Do they still have soundscapes of frogs and what you might hear in ancient times at the Lyceum? We visited a while ago, soon after the park opened, and found it amazing. I visited Nicopolis last summer and was trying to imagine where Epictetus was teaching. They could do a better job making it into more of a pilgrimage site. I hardly saw references to Epictetus there.
How did you find the right part of "Plato's Park"? The park itself is split across by streets and has many sections, much of which wasn't a part of the Academy proper. We could only find one sign "you are here" which talked about the Academy. It listed a "Wall of Hipparchus" (allegedly a part of the Academy) as nearby and conjectured that a certain 'Square Peristyle" was probably a part of the Academy. When we tried to see the "Wall of Hipparchus," we couldn't find anything that looked right. And, when we headed to the "Square Peristyle," we seemed to run into a tavern. The one upshot of our failed attempt to find the right spot: there are groves there and you can see why Plato would have chosen it.
One would expect a modern shrine built around the Academy with presentations and tours and gift shop and restrooms and so on - and yet we have nothing like that. I find this sad and beautiful at the same time! The shrine is in the pilgrims mind! This is so platonic in a way...
I "visited" the stoa, such as it is, in Athens when I was there this past December. While I'm not totally sure Epictetus ever visited the stoa it was all I had with me so I took a selfie with my Enchiridion. I probably ate at the same restaurant you did! What a trip.
Yes, civitas very much applies here. And I like your comment about your father approaching those places with reverence connected to a sense of hard work rather than arbitrary divine favor.
Very nice, thank you for sharing this. I have never traveled to Europe, but I have travelled to many places of historical significance in the US. As a child, my father (a WW2 veteran) took us to see such places, and did so with reverence. This instilled in me both a reverence for the traditions and institutions that represent the best of American culture, and the sense these were hard won, not divinely crafted. (Especially the days we visited battlefields from the revolutionary and civil wars.)
I later encountered the term “Civitas” in reading a biography of George Washington. This seems to capture the secular nature of such reverence. Does this concept apply in your secular pilgrimage?
Do they still have soundscapes of frogs and what you might hear in ancient times at the Lyceum? We visited a while ago, soon after the park opened, and found it amazing. I visited Nicopolis last summer and was trying to imagine where Epictetus was teaching. They could do a better job making it into more of a pilgrimage site. I hardly saw references to Epictetus there.
How did you find the right part of "Plato's Park"? The park itself is split across by streets and has many sections, much of which wasn't a part of the Academy proper. We could only find one sign "you are here" which talked about the Academy. It listed a "Wall of Hipparchus" (allegedly a part of the Academy) as nearby and conjectured that a certain 'Square Peristyle" was probably a part of the Academy. When we tried to see the "Wall of Hipparchus," we couldn't find anything that looked right. And, when we headed to the "Square Peristyle," we seemed to run into a tavern. The one upshot of our failed attempt to find the right spot: there are groves there and you can see why Plato would have chosen it.
One would expect a modern shrine built around the Academy with presentations and tours and gift shop and restrooms and so on - and yet we have nothing like that. I find this sad and beautiful at the same time! The shrine is in the pilgrims mind! This is so platonic in a way...
I very much appreciate your efforts to make philosophy accessible and useful to everyone. Your secular pilgrimage sounds delightful & rewarding.
I "visited" the stoa, such as it is, in Athens when I was there this past December. While I'm not totally sure Epictetus ever visited the stoa it was all I had with me so I took a selfie with my Enchiridion. I probably ate at the same restaurant you did! What a trip.
Grand. And in future take me with you. And not just virtually
Yes, civitas very much applies here. And I like your comment about your father approaching those places with reverence connected to a sense of hard work rather than arbitrary divine favor.
Very nice, thank you for sharing this. I have never traveled to Europe, but I have travelled to many places of historical significance in the US. As a child, my father (a WW2 veteran) took us to see such places, and did so with reverence. This instilled in me both a reverence for the traditions and institutions that represent the best of American culture, and the sense these were hard won, not divinely crafted. (Especially the days we visited battlefields from the revolutionary and civil wars.)
I later encountered the term “Civitas” in reading a biography of George Washington. This seems to capture the secular nature of such reverence. Does this concept apply in your secular pilgrimage?