From Crete to Corfu: An Homeric Journey 11 MAY – 29 MAY 2018 Code: 21813 Tour Leaders Dr Heather Sebo Physical Ratings Travel to the fabled palace kingdoms of Minoan Crete, the fortress citadel of Mycenaean Greece, Olympia & the ancient oracle at Dodona and finally to Corfu and rocky Ithaca. Overview Where it all began: A Journey through Homeric landscapes Travel to the fabled palace kingdoms of Minoan Crete, the fortress citadel of Mycenaean Greece, Olympia and the ancient oracle at Dodoni. and finally to Corfu and rocky Ithaka. Tour Highlights Dr Heather Sebo tour lecturer: share her life-time of learning and love for Homer and the ancient world. Story-telling and reading: experience each phase of our journey through episodes from the Iliad and Odyssey. Heraklion old harbour: meet the chef and enjoy the delights of a superlative traditional Cretan banquet with choice local produce and gorgeous local wine, a never to be forgotten evening. Phaistos and Knossos: wander through elaborate labyrinthine ritual and administrative structures built at the dawn of Western civilisation; part palace, part bull leaping arena, part dancing space, part warehouse, part sacred temenos. Akroteri on Santorini: walk the streets of the ancient city of Akroteri buried under 60 metres of volcanic material in about 1628 BC. Is this the lost city of Atlantis? See frescoes from the site in the Museum of Prehistoric Thira and dine with panoramic terrace views over the volcanic Caldera. Mycenae “rich in gold”: the preeminent Bronze Age palace citadel familiar from the Iliad and Aechylus’ Oresteia. Mycenae was part of a vast international network of military kingdoms that stretched from mainland Greece to Troy. Olympia: visit the rich museum collection and the archaeological site of the most prestigious Panhellenic festival of them all. Established honour of Zeus in 776 BC, and held every four years, the athletic competition at Olympia was probably contemporary with Homer. It heralds the new world of the Greek polis (city state). Dodona: spend a morning at this not-so-well-known, but very important oracle of Zeus. Homer says that barefoot priests called Selloi lay on the ground to interpret the rustling leaves of Zeus’ holy oak tree. In early myth, Jason’s marvellous ship the Argo, was capable of speech and prophecy by virtue of a timber from this sacred tree. Acheron River: take to the pellucid water of the Acheron in small boats and travel to the Nekromanteion of Ephyra, believed to be the entrance to the Underworld and site of a famous oracle of the dead. Ithaca: literary interlude with Odyssey workshops and leisurely exploration of the island in search of feasible locations for Odysseus’ palace, the Cave of the Nymphs, Eumaios’ homestead, Laertes’ orchard. Corfu: on this beautiful island of flowers we take a farewell opportunity to understand the ancient rhythms of agricultural work that have shaped human life since time immemorial. 19 days in Greece Overnight Hania (2 nights) • Heraklion (3 nights) • Santorini (2 nights) • Nauplion (2 nights) • Olympia (1 night) • Ithaca (3 nights) • Parga (2 nights) • Corfu (3 nights) Overview Our journey takes us around the rim of the ancient Mediterranean world to places that were luminous in the imagination of the poet we call Homer. We begin in Crete (possibly the inspiration for Homer’s Golden Age From Crete to Corfu: An Homeric Journey September 2016 Page 2 Scheria), then continue by catamaran to the terrifying beauty of Santorini—a reminder of the power of Poseidon, the Earth Shaker, if such a reminder were needed. The next stage of our travels will be overland from Athens across the Arcadian plateau to the fortress citadel of Mycenae. On a similar scale and pattern to Troy, the kingdom of Mycenae ultimately shared the same fate of destruction by fire. It is entirely fitting that our next visit after Mycenae should be to the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, birthplace of the sacred athletics festival that inspired the modern Olympics. The festival of Zeus Olympios was very likely established about 776 BC, just before Homer’s lifetime. Above all it represented a new kind of the competitive individualism that replaced elite Mycenaean attitudes and opened the way to the achievements of the Classical and Hellenistic Greek world (some of which we will have already seen). On our departure from Olympia, we pass through the harbour city of Naphlion on a northerly pilgrimage to Dodona, site of the sacred oak tree and oracle of Zeus Dodonaios. We also take a boat trip down the fabled Acheron (the river of pain) that was thought to encircle the Underworld. From this uncanny world of oracles we turn seaward again to the salty Ionian islands of Ithaka and Corfu (ancient Kerkyra). We can never know whether Homer visited Assos, Troy, Mycenae, Crete, Dodoni, but he mentions them all. (He also mentions “high Pergamos” a name he reserves for the sacred acropolis of Troy.) It is clear from the poems that Homer stands at a cross roads; he was heir to, and greatest exponent of, a bardic tradition that preserved detailed knowledge of the deep Bronze Age past. But Homer is also of his own time, agog with cultural ferment, exploration, and fabulous stories about new lands. In Homer we have it all, on the one hand privileged memory of the past, on the other, a new critical spirit of inquiry and individualism. Our tour allows us to encounter both aspects of his world (and beyond) and hopefully to emerge with enhanced understanding and love for his winged and wonderful words. From Crete to Corfu: An Homeric Journey September 2016 Page 3 Leaders Dr Heather Sebo Heather completed her PhD in the Department of Classics at the University of Melbourne. She is currently lecturing in “The Greek World” and “Classical Myth” subjects offered by the Centre for Mediterranean Studies at La Trobe University Bundoora. Heather completed her PhD in the Department of Classics at the University of Melbourne. She is currently lecturing in “The Greek World” and “Classical Myth” subjects offered by the Centre for Mediterranean Studies at La Trobe University Bundoora; her lectures associated with these courses on itunes U have been extremely popular. Before committing to an academic career, Heather had a long history in secondary and community education as a teacher, examiner and in curriculum development. She also recalls with great pleasure her time as curator of a significant private collection of Greek and Roman and has maintained a strong engagement with the visual arts. Heather has become well known as a guest lecturer in venues ranging from the Red Stitch Theatre to the National Gallery of Victoria. Recent personal highlights have been script writing and presenting for the Stork Theatre Iliad and Odyssey Literary Digs, involvement in “The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece” (visiting exhibition, British Museum), and publication in the distinguished journal Arethusa (47:2): “Strife and Starvation. Euripides Helen”. From Crete to Corfu: An Homeric Journey September 2016 Page 4 Itinerary Preliminary Itinerary The following itinerary describes daily activities which may change or be rotated and/or modified in order to accommodate alterations in opening hours, road conditions, flight schedules etc. Participants will receive a final itinerary together with their tour documents prior to departure. The tour includes breakfast daily, lunches & evening meals indicated in the detailed itinerary where: B=breakfast, L=lunch (on several days this will be a boxed lunch) and D=evening meals. Hana - 2 nights We begin our journey on Crete a mysterious land that gave birth to Europe’s first civilization. This civilization, called the Minoan after the legendary King Minos, is remembered in the stories of Greek myth and in the Homeric poems. Homer says that Crete had 100 cities and that the island was rich enough to send eighty ships to the Trojan War when Odysseus could only manage 12 ships from Ithaca and the surrounding islands! Odysseus claims to have visited Crete on the way to, and home, from Troy and at one point, masquerades as the Cretan King Idomeneus’ younger brother. Our first destination is Chania, perhaps the most beautiful city in Greece. Chania is built on a site that goes back to Minoan times, Homer calls it Kydonia, and this name is also found in the Linear B tablets (1100 BCE). The powerful city of Kydonia was a leader in resisting successive invaders, Romans, Arabs, the Venetians, and the Turks. The Venetians changed the name to La Canae—the channel—from which comes the modern name Chania. But even today, the province around Chania retains the ancient name, Kydonia. There is a land called Crete, in the middle of the wine-dark sea, beautiful and fertile, with sea on all sides. In it there are numerous peoples and ninety cities, and many languages mix one with another. Odyssey 19.172–178 From Crete to Corfu: An Homeric Journey September 2016 Page 5 Day 1: Friday 11 May, Arrive Hania Short Welcome Meeting Light Evening Meal Our tour commences in Hania. Those arriving on the ASA ‘designated’ flight will be transferred by private coach to the Porto Veneziano Hotel, located in the heart of the old city. If you are travelling independently to Crete, ASA can arrange a private transfer for you, or you should take an officially marked taxi to the hotel. There will be a short house-keeping meeting before a light evening meal in the old town. (Overnight Hania, Crete) D Day 2: Saturday 12 May, Hania – Aptera – Hania Ancient Aptera Shipyard Moro, Nautical Museum: featuring the reconstructed Minoan ship “Minoa” Lunch at ‘Tamam Tavern’ Orientation walk of the old city of Hania, visiting the Venetian fortification and old Venetian and Ottoman quarters Time at leisure We depart Hania early this morning to visit ancient Aptera, which overlooks Souda Bay and offers panoramic views of the plain of Armeni to the White Mountains.