After trouble in Berea, the Christians immediately send Paul to the coast and then on to Athens. While Paul is waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him in Athens, he becomes greatly distressed because the city is full of idols. The Greeks worshipped many gods. Diversity was tolerated within their culture. There were male and female deities, high and low gods, and temples and sacrifices. Gods like Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and sexual desire. . .Artemis, goddess of childbirth, of nature, and of the harvest. . . Hermes, the messenger of the gods and the protector of travelers, thieves, and merchants. . .Poseidon, the god of the sea. . . and Zeus, the ruler of the gods.
Acropolis with Parthenon in Athens
The Erechtheum, on the north side of the Acropolis, was built between 421 BCE and 407 BCE. The temple was dedicated to Athena and Poseidon.
Erechtheum
Erechtheum close-up
Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? (NIV) Acts 17:19
As Paul preached on the Areopagus or Mars Hill he had a panorama of the city with the Acropolis, the Agora or marketplace, the homes and the place for government officials to make decisions.
View of Mars Hill from Acropolis
View of Acropolis from Mars Hill
View of the Agora or the marketplace from Mars Hill
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