, that way you can storyboard from the spots where the cameras will be placed later. Hank is telling me where to sit to get the right angles. I always thought storyboarding was a waste of time in class, but with a complicated production like this, I'm starting to see how useful they might be later.

What a great day. I'm sooooooooo grateful to be right HERE, right now! :)

To the Sea !

After what Julia is now calling the Hephaestus fiasco.... Krys, Hank, and George all agreed that a good night of sleep and a shower would help. Today we are refreshed and regrouped. Taking a short train to Piraeus and a ferry to a nearby island. George swears there is another excellent example of temple architecture out on Aegina, with easier access for our crew. We got a new translator and George has been on the phone all morning.



Continuing my research...The second day of the Mysteries was for purification. The initiates would walk to the sea near Athens. On the order, "Initiates to the Sea!" each would cleanse themselves and a piglet in the salt water. The pig (considered a sacred animal to Demeter) would be sacrificed at the Eleusinion back in the city. The initiate may also have been sprinkled with its blood as part of the ritual.

I'm picturing the hoards who flocked to the ancient festivities... and I'm thinking like my grandma: They gotta get fed somehow! Mixed-grill or pulled-pork potluck? BYOP

Not a Schliemann Production

Julia was livid when she heard that her name (Hauenstein) might not be helping with our negotiations. She kept whispering under her breath "This is not a Heinrick Shleeman Production!"

I finally googled Shleeman, did you mean Heinrich Schliemann, to see what that was all about.

George just kept trying to keep her calm and promising that the truck with all the prop torches was cleared to pull up to the unload zone near the Agora gates…

It never did.

Cost in Translation

The translator doesn't want me to videotape her, but I overheard a few bits …some confusion about why we are filming here and who we are. Suddenly there was a big jump in the cost for our evening shoot/access to the Temple of Hephaestus. George was not pleased.


The location manager for The Mysteries is a nice midwestern guy named Hank Shaeffer…

He was on the phone all day yesterday trying to work out the kinks in our location access...

It didn't help that the translator seemed to have her own agenda.



Turns out somebody thought he was Frank Schaeffler, that German politician who dissed Greece this past week by saying that "giving money to the Greeks would be like giving schnapps to an alcoholic"... and that the Greeks should sell their ancient artefacts to pay off their debt.

Frank Schaeffler
thétontas to pódi tou
sto stóma tou ?

Let The Mysteries Begin

Krys Douglas (who will play Demeter) with the director near the Acropolis

Spent most of yesterday with the director and the lead actress in the Athens Agora, where the the ancient Greeks gathered to exchange goods, gossip, ideas… and invent politics. It's also where the opening ceremonies for the Eleusinian Mysteries occurred in ancient times. The ritual festival lasted nine days. First, the sacred objects of the Goddess Demeter (not sure what exactly) were brought from her temple in Eleusis to Athens. Then, on the first official day of The Mysteries, the king called the people to gather at the painted stoa in the Agora. With help from the Hierophant (priest) and the Dadouchos (torch bearer), a proclamation called forth the initiates. It also declared who was forbidden from participating in the sacred rites… Murderers, Barbarians, and those who could not speak Greek.




Julia Hauenstein, director of the working title: The Mysteries. Near remnants of the Athens Eleusinion.

In the Plaka with George + Julia

The producer George Smith with the director in the Plaka area of Athens.

Finally made it to Athens. VERY jetlagged. The city is a bit discombobulated from the riot or strike or whatever. Garbage and litter in the streets. At least I think it's not usually like this. We had to walk from a subway station, dragging all our luggage, because the cab would not take us all the way to our hotel. Seemed strange, like the driver thought we were Germans. Not sure what the problem was.


I did get some good time with Julia during our loooooong layover in Amsterdam. She is catching me up to speed on the project timeline. I didn't realize that we are actually meeting up with a small crew to do some preliminary shooting at a temple in Athens. It's hard to get access to ancient sites, so if we can, we will work with the times they give us. That might be tonight already. Julia is crashing in her room now. I just got back from the Plaka with George Smith, the producer for The Mysteries. He's kinda taking me under his wing.


George talking about the Hephaestus temple shoot plan

Flight Delayed

Crazy long delay, but they keep telling us that we can get to Athens in the next 24 hours, so we are staying here. They are backed up because of the protests yesterday. I finally found wireless connection, so I want to test uploading a video clip I shot last night...

Austerity Plan B

We were supposed to fly to Greece today... but they cancelled our flight due to soemthing called a general strike. People are in the streets throwing things and burning things and protesting against the government's plan to solve their debt crisis.

I thought this internship would be a way of putting off facing my own debt crisis...

The longer I stay in school, the longer I can hold off Sallie Mae, right Mom? I guess I have one more day to pack. Hopefully we can fly in tomorrow. Or I'm on to Austerity Plan B!

Current Events in Greece

Mom told me to look up what is happening in the Greek news before I leave for Athens in a few days. I guess there is some trouble with the economy...


yikes!