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Thinking about my trip to Athens, Greece. I was thinking, what are all the cool ancient monuments we should see? Looking at google maps, many are in the city center, in walking distance of each other. Searching google returns pages and pages of travel-blog-ad-spam. Useless. Here’s what gpt5.1 gave me: Acropolis of Athens – The iconic hilltop citadel overlooking the city. Parthenon – The most famous temple dedicated to Athena. Erechtheion & Caryatids, Propylaea, Temple of Athena Nike. Temple of Olympian Zeus – Once one of the largest temples in the ancient world. ...

Reading books about the Ptolemaic Dynasty recently and I was thinking about Alexander’s tomb. Where is it? It’s a whole thing, e.g.: Tomb of Alexander the Great, Wikipedia In various books, there’s mention of Romans coming in and visiting the tomb in Alexandria. So he died somewhere (Babylon), was buried (Memphis, after being stolen while on the way back to Macedon), was dug up and re-buried (in Alexandria). And this may have happened again, few more times. ...

I finished Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut yesterday. Not sure what I read. It was a fun, I guess, and a little unstable. Yes, I could see the subtext of American consumer automatons. But there was too much bad language and sex to no real effect (i.e. delete it and it has the same story/message). Gave me vibes of Infinite Jest. The pithy short sentences. The “and so on’s”. The narrator getting involved (e.g. metafiction). ...

I finished a book on the Ptolemaic Dynasty yesterday: The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra Not bad. Perhaps a little boring. The dynasty did not last as long lasting was I thought (less than 300 years), and perhaps as expected, Alexandria – specifically the library, is the most interesting part. The early part of the dynasty was more interesting (e.g. Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III). For example, the interactions with the islands in the Aegean, with Rhodes and Cypress, the back and forth with the mainland. The were big dogs in the region for a short while. ...

I’ve been sniffing around for more niche books on the Greeks. Less overarching historical books and more biographies and reviews of specific topics. For books on Archimedes, I chose: Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes, Alan Hirshfeld, 2009. For books on Aristotle, I chose: Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction, Jonathan Barnes, 1982. For books on the Ptolemaic Dynasty (in Egypt), I chose: The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind, Justin Pollard, 2006. The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra, Toby Wilkinson, 2022. For the discovery of Troy by Heinrich Schliemann I chose: ...

I’ve been sniffing around for more material on Naxos, an island in the Cyclades I’m plan on visiting. I came across an episode of the TV show “Parts Unknown” by Anthony Bourdain focused on the island circa 2015. There’s a few copies on youtube here and there, e.g.: Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown | The Greek Islands | S07 E03 Very nice. It looks like he visited out of season because he and others are in jeans most of the time. ...

I enjoy reading books about explorers and adventures, especially in their own words. And especially when they were out there causing trouble in the 1700s and 1800s. Related to my Greece kick, I’ve been looking into the discover of key civilisations, e.g. discovery of Knossos by Arthur Evans, and Mycenae and Troy by Heinrich Schliemann. Let’s start with Arthur Evans and his work on the Minoans. Via gpt5.1: Sir Arthur Evans (1851–1941) was a British archaeologist, scholar, and adventurer best known for uncovering the Palace of Knossos on Crete and identifying the Bronze Age Minoan civilization, which he named after the legendary King Minos. A charismatic and energetic figure, Evans combined the curiosity of a traveler with the resources of a wealthy, independently minded scholar. Beginning excavations at Knossos in 1900, he revealed an advanced, pre-Greek culture with elaborate palaces, vivid frescoes, and mysterious scripts (Linear A and Linear B). Brilliant but sometimes controversial, he also reconstructed parts of the palace in concrete—an imaginative but debated move that shaped how the world visualizes the ancient Aegean. His work fundamentally changed our understanding of early European civilization. ...

Building on yesterdays dig into Phaedrus from “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, I was thinking of ancient Greeks in other books I’ve re-read many times. I came up with “Demosthenes” from “Ender’s Game”. Ender’s brother and sister stir things up on the “socials” of the day and eventually his brother becomes some kind of world leader. The sister posts the brothers view as “Demosthenes” and the brother posts the sisters view a John Locke, as a check on each other. ...

Thinking about Greek stuff, I recall that Pirsig referred to himself as “Phaedrus” in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I enjoy the book. I’ve read them a few times, and reading them makes me feel smart. Anyway, I figured Phaedrus was some Greek philosopher related to rhetoric, the area of study of the main character/Pirsig. Why not dig in. Here’s what GPT5.1 says: In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the narrator uses “Phaedrus” as the name for his earlier, pre-breakdown self—the hyper-intellectual persona obsessed with defining “Quality.” He borrows the name from the historical Phaedrus of Plato’s dialogues, a young Athenian who appears most prominently in Plato’s Phaedrus. In that dialogue, Socrates and Phaedrus explore rhetoric, truth, beauty, and the nature of the soul—exactly the kinds of philosophical questions the narrator’s former self grappled with. ...

I’ve been sniffing around for documentaries on Greece. I’ve watched a few, and they’re fun. I found one on Prime video called “Visions of Greece” (2003). Here’s the blurb: A beautiful virtual tour that lifts off from Athens, and embarks on an odyssey as varied and dramatic as Greek history, exploring islands scattered like stones in the blue Aegean, ancient ruins, verdant hills, rocky coastlines, and timeless traditions. The dramatic view is enhanced by a soundtrack of traditional and modern Greek music and a narrative that celebrates Greek history and mythology. ...