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October24,2007

"Lord Byron set a terrible example"

Last Friday, Oct. 19th, I had a day field trip to Brauron and Sounion for my archaeology class. i didn't know much about either place, especially Brauron because even archaeologists aren't certain about what ritualistic activities went on there. Sounion is famous because the Temple of Poseidon sits there on top of the highest peak on that peninsula, and can be seen by passing ships sailing in the Aegean. because the temple is so visible and elevated, even Lord Byron admired it and wrote a poem about it. except he started a bad trend that i'll explain later. so first about Brauron, the sanctuary dedicated to Artemis where Athenian women would leave their bloody childbirth rags to seek Artemis's blessing.



the reason for this is because according to some myths, Leto gave birth to Artemis first on Delos by hanging off a tree branch. or course when Artemis popped out, being the divinity that she is, she was able to help her mother give birth to her twin brother, Apollo. hence, this is why Athenian women would pray to Artemis for help with birthing procedures, despite the fact that Artemis herself is virgin.

not much is known about Brauron but archaeological evidence indicates that t was probably a site where young girls (ages 8-12, right before marriageable age) would go and participate in ritualistic and athletic events. there's something about little girls running around in bear costumes and leaping over fires...and this was depicted on some kraters that were excavated from the site. the other cool thing about Brauron is that supposedly Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, to Artemis at this site and thus, this site is also sacred to Iphigenia and even has a small altar for her there. of course, not much of it is left.

we then drove down south to the tip of Attica to Sounion, where the temple of Poseidon stood overlooking the water. there was a lot of the fortifications left around the hill, surprisingly, and the temple was pretty unique because it was built on a elevated platform. the temple itself is very impressive, but also very minimalist. it's in the doric style, and because of the constant sea wind, the architects and artists probably thought it wasn't worth the time to carve sculptural reliefs on the friezes because they would be worn down by the wind and sea particles.

now about Lord Byron:


so Lord Byron did admire Sounion a lot, and he even died fighting for Greece because he was caught up in the romanticism of the revolutions. but what i don't understand is why he thought carving his name onto the temple of Poseidon would be a good idea. because after he did it, waves of more people followed his action and now the entire temple has graffiti carvings of names. even parts of the propylon had carvings! it's truly a sad sight.

see his name?


anyhow, the temple is beautiful overlooking the water, and it must have been a comfort to see the temple after sailing in the open seas for many days, or even years in the case of the Mycenaeans after ten long years of fighting at Troy.



i'm off to Turkey tomorrow night, and things are not starting off that well. i certainly hope we have a fabulous time and come back safely without the State Department escorting us home.