This week was quite a bit busier than the previous few. To start off the week, we made another trip to the Acropolis, this time with my Classical Myth and Reception class with professor Nina Papathanasopoulou. I really enjoyed the visit as the site gets not less spectacular on the second go, and it was really interesting to think of it from a mythical angle rather than the kind of overview we saw in the broader history class. The ability to do site visits like this and talk about things in context is one of the most amazing things about study abroad. Our class day in Myth was on Athena, and specifically her representations and relationship to the representations of women in ancient Greek Myths, so going to the Acropolis and seeing the massive amount of dedications and structures to her was a very interesting way to attempt contextualize her in the ancient Greek imagination.
Continuing on with our packed week we visited the National Archeological Museum of Greece for Alex’s class. There is far too much to do in that museum in one class, so we focused mainly on the Mycenaean and Cycladic sections of the museum, and had some great mini-lectures on the various items. This visit was helpful for contextualizing the Mycenaean period (about 2000-1000 BCE in mainland Greece) that we had focused on in class, and continued to focus on our trip over the weekend.
The Mycenae finds of Heinrich Schliemann from the 1800s also were an interesting moment to reflect on the changing ways in which archeology is “done,” as well as the ways that it can be mishandled. We discussed this more onsite at Mycenae, but Schliemann was so focused on finding “things” in the tombs and locations at Mycenae and linking them to Homeric mythology, that he failed to preserve the archeological integrity of the area, to the point that many of the items that archeologists have from the dig they are not quite sure what area they came from. The importance of context and keeping record of this in an archeological setting is something that we’ve been talking quite a bit about in my Digital Archeology class as these days a lot of it is done through photogrammetry and digital-based recording methods. This technology was obviously not available to Schliemann, but the shift towards more extensive recording that has occurred in the intervening century-and-then-some shows a shift towards trying to understand societies and peoples as a whole rather than going in search of “treasure.”
This lack of recording also gets Schliemann into hot water over things like the “death mask of Agamemnon,” which was, in fact, not the first death mask he gave this title, but the one that he found to be most fitting of it. Seeing it the first time at the museum a few weeks ago it struck me how much better preserved it was than the others, but I did not think too much of it. However, the person who gave us our mini lecture on the Mycenean area of the museum pointed out that not only is it so much better preserved, but it also has a mustache that bears striking resemblance to the mustaches of the rulers of Europe at the time of its discovery. These inconsistencies have led some to believe that it may not be a hundred percent authentic. Jeff, our lecturer, did not say what he thought about it one way or the other, but I do find it somewhat suspicious myself. He explained that it will probably never be tested for authenticity as the mask is the centerpiece of the museum collection and therefore its loss could have more widespread effects. The fact that an object of this much importance could, in fact, be inauthentic raises a variety of interesting questions about the value of objects and the ways in which we ascribe value. In this case, authentic or not, the object bears enough cultural value in its own right that the authenticity becomes of secondary importance.
After talking about Mycenae and seeing some of the finds, we headed off on our second weekend trip, this time to the Peloponnese where our first stop was, in fact, Mycenae. There we saw what remains of the settlement as well as the various burials and tholos tombs which surround it. Most impressive were the iconic lions on the lion gate which still stands, even thousands of years later. Wandering a settlement from 1400 BCE was a surreal experience, which we repeated twice more that day.
After Mycenae we made our way to Tiryns, another Mycenean palace whose were compared to the pyramids of Egypt in ancient times. Though I am not sure I would make the same comparison (admittedly I have only ever seen Tiryns) the fort was still quite impressive. Though not quite as expansive as Mycenae, Tiryns featured many of the same hallmarks of a Mycenaean palace such as a series of public and private rooms including the courtyard and megaron. It also had a bathing slab with an extensive drainage system on which it is theorized that the people of the palace may have bathed. This was not only a fun detail, but also an interesting look into the daily lives of the people who lived here so long ago. Tiryns also has had the advantage of being excavated with much more modern archeological techniques, so archeologists were able to tell more about the site and its inhabitants.
Our last stop on Friday took us forward in time to the Palamindi Fortress in Nafplio. Built in the eighteenth century and playing a key role in tensions between the Ottomans and the Venetians, the Palamidi Fortress represented an interesting comparison to the Mycenean palaces from earlier in the day in that it, on the one hand, also represented efforts to fortify oneself in the face of enemy attack in a variety of ways, it also was built for a much different type of warfare. Its uneven, sloping, walls meant to deflect cannon fire represented a much different type of warfare from the cyclopean (large, somewhat irregular, stacked stones) construction of fortified walls at a place like Mycenae.
Continuing on to our second day we visited the Mycenaean Palace of Nestor. Before going to the actual site we got a tour of a the Grave of the Griffin Warrior and some other current excavations with the current head of excavations at the site, Sharon Stocker. This was a very cool experience as I had never been in an active Archeological site before and it was a great chance to see some of the processes we have talked about in class firsthand.
After seeing current excavations, we moved on to the main event, the Palace of Nestor, where we got the full story of the excavation from Jack Davis then continued on to the Palace itself. One of the coolest things about this Mycenaean palace is that the excavations have been very well preserved so, even from the viewing platform, you could make out frescos and designs in a few places on the walls. The design of the site was also well done as you were able to view it on raised walkways from above which gave you a really great sense of the layout of the palace and how one may have moved around inside.
After the Palace of Nestor we went to Pylos where we saw the Niokastro fortress from the sixteenth century. Much like the Palamidi fortress, Niokastro represented defense for a different type of warfare than what the Mycenaeans built their fortifications for. We also learned that this was the “new” fortress, as it was built in the sixteenth century, and that in the classical period the fortification and town of Pylos were actually on the island of Sphacteria where the battle of Sphactereia in the Pelopposian war in the fifth century took place. It is amazing to think that something from the sixteenth century is “new,” but when working on the time scale that we have been seeing this trip the fortification seemed impressively recent and intact.
Leaving Pylos we drove to Olympia where we spent the night, making us set to start our third day with a tour of Ancient Olympia. This tour brought us to yet another time period, as we talked mostly about Archaic and Classical Greece and the role of Panhellenic sanctuaries in these time periods. Olympia is, of course, the site of the original Olympic games, and we saw a variety of structures related to them including the Gymnasium, the Stadium, and the Leonidaeon (or guest house for notables). While at the Stadium we embraced the opportunity for some sporting and a few of us had a footrace which I lost quite spectacularly. We also discussed the role of the site as a sanctuary to Zeus and visited temples to Zeus and Hera, as well as the sites where their alters would have been, which loom large in the sanctuary. Finally we finished up our time at Olympia in the museum where we saw a variety of statues and artifacts, including the pediments from the Temple of Zeus which show quite impressive scenes of the centauromachy and the chariot race of Oenomas and Pelops. Though we were a bit rushed for time the museum was a very nice way to end our time in Olympia.
Our last stop of the trip was to Nemea, another Panhellenic sanctuary. It was much like Olympia in many ways, if not a bit smaller. The temple to Zeus here was open and you were able to walk into it which I found very cool. You really do not get a good sense of just how tall the columns are until you are right next to one. After visiting the sanctuary, we saw the stadium, where we had a re-match of the race from Olympia, this time I did not participate. By the time we loaded up on the bus to head back to Athens I think we were all quite tired and ready to go back to CYA.
Although this week has been packed with material, I have greatly enjoyed all of the different places that we have gotten to see. The trip to the active archeological site at the Palace of Nestor was a particularly cool experience, and one that I do not think I would have been able to experience in many other situations. Outside of historical sites, I also really enjoyed our stay in Nafplio and the chance to walk around the city. The port area was beautiful, and the various shops and restaurants were very lovely. The city is quite a bit smaller than Athens, and I enjoyed this change of pace. Next week we have the majority of the week off for the Easter holiday, and I am looking forward to using this time to explore Greece even further and also to show around some friends visiting from Vienna!