Philosophy Experiential Workshop at Plato's Academy Park -Athens

The philosophy tour was a great experience!

When you’re planning a trip to Greece, you are obviously looking at the acropolis and the Parthenon. After you’ve done that, it’s really cool to take a philosophy tour and understand the backbone of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. We took this tour and it was phenomenal. It takes three hours and it was so interactive and so educational and our instructor was unbelievable. He was so ,so good. I would highly recommend this tour!

Unique and fun learning experiences at the places where it all began

I recently lead a party of 3 teachers and 30 students aged 16-18 from the UK to Athens and we took part in two experiential workshops run by Hellas Revival (Plato and Democracy). The sessions were lively and fun, very interesting to the students and highly participatory. The level was pitched just right for our group's age and existing knowledge. Our students certainly learned a lot, really took part in the engaging activities, and we have had great feedback from them. Fluent English was spoken by the facilitators who ran the sessions really well, as a teacher I know how challenging it can sometimes be to engage young people but they made it look easy. To have a philosophical debate at the site of Plato's Academy, or take part in a simulation of Athenian democracy in the place where it took place in the ancient world, is so special. The surroundings were beautiful and steeped in history. We will certainly aim to include Hellas Revival workshops in future trips by our institution to Athens. Thanks Olga, Eva and Alex!

Try this!

This is an unusual, engaging and fund cultural experience of connecting to ancient Athens through its philosophy and politics. We spent two hours with Alex, a philosophy grad student who also studies Ancient Greek and Latin languages, learning something about Plato and Socrates and the life of Athens. This is not a guided tour or a lecture. The idea is to get you doing some philosophical thinking while learning about Plato, his teacher Socrates and the Athenian world they lived in. The Plato digital museum is a very small but excellently designed free museum which you visit as part of the experience. All of this is very much off the beaten tourist track which adds another dimension to the experience - the ruins of the academy are in a small public park and have not been fully excavated. There were only a couple of Greek visitors there who said they had come to feel the atmosphere of Plato’s school. If you have visited the acropolis as we did this offers a brilliant additional experience that offers something more intimate and participatory. Highly recommended for adults and kids equally.

Like being a real student in the Academy

One of the best experiences. Like being real students of the Academy! We even had a friendly cat join who we named Pythagoras. Would highly recommend

Special experience

We had a fantastic time. The guide was knowledgeable and engaging. Being able to do philosophy in such an historic place is truly a fantastic experience.

Eye-opening experience!

We visited Athens for 4days with my sister, her husband and my beloved nephew (17years old). We first took the Democracy workshop (wonderful!) and 2 days later we booked the Plato Philosophy one. We did so many different things in just a couple of hours! First, we read some ancient Greek, then we had to find answers in the small but quite interesting museum and then we went to the ancient ruins in Plato Academy Park. There we had to think and speak like ancient philosophers! In the end we had a mini debate with many laughs. Truly eye-opening experience, which kept us thinking and discussing for hours after.. I highly recommend it!

My professional Athens driver from my hotel couldn’t locate the entrance to Plato’s academy. We googled mapped even.

The identification of the entrance! Couldn’t find it. There was no indication where it was despite driving around a fenced in dilapidated park. There was no one to great visitors so I didn’t get out of the car. I did not get the tour that I paid for. Very disappointed.

great

Alex was amazing, it was the best day of my life.. I just really loved it and there was a lot of attention to details, truly thoughtful

A very interesting and enjoyable experience!

An easy introductory philosophy workshop for everyone. I went with my family and our 2 teens, and they were involved from beginning to end. The debate at the end brought to life what we had been discussing previously, about the allegory of the cave and Plato himself. Very enjoyable for both teens and adults.

An amazing philosophy experience!

Walking through the ancient ruins of the Academy and learning about one of the world’s greatest philosophers through discussion and interaction was truly amazing. With a simple historical overview in the beginning and through Plato’s interactive museum, the instructors helped us paint a better picture about Plato. It’s a very enjoyable experience for people traveling to Athens.

Educational and fun

Our guide was a gem. Young and passionate about philosophy. We had fun learning about the classical masters of philosophy.

A great way to understand platonic thought

Reading about philosophy can be interesting and fruitful for anyone. Taking part in ancient Greek philosophical thought is, however, a more enjoyable way of learning about it. While the workshop touches the basics of platonic thought, the instructors greatly helped us understand the allegory of the cave and how it can be seen around us even today. A must do for anyone visiting Athens.

A great experience for any philosophy enthusiast

Discussing about Plato’s allegory of the cave in the ruins of the academy with the instructors and taking part in a debate using the methods we learnt was a joy. The museum in the beginning really helped us understand more about Plato and his theory. Truly a very interesting and fun experience, for anyone interested in ancient Greek philosophy.

Amazing experience, fun and informative for the whole family!

My wife, daughter and I had a blast at Olga’s experiential Plato workshop today. Olga is an amazing facilitator and the material of this workshop is exactly what I expected. As someone who is a fan of Plato and read most of his dialogues, I wanted my wife and daughter to learn more about the Ancient Greek philosophers, and I was tempted to experience a dialectic myself. This completely delivered. Having done all the “touristy” stuff in Athens, I think this will remain a key highlight for us during our trip. It’s so much more intimate and fun to learn about Athenian history and contemplate the philosophical life this way than spending your time walking by physical relics. And what better place to do it than in the ruins of the Academy itself, under a tree. This is the real spirit of Athens! As a bonus, I really appreciated the historical card Olga hands out with a timeline of key Athenian events and the lives of philosophers. You totally “get” Athenian history once you see that, and even my daughter (7) now knows the academic chain between Socrates and Alexander. I wholeheartedly recommend this experience. You won’t regret it.

Marvelous

Fantastically good concept, plan, leader, and execution. This is a wonderful educational experience, perfect for the tourist/traveler with an inquiring mind who wants not just see sites but also to learn new things and broaden the mind. Much, much more interesting and worthwhile than the typical tour that is a numbing ride past old buildings. Do it!

open your mind to a new perspective

I loved this!! What better way to learn about philosophy’s founding father than to discuss Plato’s allegory of the cave while sitting on the ruins of his academy. We had a fascinating conversation about the role of philosophy in the modern world & even practiced having a discussion/debate just like how it was done in the ancient agora. The museum is small but very well done so adults and kids will learn from it.

A must for all, we loved it - doing philosophy should be an everyday activity !

Thank you to the HellasRevival Team for a fruitful and amazing experience. As was mentioned during the workshop „doing philosoophy‘ should be an every day activity ... I took 4 teens along and it was lovely to see them totally involved from beginning to end - it was very well planned, fun and riddled with facts of ancient greece, philosophy with personal rhetoric participation from all the teens. The digital museum is a gem waiting to be discovered ! We highly recommend this activity and really appreciated the HellasRevival team support - will be coming back for more and would give more than 5 star if I could !

Great experience

Georgia was amazing! Managed to give a modern meaning to Plato's theory.We discussed about the manipulation of the senses and used replicas of ancient objects. My 2 kids (13 and 17) loved it and gave opinions which i didn't expect! Bravo!!

Basic tour

It was very basic, didn't talk much about history and just dealt with the allegory of the cave for most of the tour

An excellent experience and interactive workshop!

We had the pleasure of attending this workshop In November. We met the workshop academics on site at the original site of Plato's school in Athens. The workshop organizers were comprised of knowledgable individuals and we were guided through an interactive and lively discussion about philosophical ideas just as the ancient students would have done thousands of years ago. We were able to think, communicate and debate ideas in inspiring surroundings! It was a fabulous experience and exactly what any student of philosophy and history loves about Greece. Highly recommend. Professional and well organized! We plan to attend another workshop when we return in the summer.

Cool!!

Do philosophy, not read about it! Finally had the chanse to debate my wife and win!! Well done guys, keep on!

True experience

Nice Museum and very interesting workshop. We philosophized like Plato's students at the ruins of his Academy! I like philosophy and this was the most joyful and emotional way to do it.

Eine erlebnisreiche Erfahrung

Olga hat diesen Workshop in lockerer, entspannter und dennoch lehhreicher Art gestaltet. Sie hat uns viele Informationen über Platon und seine Akademie vermittelt und uns mit praxisnahen Beispielen und Diskussionen miteingebunden. Es hat viel Spaß gemacht und nach dem Workshop zum Weiterdenken angeregt. Ευχαριστώ!