Staring the truth of Athens in the face
Coming out of the Poreia Theater in downtown Athens and still under the spell of the excellent production of Ibsen’s “Dollhouse” directed by Dimitris Tarlow, I felt like making the walk to the nearest metro station.
It was just after 9.30 p.m. (it was an afternoon performance) and the first few minutes of my stroll were filled with thoughts and scenes from the play, so I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings on Tritis Septemvriou Street. Gradually, though, the chill of the evening and, mainly, the realization that I was in an inhospitable, if not hostile, urban environment began to creep in and I picked up the pace, trying to get to Omonia Square as fast as possible.
I must have walked around this entire area hundreds of times in the past and, like most people, I am aware that it is beset by serious problems. Just a few hours earlier, I had made the walk along Panepistimou Street, which is simply depressing, especially after Omirou Street, all the way to Omonia. But as I returned to Omonia via Tritis Septemvriou I felt that if I pushed aside my genuine love for Athens, my propensity to tolerate the city’s decline and the fact that I have become accustomed to its squalor, I would be able to stare the truth in the face: Were I a visitor from another country, I would believe this to be a society with no sense of respect or dignity. This is a truth we need to acknowledge; it is much more useful than patting each other on the back.
Were I a visitor from another country, I would believe this to be a society with no sense of respect or dignity
Omonia Square is the picture of filth and degradation, of disgusting sidewalks and anarchic structures. The corner with Panepistimiou is simply unsafe and should be avoided.
Perhaps the problems are simply too big for the municipal authority, but this does not mean that it can wash its hands of them. Quite the opposite. It is an issue that the state needs to put high on its list of priorities. It is an issue of national importance. It concerns society, the economy and tourism – it concerns our dignity.
What can you say about a city, a country that fails in something so basic? What can you say when the splendid Athens Trilogy is in the middle of a crime zone and no one seems to care? What can you say when countless city blocks have been left to go to rack and ruin?
We are past the point where this is just a disgrace; we are at the point where it signals an utter disregard for citizens.
