Yesterday morning, I woke up bright and early for an on-site class at the Ancient Agora. I'd been there before, so a lot of what we talked about wasn't new, but this professor is a particularly good lecturer and I definitely enjoy on-site classes more than regular ones. We also got special access to a second level of the Acropolis museum where I probably wasn't supposed to take pictures, as nothing looked ready for public display, and thus probably hasn't been officially published yet. Oh well, no one told me to stop or to delete the pictures. I probably would have played innocent anyway, as I quite liked these statues better than the one downstairs!
A torso of Artemis, about 4 feet tall. I didn't get a good picture of it, but there are carvings depicting fabric around her arms that don't at all correspond to her dress. A form of ancient underwear on the goddess?
A similarly sized torso of Athena. Shockingly, one of the better ones I've seen, including those at the Acropolis Museum. I have no idea why this isn't on display...
The view of the hills from the second story of the Agora Museum. Love that bright blue sky!
View of the Temple of Hephaestos from the same place. The group in front of it is another CYA class.
Prof. Diamant, teaching away on-site. He teaches the Art and Archaeology course.
A close up of the stone he's describing. He finds it so funny that the stone speaks in first person. Is it odd that I find it perfectly logical and almost normal?
After the lecture, a classmate, JK, and I walked around for a few minutes to take some more pictures and discuss the site. We came to what is believed to be the Roman Gymnasium and I took some pictures of the relief sculpture marking the entrance.
You may remember these guys from before.
This was the part where JK and I noticed something rather odd...
These statues don't have legs, but snakes. Turns out that they are Tritons, not Heroes or Giants (as JK and I were expecting to see at the entrance of the Gymnasium) and no one quite knows how the decision to carve these for - originally the Roman Palace - and then the Gymnasium came about. They are Grandsons of Poseidon, sea monsters, and don't seem to have too much mythology beyond that. The three remaining are individualized and from head to "knees" is about as tall as I am. This doesn't say to me "Come to the Gym, Honor the Gods, It's Good for You!" To me, this says "Come to the Gym and Become a Terrifying Sea Monster!" Not perhaps the best recommendation. But I guess I'm not Roman, so my opinion doesn't count for much.
I walked back the long way through the National Gardens, pausing to sketch a little on the way and take a few more photos of a statue I've come across before but never really explored.
I have no idea who the idealized women are meant to represent (I can't yet translate the Greek on the pediment) but I'm very intrigued that the one who looks strikingly like Hera (the focus of the picture just above this text, with veil and crown) has a sword which she supposedly just used to cut those broken chains at her wrists and feet. Is this Greece becoming independent or is it something more? I feel like it must have some further explanation, or that would be the focus of the statue, not one of four smaller parts. Will continue to investigate.
I made it back to the CYA Academic center much earlier than I thought I would, and so decided to finally go explore the Marble Stadium next door from this inside. This is the one Museum, Site, educational anything so far that the student id does not grant free entrance for, so I probably won't be going back in, but I took my homework and studied for the afternoon's midterm for an hour on the marble bleachers, so I won't complain.
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The Olympic Rings!
The lovely stadium from the back, which somehow make a much more epic picture than from the front.
Special seats at the front and center. Must be for show, as it's not an intelligent place for judges to sit and it definitely doesn't offer the best view.
A close up on the clawed feet of those special seats. It's funny, I don't know how well the picture captures this, but they look not quite animalistic and definitely not quite human. It reminds me most of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast - they're almost Athletes' Feet, but hunched and clawed and disfigured. It's more than a little disturbing when you consider the track and field setting...
The most literal Hermaphrodite I've ever seen sitting in the field. For those who don't know, herms were originally boundary markers around Athens, which sometimes depicted the face of the god Hermes (who was ruler over travelers and boundaries, as well as messages and trouble-making) and almost always displayed erect male bits. This was somehow holy. You see above the same idea (the male face is facing away from us and the bits on that side are definitely pointing up) but with an idealized female face and relaxed genitals on the other side. I'm at a loss as to what that means...
A close up on the dual heads - which are really quite cool and lovely in their own right. This is one of a matching set on the east-ish and west-ish sides of the back of the field. The other one is artificially weathered and doesn't look quite so cool, because it doesn't fit with the reconstructed nature of the surrounding stadium.
After all this adventure, it was lunch time, then class time, then study time and finally midterm time. This was the midterm for Greek Myth and Religion and I really almost needn't have studied at all. It was identifications, primarily of Gods and Myths. That's a hobby for me, not a test subject, which works well for my GPA, but has lure me into what may become a false sense of complacency within the class. As long as we keep discussing myth, I'll certainly be paying attention, but I need to remember to study for any upcoming tests. :-P
Last night I made dinner and was quite lazy (found RED, with Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and John Malkovitch, online, which isn't the way I'd hoped to see it, but it isn't being released here in time and won't still be in the states when I get home. Go see it - awesome movie!) and stumbled upon the new candidate for worst Mythologically based film in history. No really, this is worse than the new Clash of the Titans. It's called Odysseus and the Isle of the Mists. Avoid at all costs. It wasn't even laughably awful - just sad, and I felt quite bad for the team forced to put it together. Well, that's what I get for watching Vancouver SciFi original movies, I guess.
Today I am ACTAULLY going to Sounio. It's happening. Really. I'm getting on the train in an hour or so. There will be pictures to prove it, hopefully tonight or tomorrow morning. Camera and phone charged, set and ready to go! Now for something to do on the bus ride...
Kαλημέρα!
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