A Greek Odyssey

This October half- term saw 14 pupils and two teachers embark on the first Senior Classics Trip since 2018. A 2am meet on a Tuesday morning was welcomed by all the group and their parents, desperate to fit in as many sites and museums as possible. First up was a nice entry level site, an amuse-bouche if you will, as the group visited the theatre at Thorikos with its unique rectangular-shaped orchestra. Then it was off to Cape Sounion, where we enjoyed stunning views of the Aegean, searched for Lord Byron’s graffiti and discovered some over-protective partridge guarding the temple of Poseidon.

After a refreshing sleep and breakfast in our hotel in central Athens, the second day saw us start by visiting the Acropolis and the Theatre of Dionysus. Mr Feeney particularly enjoyed our phone call back in England, where he was able to compare the relative architectural merits of the Parthenon vs the Willett Hall. Jonty Manners-Bell gave an excellent talk to the group about the Parthenon, before we made our way down through the Propylaea gateway to the Agora, allowing a little time on the way for Freddie Russell to buy a rather suspect-looking bottle opener. In the Agora we marvelled at the majestic Temple of Hephaestus and enjoyed the museum, where we found two statues depicting personifications of the Iliad and the Odyssey. After a hearty lunch, it was off to the New Acropolis Museum to study some of the artefacts in more detail before we took the bus to our next hotel in Delphi.

Delphi never fails to disappoint and even the selection of rather large, barky wild dogs waiting to greet us at the entrance to the site could not spoil the stunning view over the valley. We enjoyed walking up the sacred way, finding the omphalos stone (which marks the centre of the world), discussing the consultation process of the oracle, before finishing the site with the theatre and athletics track. However, the excitement of the Greek Art students was palpable, and you could smell the anticipation in the air as they chomped at the bit to get into the museum and see Cleobis and Biton, as well as the statue of the Delphic Charioteer. They were not disappointed and Bethan Cheshire was particularly delighted to see the inscriptions of the Delphic Hymns, the earliest surviving example of notated music from the western world. From Delphi we travelled to a new stop on our tour, the award-winning museum at Thebes. It was beautifully laid out, with a stunning mosaic and an accessible archaeological site underneath the museum building itself.

The penultimate day of our tour took us to the Peloponnese and first up was the site of Mycenae. We marvelled at the Lion Gate and the Cyclopean walls, before we bumped into a French documentary crew taking drone footage of the site for their series which should be out next year. Next up was the Palamidi fortress in the Venetian town of Nauplion, where we got horribly lost trying to find the exit, bumped into a tortoise and then tested the impact on our knees by walking down the 913 steps to the town centre. After lunch it was off to one of the most stunning Classical sites in the world, the theatre at Epidavros. Maddie Bobin and Robert Hill decided to test the world-famous acoustics with their rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’, which was not to the local Greek attendant’s tastes. On return to the hotel, we finally had a bit of free time, in which Mr Bull schooled the children in how to play Nomination Whist, and Isla Byrne enjoyed a special cake to celebrate her birthday. Meanwhile, Robert Hill was so taken with his new Eton friends in the adjacent room that he decided to attend their school’s briefing on what sites they were going to see the next day!

The final day began with a visit to the Mycenaean fortress of Tiryns before arriving at the last major archaeological site of Corinth. The site was packed with religious tour groups, eager to follow in the footsteps of St Paul, and Freddie Russell certainly enjoyed preaching to his faithful followers from the Bema in the town centre. We stopped for lunch at the Corinth Canal, where we saw someone taking the plunge from the bungee jump platform and Mr Bull definitely didn’t suffer from vertigo as he looked over the edge to take a photo. Our final stop was to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens where the pupils had a chance to put all of the cultural sites and artefacts into context. Once again, the Greek Art students were found salivating over the Anavysos Kouros and the Artemision Zeus, whilst Georgia-mae Tan had to be torn away from the Mycenaean figurine display. There was just enough time for our driver to show us the Athens Parliament and University Campus before we caught our flight home to England. We landed to the disappointing news of England’s narrow loss to South Africa in the Rugby World Cup, but safe in the knowledge that we had experienced a phenomenal and jam-packed trip, with 22 sites and museums visited in five days. My huge thanks goes to Dr Gruzelier for all of her help and support on the trip, and to the pupils for being such great company.

Mr Bull, Head of Classics