Posted by annam on Saturday, May 13, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

My favorite part of the second field trip was our stop in Segesta, specifically the amphitheater. First of all, the view was beautiful- the rolling green hills, rows of grape plants, and the large countryside hotel in the middle of it all. I know they had scenes to better channel the sound, but I can only imagine what it must have been like listening to someone singing and the orchestra playing with that view in the background. I have seen other amphitheaters, in Greece, on the mainland Italy and even one in the hills at home. This one was definitely smaller than many of the others I have seen, but the setting of this one was unlike any I have seen before. As an engineer, I am always curious as to how ancient people were able to figure out how the amphitheater should be shaped to create such great acoustics. Now we have computer modeling and other ways of testing to figure out the prime set up. It is amazing to think that people so long ago were able to draft and build these massive structures with little machinery.

The most noteworthy part of the experience at the theater was the discussion we had about entertainment. There were no televisions in that time period; watching plays was their best form of entertainment. It is interesting to think that rulers/governments put in effort to make sure the common man could afford to go to shows, mainly to keep them busy. By giving people something to do, they would be less likely to revolt. Though Vittoria said that our society is similar to that nowadays, I wonder if it truly directly translates. I think about how we have television, movies- and I will lump in forms of social media as well, as they perform a similar purpose- do they really prevent us from revolting? Observing this past election, I feel as though word spreads quickly, and people educate each other through social media or watching the news on tv. It seems that people get more ideas from our forms of entertainment. As we can see even in the Arab Spring, Twitter sparked the revolts. Thus, society has changed as a result of entertainment- I am not saying for the better or for worse, but it has changed.

Pictured here: the amphitheater