May 10, 2005
May 10 Photos: Jackie
Katherine, Caleb and Laura wait at 6:30 AM in the Samos Airport for the flight back to Athens.
Our airplane seems vaguely reminiscent of the propeller-plane from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”; looks like we are in for a bumpy ride.
Outside of the Great Propylea of the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore in Eleusis, Caleb poses in front of the gable of a triumphal arch from the Roman Period.
The men try to ignore Laura and smile at the camera as she kisses the pedimental medallion of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Everyone listens eagerly and intently in the Lesser Propylea as Prof. Rutter lectures on the changing locations of the entranceway to the Sanctuary. (Considering that they all woke up before 5 AM today, they seem fairly alert.)
Nkosi reenacts Demeter’s despair over her lost daughter on the Mirthless Stone, the very spot where Demeter was supposedly discovered by the rulers of Eleusis.
Laura serves as human scale for the massive triglyphs that once adorned the ancient Telesterion.
The Telesterion, where the Eleusinian Mysteries were performed, stretched from the column bases on the right to the open porch by the treese on the left.
Even with her long arms, Neha cannot fit them around the huge column drum from the porch of the Telesterion.
Katherine happily poses by a beautiful, 1st century AD, Roman sarcophagus showing a frieze the Kalydonian Boar Hunt.
Prof. Rutter peeks out from behind the famous acroterion of the Fleeing Maiden, apparently slightly disturbed by what he sees.
Abby and Peter marvel at what Abby calls “The Eleusinian mystery” surrounding the 7th century BC amphora showing the “Blinding of Polyphemos” and “The Slaying of the Medusa.”