Summer Session 2008: Understanding Ancient Greece Through a Modern Lens
Jeff Soles discusses the archaeological site situated on the island of Mochlos, Crete.
The average traveler on a six-week trip could not hope to see the entirety of the archaeological remains of ancient Greece. For the American School, however, just such a challenge was attempted by twenty curious students and one intrepid leader, Dr. Gerald Lalonde from Grinnell College. Summer Session II completed their six-week trip with the sense that they had certainly seen a giant portion of it. The group comprised a well-distributed number of high school teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and even one college professor of philosophy. A common expectation of every summer session is for each student to give two presentations on assigned topics. While some of the discussions were to be expected on such a trip as ours (e.g., was the Hermes at Olympia an original of Praxiteles?), our group’s varied backgrounds lent itself to topics such as the similarities of the repatriation efforts between the modern Greek state and the Native American Zuni tribe in Arizona, a discussion of archaeological dating using dendrochronology, and even an introduction to one teacher’s method of teaching art history to inner-city students. After a week of orientation to Athens and the American School, the eager students left to the beautiful island of Crete. Dinner conversation with some of our early guest lecturers in Loring Hall alerted the group to the beauty and excitement that would come in Crete. On the overnight ferry to Crete, we began what would become a common discussion: who had the most survival skills to take over if we lost our prized leader Lalonde? The rankings were based on our weeklong knowledge of each other and often resorted to the trivial designation of who was the tallest. However, persons who held Swiss Army knives and compasses were also given strong consideration. Our first stop in Chania, Crete, was not at a Minoan palace, but at a Cretan Synagogue. We met Nikos Stavroulakis, one of only seven Jewish Cretans, who talked of Cretan nationalism and the role of his restored synagogue in a Greek Orthodox-centered Crete. Such non-“classical studies” stops were a common feature of Summer Session II’s itinerary that served to enhance a broader understanding of ancient Greece through a modern lens. Our Cretan travels also initiated us to Prof. Lalonde’s teaching style, which emphasized a hearty skepticism. Could bull-jumping contests have really been hosted in the central courts of the Minoan palaces? In seeing so many Minoan palaces, we learned to identify megara, kernoi, and kouloures. With olive groves on our left and the stunning Cretan coastline to our right, we took many long, sleepy rides on the “sarcophabus” to sites such as Mallia, Gournia, and Palaikastro. At Azoria, however, we abandoned our bus for a pair of beat up trucks where we piled in as we rode up the steep cliff to the excavation of an early Iron Age town.        From left, William Murray, Bart Van Wassenhove, Laurel Dreher, William Duffy, Kelly Latta, Jane East, and Natalie Johnson gather around leader Gerald Lalonde inside the Minoan Palace in Maliá, Crete. Our journey across the Corinth Canal to the Peloponnese met with one of the most beautiful swimming beaches we experienced: alongside the ancient site of Perachora. The Peloponnese included a visit to see the ancient theater at Epidauros, and we viewed a not-so ancient rendition of Aristophanes’ Frogs. Nauplion could safely be said to be one of the group’s favorite towns of the Peloponnese: its seaside walkway and towering Venetian fortress made for great views and group photos, but its proximity to the Lion’s Gate of Mycenae elevated it to premium status. By the end of our Peloponnese trip, about half of our group learned and began playing Bridge. The travel north included the beautiful site of Delphi, where again, we were cautioned to be skeptical of some archaeological theories. In particular, Prof. Lalonde raised his eyebrows about the validity of the possible hallucinogenic gas emissions at the Oracle at Delphi that may have influenced the Pythia. The northern trip reached as high as Thessaloniki, where we saw such archaeological sites as Olynthos, the ancient city built on the hippodamian grid system. Two birthdays were celebrated on this trip – and the group thoroughly enjoyed the free meals: between Corinth and Nauplion, we luncheoned at a restaurant where most agreed that we had the best meal of lamb with lemon sauce. The trip North held our second birthday lunch, which included my favorite dish (since it was my birthday after all!) of fish that was sumptuously accompanied by roasted eggplants, tons of tzaziki, and even finished off with the sesame dessert halva. Our trip ended with an evening garden party behind the Carl Blegen library where the group assumed a role similar to that of the Von Trapp family who sang “So Long, Farewell!” in the movie The Sound of Music.  Our version was a rewrite of the Gilbert and Sullivan song (“I am the very model of a modern major general”) that was transposed into, “I am the very model of a Mycenaean Megaron.” The group finished its journey after taking last minute photographs of one another, swearing to come back soon and leaving with a new appreciation of Greek culture.