Athens

We reconvened in Athens on the Monday after Spring Break for a hike up the Lykavittos hill. This gave us a great view of the Acropolis and the city, and Dr. Krentz showed us everything we would see. On Tuesday we visited the Hypasteion, the most complete extent Doric temple. We also climbed the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon. The Parthenon is often thought to be the most beautiful Greek temple, and people even say this since most of its sculpture has been removed. It exhibits the finest features of Doric and Ionic architecture, and all of the columns lean in slightly so that it does not contain a single straight line. I found its location above Athens to be dominating and inspiring.

We had the privilege in Athens of receiving guided tours from the excavators at various sites. Jutta Stroszeck guided us at Kerameikos, and John Camp led us around the Athenian Agora. John Camp was a particularly fascinating guide, and he emphasized the importance of the Greeks in history because of their lasting influence in the Olympics, coinage, philosophy, and democracy, among other things. Camp showed us archaeological storerooms at the Agora where we saw rows upon rows of pottery as well as ancient skeletons. The amount of pottery we have seen on this trip makes it easy to overlook it as mundane. Camp spoke to us about the importance of pottery in learning about history, and he certainly renewed in me an interest in and an appreciation for pottery. Pottery is breakable but indestructible, and since styles are in constant change, a trained eye can immediately tell what time period a piece is from.

Jennifer Neils, a professor at Kenyon College and expert on Greek art, guided us at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, and Molly Richardson, who works at the American School in Athens, guided us through the Epigraphy Museum. Dr. Toumazou (Davidson Classics professor) joined us at the National Archaeological Museum, and it was a joy and surprise to see him. He is currently on Sabbatical, and he happened to be in Athens when we were. On the 14th, we took a ferry from Athens to the island Aegina, which, like most places we have seen, is absolutely beautiful. There we visited the Temple of Aphaia.

We stayed at the AthenStyle Hostel while in Athens, and this was the group’s first hostel experience. I was in the room with four girls (another room had the other three), and the room was tiny. There was barely room to walk between the two bunk beds, and the beds were very close to the walls at the head and foot of them. The breakfasts at the AthenStyle were simple, consisting of bread, jam, water and orange juice. The bread though was delicious and may have been the best bread I’ve had all trip.