Another semester at the Canadian Institute in Greece is coming to an
end, and – quite sadly for me – my time as the Neda and Franz Leipen
Fellow along with it. I first arrived in Athens in September 2015, not
at all sure what to expect. My experience in Athens has been nothing
short of incredible, and even seven months later, I continue to be awed
and inspired by Athens and its academic community, with its numerous
lectures and social events. As a sort of update, I would like to share a
little bit about my time in Athens since returning in the New Year.
Being the Neda and Franz Leipen Fellow allows me to access specialized
institutes for classical studies, such as the British School at Athens
Library and the Blegen Library of the American School of Classical
Studies at Athens. By using these resources, in the past few months I
have been able to broaden the scope of my dissertation in an interesting
and – I hope – original way. My research on the portraiture of Romans
as Hercules and Omphale had been gradually evolving into a case study
for a much broader thesis topic, namely, what transvestitism evokes in
the Roman ‘language of image’ as a whole, and how private women depicted
in masculine terms came to have positive connotations in particular.
Omphale, wielding the ultramasculine attributes of Hercules, is indeed
not the only cross-dressed model for self-representation in the later
Roman imperial era, for we also see portraiture of private women as
amazons, athletes and hunters. I suspect that such portraiture was – to
some degree at least –a symbolic expression of
virtus in women,
which was not merely tolerable but even desirable in an era witnessing a
positive reevaluation of the ‘masculine’ woman. This was not, however,
an undistorted praise. In the gender-inflected Roman ‘language of
images’, the female transvestite came to symbolize a woman removed from
all ‘feminine’ vices, and so seen as an improvement on her base nature.
Moreover, we see that the ‘masculine’ woman was still bound up with
traditional notions of femininity, and so she walked a fine line between
being an aberration or worthy of approbation. I am excited about the
new direction my thesis is taking, and I hope that I will reach some
interesting conclusions.
This semester I continued taking Greek lessons at the Athens Centre,
which was one of the highlights of my day. My teachers and classmates
were all friendly and enthusiastic, and made learning Modern Greek – as
challenging a language as it is – all the more enjoyable and rewarding
for me. I decided to take a break after level three, but I hope to
continue learning Modern Greek in the future. As Fellow, I also
continued to assist in the office of the CIG. For the most part this has
involved updating the ‘Portal to the Past’, which is a digital archive
of our archaeological projects and research. I have especially enjoyed
assisting at the various events we’ve hosted this semester, such as our
lecture series covering a number of topics: the Bronze Age economy,
myths of wealth in the ancient world, ceramic petrology, the cemetery at
Petras on Crete, and even the Haida culture in Canada. I myself gave
lecture at the CIG about the preliminary results of my thesis research.
Although I felt nervous, I was grateful for the opportunity to share my
ideas with a well-informed audience which I already knew well, and to
receive valuable criticism and feedback. The three resident Canadians
(that is, Esther, Alistair and I) also hosted the first ever ‘Canadian
Breakfast’ at the CIG, so that we could share with members of other
foreign institutes a little taste of our culture. Thankfully we were
able to find some maple syrup! Overall, I have enjoyed residing at the
CIG and gaining insight into the day-to-day operations of a foreign
archaeological research institution in Greece.
I have also had the privilege to continue exploring Greece this
semester, by travelling to a different archaeological site or museum
nearly every weekend. I feel that I am gradually acquiring a better
understanding of the monuments and topography of Greece, and I have been
fortunate to have wonderful and knowledgeable travel companions, most
of whom I met at ‘Darts Night’ at the Red Lion. We have visited several
sites in Attica, such as Marathon to see the tumulus with the Athenian
war dead, Lavrion to visit the archaeological museum and eat some fresh
seafood, and Sounion to watch the sunset from the Temple of Poseidon. We
also returned to Aegina in January for a quick swim. Some new islands
for me included Andros and Crete, but I most enjoyed revisiting Rhodes
and especially the sanctuary of Athena at Lindos, with a better
understanding of Hellenistic architecture and its characteristic
theatricality. One of my favourite features of this site is the several
‘nautical trophies’, such as the stern carved into the face of the
acropolis, which served as a base for a bronze portrait statue of a
naval victor. I also particularly enjoyed visiting the sanctuary of Hera
at Perachora, where we climbed to the very peak and then descended
almost 200 steps down a pitch-black cistern. In addition to travelling
through Greece, I found some time to spend in Germany, Austria and
Switzerland. It is always nice to wander in the Alps and drink a few
pints at a Hütte with some old friends.
I don’t know how to express how fortunate I feel to have received the
Neda and Franz Leipen Fellowship and to experience so much in Athens. I
feel that I have grown so much as an academic and as a person in these
few short months, and I know that I will miss Athens very much. As
grateful as I am just to live in this chaotic but fascinating city, I
feel that it is the friends I have made here who have defined my
experience, and I want to thank them all – and Vicki, Lauren, Esther and
Lana in particular – for their constant love and encouragement. I also
want to thank Jonathan and David for all their support while being a
fellow at the CIG. Athens has truly come to feel like a second home to
me, and I have no doubt that I will return at some point in the future.
Sarah Nash
Leipen Fellow, CIG
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