Athens: “This is older than Jesus”
Myles Byrne
On Thursday, March 10th our class embarked on a class trip to Athens, Greece. After a busy week of midterms, I had no expectations for this trip, except that the weather would not be ideal. After we landed, we boarded a coach bus and drove to the heart of Athens where we would be staying for the weekend. During this drive, I was looking out the window when the Acropolis came into view lit up via floodlights. I have been learning about early civilizations since I was in elementary school and I would have never expected I would see them in person. Later that night some friends and I decided to take the hike up to the Acropolis and experience it up close. We were not able to go into the acropolis; however, we saw plenty of ruins up close. Seeing them, it is hard to wrap your head around just how old these beautiful creations are. My friends and I talked back and forth saying things like, “this is older than Jesus”. The Acropolis and its structures themselves were beautiful just to view but it is the history that made the ruins so incredibly amazing. Seeing them in person is significantly different from reading about the ruins in a textbook or even looking at pictures.
Being in the presence of history allowed me to remember the past because I was able to picture what it was like to live at a time when the ancient city was thriving. I pictured the citizens of the city walking through the same structures I was standing in during their everyday lives. I wondered what their jobs, interests, and beliefs were. I wondered what a man my age of 21 years old would be doing on an ordinary day in the ancient civilization. Even though their religion, political life, and careers look way different than mine, being in the presence of these ruins made me realize that ordinary people just like me once walked this same ground in some of the earliest advanced civilizations. I couldn’t help but think that maybe they had the same interests as me in mathematics or sports. I wondered what troubles they came across and how they overcame hardships. From learning about the Acropolis in textbooks, I would not have had the same picture in my head of citizens going about their daily lives.
The presence of the Acropolis really made me appreciate Classical Greek architecture more than a photograph ever could. The structures were much larger than expected and the details were so intricate. I began to picture how the builders measured each column and planned it so perfectly. I cannot imagine the time it took to create this without using a calculator or computer. I am currently enrolled in an architecture class where we learn about architecture in London. The fact that I get to view these structures in person as opposed to looking at pictures in a book makes me appreciate it so much more because I picture in my head the people who plan and build them. Traveling to Greece especially enhanced my perspective on how being in the presence of history makes me stop and take a second to consider the triumphs and the hardships of daily life that ordinary people in ancient civilizations faced. It is so important to remember the contributions that ancient civilizations have made to our society today. The best way to do this is by visiting their remains.
