#trip iv

[extemporaneousmusings]

25/2/20

Pictured: some of the crew, myself included, in the bed of a pickup truck, heading back to the village after seeing a Byzantine church

We hit Messene this morning and then made our way to the little village of Konstantini for some incredible hospitality. Some of the town elders and the mayor had organized a (massive) lunch for us and I’m still so full that I’m probably going to skip dinner. After a report on some spolia they all took us up in various cars to the Byzantine church and we got to explore some before heading to Sparta for the night.

[extemporaneousmusings]

27/2/20

Pictured: verdant alley with winding steps leading to the upper town of Monemvasia//view of Monemvasia from the upper town

Penultimate day of the trip done! Lots of bus time today, but it was totally worth it for the views. Tomorrow I’m giving my report on Mantineia and we’re headed back up to Athens

[extemporaneousmusings]

21/2/19

Pictured: column drums from the temple of Zeus at Olympia//8th c Syrian bronze relief plaque//Hermes of Praxiteles//me w/ a brindled site pup who reminded me of Macy

Our days in Olympia are over and we’re moving on deeper into the Peloponnese tomorrow. I especially liked the Late Hittite-Assyrian bronze reliefs bc they were found in reused contexts from several centuries after their production dates.

While here I also started reading my friend’s tbp(ublished) manuscript on nudity in the Early Iron Age which includes a significant amount of naked male bronze figurines from Olympia, I think mainly from the so-called “black layer” of votive material mixed in with ashes that were distributed across the site probably when the riverbed was rerouted. Anyway, her book is great so far and I’m looking forward to finishing it this week.

[extemporaneousmusings]

28/2/20

Pictured: 1st c BCE neo-Attic relief from the Tripolis museum. On the left are two young women, one reaching to caress the chin of the other, who is holding a lyre. In the center, two women sit on a couch each holding small items, with a table in front of them. On the right a slave pours wine from an amphora perched on their shoulder into a large receptacle. A curtain is strung across behind the scene, and behind the curtain a Doric temple is visible.

I love a good artistic depiction of architecture and this one really got me going this morning. I’m back in Athens and ready to sleep in tomorrow without setting an alarm and it is going to be glorious.

[extemporaneousmusings]

24/2/20

Pictured: Pylos island from the water

This morning we traded in the bus for a boat tour of the Bay of Navarino, and it was such a delightful change of pace. The weather was perfect and it was so nice to be out on the water.

This afternoon we visited the Palace of Nestor, my first time at the site, and it was awesome to see it after being totally inundated with information about it for the past 5 years (it’s Cincy’s flagship project and also one of the most important Mycenaean sites).

[extemporaneousmusings]

22/2/20

Pictured: a fulling basin/a watermill

We’re in a lovely Arcadian mountain town tonight, Dimitsana, and the highlight of the day was definitely the Water Power Museum outside of town.

[extemporaneousmusings]

26/2/20

Pictured: marble plaque showing the ascension of Alexander the Great on a chariot with griffins, dressed as a Byzantine emperor. From the 14th c Peribleptos Monastery at Mystras.

Mystras was described to us this morning as the “Byzantine Disneyland”. It’s a town, with many churches and a palace, set along the slopes of a hill above Sparta, that has been heavily reconstructed in the past century.

I wanted to highlight this image in particular because I’m really fascinated by the prolonged iconographic development of Alexander, which I’ve made posts about before. In an ideal world I think I’d want this nascent interest to develop into my second book project, post diss monograph. We shall see, but it’s definitely something I want to keep thinking about and exploring further.