Drew Azbell - Second Reflection

We left Athens for Nafplio. The trip wasn’t super long but it was a good drive throughout the countryside. Outside of Athens, there truly isn’t another big city. Athens city structure was massive and compact. The rest of Greece seemed pretty remote, with lots of farm land and old sites scattered throughout. I think moving throughout the countryside on a bus for hours on end was way better than how the Ancient Greeks traveled. I was drenched in sweat just walking at the sites. I couldn’t imagine marching from Olympia to Delphi, and or Delphi to Marathon must have been terrible. The drive from Athens to Marathon and then Marathon back to Athens was extremely cool considering that the Athenians and their allies took the path we did during the initial stages of the Persian War’s. I think it bouncing from one location to another, makes you wonder just how the Ancient Greeks could move armies efficiently throughout Greece’s terrain. Traveling in the Aegean also made me wonder just how Greeks managed to find their way to other Greek islands. One thing, I learned just from moving all around the country of Greece was that the Ancient Greeks were excellent navigators. It is easy to open up a map and see the different city states, but it is important to realize that Ancient Greeks didn’t have the technology that we do today. As a historian, my dream is to be able to go back and be a fly on the wall for the multiple different cool historical events. Therefore, putting myself in the same place as the Ancient Greeks is fun. For example, looking over the lowlands of Marathon, I thought, “wow, this is the exact same view the Athenian Generals had of the battlefield.” I caught myself thinking that exact same thing at different times throughout the trip including the top of Delphi, the top of the Mycenae, looking up at the fortresses in Corinth and Nafplio, and many other places. All and all, this was not just a trip but truly an experience. Thank you professor for the fun times!