Thursday, March 3, 2011
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.
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Sunday March 6th, 2011
ReplyDeleteI must say that I am absolutely in love with Greece so far. I know this is an early declaration of my feelings and this relationship might be moving a little too quickly for most to be comfortable with, but I will tell you 3 reasons why all is right so far:
1. Volkswagens are EVERYWHERE. This is partially because there is a large German influence from the occupation of the Nazi soldiers during the second World War, which is really not a happy thing to think about, but have you seen my driveway? We love our Volkswagens! The cars here are just really cool. They’re all small (Gas is $1.65 euro per liter...convert those into dollars and gallons and that’s REALLY expensive.) Smart Cars are popular, there are Toyota hybrids, little Fiats, and all those other weird but cute little European cars!
2. It is beautiful here. We went to Delphi today, and it’s north of Athens up into the mountains. I’m from New Hampshire, we have mountains like crazy, and it is nothing compared to here. They aren’t as big and snowy but they are absolutely beautiful. There are big cliffs and scary winding roads, and the bigger guardrail is on the mountain side to prevent rocks from falling on you. Its one of those things where you’re almost to nervous to look down but you can’t help it because it’s too pretty. It was really cool. Another thing I should mention - there are pine trees AND palm trees in Athens. I’m sure they’re not the same kind like we have at home but they have evergreen-like needles and the same structure, and then right down the block you can see a palm tree. It’s like a perfect climate, a mix of my two favorites.
3. The coffee is delicious. They have these coffee drinks that are iced with lots of foam and they’re milky and sweet and caramel-y and absolutely delicious. So basically the Greeks have good cars, beautiful scenery, and a great cup of coffee. What could go wrong?
Haha okay, that’s not all the Greeks have. We went to Delphi today, which is where the Oracle site is and all the ruins and stuff, it’s awesome. I never expected so much to be there, it defeated every expectation and presumption I formed in my mind. When I heard people say that the ancient Greeks went to the Oracle at the top of a mountain, I would think of an old woman sitting at the top of a mountain, high as a kite off of the fumes she was breathing in. It was so much more than that. There were all of these buildings and structures, a theater and an athletic stadium, and altars for the offerings to the Gods and temples to different gods and goddesses. It was amazing, absolutely fantastic. The museum to go along with it had a replica painting of what they think it used to look like, given all of the remains left behind and the scriptures carved into the stones, and their knowledge of stories, etc., and it gave me an entirely new perspective.
Also larger than my expectations was the Acropolis Museum. It was definitely one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to, probably because you could walk on see-through floors that showed the ruins underground from the houses and villages found around the Acropolis. By summer, they hope to have the underground part open to visitors to be able to walk through, which would be neat to see. The walk up there was cool, we saw some remains/ruins of a theater and in the metro station we saw a burial ground, they have it encased and preserved inside of a wall but you see all of the layers. When they made it, they didn’t remove it they left it how they found it, so you can see the burial plots and in one you actually see a skeleton of a real person buried in the ground. You might think thats a little gross to think about, but it was really one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I’ve learned a lot on the past two days and I feel like I’m going to come home with more knowledge that I could ever learn from any assignment, textbook, or lecture. This is going to be an amazing trip, beyond any I could have imagined.
winning
ReplyDeleteThe best part about the Parthenon was not how awe-stricken one gets looking up at this beautifully crafted masterpiece that has survived not just the years but the centuries. It wasn't how well kept it was, the scenic climb up, the view of the beautiful city of Athens from the top, or even the other phenomenal structures around it, like the temples of Zeus and Posidon. The best part was the proof it provided. Most people, if privileged to learn about ancient Greece, know about all the myths and legends. Mythologies seem exactly what the name describes: oral traditions of stories that may be true but cannot be proven. However, the people like us that do get the further privilege to travel to Greece, these people get the proof of these mythologies and wonders of the world that could only be shown in textbook, upfront. In real life. It's proof of a nation that binded together to create gorgeous structures to honor the Gods that blessed them, in less that 10 years at that. It's proof of how a liberal life in ancient times, where leaders like Pericles can motivate a nation to rise up against it's enemies for the common good of their own city state, then build world renowned structures to honor all that got them there. To say the Greeks knew these structures would remain centuries later is something indeterminable, but to say it's honorable is an understatement. It honors the higher powers that gave them the power they wish to declare world wide.
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