LITERATURE & ARCHITECTURE
Calliope, ‘the beautiful voiced’ in ancient Greek, was originally the Muse of Epic Poetry in ancient times, inspiring Homer and Virgil to compose the poems Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid about the travels, adventures, and struggles of the heroes Achilles, Odysseus, and Aeneas.
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TARAS' TIPS:
“Visit the Troy of Homer's Illiad before heading to the magic of Ithaca, the land of the Cyclopes, Scylla, and Charybdis before taking up the trail of Julius Caesar from Rome through to France and Great Britain.”
Did the Trojan War really happen? Investigate yourself by travelling to the archaeological site of Troy in modern Turkey, where you can walk along the fields where the battles described by Homer took place, including the fateful encounter between Hector and Achilles.
The journey will then take you to Greece and the archaeological site of Mycenae, centre of the Bronze Age Greek Empire that caused the destruction of Troy.
GREECE
The Lion Gate, Mycenae
SCROLL THROUGH SOME OF CALLIOPE'S SUGGESTIONS
Classical Inspiration and the Renaissance: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael
The focus of this program is the Renaissance, or re-birth of the study and interest in Greco-Roman civilisation in Europe beginning at the end of the Middle Ages. Explore the lives and works of masters such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Botticelli. Your focus can be on the Italian renaissance or its expression in France and Great Britain as well.
FEATURED TRIPS INSPIRED BY CALLIOPE
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History, Literary, and Culture.
May/June/July/August
Based in Wiltshire, Bath, and Dorchester (England), enjoy 9 days of exploration of the poetry and prose of Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen, two very influential writers.
Visit the places mentioned in their works as well as the places that inspired them. Sample works:
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Austen’s Northanger Abbey and Bath
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Hardy’s Jude the Obscure
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Hardy’s poetry
We will also visit museums, archaeological sites, and galleries.
8 Nights From:
£2,700
Including breakfasts, 4 dinners, educational materials, guides, coordinator for all transport, transfers, and accommodation.
The ancient origins of modern Britain.
May/June/July/Aug
Join Clio (Muse of History), Calliope (Muse of Literature and Architecture), and your knowledgeable guide, for 6 nights, on the fascinating path from Ancient Bronze Age Britons, Iron Age Celts, Romans, Medieval Anglo-Saxons, and Normans to Modern Great Britain.
This fascinating adventure is based around Stonehenge and the surrounding countryside! This is the best way to understand the rich and provocative context of this important monument. Thalia, Muse of leisure and entertainment, will suggest traditional great pubs where you can have a break and enjoy a taste of Britain. Also, some wonderful, insightful, and awe-inspiring museums.
6 Nights From:
£1,750
Including breakfasts, 3 dinners, educational materials, guides, coordinator for all transport, transfers, and accommodation.
SAMPLE ITINERARIES
INSPIRED BY CALLIOPE
DESTINATION ROMA!
Allow the ancient Epic Tradition to take you from across the Aegean sea to mainland Greece and then on to Italy. Your journey begins in Troy and ends in Rome!
STOP ONE
In the footsteps of Homer & Virgil
Uncover the places that inspired Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, from the Aegean to mainland Greece and Italy. Beginning in Troy you’ll then venture to Istanbul, centre of the Ottoman empire.
STOP TWO
Discover Athens & Mycenae
Take in the splendours of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Argos before travelling to Athens and to the very spot where the Greek commanders launched their expedition against Troy.
STOP THREE
Experience Literature in Naples
Travel to the place where Aeneas, the surviving Trojan hero, visited the underworld, where his father explained his mission: to lay the original foundations of what would one day become Rome, near the existing settlement of Lavinium.
STOP FOUR
On to the magical Roma!
End your Odyssey atop the beautiful Palatine Hill, exploring the exact spot where Aeneas' descendants, Romulus and Remus, would go on to found the great city of Rome.
DESTINATION LORD BYRON!
Travel in the footsteps of Lord Byron, much loved flamboyant and fashionable British Romantic poet, a defiant, freethinker, worshiper of the ideal. He first became famous by his loosely autobiographical account of the European tour he made after leaving Cambridge called 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' (1812–18). Lord Byron of course is known for his many love affairs too, both with men and women, but is perhaps better known today for the satiric realism of Don Juan.
Your adventure may begin from Cambridge then across the Atlantic coast to Portugal, cross through Spain to Gibraltar, then Malta, up to Italy and then onto Greece. He championed liberty, gave money, energy and finally his life to the Greek war of Independence. He joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire. Sadly he died at 36 from a fever contracted after the First and Second Siege of Missolonghi.
Lord Byron was admired throughout Europe. Live and breathe in his words by visiting the places he wrote his famous poems.
Please see our sampled itinerary for Lord Byron below and remember we can customise itineraries to your desires.
STOP ONE AND TWO
UK: Newstead Abbey and Trinity College
STOP THREE AND FOUR
STOP FIVE, SIX AND SEVEN
Italy: Pisa, Venice and Ravenna
Greece: Athens and Missolonghi
STOP EIGHT AND NINE
Turkey: Istanbul and Troy
Uncover the places that first inspired Lord Byron. Explore the enchanted ruins of Newstead Abbey. Visit Trinity College where Byron piled up debts living life to the excess, where his incipient sexual ambivalence began.
He lived in Italy for several years and visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley there. Explore the Mocenigo Palace on the Grand Canal, where Byron lived and composed the first songs of Don Juan.
Greece made a lasting impression on Lord Byron. Inspired by their free and open frankness. In Greece, Byron began Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, which he continued in Athens.
In March 1810 he sailed with his friend Hobhouse from Greece to Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). They visited the site of Troy, and swam the Hellespont (present-day Dardanelles) in imitation of Leander.
For Shakespeare's Italy itinerary, please click here, and for
A Greek Tragedy, please click here.
Boh these itineraries are influenced by Calliope and Melpomene