Luke Muckerheide of Greenfield stands in front of the Parthenon as part of his eight-day trip to Greece this summer.
Submitted photo
Editor’s note: The Daily Reporter will feature our “Neighbors” regularly, whether it be someone with an interesting hobby or profession, or a nonprofit group making a difference in our community. Here, Luke Muckerheide of Greenfield shares about his recent trip to Greece. Muckerheide, 20, graduated from Greenfield-Central High School in 2021 and is a junior at Purdue University studying mechanical engineering. He went to Greece for eight days through Tragos Quest to Greece, a program for brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon and funded by the SigEp Education Foundation. If you know a person or a group that you’d like to see featured in Neighbors, email [email protected].
Daily Reporter: What did you study in Greece?
Luke Muckerheide: We traveled with a professor and studied a variety of topics from Greek history, culture and philosophy. We did daily readings for several weeks before the trip and spent an hour each morning discussing topics relevant to the sites we’d see that day.
DR: Tell us about some of the places you visited.
LM: We first visited the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, then Eleusis, home of one of Greece’s mystery cults. Next was Corinth, the richest city of ancient Greece, then Mycenae, home of Agamemnon from the Trojan War. After that, we visited the modern city of Nafplio and the ancient Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus, a famous healing site and the home of an incredible theater. Then we crossed the Bay of Corinth to visit Delphi, home of a famous oracle whose cryptic advice was sought by Alexander the Great, Nero, Cicero, and the philosophers Zeno of Citium and Socrates, among others. After Delphi we visited a monastery and then journeyed to Athens to visit the famous Parthenon and related museums.
DR: Share about an experience that made an impact on your life.
LM: The Quest sent me home with an immense appreciation for ancient Greek wisdom and its modern relevance to existential questions like how to live with happiness and virtue. My interest in this philosophy brought me to the school of Stoicism, which I’ve since embraced. It’s been life changing. I’ve had many goals I wanted to achieve, habits I wanted to form or break, and mental health struggles to overcome. Stoic philosophy has been the tool I didn’t dream possible. When I was at my lowest point, I clung to the hope that one day I would hear the right words that would make everything better. I’ve found it, in the words of Zeno of Citium, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, the great Stoic philosophers. Stoics practice the cardinal virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. They believe that you should embrace fate (Amor fati) to ride the highs and lows of life without despair, remembering that you will die (Memento mori) and thus making the most of every moment, practicing the dichotomy of control so as not to stress over matters beyond our control, and instead perfecting what you can control: your mindset and your body. Stoicism is an incredibly powerful philosophy that even forms the basis for modern cognitive behavior therapy. Stoicism has changed my life and I hope it can change yours as well, whether you read the original books or simply listen to summaries on YouTube.
DR: What do you plan to do after you graduate from college?
LM: I plan to work as an engineer before moving into management, perhaps at a company like Zipline, who make drones for delivery in both urban settings and for urgent deliveries in poor countries with limited infrastructure. I’m also interested in other fields such as manufacturing, locks, watches, and automation.
