Chaos Hole as performed by the Academic Program members
Spring seemed to come early in March as we enjoyed beautiful weather for the last outings in Athens and Attica of the Winter Term. Earlier in February, Regular Members had taken a very stimulating trip to Crete, led by Assistant Director Nick Blackwell and Tom Brogan of the INSTAP center. Once everyone was back in Athens, we resumed our study of Athens with the promontories: first we gathered on the Philopappos Hill, where Regular Member Jon Meyer reported on its monument, and then we walked over to the Pnyx, where Robert Pitt, of the BSA, talked to us about its history. This concluded with a climb up the Areopagos. Our day trip to Megara and Salamis included a visit to the Tomb of Kar outside Megara and the Cave of Euripides on the tip of Salamis. After the cave we visited the “kolonna” site that likely was originally built as a lighthouse.
Other highlights of the last weeks included a talk on Hellenistic sculpture from Prof. Olga Palagia, and a series of excellent reports by Regular Members on Roman Athens, including the Roman Agora and Tower of the Winds, Hadrian’s Library & Forum, the Olympieion, and the Panathenaic Stadium. We also packed in a special tour of the modern quarry at Dionysos on Mt. Pentele, as well as the ancient quarry with Prof. Scott Pike (an extension of the Wiener Lab seminar on “Stones), a trip to Chalkis, Lefkandi and Eretria, and our last trip to Aigina. At Aigina, students under the direction of Regular Member Alison Fields performed an Ode of Pindar (Nemean 5) within the sanctuary of Zeus Hellanios, where it had been performed in antiquity.
A very special event—and a brilliant end to the Winter Term!—was the staging of a musical entitled Chaos Hole, written (text, lyrics and music!) by Regular Member Hilary Lehmann, and performed by a stellar cast. Originally inspired by our visit to the Chaos Hole (a truly enormous and deep sink hole in Lavrion) back in January, Hilary’s musical presented a poignant (and very clever and humorous) story of miniature dinosaurs who lived in Chaos Hole, but otherwise are much like us. The storyline traced the ardent wish of the dino-protagonist to leave the Chaos Hole, become a graduate student, and study Bronze Age Archaeology. The acting, singing and costumes were all superb. Truly we have an exceptionally talented cohort of Regular Members!
After the Open Meeting many of us left for a trip to Sicily and now April is upon us, and Loring Hall suddenly seems a little quiet and empty since many students are excavating in Corinth, or Pylos or traveling elsewhere. Now is the time to get to the library and begin to pursue all those unanswered questions!
— Margaret M. Miles
Read previous program note.
