This week was a bit calmer than last because we didn’t have a substantial site visit. As we get closer to the end of the term, finals are kicking into full gear and there’s been a significant increase in the amount of work we have to turn in. I’ve been stressed a lot but am trying to enjoy these last few weeks in Greece.
On Tuesday, we visited the Pnyx hill in Athens with Prof. Edward Harris (who also showed us around Delphi this past weekend). I had thought that we saw everything related to Athenian democracy while visiting the Agora, but I was wrong. The Pnyx was the most important place for Athenian democracy as it was the gathering place for voting and proposing ideas. The site was rather barren and did not show many traces of this great history. I thought it was interesting that the speaker’s podium was in three different positions throughout the history of the Pnyx. First, it faced the Agora, then Piraeus, and, finally, the Acropolis. I wonder what drove these decisions and shift in priority. It was great to visit the site with Prof. Harris because I could tell it was his forte.
On Thursday, we visited the Numismatic Museum in Athens with Prof. Selene Psoma, an expert on ancient numismatics. The museum is housed in the home of Heinrich Schliemann, the famous archaeologist who excavated Mycenae and found the ‘Mask of Agamemnon.’ Of course now we all know how questionable his methods were and how problematic he was, but his house was beautiful. That might have been the highlight of the museum for me.
I thought the coins were interesting but they all started to blend together at a certain point. I find it fascinating that coins can tell us so much about ancient life. The figures represented on the coins are markers of what and who was valued at the time, while their existence can be used to locate unknown towns. It was fun to see the different images depicted and connect them to a particular settlement or god.
In this first image, you can see how coins were tested to see if they were silver-plated bronze. The only way they could tell was by striking the coin and breaking through the silver layer. Solid silver coins were worth more than silver-plated bronze coins or plain bronze coins.
Next, you can see a pair of coins that depict an owl and an olive tree leaf. This imagery represents the god Athena and means that the coins are likely Athenian. I really enjoyed the coins that showed natural scenes and animals, and the detail on these coins was very nice.
Finally, here is a Pegasus coin! After hearing that Pegasus was on some coins, I began searching for all of the Pegasus coins. Pegasus is one of my favorite mythological beings and happened to be my high school mascot, so it was fun to see the different versions.
Charlotte and I went to the Farmers’ Market on Friday in our neighborhood. It’s just down the street, but we’ve never gone because we’re always out of town on Friday morning. We had fun walking through all the vendors and picked up some delicious cherries and oranges from Nafplio. I was surprised by how low the prices were and how friendly the farmers were to us. I hope to go back before I leave Athens.
(Big) Stella arranged a really cool ancient pottery workshop for us on Friday that I enjoyed a lot. We got to practice ancient red-figure and black-figure painting techniques, and I gained a new appreciation for ancient potters. It was very difficult to be precise. I painted a fish in black-figure and an owl in red-figure… I hope they turn out well.
I really wanted to visit this awesome beach one more time before the end of the term because it is just that epic. The weather was not ideal because of the Saharan dust, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. Chalkiada beach on Agistri is definitely the best beach I’ve ever been to and probably will ever go to. I highly recommend it. Charlotte and I also did some hiking around the area and enjoyed the other scenery on the island (all the pine trees!).
That’s all for this week! I’m looking forward to Santorini and Crete next weekend.