Day 6 - Sunday, April 6
Pylos, GR
Words of Jordan:
Today we were given our morning off so a few of us took that time to start and finish our mapping assignment! Others, who did it last night, got to sleep in. With our limited number of rulers and our extensive knowledge of the site of Epidaurus, we did it!
We took a quick break for breakfast and turned in our maps before we left for Pylos. At Pylos, we had a short lecture with PCC then we were released to wander around the beautiful waterfront town. In the words of Zander, "it's literally like the prettiest place ever."
After a long bus ride of learning modern Greek and being quiet for Margaret's zoom call, we made it to the Palace of Nestor at Pylos! We had another lecture gathered around PCC with a view of the archaeological site. This site was really cool because we got to walk on a catwalk above the palace! The palace was sick! We were given our next assignment of writing a paper as tour guides. Once we got all the information we needed we all wandered down to the tholos tombs. Unfortunately we only got to see Tholos tomb 4. booooooooooo. Then we trekked it to Olympia to stay at the Palace of Olympia! How cool are we? We ended the day working on our papers and getting food.
Takeaways from the day:
- Pylos is beautiful
- students should always get the morning off
- Max still can't remember the number 5
- PCC has jokes
- be quiet for Margaret's zoom call
- DON'T pick the oranges off the trees at The Palace of Nestor
Words of Joyce:
As a group leader for the day, I learnt so much about how the smooth operation of our everyday schedule requires the coordination of many things like bringing the tablets -which I forgot the entire bag of tablets on the bus and have to run back to get the bag :(, and other stuff like trash bags while also providing people with logistical information they need for the events of the day. The highlight of the day for me is to walk above the remains of the Mycenaean Palace of Nestor and to see the scale of the palace and each of its room arrangement outlined by the remains mapping into the drawn floor plan (it’s super cool for me as a student going to architecture school!) Based on the material evidence and literary evidence, I am gradually learning on this FSP to practice the special archaeological imagination that helps me reconstruct the grand ancient structures in my brain while being in the same physical place of the structures - which is definitely the most amazing thing to be on this trip!
____________________________________________________________________
Day 6 - Saturday, April 5
Sparta, GR
Today's Bloggers: Zander & Maddy
As the sun rises over the Parnon mountain range to the east, the city of Sparta begins to wake on the banks of the Eurotas River. Just as the city, the students too begin to stir. An 8 o’clock departure means some roommates make their way to the dining room for a breakfast of eggs, meats, pastries, jellies, and jams around 7:30 while the latecomers souffle in all the way up to 7:55, either underestimating how long their morning would take or simply lacking belief in the importance of breakfast. The day's first task is a lecture from PCC, so everyone crams the last bites of pastry into their mouths and heads out the door to the Archaeological Museum of Sparta. We settle in a courtyard filled with orange trees and a fountain whose basin now only collects rainwater and empty cans of Greek energy drinks. We work through 3000 - yes 3000 - years of Spartan history in a matter of minutes, placing special focus on their sociopolitical systems, the presence and possibly atypical freedom of women, as well as the education, sexuality, and socialization of men. Sparta is often enigmatic to scholars because there are almost no literary sources. The little we learn about Sparta, or Lakedaimonians per the name of their polis, is from people like Thucydides (an Athenian) and Pausanias (a Roman). The modern city has also been built on top of the ancient city, making excavation difficult. Still, we can learn much from the few remains that we do have. Professor Martin took us on a tour of the Ancient acropolis … While pretty overgrown, it was moving to see an important archeological site that wasn’t as well-kept as the others, highlighting the complexities and politics of digging.
After fueling up, we made our way to the museum. The Archaeological Museum of Sparta’s neoclassical architecture houses the very types of objects by which its aesthetic took influence. One of the first museums set up for antiquities after Greek independence, it is small but contains fascinating clues into Sparta 2-3000 years ago. We saw many objects on two tours with Professor Martin and PCC. Bronze votive offerings of soldiers, dancing women, and animals tell us about who was worshipping dieties in Sparta. After enjoying the museum, we were in for a surprise. PCC took us to Mr. Donut, where we enjoyed donuts, ice cream, and one straggler even got a muffin (Erika). Then we all loaded up on the bus and headed to Menelaion, another beautifully overgrown archeological site, dedicated to Helen of Troy (who was originally from Sparta) and King Menelaus. After departing the Menelaion, the bus rolls past the modern city under whose streets more than 2000 years of Greek history lies. Olive trees and yellow wildflowers wave goodbye to us as we reach the northern end of the Spartan plain whence the Eurotas river flows to water this valley that supported the Mycenaeans, Spartans, Franks, and now the modern Greeks.
This is Sparta.
The seaside city of Kalamata awaits us on the other side of a narrow mountain pass through the snow capped Taygetos Mountains. We enjoyed dinner, our ocean views, and an overall relaxing evening.
____________________________________________________________________
Day 5 - Friday, April 4
Epidaurus & Mantineia, GR
Today's Bloggers: Caroline & Walker
Today we woke up and had breakfast before getting on the bus bright and early at 7:30 am! We went first to Epidaurus, which was accompanied by a beautiful foggy drive through the Greek countryside. At Epidaurus, we sat in the theater, which is arguably one of the most famous in the world, before any tourists arrived. It was very peaceful and the acoustics were amazing. PCC gave a lecture about Asclepius and medicine in the Ancient Greek world. We then split into two groups and dove more into the theater as well as explored the sanctuary site nearby. At the sanctuary, PCC told us about the different phases of building and explained how architecture and history in general is not linear. At the theater, Professor Martin told us more about the theater, which houses 14,000 people and continues to hold shows to this day. Roaming around the theater were about four dogs, who some say were the reincarnations of famous poets and actors. We ate lunch by the side of the road at the site and avoided the rain! We then took a ride to Mantineia, a small Greek poleis in Arcadia. PCC fiercely led the charge up the Mantineia acropolis where we were able to see the entirety of the polis lying in the valley below. Of course, we had an inevitable pop quiz that covered the geography of the Peloponnese, after which PCC lectured on the importance of scale and geography in regard to polis size and unification. As he carried on, the breezes turned into brisk winds and later violent gusts. One could have pictured PCC as Boreas, with the winds peaking as he spoke about the demise of the Spartan state and the fall of the Peloponnesian city-states. Once we arrived in Sparta, people then split off to go to dinners, some people eating two dinners! We then fell asleep in the shadowy embrace of snowy Mt. Taygetos, awaiting an interesting day in Laconia.
____________________________________________________________________
Day 4 - Thursday, April 3
Tiryns & Mycenae, GR
Today's Blogger: Sabriel & Aryeh
We started our day today in Napflion with a hearty buffet breakfast. Some more adventurous students decided to wake up early to catch the sunrise from the Fortress of Palamadi that overlooks the town. We then went on a short bus ride to our first site, Tiryns. We got there before the site officially opened so PCC gave us an informative lecture about the history of the area and the site. I was particularly interested in learning about the different theories about why there would be 3 Mycenaean fortifications (Tiryns, Medea and Mycenae) so close to each other. Once we went up the fortification through the gate we got a great sense of how imposing it would have been to an ancient army and the sheer amount of resources required to build such a large fortification. While the Mycenaeans chose this hill for its strategic viewpoint, we couldn’t help but marvel at how breathtaking the view was.
We then took another short bus ride to Mycenae, the home of the great king Agamemnon from the Homeric epics, at least according to Schlieman. This site was significantly more busy than the tranquil Tiryns and we were immediately surrounded by swarms of European school children who seemed slightly less interested in talking about fortification walls than us. The highlight of this site was getting to see Grave Circle A. This may confuse those at home, but after reading about the objects found in this grave (including the famous mask of Agamemnon) in so many different classes it was amazing to get to see the site in real life. We then split into two groups. One spoke with PCC about fortifications, the lion-adorned entrance, the 20 ton blocks of conglomerate from which the fortress was built, the water system, and more. The other group spoke with Professor Martin about the artisan quarters within the fortifications, where artists created the gold objects that were buried in the shaft graves (like the thousands of gold items we saw at the National Museum), the configuration of the royal quarters, and the history of archaeology on that site.
CRASH, LIGHTNING, THUNDER, RUUN! Onto lunch, where the FSP squad huddled under umbrellas and ate a motley collection of snacks, sausage, and sandwiches while evading the hungry approaches of local stray dogs. Newly fueled and ready to learn, we headed back into the site, this time to look at tholos tombs. PCC talked us through how these evolved–bricks got bigger, the door got more ornate, a triangle relief was employed to avoid collapse, etc. Two of the tombs were no longer covered, as the roofs had collapsed, but the third was yet to collapse, so, in an act that would have required three waivers, two lawyers, and a few prayers in the states, we headed in; if the several ton ceiling above us hadn’t collapsed in the past three thousand years, it surely wouldn’t collapse today, right?...right?
Well, it didn’t and we were able to continue on to our last stop, the Temple of Hera, also referred to as the Argive Heraion. This site was void of tourists, and the group took some time to clamber around the rubble, take pictures, and try to imagine the foundation that remains today projected into a fully operative temple of the Archaic Period. PCC shared an interesting story set in that location: in short, two sons took the place of pack animals and hauled their mother’s wagon across the Argive Plain to the Temple. When they got there, everyone thought they were the best: “wow, Cleobus, you’re so strong,” they said. “Oh my, Biton, you’re the man,” they exclaimed. Their mother prayed that they would receive the best thing a human could receive, so the God Hera struck them dead, sending them out at the greatest point in their lives. Thankfully, Hera doesn’t seem very active in the 21st century, so hopefully this FSP group will survive, no matter how cool and on top of the world we are right now.
____________________________________________________________________
Day 3 - Wednesday, April 2
Corinth & Nafplio, GR
Today's Bloggers: Josiah and Jacob
First day on the road! The day started out early with a 9 am bus ride from Athens to ancient Corinth. We’ve had a great time exploring Athens thus far, but we were all excited to begin the exploration of the Peloponnese. We did our best not to let the Athenian traffic not get the best of us, and were able to enjoy the day even with a shortened itinerary.
Our first stop was the ancient city of Corinth, where there is a museum and many ruins. Unfortunately, much of Greek Corinth was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BCE, so much of what is left is not what was originally built by the Corinthians. The ancient site was a fascinating puzzle of both Roman and Greek construction, as the Romans built directly on top of the Greek city of Corinth. We enjoyed strolling through the area, meeting an expert on Corinthian architecture and a colleague of Professor Christesen, David Scahill.
Our next stop was the Acrocorinth, which was a fortress atop the highest point in the area, where ancient people have used the mountain as the last line of defense for the city. Though our bus took us up much of the way, it was quite a steep hike, having to traverse over slippery marble and thick bramble. The view at the top was worth it, as we were able to see a 360 view of the entire area. We made sure to take advantage of the photo op.
We finished the day in Nafplion, a small beach town, where we explored and found some local restaurants.
____________________________________________________________________
Day 2 - Tuesday, April 1
Athens, GR
Today's Bloggers: Maeve and Jack
The group started the morning today walking around the Acropolis! We entered on the South slopes, where we saw the Theater of Dionysus and the temple of Asklepius, as well as some very photogenic cats chilling in the ruins. Then we made our way through the Propylaea up to the very top of the Acropolis, and navigated between herds of Italian, Greek, and miscellaneous international high school groups to see the Parthenon and Erechtheion. It was most of our cohort’s first time seeing these monuments in person, and they were amazing! One of Maeve & Erika's highlights from the morning were the Caryatids at the Erechtheion, where we also saw the (modern) sacred olive tree of Athena and the hole in the porch roof where Zeus supposedly threw down his thunderbolt. The Parthenon was also beautiful, and we learned about the politics of its building and re-building, overlooking Salamis with a beautiful view of the sea. We also met some very photogenic cats hanging out in the ruins.
Most of the afternoon was free for the group. Some people finished up readings and quizzes for PCC, while others spent time prepping for our trip to the Pelopponese tomorrow: packing, doing laundry, and etc. Maeve, Erika, Maddie, and Caroline got lunch with Jamie at an Italian restaurant, which had excellent focaccia and even better tiramisu (shoutout Tre Sorelle). Felipe enjoyed some eggs kayana, a local dish consisting of eggs, feta, tomato, and sausage. Look how excited he was!
Section 2 of Myth & Religion had class this evening, where we discussed distinctions between monotheism and polytheism, myth and ritual, and ancient definitions of piety. Julianne gave an impressive performance reading lines as Aphrodite from Euripides’ Hippolytus.
The rest of the night is free, and hopefully everyone has a chance to rest up before we begin our field trip tomorrow!
____________________________________________________________________
Day 1 - Monday, March 31
Athens, GR
Today's bloggers: Felipe & Ryker
Eighth day in Athens! Most of the crew took it pretty slow today, getting ready for our weeklong excursion to the Peloponnese which begins two days from now. Among other things this involved becoming familiar with the laundry system for the first time. The brave among us explored the on-campus laundry, located in the basement of the main CYA building. They quickly discovered that the basement gets progressively hotter throughout the day, and that Greek washing machines have some sort of algorithm that lengthens the wash cycle on the fly if it somehow detects that your clothes are not clean enough yet. To quote a frustrated Sophia - “It’s been stuck on 14 minutes for like 40 minutes and we can’t open the door help [sic]”. Those forewarned of the perils of the campus laundry chose instead to use a nearby commercial laundromat. Luckily, the laundromat sat directly across the street from a nice gyro place so they could get a snack while keeping an eye on their precious clothes. When not doing laundry, much of the group spent their time chipping away at PCC’s assigned 100 pages of reading due tomorrow, and studying for the accompanying quiz.
Section 2 of the Mythology and Religion course had class with Dr. Fassa for the first time this evening. Even though the course is two hours long compared to Dartmouth’s typical 65 minute periods, the professor brought a ton of enthusiasm and energy which got us through. We learned about how the Ancient Greeks approached the concept of religion compared to more modern sociologists and psychologists like Emil Durkheim and Sigmund Freud.
Section 1 of the Mythology and Religion course had their second class with Dr. Papathanasopoulou this morning. We discussed the big foundational topics of the course, such as the purpose of Greek myth, the reason these myths are often set in the Bronze Age and the significance behind that, the ways the medium of myth changed over time, and the different lenses used by both ancient and modern scholars to interpret them.
Led by Zander, a particularly motivated subsection of the group met up at a nearby café to translate the Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. This translation was not assigned by any means, which proves just how intense our passion for Classical studies can be. The group struggled against and persevered over Aristotle’s ambiguous vocabulary and occasionally convoluted method of explanation. The fact that the site of the Lyceum, Aristotle’s ancient school, was a mere four minute walk away bolstered their resolve.
