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Greek graffiti

By Murray Bourne, 28 Apr 2008

Acropolis signOn my recent visit to Greece, I was struck by the amount of graffiti. Even on the imposing 3500 year-old Acropolis that watches over the city of Athens, people have carved things into the walls.

It was also kinda nerdy to my eyes because the graffiti looked somewhat mathematical.

Here's the first one. It is easy to spot theta (θ), and 2 instances of upper-case sigma (Σ). In the bottom right of the picture, there are 2 upper-case lambdas (Λ) and a rho (Ρ).

Greek graffiti

Here's a pi (π) and an upper-case delta (Δ):

Greek graffiti

The above carvings were on the 8 m high walls built as fortification of the Acropolis by the Mycenaeans in the 14th century BCE.

Here is the view of the Parthenon from that wall:

Acropolis

If you are rusty on your Greek letters, check out Math? It's all Greek to me.

Other Graffiti in Greece

Here's an attractive building messed up by random bits of graffiti.

Greek graffiti

The following mural is on the side of a public transport maintenance building. At least this one has artistic merit.

Greek graffiti

Having lived in Singapore for 11 years, I have become used to zero graffiti (well, OK there are little bits here and there). Singapore has strict laws (and punishments) for those caught defacing property.

Graffiti certainly messes up the urban environment.

See the 6 Comments below.

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