On February 27, 2009, a group of Hill students and their parents left from Newark International Airport on an Alitalia flight which would take them to Greece and Italy. It was the eleventh Spring Humanities trip written, organized, and directed by Dr. Henry V. Bender, Elizabeth Blossom Chair of Humanities. Scroll down to view a slideshow from this visit.
GREECE:
Athens
The group arrived in Athens and after transferring to the multistoried centrally located Hotel Titania, enjoyed their first look at the Acropolis seen in the twilight from the roof of the Hotel. An after dinner walking tour with Dr. Bender included the celebrated Syntagma, or Constitution Square, with the Greek Parliament building as an anchoring point. The next day was very full and began with an excursion to the National Museum in which the group saw some of the most famous examples of Greek sculptures from the Archaic through the Classical periods. The gold objects excavated by Heinrich Schliemann from the ancient site of Mycenae captivated our attention.
That afternoon we drove by chartered bus to a small field adjacent to a body of water called the Straights of Euboea. We walked onto the battlefield of Marathon where Dr. Bender read to us from the account written by Herodotus, the Greek historian, of that fateful day in August of 490 B.C. when against overwhelming odds the Athenians defeated the Persians who were led by King Darius. We then made our way to the promontory of Cape Sounion from which we enjoyed a great sunset as once did Lord Byron centuries before us.
The next day found us walking to the top of the Acropolis where we encountered face-to-face the great buildings which we had studied and written about: Pericles’ Parthenon, the Propylaea, and the Erechtheion. Our impressions of the ingenuity of the ancient Greeks of the fifth century B.C. was enhanced all the more by a walking tour of the agora, or marketplace, that lay at the base of the north side of the Acropolis. We toured the Stoa of Attalos, a building in which Dr. Bender had studied while at the American School of Classical Studies. We had a Greek lunch in the Plaka, the oldest section of Athens and then toured the remains of the Temple of Hephaistus dating from the mid fifth century B.C. That night we packed for our trip to the south.
Corinth
We stopped at the Isthmus of Corinth from which we could look down at ships passing from the Saronic Gulf to the Gulf of Corinth, and then moved on to the ancient city of Corinth where we explored the Agora, the Temple to Apollo and the altar from which St. Paul was alleged to have preached. We continued on to the great theater of Epidauros, a cult center in the ancient world for the worship of Aesclepius, the god of healing. Finally, we arrived at the seaside town of Nauplion dominated by a large mountain the top of which sported the remains of an old fortress. That night in Nauplion, Dr. Bender obtained permission for us to tour the newly opened Hellenic Center founded and operated by Harvard University. We were greeted by the Director and had a chance to hear a presentation on the role of the Hellenic Center in the future studies of Greek archaeology.
Mycenae
The next day began with a trip to Mycenae where we entered the Treasury of Atreus through the the Lion Gate, which lead into the remains of Mycenae, the grave circle in which Schiemann had discovered the articles of gold which we had seen in the National Museum in Athens. We finally made it to the top of the excavated hill on which the proud city had once been located in the late Bronze age (1550 -1100 B.C.). When we had finished our tour we enjoyed a lunch nearby and then headed across the Peloponnese to the city of Olympia where we stayed overnight. Walking through the spectacular museum at Olympia, we saw the sculptures of the pediment from the Temple of Zeus, the well preserved statue of Hermes holding the baby Dionysus, the statue of Athena Nike from 424 B.C., and—most impressive—the signed war helmet of the Greek general Miltiades, the victor at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Students ran the track at the Olympic stadium, a race which our Olympic champion Mr. Lake easily ran outdistancing his competition. The group listened as Mr. Lake demonstrated what he thought was the most natural alignment used by barefoot runners to achieve their best. It was Lake versus Lafferty—a classic finish!!
Delphi
The next morning we continued to Delphi, the mysterious location of the ancient oracle of Apollo. The museum there held our interest as we saw examples of Archaic sculpture from the mid seventh century B.C. and finished with the awesome bronze statue of the charioteer from 470 B.C. When we hiked to the top of the site we arrived at the Greek theater there with its wonderful view of the v alley below and then the stadium above that. We were ready then to return to Athens the next day for our final night.
Athens
On the return to Athens we made our way north to the bay of Malia over which a large summit stood like a sentinel. It concealed a narrow pathway through which thousands of warriors had crushed in 480 B.C.—the site of the Battle of Thermopylae heralded by the recent movie "The 300." We climbed though what was left of the area and stopped at a reconstructed marker celebrating the valor of the Spartans who died there and then headed to Athens.
ITALY:
Early on Saturday, March 7, the group flew to Rome where some of us continued on home to The Hill. Others flew in from Newark to Rome to join up with us and begin our tour of Italy. The group gathered and met up with our driver who then drove us north to the city of Orvieto. Dr. Bender escorted us through the town where we scattered for our first Italian lunch, and then reassembled in the Cathedral to examine the chapels of the Corporal and of San Brizio. We were amazed by the stunning paintings of Luca Signorelli, the architecture in the town and its wonderful mountainous setting. That evening we checked into Florence at the esteemed Hotel Brunelleschi. After dinner we walked through the area around the Hotel, namely the Duomo, the Piazza della Republica, the Straw markets, and the Ponte Vecchio.
Florence
On Sunday, we went to the Museo della Opera del Duomo containing Donatello’s Mary Magdalene, Michelangelo’s unfinished pieta, and panels from Ghiberti’s Golden doors. We then went on to see Michelangelo’s statue of David from which we walked to the Church and Markets of San Lorenzo. Some members of our group entered the Uffizi Gallery. Our first full day in Florence was stunning and on Monday we went to the Bargello museum where we saw Donatello’s bronze David, and various sculptures by Michelangelo, including the bust of Brutus and a statue of Dionysus. Later we walked to the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine to see the fresco cycle painted by Masaccio in 1426. After dinner we all packed for our long drive south.
Tuesday’s drive took us from Florence to the west coast seaside villa of the emperor Tiberius, Sperlonga. We examined the remarkable sculptures excavated from a cave and the equally impressive remains of the villa that had once belonged to Roman royalty. After a lunch in the seaside restaurant, we continued our journey to Sorrento where we were lavishly received with a pre-dinner cocktail reception in the newly renovated Hotel Tramontano. On Wednesday, we boarded a local train and went to the ruins of Pompeii. We toured government buildings, temples, baths and houses before returning to Sorrento for dinner and overnight. The swollen seas did not allow us to make our way to the island of Capri but after dinner we packed for our final destination Rome.
Rome
When we arrived in Rome on Thursday afternoon, we checked into our Hotel Columbus on the main road leading to St. Peter’s Basilica. After depositing our luggage Dr. Bender led us through St. Peter’s Square and immediate Hotel area. After dinner we walked to the Piazza Navonna, one of Rome’s famous gathering places. On Friday we entered the Basilica of Saint Clement incredibly impressive with its many sublevels. We climbed down at least 60 feet to walk through a building which had fire marks from the burning of Rome under the emperor Nero. After lunch, we entered the Colosseum, climbed through its many levels making our way through intimidating crowds of visitors and then continued our voyage into the world of ancient Rome by visiting the Roman Forum. We stopped along the way enjoying the sunshine of the day as Dr. Bender told the story of the many buildings we were seeing.
That night after dinner our walk took us to various ice cream palaces as well as to many monuments and squares. We saw the fountain of Trevi and the Piazza di Spagna and then on Saturday we toured Rome’s most impressive building; the Pantheon and nearby famous churches such as Ignatius and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. The afternoon found us inside the unbelievable Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. Our final dinner that night was filled with recollections of our 17 days on tour. All of us had memories which would remain special. We thanked our mentor and director, Dr. Bender, and together we crossed the pond to take up our lives once again as members of The Hill.