Classics Trip to Greece

Greece Trip – Day 1

Over the holidays, 32 keen classicists from Years 10-13, accompanied by the Classics Department, ventured to Greece for four nights. After a very early start, we arrived in Athens and headed straight for the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion. We ate a delicious lunch of gyros and Greek salad before walking up the cliff to the temple itself. The weather gods were smiling on us and the ruins were made all the more magnificent by the shining sun, reflecting off the wine-dark sea just below the cliff-top temple. We arrived at our hotel and after a delicious buffet dinner, we settled in for an early night’s sleep!

Greece Trip – Day 2

Day 2 started with Athens’ crowning jewel of ancient sites: the Acropolis. We imagined we were ancient Athenians travelling up the path during the Panathenaic festival. We passed the Theatre of Dionysus and eventually reached the main entrance, the Propylaia. Entering the Acropolis in the same way as the Athenians over 2500 years ago was an almost spiritual experience. Students saw the spectacular remains of the Parthenon, Erechtheion and Temple of Athena Nike, as well as the splendid views across Athens. We stopped for lunch and souvenir shopping in Plaka before heading to the New Acropolis Museum. Here we were able to imagine in even more detail how the temples we had seen in the morning would have looked in the 5th Century BCE, including seeing up close the metopes depicting the centauromachy and features from the pediments; GCSE Classical Civilisation students in particular enjoyed identifying the different scenes.

Having taken it all in, we boarded our coach and made the journey to Delphi. Here we had a delicious meal in a local Greek taverna before heading to bed, with views looking over the valley.

Greece Trip – Day 3

Day 3 started with an early tour of ancient Delphi. The cold air and wispy clouds added to the mystical atmosphere of the site of the oracle of Apollo. Students walked past the so-called ‘navel of the earth’, beautifully preserved Treasury of Athens and the remains of the Temple of Apollo before ascending to the grand stadium. We then saw the famous Sphinx, statues of Cleobis and Biton, and Heniokhos (life-size bronze charioteer) in the Museum. We stopped for a seafood lunch in Itea, about 30 minutes from Delphi, before heading to the Peloponnese for our next stop: Olympia.

Our day in Olympia started with a visit to the ancient site. We saw the colossal remains of the Temple of Zeus, where the gold and ivory cult statue used to stand (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world), as well as the more modest Temple of Hera. We were awestruck to stand in the very stadium where the Olympic Games first took place, and some of us even raced the length of the stadium, just as the ancient Greeks would have done – well done to Camilla for her gold medal!

After the race, we walked across to the Olympia Museum. Students enjoyed seeing the well-preserved sculptures from the pediments of the Temple of Zeus, and especially the metopes depicting the twelve Labours of Heracles.

We stopped for another delicious lunch in Olympia before meeting our coach and heading to our final stop: Tolo. We arrived ahead of schedule, meaning some time to spend on the beach! We all enjoyed paddling in the sun before heading to dinner, followed by a trip quiz, hosted by Ms Walker. Well done to the Year 12 team, Max and Anoushka, on their win!

Greece Trip – Day 4

We rose early on our final day and headed to ancient Tiryns, where the Year 11s declared key facts about the site to the rest of the group. We then made our way to ancient Mycenae. We were able to go into the Treasury of Atreus, an amazingly well-preserved tholos tomb, built in 1350 BCE, and walk through the famous Lion Gate. Students admired the use of corbelling and imposing lions.

After some more photos in the sun, we headed back to Athens and visited the National Archaeological Museum. Though the famous Lion Hunt Dagger was sadly on load, students were able to see many other artefacts up close, such as the renowned death mask of Agamemnon and the hunting signet ring.

We ended the trip with an ice cream and more souvenir shopping before heading to the airport for our flight home. Staff and students alike had a brilliant busy five days touring the best preserved and most awe-inspiring ancient sites. We are looking forward to the next Classics trip!