Sunoikisis invites faculty members to attend the faculty development and planning seminars for the inter-institutional courses for advanced students of Latin and ancient Greek it will offer this coming fall. Participants will receive a $500 stipend, and the Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) will provide housing and board. Participants or their sponsoring institutions will be responsible for the costs of travel to and from the CHS.

Latin 295/395: Latin Literature from Late Antiquity and the Medieval Period

The seminar for the Latin course will begin on Sunday, June 10, and conclude with a free day for research and finalizing the details of the course on Wednesday, June 13. Participants should plan to arrive on Saturday, June 9, and stay through Thursday, June 14, when both seminars will meet for a common day of discussions. Departures will be on Friday, June 15. Serving as the director of the course will be David Guinee from DePauw University. The consultant will be Bridget Balint from Indiana University.

Greek 291/395: Homeric Poetry

The seminar for the course on Homeric poetry will get underway on Friday, June 15, and conclude with a free day on Monday, June 18. Participants in the Greek seminar should plan on arriving on Wednesday, June 13, for the common day on Thursday, June 15, and departing on Tuesday, June 19. Directing the course will be Ryan Fowler, and the consultant will be Richard Martin from Stanford University.

Participation in each seminar will be limited to ten faculty members. The seminar will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, with the following priorities. Those who will be offering the course for undergraduates at their institutions in the fall, new faculty members, i.e., those who are emerging from graduate programs to take up their first teaching posts, and those who have never attended a seminar sponsored by Sunoikisis.

2012 CHS Research Symposium Schedule

See the list of student presenters

Every April, students present papers on their research on ancient Greece and Rome, as well as the classical tradition. A committee of scholars reviews the abstracts. This symposium provides students the opportunity to present their advanced research at a national professional meeting and to interact with their peers and faculty.

The Sunoikisis Undergraduate Research Symposium (SURS) will be Friday, April 27, 2012 at the Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) in Washington, D.C. The symposium provides students the opportunity to present their advanced research on ancient Greece and Rome, as well as the Classical Tradition, at a national professional meeting and to interact with their peers and faculty.

The CHS is hosting SURS in conjunction with the Fellowships Research Symposium on Saturday, April 28. Sunoikisis participants are invited and encouraged to attend the fellows’ presentations on Saturday.

“The Poetics of Purification: Orestes’ Spiritual Revival (Eum. 235-43)”
Adam Connor, University of Vermont

This paper analyzes Aeschylus’ poetic treatment of Orestes’ psychological transformation as expressed in his prayer to Athena at Eumenides 235-43. Aeschylus’ presentation of the newly purified Orestes as confident and composed marks a pronounced shift of tone since the hero’s last appearances in the trilogy (e.g., Cho. 1061-2 and Eum. 85-7). Orestes’ new confidence and clarity is reflected in the polished eloquence and structural congruence of his speech, which serves to underscore the hero’s new state of mind and his faith in the just resolution to come. While Dyer (1969) and Sidwell (1996) have closely examined the details and significance of Orestes’ ritual purification, and Sommerstein (1989) adroitly notes the resulting change in temperament, no one, including Lebeck (1971), seems to have done full justice to the way that Aeschylus signals this sea change artistically by his use of language. My paper — a close stylistic analysis of Orestes’ speech that highlights Aeschylus’ use of, e.g., ring composition, verbal parallelism, word placement, and enjambment — is a contribution to this end. In Orestes’ prayer, I argue, Aeschylus foreshadows the imminent end to the long chain of vengeful murders in the House of Atreus and thus lays the foundation for the trilogy’s peaceful conclusion.

“In Med(e)as Res: Seneca the Advisor on the Familial Concerns of Claudius and Jason”
Michelle Currie, Rhodes College

As an intimate advisor in the imperial household, Seneca knew firsthand the difficulties rulers could have in maintaining their power. Though scholars have already scoured his tragedies for instances of historically relevant themes, they have generally neglected the extent to which his mythological rulers confront dilemmas familiar to the earliest Roman emperors. Medea in particular reflects Seneca’s awareness of what it meant to wield power at Rome in the first century CE. Jason’s first appearance at lines 431-444 provides a glimpse into the inner workings of a princeps’ mind as he considers his choices regarding an issue each ruler faced:  how to manage his family in a just yet beneficial manner. Claudius, for instance, struggled with the consequences of a series of problematic, politically-inspired marriages and their bearing on questions of succession. Similarly, Jason must resolve predicaments arising from his abandonment of a formerly valuable wife, the allure of new alliances, and his desire to retain his current heirs.

The remarkable similarities between Claudius and Jason’s circumstances suggest that Seneca wished to draw attention to the ways a ruler’s personal life influenced his acquisition and maintenance of power. Their shared trials hint that success as an emperor hinged in substantial part on one’s ability to decisively resolve intrafamily struggles. On stage as in life, the dura fata and sors aspera of a ruler in such a dilemma reveal the significance and implications that these very political decisions may have had on rulers and their potential power (431).

“A Colorful Quandary: An Exploration of Color Terms in Homeric Poetry”
Erica Eickhoff, University of Virginia

Color terms in Homer, specifically the Iliad and Odyssey, are not clearly defined, and many of their definitions cannot be applied consistently. I examine a number of color terms and try to find some factor that might explain the seemingly strange applications of the term. Because color is a cultural construct, different languages divide the spectrum differently, and important descriptive factors may go beyond the realm of hue and consider other aspects of appearance, such as brightness or reflectivity. By examining context, synonyms, as well as etymology, the application of these terms appears more cohesive. For example, πορφύρεος refers to a variety of things in Homer, including blood, death, the rainbow, the sea, and dyed fabric. Etymological evidence suggests that πορφύρεος is two separate words, homonyms, which may account for the apparent disparity in its use. A comparison between αἶθοψ and αἴθων, two etymologically related words, reveals very little overlap in the words they describe. This difference may suggest a difference in hue or brightness between the two. Another comparison is that between κυάνεος, and κελαινός, examining their usage and meaning. In Homer, both mean dark, but changes in later Greek, κυάνεος changes, and often means blue. This research is useful because it allows for a better understanding of Homeric language and culture.

“St. Justin and the Graeco-Roman World: An Analysis of Justin’s Presentation of Christianity as the Fulfillment of Graeco-Roman Tradition”
Trey Frye, Southwestern University

In the second century AD, Christianity faced attacks from the Graeco-Roman world because the Romans viewed the Christian religion as a threat to philosophical traditions which formed the foundation of their society. Our evidence suggests that most early Christians did not respond to or answer specific charges, but St. Justin the Martyr, the first Christian philosopher, openly dealt with these accusations throughout his writings. This paper will focus on how Justin presents Christianity as a way of life within which is the fulfillment of Graeco-Roman traditions. For example, Justin attempts to argue throughout his work that specific philosophers who rejected traditional paganism were actually Christians who lived before Christ because they lived by reason (I Apology 46). Conclusions from this analysis will be placed within the broader context of Graeco-Roman Christians’ perceptions of their relation to the traditions of the Graeco-Roman world.

“Crossroads of Cultures: Dionysos and Spirited Celebrations in Macedonian Preparation for the Experience after Life”
Alisha Kasparec, St. Olaf College

Respected ancient authors, Herodotos and Plato among them, strongly contend that ancient Macedonians drank unmixed wine and that they drank it heavily. Many scholars, including Eugene Borza and Norika Sawada, make a connection between these drinking habits and the Macedonian archaeological remains of rooms with raised platforms on which men could recline on κλίναι. As the authoritative figure on the subject, Oswyn Murray writes that southern Greeks held controlled, structured symposia in these rooms. Sawada imposes those supposedly intellectual and tastefully entertaining procedures of southern Greek symposia on Macedonian practices while still asserting Macedonians’ perceived excessive drunkenness. In so doing, Sawada does not contribute to a modern understanding of ancient Macedonian practices, which scholars have neglected, but in fact jeopardizes a foundational understanding of Macedonian society by uncritically extending Greek proceedings onto Macedonian people.

With particular attention to the analysis and application of archaeological evidence, I address the Macedonian customs with a grounded interest in not only the existence of Macedonian drinking practices but also their implications and applications in daily life. Through in-depth studies of Macedonian coins, structural remains, mosaics, and grave goods, which Greek literature do not taint, the visible relationship between Dionysos and Macedonian drinking practices creates a previously unseen juxtaposition between recently imposed Athenian traditions and authentic Macedonian practices. This reliable physical evidence tells a previously untold story in which Macedonians did not continuously venerate Dionysos simply because of his relationship to wine but because veneration through spirited celebrations prepared Macedonians for the experience after life.

“Antigone Re-Crystallized: Ancient Myth in Modern Times”
Georgia LoSchiavo, Southwestern University

The crystallization of myths, as discussed by Walter Burkert, has always intrigued me. During studio art courses, along with a personal study of graphic art, it occurred to me that the graphic novel was an art form well-suited to recrystallization, particularly for ancient plays that now, rarely performed, lose their visual impact. The Antigone presented itself as an especially interesting play from which to approach an experiment, due to its range of Greek cultural mores that are challenging to translate into concepts accessible to a modern audience. I am adapting the play into about 23 pages, translating key scenes myself and researching scholarship for the overall meaning.

My presentation will consider the process of re-crystallization and the process of visual translation of Greek cultural values into a current medium and for a modern audience. I will present three pages: Antigone mourning Polynices, Haemon’s initial praise of Creon, and Antigone and Haemon in the bridal chamber/tomb. For each, I will briefly discuss scholarship on the overarching theme of the scene, and my choices in how to interpret those themes within the medium to bring forth a story that is accurate to the original, while still appealing to a modern audience. For example, while a modern audience could simply interpret Haemon as a coward for deferring to his father, an exploration of the culture behind his actions renders him a much more complicated and interesting character (H. Foley, Female Acts in Greek Tragedy); my goal is to make such distinctions clear.

“Fatal Mistakes: The (Mis)Informing of Dido and Eve in the Aeneid and Paradise Lost”
Molly Saunders, Agnes Scott College

Both Vergil’s Aeneid and Milton’s Paradise Lost feature a prominent female character whose fate is tied to that of the poems’ male protagonist. However, while Aeneas and Adam are made explicitly aware of their fates through intermediaries like Mercury and Raphael, the information given to Dido and Eve comes in the form of dreams and prophecies which mislead them and compel them into fatal misreadings of their situations. For Dido, her ignorance of fate (nescia fati 1.299) leads to a misunderstanding of her and Aeneas’s relationship, her reading his actions as the abandonment of their marriage, and her eventual suicide. For Eve, her curiosity leads her to question the laws that Adam blindly obeys, but her lack of reliable information causes her be deceived by Satan’s arguments for eating the fruit of knowledge. This paper argues that Dido and Eve are emblematic for forces that must be overcome in order for the overall projects of the male protagonists to succeed. In the larger scheme of the Aeneid, Dido represents the foreign obstacles to the foundation and success of Rome, including but not limited to the Carthaginians. Eve, in turn, personifies the impulsive, sensual, and questioning aspects of humanity, which must be suppressed within the bounds of Milton’s Calvinist doctrine. This paper employs close textual analysis to examine the information Dido and Eve receive and situate the significance of their mistakes within the larger context of Augustan Rome and 17th century Calvinism.

“Cultural Hybridization in Roman Britain: The Case of the Curse Tablets”
Carly Silver, Barnard College, Columbia University

This paper examines the curse tablets found in the temple of Sulis Minerva in Bath, Roman England. These texts are part of a Greco-Roman tradition of cursing criminals on lead tablets. These curse tablets, then, can be regarded as a product of cultural hybridization. Such processes can be classified as Romanization, which has traditionally been defined as the Romans bringing civilization to the outlandish barbarians, focused on imperialism as an exploitative measure, or concentrated on “self-Romanization” as a move by local elites to gain a share of the proceeds of empire. Instead of creating a singular culture, the political interaction between Roman and native produced a new social formation. Thus, a new social situation came about as a result of various cultural influences combining to create a new one.

British curse tablets represent a new religio-cultural artifact emerging from a combination of Greco-Roman and British influences. The expansion of Romanization hardly erased “local and regional structures”: as a result, Mediterranean influences did not subsume indigenous British culture, but merged with it to produce a new item that was a product of both Britain and Rome. The Greco-Roman origin of the curse tablet with the British preoccupation of appealing to the gods for vengeance of thefts produced the unique cultural artifact that was the defixio at Bath and Uley.

“Implicit Characterization in Plato’s Euthyphro”
Jillian Stinchcomb, University of Notre Dame

In this paper, I will argue for a reading of Plato’s Euthyphro that has not been prominently discussed in recent scholarship. I will show that Euthyphro is a counterpart to Meletus, Socrates’s accuser, and that Euthyphro’s dialogue with Socrates implicitly alludes to central issues in Meletus’ case against Socrates. Both Meletus and Euthyphro are young traditionalists who prosecute older men out of an overzealous interpretation of religious duties, and both do great harm.

In the dialogue, Socrates meets Euthyphro at the King’s Stoa where Socrates is awaiting his pre-trial proceedings. Euthyphro explains that he is prosecuting his father for the accidental manslaughter of a servant. The Athenians believed that murder created a miasma that polluted the city, so his prosecution is a fundamentally religious act, but filial piety was also an important aspect of Greek religion. Knowing this, Socrates asks for his justification. Euthyphro attempts to align himself with Socrates as he explains that his actions are pious, but as Socrates asks him what exactly piety is, Euthyphro makes it clear that he is much more like Meletus than Socrates. The rest of the aporetic dialogue focuses on the precise definition of piety.

Though the characterization is brief, Plato shows a number of differences between Euthyphro and Socrates; as these multiply, the parallel between Meletus and Euthyphro becomes clear. This interpretation allows for a playful Socratic irony. Both Meletus and Euthyphro show through their unnecessary litigation that they need Socrates to disrupt them from their pretentions to wisdom.

“Sexuality and Intellectualism in Classical Athens”
Leigh Ann Voulgaris, Kalamazoo College

Since the latter half of the twentieth century, there has been a proliferation in scholarly attention devoted to sexual behavior in classical antiquity. However, the role of intellectualism within classical Athenian sexual institutions has received only a small fraction of the scholarly consideration it deserves. It is no coincidence that the courtesan was merely a prostitute if she was not educated or that an adolescent male gained wisdom through a sexual relationship with an older man. In the elite social sphere of classical Athens, men could only take pride in sexual relationships that had strong intellectual value.

The importance of an intellectual connection within a sexual relationship is clearly exhibited in classical Athenian literature. For my purposes, I performed a close reading of Plato’s Symposium, Plato’s Phaedrus, and Xenophon’s Symposium in order to demonstrate that elite literary sources strongly advocate for an intellectual love above all other types of love. The speeches given by the characters in these dialogues consider a pederastic relationship to be the most virtuous and intellectual of all sexual relationships, and heterosexual unions are generally treated as inferior. Ultimately, these dialogues equate patriarchal masculinity with intellectual virtue, therefore treating pederasty as the dominant sexual relationship in classical Athens.

“Frozen Music: The Synthesis of Music and Mechanical Theory in Vitruvius’ De Architectura”
Daniel Walden, Oberlin College

Goethe once observed: “I call architecture frozen music. . .; the influence that flows upon us from architecture is like that from music.” Goethe’s comment likely had a specific reference to the Classical architectural forms he had encountered in Italy; but what he proposes as a metaphor about the unity of these arts was, perhaps, more literally true about the architectural and mechanical forms of the Ancient world than he may have known. This paper addresses the ways that the overlap of music and architecture was reflected in the philosophy and practice of Vitruvius, whose writings on architecture and mechanics in De Architectura were profoundly influenced by musical theories. Vitruvius posited a unique musical and architectural hybrid, based on a view that nature and technology can be in harmony, and are not opposed. This synthetic approach is founded on the philosophical premise that the periodic motion of orbiting planetary bodies, which Vitruvius posits as the main source of machinatio, is in turn commanded by musical ratios and proportions. The natural world is a great machine, one that makes music, and in that respect it is both the source for all principles of architectural design and the proof of their effectiveness. I will investigate this thesis by taking a close look at Vitruvius’ mechanical models for siege engines and the hydraulis, or water organ, while exploring the similarities between Vitruvius’ method of description of architectural principles and the theories of music developed by Aristoxenus and the Pythagorean philosophers.

“Human Sacrifice at Perusia”
Jonathan Warner, The George Washington University

In a particularly bloody episode of his Vita Divi Augusti, Suetonius describes how Octavian, after the fall of Perusia, had three hundred senators and equites “slaughtered in the manner of sacrifices on the Ides of March at an altar erected to the deified Julius” (Suetonius, Vita Divi Augusti, 15). This event has been the subject of much debate, and many historians consider the incident to be a fabrication, arguing that the sources are insufficient and that the event is too extraordinary. By comparing the sources and examining other historical and archaeological evidence, this paper will demonstrate that it is likely that some form of human sacrifice occurred following the fall of Perusia. If indeed Octavian did engage in some form of human sacrifice, this reveals an interesting contradiction in Roman society. Human sacrifice, although generally repulsive to Romans, was not entirely inconsistent with ancient traditions and Roman attitudes towards the treatment of conquered foes. During the Punic Wars, after consulting the Sibylline books, the Romans turned to human sacrifice to propitiate the gods. Other Roman traditions, such as the deditio of generals and the mysterious rex nemorensis, also show traces of human sacrifice. In the incident at Perusia, years of civil war had laid bare some of the more archaic aspects of Roman religion, resulting in the seemingly “un-Roman” practice of human sacrifice.

2012 Symposium

The Sunoikisis Undergraduate Research Symposium (SURS) will be Friday, April 27, 2012 at the Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) in Washington, D.C. The symposium provides students the opportunity to present their advanced research on ancient Greece and Rome, as well as the Classical Tradition, at a national professional meeting and to interact with their peers and faculty.

Students should submit abstracts online by Friday, February 24, 2012. Click here to submit an abstract.

Participants will stay at the Fairfax Hotel, located within walking distance of the CHS and the Dupont Circle metro station. The CHS will assign students to double rooms, unless otherwise requested. A double room with internet is $104.50/night for each student; the single room rate is $209/night.

The CHS will provide students’ and professors’ meals on Friday and Saturday, as well as breakfast on Sunday from the hotel.

If students and their faculty sponsors are unable to come to Washington, D.C., the CHS will make arrangements for virtual participation.

The CHS is hosting SURS in conjunction with the Fellowships Research Symposium on Saturday, April 28. Sunoikisis participants are invited and encouraged to attend the fellows’ presentations on Saturday.

Click here to submit an abstract.

Athens is a city of contradictions: its exquisite ruins, sublime metro, sophisticated nightlife, its graffiti, grime, and packs of wild dogs. I’d been to the “glorious city” once before in March 2009, not long after some riots. On this visit, the city seemed quieter, calmer, less crowded, probably the result of cool weather and the financial crisis.

Early on Thursday morning, we followed a wide pedestrianized street around the Acropolis to the Agora. (Picture from 2009)

A highlight of the agora is the Hephaisteion, possibly the best-preserved temple in existence.

Next we visited the Kerameikos to see reproductions of beautiful funerary stele, as well as the Pompeion, a structure along the Sacred Way that marked the starting point of the Panathenaic procession. (Photo from 2009)

We took taxis to the National Archaeological Museum, but before going inside, each of us had a restorative beverage of choice: coffee or milkshake. I've already mentioned some of the Mycenaean treasures on display at the museum in previous posts, but here's a favorite object of mine in ivory. The women's flounced skirts are Minoan in style.

This jaw-dropping golden cup, found in a grave at Dendra near Midea, features swirling octopi. We left the museum just as it was closing up at 3:00. In the afternoon, my fellow travelers exhibited their shopping prowess. I was on the look out for a good tea shop, but instead we found the motherload of chocolate shops -- about 5 of them all on Voulis Street.

On the final day, we visited the impressive Acropolis Museum, where you can walk around the frieze panels and metopes all while gazing up to the Parthenon or out across Athens. From the museum, one can only go to the Acropolis, where reconstruction and conservation work never ends. I loved the piles of Ionic capitals.

The Erechtheion remains one of the most creative and engaging architectural masterpieces of all time (at least in my opinion). As our exploration of the Acropolis neared its end, I could sense a kind of giddiness in our group. Unfortunately, I could also sense a cold beginning to creep upon me. I still needed to buy some gifts and I was eager to have a quiet afternoon, so I set off alone.

On a beautiful Friday, everyone was out. I saw a crowd around one man's wares -- he had super cool magnets featuring old movie posters and advertisements. Somehow he got me to buy 4. Gifts mostly taken care of, I turned to satisfy my stomach and on Voulis I found a bakery selling savory pies. I got one for lunch and sat in the public gardens not far away. I wanted to find the Greek Folk Art museum (if only to use their bathroom), but gave up after wandering in the circles around the Plaka. I did, however, find a lovely gourmet food shop, where I got some other goodies for family and friends. I had some time to rest and pack before our final dinner. It had been a good trip. (Photo from 2009)

Sunoikisis is offering another study/travel program that begins May 22, 2012 and lasts for 3 weeks. Students will visit the sites mentioned in these posts as well as Santorini, Olympia, Delphia, and other important sites in Attica, such as Sunion and Eleusis. Learn more about the trip.

On the seventh day, we packed up for a night in Pylos near the southwestern tip of the Peloponnese. Our first stop, the Argive Heraion, wasn't far from Nafplion. From this ancient Temple to Hera, we could see Argos. In Herodotus, Solon tells Croesus the story of two young men, Kleobis and Biton, whose lives were well-lived. Their mother was a priestess of the Heraion. One day she needed to get to the temple from Argos, but there was a problem with the oxen, so Kleobis and Biton pulled her cart to the temple. After the priestess prays to the goddess to give her sons the best gift for their devotion, the goddess causes them to die peacefully in their sleep. I always associate this story with Delphi, where the Argives are said to have dedicated statues of the brothers. This morning, however, we were all getting the tingles looking over the plain to Argos thinking of K & B (as one student on the trip affectionately called them) and Herodotus.

The drive from Argos to Sparta, where we stopped next, is about 2 hours. High above the valley of the River Eurotas sits the Menelaion, a hero shrine to Menelaus, who was the King of Sparta during the Trojan War. He was the brother of Agamemon, King of Mycenae, and the husband of the infamous Helen. As beautiful as the Eurotas valley is, I can totally understand why Helen ran off with Paris: Sparta is landlocked, in the middle of nowhere, completely bounded by mountains.

Heres's a better view of the valley with the river running through it. That's modern Sparta at center.

And now a better view of the Taygetos mountains, which the Menelaion faces. If Menelaus wanted to pay old King Nestor a visit, he would have to go through these mountains, which Odysseus' son, Telemachos, crossed on his journey from Pylos to Sparta to learn of his father's whereabouts. What amazes me is that the Spartans dominated their whole corner of the Peloponnese, which means they controlled land and people on either side of two mountain ranges: the Taygetos mountains in the west and the Parnon mountains in the east.

While walking down from the Menelaion, the group found a family -- all three generations -- harvesting olive trees. A tarp collects the olives while the workers use an electronic branch shaker. At the same time, they also prune the trees and use another machine to take the olives off the cut branches. Especially in this area of the Peloponnese, I saw tall columns of smoke billowing up from the olive groves as other harvesters burned their pruned branches. An important note: do NOT eat raw olives off the tree. They are nasty little fruits with a potent, lingering bitterness.

Sparta has a small town feel. It was here that some of the girls on the trip took notice of a strange trend in men's fashion: sweatsuits. A few of us ate lunch at the Ministry Music Hall on Sparta's main street. We sat outside, but to get to the bathroom inside, one had to swim through a smokey sea of Sparta's beautiful people, partying midday on Monday. No matter, the food was really good and we needed sustenance to make it through our epic drive through the Taygetus mountains.

A truly amazing drive it was on a narrow road that crossed under cliffs and switchbacked its way to the top of the snow-capped range and then back down again. Just on the other side is Kalamata (you know, like Kalamata olives), where our driver stopped at this donut place.

As the sky went dark, we arrived at the Hotel Philip in Pylos. I loved my room and the view.

Here's beautiful Pylos in the morning. On the islands in the picture are monuments to the French, Russian, and English Philhellene soliders who died in the 1827 Battle of Navarino during the Greek War of Independence. Navarino was Pylos' Italian name, which stuck from the Venetian occupation.

The day began like usual at a Bronze Age site -- this time at the "Nestor's Palace", famous for its humongous hearth. Some paint, looking something like flames licking the fire, on the hearth still remains. The archives room in Nestor's Palace has been the source of some 600 Linear B tablets, which were baked accidentally in a fire, probably around 1200 BCE. Archaeologists have also found Linear B tablets on Crete. These tablets are usually administrative records, like inventories of livestock.

This picture did not come out well, but I have to include it. The Mycenaeans not only kept warm in style with their fancy frescoed hearth room, they also bathed in style. What a beautiful tub!

In the Pylos museum, we saw this magnificent gold cup. The museum also contained fragments from frescoes which decorated the hearth room and other areas of the palace.

In the afternoon we arrived back in Nafplion with enough time to climb up to the Palimidi, a Venetian fortress with an amazing view of the town.

The ninth day began at Nemea, site of one of the four Panhellenic games and of this 4th-century Temple of Zeus. It was here too that Heracles killed a lion as one of his twelve labors.

At Nestor's Palace, I saw a Bronze Age bathtub, while here at Nemea are washing basins for the athletes. Seeing everyday objects like this always brings the past alive for me.

A short distance from the religious and business complex at Nemea is the stadium.

One of the trip leaders and three of the students ran in a race, but they found it quite difficult to run on clay mud.

Next we stopped in Corinth to see the older (and shorter and stocky) Temple of Apollo from the 6th century BCE. Since the Classical and Roman periods weren't our focus, we moved quickly through the huge site of Corinth. I think it's one of the best sites to give the idea of what an ancient city was like.

Finally, we reached our destination and base for the last two days of the trip: Athens. (Picture from a previous a previous trip in 2009)

Part 5 When in Athens…

After getting off the floating palace (or shall we say administrative center), I struggled to awake from my Dramamine-induced stupor. On the way to Nafplion, we visited Lerna, where settlement began in the Neolithic age, some 8,000 years ago. Among endless orange groves, we found the House of Tiles, a mudbrick building, from the mid-3rd millenium BCE.

By the time we arrived in Nafplion, our base for the next two nights, I was more awake. Plus, there was laundry service for us! We spent midday at the Center for Hellenic Studies building (above), looking on to Philhellene Square. Then we went to the town's awesome archaeological museum with its prehistoric and Mycenaean collections.

I haven't traveled extensively in Greece, but I feel rather certain that no town is as picturesque as Nafplion. A gorgeous coast, boutiques, and gelaterias all contribute to Nafplion's charm.

Strolling along the coast, I was reminded of California's Route 1. I saw some great plants: cacti covering rocky hillsides, wild grasses, pines, shocking flowers.

On Sunday morning, I went for a walk and enjoyed hearing some of the church services as I wandered through Nafplion's narrow alleys.

After breakfast the group assembled for a day exploring the Mycenaeans, their cyclopean walls, and great megara. We began at Tiryns, which is close to Nafplion and therefore to the sea. It may have served as a kind of harbor for Mycenae. At the end of the trip in Athens at the National Archaeological Museum, we saw an amazing gold signet ring from Tiryns depicting lion-headed demons approaching a woman or goddess, while crescent moons fill the sky.

Next we drove further inland and climbed to the acropolis of Midea. From the top I could still see the sea. Though we didn't visit it, Midea's cemetery is called Dendra and it has been the source of some unbelievable archaeological finds, including a suit of Mycenaean armor which is at the Nafplion Archaeological Museum. The National Archaeological Museum in Athens also holds finds from Midea and Dendra, including imported objects like ostrich eggs vessels.

Our third site of the day was the incomparable Mycenae, the center of an empire, located between two foreboding mountains. Ancient roads go from Mycenae to Epidauros, east to the Sardonic Gulf, and west to Corinth. To me, the heart of Mycenae is Grave Circle A. Unusually, the grave circle is inside the fortress walls and its location, adjacent to the fortress cult center, shows its religious significance to the Mycenaeans. The graves date to the 16th century BCE, but the walls enclosing the grave circle date to the 13th century BCE. Again, highlighting the special significance of the graves to the Mycenaeans are the double walls around grave circle. They are made from a special stone that comes only from Perachora, some 60 kilometers away.

Here's another look from the cult center to Grave Circle A.

Unfortunately, robbers long ago looted the treasure in Mycenae's tholos tombs. However, these bee-hive-shaped tombs, constructed without mortar, still stand as architectural marvels. I've been to Mycenae twice and neither visit afforded me the opportunity to visit all the tombs. Maybe next time I'll get to see the progression of their building technique from the earliest tomb, named for Aegisthos, to the masterpiece known as the Treasury of Atreus (pictured above).

That afternoon, we headed back to Nafplion for some quality cafe-sitting and shopping time. At dinner that night, I was happy to eat my first serving of giant beans in Greece.

Additional Viewing: Mycenaean Treasure

Gold signet ring, Tiryns
Ostrich egg rhyton, Midea
Gold death mask, Mycenae, Grave Circle A
Gold rhyton, Mycenae, Grave Circle A

Part 4: Beyond the Argolid…

The third day of the trip was by far my favorite. It began in Gortyn, Crete's Roman capital, with a look at some very old olive trees.

The most important thing to see is the Gortyn law code, the oldest Greek code of law, displayed in the back of the theater.

I liked that just beyond the site, sheep were grazing on the hill.

Next we headed to Phaistos, an important Minoan administrative center, which has a spectacular setting overlooking the Mesara Plain. I could imagine Minoan bureaucrats watching over the fields and waiting for the villagers to bring their livestock and produce for counting. Phaistos is a pleasure to walk around. It's easy to get chills walking up the ancient steps from the theatral area into the palace complex (near the center of the picture). Phaistos has three large courts (the photo above shows two) and I was excited to see the treasury area where archaeologists discovered the famed Phaistos disk.

The Phaistos complex was built and rebuilt many times from 1900-1450BCE due to earthquakes and political instability. Here's a view from the central court looking up to the sacred mountain.

From Phaistos, we drove just a few kilometers to Agia Triada, another key Bronze Age site. Under the covering is Agia Triada's main structure, the Minoan "Royal Villa." Interestingly, however, the villa also features a Mycenaean-style structure, the megaron. Outside of the site, which is bounded by a fence, a hillside covered with olive trees and wildflowers hides a Minoan cemetery, comprised of tholos and chamber tombs. Archaeologists found the well-preserved Agia Triada sarcophagus in one of the chamber tombs.

Another wonderful thing about Agia Triada is the view of the Libyan sea.

One of the rooms in the Minoan villa complex shows the benches around the wall and the slots where wooden pillars would have stood.

After our picnic lunch at Agia Triada, we headed north into the mountains to Zaros, a village nestled at the foot of Mt. Psiloritis. In the strong winds, droplets from the day's early rains began flying about, while a great cloud settled on top of the snowy mountain.

We were staying in a family-owned guesthouse in the village and before we could go to our rooms it was imperative that we do the guest-host dance and experience true xenia hospitality. Some cookies and Cretan tea awaited us by the fire. Cretan herbal tea is a mix of savory herbs; oregano and sage seemed to dominant. Over the course of the evening, I became a big fan of the cure-all tea. We still had a few hours of sunlight, so I asked the proprietor where was a good place to take pictures. She drew me a map and said she would drive me there and I could walk back. At a modern outdoor theater, there was a huge rock with a large hole where I could climb in and get a picture of the whole valley. It was frighteningly windy, but I got my picture.

We had one of the biggest and most delicious dinners in Zaros. It featured great vegetarian fare (a potato frittata; salad of cabbage, beets, avocado, hard boiled egg) and a life changing dessert: a quince jam parfait. The next morning greeted us not only with perfect weather, but also a multitude of different filled pies for breakfast. Pies of all shapes, usually finger food sized, filled with cheese or meat or fruit or nuts, some fried, some baked. Heaven.

Our last day on Crete began with a pilgrimage to the Panagia Myrtidiotissa at Paliani, near Venerato. This nunnery is devoted to Mary, Our Lady of the Myrtles. A massive and ancient myrtle tree occupies a whole corner behind the church. None of my pictures came out because little light makes it through the tree's pendulous branches where worshippers hang votives in shapes representing their prayers (so votives are in the shape of babies or houses, etc).

From Venerato, we had a short drive to the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion. Only a greatest hits gallery is open to the public while the museum goes through renovation and earthquake-proofing. I rarely take pictures in museums, but some things I couldn't resist, like this awesome Minoan pottery. If you've taken a Greek archaeology class, this is the place to go to see your textbook images of Minoan objects come alive.

With about seven hours until dinner, a few of us set out to explore the city. I love its mix of modern and Venetian buildings. At the Historical Museum of Crete, I learned that 2013 will mark Crete's 100th anniversary of joining Greece.

An essential dish to try is loukoumades, little donuts drenched in a honey syrup.

Heraklion has a long pier where residents go to exercise and walk their dogs. It makes for a spectacular sunset walk.

After a restrained dinner at the swanky Hotel Lato, we boarded the Knossos Palace, an overnight "ferry" -- though it's more like a cruise ship. This massive vessel transports cars and trucks from Crete to the mainland. If you don't want to sleep in your room, chair, or sleeping bag in the hallway, you can always swim, drink, and dance the night away. With a 6am disembarkation, a party pooper like myself chose to sleep.

Part 3 Off to the mainland….

After all 12 of the trip participants arrived in Athens, we boarded a plane to Chania, a small city in the western end of Crete. We collected our soggy luggage and headed out into the dark, rainy night to meet our bus. Although we arrived at our hotel around 10:30PM, I was determined to get up early the next morning to take some pictures. Somehow my excitement at being in Greece overrode any feelings of jet lag.

On a January morning, Chania's harbor looked like a ghost town and yet I could sense how beautiful and busy it must be in the summer tourist season. A few locals scuttled to work in the cold. I followed their example and walked as far from the water as possible.

Though occasional waves crashed over Chania's harbor, the jetty and Venetian lighthouse provided a sense of calm inside the walls. Outside, however, the sea was crazed. Its fury scared me and suddenly I understood why the ancient Greeks just didn't sail at all during the winter.

Chania has a small, but excellent archaeological museum. We saw some impressive Minoan seals, pottery, and sarcophagi, as well as linear A and B tablets. The bulls, pictured above at center, are votive offerings to Poseidon.

We all spent some time looking at this amazing Minoan seal ring depicted a man standing on top of Chania's Kastelli Hill. He is holding a staff while building marked with the horns of sacrifice are all around him.

In the afternoon, the group had free time to explore the city. Rain and even hail impeded our wanderlust, but slowly the sky cleared. The waves hadn't settled down though and I certainly wasn't the only one to have gone too close to the water's edge only to be drenched. This was a happy mishap though, and my face tasted like salt for the rest of the night.

The next day, we headed east to central Crete. The road from Chania to Iraklion is stunning with its fertile green hills of orange and olive trees as well as grape vines.

We arrived in Knossos, the political, administrative, and religious center of Minoan civilization. Arthur Evans has irreparably left his mark on this site; here are his concrete horns on consecration.

I think on a future trip I would visit Knossos after having seen Phaistos. Knossos is so big and all the more complex due to the reconstructions. One member of our group pointed out that the elevated walkways prevent you from approaching and interacting with the space in a historically accurate way.

Though I sometimes found the reconstructions confusing, I did like that how showed how colorful and bright Knossos was, both inside and out. Even as a ruin, Knossos still impresses.

The rain and hail caught up with us at the next stop: Phourni, a Minoan cemetery.

Despite the weather, I enjoyed a beautiful walk up the mountain. A friendly dog kept us company and heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, when we finally reached the entrance to the cemetery, it was closed. Still, I'm glad to have gotten this magical picture.

We left the Minoan world for a foray into modern Crete and its capital, Heraklion or Iraklion. This gritty, but lively and -- I 'll even go as far to say -- enchanting city has truly labyrinthine streets with appropriate names (like Ariadne). From my window at the Hotel Lato, I could watch the racuous waves and, even as I tried to fall asleep after a tasty meal, the howling wind kept me from drifting off.

Part 2 Then, we headed south…