Today we packed up and spent the day moving to Nicosia for the final leg of our global experience, with lots of cool stops on the way! Our first stop was on the coast of Paphos, to the birthplace of the goddess of love in Greek mythology. The water was absolutely stunning, and the rock itself was smaller than I expected by the guide had so much to tell us about the stories surrounding Aphrodite. Due to her birthplace, she was a very important figure to the people of the island, so much so that they refer to her as the Cypriot goddess. The largest cult of her worshippers came from Paphos, and they built her the largest temple in the known world at the time to honor her. Standing at the site and seeing the truly amazing natural scene in person, I had no trouble believing that the goddess of beauty was born there. It was simply breathtaking to just take it all in and know that the spot is where such a divine thing occurred, even more so once I heard the actual legends of the goddess and tried to imagine how it all happened. The myths tell us that she was born from the meeting of the sky and the sea, and rose naked from the water onto the specific rock we visited. From there, sea nymphs dressed her in a golden gown and gave her flowers in her hair in addition to a pearl necklace, then they brought her across the sea to Olympus to be presented to the gods. It was the breaking of her necklace that resulted in the pearls forming the Greek islands on the journey, and when she arrived every god wanted to marry her despite her refusal. Zeus, as king of the gods, ordered her to marry the god Hephaestus anyway, and so she complied, but she was never faithful to him. This resulted in many affairs on her part, the most relevant to Cyprus being the time she had spent with Adonis, the prince of Paphos, when they were in love. Eventually he died in a hunting accident, and his blood formed the first red poppies on the island, while her tears created the anemone flower. These were very interesting details to learn about the mythology, since it explained some things I never expected, like the existence of the flowers on the island. But the most intriguing part of the story was when we were told how to achieve some of the magic from the myth. By taking a nude midnight swim on a full moon, a woman can gain some of Aphrodite’s infamous beauty by swimming from the rock, while men will gain eternal youth. While it was impossible for anyone of us to test our luck today, the prospect sounded like an experience for sure!
Our next stop was to the protected archeological park of Paphos, which houses the ruins of an ancient city underneath the modern town. A farmer was once plowing his field when he suddenly made such a discovery—there were intact mosaics from the past that he’d just unearthed. Now, many archeologists have worked to excavate the areas around the original site, and managed to dig out the rest of the house the farmer discovered (called the House of Dionysus, the god of wine, due to the recurring imagery of wine, grapes, and his likeness depicted in the mosaics, though it was actually owned by a wealthy wine merchant in the old days) along with others like it, the ancient palace ruins, and other important finds, such as a tomb from 2,700 years ago. Inside the House of Dionysus, our guide explained many cool things about the mosaics and the meanings behind them. First, she told us about the evolution of the technique, which started with sea pebbles (when people wanted to improve their homes by getting rid of dirt floors) in black and white to form either mythological images or geometric designs, then the Romans improved this traditional decoration (by taking naturally colored stone from the volcanic rock found in the core of the Troodos mountains and cutting them into cubes) to create colorful mosaics, and lastly during the time of Byzantine churches this style was used to decorate them with added use of glass paste (to create brighter colors not found naturally).
Next, we learned the stories and meanings embedded into the mosaics, starting with the oldest one in the house, which was excavated from what was believed to be the original palace (dated from the third century) in the classic black and white. It showed the sea monster Scylla, with a fish tail and five dog heads, known for drowning ships. Then, in the largest room in the house, wine and grape images dominated alongside Dionysus himself, showing his journey around Mesopotamia to discover the wine grape vine and create the first wine. In some later mosaics in this same area, he is shown with darker depictions of people (representing the Asian people he took back as prisoners from his journey, the darker colors of their bodies used to distinguish them from the god and the Cypriot people) and instructing a mortal how to produce wine. Other rooms had mosaics showing other pieces of myth, such as the one depicting the two lovers whose story inspired Romeo and Juliet (in the original story, the two ran away separately to then meet up and be together, but the woman was scared away from the meeting spot by an animal, who stole her scarf, and the man arrived to find it in the animal’s mouth and believed her dead, killing himself to be with her), one showing Poseidon saving a woman and then being shot by the arrow of Eros (the god of love) to fall for her, and the tale of Daphne (who was the daughter of the river god that Apollo fell in love with and chased after even though she refused him, and her father then turned her into a tree to save her from Apollo). Some of the later mosaics even had some use of the glass technique, like the one of Zeus taking a young man to serve wine to the gods (which he did in the form of an eagle, with 40 shades of color used to create the wings) and the peacock (the symbol of Hera and paradise, the blue of which was distinct with the use of glass paste unlike the rest of the image). Lastly, the geometric mosaics were also interesting, as no two designs were the same (one had sixteen different ones, all in three dimensions as well) and some contained well-known symbols still used today (including the Star of David and the Swastika, the latter of which is originally from ancient India and represents the turning of the sun). Looking at the designs, you could find any geometric shape in the pattern somewhere. All in all, it was so cool to see such unique pieces of the past still standing and being discovered today, especially with how much they could actually tell us.
The final part of our day involved free time to explore the harbor of Paphos. I ended up having an amazing lunch by the sea (specifically, a fresh mixed-berry smoothie and a vegetable wrap, which all tasted incredible). After that, I took some photos of the water and the area (which was very cute, with shops and restaurants right by the water) and then browsed the shops nearby for souvenirs. Along the way I also saw some interesting animals, like colorful birds and iguanas, as well as many smaller ships (as the harbor is a hub for fishing boats). Overall, that time made for a very fun and relaxing end to such an educational day!
