February 10

This morning we started off the day, in the same spot as usual, with a presentation from Allie on the Palaikastro Statue (she was sick when we went to the Sitia Museum in Crete, where the figure is on display). This was the first opportunity where she could present her material in a suitable location. Honestly, we rarely ever get the chance to all fit in one location that is quiet and roomy enough for us to www.blowwwin particular we analyzed the differences in how Achilles and Hector react when they know they will die soon – Hector always seems to be a bit more optimistic.
We reconvened for lunch at the hotel and then set off for the sites at Assos. We walked up the same road that I had taken the day before, but we went about 10 minutes further than I did. This small town pales in comparison to the influential city that stood in the same place a couple thousand years ago. It was founded in the 1st millennium BCE by the inhabitants of Lesbos (an island just off the shore from here) and reached its artistic peak in the 4th century BCE - Aristotle even stayed here for 2 years. The ruins that are still standing don’t give a very good impression of the former life of Assos, but we did our best to imagine the former city. We did our usual survey of the temple, trying to figure out how many columns used to stand, what their arrangement was, pointed out irregularities (the temple seems to be unfinished – the handles on the stone foundation hadn’t been sanded off yet), etc.
Next we went to the theater. On the way there, we were walking past 3 bulls. I commented how these were very mild ones, as I had already passed them on previous walks. Of course, though, as I am telling them this, a truck comes barreling around the corner, spooking the bulls, who then try to jump over each other and get out of the way of the truck. We all quickly run away, but Bryce almost got run over as he was very close to the bulls and there was no better direction to pick. All survived, but it was a bit frightening.
There has been a lot of reconstruction to this theater, but a section of it was left in ruins so that we could compare what was found to how it used to look. We tested the acoustics by sitting in the nose bleed section and having Wheat rap “Ice Ice Baby” (he knows all the lyrics). We could hear every word, and he was creating further embarrassment for himself by rapping loudly. If the sun hadn’t been setting (and the wind therefore getting chillier), we would have read the last book of The Iliad aloud. But, Krentz and Gulin thought that since it takes a good hour to read 1 book, we had better read it at the hotel.
We met at 6 to read and then had dinner at 7. I am going to miss this hotel, well, everything except the breakfast; that hasn’t been as good as other places where we have stayed. Fresh fruit always makes breakfast much more enjoyable and satisfying. After dinner a few of us watched about an hour of Troy (the 2004 movie) in my room, but we were all pretty tired and that movie just isn’t very good. It’s plot doesn’t do justice to Homer’s epic.
Tomorrow we go to Troy.