Through My Eyes, In My Words:

Back to the Roots of Western Civilization: Greece and Italy

Taught by Howard Marblestone, Charles Elliott Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Robert Cohn, Philip and Muriel Berman Chair of Jewish Studies

Amanda Finkelstein of Syosset, N.Y. is a Marquis Scholar majoring in English. A Writing Associate Mentor, Orientation Leader, and member of Lafayette’s all female a cappella singing group Cadence, she is president of Delta Gamma sorority, a volunteer at the Easton Home and a member of S.P.E.A.K (Students and Professors Engaging in Active Kommunication). As an extern at the New York Times, she saw firsthand the workings of a newspaper and worked closely with an enterprise editor.

As soon as I saw the course descriptions for the interim trips this year I knew I wanted to go to Greece and Italy. I must admit the food was a huge draw, but more important, I was anxious to get a taste of a culture so different and so much older than that of the United States. The cities of Athens and Rome have so much history and beauty. I wanted to be a part of that.

I was not disappointed! As soon as we arrived in Athens we had lunch and began a three-hour walking tour of the city (after being on planes and in airports for 12 hours)! There was a lot to see, and we saw it all. In the first two days we visited the Acropolis, Agora, Theseion, Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, and Temple of Zeus, as well as a number of churches and museums. On the night of Day 2 we celebrated New Year’s at Syntagma (Constitution) Square among hundreds of Greeks and fellow tourists and enjoyed a beautiful fireworks display. The next day we enjoyed some free time to do shopping and explore the Plaka.

We left Athens the following day and headed to the Corinth Canal and the Peloponnese along the Saronic Gulf for another two days. The sights were absolutely breathtaking. We saw Tiryns, Mycenae, the Theatre of Epidauros, Corinth, and the Temple of Apollo, just to name a few. The next day we made our way to Olympia to see the site of the Olympic Games. Professor Cohn and a bunch of guys in the class had a running race on the track where Olympians began competing in 776 BCE. The final area we explored in Greece was Delphi, home to the famed Oracle, Sanctuary of Apollo, Fountain of Castalia, treasuries, and the Temple of Apollo. When it came time to leave Greece from Athens the following day, the whole group was a bit sad to leave our spunky tour guide, Eva, who would greet us daily with a resounding “Kalimera!” (“Good morning!”) on the bus’ microphone while many of us were trying to catch up on our rest.

Rome was just as beautiful as all of Greece, and we had just as much to see. After settling into the hotel and getting a good night’s rest, we visited Palatine Hill, the Forum, and two museums. The next day was quite possibly my favorite. We headed to Pompeii, a town buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, with a brief stop in Naples. Pompeii was not at all what I had expected. I’d imagined seeing black, dried lava everywhere, but in reality the town did not look much different from some of the ruined cities we saw in Greece. Our guide was amazing, telling us crazy anecdotes about the town’s thriving prostitution industry and lack of a sewage system.

The following day we saw some of the most famous sites in Rome: the Pantheon, Coliseum, Arch of Titus, and Circus Maximus. On our final day we paid a visit to Vatican City, taking in the Musei Vaticani, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and Piazza. It was overwhelming to be surrounded by such rich religious history. The Sistine Chapel was absolutely magnificent. I could not think of a better way to end our trip.

Our lectures with Professors Marblestone and Cohn took place in the lecture rooms of the various hotels we stayed in. We would spend the first part of our sessions reading passages having to do with the sights we visited that day, and the remainder of our time discussing our impressions, which would often lead to some really interesting debates. We talked about topics such as what the sculptures we viewed in Greece revealed about the Greeks’ view of the world, questions of justice raised by plays such as Sophocles’ Electra, pros and cons of rebuilding the Olympic Stadium, and whether or not it was appropriate to take pictures in a place like St. Peter’s Basilica. All in all, our sessions were thought provoking and worthwhile.

Although the exhaustive touring and visits to museums did take its toll after a while, I am so glad I got the opportunity to go on this trip. Very rarely do students get to see firsthand the very monuments and structures that inspire their studies and discuss them while they are there. This class just would not have been the same taught in a Lafayette classroom. My trip to Greece and Italy allowed me to experience two centers of ancient civilization that served as the intellectual and cultural roots of Western civilization. As a result, I feel like I’ve come to know myself that much more.