Despite not having many scheduled site visits and experiential learning, this past week I actually went to and saw many different things, even if they were not all archaeology related. On Thursday, during what would normally have been our class time, my roommates and I went to the Benaki Museum. Not only was the museum space beautiful, but I really enjoyed seeing the different collections, especially because it had a wider range of time compared to the museums that I have been to so far. Some of the most interesting things in the museum were the clothing and the jewelry. The former was incredible both in its existence and in its complexity and design. The jewelry was perhaps more impressive, and it is hard to imagine how ancient people would have worn so much jewelry, let alone make the incredibly complex pieces on display. In looking at all this gold jewelry, I found myself wondering about what the economics were in ancient Greece surrounding both metals and stones. Are there large gold reserves in Greece, or was most of the gold that has been found from ancient Greek sites imported? What was the most precious metal or gemstone in ancient Greece? Did that change depending on the different controlling powers? Something that I have been wondering about since coming to Greece is also the prevalence of marble throughout Athens. How much marble is there in Greece and how expensive is it as a building material?
Beyond the ancient Greek collections, something I enjoyed about the Benaki was that it had Byzantine artifacts within its collection as well. The artwork was quite interesting to see, as I am not as familiar with the time period or the artistic styles. Something that we found intriguing was that much of the Byzantine artwork used very similar color schemes and often depicted the same scene of Mary holding Jesus, often a baby Jesus. I am curious if these artistic styles were common in other areas of the Christian world, or if it was specific to Byzantine. I am also interested in seeing art from the Ottoman period of Greek history, and I plan on visiting the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art.
Aside from the Benaki Museum, I also got to go to an archaeological site with some of my roommates as we took a day trip to the Temple of Poseidon on the tip of Attica. We took a bus ride from Athens that went along the coast for most of the journey which was an incredible way to see more of the Greek coastline and what the area south of Athens is like. We lucked out in that the weather was incredibly nice and the Aegean Sea was an incredible view on the way to the temple. We were a bit surprised when we got to the temple, as we had expected there to be a small town around the temple, but the town was down the hill that the temple was on. The temple itself was actually my favorite that I have seen so far here in Greece. The location added some to the feel of the temple; it felt very peaceful and relaxed. While the temple is not the most preserved we’ve seen, it almost felt more real in a way. It didn’t seem like there was much preservation that was purposeful and by humans, which made it feel more like the temple itself was surviving the passage of time.
The way that the Temple felt was very similar to something I had discussed with a classmate in my anthropology class. We were discussing the way in which access to archaeological sites differs based on what the state has determined to be important. The examples we were discussing were the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which is behind a gate, and Hadrian’s Gate, which is completely unprotected. To me, I almost appreciate the lack of conservation and protection that Hadrian’s Gate has versus the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Especially with the scaffolding on the columns of the latter, the former feels more real and naturally preserved. While the Temple of Poseidon is not exactly the same in terms of protection and preservation, it had a similar feel for me. It really interests me how some of these ancient Greek structures have survived for thousands of years and others have not.
Apart from these two more archaeologically/historical trips, I also had two experiences with contemporary Greek culture. I attended a graphic design art fair on Saturday, which was incredibly fun. Not only were the artists/vendors very talented, but the vibe of the fair was very engaging and stimulating. Afterwards, I went out for drinks and mezes for the first time, and it was really fun to be a part of the social nightlife that I see all the time in Athens. The other cultural event I attended this past week was a dance festival/protest. It was the first time that I had seen traditional Greek dancing and I loved how engaged and talented everyone was. I arrived in between bands and when the first song came on it felt like 50+ people immediately flooded the area in front of the band. I even was able to join into one of the simpler dances and had a great time. I’m looking forward to some of the dance classes that have been organized and hope to be able to find more places to experience it.
Throughout this week, I really enjoyed being able to see not only some more historical and archaeological parts of Greece and some of the more contemporary aspects of Greek life. While the group trips and visits are incredibly interesting and I enjoy getting the more in-depth information, I enjoyed this past week being able to do some exploring on my own.