How do you do that? Just reply to this post and paste your entry into the reply. Remember, you can use the class gmail account (dfeigenson@gmail.com) or post anonymously, but include your initials in your reply so you can get credit for the posting.
Let's see how many posts we can get!
Dear Joseph,
ReplyDeleteToday we visited the Acropolis in Athens. Can I just say that I have NEVER seen so much marble in my life, even if it was all crumbly and in ruins. The first thing we saw was the Parthenon, which is continually in the process of being reconstructed. They won't allow us in the actual temple, but it's still pretty amazing. It's rectangular, and surrounded by columns on all sides. It is the highest thing in the city, so you really have to hike to get there. I learned that it was once a great temple to Athena, and there was a statue to her inside that was brightly painted and embellished with gold. I wish we could have gone in, but I understand that they want to keep it as intact as possible, and that's why they have to keep the tourists out. Oh well. On to the rest of the ruins!
Dear Electra,
ReplyDeleteYesterday was the last day of the great Festival of Dionysus. The festival is five days long, and starts when the vine puts forth its first branches in the spring. The festival is amazing in Athens: Men and women dance through the streets (most of them drunk) singing at the top of their lungs, prisoners are released from jail, and a play is performed in the incredible, colossal Dionysus theater. Thankfully, it was decided that this year's play be a comedy instead of a tragedy like it usually is. The only bad thing about this is that it is not very pleasant to be surrounded by thousands upon thousands of drunk, guffawing people. They laugh loud enough to be heard in Sparta, and act like madmen. The play was still very enjoyable- with clever dialogue, beautiful costumes and masks, and colorful characters. I wish you could be here in Athens to celebrate the festival with me. It really is amazing... Please write back!
From, Elana
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm so excited to be in Ancient Greece! The plane ride was really long, but it was SO worth it. Today we went to see the ruins in Acropolis. We visited Phillopapou Hill, Acropolis Hill, the Dionysus Theatre, and the Herodeion Theatre. We also visited the Theseion Temple, the Areios Pagos, the Kermikos, the Syntagma Metro, and Lycabettus Hill. Alright, I have so much more stuff to see. I'll write to you after the next city I see!
From,
Sydney
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteToday we saw the different types of houses people lived in during the time of Ancient Greece. We saw how different each person's house was, depending on their social status. A craftsman's house was much smaller compared to a wealthy man's house. A crafstman's house would contain a workshop, while the wealthy man's house would contain a room for drinking parties. A craftsman's house may contain a few ornaments, while the wealthy man's house has armor hanging above the fireplace, and a large row of collums in the interior. Wow, I learned so many interesting facts that I thought I would have never known if I wasn't here right now. Well, more things to see. Write to you later.
From,
Sydney
Dear Kim,
ReplyDeleteI went to the Acropolis today. It was really cool! The Parthenon was pretty cool but what I liked was the Propylaia. It was supposed to be the gateway from our world to the god’s world. Today it’s just the entrance to the Acropolis. The first one was destroyed a long time ago but the second one is still here. The ground there is really uneven and I almost fell. That would’ve hurt! There is such a great view from the Propylaia! I can see Phillopapou Hill and Areios Pagos really well. I went to those places to day too! Greece is really amazing and I wish you could be here with me. How are you doing? I miss you so much. Write back soon,
Rebecca
Dear Lizzie,
ReplyDeleteKim can tell you all about the Acropolis but that’s not what I want to focus on in this letter. Greece is beautiful! But back in the time of Ancient Greece, the streets weren’t. Did you know that back then, there were water fountains all over Greece. I learned about the houses in Ancient Greece. A big house would have two floors and men and women lived separately inside the house! Can you believe that? Anyway, the marketplace had lots of stores, like the ones in the mall except the things they sold weren’t nearly as advanced as today. The Panathenaic Way was the most important street in Athens. On Athena’s birthday, they would have this big parade with music and dancing and then go to the Acropolis with hundreds of sheep. I sort of wish I could have lived back then because that would have been really cool. Sorry I’m loading this letter with Information, but there is a lot to know. Why don’t you and Kim trade letters? Then you can each find out about the Acropolis and the streets and houses in Greece. Write back soon,
Rebecca
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteToday we visited Olympia, where the Olympic games started! The Olympic Games were held in honor of Zeus, the King of G-ds. They were held every four years on Olympia. They were held in 776 B.C. It was so interesting to learn about what types of games and competitions they held. Some of the competitions were violent, but were popular. We also saw the Temple of Zeus, The Olympic Stadium, and The Stands. The sites I get to see are getting cooler and cooler. Well, more things to see. Talk to you soon.
From,
Sydney
Dear Anthony,
ReplyDeleteAs I was walking through the theater of Dionysus, I couldnt stop thinking about how much you would have loved it if you were here! Sorry to brag, but it is SO cool. When I was sitting in the 3rd or fourth column of the 52 rows, my headache (that I have had for a while) seemed to stop. I geuss it is true-- they say this thaeater has a healing effect. I believe them! But what I cant belive is that 1 mean designed 32 rows! They added 20 more 200 years later. Well, thats all I have from my adventures today.
Hope you write back soon!
--Jonah
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteToday I got to go see Olympia, where the Olympic Games were held. The games were held in honor of Zeus, the king of G-ds. The games were held in 776 B.C. There were many different competions. Some were very violent, but still very popular. We also got to visit The Temple of Zeus, The Olympic Stadium, and The Stands. All of the sights I get to see are getting cooler and cooler. Well, I got more things to see. Talk to you soon.
From,
Sydney
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteToday I got to go visit a sculpture of Aphrodite. It was sculpted from 323- 31 B.C. Aphrodite was known as the G-ddess of Beauty. It shows how beautiful she was, so many people can admire her statue. My trip so far has been really great. I am looking foward to seeing the other sights around Greece too. I hope you are okay back home without me. Just keep reading my letters so you can pretend you are here with me.
From,
Sydney
Dear Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteWow, Acropolis was amazing! I hiked all the way to the Pathenon. It was built as a tribute to Athena. It means "home of the virgin" because Athena was a virgin. It was beautiful to see and I was fascinated by the intricate carvings on the top of the columns. I hope to see as much artistic quality in other buildings in Ancient Greece. I just finished visiting Phillopapou Hill, Theseion Temple, Dionysos Theatre, Herodeion Theatre, Areios Pagos, Keramikos, Syntagma Metro, Lycabettus Hill, and last but not least, Acropolis. I wish you were with me!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Dear Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI visited some Ancient Greek homes. The streets were immensely filthy. A wealthy man's town house was extremely large and was built around a beautiful courtyard. The house owner's name was Achilles. He was so kind and he even brought out his dog named Calista. She was an adorable Jack Russell Terrier. Anyways, I have to go before I miss the tourist bus ride to the nearest water fountain. I am really thirsty!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Dear Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteToday I visited "Venus de Milo". It is a sculpture of Aphrodite built in the Hellenistic period (323-31 BC). I shows how beautiful she was from the many curves and magnificent features in this woman. It shows her femininity and lures the consumer's eyes closer to the sculpture (especially if you're a man who is easily attracted by a woman). It was nice writing to you!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Dear Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteOh, if only you were at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi with me. You would have loved it so much, especially because Apollo is your favorite god. It was facing the sun and the tall columns with nothing to support cast vast shadows along the what seemed like stone floor. It was surrounded by greenery and hilly surfaces in all directions. It was rather queer though that the part we were permitted to visit had no walls or roof. There must have been more to it. With the kind of authority that Apollo had, people mustn't have honored him with such a peculiar temple. Overall, I enjoyed picnicking around the premises. I wish you were there with me!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteHey, how are you? I had such a great day today. We visited another Greek sculpture. There not really sure who it is supossed to be representing, but the had a few ideas. I think the statue maybe could have been sculpted with some clothes.... just kidding! It's ancient art, there's nothing I can do about it. It was their choice. Well, more things to see. Write to you later.
From,
Sydney
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteHey, how are you? I had such a great day today. We got to visit an ancient Greek sculpture. They're not really sure who it was representing, but they had a few ideas. But maybe the statue could have been sculpted with some clothes.... just kidding! It's ancient art. There's nothing we can do about it now. Okay, well I have alot more things to see. Talk to you soon.
From,
Sydney
Dear Electra,
ReplyDeleteThis past week has been horrible. It was the week of Minos' tribute. Minoan inspectors came through the streets, pulling all the youths to the Agora. They are all gathered there like cattle, and then seven girls and seven boys are selected to be taken to Crete and fed to the Minotaur. Well, as you can expect, my parents didn't want me to be one of those poor girls being fed to a monster, so she had me sent to a poor craftsman's house to be hidden. The inspectors don't tend to come into the poorer houses in Athens, probably pitying those who live there enough not to come take their children. Well, my servant was hustling me along the DISGUSTING streets, and I was trying to keep my breakfast, when I stepped in dung. HUMAN dung. You can imagine that I threw up. After that beautiful scene, I was hidden in the (also disgusting) little house. And guess what: There was more dung. This time, though, it was donkey, chicken, cow, pig, and goat dung. It was still revolting, and I lost the rest of my breakfast. I looked around, taking in my shabby surroundings. They were nothing like my neat, embellished home- the people’s clothes were ugly (unlike my family’s), and there were NO SLAVES. Can you imagine? I can’t- my slave isn’t just a servant, she’s also my best friend. Seems to me that being poor sucks. Anyway, after that, I returned to my house, took a long, needed bath, dressed in some nice clothes, and went to find my parents. They hugged me and all of that mushy stuff, and said something horrible that left me crying the rest of the week: They’d taken Thea. My (other) best friend, Thea, was gone. Well, that was the rest of my week. Did regular work and activities, and cried.
I know that Minos’ son died and all that, but why did so many girls and boys have to pay for it?
Your Sad Friend,
Elana
Dear Electra,
ReplyDeleteI wish you could have come to Olympia with me- it was amazing! Since my brothers, slave and I have been traveling all over for no apparent reason, we decided that we might as well visit Olympia. And let me tell you, it was worth it! Since I'm from Athens, you know that I can really appreciate the arts (unlike Spartans- they couldn't tell a work of art from one of their own, hideous buildings!), so when I saw the breathtaking statue of Zeus, all I wanted to do was stay there for hours, simply taking in the awesome sight! The temple itself is nothing in comparison to Athena's, but the statue... Oh my gods, it is just so amazing! Besides that, not much else exciting happened on my visit. It was pretty good, but whenever I think about Olympia now, I keep seeing the beautiful statue again in my mind...
From, Elana
Dear Electra,
ReplyDeleteYesterday we visited Corinth. Yes, I have no idea why we couldn't have visited Corinth before Olympia, seeing it is closer to my home, but my brothers insisted that we visit Olympia first. Oh, well. While we were there, we saw a gorgeous statue of Aphrodite (Spartans would have probably thought it was hideous). It was odd- my brothers had to pull me away from it. Apparently I was just standing there staring at it, as if in a trance. Odd. I've heard so much about Aphrodite- and, yes I know this will sound stupid. I just, I don't know, imagined her to be- different. I'm not sure how, just different. It's odd to see the real image of something after imagining it differently for so long.
From, Elana
Dear Electra,
ReplyDeleteAfter a resting a while at home, my brothers decided that we should take another trip, this time to the Lycian's temple at Delphi. I was awed at how magnificent the whole thing was- especially the Oracle, cloaked in vapor on her simple tripod. After taking it all in, i respectfully left so that each of my brother could learn what Apollo's priestess had to tell them. It is not wise to know another's future, so I sat silently by bubbling Castalia and waited. I did not ask the Pythian's priestess about my future, because I believe that it is better to know one's fate as it unravels before one's eyes, not beforehand. It has caused many good people to lose their sanity or die prematurely. So I decided to left my future unknown. I was glad to see my brothers come out smiling, and said that the Oracle had told them to go bathe in the Cephissus, and that I was allowed to join them. It was really an amazing experience. Once again, I miss you a lot and wish you were here to experience these wonders with me.
From, Elana
Dear Electra,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, sorry about all of my errors in my last letter. I was ready to collapse in bed at the moment, and I only JUST learned to read and write from my dear brother Orestes. I still can't believe he taught me- I know that you have to have someone read you these letters, and it feels great to be able to read your letters by myself. Anyway, after a little while back at home, we set out on the road again, this time to Epidaurus. Thankfully, it wasn't as far away as some of our other trips, though I think this trip was one of the most worth-while ones. The theater there- it was simply amazing. Stunning. Breathtaking. Dazzling. Magical, even. It is by far the most immense theater I've seen in my life. I'm serious- it was COLOSSAL. And, believe it or not, I could hear the actors very well, even though I was in a row pretty far back. I'm sure Dionysus has no monument greater than this. I wish I could have been here for Dionysus' festival, but I was back in Athens then. But back to the theater. It really was a a marvel. Even a Spartan could probably appreciate it. The play put on was a beautiful tragedy, with entrancing music, ravishing costumes and masks, and even an actor descending from the sky. I wish that you and everyone back home could see it. This time, it wasn't only me standing there, jaw agape. This time I was joined by my awed brothers and servant. I wonder if I'll ever see something more astonishing...
From, Elana
Dear Karen,
ReplyDeleteOmigosh! I went to Olympia! 3 words: It is awesome! I’ll tell you all about it! Did you know that was where the Olympics started out? Okay! Enough with the exclamation points. The Ancient Greeks did the Olympics every four years, in honor of Zeus. At first, they only did a race. As time went on, they added lots of other things. Everyone but women were allowed to watch the games. At least we would be allowed to watch them. They had this really gross and violent wrestling-type-thing and the only rules were that you couldn’t bite other people or gouge other people’s eyes. And some people didn’t even follow those rules. Gross! But still, Olympia is really cool. The temple of Zeus is really pretty. There is lots of beautiful green grass. There was this nice woman wearing a red shirt that I met named Anne. She gave me a few dollars to buy this postcard. She gave e her number and I am going to get her daughter’s e-mail. The Olympic Stadium is cool too! I met this other person, a girl named Marissa, and we walked around and explored together. There was a bus and I dared her to go inside and she did. Then she had to go but at least I got her phone number and e-mail. I went to the stands and there were so many flowers there. There was this man and this woman and they were sitting on these red flowers, and no, I did not get their e-mail or phone number or anything. I’ll tell you all about Greece when I get back next week, but for now you can talk to Lizzie and Kim. Or you can call me. I can’t wait for you to meet Marissa. She lives 15 minutes away from our houses! Oh! Here I go with the exclamation points again! Write back soon,
Rebecca
Dear Arielle,
ReplyDeleteI saw this one really big Greek sculpture. It was of this man-this naked man. Uggggh! I don’t know why there are all these statues and sculptures and paintings of naked people. The statue was pretty amazing, besides the naked part. And it was also really accurate-maybe a little too accurate. The statue was made out of bronze. My favorite side was the back because it was much less gross than the front. The statue looked to me like it was between seven and ten feet tall. After I saw the statue and its gross nakedness, I went out and bought myself three pairs of earrings. One has leaves, one is a grapevine, and one is a dangling bird. Sorry I don’t have much to say, but if you want to hear a lot of information, talk to Karen, or Lizzie, or Kim. I’ll be back in five days, that’s not long from now. I met this girl, Marissa. She’s nice! Write back soon,
Rebecca
Dear Anthony,
ReplyDeleteToday we visited the "Venus de Milo", also known as the "Aphrodite of Milos". I was really amazed at how ancient civilizations could make such beautiful sculptures (and the coincidence that THIS sculpture was the goddess of beuty)! I learned from our guide that the sculpture was made during the Hellinistic period (323-321 B.C.). I never knew that Greece was this magnificent!
Your Friend,
--Jonah
Dear Avi,
ReplyDeleteToday I went to see a house in Greece. It was a potter's house. It was in Ceramicus. I bet that's where the word ceramics came from. Anyway, his house had his workshop in it. It was really weird shaped. I never knew that normal houses had ards in the middle.
Hope to see you soon,
Aviva
Dear Anthony,
ReplyDeleteThe whole day we have been in museums for greek sculpture and art. All i saw was the average porcelain statue. But when I was touring through my last one of the day, my eye caught a bronze statue. A man, 1.5 times taller than the average one. It was different the other ones because it looked like he was about to dance! But then our guide broke my little fantasy and told us that the man was Alexander the Great, who used to hold a spear. It was made in mid 2nd and 1st B.C., by Lyssipos. Well, those are the highlights of my day!
Your friend, Jonah
Dear Anthony,
ReplyDeleteToday we explored buildings from Ancient Greece. Other wise known as ruins. We visited the Temple of Apollo, in Delphi. All that was left of it were some pillars and and some old, crushed, battered rows from what might've been an amphitheater. When we were looking at the pillars, I decided to go ahead a bit from the tour group. I wanted to check out how big the temple used to be, so I went by the edge. No big deal. Oh, but it was. I hadnt realized yet that the edge was really a cliff! I was so frightened that I started shrieking! THe tour group had heard me, so I calmed my self imediatley, pretending it had not happened, and I forgot what I did all together. But I dont think the tour group did!
Write back!
Your friend,
Jonah
Dear Avi,
ReplyDeleteTo day I went to the Olympian Stadium. The seats are pretty much all ruins. The ruins are roped off, I guess they thing the tourists can break rocks or something. The actual field is just a place with no grass. It's in a little valley type thing. There are a lot of rocks that fell off the seats. I thought they would have worn away after hundreds of years of rain.
Your sister,
Aviva
Dear Johnny,
ReplyDeleteToday I saw the great city of Athens. Though the carcass filled streets made me a little nauseous, it was amazing. I saw the parts of the Acropolis they let us into. It was fascinating what they did to worship Athena. They used the main roads just to carry Athena new cloaks. The Dionysus theatre made me think about theatre now. The architecture seemed very much like a movie theatre, though the Dionysus theatre had a lot more seats. Oh! Got to go. We are going somewhere else now. I will send you a letter about this place as soon as we are done.
Your Friend,
Quin
Dear Johnny,
ReplyDeleteToday we saw Ancient Olympia. It was incredible. I did not believe that such a thing existed. I saw the temple of Zeus, the stadium, and the stands. I can see why many people came an slept outside. I think that ancient Greece was not very fair to women. Now though I could not imagine the olympics without women. One thing does not make sense to me. Why was the stadium so small? Anyway w are leaving for another place very soon. I will send a letter after that place.
From,
Quin
Dear Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if Arielle already told you this but when I was in Greece I saw a statue of this naked man. Ew! Today I saw another statue. This time, the statue was of Aphrodite. She was the goddess of love and beauty. She wasn’t beautiful at all! Maybe she’s beautiful on the inside? Just a thought. OMG! Do you know what is really annoying, Jaclyn? I keep wanting to write in text speak but I can’t. I can’t wait until you meet Marissa. She is a girl I met in Greece and she is nice and pretty! I also met this other girl named Many. I saw her when I was looking at the statue and we started talking. I’ve been missing you so much! How is Kevin? Is he painting on the walls again? I can’t believe that he painted a smiling sun on the wall in my bedroom once. I was so mad! Anyways, back to the statue of Aphrodite. She was better than the statue of that other dude. He was completely naked. Aphrodite is only naked from the waist up. But I still saw some things I really didn’t want to see. I stayed near her back. Mandy and I hung out all day today. We got ice cream together. I got Butter Pecan, Mandy got Cherry Chip. Marissa also came with us to get ice cream. She got Birthday Cake Remix and Peanut Butter Banana Chip. Then we each got two pairs of earrings and they all matched. We got a pair of these big golden four-leaf clovers (and I bought us all matching necklaces, too!) and a pair of big silver hoops. They are my first big hoop earrings ever! I am so excited and I can’t wait to show you! I can’t wait to see you again and I wish I could have gotten you, Claire, Ashley, Arielle, Karen, Lizzie, Kim, and Angela matching earrings and necklaces too, but I didn’t have enough money. I did get you all these cute little leopard purses and the zipper pull is a mini leopard. And inside each purse is a little surprise…Ok fine! It’s a big ring with a rose on top. There! See you soon,
Rebecca
Hey Johnny.
ReplyDeleteToday I saw the "Aphrodite of Milos" ("Venus De Milo"). It was fantastic! It had so much detail, it was like I was standing in front of the goddess herself. I don't know how some one could do that so early in time. I was during the "Hellinistic" age (323-31 BCE). Incredible! Have to go. Time is of the essence.
From,
Quin
Dear Claire,
ReplyDeleteI went to the temple of Apollo at Delphi today. I went with these two girls I met, Mandy and Marissa. It was beautiful. There wasn’t much to see, though, which is why I’m writing you a pretty short letter. I’ll be home in three days time (I don’t know why I just did that, by the way!) so you will see me really soon! I got you a leopard purse and the zipper pull is a mini leopard. It is so cute! I also got you a big ring with a rose on it. I put it in the purse. I got my first pair of big hoop earrings! I’m running out of things to say! Check your e-mail because I sent you about twenty e-mails. I miss you so much! I wish you were here. See you soon,
Rebecca
Hey Johnny,
ReplyDeleteI know It's soon, I just needed to to tell you this. OK. At the same museum as the one with the statue of Aphrodite, we saw a sculpture of a naked man that scientists say may have been holding a spear. It was really funny to see how the girls around me reacted. They were like, "Eeeeeeeewwwwwwww." OK. Have to keep moving.
Your Friend,
Quin
Dear Uncle,
ReplyDeleteThis morning I walked up a couple of hundred stone
steps and reached the top of Lycabettus Hill. The view
was spectacular and my heart was pounding. I have never
been able to see so far into the distance. You can see
white stone houses and buildings that disappear
into the horizon. I especially loved the elaborate black
iron door gates and the gorgeous pattern of the white
marble floor around the building. It was definitely worth
the journey up and down the hill, I’m glad to know I am not
afraid of heights. My dad came here when he was my
age and remembers clearly having lunch when he
reached the top. He must have brought his own food
because there is no restaurant here.
Write to you soon,
Love,
Joelle Perlin
Dear Mr. Johnny,
ReplyDeleteYou know what I haven't said in a while? How are you? OK. now that w are done with that, I can tell you what I did today. Today I went to the Temple Of Apollo in Delphi. You know, the place where the mythical Oracle i supposed to be? I looked for it, but couldn't find it. There is not a lot to tell about the Temple, because it is so small. Small, but very, very beautiful.
From,
Quin
PS: Turns out ALL the socks I took are yours. Sorry.
Dear Uncle,
ReplyDeleteWow!!! Today was a great day! I went to the district of
Ceramicus in Athens. There I visited a really cool
craftsman's house. I discovered that in ancient Greece
different kinds of craftsman lived together in different
districts. The house was interesting because inside was a
living quarters and a separate area that was used for a
workshop. I enjoy doing art myself and can imagine that if
painters lived in one town and dancers in another, I would
have had a hard time finding a house! Greece rox!
Write to you soon,
Love,
Joelle Perlin
Shalom Johnny,
ReplyDeleteToday we saw the Theatre of Dionysus. It had 14000 seats! It also had perfect acoustics. Everything you could possibly want in a theatre you had there. I bet about one tenth of Ancient Greece's population could fit there at once. It also was located right next to a healing station, because (according to our tour guide) music was medicine to the Ancient Greeks. I Mean could you imagine being very, very sick, listening to music and getting healed. No wonder everyone has iPods. This was the last place on my tour tomorrow I start my flight home. See you soon.
From,
Quin
PS: I might send another letter because one of mine never got sent.
Dear Uncle,
ReplyDeleteHow are you doing? I miss you a lot. I’m having a lot
of fun here in Greece. My dad would of enjoyed seeing
what I saw today because he likes sports. Olympia is an
ancient settlement where the first Olympic Games were
held in 776BC.
People came from all overGreece to watch the
competitions between the athletes. Only Men, boys and
unmarried girls were allowed in to watch. Married women
were punished if they tried to go. Good thing I’m not
married!
By the way the Gyros and olives are delicious here!
Write to you soon,
Love,
Joelle Perlin
Dear Uncle,
ReplyDeleteHow are you doing? I miss you a lot. I’m having a lot
of fun here in Greece. My dad would of enjoyed seeing
what I saw today because he likes sports. Olympia is an
ancient settlement where the first Olympic Games were
held in 776BC.
People came from all overGreece to watch the
competitions between the athletes. Only Men, boys and
unmarried girls were allowed in to watch. Married women
were punished if they tried to go. Good thing I’m not
married!
By the way the Gyros and olives are delicious here!
Write to you soon,
Love,
Joelle Perlin
Dear Aleta,
ReplyDeleteI am currently in Greece. I pretty much pured everything that happened in to weeks and mushed it into here. I hope you enjoy!
Well, on my tour of Greece, the first place I went was the Acropolis. Being a HUGE fan of the goddess Athena, I went to her temple. Well, actually, It didn't look much like a temple. You want to know why? Because, THE WHOLE PLACE WAS BLASTED INTO PIECES! It looked like a tornado had breezed through that place. There were chunks of marble EVERYWHERE, and it looked like they were trying to rebuild the place. The metal poles everywhere sort of ruined the experience for me, so I sat down on a bench, feeling pretty sorry for myself. Suddenly, this lady walks up and STANDS ON THE BENCH and starts taking pictures with some camera she had. Then, she turned around and asked me if I could move a little, that she needed the space. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but then I realized that when you start feeling like you want to argue with random tourists, it's time to move on to another Greek structure.
Well, then I went on to visit a Greek man's house. I think he was a craftsman. Man, these guys had NO taste in furniture! The only major thing in the entire house was a little shrine. Maybe they didn't have enough money for good decorations. Craftsmen weren't exactly the highest in ranking. I went to more Greek houses. Most of them made women be REALLY separate from men. I mean, REALLY?!? It makes women look like they're... they're covered in germs or something. These guys had a SERIOUSLY twisted lifestyle. I mean, women weren't even allowed out of the house! Well, I think you must be getting bored of me ranting and raving about the Greek's problem. Well, forget about what I said about bad taste! I went to some Greek rich guy's house, and let me tell ya, they knew how to live! There's a big shrine, and two floors, and shiny things on the wall like armors and horse tools and all that stuff. There was also a place for men's drinking parties. Men only! Why, those evil stupid Greeks...!
After my trip to the houses, I went over to the temple of Zeus. I've never really liked Zeus. I think it's the the wife-eating stuff that sort of unnerves me. So I went there, and to be honest, It wasn't much of a temple. It looked like... well, it looked like a ruin. Which makes sense, because they're called the Greek ruins... get it? ruins... okay, never mind. But, anyway, then I went to the Olympic Stadium. Women were punished if they were caught sneaking in! Oh, those Greeks are just really PUSHING MY BUTTONS NOW! It made me happy to know that I was "breaking the law" by being there. Aha, take THAT, GREEKS!!! Muahahahahahaha...! Okay, getting carried away here. Well, it was fun, blah blah blah.
Okay, so then I went to the statue of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Finally, a woman that gets some respect! I'd heard that she was supposed to be beautiful, so I was really excited to see the statue. BIG disappointment. The statue was SO ugly! The hairstyle was curly hair pulled back into a bun (A bun?!? I mean. REALLY?) and she was missing an arm or two. I didn't see anything particularly "beautiful" about the statue. If this was considered good-looking, then all the other women must have been really ugly! Maybe that's the reason that the Greek men didn't want to be close to them a lot. But that still doesn't make it fair! Anyway, the statue was just wearing a plain toga with nothing on it. No designs, no flowers, no nothing. And the face... don't let me even get started on the FACE. No, really, don't let me because I'll start ranting about how ugly the face was, and how it had no expression at all and... hey, what did I say about not letting me?!? Anyway, seriously, I think the Greeks could have done better than that.
After seeing the statue of Aphrodite, I went to see another one. It was awesome! He was all covered with muscles! And when I say muscles, I MEAN muscles. It looks like this guy really worked out a lot! I heard that there was supposed to be a spear in one of his hands, but there wasn't one. I guess that means he was a warrior guy! That would explain why he's covered in huge muscles. He had his hand on his hip, which made it look like he was sort of dancing. This would have been the awesome-est statue ever (yeah, you heard me, WOULD have been.) But do you know why it wasn't? Well...er, how do I put this... um. Well, the Greeks... probably should have... erm, at least given him some clothes. It was a little... um, disturbing. Really. Maybe Greeks didn't wear clothes, only togas on special occasions. Nah, probably not. But still. Did Greek dads take their little kids to see... that?!?
ReplyDeleteOoh, and then I went to the temple of Delphi! She was apparently a very holy woman... another famous woman in Greece! Hooray! Anyway, I think it would have been nice to actually see the oracle of Delphi. She couldn't actually see the future, though, there was just some gas that made her go into a trance-like state. Well, way to ruin a legend. Maybe they built it over the two fault lines that had gas on purpose. Maybe they said it was the "gas of the gods" or something. There's really not much left of the temple, though. Just a floor and some columns. But it was still cool. Oh, and the view was, like, REALLY nice! All the trees spread out below... yeah, the view was awesome. And you could see some little ruins in the greenery. There were cool pointy trees everywhere. The view definitely rocked. Until it started to rain. That was annoying. You want to know something even more annoying??? The MINUTE I left the site, the rain stopped. Well, I know when I'm not wanted.
The last place I visited on my tour of Greece was the Theater of Epidaurus. Did you know it's one of the only two acoustically perfect places in the world? That means that you could hear Something from the stage all the way at the top of the theater. Cool, right? How did the Greeks come up with this stuff? It would be really weird if the had done it by accident. I doubt that. But how did they know about sound waves? How did they test that it worked? Did some guy drop a rock and then if the guy on top can hear it...? I don't know. Oh, and how long did it take them to make it? It would take US a long time to make something like that, so how long did it take for them, if they didn't have technology like we do? Well, I guess only they knew that. Maybe it's in their notebooks or something. how should I know. But it was really cool. It was all huge and stony. Well, it was made out of stones, after all. Where did they get all that stone, though? It must have taken them years to make the plan, years to gather the stones, and years to actually build the thing! That's a lot of years. It was built right next to the hospital. I heard that that was because, "laughter is the best medicine", but I think that maybe it was for when someone fell off the stands or something. I mean, they were pretty high up.
Well, that was my awesome trip! Hope you enjoyed!
Best Regards,
Rachel L.
Dear Uncle,
ReplyDeleteHow’s things? Im looking in a mirror and I see myself
in Greece but I just can’t believe I’m really here. I love the
music and culture. Food here is delicious and a lot like
Israel. Humus and Pita bread...yum. I saw a statue of the
greek goddess Aphrodite today. It was unbelievably
beautiful but does not compare to the Venus de Milo which
I saw in the Louvre in Paris with my parents two years
ago. If you were here I would take your picture and send it
to mom! I miss you.
Write to you soon,
Love,
Joelle Perlin
Dear Uncle,
ReplyDeleteToday was a little embarrassing. I went to see a statue
of a man who nobody is quite sure who he is. This guy
was a warrior or something and was missing a spear
which was supposed to be in his hand. I would of taken
a picture but he wasn’t dressed and I was too freaked out.
The thing is, Greeks in ancient days, regarded the human
body as a thing of beauty. I bet that they didn't even care
if someone was walking around naked because all there
statues are like that. I wanted to bring this guy a pair of
pants or something! Oh well, I guess I will have to go to
the mall and try and find an extra big pair to donate to the
museum.
Write to you soon,
Love,
Joelle Perlin
Dear Anthony,
ReplyDeleteToday we visited the Acropolis aka the Sacred Rock. We toured the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Nike. I was fascinated by the supply of marble they had to build the temples. Even I had never seen so much in my life--and I am an architect!The guide told us that they were built around 450-330 B.C. 120 years! The rest of the day we visited other places, but they werent of any interest to me. Write back soon!
--Jonah
Dear Uncle,
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the most beautiful sights out of my entire
trip. I went to the temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece.
It was very beautiful and very old. There, I saw
6 columns that were only partially intact. Some of the
columns are really big and some are very small. I
think the columns used to be supports to hold up the
temple walls. The architecture must have been amazing.
The panoramic view from the temple allows you to see
what looks like all of greece. It’s pretty awesome! There
are some stone steps next to the temple that I climbed
up. I felt like an ancient spartan queen. The steps are
limestone, many are broken and they look very old. Im
sure the greeks loved to stand here and they probably felt
like they were actually with the god Apollo.
Its so pretty and majestic here! Well, thats
the news for today.
Write to you soon,
Love,
Joelle Perlin
Dear Uncle,
ReplyDeleteI learned something important today. My father has a
ring from Medical school with the staff of Aesculapeus.
When we went to Rome a couple of years ago he was all
excited when we saw a statue of Aesculapeus in the
Vatican. I never knew who Aesculapeus was and
why my Dad cared about him.
Well, it turns out that I visited a very famous theater today
about 100miles from Athens. The theater is called
Epidaurus and is truly amazing and grand. It was built for
the god Dyanysus.
It was built next to a healing center used for
medical therapy which had a statue of Aesculapeus, god
of Medicine, who used snakes to heal people. The theater
was just another way to treat diseases because watching
plays was considered to heal people. The theater is
amazing because it has perfect acoustics. If you drop a
coin in the middle of the stage, you can hear it from all
over the theater, even in the back row. Don’t try and tell
a secret there! The Greeks were amazing engineers.
Be home soon,
Love,
Joelle Perlin
Dear Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI’m coming home tomorrow! But before I leave I want to tell you about what I did today. And before that, I have some other things. I’m bringing back a little surprise for you tomorrow…I met these two girls, Marissa and Mandy, and they live right near us. They are so nice and I can’t wait for you to meet them. Now, onto my sightseeing for the day! I went to the Theater of Epidaurus today. It had 14,000 seats. Wow! Originally, there were 32 rows. They put in 23 more rows later so now there are 55 rows. And it was here for over 2,500 years! The Theater of Epidaurus was built right next to a huge hospital. Maybe it was because if someone fell, they would need extreme medical help. I mean seriously, that place was HUGE! And it was made completely out of limestone. It’s not like stretchy, soft, and strong plastic. Actually, it was because theater was medicine. I thought laughter was the best medicine! Well, some of the things they did there were comedy. In the hospital, or “healing center”, there were “magical snakes”. They wrote all their cures and things in stone. They built the theater because after they got loads and loads of money from patients, they had enough to build a theater. And they did. Since the stadium was so big, the people doing the play had to wear masks so people would see what emotion the character’s emotions were from the top row. I mean seriously, how could you see someone’s face from there? And that place had perfect acoustics. That means, if someone dropped a penny on the ground you could hear it from the top row. Omigosh! That is a lot of information, Ashley. I miss you so much! See you soon,
Rebecca
Dear Mom,
ReplyDeleteToday we went to visit the kinds of houses they have in the Athens. I’ll tell you: it was so real. And the place buzzes with action! But, guess what?! It was real! This experience has been amazing, mom. I really wish you were here with me, mom! A craftsmen house usually has his workshop type place built into this house. All of the potters live in one area, and that’s how it works. All of the people that specialize in one profession all live in the same area.
A wealthy townhouse is a lot bigger than the potters or craftsmen’s houses. Its two stories high, and men and women live in different parts. The house itself is overwhelmingly beautiful from the outside! They obviously don’t care about the inside so much… any way, our guide told us that the Athenians believe that beauty should be on the outside, shown to the public so that everyone can see it. Not hidden inside the house. I guess that the thinking in modern Maryland is very different!
With much love,
Ellie
Dear Mom,
ReplyDeleteToday we visited the Temple of Zeus. It was MANGA!! I couldn’t believe that someone would build something that big, just for a god. It amazed me. It probably took like forever to build! It’s too bad it’s in ruins in the real world. I am so fortunate I get to see it—enacted, not in ruins. Today, we also went to the Olympic Stadium. Did you know that the Olympic Games originated in Ancient Greece? I didn’t! Anyway, the Olympic Fields is just a very large area, and today, we were fortunate to a place to stand and watch them! They were so different than The Olympics back at home.
Love,
Ellie
Dear Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI hope that you aren't missing me THAT much, because I have so many more things to see and tell you about. First of all, today, I visited a group of craftsman's houses, and then I visited the area where all the rich people lived. When I visited the craftsman's houses, I was amazed that so many people could live there. The house was a decent size, but our guide told us that two families and all their animals lived in it.
Most wealthy people owned two story houses and had enough space to seperate women from men most of the times. When I walked in, the first thing that I realized was that there weren't as many decorations in the inside as on the outside of the house. I would have thought that it would be even nicer than the outside. I think it's because they wanted people to judge the house on the outside.
Arianna
Dear Johnny,
ReplyDeleteToday was my first day in Greece. We saw the Acropolis. It was like I was standing inside a movie! I only had time to look at a few things, but there was a lot more to see. I saw the Parthenon which was incredible (but in ruins). There I saw a REALLY big statue of Athena! It was taller than my house. It was also very beautiful.
I also saw two theaters. One was really big, and the other was medium size. We also got to look at the temple of Athena, but we were not allowed inside, because they were trying to rebuild it and were scared we would brake something. I cannot wait to go see another thing. See you in a week.
From,
Quin
PS: This letter was rejected the first time I tried to send it so it might come late.
Dear Andrew,
ReplyDeleteToday I visited the Acropolis. One of the most memorable parts of the day would probably be visiting the Parthenon. We weren't allowed inside the temple, but I could still tell that it was amazing. We also saw the Erechthion and Nike temple (as if we haven't seen enough marble), which were very interesting.
Arianna
Dear Andrew,
ReplyDeleteThe other day when I visited the Acropolis I was very tired, but today I felt ready to visit more places. The first place that we went to was the Temple of Zeus. The place was built just for Zeus the king of the gods, and it really seemed fit for a god--even though it was in ruins.
I also visited the Olympic Stadium. We had a new tour guide, who was really great and very informative. He told us about the olympic games and how they were a way for people to worship the gods. This was probably the best day of my journey, and I hope that when I come home I can describe the events that happened in the last week.
From,
Arianna
Dear Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI woke up early this morning, and the first thing that I did after I got ready was visit more places! I decided to first see the statue of Aphrodite. The statue was beautiful and had such great details, and I could really tell that it was an anicent greek statue.
Afterwards, a went and saw another statue of a man this time. They said that he was probably holding a spear when the statue was created, but it isn't anymore. The statue shows the greeks' appreciation of the human body... even though I find the statue to be uncomfortable, the greeks probably did not. Well anyways, that was my day. I did visit a few other musuems, but nothing there were very interesting. See you in only a few days!
Arianna
Dear Anthony,
ReplyDeleteToday we visited Ancient Olympia, which was where the olympic games originated. It was amazing to learn that there was only one event--every 4 years! But, eventually the Greeks discovered and added new events. The olympic games started in 776 B.C. The bad thing is that not everyone could go. Only men, boys, and unmarried girls. If I were in charge, I'd change that--looks like I am too late! Anyway, tomorrow will be my last day in Greece and I'll be sure to tell you all about it!
Looking forward to seeing you soon,
Jonah
Dear Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI recieved the letter that you sent me, and i would like to respond thanks. I'm glad that you are well and that you are enjoying yourself. As for my day, I visited the temple of Apollo in Delphi. It's difficult to describe, so I took a few pictures to show you when I come home. It looks very ancient and is very ancient, but that only interested me even more. It was Apollo's sanctuary. I'll send you few more letter throughout the day, then I'll take the plain ride home.
Arianna
Dear Anthony,
ReplyDeleteToday we took a tour of Ancient Greek homes. My favorite was the craftsman home, where most peasants would reside. I liked it because they would usually live in the districts their jobs were.For example, we saw the ruins of a potters' home, which was in Ceramicus. Get it? Ceramics, Ceramicus?
Another group of homes we visited were the wealthy homes. It was a LOT different. The guide told us that these houses used to have two floors, but they were very wide. Men and women would live seprately in the homes, but I never really knew why. The men would party all night, so maybe thats why they were seperated ( I mean ,come on,everybody has to catch up on beauty sleep, right?). I noticed that Greeks used pillars in their homes, especially on the front of the house. I cant belive how architecture thousands of years ago is still used today!
Your Friend,
Jonah
dear martha,
ReplyDeletetoday i went to see the acropolis. it is the most beautiful thing that i have ever seen. my tour guide told us that the acropolis of the athens was the best acropolis made. i learned that it is a flat toopped rock that can rise 490 feeet above sea level. our tour was also about learning and seeing what it was like. i had so much fun..but we had to go on to the next thing.
love yarden
dear martha,
ReplyDeletetoday i took a tour of ancient greek homes. and cani tell that they were spectacular. they were very interesting because they were differnt so it wasnt boring to see each one because there was always something new to see. my favorite one was the wealthy's home. because it was cool how the men and women lived on seperate levels so if one had a drinking party they would be alone. i think that' that is very smart because then they would have privacy. but the most interesting one was the craftsmen house because there home wass usually next to were they would go to work.
dear martha,
ReplyDeletetoday i went to ancient olympia. i learned that ancient settlemens were olympic games started. the games were held in honor of zeus, king of the gods.The first Olympic Games were held in about 776BC. in those days the games were only races from one side to the other side of the stadium. over the years there were more games added to the least until it would take four days for all the games to finish. wel i wanted to share that with you becasue that shows the difference between their games and ours. so til next time. i will stil keep writing you.
dear martha,
ReplyDeletetoday i took a tour of the greek theatre. now, this theatre is not like the ones we have now. there theatre was like a half circle. and there were seats so high that when people had shows and plays when people were all the way at the top rows they couldnt see so they had to wear masks to show what they were feeling, happy or sad. but they had costumes like we have. they influenced us so much that when in theatres we have the top top top seats, some time ago we had to use bynocualrs to see what peoples feeling were. so we use alot of what they used. ther influence us to the extent.
sorry martha at the end of my letter i ment they not ther
ReplyDeleteDear Avi,
ReplyDeleteToday I saw Lycabettus Hill. There was a bell tower facing a building with a bunch of crosses on it. The building was pretty small. It had two really big windows, and a really big door. It is above a really lot of houses. The bell tower also had a cross on it. The bell in the tower was small, but so was the tower. Well, I'm really tired, so I'll write to you some other time.
-Aviva
Dear Avi,
ReplyDeleteToday I saw the statue of Aphrodite in the Louvre in Paris. It was a big detour, since I was in Greece. Anyway, it was a little strange, because the statue had no arms. Also, she wasn't wearing a shirt. I'm pretty sure Aphrodite wore a shirt. Her hair was in a bun, and she was wearing a very long skirt thingy. I have got to stop writing to you so late, because I am about to fall asleep.
-Aviva
Dear Avi,
ReplyDeleteToday I saw a statue of a random dude. Who makes a statue without bothering to say who is the statue supposed to look like? Anywho, This guy was naked. He looked like he was dancing. Maybe instead of singing in the rain, he was dancing in it. If I was a sculptor, I wouldn't want to sculpt in the rain. Speaking of rain, tht is what is happening outside, and I don't want this to get wet. Maybe you couldn't tell by the smudged spots, but I am outside. I wanted to leave the statue of the random naked dude dancing in the rain.
-Aviva
Dear Avi,
ReplyDeleteToday I saw Platamon Castle. But, from where I was standing, it looked like a tower. With a wall. That looked like it went with a castle. OK, so maybe it did look like a castle. I just couldn't see the whole thing because f the trees. It was made of gray stone, and looked pretty castley. Now I have to go see a theater, so I'll write you another letter later.
-Aviva
Dear Avi,
ReplyDeleteToday I saw the Theater of Epidaurus. It was built for Dionysus. I thought this was a bit weird, because he already has a theater. It had 14,000 seats. A bit much for a guy who has two theaters. Why not just call it Dionysus Theater 2? Apparently, theater was considered medicine. I'm glad dad didn't write plays then. It would be like, anti medicine. Right near the theater was a place for the god of medicine. He had magic snakes. I like snakes. Snakes are cool. Well, I better do something else now, because I am getting off topic and it's only going to get worse if I keep writing.
-Aviva
Dear Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteToday I visited the temple of Zeus. It was very interesting to see. The premises were massive and vast (well, at least what's left of them). It makes sense for them to be because Zeus was the most powerful god of all. The ruins looked nothing alike to the model in the picture (i could tell it was a model because the trees were made out of that weird, green material). Anyways, off to the Olympic Stadium!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Dear Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI just came back from seeing the Olympic Stadium of ancient Greece. It was so cool! Instead of seats, they had little stumps. The first Olympic games were held in about 776 B.C. Just standing made me remember being there during that time. Now I know what you're thinking. "How could you have been there!? You weren't alive! That was so long ago, duh!" All the proof I need is in this quote: "remembrance is just an invention of the mind" (quote taken from Freak the Mighty written by Rodman Philbrick). Anyways, I also visited some stands in the stadium. It wasn't anymore interesting. Well, gotta go!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Dear Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteToday I went and visited the last site on my list of places I need to visit in ancient Greece. I saw the theatre of Epidaurus. It was astonishing to see. It also made me wonder how the people of ancient Greece were educated enough to make a great theatre with no electricity that enhances a person's voice on the stage, makes the sun hit the stage perfectly, etc. My tour group and I traveled 100 miles from our hotel in Athens to Epidaurus to test out dropping a coin on the stage and hearing it perfectly from the back row. It was so much fun. Anyways, I have to get back to the trip because we are leaving soon. This field trip was so much fun! I can't wait to visit other places across the world. See ya'!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Dear Andrew,
ReplyDeleteMy last stop of the day is at the theater of Epidaurus. There were 14,000 seats in the theater, with fifty five rows. Even though a lot of the other things that I saw on this trip were excellent, I really feel connected to the theater... it's very beautiful. For ancient greeks, music and theater was healing. The way it was designed was amazing! The tour guide told us that it was specifically created for everyone in the theater to hear the music or play. Anyways, I'm leaving here and coming hom now. See you soon!
Arianna
Dear mom,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention in my last letter things about the stands. Anyway, surrounding the stadium are the stands. They are amazing! And huge! Everything in Ancient Greece is very different from what I had imagined it to be. The place buzzes with action everywhere you go whether loud, or quiet. Enough on that… today we saw this sculpture, and at first I didn’t recognize it. Then I realized that it was the famous sculpture ‘Venus de Milo’, but just a little bit fresher. For an ancient sculpture, it’s pretty nice. Actually, the sculpture is better described as beautiful! I don’t think that Ancient Greeks really care about nudity…
Love,
Ellie
Dear Tycho,
ReplyDeleteToday we got up early and took tours of the the architecture in Athens. There is so much about it to learn! First we got to look at the Pireaus, which is a set of three harbors from Athens that are three miles long each. They are pretty geriatric, so it was cool to see them. After that, we were transposed to the marketplace, where we learned about the Colonus Agoreus, where the day to day city officials were based to usually run government.
I promise to write soon.
Your Colleague,
Zefirino
Dear Monica,
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, you would not believe how amazing stuff is here in Greece. I just finished visiting the Erechtheion, and I have to say that the meaning behind it is pretty interesting to hear. did you know that I heard that it was built on the acropolis to honor the place where the goddess, Athena supposedly made a sacred olive tree jump up, so it can replace the ancient temple of Athena. Apparently, the Erechtheion got its name from "Erechtheus" who was a local hero/legendary king in Athens. The unusual construction is supposed to reflect the many shrines that were to be found here. Anyways that is just one of the many places. I can't wait to visit more! Talk to you soon,
Allie W.
Dear Monica,
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, you would not believe how amazing stuff is here in Greece. I just finished visiting the Erechtheion, and I have to say that the meaning behind it is pretty interesting to hear. did you know that I heard that it was built on the acropolis to honor the place where the goddess, Athena supposedly made a sacred olive tree jump up, so it can replace the ancient temple of Athena. Apparently, the Erechtheion got its name from "Erechtheus" who was a local hero/legendary king in Athens. The unusual construction is supposed to reflect the many shrines that were to be found here. Anyways that is just one of the many places. I can't wait to visit more! Talk to you soon,
Allie W.
Tycho,
ReplyDeleteI had just the most stupendous day today. Let me tell you about it. I Listened to this historian, a native of Greece, named Zanita tell us about the Olympics. I learned so much, including that: The Olympics were started in honor of Zeus, it was five days long, much shorter than the around two week length there is today, the frequency is the same four years though. Also, the first Olympics were held in 776 BC. At first the only event was a race from one end of the stadium to the other, but it evolved into five days of competition, and evantually into what we have today. Only males and spouseless women could watch th games though.
I have to go now, we are having a traditional Greek supper!
Zefirino
Dear Monica,
ReplyDeleteI know that I say this A LOT, but those houses are awesome!. I thought that houses back home were cool, but I just visited "A Wealthy Townhouse". It is very beautiful. I learned that a typical well-to-do house is built next to a courtyard. There is also a shrine. It is usually two stories tall. The house was just just breath taking. Is is so amazing how much I would not have ever known about unless I came here. I am so excited to visit ancient Olympia! I will tell you all about it.
xoxo,
Allie W.
Dear mom,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention in my last letter things about the stands. Anyway, surrounding the stadium are the stands. They are amazing! And huge! Everything in Ancient Greece is very different from what I had imagined it to be. The place buzzes with action everywhere you go whether loud, or quiet. Enough on that… today we saw this sculpture, and at first I didn’t recognize it. Then I realized that it was the famous sculpture ‘Venus de Milo’, but just a little bit fresher. For an ancient sculpture, it’s pretty nice. Actually, the sculpture is better described as beautiful! after that, we saw abother sculpture. It was this bronze naked man standing upright. And boy, did he have a six pack!! It bothered me that all of their sculptures are mostly naked in some facotor. I don’t think that Ancient Greeks really care about nudity…
Love,
Ellie
dear martha,
ReplyDeletetoday i took a tour of sculptures and corinth. i saw the most beautifull sculpture whitch makes sense because the goddess was aphrodite the goddess of beauty. i could not believe how specific it was. it was amazing. this sculpture is made in such genuine style and is made to curve the womens body in the most natural way possible. it is worth looking at for yourself. till next time, write backk and talk to you soon.
Dear Monica,
ReplyDeleteIt was very exciting to be able to learn more about the Olympic games. I was fascinated to hear about how Olympia is an ancient settlement in Greece where the famous Olympic games had started. The games were held in honor of Zeus, the "King of the Gods". The games were part of a great five day celebration held every four years at Olympia. In those days the only event was the "short sprint", where you would run from one end of the stadium to the other. As the years progressed, more and more events were added until there were four days worth of various competitions. The audience came from all over Greece to watch these amazing events happen. They had to either sleep in tents or freeze their butts off, and sleep outside. It seems pretty serious for a game in my point of view, but it is funny how interesting people were in watching people run back and forth. HA HA HA! Well, off to my next visit. Bye,
Allie W.
Dear mom,
ReplyDeleteWhen I think big, I think of of a big mac, the kind that dad used to eat for almost every meal! But the temple of Delphi and every other greek temple has RE-defined BIG for me. The temple of Apollo at Delphi is particularly big. We visited it today, and I thought that this one time we would get to go in it, and guess what? We couldn't. It made me sad. Maybe if I got a toga and acted like I was going to give a sacrifice they would let me in...you always said I looked middle eastern! Well, I should choose the battles I can win. And this is definetely not EVEN questionable. I'd be DEAD!! So I don't think plan A will work...on to plan B!!
I'll tell you what that is in my next letter...
Love,
Ellie
dear martha,
ReplyDeletetoday i took a tour of sculptures. i learned that the greeks were very thankfull of their bodys. and not shy about them. because we learned that peopel were, you could say:inspected, to see if you were beautifull or not. so they were definetly not shy to present their bodys in the nude. even though thye found the sculpture they wer not sure of who they found so they had to be very acurate of what they were working with.
i think my favorite sculptures are the ones that are very colorfull and that have clothes on. because i think that if you have clothes on there is more to color over and more interesting and you can learn from were they came from. and you can tell if the sculpture is a man or women because men didnt ususally have colorfull clothes in ancient greece. till next time... kepp writing
Dear Monica,
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the statue "Venus DE Milo" can also be called Aphrodite of Melos?! Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of beauty, was sculpted in the Hellenistic period. It was found on the Greek Island, Melos. Aphrodite being my favorite Goddess of them all, I thought it was very cool to learn about a sculpture of her. I noticed that this sculpture is very "Curvy", and that is one of the first things I saw because it makes the sculpture look very full. Can;t wait for some more adventures!
Love,
Allie W.
Dear mom,
ReplyDeleteToday we went to the theatre of Epidurous. It is truly amazing, and I almost lost my mind when I walked up to the last row, and could hear my friend laughing, quiet clearly! It is built to have PERFECT acoustics. How, I don't understand. We saw a show there, and it wasn't that entertaining for a 19 year old who doesn't understant Ancient Greek language. It was still amazing to see the see of heads beneath my feet. We couldn't see the faces, but the actors wore masks, so that when they were supposed to be happy, they had a happy mask on. If they were sad, angry or surprised... you get the point. Even though I couldn't understand anything, it was an amazing experience. I wish I could move to Ancient Greece!!
Love,
Ellie
dear martha,
ReplyDeleteyoday i took a tour of the temple of apollo in delphi. i learned that it was the site of worship of the god apollo. after apollo died a diety protected our temple till the end. if you want this is worth seeing for yourself it is still visible today. and you wont regret it. it is the most amazing and architectural thing in the world. well thats the end of us and hope to talk to you soon. if we can reach eachother. because our connection is over. but i have loved our talking. til whenever, yours trully, yarden
Dear Monica,
ReplyDeleteThe striking figure or statue if you prefer, is about life size times one and one half, and at one point he held a spear in his right hand. His pose clearly depends on the floor plan of nude/naked ruler or king portraits in the tradition of the famous late 4th century, the statue of Alexander the Great holding a spear. I have noticed that in Greece they seem to be fans of sculpting naked people.
Ta ta for now,
Allie W.
Dear Monica,
ReplyDeleteWow, Temple of Apollo at Delphi is astonishing! Apollo, god of the sun, was a very interesting god to learn about. Apollo0 is great, but the Temple of Apollo was magnificent. I wish you could see this site of pure genius. Anyways got to go, more things to explore.
Your best friend 'till the end,
Allie W.
Dear Monica,
ReplyDeleteCan you believe that the theater of Epidaurus is the greatest theater in the western world?! I can't even believe it, and I just saw it. It had the most advanced acoustic design. It was beauuuuuuuuuutiful! It is so theatrical, that it could amaze anyone who came to see it. It is also one the larger theaters. I have heard in the theater, The god Dionysus, still lives on. I feel so in touch with my inner artistic beauty. I hope that one day you get to come and visit this masterpiece. I am sad to say that the theater was my last stop, so goodbye Greece, it is time for me to go home.
On my way back,
Allie W.
Tycho-
ReplyDeleteWow, Greece is the most interesting and intruiging nation I ever been to. This trip has been both fun and educating. I found out today that there is this statue called "Aphrodite of Melos" and it is believed to be sculpted around 100 BC! It was found on a Greek island called Melos in 1820 an it is now on disply so I even got to see the real thing. It is large and life like, but it isn't painted, but you can still see the beauty and texture of every detail. I had such a divine time!
Profoundly,
Zefirino
Zefirino
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteWow, what a day! I had so much fun. Today we went to see the Temple of Apollo, in Delphi, Greece. I expect that it was beautiful when all of it was there. I looked great without the roof and walls. Well, I'm not sure if there was walls. Maybe? The moment I saw the rocky stairs, I couldn't even imagine how hard they were to climb! Well, one last thing to see. Write to you soon!
From,
Sydney
Dear Cameron,
ReplyDeleteToday I saw the Dionysus Theater. It was built to honor Dionysus. It could seat 14,000 people. I can't even imagine having 100 people in one place, let alone 14,000! It has 55 rows of perfectly architechted stone seats. It is said that it is the largest theatrical space in the Western world. It was so cool! Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing all of my adventures. I really missed you, and can't wait to tell you more when I get back.
From,
Sydney
To Tycho:
ReplyDeleteThis morning I visited an exorbitantly large statue of a man made entirely out of bronze. It was so nifty and far out! He was about 8 foot 9 or so, and he had a pose like he was really with it. I bet he was a real rad lad back in the day. I understand the Greeks love for art and the human body because you couldd see the texture in his muscles and the patterns in his stoumach and chest. Greece is So Swell!!!
Happily,
Zefirino
Dionysus Theater
ReplyDeleteDear Latisha,
Today we went to the Dionysus Theater. I learned that the theater looked just like a football stadium. I just started to realize how all the buildings are made of stone. Too bad the theater was in ruins, but I could still see myself back in the times of ancient Greece. I wonder what plays were performed there. After that we went to Acropolis Hill and saw the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a great example of the Greek architecture with a lot of columns. So the day was great because I saw a lot.
From,
Ian S.
Greek Homes
ReplyDeleteDear Latisha,
I traveled to the Athenians’ homes and saw that most people lived in the district of their profession. In the houses, were usually their workshops and I was hoping I would get to try it out. In a regular house there were courtyards in the middle and woman and men lived separately in their houses. Imagine how different that is from us. In the towns there were fountains for the women to get water and catch up on gossip. Sounds like Athenians gossiped too, just like Americans. As I was saying, the houses were a decent size for the workshops to also be in them. I hope you come to see them too.
From,
Ian S.
Olympia
ReplyDeleteDear Latisha,
Today I went to see the temple of Zeus in Olympia. Sadly, there were not a lot of remains. I learned about the creation of the Olympics and how there was a game called pankration which was like wrestling. I was surprised to hear that the Olympics were started in 776 B.C. I also learned that there in Olympia Zeus was a big part of their culture. I also learned that the Olympics for them were involving skills for war unlike ours. I wish I could see the ancient Olympics in action.
Your friend,
Ian S.
Greek sculpture at Corinth
ReplyDeleteDear Latisha,
Today we went to the statue called Aphrodite of Melos and I saw how it looked like a real human body. The sculpture was sculpted to the curves of a real human body. It was a little bare on the top but it was fascinating to the Greeks because they liked the art of the human body. I learned that this masterpiece was found on the Greek Island of Melos. This was of the goddess of love, Aphrodite. It was very carefully thought out so that it shows the goddess must have been very special. When I look at its face, it reminds me of the people from the time of George Washington. Well onto my next destination.
Your friend,
Ian S.
Statue at war
ReplyDeleteDear Latisha,
I went to see another statue and I saw one that looked like it was supposed to be holding a spear in war. This opened up my mind to think of how the war must have been for the Greeks. Can I tell you how weird it is to keep seeing naked statues? For the first time I saw a darker stone statue. I’m starting to get sick of the marble; I’m going to get TMMS (too much marble sickness). I hope you can come see Greece soon.
From,
Ian S.
Temple of Apollo
ReplyDeleteDear Latisha,
Today I went to the temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece. It was hard to imagine built because it is only ruins. Again this was a temple made for a god and built with marble. As I was playing around on it I could have sworn I saw a ghost. I think the ghost was my imagination of someone worshipping the god Apollo. I was just wondering what it’s like now in the states. I think that that what was left of the columns showed it was a Doric column. I’ll write again.
Your friend,
Ian S.
Greek theater
ReplyDeleteDear Latisha,
Today we left main Athens and went to Epidaurus. I saw the 14,000 seat theater dedicated to Dionysus the god of drama and wine. I wonder what it must have been like to be in a play there with apparently really good acoustics. I wonder if there was free wine considering Dionysus was also the god of wine? The theater seemed to be in such good shape back at that time, the builders put great effort toward building it, because it was built for one of their gods. I have to fly home on a red eye tonight bye.
Your friend,
Ian S.
Hey, Everybody,you can view my Virtual Field trip diary entrys by going to: http://ari.zeemoo.net/school/Virtual%20Field%20Trip.pdf.
ReplyDeleteTycho:
ReplyDeleteI visited the Temple of Apollo at Delphi today. It was so grand! It is great because it gives you a picture in your mind of how fabulous it must have been just after it was built, because let me tell you it looks old and kind of broken. Not that that isn't to be expected, it thousands of years old!
From,
Zefirino
Tycho,
ReplyDeleteI am sad that I am coming home tomorrow, but at least I will get to see youand the rest of the clan... I did, however, end my trip on a good note. I visited the massive Greek theatre, which is a semi circle, and it looks like they just keep packing rows so they can fit as many people as we do in modern theatres. I mean some of the seats are so high up that you couldn't see the stage, and don't forget the ANCIENT Greeks didn't have jumbotrons or microphones or any technology to help the folks in the nosebleed seats. So, you ask, whatever did they do? Well I will tell you. They wore "happy", "sad", "grouchy",(you're picking up what i'm putting down, my "jist"). Those Greek rascals an have quite the noggin to think up such applying solutions to their problems.
See You Tomorrow!
Zefirino
Dear Grandma,
ReplyDeleteToday I visited different kinds of houses. I learned that the men and women usually lived separately in the houses, which I couldn’t believe-In my house everyone is together. Also, most had animals like pigs or cows, so it was hard to find room for everything, especially if you’re sharing a house with another family. What I thought was interesting was that people’s houses were usually located where their jobs were. For example, a craftsman would have his workshop somewhere in the house, instead of driving out to your job. But I learned about a wealthy townhouse too. When I first got into the house, I saw the lounge were everyone would drink and have parties. This house had 2 floors, and was built around small courtyard with a shrine. Over the fireplace was a bit and bridle for the knight cavalry horse, because this house was aristocratic. One of the other houses had a set of bronze hoplite armor instead, because it wasn’t aristocratic. And finally, I learned that wealth was expressed through the wealthy people’s clothes, their slaves, and were their house was located. Well, I’ll talk to you later!
Charlie
-------------------------------------------------
Dear mom,
Today I visited Corinth to see some sculptures. I saw one of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love. She was made out of marble (the sculpture I mean) and she didn’t have arms. They must have broken off when they found it. It was very old, and I was amazed that it wasn’t totally destroyed, being made during the Hellenistic Period. It was cool to look at the way they worshiped Aphrodite, a totally different way from the Jews. They also had this Bronze sculpture of a man, which was also made during the Hellenistic Period. They don’t exactly know who the person is, but it could be people such as Attalos II, Attaos III, or Alexander I. It was said that the statue must have been built after a military victory, because it looks like the guy use to be holding a spear. It was also very cool.
Charlie
---------------------------------------------
Dear Ben,
Today I learned about Olympia, where they Olympic Games came from. The games were held in honor of Zeus, king of the gods. The games went on for 5 days, every 4 years. The first Olympic Games were in some time close to 776BC. At first there were only sprints, but there were more games added throughout the years, like wrestling. Only this wrestling had little rules. Unlike now, only the men, boys and unmarried girls were allowed to play in the games. Women who were caught sneaking in were punished. There were many myths saying that Oxylos was the founder of the original games, which were later brought back by his descendant, Lfitos, the king of Ellis.
I always thought that Olympia was just were the gods lived, and nothing really exiting happened. You learn something new every day!
Charlie
-------------------------------------------------
Dear Dad,
Today I visited the Theatre of Epidaurus. It was very cool. There was a round stage in the middle, and 55 rows of seats going all the way up. It could hold 14,000 people. I learned lots about it too. It is the largest ancient theatre. It’s actually located right next to a healing center. It turns out, music was actually used in medical therapy to sooth the sick. People from all over came to get healed, and the money from that was put in to make the theatre. The stone that the stands were made of reduced the echo of the singing. It was very interesting to learn how precise the theatre had to be, and how the technology was good enough to make it. It was also interesting to compare it to Broadway show and how much we’ve improved theatre!
Charlie
Dear Grandma,
ReplyDeleteToday I visited the Acropolis in Athens. I saw the Parthenon, which was the Temple. It was all in ruins, but they were reconstructing it. It kind of looked like the front of the Lincoln Memorial, but it had columns all around, not just the front. I also learned that it was the temple for Athena, one of my favorite goddesses. It was a great trip, even though I was disappointed that I couldn’t actually go into the temple. Oh well.
Charlie
-------------------------------------------------
Dear Ben,
Today I went to Delphi! I loved it there. I went to see the Temple of Apollo, which was very interesting. The temple was extremely long, but it had no top. I learned that it was destroyed a lot. It was destroyed from a fire, then from an earthquake, which explained why it was in ruins. The temple of Apollo was first built around by the two legendary architects Trophonios and Agamedes (notice how I said first built-- Trophonios and Agamedes didn’t rebuild it). The temple was of the Doric order and had 6 columns at the front, and 15 columns at the sides. Now, it only has 5 columns on the end, which towered over me. It was a great experience!
Charlie
Hello Nacho chip,
ReplyDeleteToday, I went to the Parthenon. I was so disappointed! There were marble columns strewn all over the place and scaffolding against almost every wall! There was this giant crane outside the building and you'd think if they were actually using it the Parthenon may not look so messy! When I went outside the view on the little balcony was amazing! Sorry for all the exclamation points!
Sincerely,
Milo
Dear Nacho chip,
ReplyDeleteToday I went to a very wealthy person's house. I would love to be a very wealthy person in Greece. I saw a lot in his house and luckily they had a party. Apparently, the place they have parties is called the symposia. Apparently they believed that art should be public not private so the house barely had any art in it. A little drab, but it will have to do!
From,
Milo
Dear Nacho chip,
ReplyDeleteToday I visited the Temple of Zeus! All it was was pretty much a bunch of rubble. You wouldn't even be able to imagine how many people came to see a pile of rubble each year! Well this is Milo, sighning off!
Good Night America!!
Dear Nacho chip,
ReplyDeleteToday I went and saw the Aphrodite of Melos, also known as the "Venus de Milo". I learned that this statue was found on the island of Melos in 1820. This is a sculpture of the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite.
From,
Milo
Dear Nacho chip,
ReplyDeleteToday I went to see another statue, this one bronze. This statue is thought to have been built in recognition of an important event considering its larger-than-life size. They don't currently know the identity of the statue, but i'm sure they'll figure it out.
Sincerely,
Milo
Dear Nacho chip,
ReplyDeleteToday I visited the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. This is where the oracle, Pythia, sat. Scientists have discovered a fault line right under the temple that lets up natural gases, possibly making you delirious, which explains the oracles prophecies.
Having Fun,
Milo
Dear Nacho chip,
ReplyDeleteToday I went and saw the theater of Epidaurus. This amphitheater is one of the most acoustically perfect structures in the world! That means that even if you are in the top row, you'd still be able to hear a penny drop from the stage. And with 14,00 seats, its sure to pack a crowd!
From,
Milo