Dodona

The Archeological Site and Theater of Dodona was our first taste of ancient Greece. I think the continuously coolest thing of this trip was just how much we learned of the Greek culture before going on this trip, just from classes in Rome. Not only was everything fresh in our memory since we had all just gone a whole week of studying for our Western Civilization Midterm which consisted mainly of the Dark, Archaic and Classical Ages in Greek territory, I also realized just how much we had learned in the other classes when we got to Dodona. Our greek tragedies came alive, the polis culture was evident, and of course we were able to identify the types of architecture found on this site.

The main "ruin" to see was the theater. It was amazing to see how much of it was left, and though we were not allowed on the bleachers, the first group of performing students read a passage from Antigone as we watched from the orchestra pit. (It's a tradition on the Greece Trip for some students to read/perform excerpts from great works that we've studied on site).

While the theater was impressive however, as were the remains of a temple, what really caught my breath were the surrounding mountains.

As I stood up on a torn down wall of what used to be a temple (which was at one point turned into a Catholic church) I saw everything. Nature of course, rocks and rocks of course, people taking pictures, talking, admiring, and (as corny as it may sound) I imagined the ancient Greeks there with us for the first time. I wondered what thoughts had crept into their own minds as they had climbed up the theater excited for the performances to come, what they had thought as they themselves may have stood on a tall point and stared at the magnificent mountains...

Needless to say, it was an extremely good first site to visit.