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.
Successful and fulfilling could not begin to describe what this experience meant to me. Visiting a place like Greece, most would try some food, experience the current culture and visit the sites. This experience was so much deeper, at least for me. It made a connection to everything I have learned about Greek history since my fourth grade teacher decided to spend a little extra time, since I was so interested. Learning about the Pelopponesian war is completely different when you also get to experience every aspect up close. Sure, most of the antiquity was in ruins, but the fact that is was still there, on the very soil we trekked across that entire trip, still blows my mind. The ideas set forth, the politics of the era, the same nationalism, all still present and so well preserved, it's incredibly hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteI can't thank enough the people that shared this experience with me, and the people that aided in all the mind blowing from teaching it all (that's you Irene our tour guide and professor Vamvakas). Every thing we visited, every new food I tried, every thing I learned about the culture and lifestyle, past and present, is something engraved in my mind forever. I think I'll be able to remember every detail when I tell my children years to come (when I take them to Greece, of course).
I also want to thank everyone involved with this trip, particularly Professor Vamvakas who spent his spring break with us in Greece. It was a great time and I learned so much about Thucydides, the war and Greece in general. I loved trying new things and visiting all the places we went to.
ReplyDeleteAncient Greece is such an interesting time to study and being able to visit all the sites added so much to it. Seeing all the different places and landscapes and types of structures that the different city-states built made it much easier to visualize everything and understand the actions of the various forces and understand the politics and ideologies of the time.
This trip was truly an amazing experience. Traveling to Greece and visiting the places we did brought the Peleponnesan War to life. I still can not believe we stood on the same ground that these significant battles were fought or where magnificent structures were built.
ReplyDeleteFrom the places we visited to the food we ate, this trip to Greece was perfect and I would not change a thing. The educational value and memories created on this trip are priceless. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to visit Greece and learn what we did and really appreciate all the hard work and dedication Professor Vamvakas put into this trip. Also, our tour guide Irene was great and I really appreciate all the knowledge she shared with us as well.
It's still hard to believe how advanced the ancient Greek city-states were in antiquity and how their are political lessons that are relevant in 2011. Getting to experience this first hand is something I will never forget.