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A Traditional Olive Mill

The work starts early in the morning. The workers spread the olive fruit on the circular stone trough and then rotated the millstone to grind (smash) the olives.

Next, they placed the olive paste in special fibrous sacks (pictured above left), which they folded and placed beneath the press (pictured above right).

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The olive press, shown in the photo above, is connected by a large, cylindrical wooden post, hooks, and a pulley system to another machine, called the "magana."
As the "maganas" turns, it rotates the wooden post around the threads of the press, moving it downwards.
The sacks with the olive paste are compressed. The rich golden liquid, the precious olive oil for everyone, flows out.

Later, the manual stone mill was replaced by a larger one that it was moved by a horse or mule.

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ATHENA AND POSEIDON

          Once upon a time, King Cecrops, asked the gods if they wanted to name and take over the protection of his city.Two gods were interested: the goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the sea, Poseidon.
          The two rivals climbed on top of the Acropolis rock, where the rest of the gods gathered to decide the winner.
          First, Poseidon struck the ground with his mighty trident. Immediately, salty seawater began rushing from the rock.
          Next, it was Athena's turn. She planted an olive tree on the rock, which immediately grew and stood full of fruit.
          Zeus asked the other gods and King Cecrops to decide which of the two gods was the winner. Everyone agreed that the olive tree was more useful to the people, and so they gave the victory to Athena. The city was named Athens in her honor.
          Later, upon the rock, they built the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena, and they also made a wonderful statue of her.

Texts - Photos | Asimeni Tr. Billi