Greece 2023: The Souvenir

 (Editor's note:  While typically Thursday is the day the next installment of The Collapse is posted, due to the nature of the next post, it struck me as somewhat unseemly, given that it is Christmas week.  We will pick up next week.)

One of things that happens as one grows older (especially) is the fact that one has to make a significant effort not to collect "things".  This is true in many ways, but especially in the ways of souvenirs.

It probably does not come as a surprise that Greece was full of them - as a country that thrives on tourism, there was literally every kind of thing available.  For example, I could have made a complete wardrobe out of the "This. Is. Sparta." shirts that were available everywhere (one wonders if the Spartans would be impressed that their civilization has been reduced to a graphic).  And statues of gods, warriors and philosophers were literally everywhere.

I had made the agreement with myself that instead of buying lots of little things at lots of places, I would confine myself to a few things (mostly purchases from the monasteries we visited and the smaller agriculture ventures - they need the support) and an icon - not a knock-off icon, but an actual traditionally made icon.  Although not of the Orthodox faith, I have always admired them as artwork.

Conveniently, we stopped at an icon workshop on our way out of Meteora.

In traditional icon manufacture, the original drawing is created on a canvas by hand.  Natural colors and egg tempura are used to fill in the lines (vinegar is used as well as an anti-fungal).   The painted canvas is then attached to a hand carved wood piece depending on size.  Gold leaf is pressed onto the finished product, which is held in place by a mixture of clay called "mixtion". The back is finished with a darker color.

There are different versions of this of course: one can get one where the painting lines were created by a drawing program or one that does not go through the entire traditional process (with decreasing cost, of course).  But I wanted the real thing.  This was my one present to myself for the trip.

As you can imagine, there was a great variety to choose from.  I ended up choosing an icon of Christ:

"Ah", said the ever-present sales-person, "Do you know the nature of this icon?" After I confessed my lack of knowledge, she said "It represents the two natures of Christ.  On the right hand side of His face is His divine nature - "

"And on the left side is His humanity".

On the whole, this represented more than I have ever spent on a souvenir in my life.  But I am really pleased with it.  It is hanging above my desk, a reminder of both Greece and Christ in my daily life.