On Thursday 26 February 2015, the L6 Classical Civilisation students went to Cambridge to visit the
Classics Faculty’s cast museum. After spotting a classics celebrity, Mary Beard, in the entrance, they moved on to the world-famous cast gallery. Students were initially overwhelmed by the sizes of the casts of statues they have been studying this year. The photos in the books did not do justice to these works of art and it was only by seeing them that they could fully understand the discussions and essays they were having in the classroom. They enjoyed a talk by the curator, Dr. K. Beats, who discussed the political, religious and individual contexts of these sculptures, as well as the modern context. A short debate on the Elgin marbles revealed that half of the group wanted them to stay in Britain and half wanted their return to Greece, a fair reflection of wider thought on the subject. After one final tour of the sculptures, they moved on to the Fitzwilliam Museum to view the Greek and Roman Gallery before having time to walk around beautiful Cambridge. This trip really brought the art of the ancient world to light and enabled everyone to respond to them in a meaningful and individual manner.
Athina Mitropoulos
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