I was really looking forward to this week based on the visits we were going to and I am glad to say that it did not disappoint. I had another opportunity to go back to the acropolis museum but this time having more detail about specific items. One of the things that stood out to me on the second visit that I didn’t know in the first was the direction of Motope’s. On the back of the Parthenon where people would be walking during the procession there were two story lines of metopes one facing to the left and towards the entrance and one facing towards the right. This was done to mimic how people would be taking towards the entrance as you’re looking up; it looks like you’re going in the same direction as them. These are also very cool because from the depictions you can see different stages of the procession. At first you would see horses and people carrying wagons and items. Then there was a scene of people hanging out and talking together. Lastly there were people walking to the end with gifts and items for the gods. We also were able to see a reconstruction of the pediments with one depicting the fight between Poseidon and Athena for god of Athens and the other being the birth of Athena from Zeus’s head.
Another thing I was really looking forward to and was highly recommended by Jake Morton was Deplhi and I was very happy to go see it and learn more about it. Before I go into specific details I want to speak to the beauty of this site. It was located up in the mountains with this beautiful valley below it. If we had more time I would just sit there and enjoy the scenery. This also speaks to the location of and why they might have put it in such a location. Delphi was thought by the ancient Greeks to be the center of Greece and therefore the center of the world. This is a place that would be used by everyone and there would even be truces so that people would be able to travel through other territories in order to come to Delphi. Another thing that Delphi was known for was the treasuries that were located there. Many of the other sights might have only been visited by people who live by them or few foreigners but Delphi was the place where everyone constantly went. Therefore this was a great place to boast of one’s city’s success where everyone would be able to see it from all of Greece. We have treasuries from Thebes, Athens and Siphnos. These temples were full of gold and silver dedications and the site overall attracted massive amounts of wealth. This causes many people to try to invade and take this wealth. Another very important part of Delphi was the Oracle. This was a priestess that was said to be able to talk to Apollo and Themis. We know the importance of these oracles through the literature that has been written about them. It is said that people would go to them for advice. There is a story where a king asks an oracle if they should go to war or not and the oracle responds that if you go to war a great kingdom will fall. So the king decides to go to war but loses and it is assumed that the great kingdom that she was talking about is his own. This is common in the literature that they don’t ever give specific answers but still they are respected as words from gods and an important part of ancient Greek culture.
Later on in the trip we went to Chalkis which was located at the point in between mainland Greece and an Island. This was an amazing town and had an amazing history. We walked around the town and learned about the phenomenon that occurs there due to the two bodies of water meeting at a single passage. We also were able to see some of the ottoman houses that were still there at the time. We were able to visit the museum which was very nicely laid out and had a chronological order which allowed us to see how pottery and tools developed over time as well as items like coinage and decorations and jewelry adapt with the innovations that occurred. Lately we got to see this very incredible mostary for st luke. This had amazing artwork on the inside and architecture on the outside. This was another amazing place with a great view and I really enjoyed going there as well as getting some honey from the monastery as well.
