Argos

This is the oldest city in Greece with excavations revealing activity dating back 5,000 years to roughly 3000 BC. As you might expect, there’s a legend attached to Argos and it involves our friend Zeus once again. King Acrisius of Argos was warned by an oracle that one day he would be killed by his own grandson. To prevent any chance of this happening, he locked away his beautiful daughter, Danae, so that no man could ever reach her. Of course, this didn’t stop Zeus who appeared to Danae as a shower of gold and Perseus, the demi-god, was born. Acrisius was disappointed at the outcome and set Danae and Perseus adrift on the Mediterranean in a wooden box. 

As luck would have it, they were washed up on the shores of a Cyclades island called Seriphos. When Perseus grew up he found time to kill Medusa using her reflection in his shield to locate her and then returned to Argos. The feelings of Acrisius are not recorded however whatever they were they didn’t stop him attending the ceremonial games where Perseus was competing in the discus. Acrisius presumably wasn’t watching and had forgotten the oracle’s prophecy because he was hit on the head by a discus thrown by Perseus. He was killed but Perseus refused to become king, instead he became king of Tiryns.   

When I visited Argos I was the only person visiting the theatre and the agora on the opposite of the road. The seating on the steep terrace could hold 20,000 people, far more than the theatre at Epidaurus. To the left of the theatre are the ruins of an odeon dating from the 2nd Century AD as well as some large Roman baths dating from the same century. The theatre is on quite a slope so you do have to be careful walking on the smooth seats as you head up and down hill. 

On the opposite side of the road is the agora with some notable features including another small theatre, a gallery, a nymphaeum, a large drain, and a column hall. Once again, photographers should keep careful notes about their photos as most of the ruins look rather similar. What is also noticeable from the agora is that the ruins do continue under the modern town of Argos, so there are surely plenty of discoveries to be made under the houses. Items already found at the site are displayed in the town’s archaeological museum along with pieces from sites surrounding Argos.   

On the outskirts of Argos is the Larissa Citadel, originally built in the 13th and 14th Centuries by the Franks. The castle has been recently refurbished and the walls and towers look magnificent. There are also great views of the surrounding plain.