After breakfast, we head to the Castello Maniace, what we see now is mostly Norman and Spanish. This was first a Greek fort to control the port of Siracusa. Siracusa was the largest city in the world at that time, about 300,000 people. The Greeks often took over new areas 2hen they came to “help their allies.” Acibiades spearheaded the decision to take over Siracusa. In opposition to Odyssyan (?). Hermes was the god of commerce and expeditions, as well as communications, and when the statue of Hermes were defaced in nearby Catania where the Greeks were based, Alcibiades w@s suspected. Athens is a 13 day row from Siracusa, Alcibiades was arrested, went back toward Athens, jumped ship in Corfu, and went to Sparta to give them the plans for the invasion. Athens then told the other general to attack (the one who opposed Alcibiades), started a siege, built walls, Siracusans built counter-walls, after 2 years they were stalemated, then came the Spartans who reinforced the Siracusans. An Athenian fleet of 200 ships was across the bay, trapped in the harbor by the Spartan ships chained together. They would have to fight in the harbor. Four hundred ships crowded in the harbor, fighting was deck to deck., and by afternoon the Athens ian’s were defeated. The Athenians went north to Noto, the Sicilians were trying to sow them. 50,000 Athenians were lost. The Peleponessian wars continued, the Siracusans sailed to help the Spartans, but they were defeated by the Athenians, led by Alcibiades, who had an affair with the spartan Queen while he was away. Alcibiades escaped, went to Persia (Asia Minor), Persians had been defeated at Thermopylae. Alcibiades had an affair with the Persian governor, got back to Athens delivering the Persians as allies, Alcibiades was welcomed by Athens. The Athenians held on for awhile longer, and then the 80- ear golden age of Greece ended in 405 BCE.
Inside the main building is a large area that feels church-like, with beautiful columns in drums, like the ones in the church yesterday (but the Temple of Apollo had huge one massive piece). It had decent acoustics, I sang a bit of “Come in quest Ora bruna” though there was some really err. Beyond the Norman-Spanish castle is a British addition with openings for cannons, built in the Napoleonic era, as a way to keep the French out. However, this was not an area of large sea battles, those were elsewhere, Gibraltar and Alexandria. We got to wander around a bit, exposed the two small museums, one with ceramics and pieces that had fallen from the capitals inside the main building, and one with maps covering 400 years of the building’s evolution, and replicas of the two bronze rams that once adorned the entry of the main building.
We take a taxi into the main town. We learn from Douglass that as people spoke Greek here during the Greek period, continued to do so during the Roman period (Latin was used only for administration), then under the Byzantine era, Greek again, and there is a lot of Greek in the Sicilian dialect. Sicilians like anything that makes them distinct from the North of Italy, which was never Greek.
We go to a large archaeological area. First we climb the hill to the Greek Theatre, where some folks will see the play “Helen” later today. TheancientGreeis used their theatres for religious ceremonies and the dialog between gods and men, how we are ruled by the gods and by fate. Aeschylus is the first major Greek author of tragedies of the human condition. Sophocles then continues to evolve drama, and Euripides is later yet, and by then the gods were viewed shabbily, and the culture felt lost. “Lysistrata” was written after the tragic battle at the harbor where we just were. All these plays were about the certainty of life to be explored, not about the plots which everyone knew. There were multi-day festivals of theatre, the first day dedicated to Dionysus, the god of theatre, of sexuality and passion intrastate, Apollo was about intellect, morals). The second day was a celebration of Athens. The third day is when the plays started. The plays were funded by the wealthy, but during the period, each play 2as done only once. We have 7 of Aeschylus’ plays even though he must have written over one hundred. All the actors were men, and all were masked. At the end of the festival, the judges would vote on best playwright, best actor, best production. Then they moved on to another location, with new plays, as Dionysus had already “seen” the play so it could not be repeated. Later in the 3rd century BCE these plays were revived, as the actors had often written them down. The theatre that we are in held about 18,000 people. The Greek Theatres were always at the highest point in a city. Later, Romans rules the area and their theatre was quite different … instead of gods and men in moral tales, they had tales that were either bawdy or violent. As we climb to the top of the huge theatre, we can see the whole harbor, which the Greeks felt made you feel a part of the whole world. Plays took place during the day, and there is a large concession area where food was available. The walls have rectangular niches where bronze sponsor plaques were placed. Up above was a temple at the very top, next to a huge waterfall which comes via aqueduct from 20 km away. Nearby was a Christian tomb, about 20 feet deep, with recesses for the bodies, and a single stone covering the exterior. This is very much like the kind of tomb that Joseph of Arimathea would have lent to Jesus as his tomb.
We walked to an area near the quarry, one of seven in Siracusa. After the defeat of the Athenians, the mercenaries were sold off, and any of the Athenians who could quote classical tragedies were excused from work in the quarry and would work as tutors or house slaves. This less educated were condemned to work in the brutal quarries, which were like an open oven. We walk down into the limestone quarry. First they would cut into the side with a wooden wedge which when wetted would expand and crack the stone, sometimes leaving huge overhangs.after the victory over the Athenians, the king Dionysius took over for 40 years. The narrow natural arch in the quarry is called the ear of Dionysius. Again I sang “Come in quest Ora bruna” and everyone grew quiet, afterwards I got some applause.
We continued to walk up out of the quarry. We stopped at the Roman area, Douglass talked about Heron II who ruled for a period in the 2nd century BCE.. The remains show the outer edge steps and the altar. Oxen and cattle would be led up the narrow steps, appropriate prayers were said, the animals slaughtered and blood kept for librations. The meat would be used or sold, the bones and fat would be burnt for the gods. At the largest festival 450 cattle were sacrificed. There was a large area where the public would stand below the huge altar area. The blood sacrifices were done because blood was life, the greatest gift. Thus society has progressed from the sacrifice of humans to the sacrifice of animals to the sacrifice of Jesus after whose death the blood is sacrificed symbolically in the Mass.
Douglass told the story of Archimedes the mathematician figuring out mass by displacement. This idea could be used to measure the volume of a new crown created for King Heron, which proved that the goldsmith had adulterated the gold a bit and cheated the king, this the goldsmith ,ost his head and Archimedes caught they king’s eye. Archimedes also proved how to move a ship with pulleys in sequence to make them hugely more effective. The King put Archimedes in charge of defenses. At this time, Hannibal was rampaging through Italy, but never captured Rome. People figured Rome would fall, Rupert’s started tearing up treaties with Rome, Heron’s son did this also, talked with the Cathaginians about an alliance. Hannibal could be supplied endlessly via Syracuse. The Romans sent an army to Syracuse. When they arrived, they found that huge wooden arms on shore picked up entire ships, 70kg boulders (three times the previous size) could be thrown by catapults. Huge mirrors of bronze reflected light enough the burn the ships. Wooden boxes over land shot arrows automatically. All these machines were invented by Archimedes. For two years they held off the Romans. Finally the Romans bribed someone to open the gates during a festival. Although the Roman general wanted him captured, soldiers killed him as he was doing calculations. For the next 600 years Syracuse was a Roman colony.
Finally we come to the Roman amphitheater remains. It was helpful the have seen the Colosseum to imagine how this looked. This was the place for violent combat between men and/or animals. Because by this time Romans had concrete, they were able to build high without using heavy stone. Underground passages moved people toward their seats, just as today. We sit for a while on a large stone in the shade, and discuss with some of the group the oddness of the US. being on a non-metric system.
We head back to the hotel which is mercifully cool, 8 check Wunderground no it says that it is 99 degrees out, no wonder I was so hot. We find a small shady percatarian restaurant, have some nice bruschetta (avocado and salmon, and ricotta and anchovy), I have a strawberry walnut lettuce salad, Barney has a local “bread” lasagna, and w try two local beers which are nice. A quick stop at the market for wats, and we go back to the hotel for a shower and rest before thepuppet show and cooking class.
After breakfast, we head to the Castello Maniace, what we see now is mostly Norman and Spanish. This was first a Greek fort to control the port of Siracusa. Siracusa was the largest city in the world at that time, about 300,000 people. The Greeks often took over new areas 2hen they came to “help their allies.” Acibiades spearheaded the decision to take over Siracusa. In opposition to Odyssyan (?). Hermes was the god of commerce and expeditions, as well as communications, and when the statue of Hermes were defaced in nearby Catania where the Greeks were based, Alcibiades w@s suspected. Athens is a 13 day row from Siracusa, Alcibiades was arrested, went back toward Athens, jumped ship in Corfu, and went to Sparta to give them the plans for the invasion. Athens then told the other general to attack (the one who opposed Alcibiades), started a siege, built walls, Siracusans built counter-walls, after 2 years they were stalemated, then came the Spartans who reinforced the Siracusans. An Athenian fleet of 200 ships was across the bay, trapped in the harbor by the Spartan ships chained together. They would have to fight in the harbor. Four hundred ships crowded in the harbor, fighting was deck to deck., and by afternoon the Athens ian’s were defeated. The Athenians went north to Noto, the Sicilians were trying to sow them. 50,000 Athenians were lost. The Peleponessian wars continued, the Siracusans sailed to help the Spartans, but they were defeated by the Athenians, led by Alcibiades, who had an affair with the spartan Queen while he was away. Alcibiades escaped, went to Persia (Asia Minor), Persians had been defeated at Thermopylae. Alcibiades had an affair with the Persian governor, got back to Athens delivering the Persians as allies, Alcibiades was welcomed by Athens. The Athenians held on for awhile longer, and then the 80- ear golden age of Greece ended in 405 BCE.
Inside the main building is a large area that feels church-like, with beautiful columns in drums, like the ones in the church yesterday (but the Temple of Apollo had huge one massive piece). It had decent acoustics, I sang a bit of “Come in quest Ora bruna” though there was some really err. Beyond the Norman-Spanish castle is a British addition with openings for cannons, built in the Napoleonic era, as a way to keep the French out. However, this was not an area of large sea battles, those were elsewhere, Gibraltar and Alexandria. We got to wander around a bit, exposed the two small museums, one with ceramics and pieces that had fallen from the capitals inside the main building, and one with maps covering 400 years of the building’s evolution, and replicas of the two bronze rams that once adorned the entry of the main building.
We take a taxi into the main town. We learn from Douglass that as people spoke Greek here during the Greek period, continued to do so during the Roman period (Latin was used only for administration), then under the Byzantine era, Greek again, and there is a lot of Greek in the Sicilian dialect. Sicilians like anything that makes them distinct from the North of Italy, which was never Greek.
We go to a large archaeological area. First we climb the hill to the Greek Theatre, where some folks will see the play “Helen” later today. The Ancient Greeks used their theatres for religious ceremonies and the dialog between gods and men, how we are ruled by the gods and by fate. Aeschylus is the first major Greek author of tragedies of the human condition. Sophocles then continues to evolve drama, and Euripides is later yet, and by then the gods were viewed shabbily, and the culture felt lost. “Lysistrata” was written after the tragic battle at the harbor where we just were. All these plays were about the certainty of life to be explored, not about the plots which everyone knew. There were multi-day festivals of theatre, the first day dedicated to Dionysus, the god of theatre, of sexuality and passion intrastate, Apollo was about intellect, morals). The second day was a celebration of Athens. The third day is when the plays started. The plays were funded by the wealthy, but during the period, each play 2as done only once. We have 7 of Aeschylus’ plays even though he must have written over one hundred. All the actors were men, and all were masked. At the end of the festival, the judges would vote on best playwright, best actor, best production. Then they moved on to another location, with new plays, as Dionysus had already “seen” the play so it could not be repeated. Later in the 3rd century BCE these plays were revived, as the actors had often written them down. The theatre that we are in held about 18,000 people. The Greek Theatres were always at the highest point in a city. Later, Romans rules the area and their theatre was quite different … instead of gods and men in moral tales, they had tales that were either bawdy or violent. As we climb to the top of the huge theatre, we can see the whole harbor, which the Greeks felt made you feel a part of the whole world. Plays took place during the day, and there is a large concession area where food was available. The walls have rectangular niches where bronze sponsor plaques were placed. Up above was a temple at the very top, next to a huge waterfall which comes via aqueduct from 20 km away. Nearby was a Christian tomb, about 20 feet deep, with recesses for the bodies, and a single stone covering the exterior. This is very much like the kind of tomb that Joseph of Arimathea would have lent to Jesus as his tomb.
We walked to an area near the quarry, one of seven in Siracusa. After the defeat of the Athenians, the mercenaries were sold off, and any of the Athenians who could quote classical tragedies were excused from work in the quarry and would work as tutors or house slaves. This less educated were condemned to work in the brutal quarries, which were like an open oven. We walk down into the limestone quarry. First they would cut into the side with a wooden wedge which when wetted would expand and crack the stone, sometimes leaving huge overhangs.after the victory over the Athenians, the king Dionysius took over for 40 years. The narrow natural arch in the quarry is called the ear of Dionysius. Again I sang “Come in quest Ora bruna” and everyone grew quiet, afterwards I got some applause.
We continued to walk up out of the quarry. We stopped at the Roman area, Douglass talked about Heron II who ruled for a period in the 2nd century BCE.. The remains show the outer edge steps and the altar. Oxen and cattle would be led up the narrow steps, appropriate prayers were said, the animals slaughtered and blood kept for librations. The meat would be used or sold, the bones and fat would be burnt for the gods. At the largest festival 450 cattle were sacrificed. There was a large area where the public would stand below the huge altar area. The blood sacrifices were done because blood was life, the greatest gift. Thus society has progressed from the sacrifice of humans to the sacrifice of animals to the sacrifice of Jesus after whose death the blood is sacrificed symbolically in the Mass.
Douglass told the story of Archimedes the mathematician figuring out mass by displacement. This idea could be used to measure the volume of a new crown created for King Heron, which proved that the goldsmith had adulterated the gold a bit and cheated the king, this the goldsmith ,ost his head and Archimedes caught they king’s eye. Archimedes also proved how to move a ship with pulleys in sequence to make them hugely more effective. The King put Archimedes in charge of defenses. At this time, Hannibal was rampaging through Italy, but never captured Rome. People figured Rome would fall, Rupert’s started tearing up treaties with Rome, Heron’s son did this also, talked with the Cathaginians about an alliance. Hannibal could be supplied endlessly via Syracuse. The Romans sent an army to Syracuse. When they arrived, they found that huge wooden arms on shore picked up entire ships, 70kg boulders (three times the previous size) could be thrown by catapults. Huge mirrors of bronze reflected light enough the burn the ships. Wooden boxes over land shot arrows automatically. All these machines were invented by Archimedes. For two years they held off the Romans. Finally the Romans bribed someone to open the gates during a festival. Although the Roman general wanted him captured, soldiers killed him as he was doing calculations. For the next 600 years Syracuse was a Roman colony.
Finally we come to the Roman amphitheater remains. It was helpful the have seen the Colosseum to imagine how this looked. This was the place for violent combat between men and/or animals. Because by this time Romans had concrete, they were able to build high without using heavy stone. Underground passages moved people toward their seats, just as today. We sit for a while on a large stone in the shade, and discuss with some of the group the oddness of the US. being on a non-metric system.
We head back to the hotel which is mercifully cool, 8 check Wunderground no it says that it is 99 degrees out, no wonder I was so hot. We find a small shady pescatarian restaurant, have some nice bruschetta (avocado and salmon, and ricotta and anchovy), I have a strawberry walnut lettuce salad, Barney has a local “bread” lasagna, and w try two local beers which are nice. A quick stop at the market for wats, and we go back to the hotel for a shower and rest before thepuppet show and cooking class.
We walk to the puppet show, which is in a small theatre. The puppets are large marionettes, almost three feet tall, with a stick going through the head and strings controlling the arms. The costumes are elaborate, with the knights having armor made of some light metal so that when they have a sword fight (of which there are many) you hear the clang of the sword against armor. There is a dragon, whose sound effect seems straight out of JurassicPark. The music and lighting and sound effects are all terrific.
We head back to the hotel and meet up with Ed and Charlene, and Lucia joins us to take a taxi to our cooking class. We meet Giovanella, and are a large dining table covered with plastic. We make small round loaves of bread with fresh yeast, flour, salt, and water. While that is proofing, we learn to make a pasta called cavatelli, cava for the Emily part inside the shell. We make the flour and water pasta dough, and learn to use a small hand-held washboard- like item to make &earth cavatelli. The is rolled into several long snakes, then you cut about ⅜” square piece, pick one up, and lightly press it not the washboard, flicking it outward with your thumb to make it curl into the shell shape.it takes us a while to get it right, but eventually we make quite a pile of pasta.
Then she brings out some small extremely thin pieces of veal about 2” wide, and makes a cheese, breadcrumb, parsley, and herb mixture. We put a little on each piece of veal, rolls it and secure it with a toothpick. Then we put three together, and coat it with more of the breadcrumbs. These then go in he oven. Meanwhile, Giovanella makes fresh tomatoes sauce using a screw-type large food mill which extracts hfe juices wihtout the tomato skins, along with onion, basil, garlic, and salt. We begi our meal with the pasta we just made with the tomato sauce, which was delicious. Then comes the cooked veal, with sautéed peppers, also delicious. Giovanella had made an apple tart for us, which we enjoyed, along with several kinds of cello - limoncello, mandarincello, even fennelclelo, and we try them all. Partway through the meal, we are joined by Patty, the administrative assistant for Lucia andDoug, who gives us a fun tutorial on Sicilian hand gestures. We head back to the hotel thruogh the post-theatre traffic.
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