Members at Meteora
As we headed west for Delphi, rain was predicted, even in the face of seemingly pleasant weather. We stopped where “three roads meet” below Daulis, to think about Oedipus’ fateful encounter with his father. Later we ascended to the Corycean Cave to take advantage of the still-pleasant weather, and after exploring the cave, we heard from Regular Member Kate Larson on nymphs and the cave in antiquity. Despite the subsequent rain (and rainbows!) over the next few days, we were able to visit the sanctuaries of Apollo and Athena, and had multiple sessions examining sculpture in the museum.
At Distimo we visited the museum that commemorates the victims of Nazi atrocities. We then went on to Hosios Loukas, in a peaceful setting under a beautiful sky. We journeyed through Thessaly up to Kalambaka to see Meteora (with a brief stop in Trikkala for Sinan’s mosque), and then returned south through Karditsa. There we saw the finds from the recently excavated Temple of Apollo at Metropolis, including the stunning Archaic bronze statue, and we went on to the well-preserved remains of the Archaic temple.
Our visit within Thessaly continued at Pharsalos (where we discussed the battle tactics of Julius Caesar against Pompey), and we were able to go inside the Archaic tholos. For the rest of our visit in Thessaly, we were based at Nea Anchialos. We saw Sesklo and Dimini, the palace at Demetrias (where Regular Member Thomas Rose filled us in on the vicissitudes of Demetrios’ life), Volos and Goritsa, and the Temple of Ennodia at Velestino. New to this trip was a visit to the recently opened Brick and Tile Museum in Volos, where we had a thorough tour of the 20th century manufactory: this gave us a fresh appreciation for what is needed to make these ubiquitous materials.
For Boeotia, we were based in Levadhia, where we heard from Robert Pitt (Asst. Director of the British School) on the temple contracts for the Temple of Zeus up above the city. At Gla, Regular Member Donna Nagle valiantly discussed the building complex amidst a spectacular thunderstorm, until it seemed best to leave the plateau. We then went on under lighter rain to the sanctuary of Apollo Ptoios and the Hero Ptoios. For the next several days we visited the many sites and monuments in and around the former Copaic Basin.
Fortunately we had a particularly beautiful morning for our visit to the Valley of the Muses. Nick Blackwell (the School’s new Assistant Director) talked to us at Orchomenos and Eutresis, and also gave us a walking tour of find-spots and excavated lots in Thebes. We concluded with a now traditional recitation of Pindar in the Ismenion, led by Regular Member Hilary Lehmann. After ten days on the road, we were glad to head back to Athens, but felt energized by all the intensely interesting sites of Boeotia, and by new questions and topics for further study.
—Margaret M. Miles
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