Today is the day we are finally leaving Athens for Rome and the past week has been one of the most influential and informational experiences of my life. The past week has been filled with cultural visits to sites such as the Ancient Agora of Athens, the Roman Agora, the Acropolis, and much more. There is such an intense culture in Athens that is unlike anywhere else I have ever visited, and it was such an intense shock walking around the city, as this is my first time coming over to Europe.
Our first day started with visits to cultural sites that included the Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, and Filopappou Hill. We learned a great deal of information about how the ancient Greeks operated their economy and democracy, and how they interacted with their citizens. Our tour guide the first day made a huge impact on how I perceived the information, as she spoke in a way that made sense and was very informational. The second day we visited the Acropolis. It was shocking to stand so close to an ancient artifact and see what the ancient Greeks accomplished without the modern tools that we have today. They were ferociously dedicated to their city and it certainly could be seen in their work on the Acropolis, as well as the artifacts we saw in the Acropolis Museum. On the fourth day, we visited the Temple of Zeus, the first Olympic Stadium, and the Hellenic Parliament building. This day was especially impactful to me as walking around Greece and seeing more of these ancient artifacts and buildings only reinforced that ancient Greeks were extremely intelligent and far advanced for their time. The lecture we had was more on ancient Greece, global leadership, and the philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It was very interesting to learn about those three philosophers and the new views they brought to ancient society. They were able to finally sit around and think logically, which had never been done before, about certain issues and problems, as well as just normal day-to-day interactions with people. The questions they asked people to try and understand the deeper meanings of issues, as well as each of them bringing new aspects of logic and understanding to the world were truly incredible. It’s amazing to think about what they did, and what could have happened if we as a society today followed their ideas more closely.
It was incredibly impactful to learn about global leadership and the ancient Greeks while being in Athens. This is the place where some of the most prominent leaders and most advanced civilizations in history came to be and I continue to be in awe of all they were able to accomplish.
