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Origin and Significance of the Mars Hill name
Names of educational institutions are typically chosen so as to capture and convey the
fundamental character and mission of the school. There are, of course, the exceptions where the
actual school confers meaning upon the name, rather than the other way around. “Academy”, for
example, was an actual place north of Athens in ancient Greece where Plato founded his famous
school. 2400 years later, “Academy” is closer associated with Universities and higher learning
than with that little place with the sacred olive trees dedicated to the goddess Athena.
Suppose you founded a Classical and Christian school and were searching for a name. Well,
here is a good choice: “Αρειος Πάγος” (Areopagus) in ancient Greek, or “Mars Hill”, in Latin. It
is the name of an enduring institution as well as that of a physical place at the historical
intersection of the Classical and Christian worlds.
The original Mars Hill is indeed a small hill northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, where
Apostle Paul delivered his famous speech to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (Acts 17:1634) about the identity of the “Unknown God”, to whom the Athenians had a altar with the
inscription «Τω Αγνώστω Θεώ» (“To the Unknown God”). Paul preached that God as revealed
in Christ is the "Unknown God". A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among
them was Dionysius, a future bishop of the church of Athens and patron saint of present day
Athens.
The historical Mars Hill is the geographical and religious intersection of the Classical and
Christian worlds on so many levels. It takes its name (“Ares’ Rock”) from Greek mythology, as
the place where the Olympian Gods tried Ares (Mars in Latin), the God of war, for the murder of
Poseidon’s son Alirrothios. In classical times it functioned as the high Court of Appeals for
criminal and civil cases in Athens (to this day, Mars Hill or Αρειος Πάγος in Greek, remains the
name of the Supreme Court in modern Greece). At the time of Apostle Paul, Mars Hill was also
a place for debate and conversation about ideas. Paul on Mars Hill does not merely preach to the
Athenian philosophers, but engages them in a rational dialogue and even quotes from their own
poets (Acts 17:28).
Mars Hill is therefore the place where the spiritual quest of the Classical world, seeking the
“Unknown God”, met the salvation of the Christian faith. How appropriate then to have “Mars
Hill” as the name of a Classical and Christian school. A brilliant choice!
From the family of Pano Mavridis
Mars Hill Kindergarten Class of 2010