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Bibliography

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“Amphora with Theseus fighting against Minotaur, attributed to Painter of Birth of Athena, Detail.” Photograph. Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest, n.d. https://quest.eb.com/search/126_533095/1/126_533095/cite.

Apollodorus. “Book E Chapter 1.” Epitome, Sir James George Frazer Edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:text=Epitome:book=E:chapter=1&highlight=minotaur

Apollodorus. “Chapter 3.1.” Library, Sir James George Frazer Edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:text=Library:book=3:chapter=1&highlight=minotaur

Cartwright, Mark. 2013. “Piraeus.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, June 2. https://www.ancient.eu/Piraeus/.

“Epidaurus.” Encyclopedia Britannica, February 3, 2015. https://www.britannica.com/place/Epidaurus

Francis J. Witty. 1958. "The Pínakes of Callimachus." The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 28, no. 2 (April): 132-36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4304755.

Gale in Context. “Alexandria Founded in Egypt, January 20, 331 B.C." Detroit, MI: Gale, 2012. Gale in Context: World History (accessed November 6, 2020). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2359070360/WHIC?u=viva2_nvcc&sid=WHIC&xid=cd17d7f9

Fritze, Ronald H. "Alexandrian Library and Museum." In Daily Life through History, ABC-CLIO, 2020. https://dailylife2-abc-clio-com.eznvcc.vccs.edu/Search/Display/1985473.

“Greece, Peloponnese Peninsula, Argolis Prefecture, Epidaurus, Hellenistic theater.” Photography. Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest, 2016. https://quest.eb.com/search/126_3751463/1/126_3751463/cite.

Hirschfeld, N. 1996. “Appendix G: Trireme warfare in Thucydides.” In R. B. Strassler (Ed.), The Landmark Thucydides: A comprehensive guide to the Peloponnesian War: 608-613. Free Press. https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1063&context=class_faculty

Katz, Marilyn A. 1998. “Did the Women of Ancient Athens Attend the Theater in the Eighteenth Century?” Classical Philology 93 (2): 105. doi:10.1086/449382.

Livingston, Michael. “Map of Cleopatra’s Alexandria.” Michael Livingston. February 2, 2008. https://www.michaellivingston.com/map-of-cleopatras-alexandria/.

“Merchant Ships.” Ancient Ports-Ports Antiques. n.d. http://www.ancientportsantiques.com/ancient-ships/merchant-ships/#:~:text=Early%20large%20Greek%20merchant%20ships%20of%20the%20Kerkouros,50%20x%207%20m%20for%20the%20larger%20ones.

"Minotaur." In UXL Encyclopedia of World Mythology, 714-717. Vol. 4. Detroit, MI: UXL, 2009. Gale in Context: World History. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3230900222/WHIC?u=viva2_nvcc&sid=WHIC&xid=9bf1f3ea.

Strabo. n.d. “Book 7, Chapter 1, Section 6.” Geography, H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., Ed. London: George Bell & Sons, 1903. Perseus Digital Library. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D17%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D6.

“THEATRICAL MASK. – Ancient Greek bronze mask of tragedy.” Fine Art. Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest. May 25, 2016. quest.eb.com/search/140_1710233/1/140_1710233/cite.

Thucydides. n.d. “Book 2 Chapter 3.” History of the Peloponnesian War. Translated by Thomas Hobbes. London: Bohn, 1843. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=thuc.+2.13.5

"Trade, Greek." In Ancient Greece and Rome: An Encyclopedia for Students, edited by Carroll Moulton, 99-101. Vol. 4. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. Gale in Context: World History. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2897200475/WHIC?u=viva2_nvcc&sid=WHIC&xid=95be0d7c

UNESCO Center. 2020. “Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus.” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/491.

Woodruff, Paul. 2016. “Sharing Emotions through Theater: The Greek Way.” Philosophy East & West 66 (1): 146–51. doi:10.1353/pew.2016.0010.

“500 BC Greek trireme.” Photograph. Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest. May 25, 2016. https://quest.eb.com/search/118_807516/1/118_807516/cite.

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Travel Log Stop 5: The Library of Alexandria

After we finally arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, we docked and went to bed for some much needed rest. As soon as the sun rose, a group of men came to search our ship for books (Fritze, Ronald H., 2020). On my first visit to Alexandria, this behavior completely baffled me. However, it is a longstanding tradition by the Library of Alexandria dating all the way back to Ptolemy I. He and Ptolemy II ordered the requisition of all books to be copied. Book hungry as they were, they would often return a copy rather than the book itself. They were so jealous to have the largest and most comprehensive library in the world that they banned the export of Egyptian Papyrus at one point. Given Alexandria’s status and power, it is simpler to let them copy the books than find somewhere else to trade.

As I waited for all the goods to be unloaded, I began to wander the city. Alexandria is unlike any other place around the Mediterranean. To get anywhere, you travel along the grid of streets laid neatly into rows. Everywhere else in the world I travelled, the roads were always a tangled mess, connecting from one random location to another. However, in the carefully planned Alexandria, you could travel from the Jewish district to the Greek temples with one glance at a map (Livingston, 2008).

However, it is not merely their roads that sets Alexandria apart. As I walked, I saw Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Jews, and others I couldn’t identify. Throughout the city stood temples to gods of various religions. Despite their differences, each man went about his business as though oblivious of the others.

After a brisk walk, I reached the Library of Alexandria. Outside the entrance, two elderly men, an Egyptian and a Roman, debated over one of the scrolls. It sounded interesting, so I went inside to see if they had another copy. However, the tens to hundreds of thousands of scrolls bowled me over.  Stacks of scrolls covered every wall of the library. Throughout the Mediterranean, people treasured writings the way a man in the desert treasures water. However, in here, there were enough scrolls for every man, woman, and child in the vicinity. In all this wealth of knowledge, I wondered how someone could even locate a specific scroll. I looked around saw a young man looking over an index titled the “Pinakes” (Witty, 1958). I looked to his left and saw that it was one of over a hundred different indexes. Now I understood why everyone who visited Alexandria spoke of the library: the smell of old papyrus, dust resting on the shelves, scholars quietly reading throughout the library, and the endless supply of literature made it a wonderful place to be. I determined that when my son grew older, I will take him with me to see this and all the sights before.

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Travel Log Stop 4: Pharos of Alexandria

By the stars, we judged it would only be a little over an hour before we reached the shores of Egypt. The moonlight bounced faintly on the waves splashing the ship. However, as we approached, we saw a light glinting in the sky like the sun. This, of course, was the Pharos of Alexandria. As many times as I visited the city of Alexandria, I still marveled at this lighthouse. It is a remarkable structure around 400 feet in the air (Alexandria Founded in Egypt, January 20, 331 b.c.e., 2012). It is built like three differently shaped towers stacked on top of one another. Every night, a fierce fire blazes across the night sky aided by massive reflectors of polished bronze. Workers feed this fire with copious quantities of wood drawn up by an ingenious windlass. This behemoth is attached to the mainland by a man-made harbor.

As once noted, “This extremity itself of the island is a rock, washed by the sea on all sides, with a tower upon it of the same name as the island, admirably constructed of white marble, with several stories. Sostratus of Cnidus, a friend of the kings, erected it for the safety of mariners, as the inscription imports” (Strabo, n.d.). To this day, the Pharos of Alexandria keeps travelers safe. This was by far Sostratus’ greatest work, which is doubtless why he hid his name beneath the plaster.

By its light, we sailed the ship towards the docks without any difficulty. All along the waterfront were warehouses and shops (Alexandria Founded in Egypt, 2012). The sheer volume of businesses along the waterfront evidenced Alexandria’s size and diversity. In the daytime, people from all over the world walked the port. I even saw two Buddhist missionaries talking quietly in the moonlight as they went. If you are not used to it, the variety of people and sights in Alexandria can overwhelm you before you even step foot in the city. However, we pulled into the port, each man looking forward to the morning.

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Travel Log Stop 3: Crete

Poseidon be praised, nothing happened to hinder our journey to Crete. Although it is a beautiful island, we only stopped in Crete long enough to gather more supplies and prepare for the next portion of our journey. However, as we were already here, I decided to explore the city. I visited Crete several times before yet never spent the time to explore the area. The first thing that caught my attention were all the images of bulls and mazes. Wherever I looked, there was pottery, paintings, and even coins covered with this imagery (Amphora with Theseus fighting against Minotaur, n.d.)

Curious, I asked a passing stranger about it. While I vaguely knew about the story of the Minotaur, he told me in great detail about it. Essentially, a king named Minos asked Poseidon for a bull to sacrifice (Apollodorus, 1921). He obliged, but Minos kept the bull and sacrificed another. Furious, Poseidon made his wife, Pasiphae, fall in love with the bull. She hid inside a fake bull and made love to it. It impregnated her and she gave birth to a monstrous half man, half bull called the Minotaur. Horrified, King Minos had the great builder Daedalus build a labyrinth for it and sacrificed seven men and seven women every nine years to appease it (Apollodorus, 2002). One year, the great hero Theseus (lauded even in Athens) was sent into the labyrinth. Minos’s daughter fell madly in love with him and offered him a ball of yarn to navigate his way through the maze with. Theseus slayed the Minotaur and returned the fourteen tributes safely.

This story is a familiar one in Athens. However, its impact on this island is so much greater. Everywhere I looked, there were images of it, varied writings telling of it, and references to it. As many varied retellings of it there were, it must have been passed down orally long before being written on papyrus. As I walked past the palace at Knossos, it occurred to me that the labyrinth could be based on the sprawling, convoluted palace. As for the bull, perhaps it came from religious rituals (Minotaur, 2009). Either way, I looked forward to telling my family about it upon return.

[definitely-not-a-student]

Travel Log Stop 2: Port of Piraeus

In the morning, I left for the docks. I had not visited the Port of Kantharos in some time, and it felt good to return. For those unfamiliar with it, Kantharos is one of three ports within the Port of Piraeus (Cartwright, 2013). The two smaller ports, Zea and Munichia, are both naval (Thucydides, n.d.). However, Kantharos is the largest and used primarily for commercial purposes. The long walls around Piraeus protect it from outside threats, making it one of Athens’s greatest ports.

As I came closer to the heart of the port, the crowd thickened like a herd of goats. Soon, the road filled with a variety of people: travelers seeking lodging, merchants loading and unloading their ships, and lonely men looking for companionship in one of the many shops along the way. As the day finally warmed in the heat of the sun, smells of wine, olive oil, grain, and food began to permeate the air (Trade, Greek, 1998). However, the heat and crowd started to become smothering, so I was grateful when I finally reach my ship.

Truly Poseidon blessed me when I found this ship for sale. She is a large, wooden merchant ship, and the prettiest in the docks. As I looked at her, a young boy around nine ran past me to gawk at all the ships. Proud as I was of my ship, the child found her of little interest. The smaller, swifter triremes caught his attention instead (Hirschfield, 1996) (500 B.C. Greek trireme, 2016).

They are small and lightweight, and most of the interior is used to hold their three rows of oarsmen. This gives them a great deal of maneuverability, making them excellent for war, but not so much for storing goods. Still, they served their purpose for centuries and will doubtless do so for many more.

However, it was time to focus on loading my ship. Loading 300 tons worth of goods onto a ship is always daunting (Merchant Ships, n.d.). However, with dozens of hands and firm determination, she was finally ready to sail. As there was still time before sunset, I left to explore the market and enjoy one last breath of Athenian air. In the morning, my crew and I leave for Crete.

[definitely-not-a-student]

Travel Log Stop 1: Theater at Epidaurus.

My name is Markos Lykaios, and as I write this, it is the year 198 B.C. I am preparing to depart on an arduous journey to sell my wares throughout the Mediterranean. Given that it will be some time before I return to my home in Athens, I promised to write of my travels for my wife and child. As I had a few spare hours before the evening, I determined to enjoy one last play.

Luckily, tonight featured the play “Hercules” by Euripides. Although I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by a plethora of theaters, I chose to attend my favorite one: The Theater at Epidaurus on the Sanctuary of Asklepios. Much as I enjoy the works of Euripides, the theater is just as worthy of attention itself. It is dedicated to Apollo and his son Asklepios, a god of medicine (UNESCO Centre, 2020). The massive sanctuary contains temples to Artemis and Asklepios, a variety of recreational and medicinal facilities, and (most tantalizingly) the theater. Because they had not performed “Hercules” for some time, nearly every seat was filled. The sounds of twelve to fourteen thousand men and women filled the air (Epidaurus, 2015)

This theater is one of the greatest products of our brilliant architects. If you have never had the good fortune of visiting it, the Theater at Epidaurus is a massive, outdoor theater built in a circular shape (Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest, 2016).

Its design endows it with exemplary acoustics. Coupled with the other offerings of the sanctuary, it drew massive crowds of men and women alike (Katz, 1998). All of this complimented the play itself.

“Hercules,” although more than two centuries older than myself, remains the masterpiece it was written as. The play’s three male actors performed every role as though it were real, adding to the wonderful illusion (Woodruff, 2016). Meanwhile, the chorus commented on the play and explained it, all without ever stealing the scene. The players’ masks clearly displayed their emotion while the cylindrical mouths amplified their voices for the furthest parts of the audience to hear (Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest, 2016).

 After its completion, I reflected on the play. Whether it is religious, political, or comedic, there is always something informative to be found. That is why I, along with so many others, flock to see performances. When my son is older, I will take him along as well. However, as dusk approached, I returned to spend one last night at home before heading to the port in the morning.