Posted in Poems

A Traveller’s Guide to Hellas

Posted on by thewesternvoyager

By: Bryan Ricardo Marini Quintana

(Leo von Klenze, The Acropolis at Athens, 1846)

Where does a Sailor land ashore,

When he has lost sight of his course?

Nowhere else but upon those Western Shores!

He hears the dialogues of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle,

Who argue about a world of earthly and heavenly ideas,

To stumble across that Ancient City of Greek Philosophy!

He trods along a road to find the Odeon of Dionysus in Athens,

Where he sees from the Theatron, Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles,

To witness the grandeur of Greek Drama with Oedipus’ Tragedy!

Atop The Parthenon, he strides beside Doric and Ionic Columns,

Savoring the craftsmanship of Phidias, Ictinus, and Callicrates,

To breathe the clean air of Pericles’ Athenian Democracy!

Upon the hill, he glimpses Troy’s ruins and Agamemnon’s tomb over Hellas,

Far off, where King Leonidas of Sparta led Three Hundred to hold the Hot Gates,

Until Alexander of Makedonia crossed the Hellespont to usher a Golden Age!

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Author:

I’m Bryan Ricardo Marini Quintana, an author enamored with mythological texts, working in Comparative Literature Studies through the scholarly publication “Prophecies of Doom: J.R.R. Tolkien as a Translator of Old Myths into Modern Fantasy.” My background is in Humanities, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing, where I studied the Classical World, Western Art and Culture, Medieval Literature and History, alongside English and Spanish Poetry. Thereafter, I graduated with a Master’s Degree in Medieval Icelandic Studies, where I learned Old Icelandic, Old Norse Literature, Viking Age History, and the Archeology of the Middle Ages. My primary experience is as an English Teacher, teaching Grammar, Poetry, and Literature. The Western Voyager is my personal website, offering an educational and artistic platform accessible to everyone who seeks to consult wisdom or wishes to be swept away in an adventure. Here, I publish Poems, Short Stories, Film or Literature Analyses, Book Reviews, and Research Articles. I’m currently completing a Doctoral Thesis in Texts of Classical Antiquity, studying the influence of Virgilian Literature on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. Follow on Instagram: @thewesternvoyager Contact via Gmail: thewesternvoyager@gmail.com Subscribe to the Website: TheWesternVoyager