Athens in Glory and Defeat
Summer Classics Institute 2013
Today is the first day of the Summer Classics Institute. This year's primary text is Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War - a contemporary account of the war between Athens and Sparta in the 5th century BCE.
I arrived in Laramie about 2:30 and got settled into the dorm. The dorms are great because a lot of the participants stay in the dorms and we are all on one floor. On the "girls" side we keep our doors open quite often and stop in to chat.
Our welcome dinner was great. The caterer they book makes amazing food and I am still stuffed 4+ hours later! We had kabobs, fried rice, a bean and broccoli salad thing and rolls. There was even German chocolate cake for dessert! The time at the welcome dinner was a great time to visit with old friends, make new friends and catch up. We ended with a brief introduction from each of us and then headed to our first evening lecture.
Tonight's lecture was The Great Greek War and its Great Historian by Professor Phil Holt. Phil is a professor at the Classics department here at UW and he is really funny. Tonight's lecture gave us a brief outline of the "causes" of the Peloponnesian War, what democracy and empire looked like for Athens and Thucydides himself. It was a great cue as to what we should focus on for our seminar readings. Again, lots of laughter and lots of learning.
Being here at the Summer Classics Institute again is like we just all went home for a weekend. We did some catch-up visiting, but the inside jokes, the discussions and the conversation were like hanging out with old friends. A very good first day!
