Journey of Odysseus - Alumni - Lafayette College

Led by Professor Diane Cole Ahl
Journey of Odysseus
Retracing The Odyssey through
the Ancient Mediterranean
Aboard the All-Suite, 114-Guest Corinthian II
June 18 - 29, 2011

Lafayette College Faculty
Taormina, Sicily
Diane Cole Ahl is the Arthur J. ’55 and Barbara S. Rothkopf Professor of Art
History. For more than three decades, she has been teaching the introductory
art history course, interpreting the art and architecture of the ancient world to
generations of Lafayette students. A specialist in Italian Renaissance art, she has
presented the interpretation and recovery of Greek and Roman art as key themes
in European art and architecture from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth
century. Ahl has team-taught several study tours to Italy for Lafayette students, and along with
President Daniel Weiss, co-hosted the trustee trip to Italy in 2007. She is thrilled to share her passion
for Greek art and archaeology with Lafayette alumni by helping to lead this trip. Ahl is the author
of Fra Angelico (Phaidon Press, 2008) and the award-winning Benozzo Gozzoli (Yale University
Press, 1996), among many publications. She currently is writing a book on 15 th -century painting
in Italy for Yale University Press. The revival of Greek and Roman art, crucial to understanding the
Renaissance, is among its major topics.
Ahl has received several prestigious grants and fellowships, including, most recently, ones from
the National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence. She is the recipient of the College’s Mary Louise Van Artsdalen
Prize for outstanding scholarly achievement, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Award for superior
teaching and scholarly contribution to her discipline, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Faculty
Lecture Award for excellence in teaching and scholarship, the Lafayette Student Government Award
for Superior Teaching, and last year, the Daniel Golden Award from the Alumni Association.
guest lecturers
C. Brian Rose, lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and Smithsonian
Journeys, is James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania and
Deputy Director of the University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, as well as President
of the AIA. He has been excavating at Troy since 1988, where he has been Head of Post-Bronze Age
Excavations for nearly two decades. He has earned rave reviews as lecturer on several voyages in the
Mediterranean and Black Seas since 2003, including a previous Journey of Odysseus.
Gordon Turnbull is the General Editor of the Yale Boswell Editions and taught for seven years in
Yale’s Department of English. During his time teaching, Dr. Turnbull introduced hundreds of Yale
students to Homer in English 129, “The European Literary Tradition.” A lively and witty lecturer
and seminar leader, Dr. Turnbull has led numerous study trips around the world. Dr. Turnbull looks
forward to a new Homeric quest, amid the very seas and islands of which the epic poet wrote.
Cover: A scene from a 6 th -century B.C. vase depicting a Siren and Odysseus tied to the mast of his ship
For reservations or information, please call 800-257-5767

Dear Alumni and Friends,
Nearly 3,000 years after Homer first sang the tale of The Odyssey, his story still inspires the
spirit of exploration. Homer’s epic account of Odysseus’ journey home after the fall of Troy
is a beacon to the adventurer, a recounting of the ultimate journey. Many of its pinnacle sites
not only persist in the collective imagination, but even now wait to awe a new generation of
travelers. The islands Odysseus visited, the caverns he explored and the mountain peaks he
climbed are among the most magical places in the Mediterranean.
I am pleased to invite you to join Professor Diane Ahl and your fellow alumni in a remarkable
journey that will trace the path of Odysseus. From the burning towers of Troy through the
enchanted realms of gods and nymphs and finally home, your journey will begin in Athens,
sailing toward Troy, the city that guarded the strategic narrows of the Hellespont. You will call
in ancient Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis; Pylos, with its Palace of Nestor; the
island of Malta, one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world; and Trapani, Sicily, the
abode of the man-eating Laestrygonians. The adventure continues as you discover the Phlegrean
Fields outside of Naples, where Odysseus faced the Cyclops, and Sicily’s Taormina, the one-time
Kingdom of Helios, before landing safely in Ithaca, Odysseus’ long-sought destination.
As you follow Odysseus’ fabled route, a series of lectures from guest study leaders will help
contextualize all the fascinating things you’ll see, enriching an already sumptuous adventure.
Diane Ahl, one of Lafayette’s finest teachers and most renowned scholars, will be delivering
lectures on Greek Art, with a special emphasis on the Heroic Ideal and Lives of Women as a
source of images for sculpture and vase painting, as well as the Legacy of Homer and Heroes in
European Art. She will be joined by Brian Rose, Professor of Archaeology and Head of Post-
Bronze Age Excavations at Troy for nearly two decades, as well as by Gordon Turnbull of Yale
University, who has introduced a generation of undergraduates to The Odyssey in a course on
“The European Literary Tradition.”
Your home for this odyssey will be the elegant 114-guest, all-suite Corinthian II, the perfect
cruise ship for travelling far, but docking close. Large enough to offer the amenities for a
comfortable and enjoyable voyage – a spacious restaurant, two comfortable lounges, a sundeck
with a Jacuzzi – she is yet small enough to navigate seaways and enter harbors that are
inaccessible to today’s mega-cruise ships.
I hope that you will consider joining the Lafayette group this coming June as Corinthian II sets
sail in the wake of Odysseus!
Sincerely,
Daniel H. Weiss
President
Pompeii, Italy
w w w.lafayette.edu

Itinerary
Saturday, June 18, 2011 n FLY
FROM USA
Sunday, June 19 n ATHENS |
PIRAEUS, Greece | EMBARK
Arrive in Athens and transfer
to Corinthian II. Set sail in the
evening. (D)
ITALY
Naples Pompeii
Sicily Messina
Trapani
Taormina
Valletta
MALTA
Monday, June 20 n CANAKKALE
| TROY: Priam’s Kingdom |
CANAKKALE, Turkey
Explore famed Troy, site of Odysseus’ embarkation,
which consists of nine cities, superimposed in rings on
a massive mound rising above the “windswept” Plain
of Ilium. It was to one of these cities, as legend has
it, that Paris abducted the beautiful Helen, igniting
the Trojan War. Here, King Priam’s city finally fell to
Odysseus’ clever ruse of the Trojan Horse. (B, L, D)
Tuesday, June 21 n DELOS, Greece
In the heart of the Aegean, tiny uninhabited Delos
is one of the most important archaeological sites in
Greece. Legend identifies it as the birthplace of twins
Apollo and Artemis. A walking tour leads to the
excavations of the main shrines dedicated to these
gods as well as to the Terrace of the Lions, with its
deftly carved archaic figures, originally constructed to
overlook and protect the Sacred Lake. (B, L, D)
Wednesday, June 22 n PYLOS
Corinthian II enters spacious Navarino Bay, which is
fronted by the uninhabited isle of Sphakteria. Land
at the picturesque village of Pylos, situated at the
head of the bay, and drive to the Palace of Nestor,
dating from the 13 th century b.c. Even in ruins, the
structure gives a vivid picture of the grandeur of the
Mycenaeans. (B, L, D)
Thursday, June 23 n AT SEA | VALLETTA, Malta:
Calypso’s Island
As Corinthian II plies the blue waters of the Ionian
Sea, attend lectures by our expert study leaders, and
enjoy the ship’s amenities. In the evening, dock in
the Grand Harbor of Valletta, the fortified bastion
of the Knights of Malta. Ruled successively by the
Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans,
Byzantines, Arabs, and the Order of the Knights
of Saint John of Jerusalem, Valletta’s hundreds of
monuments make it one of the most concentrated
historic areas in the world. (B, L, D)
Friday, June 24 n VALLETTA | GOZO | VALLETTA
Today, choose between sightseeing in Malta or the
nearby island of Gozo. On the cliffs overlooking
Ramla Bay on Gozo, view the cave where the
nymph Calypso is said to have kept Odysseus for
seven years. Visit the underground Alabaster Caves
in the tiny town of Xaghra and the spectacular
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Canakkale
GREECE
Troy
Ithaca ATHENS TURKEY
Pylos
Delos
Troy, Turkey
Ggantija temple complex. Alternatively, explore
the picturesque squares surrounded by medieval
palaces of Valletta. Visit the National Museum
of Archaeology, the Grand Master’s Palace, and
stop for a glimpse of St. John’s Co-Cathedral.
Also visit the Neolithic Tarxien Temples, which
date back to 2800 b.c., and onto Hagar Qim.
(B, L, D)
Saturday, June 25 n TRAPANI | SEGESTA |
ERICE | TRAPANI, Sicily, Italy: Land of the
Laestrygonians
Trapani, on Sicily’s stunning west coast, is where
the cannibal Laestrygonians attacked Odysseus
and his companions. Drive to Segesta for a
glimpse of its Doric temple, built in 420 b.c.
and ranked as one of the best-preserved ancient
Greek sites to be found anywhere. The ruins
stand in majestic solitude atop a bucolic hill with
virtually no modern-day structures marring
the vista, making it easy to imagine the Sicily
of antiquity. Continue on to the medieval town
of Erice, situated on a high plateau overlooking
the coast. The town was known for its temple
to the fertility goddess, Astarte, who was later
identified with Venus and worshipped by the
Romans. Peek around the magnificent 12 th -
century Venus Castle that was built upon the
ruins of the ancient temple. Fringed by a lush
park, the views from this medieval hilltop castle
are breathtaking. (B, L, D)
For reservations or information, please call 800-257-5767

Sunday, June 26 n NAPLES | POMPEII or PHLEGREAN
FIELDS: Land of the Cyclops | NAPLES
From Naples, drive to the Phlegrean Fields, where
Odysseus and his men were captured by Polyphemus,
the Cyclops. Drive by Lago d’Averno, the ancient
Avernus Lake, home of the Cimmerians in The
Odyssey, and Lago di Fusaro, the ancient Archerusian
Lake, where Odysseus entered Hades. Continue to
Monte di Cuma and the cave of the Sibyl of Cumae,
who prophesied the future. Alternatively, visit Pompeii,
the fabled city both destroyed and preserved by the
volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in a.d. 79. After
lunch at a local restaurant, visit the Archaeological
Museum in Naples. (B, L, D)
Monday, June 27 n MESSINA | TAORMINA:
The Kingdom of Helios | MESSINA, Sicily
Cross the Strait of Messina, the site of the legendary
Scylla, a terrifying six-headed monster, and Charybdis,
a treacherous whirlpool. Odysseus was cast ashore in
the Kingdom of Helios, modern Taormina, where
his companions slaughtered and ate the sacred oxen.
To avenge the death of his beloved oxen, Helios sent
a lightning bolt that destroyed their ship, drowning
all aboard except Odysseus. Picturesque Taormina
is situated on a mountainside affording magnificent
views of Mount Etna. Here we visit the superbly
situated Greek theater, built in the 3 rd century b.c.
(B, L, D)
Tuesday, June 28 n ITHACA, Greece: The Home of
Odysseus | CORINTH CANAL
Ithaca, the legendary home of Odysseus, is a stunning
island of pristine beaches and verdant forest. Visit
the bay of Dexia, Homer’s harbor of Phorkys, where
the Phaeacians left Odysseus sleeping on the beach.
Admire the Cyclopean Walls (Alalkomenai), a ruined
site known locally as Odysseus’ Castle, and stand
atop the Plateau of Marathia, where Odysseus’s loyal
servant Eumaeus kept his swine. Later, sail along the
Corinth Canal. (B, L, D)
Wednesday, June 29 n PIRAEUS | DISEMBARK | ATHENS
| FLY TO USA (B)
Valletta, Malta
Segesta, Sicily
Program Inclusions
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10-night cruise aboard the all-suite,
114-guest Corinthian II
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Complete program of tours and excursions
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Welcome and farewell cocktail receptions
aboard ship
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All meals aboard ship, including house wine,
beer, and soft drinks with lunch and dinner
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Open bar aboard ship throughout the cruise
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Educational program of lectures and
discussions by Professor Diane Cole Ahl and
other accompanying lecturers
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Professional Travel Dynamics International
tour staff
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Complete pre-departure materials
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Baggage handling and transfers abroad on the
designated program arrival and departure dates
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Port and embarkation taxes
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Gratuities to porters, guides, and drivers
NOT INCLUDED: Airfare; visa and passport fees (if
applicable); luggage and trip cancellation insurance;
meals, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages other
than those specified above; personal expenses such
as laundry, telephone calls, faxes, and e-mail service;
and gratuities to shipboard personnel

Our Ship for this Voyage
Corinthian II
Deck Plan
603 601
Sun
Deck
Jacuzzi
Beauty
Salon 604 602
Exercise Area
Explorer Deck
511 509 507 505
Sun Deck
Bridge
Outdoor
Café
512 510 508 506
Erickson Deck
427
425 423 421 419 417 415
Library
The Club
428 426 424 422 420 418 416 414
Marco Polo Deck
347345 343 341 339
335 333331 329
Lounge
Reception
348 346 344 342 340 338 336334332
330
In an era of mega cruise ships that carry thousands of
passengers, the Corinthian II is a delightful alternative.
More like a private yacht than a cruise ship, Corinthian II
accommodates only 114 guests in 57 suites. Corinthian
II’s limited guest capacity, fine facilities, and distinctive
style of operation attract like-minded travelers who
return again and again to enjoy its custom-crafted
itineraries and a style of cruising that is rarely found
today. More than just a cruise, each voyage provides
a comprehensive experience that reveals the singular
aspects of the destinations. Aboard, a sense of
community and a spirit of camaraderie prevail.
Restaurant
Columbus Deck
261259 257255 Hospital
262 260 258256 254 252 250
Magellan Deck
All of Corinthian II’s suites face outside, providing
views of the sea and landscape. Several have a private
balcony. There are expansive open deck areas and other
facilities, including a gym, library, beauty salon, two
lounges, a sun deck with Jacuzzi, and an outdoor cafe.
A spacious restaurant accommodates all guests in an
open, unassigned seating. The cuisine is outstanding,
and the overall service is efficient and friendly while
unobtrusive. An elevator serves all decks. A resident
physician attends a well-equipped infirmary.
Served by 70 seasoned officers and crew, Corinthian
II complies with the latest international safety
regulations and is outfitted with the most current
navigational technology.
Suite
Library
The Club
Penthouse Suite Veranda

cruise & land rates per person, double occupancy
All accommodations aboard Corinthian II are suites. They face outside, affording sea views,
and several have balconies with sliding doors. All include two twin-size beds that can convert
to a queen-size bed, sitting area, mini-refrigerator, safe, spacious closets, climate control,
telephone, TV, DVD/CD player, and bathroom with marble vanity, shower, and other amenities.
category description rates
E
D
C
B
A
AA
VS
PHS
Deluxe suites on Magellan Deck with portholes and sitting area.
225 sq. ft. Suites 250 - 252 $7,995
Deluxe suites on Columbus Deck with window and sitting area.
225 sq. ft. Suites 329 - 332 $8,995
Deluxe suites on Magellan Deck with portholes and sitting area.
235 sq. ft. Suites 254 - 262 $9,995
Deluxe suites on Columbus Deck with window and sitting area.
235 sq. ft. Suites 333 - 348 $10,995
Deluxe suites on Marco Polo Deck with window and sitting area.
235 sq. ft. Suites 416 - 428 $11,695
Deluxe suites on Marco Polo Deck with forward and side windows and
sitting area. 285 sq. ft. Suites 414 - 415 $12,295
Deluxe Veranda Suites on Erickson Deck with private balcony
and sitting area. 300 sq. ft. Suites 505 - 512 $12,995
Deluxe Penthouse Suites on Explorer Deck with private balcony
and sitting area. 400 sq. ft. Suites 601 - 604 $14,495
VS & PHS suites are provided with private butler service
and other exclusive amenities.
Single Supplement: A limited number of cabins have been designated for single travelers in
Categories C - A at a supplement of $2,295 to the per person, double occupancy rates listed above.
Singles in Categories AA, VS, and PHS are available at double the per person, double occupancy rates.
For reservations or information,
please contact
Travel Dynamics International at
212-517-7555 or 800-257-5767
general information
PAYMENTS: A deposit of $1,000 per person is required to reserve
your space on the tour. For your convenience, you may charge your
deposit to your American Express, Visa, Discover, or MasterCard
or pay it by personal check. Final payment is due 90 days prior to
departure and must be by personal check only; credit cards are not
accepted for final payment.
CANcELLATIONS & REFUNDS: All cancellations are subject to a $300
per person fee. Cancellations received 61-90 days prior to departure
will be assessed a penalty equal to 50% of the total program cost per
person. Cancellations received within 60 days of departure are subject
to 100% cancellation penalties.
INSurANcE: We recommend the purchase of trip cancellation
insurance. Details will be sent upon registration.
ITINErAr Y: The itinerary, accommodations, and arrangements are
subject to change at the discretion of Travel Dynamics International.
SHIp’S REGISTr Y: Malta CST #204 3599-40 TDI
DuE TO Sp AcE LIMITATIONS, THIS IS ABBrEVIATEd INfOrMATION.
PLEASE cONTAcT uS fOr cOMpLETE TErMS ANd CONdITIONS.
AIRFARE: Airfare is not included in the Cruise and Land
Rates. Please contact your preferred airline, travel agent,
or the Travel Dynamics International air desk operated by
Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc. (VWTI) for airfare information
and to reserve round-trip flights. Consultants are
available Monday – Friday from 9:00 am – 5:30 pm (EST)
toll-free at 1-877-711-9896. Please have your tour code
(11414) and dates handy for reference.
w w w.lafayette.edu

ITALY
Naples Pompeii
Canakkale
GREECE
Troy
Sicily
Messina
Ithaca ATHENS
TURKEY
Trapani
Taormina Pylos
Delos
Valletta
MALTA
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Lafayette Alumni Affairs
204 Pfenning Alumni Center
Easton, PA 18042-1728
Ithaca, Greece
PRSRT STD
U.S. Postage
PAID
Travel Dynamics
Int’l
For reservations or information,
please contact
Travel Dynamics International at
212-517-7555 or 800-257-5767
program features
& highlights
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Visit the remarkably intact Doric temple
of Segesta, set on a beautiful hilltop.
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View the continually erupting Stromboli
volcano as you sail south to Sicily.
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Walk amongst thousands of colorful
wildflowers as you explore the
uninhabited, pristine island of Delos.
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Visit several UNESCO World Heritage
sites including the archaeological site of
Troy, the city of Valleta, and the megalithic
temples of Malta.
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Re-imagine The Odyssey while visiting the
sites and sifting history from legend.
LAFC 11414