For my fourth week in Athens, I went on my first trip to an island with my family and some people from the program. But before I get to that let me briefly cover some other highlights from the week. Alex only had class once this week as he had to go back to the US to go to an archeological conference. But our one class this week was very fascinating as we discussed how complex communities turned into Europe’s first states. Primarily we discussed how the Mycenean and Minoan Cultures developed during the bronze age.
The most interesting part of the lecture for me was our discussion on how the early bronze age ended. The end of the early bronze age is marked by numerous destructions of settlements throughout the region. Yet the exact reason is not known, current thought theorizes that a combination of Invaders and climate instability led to these decimated settlements. There was a climate event known as the 4200BP (Before Present, Present = 1950, characterized by the onset of carbon dating) event, this event was a period of unstable hot and cold climate patterns and coincided with the end of the early bronze age. This event would have destroyed agriculture in many regions and the lack of food could have further catalyzed violence during the period. For the remainder of the lecture, Alex discussed what makes a state and the defining characteristics of Minoan and Mycenean culture.
On Wednesday my family was in town, so I took them to visit Acropolis and the Agora. Having yet to be back to either of the sites since our first week it was interesting to see how much I had learned since I had first gone. We visited the Acropolis on our first day of the program, so I did not have the background to fully appreciate its history. After learning much more about the Persian wars and the formation of Greek and Athenian Identity I was able to make connections between the site and multiple lectures. I also was able to tie in connections from my Myth class that I am taking. On Thursday, I was able to return to the Cycladic art museum with my family which was just as interesting as it was the first time.
On Friday we traveled to Aegina for the day. The island was beautiful, and I hope to return there again. We first visited the old Byzantine village located on a mountain in Aegina, which you can see in the photo below. Aegina today is known for its Pistachios as it is the only island in Greece that produces them. In ancient times, during the early bronze age, Aegina was known for the fort of Kolonna which it was thought to be heavily fortified and there have been influences found from both the Cyclades and Crete. Another thing Aegina is known for is the sheer number of churches that can be found on the island. Some estimates say 365 Byzantine churches which gives them one church for every day of the year.
We also on the island visited the Temple of Aphaia which was an ancient Greek temple that was the sole dedication to the goddess Aphaia. She is a local deity who was associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle and later was associated with Athena and Artemis. The temple was built upon a hill overlooking the water and provided a large view of the surrounding island.
The most interesting part of modern Aegina was its Taxi situation, the island consisted of no more than 10-15 taxis that fly around the island’s tiny roads going 100km an hour (I had the same driver twice). This roller coaster of a ride makes you question every decision you have made until that point which resulted in you hopping into the arms of the next Dale Earnhardt Jr.
