Quotes about Athens can be nice to read whether you consider yourself to be a true Grecophile that loves the Greek capital through and through or you are planning a trip to Greece for the first time and want to get in the mood. There are countless poetic, beautiful, and reflective quotes about Athens that have been written throughout the centuries.
Some of the most notable Athens quotes have been written by acclaimed Poets such as Lord Byron, who fell in love with Greece. Others are from books about Greece, or they are simple quotes from celebrities during their time in the country.
Athens Greece
Spectacular Athens, with its history spanning back more than 3,400 years, is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is widely known for being the birthplace of democracy, and any mention of the city is synonymous with the image of the Acropolis and its magnificent Parthenon, perched atop a rocky bluff.
Wonderful Athens is often overlooked and misunderstood. Indeed, it is a lot rougher around the edges than other European cities.
You have to look to find its beauty. But if you are willing to search, you will surely find it.
Athens is filled with glorious neoclassical mansions, quaint tavernas, adorable Cycladic-style neighborhoods, and cobbled piazzas teeming with life. They are well hidden amongst Athens’ graffiti-clad streets, and Athenians keep much of the city’s highlights to themselves.
Many people spend just two or three days in Athens as part of a wider itinerary before heading off to the Greek islands. If your schedule allows, Athens is worth much more of your time and attention.
The historic sites, museums, and attractions such as the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Temple of Hephaestus, the Roman Agora, etc, are what draw people here. Indeed they are worthy of your time.
But equally charming are the various Athenian neighborhoods, each of which are like little villages in themselves. For instance, the leafy Mets, with its quaint, quirky coffee bars, or the hip student district of Zografou, with its international eateries.
Give Athens a chance, and you will fall in love with it. The best quotes about Athens contained here are from those who already have.
Best Quotes About Athens, Greece
“Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts and eloquence!”
John Milton
“Zappion is a profusion of flowers, heavy-scented luxurious flowers¨
Betty Wason
“Maid of Athens, ere we part, give oh give me back my heart!”
Lord Byron
“Queen like the Acropolis puts on the sunset’s crimson like a robe.”
Kostas Karyotakis
“Athens embodies the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art.”
Benjamin Disraeli
“The male orientation of classical Athens was inseparable from its genius. Athens became great not despite but because of its misogyny.”
Camille Paglia
“I want to see the Parthenon by moonlight”
Daphne du Maurier
More Beautiful Athens Quotes
“Uplifted in the tranquil sea of night.
This is true Athens! How the heart beats fast
When climbs the pilgrim to this gleaming height:
The crown and glory of consummate form;
The jewel of all the world, most nobly set;”
Richard Watson Gilder
“And thence from Athens turn away our eyes to seek new friends and stranger companies.”
William Shakespeare
“And though more sad than is the nightingale
That mourns in Lycabettus’ fragrant pine,
That soul to mine brings solace; nor shall fail
To heal the heart of man while still doth shine”
Richard Watson Gilder
Ancient of days! august Athena! where, Where are thy men of might? thy grand in soul? Gone–glimmering through the dream of things that were; First in the race that led to glory’s goal, They won, and pass’d away–Is this the whole?
Lord Byron
“Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts and eloquence!”
John Milton
“Son of the race that gave the world its best, of ancient Greece a noble type thou art”
John L Stoddard
“A sweet hour of delight and love, when small birds chasing one another raise a wind that beats upon a column of Olympian Zeus…”
Kostas Karyotakis
“How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens”
Alexander the Great
“The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable¨
Thucydides
“When the city comes alive with the evening song, we dance in the shadow of the great Pathenon¨
Giannis Georgantelis
“Fair Greece! Sad relic of departed worth! Immortal, though no more! Though fallen, great!¨
Lord Byron
“The causes which ruined the Republic of Athens illustrate the connection of ethics with politics rather than the vices inherent to democracy¨
John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton
“Many of our ideas of democracy, so much of our literature and philosophy and science can be traced back to roots right here in Athens.”
Barack Obama
“That’s why the city is named Athens, after her (Goddess Athena), when it could have been named something cool like Poseidonopolis.”
Rick Riordan
“Athens built the Acropolis. Corinth was a commercial city, interested in purely materialistic things. Today we admire Athens, visit it, preserve the old temples, yet we hardly ever set foot in Corinth.”
Harold Urey
“I want Rome and the colosseum, the Acropolis, Athens, I want beauty and the flame of life.”
Eleanora Duse
“I am a citizen, not of Athens, or Greece, but of the world.”
Socrates
“In the world over, the very name of our country is immediately associated with the Parthenon.”
Melina Mercouri
“My good friend, you are a citizen of Athens, a city which is very great and very famous for its wisdom and power – are you not ashamed of caring so much for the making of money and for fame and prestige, when you neither think nor care about wisdom and truth and the improvement of your soul?”
Plato
“If Athens shall appear great to you, consider then that her glories were purchased by valiant men, and by men who learned their duty.”
Pericles
“Lost somewhere in the paths towards Filopappou here, to the city that manages not to rush Saturday night”
Konstantinos Argiros
“Let there be light! Said Liberty, And like sunrise from the sea, Athens arose!”
Percy Bysshe Shelley
“The earth proudly wears the Parthenon as the best gem upon her zone”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Every time I go to Athens, it’s not just a trip down memory lane; there’s some surprise”
Kate Pierson
“I like living in a smaller place, but I like being in big cities, too, like Athens.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo
“I would like to be a philosopher in Ancient Athens and a poet in Ancient China”
Shan Sa
“Today, to walk along the pebbled pathways of a traditional Greek mountain village or the marbled streets of an ancient Acropolis is to step back in time”
Laura Brooks
“The Parthenon is only a farmyard over which someone put a roof; colonnades and sculptures were added because there were people in Athens who happened to be working, and wanted to express themselves. It’s not what the artist does that counts, but what he is.”
Pablo Picasso
“The Parthenon without the marbles is like a smile with a tooth missing.”
Neil Kinnock
“Maid of Athens! I am gone: Think of me, sweet! when alone.”
Lord Byron
“At Athens, wise men propose, and fools dispose.”
Alcuin
“Such is beauty ever – neither here nor there, now nor then – neither in Rome nor in Athens, but wherever there is a soul to admire.”
Henry David Thoreau
“Athens is an amazing city for creativity. I bought a house there. A little, tiny place.”
Cindy Wilson
“We approached Athens from the north in early twilight, climbing a hill. When we reached its peak, we were dazzled to look down and see the Acropolis struck by one beam of the setting sun, as if posing for a picture.”
Donald Hall
“We confronted extraordinary beauty in Athens and unspeakable poverty in India.”
Mary Chapin Carpenter
“An Aristotle was but the rubbish of an Adam, and Athens but the rudiments of Paradise”
Robert South
“Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her.”
Rick Riordan
“We have the ability to be the Athens of modern times as opposed to the militaristic Spata. I remind you that the Athenians wrote poetry.”
Rita Mae Brown
Athens Captions for Instagram
Looking for some fun, short, and lighthearted Athens captions for Instagram that you can use? A selection is detailed below. You have everything here from Greekified dad jokes (sorry) to inspiring phrases.
- What Athens in Greece, stays in Greece!
- Whats Athening with you?
- Athens simply ouzos with charm
- I Hades to have to leave you Athens
- Greeking out over these views of the Acropolis!
- I’m going to myth you Athena mou!
- Take another Greece of my heart, Athens
- Athena Mou
- Whatever the question is, Athens is always the answer
- Kalispera some change?
- Athens is always a good idea
- Athens I already Arte-miss you
- How do you get in contact with an Athenian architect? You column.
- You cant buy happiness but you can buy a plane ticket to Athens and thats kind of the same thing
- Waking up in Athens
- Mornings in Athens
Final Thoughts
Did you enjoy reading these quotes about Athens? Do you have any others that you would like to suggest, or perhaps mentions of Athens in movies, books, or poems?
If you are travelling to the Greek capital for the first time, perhaps you will also enjoy reading these interesting facts about Athens, or this post on what it is truly like to live in Athens. Have a wonderful trip!
Geia sou! Xo
