Meeting sages along the way: From Ephesus to Bodrum

Between Ephesus and Bodrum lies one of the ancient world's most remarkable intellectual landscapes—a journey through the birthplaces of philosophy, medicine, and scientific thought.

Many times, as a travel agent, I get requests on popular sites such as Cappadocia, Istanbul, or Ephesus, the beautiful Greco-Roman city in western Turkey. Usually, if the trip ends around Ephesus, some travelers decide to add a beach stop by Bodrum. I add this extension gladly. However, I always recommend not rushing to Bodrum from Ephesus, but to enjoy the many treasures along the way. You may ask me why. Between Ephesus and Bodrum lies some of the most intellectually charged landscapes of the ancient world, a corridor of cities where healing practices, medicine and philosophical debate flourished.

The guided tour of Ephesus is always an exciting one. I'm sure your guide will tell you all about the Library of Celsus, the colonnaded streets, the Roman terraces and the great theater. All of this is fascinating, but did you know that Ephesus was also the home to a famous pre-Socratic philosopher?

Heraclitus was born here around 535 BCE and never left. He is the man who told us that you cannot step into the same river twice, that everything flows, everything changes, nothing holds still. Walking through Ephesus, a city destroyed and rebuilt so many times it has lost count, you feel he was right.

An hour south is Priene, one of the least visited and most beautifully preserved Hellenistic cities in the region. This is the birthplace of Bias of Priene, one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece. His most quoted line, "most men are bad," is either deeply cynical or deeply honest, depending on the day you're having.

Further south, Miletus. This is where it gets serious. Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes — the entire Milesian School was born here, the first thinkers in the Western tradition to ask not who made the world, but what it is made of. Aristotle called Thales the founder of philosophy. The ruins are quiet now, the harbor long silted over. I think about the many names who passed through, while sipping my Turkish tea just across the theater of Miletus.

Then comes Didyma, where the colossal Temple of Apollo once served as one of antiquity's greatest oracle sanctuaries, second in importance only to Delphi. People crossed the Mediterranean to ask their questions here, the same questions the philosophers were asking just a few kilometers up the road.

And finally, the drive takes me to Bodrum. I stand on the waterfront and look across the water. That island in front is Kos, birthplace of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who believed that observation, nature and reason could heal the body without consulting the gods. I check into my hotel and imagine the time when these sages were alive, and dip into the water in the afternoon sun.