Agora, National Gardens, Midterms, etc.

Trying to get back into the swing of at least weekly blogs.

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.

 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!

Museums, Sites and Dancing

Such a fantastic day today!

I woke up early intending to go get tickets to the Dora Stratou first thing in the morning, but the Student Affairs person wasn't in her office right when the building opened (surprise, surprise), so I went to the Acropolis Museums instead. It was just breathtaking! It's not the actual marbles from the Parthenon, of course (those are in London) but the building is built to the scale of the Parthenon, so they have the casts and reproductions in the exact places that they would be on the building. However, pictures are NOT allowed in the museum (even without flash) so I sketched instead. :-) I haven't sketched in forever, but I really enjoyed sitting the museum for hours while the international tours crowded around me and the piece I was sketching, several of them paying more attention to my pencil than to their tour guides. I also got to help out a few people who were struggling with their mythology, which made me very happy. I'll get the sketches up soon, but having neither scanner nor camera with battery, it will have to wait until tomorrow.

One thing I can't capture on paper with pencil, beyond scale and beauty, however, is the color and detail left on some of the sculpture. I had never been able to picture the marble statues and reliefs painted brightly and embellished with gold leaf until today when I saw the remnants. It's incredibly beautiful and shockingly fitting to the pieces. One Kore (maiden figure) still had red hair and some dye left in her eyes, as well as blue spirals on the hem of her gown. It was my favorite of the many many Korai (plural form) by far! Some other pieces, remnants, especially two decorative snakes had similar designs on them and it made them intensely beautiful and much more realistic, despite their not looking real and the design being completely unnatural. I've never been so moved by art. So yeah, sketches up tomorrow (and I may go back -again- to make some more).

Outside the museum I saw my first Greek riot (from a very safe distance.) I've made lots of jokes about the Greeks being very organized about their rioting, but I realized exactly how true that is until today. A tiny riot formed on the steps leading down to the museum and people raised signs and chanted for a few minutes until someone blew a whistle. They retreated a few steps and started up again, and the whistle followed. This continued all the way back up the stairs and a little way into the street until the group, with no apparent communication, decided they'd made their point and lowered their signs and walked away quietly chatting with each other. No wonder they send out such calm e-mails. Everyone here knows exactly what to do in these situations and it's like it would be poor table manners to go against the standard.

Around 1:30, I made my way back to the Academic center for lunch and the Dora Stratou Tickets, after which I walked back to the Ancient Agora. I spent two hours just getting lost in the area (and found a museum while doing so). I somehow managed to get behind a roped off area, but I never jumped any ropes or crossed any lines, so I'm not entirely sure how it happened. No one seemed the least bit upset, so it didn't matter, really. Just a few pictures:

Aquaduct!

Outside of the Agora Museum. It's a reconstructed Roman Stoa, so looks pretty good. :-)

The little stone marker outside this building says "Nymphaion", which is of course incorrect given it's current state. The only thing remaining of the Nymphaion is the foundations. The rest is a Byzantine chapel called "Church of the Holy Apostles".

 

The Agora is really cool, but doesn't photograph well because it always looks like a bare field with rocks in photos. So most of my pictures are column details and cool brickwork.

   Example 2.

And again. :-)

This was cool - it's a marble stand for a brass tripod, altogether about 8.5 feet tall. It was the first prize in a theater competition. What on earth would a playwright do with that?

With the above picture we're going to play a fun little game called "Guess the God/Goddess". Go on, take a gander. Even just guess if it's male or female. Play the jeopardy theme song if you like. Ready?

The answer is Apollo. Apollo, who is the youthful god that was every young ancient Greek man's idol. Why do they think this is Apollo? Those feminine feet are wearing feminine shoes under the hem of that dress! This is a strong male god, guys! Don't put him in a peplos! *confused and upset on behalf of the god*

Anyhow, that concluding that rant, I decided to go back to the Acropolis museum and sketch some more. I had also planned to go up to the Acropolis itself for sunset, but it closed earlier than I expected. I'm going to try again tomorrow (or maybe later depending on their October hours), because the marble turns such a lovely orange in the deep sunlight. It's incredibly beautiful. Also, I really like taking pictures up there. In case you haven't noticed. :-)

I saw this young boy on my way back from the Acropolis. He was quite good, especially for his age. It's great to see kids enjoying music, but not so much when it's their source of income at such a young age. I contributed a little to his pile of coins.

I went back to the apartment for a little dinner, then walked right back out with K and SE to go see the Traditional Greek Dancing show at the Dora Stratou (FINALLY!) It was absolutely incredible. I really want the dance lessons to start now, and I'm willing to seek them out if for some reason they don't work out through CYA. I think K would do that with me and we've almost convinced SE (though she won't admit it) to join us. I can't do the dancing proper justice, so I'll just have to show you a clip.  

Incredible, yes? They performed songs and dances, all live, for about an hour and a half. They named all of the dances, and mentioned the location of origin for several, but I couldn't write them down, so I don't really know which is which. The people in the row behind us knew the words to several songs and it made me want to learn Greek folk songs. Perhaps something to ask during Modern Greek on Monday? Our teacher might be willing to dive into that. After all, "Happy Birthday" has very specific uses and quickly gets awkward when sung out of context.

After all that, and being given a flower by a Greek stranger (who wanted to know why I walked so quickly), I'm back at the apartment and should have been in bed hours ago. I'm going to try going to the art supply store tomorrow. I'm constantly inspired to create here, and I really want to try my hand at some sculpture now. Hopefully they'll have clay. You'll be able to tell which are mine without my captioning them, I'm pretty sure. :-P

Kαληνύχτα!

P.S. K has discovered our apartment's "band name": Tiny Riot. Our first two hit singles will be "Don't Put Him in a Peplos" and "The Curator F***ed That Up". :-)

Acropolis Attempt #2 and Ancient Agora

Today began exactly as planned. I woke up at 7:00 am, looked outside, saw the gray rain-threatening skies, and went directly back to bed.

I woke up again at 10 am, and saw enough sunlight to convince me to give the Acropolis a second go. Many, many pictures resulted from this. As I went specifically for the pictures, it's easiest to just list them again:

The Sanctuary to Dionysus (what's left of it.)

The Theater of Dionysus

(Mom, Dad, I think these are the seats you saw. Unfortunately, they're roped off now, so I can't sit in them, but I could still sit in the plebeian seats. :-) )

 

Another unsuspecting scale model. He wasn't happy about his mom taking the picture he was posing for, so I decided not to enlighten him to the surplus of cameras around.

From above.

The Ancient Temple of Dionysus

The New Temple of Dionysus

Really love what they did with the place. :P

Scattered Ruins without name markers:

The Herod Atticus Odeum Theater (where we saw the Arisophanes play Friday night)

 

Or, what I could see of it. I'll try again later. Free admission = lots of visits.

The Temple of Athena Nike (We're back on top)

The Propylaea

The Erectheon

The Parthenon

I love how the marble tints orange in the sunlight. I took a total 109 and nine pictures today, and another 178 yesterday. I just can't stop when I'm up there. :-)

I was only on the Acropolis for about 20 minutes because I thought I would be trying to beat the rain, but I decided to risk going down the back way and trying to make it back to the apartment by going through the Ancient Agora site and the Temple of Hephaestos. I got a little lost a few times, but eventually found the entrance. The guard at the gate wasn't paying much attention and I'm pretty sure I could have just walked in without attempting to pay, but I walked up to her, showed my CYA card and got in for free anyway. The site is overgrown, but I think it's cultivated to look that way, because it really added to the surreal, antique quality of the place. I will have to go back and more thoroughly explore under blue skies and when I'm not afraid of getting stuck in the rain again.

Sites along the way

A good view of those two churches I keep seeing from the hill tops.

A couple of vases on just inside the gates to the Agora

Temple of Hephaestos

I think the reliefs here show (a few of) the 12 labours of Herakles, but I'm not entirely sure.

The Ancient Agora (in part and from above)

A limbless and headless statue of Emperor Hadrian

I'm pretty sure this was the entrance to a Gymnasium, but I couldn't quite tell.

The carving is so intricate and lovely.

After racing through the site, I made my way back to the apartment via Monastiraki. I suppose it never did rain, since - if it had - I certainly would have gotten caught in it. I kept getting lured into clothing and jewelry shops. The shop owners are complimentary in an almost creepy way. I can't tell you how many times I heard "Beautiful girl, you have such a lovely smile. Come, come, I give you best price." I did end up purchasing a small ring, but not from anyone who said those words. It was a good chance to practice some Greek, anyway.

So, several hours, lunch and a short nap later (while waiting for all these pictures to load on blogger), it's 6 pm on a Sunday and I really ought to do homework. Ah well, tomorrow I don't have class until 12:20. It will get done. I'll start in a little while and work on the balcony. I want to go back to the Agora soon to more fully explore. The area was quite large and I could easily have gotten lost if I weren't making such a bee line through to the other side. There is time for getting lost in ruins later. Possible Wednesday morning. :-)

No plans yet for birthday celebrations tomorrow. I'm hoping for a quiet dinner, and maybe some backgammon lessons from SE and K. Oh, and probably a treat from the bakery. :-)

Kαληνύχτα!