This morning we had breakfast which for me consisted of yogurt with honey (calling it "greek" yogurt while in Greece would be weird), granola and scrambled eggs. Then we headed to the Blegen Library to have our library orientation. I secretly love libraries... as long as they're good libraries. This library is pretty darn awesome and has ton of material for me to use for my research this summer!! Yippee! The library overview to over an hour b/c there was a lot to go over (it's a non-circulating library). It's also open to ASCSA members (of which I am:) ) 24 hours a day. It's also air-conditioned so who wants to do the math on this one? After that we had orientation to Loring Hall where we're staying and got a brief history of the building.
Then lunch... nothing fancy here.
After lunch we headed out for another hike (because hiking on an open hill at 2:30 in 85 degree weather is always a blast!) toward the Athenian acropolis. Here we visited the Areopagos which was where the court of appeals was located in classical times.
Next we head to the Pnyx. I had actually neither seen nor heard of this before... It is where the Athenian citizenry (you know...men) would get together every 10 days or so to pass legislation. Professor Susan Rotroff from University of Wash. St. Louis took us around the site and explained how it had actually gone through three different phases of construction and what archaeologists had learned/uncovered about the site. Meetings began in the morning and anyone who was allowed to speak could do so (imagine allowing Congress to do this with no rules or time limits, just constant filibusters!).
After that we headed up another hill (across from the acropolis) to Philopappos which is a victory arch at the very top of the city of Athens. Tombs were not permitted in the city limits of Athens, but this man had contributed so much (monetarily) to the city that he was allowed to be buried in the city.
We also saw a sanctuary of Pan that they discovered while rebuilding for the 2004 Olympics. Pan did not show up in mythology until around the time of the Persian War (specifically the Battle of Marathon).
Pan: http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Pan.html
After that we walked backed to the dorms and changed for a reception at the home of the Director of the School Professor Jack Davis. We got to meet with some of the professors doing soe pretty fascinating research at the school.
American School of Classical Studies at Athens: http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/
Okay, I need to go to bed...
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