Thank You!

We're Back!

Our trip to Greece tracing Thucydides' telling of the Peloponnesian War exceeded expectations for everyone. The success of the trip is in large part due to excellent planning and execution of the itinerary by a number of very capable professionals in Boston and Athens, to whom I'm very grateful. Experiencing the Peloponnesian War beyond the pages of history, made something that was a legendary tale into reality.

Reviewing the geopolitical characteristics of the competing city states allowed for a deeper understanding of the continued importance of geography to the nature of state competition and to the social, economic, and political character of society. The juxtaposition of the stark and drastically different political cultures of Athens and Sparta emanates in part from the closeness and harshness of the landscape of the Tayetos plateau vis-a-vis the openness to the sea that democratic Athens develops.

We also had the chance to combine the stories of antiquity with the contemporary reality of Greece and its people and culture. Thank you to all for a very successful and fulfilling experience.

This is Sparta!

I couldn't resist the title of this entry, as we have made it to the town of Sparti (Σπαρτη). This town in the plateau of Tayetos mountains was in antiquity the opposing pole of power to democratic and seafaring Athens. This was the classical geopolitical confrontation between land- versus naval-power. The rugged land-locked terrain of Sparta forged a distinct social, political, and economic structure. The ambition of Athens was matched with the practical conservatism of Sparta. These two socio-political systems represented by the two city-states of antiquity could not avoid the centrifugal forces of competition and envy which resulted in a devastating and mutually suicidal war.

The historical turning points at Sphakteria

On the southern point of western Peloponnese the rocky formation of Sphacteria acts as a natural wave breaker for the strategically important harbor of Pylos. During the point during the seventh year of the Peloponnesian War an important battle took place that at the time seemed to tilt the war in favor of Athens. The Athenians led by Demosthenes and Cleon defeated the Spartans that had been sieged on this rocky formation. The significance of Pylos is widely recognized as a turning point in the war, as well as, the first of two confrontations of the Spartan Brasidas against the Athenian Cleon. Two years later these two generals would meet again in battle at Amphipolis, and even though Brasidas would get revenge for the devastating and demoralizing defeat at Pylos, he dies in battle along with his Athenian adversary, Cleon.

In 1827 the same bay of Navarino becomes the location where the fleets of France, Russia and Great Britain defeat the Ottoman fleet which forces the Ottoman empire to recognize the independence of the modern Greek state.

On this day Pylos marks a turning point in our travels through the Peloponnese as we will head north to Sparta.

Olympic Students

After changing our charted path due to unusually inclement weather, we arrived at Olympia a site of Hellenic unity for the Greek city-states during antiquity. The denial of participation of the Lacedemonians by the people of Elis to the site of Olympia at 420 BC was the cause for the second phase of the Peloponnesian war.

However, we were not to be denied despite the weather obstacles of Aeolos, and successfully competed, at least got on the starting line.

At the Parthenon

Despite a cloudy day we perseveired and followed the steps of Thucydides using the Panathenian Way from the Keramikos cemetery to the ancient agora to the Parthenon.

We discussed the Funerary Oration that Pericles delivered to commemorate the fallen Athenian soldiers, after the first year of the Peloponnesian War, not only remarking on the tremendous career of the Athenian leader, but also pointing out the elements in the speech that mirror the attributes of the modern state.

After a brief visit at the Museum of Keramikos, we reviewed the archeological finds of the cemetery and of the ancient Agora of Athens, and made our way up the hill to the Areopagus or Hill of Ares (Greek: Άρειος Πάγος). Areopagus was not only a place of Judicial Review in antiquity, but was also the hill from which St. Paul addressed the Athenians centuries later. The Parthenon, the ultimate symbol of Athenian power was now mere steps away, as we crossed the gate and the temple of Niki (Victory) with the Erectheion (temple to Poseidon) on the right. The fleeting Athenian power that Thucydides describes throughout his historical account is embodied in the buildings on this hill, a reminder for all that power is intoxicating and entrapping.

Emmanuel at Delphi in search of Thucydides

Our search for Thucydides like any undertaking in antiquity began at the oracle of Delphi.

Despite an unusually rainy March day in Attica (the region around Athens), as ancient travelers we followed the Holy Road (Iera Odos) out of Athens through Boeotia, and the old city state of Thebes and climbed Mount Parnassos to visit the oracle of Apollo, God of Sun, Music and the Arts. (The sun did come through the clouds during our visit) We visited the old temples and treasuries, the ancient theater and stadium. Our guide Irene like a modern-day pythia (oracle) guided us through the maze of remarkable structures that have withstood earthquakes, fire, invasion and greed as a reminder of a past whose ideals have guided contemporary athletic and political concepts.

The oracle thinks we are on the right path to find Thucydides, as she pointed us to the cemetery of Keramikos, the Athenian Agora and Parthenon, where Pericles the great Athenian of the 5th century created the democratic prototype of the democratic and sovereign state. Tomorrow, which is "Clean Monday" in Greece as the beginning of lent is marked in Greece we will follow the advise of the Oracle and visit the Parthenon and Keramikos cemetery.

In the Steps of Thucydides

As we are ready to travel to Greece and physically trace the Peloponnesian War as it was described by the Athenian general and politician Thucydides, this blog will serve as our ongoing travel log and memoir of our on-site visit. The writing of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides was his attempt, later in life, at leaving a lasting memory of his perspective of history by empirical evidence, based on observation and experience. Unlike Thucydides through this blog we will provide a record of our observations and experiences in real time which will hopefully be even more accurate.