There was a time when it was customary in Athens for shepherds to walk through the streets with a cape and crook in their hands, whistling at the foot of the sacred rock of the Acropolis.
The photo with the milking is from William Lewis Sachtleben's during his short stay in Athens before he started his cycling trip to Asia
Shepherds and flocks were a part of daily life. In fact, they stopped traffic and followed the urban paths from the corral to nearby pastures. The demand for milk was great and the shepherds had every reason to be close to the households to use their products immediately.
The orchard owners of Athens often complained to the shepherds that they were destroying their production by uncontrolled grazing.
In Thiseio, where today the archeological site is located and thousands of tourists arrive to have their pictures taken against the backdrop of the temple of Hephaestus, the herdsmen once made their living by grazing. After a curfew, they left the area. The same thing happened in Kolonaki.
See photos from Athens before sheep and goats were banned:
Goats grazing in the area of NIMITS, at the foot of Lycabettus. Photographer Poulidis 20s
