Mount Hymettus is known to the local people of Attica as the ‘Mad Mountain’, η Τρελοβούνι. Situated on the western side of the Attica peninsula and stretching above the coastal towns of Elliniko, Glyfada, and Voula, this mountain and its undulating topography are eclectic — if not ‘mad’. The granular limestone of the mountain makes … Continue reading
Tag Archives: ancient greece
Island hopping around Greece, volume 5: Milos, Amorgos, and Santorini
Cast your mind back a few weeks — when the weather was still cool and the cicadas were still quiet. In mid-June, I took my last exploratory trip around the Aegean islands (if you’re late to the party, catch up here: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4). This voyage of discovery (also, an … Continue reading
The Lego Acropolis: history brick by brick
If you find time to visit only one of Athens’ many museum collections, make it the Acropolis museum. Right in the centre of the historic city, this award-winning museum houses over 4,000 objects from the Acropolis — the fortified hill in Athens, most famous for its fifth century B.C. marble temples. The Parthenon, in particular, … Continue reading
Island hopping around Greece, volume 4: Samos and Rhodes
The next stage of my itinerant fieldwork round the Aegean islands sees me working my way further alongside the coast of Turkey (parts one, two, and three here). In fact, I was a mere mile from Turkey at one stage — and Didim was perfectly clear on the horizon, where I’ve happily spent the past few … Continue reading
Island hopping around Greece, volume 3: Lesbos and Chios
The next stage of my research on the islands of Greece (parts one and two here) brings me to the coast of Turkey. I’m moving down a set of islands that are so close to the Turkish mainland that I’ve been able to see across to Ayvalık and Çeşme — and I can almost taste … Continue reading
Island hopping around Greece, volume 2: Andros, Naxos, and Paros
Continuing on from last time, here’s the next thrilling instalment of my Greek Island hopping fieldwork adventure. Having been left abandoned on the shores of Mykonos in the last episode, I was soon back on the road (/the sea). Next stop: more of the Northern Cyclades. Andros Andros is the northern-most of the Cycladic islands, … Continue reading
Island hopping around Greece, volume 1: Mykonos, Delos, and Tinos
For the next few months —and thanks to the generosity of my funding body— I’m on a Greek Odyssey. As part of my PhD fieldwork, I’m visiting the archaeological sites and museum collections from some of the Cyclades, Dodecanese, and Northern Aegean islands. These groups of islands comprise some of 6000 islands in the middle … Continue reading
Finding Forgeries at the Museum of Classical Archaeology
If you visit the Museum of Classical Archaeology in Cambridge in the next month, you will see a display that I curated on the idea of forgeries. It might seem curious that a museum would keep such objects after they have been identified as fake and even put them on display, but this isn’t the first … Continue reading
How Much Does a Grecian Urn? Humour, Philhellenism and the Greek Crisis
The last few weeks have seen a huge peak in Classical references appearing in the media. This is because, as political commentators have so regularly pointed out, we have just witnessed a Greek tragedy. They are referring not, regrettably, to the popularisation of the pointless neologism ‘Grexit’1 but to the austerity measures imposed by Eurozone … Continue reading
A Very Present Past
“You started it!” “We did not start it!” “Yes you did, you invaded Poland!” A line to clinch any argument. But also a line from a scene which reflects on the power that history has to influence present-day relationships. Indeed, history has always played a prominent part in contemporary arguments and humans have always fought … Continue reading