INSTRUCTOR: Yunus Tuncel
DATES: July 5-12 2020
This Philo Trip will explore the different facades of ancient Ionian culture. In addition to philosophy, we will focus on history and literature and read from Homer, Herodotus, and Anacreon. This journey will take us to major sites of Ionia, as we plunge into its history. We will start with ancient Smyrna, Izmir), which is the biggest city of the region. We will visit the Museum of Archaeology as an introduction to the trip and Ionia. The trip will include visits to Pergamon, a famous Hellenistic city (famous for its book/library culture) and Sardis, the capital of Lydia. We visit, one of the 12 major cities of ancient Ionia where Parmenides’ family comes from. After Phocea, we come back to Izmir and then visit the sites on the peninsula including Teos, the city of Anacreon, an important place for Hellenistic theater and Clazomenai, the city of Anaxagoras and then drive back to Izmir. We leave Izmir and head south to see to Priene and Ephesus, two other important Ionian cities. Although the temple of Artemis, one of the wonders of the ancient world, where Heraclitus used to contemplate, no longer exists, there is plenty to see in Ephesus, including the later Roman additions. Priene, a smaller city, presents one of the oldest examples of urban design from ancient Greek world. We spend a night in Kusadasi and then move south to see the temple of Apollo in Didyma, and Miletus, the birth-place of Greek philosophy and the city of the first school of philosophy. From Didyma we will drive to Halicarnassus, the main city of Caria and hometown of Herodotus whose book Histories will be our companion for this journey. Our trip ends in Bodrum/Halicarnassus. In addition to sightseeing, we will indulge in the cuisine of this part of Turkey, taste the famous figs of Aydin, enjoy the beaches, and interact with locals.
