Two Museums Worth a Visit While in Greece
Thebes Archaeological Museum, Boeotia
As the picture indicates, the Thebes Archaeological Museum isn't exactly a breathtaking sight; the present-day city of Thebes is somewhat impoverished, and there's not a lot of money available for the care of antiquities. (When I was there, the Mycenaean palace of ancient Thebes, which had recently been dug out in a rescue excavation, was being used by passers-by as a garbage dump. Mind you, this was before the current Greek economic crisis.) But if you step inside, you'll encounter what are, to my mind, among the most astonishing works of art to survive from classical antiquity: finely incised grave stelae of the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, depicting Boeotian warriors in full hoplite panoply. I don't have a suitable picture to show, and indeed no picture could really do them justice, as the relief carving is so low that the images are well-nigh invisible unless the light hits them just right. I was so entranced by them that my group leader nearly had to physically drag me back to the bus. The people of Boeotia were often stigmatized by their fellow Greeks, especially the Athenians, as uncultured hillbillies (not helped by the fact that Boeotia means "Cattle-Land"); if the literary genius of Pindar, Corinna and Plutarch isn't enough to convince you of that reputation's injustice, these reliefs should do the trick.
Piraeus Archaeological Museum, Attica
Piraeus was Athens' chief port from the early fifth century BCE until the end of antiquity (and, indeed, remains a thriving port today); this museum bears witness to the truth of Pericles' boast that Athens' naval might made it the emporion, or trading-market, of all the inhabited world. The star attractions here are two fine bronze statues, the Piraeus Apollo and Piraeus Athena, but being the ancient military history buff that I am, I'll always remember the trireme "beak", used for ramming enemy vessels amidships and holding them in a death grip, that's on display.
