Samos and Ephesus

Today was a busy day of ruins, visiting Samos in the morning and Ephesus in the afternoon. At Samos, the chief attraction was the Vathy Museum, with its monumental kouros and the original statues from the Genelaus family complex, and, on site, the Heraion. Ephesus offered a greater number of sights, including the newly uncovered Terrace Houses and the Library of Celsus. For more on the Terrace Houses, see below. I was glad to see the last of Myrto, who persisted in providing inaccurate information (Samos was pillaged by Verres--she was confusing it with Sicily) and retelling the same myths over and over. The carelessness of the tour guides is by far the worst feature of the cruise. I keep reminding myself that they are pitching it to the lowest common denominator; but, judging by the number of academics I've encountered so far, they have badly underestimated the intelligence of the clientele. (I keep remembering the tour of Ireland after the international feminist conference in 1987, where the entire bus stopped the tour guide in the middle of her spiel about leprechauns and demanded to know about history and politics instead.)

The guide who took us to Ephesus was a Turkish male who fancied himself a comedian and flirted with the ladies, when he wasn't being condescending. His worst faux pas was making potty jokes as we toured the latrine. On the other hand, the visit to the Terrace Houses was really informative because of the extent to which the interior decoration was preserved (in some cases, better than that at Pompeii). Wall painting ranged in date from the second to fourth centuries CE. Terrace House 6, obviously that of an extremely wealthy family, had a great hall covered in marble, like that of the Domus Augustana, while Terrace House 2, which was subdivided and let to poorer renters during the fourth century, had inscribed graffiti listing prices--at some time, a taberna must have been located there. Rooms were still nicely decorated, with impressive mosaics including one of a lion and another of Neptune and Amphitrite. Painting style, although reminiscent of Pompeiian fourth style, had unusual iconography--painting on doorway passage and small allegorical female figures on white background are features I have seldom encountered before. Although we should have known better, we later went to a showing of Turkish rugs arranged by our guide. The head salesman targeted Ron while I was trying to take a photograph of the display and proceeded to try a hard sell on both of us. We got away without buying anything, but only by being rude and walking out. Although I would like to do some shopping in Istanbul, the hassle would probably be overwhelming, especially if I were to try buying jewelry.