I know nothing about antiquity. Let me start with that. I cannot distinguish between Hellenistic and Roman architecture, let alone Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns. But I do know what I like about these ancient sites: the wonder of a place lived in so long ago and the time to imagine what the times might have been like to experience. Ephesus, on Turkey’s west coast, is heralded as second only to Pompeii in its magnificence as an entire city almost left intact; however instead of conveying wonder, it has been obscenely reconstructed and is awash with tourists. Termessos, a ruin a few hundred miles to the east, is not so well tramped and is a place for the imagination to run wild. Straddling a low mountainous pass, the Pisidian city offers a remarkable necropolis complex, colonnade and theater, to say nothing of unparalleled views for miles around. Yes, it was hot – almost 100 degrees – and steep, and our water ran short, but there was an abundance of solitude and silence, allowing this long gone world to almost open, even if just a crack.
Tag Archives: Lycia
Holly Golightly Speaks Amongst the Lycian Ruins
Of course I like dykes themselves. They don’t scare me a bit. But stories about dykes bore the bejesus out of me. I just can’t put myself in their shoes. Well really, darling. I knew damn well I’d never be a movie actor. It’s too hard; and if you’re intelligent, it’s too embarrassing. The mean reds are horrible.You’re afraid and you feel like hell, but you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Except something bad is going to happen, only you don’t know what it is. Of course I haven’t anything against whores. Except this: some of them may have an honest tongue, but they all have dishonest hearts. (All quotes excerpted from Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Vintage Publishing, pages 21, 38, 40 & 82; images from the ancient Lycian cities of Aphrodisias & Priene in Turkey)