BSA Summer School 2012

For three weeks this summer I travelled to Greece visiting the British School at Athens where I did many things- travelling, seeing sites, walking up many hills, but most importantly, I rediscovered why I chose classics as a degree those two years ago. The Parthenon is always shown from its best side in photos and the kritios boy is actually really short. These are but a few secrets that often the books classicists read keep hidden or discretely described on the bottom right hand corner of the picture. Experiencing these things first hand allowed me to discover these things for myself, it was a chance for me to experience the remains of ancient Greece, whether they be in stone, language or still present in the culture of modern Greece itself. My three weeks were spent visiting the greatest archaeological sites and museums Attica and the Peloponnese have to offer, such as the Acropolis, the Tomb of Agamemnon and the Palace of Nestor. Each one was explained, discussed and interrogated by each of the scholars that accompanied us on our travels that day, often resulting in the great phrase all classicists hate to admit to using, "We'll never know". One of the greatest parts of the trip was sharing it with the fellow students, we were from all different backgrounds, degrees and universities each sharing our knowledge and appreciation of what were were experiencing and had been reading about for years. Whether first year or finalist, whether you are sick of Classics already or have never studied it before, it is always worth experiencing the atmosphere of a centre of international research and learning during the day as well as the dionysiacal nights in the Anarchists' Square.

Nick Brown