tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23821848047471805882024-03-18T02:48:06.896-07:00Baring the AegisElani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.comBlogger3469125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-20595670739474815652021-11-12T00:00:00.004-08:002021-11-12T00:00:00.219-08:00Constellations Ursa Major & Ursa Minor: the two bears<p>There are only three more constellations in the <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/p/constellation-series.html">constellation series</a>, and we will be talking about two of them today. But don't worry, I have a few bonus posts lined up around the theme. Today, we'll be talking about Ursa Major and Ursa Minor: the big and little bear.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Dipper_constellations_(PSF).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Dipper_constellations_(PSF).png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Ursa Major (from the Latin: 'Larger She-Bear') is also known as the Great Bear and Charles' Wain. It is visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. Ursa Minor (from the Latin 'Smaller She-Bear') is also known as the Little Bear. Like Ursa Major, the tail of the Little Bear may also be seen as the handle of a ladle, hence the name Little Dipper. Both are amongst the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remain two of the 88 modern constellations. Ursa Minor is notable as the location of the north celestial pole, although this will change after some centuries due to the precession of the equinoxes.<br /><br />The first mention of Ursa Minor in ancient Hellenic texts was by 6th century BC philosopher Thales of Miletus, who pointed out that it was a more accurate guide to finding true north than Ursa Major. This knowledge had reportedly come from the Phoenicians in the eastern Mediterranean, and the constellation bore the term Phoenikē. Homer had previously only referred to one 'bear', leading to speculation over what he saw the stars of Ursa Minor as, or whether they were recognised at all. From Hyginus' '<a href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusAstronomica.html#1">Astronomica</a>':<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"There is a great diversity of opinion, too, as to why the Lesser Bear is called Phoenice, and why those who observe her are said to navigate more exactly and carefully; why, also, if she is more reliable than the Great Bear, al do not watch her. These people do not seem to realize the reason for her being called Phoenice. Thales of Miletus, who searched into these matters carefully, and first called her Bear, was by birth a Phoenician, as Herodotus says. Therefore all those in the Peloponnesus use the first Arctos; the Phoenicians, however, observe the one they received from her discoverer, and by watching her carefully, are thought to navigate more exactly, and suitably call her Phoenice from the race of her discoverer." (II.2)</div><br />The ancient Hellenes linked Ursa Minor and Ursa Major to the myth of Kallistô and her son Arcas, both placed in the sky by Zeus. In this myth, Zeus and Kallistô had a son together: Arcas. After Arcas was born, Hera caught wind of the affair and turned Kallistô into a bear. Alternatively, Kallistô was a priestess of Artemis, and Artemis punished her for losing her virginity by turning her into a bear. Because of the metamorphosis, the boy was raised by his maternal grandfather Lycaon. When Arcas grew up, he went out to hunt and found a beautiful bear. He chased her through the woods. The bear--his transformed mother Kallistô--ran towards him as soon as she recognized her son. Arcas was terrified and raised his bow to shoot her. Zeus intervened swiftly and placed Kallistô and her son in the sky. In this interpretation, Kallistô became Ursa Major and Arcas either Ursa Minor or Boötes. A furious Hera asked Tethys to chain the two to the night's sky, so that the constellations would never sink below the horizon and receive water. An alternate myth tells of two bears that saved Zeus from his murderous father Kronus by hiding him on Mount Ida. Later Zeus set them in the sky, but their tails grew long from being swung by the God. Hyginus describes all of this in the following way:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"We begin, then as we said above, with the Great Bear. Hesiod says she is named Callisto [Kallistô], daughter of Lycaon, who ruled in Arcadia. Out of her zeal for hunting she joined Diana [Artemis], and was greatly loved by the goddess because of their similar temperaments. Later, when made pregnant by Jove [Zeus], she feared to tell the truth to Diana. But she couldn’t conceal it long, for as her womb grew heavier near the time of her delivery, when she was refreshing her tired body in a stream, Diana realized she had not preserved her virginity. In keeping with her deep distrust, the goddess inflicted no light punishment. Taking away her maiden features, she changed her into the form of a bear, called arktos in Greek . In this form she bore Arcas.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">But as Amphis, writer of comedies, says, Jupiter, assuming the form of Diana, followed the girl as if to aid her in hunting, and embraced her when out of sight of the rest. Questioned by Diana as to the reason for her swollen form, she replied that it was the goddess’ fault, and because of this reply, Diana changed her into the shape we mentioned above. When wandering like a wild beast in the forest, she was caught by certain Aetolians and brought into Arcadia to King Lycaon along with her son as a gift, and there, in ignorance of the law, she is said to have rushed into the temple of Jove Lycaeus. Her son at once followed her, and the Arcadians in pursuit were trying to kill them, when Jupiter, mindful of his indiscretion, rescued her and placed her and her son among the constellations. He named her Arctos, and her son Arctophylax. About him we shall speak later.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Some, too, have said that when Callisto was embraced by Jove, Juno in anger turned her into a bear; then, when she met Diana hunting, she was killed by her, and later, on being recognized, was placed among the stars.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">But others say that when Jupiter was pursuing Callisto in the woods, Juno, suspecting what had happened, hurried there so that she could say she had caught him openly. But Jove, the more easily to conceal his fault, left her changed to bear form. Juno, then, finding a bear instead of a girl in that place, pointed her out for Diana, who was hunting, to kill. Jove was distressed to see this, and put in the sky the likeness of a bear represented with stars.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">This constellation, as many have stated, does not set, and those who desire some reason for this fact say that Tethys, wife of Ocean, refuses to receive her when the other stars come there to their setting, because Tethys was the nurse of Juno, in whose bed Callisto was a concubine.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> Araethus of Tegea, however, writer of histories, says that she wasn’t Callisto, but Megisto, and wasn’t the daughter of Lycaon, but of Ceteus, and so granddaughter of Lycaon. He says, too, that Ceteus himself was called the Kneeler. The other details agree with what has been said above. All this is shown to have taken place on the Arcadian mountain Nonacris.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Aglaosthenes, who wrote the Naxica, says that she is Cynosura, one of the nurses of Jove from the number of the Idaean nymphs. He says, too, that in the city called Histoe, founded by Nicostratus and his friends, both the harbour and the greater part of the land are called Cynosura from her name. She, too, was among the Curetes who were attendants of Jove. Some say that the nymphs Helice and Cynosura were nurses of Jove, and so for gratitude were placed in the sky, both being called Bears. We call them Septentriones." (II.1, II.2)</div><br />Because Ursa Minor consists of seven stars, the Latin word for "North" (i.e. where Polaris points) is septentrio, from septem (seven) and triones (oxen), from seven oxen driving a plow, which the seven stars also resemble. This name has also been attached to the main stars of Ursa Major. About this, Hyginus also has something to say:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"But many have said that the Great Bear is like a wagon, and the Greeks do call it <em>amaza</em>. This reason has been handed down: Those who, at the beginning, observed the stars and supposed the number of stars into the several constellations, called this group no “Bear” but “Wain,” because two of the seven stars which seemed of equal size and closest together were considered oxen, and the other five were like the figure of a wagon. And so the sign which is nearest to this they wished to be called Boötes. We shall speak of him later on. Aratus, indeed, says that neither Boötes nor the Wain has these names for the reason above, but because the Bear seems, wagon-like, to wheel around the pole which is called North, and Boötes, is said to drive her. In this he seems to be considerably in error, for later, in connection with the seven stars, as Parmeniscus says, twenty-five were grouped by certain astronomers to complete the form of the Bear, not seven. And so the one that followed the wagon and was formerly called Boötes, was now called Arctophylax [Bear Watchter], and she, at the same time that Homer lived, was called Bear. About the Septentriones Homer says that she was called both Bear and Wain; nowhere does he mention that Boötes was called Arctophylax." (II.2)</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div>In a variant of the story, in which it is <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2012/11/constellation-bootes-herdsman.html">Boötes</a> that represents Arcas, Ursa Minor represents a dog. This is the older tradition, which explains both the length of the tail and the obsolete alternate name of Cynosura (the dog's tail) for Polaris, the North Star. Cynosura is also described as a nurse of Zeus, honoured by the God with a place in the sky.</div><div> </div><div>Ursa Major is visible at latitudes between +90° and −30°, and best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of April. Ursa Minor is visible at latitudes between +90° and −10°, and best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of June.</div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-28630261667876736722021-11-11T00:00:00.000-08:002021-11-11T00:00:00.233-08:00Question Collections post 43<p>I get a lot of questions from readers, and most of the time, the answers are fairly short. When I feel the question or the reply would be valuable to others as well, I make a post with a collection of them and post them in one go. Today is one of those posts.</p><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Another Hades/Plouton ask: why is it kind of taboo to actively worship/invoke Hades? I understand His association with death, but He is not the god of death in the way Thanatos is, nor did he choose to be lord of the dear. I've always been very interested in Him both as Hades and as Plouton. I suppose my question is, why is this not really encouraged? Have I interpreted Him all long? Does He prefer not to be invoked by us?"</div><br /><div>As king of the Underworld, the ancient texts tell us Hades became quite cut off from the world above. It were only the oaths and curses of men that reached His ears, as they reached those of the Erinyes. This is why when people invoked Him, they dug a pit to sacrifice in and struck the earth with their hands to get His attention. Black male sheep were offered to Him and the person who offered the sacrifice had to turn away his face.<br /><br />Pausanias wrote in his 'Description of Greece' about the one temple (at Elis) where Hades was worshipped as Lord of the Dead:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"The sacred enclosure of Hades and its temple (for the Eleans have these among their possessions) are opened once every year, but not even on this occasion is anybody permitted to enter except the priest. The following is the reason why the Eleans worship Hades; they are the only men we know of so to do. It is said that, when Heracles was leading an expedition against Pylus in Elis, Athena was one of his allies. Now among those who came to fight on the side of the Pylians was Hades, who was the foe of Heracles but was worshipped at Pylus.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Homer is quoted in support of the story, who says in the Iliad:–<br />And among them huge Hades suffered a wound from a swift arrow,<br />When the same man, the son of aegis-bearing Zeus,<br />Hit him in Pylus among the dead, and gave him over to pains. Hom. Il. 5.395-397</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">If in the expedition of Agamemnon and Menelaus against Troy Poseidon was according to Homer an ally of the Greeks, it cannot be unnatural for the same poet to hold that Hades helped the Pylians. At any rate it was in the belief that the god was their friend but the enemy of Heracles that the Eleans made the sanctuary for him. The reason why they are wont to open it only once each year is, I suppose, because men too go down only once to Hades. " [6.25.2]</div><br />The only other time Hades as Lord of the Underworld was part of religious services seems to have been at funerals.<br /><br />Hades was worshipped throughout ancient Hellas, but mostly in His epithet of Plouton; 'Wealth-giver', who was mostly connected to the fruitful earth, not the dead. He had a temple in Elis, near Mount Menthe, at Olympia, and was worshipped at Athens in the grove of the Erinnyes. In ancient Hellenic religion and myth, Ploutōn represents a more positive concept of the God who presides over the afterlife. The name Ploutōn came into widespread usage with the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which Ploutōn was venerated as a stern ruler but the loving husband of Persephone.<br /><br />Ploutōn and Hades came to differ in character, but they are not distinct figures and share their mythology. Ploutōn as the name of the ruler of the underworld first appears in Hellenic literature of the Classical period, in the works of the Athenian playwrights and of the philosopher Plato, who is the major Hellenic source on its significance. Under the name Ploutōn, the God appears in other myths in a secondary role, mostly as the possessor of a quest-object, and especially in the descent of Orpheus or other heroes to the underworld.<br /><br />In general, Khthonic--Underworld--deities have Ouranic epithets that make them less scary and more helpful to humanity. It were these epithets that received worship, not the Kthonic ones. Worhipping Hades in His role as Lord of the Dead is a modern concept. Not wrong, per se, but modern.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"My husband and I are started looking into Hellenismos recently and we had a question pertaining to the Percy Jackson books. Percy uses a hand gesture described as a claw over the heart being pushed out to ward off evil. We were wondering if this is a real hand gesture and if so what are its origins? And are there any gestures in the Hellenistic religion that we should know about?"</div><br /><div>This hand gesture is unknown to me, based on ancient sources. There are a few others I know of:<br /><br />- During Ouranic sacrifice, the palms of both hands are turned upwards and the arms raised. During Khthonic sacrifices, this is reversed (palms down, arms down).<br />- Libations for Ouranic deities are poured out from a bowl in the right hand, libations to Khthonic deities are poured out from a bowl in the left hand.<br />- The 'fig sign', a gesture made with the hand and fingers curled and the thumb thrust between the middle and index fingers was a fertility and good luck charm designed to ward off evil in ancient Hellas, but is often seen as obscene now.<br />- The 'Mountza sign' was and is a traditional Greek insilt. It's made by extending and spreading all five fingers and presenting the palm or palms toward the person being insulted.<br />- When you swear an oath to the Theoi, hold up your right hand, bend your pinkie and ringfinger down to your palm and extend all other fingers up.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Do you believe that you can consider yourself a practitioner of Traditional Hellenismos if you practice mindfulness, which has its origins in Buddhism? I have issues with anxiety and depression, and I find the techniques of mindfulness immensely helpful."</div><br /><div>Yes, I do. The ancient Hellenes were big on meditation and practiced many other self-awareness and tempering techniques as they believed (rightfully so) that it sharpened their minds. Go for it, especially if it helps you! I truly believe that nothing should ever come between you and your mental health, even if it was frowned upon in ancient Hellas.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"What do you think will happen with your soul when you die? In a Hellenic Polytheistic way."</div><br /><div>The ancient Hellenes believed that the moment a person died, their psyche--spirit--left the body in a puff or like a breath of wind. Proper burial was incredibly important to the ancient Hellenes, and to not give a loved one a fully ritualized funeral was unthinkable. It was, however, used as punishment of dead enemies, but only rarely. Funerary rites were performed solely to get the deceased into the afterlife, and everyone who passed away was prepared for burial according to time-honored rituals.<br /><br />Orphic ideas of the soul and afterlife are most often defined by explicit contrast with the Homeric view of the afterlife, which is taken as the standard view for ancient Hellenic culture. The Homeric afterlife is that of a grim, joyless and tedious existence in the Underworld. The Underworld of Homeros exists solely--at least for the now departed mortal--of the Asphodel meadows. The dead drink from the river Lethe and forget who they were. Sacrifical (animal) blood returns a sense of life to the shades and they recover their memories for a short time. In this tradition, life is lived while you are alive. One you die, you are dead. You might cling to life, but you will never truly be part of it again.<br /><br />The Orphics were an ancient mystical cult with affinities to Indian religious systems. They believed in reincarnation and the possibility of liberation. Orpheus, the movement's legendary founder, is said to have taught that soul and body are locked together during life; the soul is divine, immortal and aspires to freedom, and during life, the body acts as a prison to the soul. Death releases the soul for a short while, but is then captured by another body until that, too, dies, and so the soul moves from body to body--both human and animal--until it can attain the highest good: liberation. In order to reach liberation, the Orphic way teaches to turn to God by ascetic piety of life and self-purification: the purer the life lived, the higher will be the next reincarnation, until the soul has completed the spiral ascent of destiny to live for ever as God from whom it comes.<br /><br />The ancient Hellenes called this process 'Metempsychosis' (μετεμψύχωσις). It is a philosophical term which refers to the transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death. The notion that the human soul enters another body upon death, though unfamiliar in Hellenic religion, was widespread in Hellenic philosophy. The doctrine of transmigration is first associated with the Pythagoreans and Orphics and was later taught by Plato and Pindar. For the former groups, the soul retained its identity throughout its reincarnations; Plato indicated that souls do not remember their previous experiences. Although Herodotus claims that the Hellenes learned this idea from Egypt, most scholars do not believe it came either from Egypt or from India, but developed independently.<br /> <br />My personal believes of life after death have shifted over the years. I transitioned into Hellenismos from Eclectic Religious Witchcraft and in my former Tradition, reincarnation was the primary belief. Since the ancient Hellenes had a version of it in metepsychosis, I simply went with that. Now, the older I get and the better my understanding becomes of the ancient Hellenic culture and religion, the more I pull to a more Homeric version of the afterlife. A bit later, perhaps, where Elysium is an option for those who live the highest, purest, of lives. I long for the meadows now. I don't strive for Elysium; I don't think it's for the common folk like me. Give me the meadows and the water of the river Lethe. Let me live life to the fullest. Let me live its up and downs. Give me the completion of my goals and my challenges, and then let me forget and wander in contentment, remembered sometimes--hopefully fondly--by those I leave behind.</div></div></div></div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-48573178928345092422021-11-10T00:00:00.000-08:002021-11-10T00:00:00.228-08:00 Reconstruction video of the ancient Minoan palace of Knossos<p style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/csw3tlLhOVI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/csw3tlLhOVI?feature=player_embedded" width="495"></iframe></p><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands and flourished from approximately 3650 to 1400 BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Arthur Evans. Historian Will Durant referred to it as "the first link in the European chain."</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">It was not until roughly 5000 BC in the late Neolithic period, that the first signs of advanced agriculture appeared in the Aegean, marking the first signs of civilization. The term "Minoan" refers to the mythic King Minos. Minos was associated in Greek myth with the labyrinth and the minotaur, which Evans identified with the site at Knossos, the largest Bronze Age Minoan site. The poet Homer recorded a tradition that Crete once had 90 cities.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Minoans were primarily a mercantile people engaged in overseas trade. Their pottery provides the best means of dating. As traders and artists, their cultural influence reached far beyond the island of Crete — throughout the Cyclades, to Egypt's Old Kingdom, to copper-bearing Cyprus, Canaan, and the Levantine coasts beyond, and to Anatolia. Some of its best art is preserved in the city of Akrotiri, on the island of Santorini, very near the Thera eruption.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">Though we cannot read their language (Linear A), and there is much dispute, it is generally assumed there was little internal armed conflict in Minoan Crete itself, until the following Mycenaean period. The armed Mycenaeans or the eruption at Thera are two popular theories for the eventual demise of Minoan civilization around 1,400 BC.</div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-90910298645311755962021-11-09T00:00:00.010-08:002021-11-09T00:00:00.254-08:00Antikythera shipwreck: the new results of the underwater survey<p>The Ministry of Culture and Sports <a href="https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2021/11/08/antikythera-shipwreck-the-new-results-of-the-underwater-survey/">announced the completion</a> of the preliminary and exploratory works for the year 2021 on the Shipwreck of Antikythera. The new five-year underwater research programme is being conducted by the Swiss School of Archaeology under Dr. Angeliki G. Simosi, Head of the Euboea Ephorate of Antiquities and Lorenz E. Baumer, Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Geneva. Based on the results of this year’s research, a detailed programme will be prepared for the following years (2022-2025), in collaboration with all competent bodies involved. As noted in the announcement, maximum results were achieved in this year’s short expedition despite quite difficult weather conditions.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.archaeology.wiki/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Antikythera_2021_2-1200x675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://www.archaeology.wiki/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Antikythera_2021_2-1200x675.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>The first expedition of the second five-year programme took place between October 1-10 and focused on a detailed mapping of the site of the Antikythera wreck and the creation of its complete photogrammetric three-dimensional model in high resolution. On the one hand the mapping allows a much more accurate analysis of the distribution of the findings on the sea floor, fundamental to the accurate representation of the sinking of the ship in the 1st century BC. On the other hand it offers a new cutting-edge tool for an accurate planning of further research.</p><p>The successive integration of new and older findings in the model will result in the shipwreck’s complete documentation. It also makes it possible to access the space virtually through the internet. Moreover, this year’s expedition recorded most of the wreck’s surroundings, providing new and important information that will be investigated in future expeditions .</p><p>Despite the plethora of findings salvaged from the shipwreck from 1900 to the present, recent research between 2014 and 2019 shows that the scientific community is on the verge of discovering more important archaeological evidence that will help to better understand the site, answering key questions that have remained unanswered for more than 100 years.</p><p>The purpose of the investigation is to complete the collection of data necessary to draw conclusions regarding the following : the existence of other remnants of the Antikythera Mechanism at the site of the shipwreck, the ship and its cargo that remain covered as a result of a landslide, the possible connection between wrecks A and B, as well as the number of people aboard ship wreck A. An equally important goal is the discovery and collection of findings which include human skeletal remains, parts of the Antikythera ship and cargo which are exposed and vulnerable to possible human interventions and the adverse effects of the environment.</p><p>The most important find is part of a marble statue trapped under a heavy boulder. The initial analysis and documentation of the artefact was carried out by in situ photogrammetry and in due course will be further investigated. During the research, some smaller wooden and bronze structural elements of the ship were retrieved, as well as fragments of ceramics that give valuable information on the cargo’s dating and composition.This and other findings yielded by the future excavation will contribute to a more complete understanding of the valuable cargo on board the ship.</p><p>The field teams were coordinated by commodore Alexandros Palatianos and the director of underwater research was Alexandros Sotiriou, a collaborating archaeologist at the University of Geneva, with the participation of members of the Special Diving Team of the Submarine Missions Unit of the Coast Guard, underwater archaeologist Orestis Manousos and Italian researcher Dr. Elisa Costa of Ca ‘Foscari University in Venice.</p><p>The research is being conducted by the Swiss School of Archaeology under the supervision of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and with the funding of the Ekaterini Laskaridis Foundation and Swiss Watch Manufacturer Hublot. The Athanasios K. Laskaridis Public Benefit Foundation has provided the Norwegian ship Typhoon, while Cosmote supports the project’s telecommunications.</p><p>The project is under the auspices of President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and actively supported by the Municipality of Kythera and the people of Antikythera.</p>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-79656634561200424352021-11-08T00:00:00.001-08:002021-11-08T16:32:35.137-08:00Roman-era statues of Aphrodite and Dionysos unearthed in Turkey<p>According to Hellenic mythology, the deities Aphrodite and Dionysos had a grand love affair. So, perhaps it's fitting that archaeologists <a href="https://www.livescience.com/aphrodite-and-dionysus-statues">found the ancient statuary heads of the Goddess of love and the reveler near each other</a> during a dig in the ancient city of Aizanoi, in western Turkey.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uRovi4deqYGYUtSn6mbQKg-970-80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uRovi4deqYGYUtSn6mbQKg-970-80.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8rrqYenq8nMQrW8sNnrwrf-970-80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8rrqYenq8nMQrW8sNnrwrf-970-80.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>The discovery of the deities' heads helps top off a previous find; on an earlier dig, archaeologists found the statues' headless bodies, Gokhan Coskun, an archaeologist at Kütahya Dumlupınar University in Turkey and the excavation coordinator, told Anadolu Agency, a Turkish state-run news organization. </p><p>"These are important findings for us, as they show that the polytheistic culture of ancient Greece existed for a long time without losing its importance in the Roman era," Coskun said. "The findings suggest that there may have been a sculpture workshop in the region."</p><p>The ancient city of Aizanoi has a rich history filled with ancient Greek and Roman period settlements. Its earliest settlement dates to the second millennium B.C., but many of its remaining ruins date to the Roman Empire, including its Roman baths, Zeus temple and macellum, or Roman indoor market. Aizanoi is listed as a "tentative" World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). </p><p>Archaeologists found the Roman-era heads of Aphrodite and Dionysos buried in a creek bed in the ancient city. Each head is made of limestone, with Aphrodite's head measuring 19 inches (50 centimeters) and Dionysus' head measuring 17 inches (45 cm) tall, according to the news site GEO. It's unknown how the statues' heads became separated from their bodies.</p><p>Previously, archaeologists in Aizanoi uncovered the statue of Hygieia, Goddess of health, cleanliness and hygiene, according to GEO. </p>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-35168779133748118232021-11-07T01:00:00.017-07:002021-11-08T16:15:11.941-08:00The Parthenon Sculptures inexplicably kept under lock and key for 10 months<p>A white, hermetically sealed door, secured by an electronic lock, is what visitors to the British Museum encounter when they attempt to admire the Parthenon Sculptures. The Sculpture Room, like five other rooms with Greek exhibits, <a href="https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-parthenon-sculptures-inexplicably.html">has remained inexplicably closed</a> for ten months, heightening fears in the international lobby for the return of the Sculptures that the damage to the Museum's glass roof, which has resulted in water dripping next to (!) the Marbles, has not been repaired.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirTOXrHFJ-FDTpLmdDVMTWoDLeRdTnBEYuLgRHBx9eSxN6skuGqRyrrVaUYLIAQ_CAz9QWGSzWunB4YxDltETILggngFgXCnFl2xJJnJc4mp33X8tsNuorA7Y_BRWYqrobL5IzJkyD8EHcdb5oAJiTkB88tRqRkvm0FA80Q-hUlF1WW48tV_BECE8uWQ=s640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="452" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirTOXrHFJ-FDTpLmdDVMTWoDLeRdTnBEYuLgRHBx9eSxN6skuGqRyrrVaUYLIAQ_CAz9QWGSzWunB4YxDltETILggngFgXCnFl2xJJnJc4mp33X8tsNuorA7Y_BRWYqrobL5IzJkyD8EHcdb5oAJiTkB88tRqRkvm0FA80Q-hUlF1WW48tV_BECE8uWQ=w283-h400" width="283" /></a></div><p>A recent inspection of the British Museum, in Bloomsbury, Central London, revealed that the Duveen Gallery, the room housing the priceless ancient Greek treasures sculpted by Pheidias, is still inaccessible to the public, unlike the other rooms that have been open since last May, when the last lockdown in Britain ended. This is despite assurances from officials at the beginning of the summer that 'the "Greek" galleries will open soon'. A spokesman for the museum was unable to give specific answers, speaking generally of a "programme of repairs and maintenance" being carried out on the halls. As for when they will reopen? Sometime "later this fall"...</p><p>In total, six rooms with ancient Greek exhibits remain closed: rooms 15, 16, 17 and 18 (ed. the last one exhibits the Sculptures), which are not open due to "repairs", and rooms 19 and 20, which do not admit visitors due to "compliance with measures for the coronavirus". Surprisingly, Museum officials, when asked, give different versions of both the reason for keeping the "Greek" halls closed, from December 2020, and when they will reopen. We asked four members of the Museum's staff who have the authority to answer questions from the public, and received four different answers! "We don't know exactly when they will open. Maybe in a month. Do you live in London? If so, come back in a while or give us a call," the first employee told us. Why are the halls closed? Because of a leak in the roof, I asked her. "Yes, and also for general maintenance." "We hope the halls will be open by the end of the year," said the second museum employee we asked, also admitting that what is keeping them closed is the water leak. "You know, it's an old building", she explained. A third employee made the same admission. "We are working to address the leak," she noted, adding that "our expectation is that the halls will reopen before the end of 2021." However, a fourth employee disagreed with the previous officials: "Renovation work is taking place. The reports of leakage are rumours and are very 'far-fetched'. I think the hall will be opened soon," he said.</p><p>Representatives of the campaign to repatriate the Marbles are alarmed, even expressing concern about the integrity of the sculptures. On August 15, the International Association for the Restoration of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS), which represents 21 national commissions from around the world, wrote to the museum's president Sir Richard Lambert, its director Dr. Hartwig Fischer and its commissioners on the issue. In the letter - shown here - the Union expresses its "deep concern" that the hall remains closed, stressing that the "potential moisture problem creates a dangerous situation for the sculptures". At the same time, it calls on the Museum to "reconsider its position on the ongoing division of the Sculptures", noting its "moral obligation" to reunite all the surviving Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum". "It is sad that Room 18 has remained closed since last December until further notice," IARPS president Dr. Chris Titgutt said, noting that "the inadequate air conditioning conditions in the room are a cause for concern." "I hope," he added, "that we don't have to wait another 22 years to admire the Parthenon Sculptures in London again, as happened in 1940 when the Duveen Gallery was hit by a bomb and remained closed until 1962! Then, of course, the Sculptures were kept in a safe place and remained intact."</p><p>Almost two months later, the museum has not responded to the letter, which Dr. Titgutt calls "regrettable." "That they have not responded is extremely disappointing. I wonder if this is how they are having a dialogue on such a pressing issue? It is time for the British Museum and Britain to move into the 21st century," added Paul Cartledge, a renowned Cambridge Hellenist, vice-chairman of IARPS and the British Commission on Sculpture (BCRPM).</p><p>"I would be happy if Room 18 were closed permanently, rather than temporarily as it is now, because it would mean that the magnificent sculptures snatched by the looter Lord Elgin would be reunited in the Acropolis Museum," said Janet Susman, chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Sculptures (BCRPM). "No one can say with certainty what kind of works are being done in the Greek halls of the British Museum and for how long," the internationally renowned Shakespearean actress added, stressing that "the poor conditions of the Sculptures' display have been pointed out by the BCRPM on many occasions: portable heaters in winter, open fire exits in summer, water leaking from the roof when it rains. We call on the British Museum to allow the Sculptures to be reunited in the iconic Acropolis Museum."</p><p>The "Greek" halls were closed to the public on 16 December 2020, when the building was locked due to the lockdown imposed by the British government. The museum reopened five months later, on 17 May 2021. However, the halls of Ancient Greece remained closed, with officials continually postponing the date of their reopening. According to reports, the heavy rainfall on 25 July in London caused, once again, water to leak into the Marble Hall, within inches of the exhibits. Advocates for the return have expressed concerns that the moisture could damage the ancient works of art. The British Museum's website states that the "Greek" rooms are "closed until further notice" due to "regular maintenance work". Museum visitors walking to Room 18 - known as the Duveen Gallery - which houses the sculptures, are forced to stop at Room 23. There, a plywood door, recently installed as part of a temporary structure, blocks the entrance to the other Greek exhibitions.</p><p>The problem of leaking water in room 18 was first highlighted in December 2018. Since then, it has remained unresolved, with many commentators calling the situation unacceptable and embarrassing for a museum of Britain's stature. The poor exhibition conditions of the sculptures were also highlighted by UNESCO ten days ago, expressing "concern that the Duveen Hall is not open to the public due to necessary repairs" and adding that it "looks forward to its reopening in due course". Almost every time it rains torrentially and the rain is lengthy, water accumulates on the roof, which sometimes drips into the Sculpture Hall. Usually, the situation is handled with buckets placed next to the Marbles and rags spread on the floor! At the same time, signs of mould have been evident on the ceiling for at least 20 years. This time, however, it appears that the problem is more serious and has kept the hall closed for almost a year. </p><p>In an exclusive interview in January 2019, the museum's director Dr. Hartwig Fischer had claimed that it was "a small leak" that was "fixed immediately". Reality, however, contradicts him. "It is shocking that a world-class museum has to close its rooms because of water or moisture leaks. Almost three years later, it seems that this 'minor leak' has still not been fixed. Instead, it has led to the closure of the hall for several months," said Marlene Godwin, International Relations Officer of the British Commission. She added: "The fact that we are not being told when it will open shows a lack of professionalism, to say the least." The last time the issue was raised was in August. "The conditions under which the sculptures are displayed at the British Museum range from offensive to dangerous," Culture Minister Lina Mendoni had said. However, a museum source claimed that "the problem with the leaks has been fixed".</p><p>In her statement, the Museum's spokeswoman refrained from answering when exactly the Greek halls will open and what kind of work is underway.</p><p>"The British Museum is housed in a historic and listed building. Its facilities are under constant evaluation. We have a team of experts who carry out regular inspections throughout the museum to identify risks to its collection and ensure they are managed appropriately. The care of the collection and the safety of our visitors and staff are our highest priorities.</p><p>"The necessary work being carried out is part of a programme of repair and maintenance of the building, which will enable other projects to be carried out on the Museum site in the future. Alongside these essential repairs, we are developing a strategic masterplan for the transformation of the British Museum in the future. This includes refurbishing our historic buildings and grounds, improving the experience of our visitors and an ambitious presentation of our collections in a different way over the next few years.</p><p>"Temporarily, rooms 15 to 18 on the ground floor are not accessible to the public. The Museum is developing a programme of work in these rooms. However, the scheduling of the work has been delayed due to the impact of the pandemic on the Museum's schedule. Additional work and inspections were carried out over the summer. These halls are currently closed to ensure the safety of our visitors and our collection while these inspections take place. In the past there has been some water intrusion in some areas of our halls that have been closed. We have not set a date for their reopening, but the goal is to open them later this fall."</p><p>Le Monde recently devoted an extensive report to the issue of the return of the Parthenon Sculptures in response to the "urgent" appeal made by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee to the United Kingdom to reconsider its position. "Athens has been claiming these marble sculptures for 40 years, with a persistence that demands admiration," commented Michel Guerin, editor-in-chief of the French newspaper. He pointed to both the "ocean of support" for the Greek request and the silence of the major Western museums, which see the British position as a "floodgate": "If it collapses, it could open the floodgates of returns, and these involve tens of thousands of works acquired in questionable circumstances."</p>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-16798159416804043212021-11-06T01:00:00.024-07:002021-11-08T13:22:43.216-08:00Pyanepsion updates<p><span style="font-size: 16px;">On the day of the</span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2012/11/deipnon-noumenia-and-agathos-daimon.html" style="font-size: 16px;">Hene kai Nea</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">(or sometimes, like this month, on the day after), I post a monthly update about things that happened on the blog and in projects and organizations related to it. I will also announce Elaion's coming PAT rituals.</span></p><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">Statistics:</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><li>A little over 2.000.000 views right now!</li><li><div class="OYKEW4D-vc-a"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">30.000 of those hits happened in the last month</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><ul></ul><li>The top five most popular posts were: <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-three-types-of-souls-of-aristotle.html">The three types of souls of Aristotle</a> (3820),<span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> <a href="https://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-sappho-didnt-give-broccoli-to-her.html">No, Sappho didn't give broccoli to her lesbian lovers</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> (363)</span></span>, <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2012/09/pbp-symbols-of-hellenismos.html" style="font-family: "times new roman";">PBP: Symbols of Hellenismos</a><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-size: medium;"> (319), </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><a href="https://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-lunar-deities-of-hellenismos.html">The lunar Deities of Hellenismos</a> </span><span style="font-family: quot;">(251)</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">,</span> <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">and <a href="https://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-beginners-guide-to-hellenismos_10.html">The Beginner's guide to Hellenismos: Introduction</a> </span><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">(130).</span></li><ul></ul></ul><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="font-family: &quot; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">PAT rituals for Maimakterion:</div></div></div><ul style="font-family: &quot; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><li>16 Maimakterion - 21 Novem<span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">ber</span> - 20 Maimakteria - festival for Zeus Maimaktes ('Blustering') to be gentle come winter.</li><li><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">25 Maimakterion</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "quot"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> - 30 November</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "quot"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> - </span><a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/11/do-we-celebrate-pompaia.html" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Pompaia</a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; white-space: pre;"> - </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">festival in honor of </span><a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/search/label/Zeus%20Meilichios" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Zeus Meilikhios</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> ('Kindly') and Hermes</span></li></ul><div style="font-family: &quot; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div></div><div style="font-family: &quot; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">Anything else?</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">Are you looking for an online shop to buy incenses and other Hellenistic basics from? Try <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2014/08/the-hellenic-handmaid.html">The Hellenic Handmaid</a> on <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHellenicHandmaid">Etsy</a>.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike><br /></strike></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">Would you like to support me? <a href="http://ko-fi.com/A85629R9">Buy me a coffee</a>.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-71133950868727004342021-11-05T01:00:00.007-07:002021-11-08T16:41:15.467-08:00On the divine triad of Poseideon<p> Poseideon is the sixth month of the Hellenic calendar and we are slowly moving towards it. Poseideon is a special month; it was the month that would have been repeated (in a minor way) should the ancient calendar not line up with the phases of the moon (which it didn't, after a while). You can read more about that <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/p/festivals-by-month.html">here</a> as it is beyond the scope of this post. What I would like to talk to you about today is the divine triad that oversaw Poseideon (the quartet, actually, but we'll get to that) and its significance.</p>Poseideon was ruled by Poseidon (honoured during the Poseideia), Zeus (during the Plerosia and a seperate sacrifice to Zeus Horios) and Dionysos (during the Lesser Dionysia and secondarily during the Haloa). Poseideon is the first true winter month; the first harvest was over, seafaring had ceased and thus war had come to an end. The focus was on the home and preparation for true, deep winter: the weather turned and the crops needed protecting. Because of this, it was also a month of threat; if the crops failed, if the seas became too rough when a daring fisherman was out on it, or if a river went out of bounds and flooded a well populated area there would be death.<br /><br />I get on my soapbox a lot on my blog. One of my main points is that everything is connected in the ancient Hellenic religion. That everything was constructed the way it was for a reason; the pantheon, the calendar, the festivals, the way festivals were celebrated--if you spend time to sort out the <strong>why</strong>, you will discover it's all part of an intricate web that formed an entire civilization. Nothing--absolutely nothing--in our religion and in the ancient civilization it was formed in ended up in it by accident. We have lost a lot of knowledge and understanding of this society but we can try to piece things together if we put in the effort. So today I will put in a little effort to explain why Poseideon was ruled by Poseidon, Zeus and Dionysos. And why it mattered that it were Them.<br /><br />During the Poseideia, Poseidon as savior of ships, protector of those who voyage in ships, and God of the lapping waters both salt and fresh important for agriculture, is thanked for the many gifts that came from faraway places that were likely given at that time. The immense trade and distribution was nearly all through shipping, relatively little overland, whether it be perfume from Cyprus or pottery from Corinth. One of Poseidon’s epithets is prosklystios, 'of the lapping water'. He is also invoked as Poseidon phytalmios which implies natural fertility and human procreation.<br /><br />The Plerosia is a harvest festival of sorts. It was held to honour Zeus but presumably als Demeter. Poseideon marks the time to return home, take stock, and stay warm. It's a time to thank the Theoi for all that has been recieved and all that will get us through the winter. The word ‘plerosis’ means fulfillment, satiated, filled. Important note: the Plerosia seems to have been a women-only festival, perhaps because now that winter is upon us, we turn to the domain of the women: the house(hold). As such, it is her prerogative to thank the Gods for the food she can feed her family with.<br /><br />The lesser Dionysia, a vintage festival, was celebrated in the various demes of Attica in the month of Poseideon. It was probably a very ancient festival, perhaps not originally associated with Dionysos. The Dionysia was a time when classes came together in order to celebrate their shared origins in the natural world; it was a vintage festifal for all.<br /><br />The Haloa was held in honor of Demeter, Dionysos and a little bit in honor of Persephone. Like all festivals of Demeter and Persephone's 'Kore' persona, women were the only ones who were allowed to handle the religious and sacrificial side of it. The Haloa is assumed to be a celebration of the pruning of the vines and the tasting of the wine after its first fermentation, or it may be to encourage the growth of corn from the seed.<br /><br />A few links between Poseidon, Zeus and Dionysos are clear instantly from the descriptions of these festivals. Poseidon and Dionysos are linked through water--moisture, actually. Plutarch already noted that Dionysos was a God of moisture--in particular the moisture associated with life and vigour as can be seen in plants and trees and most telling in the wine produced from the fruits of the vine. Poseidon is all but the personification of water of all kinds. Furthermore, one of the epithets of Dionysos is Dendrites, ‘of the trees’, connects him to branching life. The tree was similarly a metaphor for rivers whose branching nature was morphologically similar. This links Dionysos to Poseidon even more.<br /><br />And what of Poseidon and Zeus? Poseidon is the brother of Zeus and Hades, and together they form a triumvirate who represents the dominion of the sea, the sky and the underworld respectively. In Hellenic mythology, the underworld is seen as an exact mirror and equally valid version of the ‘celestial’ world. In other words: Zeus is Hades inverted and Poseidon is the synthesis of both. Dionysos therefore unifieds these god-themes and manifested them in the mundane world.<br /><br />This brings us to Hades, the fourth member of this triad. He is worshipped too, just not directly--never directly. the ancient Hellenes very rarely honoured Hades, not even Plouton, His ouranic epithet. But Hades' influence was most definitely felt; he's the third of the triumvirate, He is prevalent in the threat of death that hangs over the month and He is appeased though a medium who is perhaps unlikely: Demeter.<br /><br />Mythological and epithological links exist between Demeter and Hades. Hades was celebrated as an important divine figure in the Eleusinian Mysteries. The seasonal drama of nature was said to depend on her annual passage into the underworld in the depths of winter when fruitfulness and vegetation dies back. Through Kore (Persephone) Hades and Demeter rule over the harvest. Hades takes and Demeter gives--or more accurately: Hades causes Demeter to take instead of give. In praying for fruitfulness of the earth to Demeter, it is also Hades who is spoen to and appeased, which makes Him an unofficial member of the triad (this is likewise true for Demeter and even Kore/Persephone).<br /><br />To compelete the circle, Dionysos and Demeter are worshipped together during the Haloa, which drives home the agricultural ties all these five deities have and the way they link to the mundane issues of this time of year; Demeter and Hades (Plouton) through the fruitful earth (underworld), Zeus through mild weather (sky) and Poseidon and Dionysos through sweet water (the intermediate). Because of Their links and domains, it can be only these deities that govern Poseideon.Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-51419104010493121362021-11-04T01:00:00.000-07:002021-11-08T16:41:38.336-08:00The wisdom of Epictetus<p>Epictetus (Ἐπίκτητος) was a Greek-speaking Stoic philosopher who lived from 55 – 135 AD. He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey), and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in north-western Greece for the rest of his life. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses and Enchiridion.</p><br />Epictetus' primary philosophical lesson was that philosophy is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond our control; we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. However, individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. In short: a true Stoic. In '<a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/discourses.1.one.html"><span style="color: #bbbbbb;">Discourses</span></a>' Epictetus' views come to light best, and I would like to share some of his wise words today, because my life has been a little rough and I have been using some of these as a mantra.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"The gods then, as was but right, put in our hands the one blessing that is best of all and master of all, that and nothing else, the power to deal rightly with our impressions, but everything else they did not put in our hands." [Bk.1, Ch. 1]</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"If it were possible I [Zeus] would have made your body and your possessions (those trifles that you prize) free and untrammelled. But as things are—never forget this—this body is not yours, it is but a clever mixture of clay. But since I could not make it free, I gave you a portion in our divinity, this faculty of impulse to act and not to act, of will to get and will to avoid, in a word the faculty which can turn impressions to right use." [Bk.1, Ch. 1]</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"If a man could only take to heart this judgement, as he ought, that we are all, before anything else, children of God." [Bk.1, Ch. 3]</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Miserable man, there is only one place to seek it [virtue]—where your work lies. Where does it lie? It lies in the region of will; that you may not fail to get what you will to get, nor fall into what you will to avoid; it lies in avoiding error in the region of impulse, impulse to act and impulse not to act: it lies in assent and the withholding of assent, that in these you may never be deceived." [Bk.1, Ch. 4]</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"O great good fortune! O great benefactor, who shows us the way! And yet—though all men have raised temples and altars to Triptolemus, for teaching us the cultivation of the crops, yet what man of you ever set up an altar in honour of him who found the truth and brought it to light and published it among all men—not the truth of mere living, but the truth that leads to right living? Who ever dedicated a shrine or an image for this gift, or worships God for it? I say shall we, who offer sacrifices because the gods gave us wheat or the vine, never give thanks to God that they produced this manner of fruit in the mind of men, whereby they were to show us the true way of happiness?" [Bk.1, Ch. 4]</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Zeus, send me what trial Thou wilt; for I have endowments and resources, given me by Thee, to bring myself honor through what befalls." [Bk.1, Ch. 6]</div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-73436049433349895632021-11-03T01:00:00.004-07:002021-11-08T16:49:36.481-08:00Oedipus Rex animated<p>Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus (Οἰδίπους Τύραννος), or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Hellenes, the title was simply Oedipus (Οἰδίπους), as it is referred to by Aristotle in the Poetics. It is thought to have been renamed Oedipus Tyrannus to distinguish it from another of Sophocles' plays, Oedipus at Colonus. In antiquity, the term “tyrant” referred to a ruler with no legitimate claim to rule, but it did not necessarily have a negative connotation.</p>Of Sophocles' three Theban plays that have survived, and that deal with the story of Oedipus, Oedipus Rex was the second to be written. However, in terms of the chronology of events that the plays describe, it comes first, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. Prior to the start of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus has become the king of Thebes while unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would kill his father, Laius (the previous king), and marry his mother, Jocasta (whom Oedipus took as his queen after solving the riddle of the Sphinx). The action of Sophocles' play concerns Oedipus' search for the murderer of Laius in order to end a plague ravaging Thebes, unaware that the killer he is looking for is none other than himself. At the end of the play, after the truth finally comes to light, Jocasta hangs herself while Oedipus, horrified at his patricide and incest, proceeds to gouge out his own eyes in despair.<br /><br />Oedipus Rex is regarded by many scholars as the masterpiece of ancient Hellenic tragedy. In his Poetics, Aristotle refers several times to the play in order to exemplify aspects of the genre.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ocqNsxD6SwI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ocqNsxD6SwI?feature=player_embedded" width="495"></iframe></div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-89105865143902896112021-11-02T01:00:00.004-07:002021-11-08T16:54:34.762-08:0027 hidden references and clever jokes in 'Hercules' you probably missed as a kid<p>Disney's "Hercules" (1997) is a beloved animated retelling of the classic Hellenic myth, but even die-hard fans may not have caught all these hidden gems. The film is full of references to Hellenic mythology, including the tale of the Titans and the divine guests at Zeus and Hera's party. There are also jokes related to more recent cultural phenomena, like "Buns of Bronze" and the Marilyn Monroe constellation. Did you catch them all? <a href="https://www.insider.com/hercules-clever-interesting-details-that-went-over-your-head">Insider did</a>!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.insider.com/5f639d59323fc4001e0d6e9b?width=800&format=jpeg&auto=webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://i.insider.com/5f639d59323fc4001e0d6e9b?width=800&format=jpeg&auto=webp" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><b>One of the Muses is attracted to Hercules.</b></p><p>The Muses are the musical goddesses who narrate the movie. All of them are fans of Hercules, and throughout the movie they praise him for his heroic feats. However, one of the Muses in particular — Thalia, the muse of comedy — focuses on Hercules' attractiveness and calls him "Hunk-ules." She also says that she'd "like to make some sweet music with him" while lying next to his image before another Muse interrupts her.</p><p>Though this movie only shows Megara as Hercules' love interest, in Greek mythology, the demigod had several wives throughout the course of his life. So, this blatant showing of other women's attraction to him could be a subtle acknowledgment of that.</p><p><b>The Muses explain some pretty accurate Titan mythology.</b></p><p>The story of the Titans that the Muses sing about at the beginning of the film is mostly accurate to Greek mythology. They explain that the Titans wreaked havoc until Zeus overthrew them, which follows the Greek myth where Zeus imprisons the Titans and ends their rule over Earth. However, "Hercules" only shows four Titans, and there are actually 12 in the classic myth. </p><p><b>There's an alcohol reference that kids likely don't understand.</b></p><p>The Muses describe life on Mountain Olympus as "neat and smooth as sweet vermouth." Vermouth is a wine that is used in a variety of mixed drinks. Although the alcohol can be "neat and smooth," so it makes sense in the Muses' metaphor, this reference would presumably go over the heads of the young audience that the movie is aimed at. </p><p><b>Several recognizable gods and goddesses are shown at Zeus and Hera's party.</b></p><p>There are many gods and goddesses in attendance at the party that Zeus and Hera throw on Mount Olympus when Hercules is born. Hermes delivers a gift to Zeus, a fitting act for the messenger of Mount Olympus, and he's shown wearing his famous winged cap and sandals. In another brief scene, Narcissus, famous for his self-love, is seen looking at himself in a mirror. There are also several non-speaking gods and goddesses scattered in the background with distinct physical characteristics that make it clear who they're supposed to represent.</p><p>A goddess with long, heart-shaped hair and a heart clip on her toga appears to be Aphrodite, the goddess of love. A god with a massive helmet and sword is identified as Ares, the god of war. One god with a fin on his head and a trident in his hand is recognizably Poseidon, the god of the sea. And another goddess in the background of the scene is shown holding an owl, the symbol of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. </p><p><b>Zeus uses the major cloud types when making Pegasus.</b></p><p>Zeus makes Hercules' winged-horse companion, Pegasus, out of clouds, and as he does this, he mentions each cloud type he's using by name. The god of the sky makes Pegasus out of three of the main cloud types: cirrus (high-level ice clouds), nimbostratus (mid-level rain clouds), and cumulus (low-level fair-weather clouds).</p><p><b>Zeus and Hercules have matching medallions.</b></p><p>During Hercules' party scene, viewers can see that Zeus and Hercules are both wearing medallions with the same symbol. Zeus has his pinned to the shoulder of his toga, and Hercules wears his as a necklace. Both medallions show a cloud with a lightning bolt, and this symbol is later described by Hercules' adoptive mother as "the symbol of the gods."</p><p><b>Hades travels across a river of dead souls.</b></p><p>Viewers first see the Underworld when Hades returns after visiting Mount Olympus for the party. He travels across a river, but instead of water, there are floating ghost-like people under his boat — which may have been a little jarring for any child who noticed.</p><p>This is reflected in Greek mythology, which depicts the Underworld as having five different rivers that Hades and other gods can travel on by boat. Later, when Hercules rescues Meg from the Underworld, it's clear that the transparent people in the river represent the souls of people who have died. </p><p><b>The movie makes some odd word choices, such as "lugubriousness" and "furshlugginer."</b></p><p>This movie includes not only references but also words that children aren't likely to know. Two examples of this that particularly stand out are "lugubriousness" and "furshlugginer." Pain, one of Hades' henchmen, calls Hades "your most lugubriousness" the first time he is on screen. Lugubrious means exaggeratedly mournful or brooding, which is certainly fitting for Hades, but it's odd that the word is included offhandedly as though children will understand it.</p><p>Later in the film, Phil refers to Achilles' famed weakness as "that furshlugginer heel of his." Furshlugginer, which is a slang word with Yiddish origins that means foolish, is also somewhat out of place in a film geared toward kids.</p><p><b>The Fates kill a woman during their first scene.</b></p><p>The Fates, magical women who can see into the past, present, and future, only have one eye between the three of them. They're typically remembered for the humorous scenes in which they take turns using this eye, but if you pay attention, they have a pretty dark introduction. When viewers are first introduced to the Fates, they are holding and cutting a thread — a symbol traditionally included in the Fates mythology — that they say is connected to a mortal's life. Immediately after they cut this thread, a woman screams and appears in the Underworld, showing that they did indeed kill her.</p><p><b>There are only six planets shown during the prophecy scenes.</b></p><p>The Fates tell Hades that in 18 years, if he releases the Titans while the planets are aligned (and Hercules does not interfere), he will have the chance to usurp Zeus. However, the image that's shown alongside this prophecy only depicts six planets. Later, when the prophecy comes true, six planets are again shown instead of eight. </p><p>The decision to leave out a few of the planets from our modern knowledge of the solar system may have been done to accurately reflect Ancient Greece's understanding of the planets. At that time, Mercury, Earth, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn had been identified, but Uranus and Neptune had not. </p><p><b>Hercules' human parents are accurately named after their mythological counterparts.</b></p><p>In the film, Hercules' adopted mortal parents are his mother, Alcmene, and his father, Amphitryon. Alcmene and Amphitryon are accurate names from the Hercules myth, but their roles are depicted a little differently in the Disney film. In Greek mythology, Zeus cheats on his wife and has Hercules with the human Alcmene — which explains Hercules' demigod status. This differs from the movie, which shows Hercules being born to Zeus and Hera before becoming a demigod when Hades arranges for him to drink a poisonous potion. </p><p><b>Philoctetes' interaction with the wood nymphs shows classic satyr behavior.</b></p><p>Hercules first finds Philoctetes in a forest where he is watching a group of wood nymphs. Phil runs after the nymphs, trying to catch them, but they turn into flowers and trees before he can reach them. Phil, who appears to be half-goat, half-man, tells Hercules that he is a satyr. In Greek mythology, satyrs are fertility spirits known to engage in sensual acts with nymphs, making Phil's chase scene accurate — but perhaps a bit inappropriate for a kid's movie.</p><p><b>Phil brags about training some major mythological figures.</b></p><p>Phil's home is full of objects related to some of the heroes he used to train. Hercules hits his head on what Phil says is the mast of the Argo — a ship that belonged to Jason, the mortal hero of the Argonauts, in Greek mythology. This head bump is also ironic because Jason died after a rotting beam of the Argo fell on him. Phil then mentions that he trained the Greek legends Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus, and he shows off a giant statue of Achilles, his most promising hero-in-training. </p><p><b>There's a visual pun to go along with the term "greenhorn."</b></p><p>When Hercules first starts training with Phil, he struggles to complete the practice drills the satyr arranges for him. As part of his big song "One Last Hope," Phil complains about having to work with a "greenhorn," which roughly translates to mean an amateur. As Phil sings the line, "I get the greenhorn," there's a clever visual pun to go along with it. Green olives get stuck on his horns, making him look as though he actually has green horns.</p><p><b>There's also a visual reference to "The Karate Kid" in the training montage.</b></p><p>In the same training montage that takes place during "One Last Hope," Phil, Hercules, and Pegasus stand on wooden posts and strike fighting poses in front of a setting sun, which resembles one of Daniel LaRusso's famed training sequences in "The Karate Kid" (1984). </p><p><b>The centaur Hercules fights plays into a traditional Greek myth.</b></p><p>Hercules first meets Meg when he saves her from a centaur, and when Meg and Hades are talking afterward, they mention that the centaur's name is Nessus. Nessus the centaur is a creature from Greek mythology who Hercules fights to save one of his wives. But in contrast to the movie, it wasn't Megara, it was his second wife, Deianeira. </p><p><b>Thebes is compared to New York City multiple times.</b></p><p>Hercules and Phil journey to the city of Thebes, where Hercules can accomplish his heroic feats. As they travel there, Phil calls the city "the Big Olive," a pun that seems to be a take on New York City's nickname, "the Big Apple." In the same scene, Phil tells Hercules, "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere," a phrase from the popular Frank Sinatra song "New York, New York." Later on in the film, Meg also uses the phrase "in a Peloponnesian minute," which, with all the other references to New York, seems like a play on the phrase "New York minute."</p><p><b>There's a not-so-subtle Roman numeral joke.</b></p><p>While pretending to be trapped under a boulder, Hades henchmen Pain and Panic appear as young boys crying for help, and one of them shouts, "Somebody call IX-I-I!" That's the Roman-numeral equivalent of 9-1-1, which seems like a clever way to include a modern American cry for help in an era-appropriate numerical style. However, the film takes place in ancient Greece, not ancient Rome, so Greek numerals would've been the norm in Thebes.</p><p><b>Modern references are made while describing Hercules' new popularity.</b></p><p>Throughout the film, there are a few allusions to modern culture. While singing about Hercules' popularity, the Muses remark that he can make an arena "SRO," which is usually used as a concert term that stands for "standing room only." Phil also advertises Hercules-themed merchandise, including a "Buns of Bronze" workout scroll, which is likely a reference to the "Buns of Steel" workout videos that were popular in the 1990s when the film was made. Another merch item featured in the film, "Air Hercs," seem to be a take on Nike's famous Air Jordan sneakers. But the reference is even more meaningful when you remember that Nike is the Greek goddess of victory. </p><p><b>Hercules passes a constellation that imitates a famous Marilyn Monroe scene.</b></p><p>During "Zero to Hero," Hercules rides Pegasus through the sky and we see a constellation in the shape of a woman with short hair wearing a halter-neck dress. When Hercules rides past this group of stars, the woman's dress flies up and she uses her hands to push it back down. This, along with her appearance, makes it clear that the constellation is a recreation of Marilyn Monroe's most famous movie moment from "The Seven Year Itch" (1955).</p><p><b>There's also a reference to Grauman's Chinese Theatre in "Zero to Hero."</b></p><p>After the Marilyn Monroe reference, Hercules and Pegasus are shown leaving their handprints (or hoof prints) in wet cement, much like celebrities do in front of LA's famed TCL Chinese Theatre (also known as Grauman's Chinese Theatre). If you look closely, Hercules' signature is addressed "To Sid," which is likely a reference to the original owner of the Chinese Theatre, Sid Grauman. </p><p><b>Scar from "The Lion King" makes an unfortunate appearance.</b></p><p>Three years before Hercules hit US theaters, "The Lion King" (1994)introduced the Disney fandom to one of the studio's most despicable villains, Scar. However, the brother-murdering lion seems to have gotten what was coming for him seeing as he makes a brief appearance in the 1997 film as a dead lion's mane that the Hercules wears while he's getting his portrait painted. We get a clear view when Phil uses the thwarted villain as a wipe to remove paint from his face, and it's a little creepy that his pricing green and yellow eyes are still intact. </p><p><b>Hercules and Meg see a play about Oedipus.</b></p><p>When Hercules and Meg return from spending the day together, they talk about having gone to a restaurant and seeing a play about "that Oedipus thing." This is most likely a reference to the Ancient Greek play "Oedipus Rex." In the play, and classic Greek mythology, Oedipus was the ruler of Thebes, so it makes sense that they would be performing it there. However, the real joke comes with Hercules' next line, "Man, I thought I had problems," which is probably a reference to Oedipus' romantic relationship with his mother. </p><p><b>The film tries to answer the age-old question of how a famous statue lost its arms.</b></p><p>At the end of his date with Meg, Hercules skips a stone in a fountain and accidentally breaks the arms off of a statue of a woman. The result resembles the famous Venus de Milo statue by Greek sculptor Alexandros of Antioch that is well known for its mysterious lack of arms. As the statue's name refers to the Greek goddess, its appearance in the movie adds another reference to mythology while also providing a fun explanation for why the real statue is armless.</p><p><b>The Muses recreate a scene from Disney's popular Haunted Mansion ride.</b></p><p>During "I Won't Say I'm in Love," the Muses transform themselves into stone busts that are arranged in an eerily similar way to the singing busts on Disney's famed Haunted Mansion attraction. Six years after "Hercules," the busts also made an appearance in Disney's live-action movie, "The Haunted Mansion" (2003). </p><p><b>Hades uses legal terminology when describing his contract with Hercules that ends up thwarting him in the end.</b></p><p>Hades makes a deal with Hercules in which the demigod agrees to give up his strength for a day as long as Meg is safe. While explaining the contract to Hercules, Hades describes the deal as "boilerplate," which is a legal term that refers to a standard contract format. Interestingly, boilerplate provisions call for rules for how the contract will be interpreted, which in this case should have included a definition of what Meg's safety entailed. Since Meg's injury is what breaks the contract and returns Hercules' strength, Hades probably should have been a bit more careful with the wording of the deal he drew up.</p><p><b>The different monsters Hercules fights at the end of the film include some of his most famous mythological enemies.</b></p><p>Some of Hercules' most famous accomplishments in mythology were part of his 12 Labours. The 12 Labours of Hercules was a series of tasks he completed as part of a punishment. Fighting a Hydra and the three-headed dog Cerberus were two such tasks, both of which are included at the end of the movie. The "Zero to Hero" montage also shows Hercules fighting a boar, a lion, a bird, and a bull — all creatures that were part of his 12 Labours. </p><p>For image proof, <a href="https://www.insider.com/hercules-clever-interesting-details-that-went-over-your-head">visit Insider</a>!</p>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-54055920909804132652021-11-01T01:00:00.004-07:002021-11-08T16:36:51.741-08:00Invocations to the Gods from the Odysseia<p>An invocation is a request for the spiritual presence and blessing of a deity during a rite. To invoke is to call upon earnestly, so an “invocation” in the context of prayer is a serious, intentional calling upon a God or Goddess. In Hellenic ritual, it's common for prayers of invocation to be offered every time a new deity is invoked, so we can be sure They will the hymns and prayers of petition offered to Them. Invocations fit into the rite like so:</p><br /><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>- Lighting of the incense burner with frankincense<br /><b>- Invocation to Demeter: Khaire Demeter, you who taught us to work the earth and provides for us so bountifully…</b><br />- Libation of a kykeon and sacrifices<br />- Orphic Hymn 40 To Eleusinian Demeter<br />- Prayers<br /><br />A few days ago, I put up a <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2017/06/invocations-to-gods-from-iliad.html">list of invocations from the Iliad</a>. People seemed to like it, so let's do another one today: from the Odysseia, because that is the logical step! The Odyssey (Ὀδύσσεια) is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homeros. The Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC and focuses mainly on the hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage. Needless to say, Odysseus keeps his lady love! There aren't as many invocation in this story as most of the characters tell their story themselves, but there are a few.<br /><br />Artemis:<br />"Great Goddess Artemis, daughter of Zeus..."<br /><br />Athena:<br />"Hear me, daughter of Aegis-bearing Zeus, unweariable..."<br /><br />Eos:<br />"Rosy-fingered Eos, child of morning..."<br /><br />Poseidon:<br />"O thou that encirclest the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="53"></a>earth, vouchsafe to grant the prayers of thy servants that call upon thee..."<br /><br />Themis:<br />"I pray you by Themis, who is the beginning and the end of councils..."<br /><div><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike><br /></strike></div><div>Zeus:</div><div>"Hear me, O King..."</div>"Father Zeus, and all you other gods who live in everlasting bliss..."<br />"Father Zeus, you who rule <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="97"></a>over heaven and earth, you have thundered from a clear sky without so much <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="98"></a>as a cloud in it, and this means something for somebody; grant the prayer, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="99"></a>then, of me your poor servant who calls upon you..."Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-2345071802933703562021-10-31T01:00:00.003-07:002021-11-08T16:47:01.164-08:00Constellation Triangulum: the triangle<p>Did you know there was a constellation called 'the triangle'? And that the ancient Hellenes were aware of it, too? Triangulum is a small constellation in the northern sky. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the second century astronomer Ptolemy, and so named for its three brightest stars, which form a long and narrow triangle. The Ancient Hellenes called Triangulum 'Deltoton' (Δελτωτόν), after the upper-case letter delta (Δ). Hellenic astronomers such as Hipparchos and Ptolemy called it Trigonon (Τρίγωνον).</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.starrynighteducation.com/sntimes/wwwgfx-sn/constellations/ariestriangulumandromeda-map.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://www.starrynighteducation.com/sntimes/wwwgfx-sn/constellations/ariestriangulumandromeda-map.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br />There is not a lot of mythology connected to this tiny constellation, but the lore that it has is quite important. Hyginus, in his '<a href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusAstronomica2.html#19">Astronomica</a>' explains the options:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"This constellation, which has three angles like the Greek letter Delta, is so named for that reason.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Mercury [Hermes] is thought to have placed it above the head of Aries, so that the dimness of Aries might be marked by its brightness, wherever it should be, and that it should form the first letter in the name of Jove [Zeus] (in Greek, Dis).</div><div style="text-align: center;">Some have said that it pictures the position of Egypt; others, that of Aethiopa and Egypt where the Nile marks their boundaries. Still others think that Sicily is pictured there.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Others, say that three angles were put there because the gods divided the universe into three parts." [II.19]</div><br />The latter is the only one that might need some explaining. Zeus, the greatest of the Olympian Gods, and the father of Gods and men, was a son of Kronos and Rhea, a brother of Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, Hera. When Zeus and His brothers drew lots for the rule of the world, Poseidon obtained the sea, Hades the lower world, and Zeus the heavens and the upper regions, but the earth belonged to them all. To quote the '<a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.15.xv.html">Iliad</a>' by Hómēros:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Poseidon was very angry and said, "Great heavens! strong as Zeus may be, he has said more than he can do if he has threatened violence against <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="143"></a>me, who am of like honour with himself. We were three brothers whom Rhea <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="144"></a>bore to Kronos--Zeus, myself, and Hades who rules the world below. Heaven <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="145"></a>and earth were divided into three parts, and each of us was to have an <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="146"></a>equal share. When we cast lots, it fell to me to have my dwelling in the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="147"></a>sea for evermore; Hades took the darkness of the realms under the earth, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="148"></a>while air and sky and clouds were the portion that fell to Zeus; but earth <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="149"></a>and great Olympus are the common property of all." [XV.187]</div><br />The constellation Triangulum is visible at latitudes between +90° and −60°, and best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of December.Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-40803401963303808552021-10-30T00:00:00.003-07:002021-11-08T16:46:24.274-08:00Question Collections post 42<p> I get a lot of questions from readers, and most of the time, the answers are fairly short. When I feel the question or the reply would be valuable to others as well, I make a post with a collection of them and post them in one go. Today is one of those posts.</p><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"I really want to start doing daily rituals but I just don't know how to start or who to worship. Can you help me?"</div><br /><div>Daily worship can be a very rewarding practice, but it is hard to get into. In ancient Hellas, the courtyard of the home often held a bômos, a free standing, raised, altar where the majority of household worship took place. Some houses also had a wall niche, an indoor worship area, either in a room especially designated for worship, or in the main family room. These altars were used to worship the Ephestioi (Εφεστιοι), the most personal of the household Theoi. These almost always included: Hestia, Zeus Ephestios (Overseer of the Hearth), Zeus Kthesios, and Agathós Daímōn. Worship of these deities was highly personal and many other Theoi could be added to this worship list.<br /> </div><div>If you wish to get into the routine of daily worship, these Theoi can be used as a base for ritual. Add to this short list any Theoi you feel drawn to or whose influence you feel you need in your life. My list can be found <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/12/my-daily-prayers-updated-again.html">here</a>. Pro tip: start with a short list and build up once you feel comfortable and you have found your rhythm.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><div> </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">"How should I celebrate the Noumenia?"</div><br /><div>The goal of the Noumenia is to start fresh and to honor the household deities. It is a day of family, family meals, and the celebration of the new month. Part of that celebration can be to prepare for the new month by planning out important events--religious or secular--and writing them down, preferably with the whole family present. Offer sacrifices of honey cakes to Apollon Noumenios, Hestia,Hermes and Zeus Kthesios and refill your <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2012/10/video-tutorial-how-to-make-kathiskos.html">kathiskos</a>.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><div> </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">"Some tragic events occurred and ever since I have felt odd working with Hermes or any gods. What would be a way I could find out if Hermes still wants to work with me, and if so what things would you suggest doing to work with him (altar suggestions, etc)? Thank you."</div><div><br />One thing that is generally hard for people to understand is that the attention the Theoi pay us does not waver and They do not pick favourites. They accept any and all worship and They are always there. What wavers is the level of attention we pay Them or the amount of time and brainpower we have to spare for Their worship. This is miasma, this is the disconnect between the Theoi and us. Think of it as a radio signal where the Theoi are the broadcasting party: They are always on but depending on the amount of interference and obstacles on our receiving end, the reception is clear or muddled. The ancient Hellenes understood this and that is why they were adamant about a daily practice and regular, state funded, festivals. Hermes is there. He is always there. I dislike the term ‘work with’ but if you wish to honour Him, then do so by any way you have already done. Give libations and sacrifices at your household shrine, read His mythology, meditate. He will be receptive.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><div> </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">"Were Elves or Faeries worshiped by the Ancient Hellenes? We know that there was influence from the Celts and maybe even the Nordics in ancient Hellas. Hence the Hyperboreas."</div><div><br />That's a complicated question to answer. And an easy one. No, Tolkien's Elves are not found in Hellenic mythology and neither was Tinkerbell. So, the question is: how do you define 'Elves' and how do you define 'Faeries'?<br /><br />An elf, mythologically speaking, is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Back then mention of them was very uncommon and served as a race to offset the Giants. An elf in classical Eddaic poetry was male and prominently associated with sexual threats, seducing people and causing them harm. Needless to say, the image has changed since then.<br /><br />The concept of 'fairy' in the narrow sense is unique to English folklore, conflating Germanic elves with influences from Celtic and Romance (French) folklores, and later made 'diminutive' according to the tastes of Victorian era fairy tales for children. These Celtic roots stem mostly from the The Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of supernaturally-gifted people in Irish mythology. They are thought to represent the main deities of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland. Many of the Irish tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann refer to these beings as fairies, though in more ancient times they were regarded as Goddesses and Gods.<br /><br />The ancient Hellenic empire was pretty large but Gaul (France and Belgium), Hispania (Spain) and Britannia (Britain) were reached mostly during the Roman occupation of these regions or provinces. Their influence did not carry over to ancient Hellas. That said, ancient Hellenic mythology does have its Dryads and Nymphs, so there are nature spirits that received worship, but no, no elves and no fairies.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><div> </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">"Do you use the Orphic Hymns in your practice?"</div></div><br />I do! I use as many ancient sources as I can, so that includes the Orphic hymns, the Homeric ones and any ohers I can find. I borrow from plays and philosophical texts as well. If it's ancient and about the Theoi, I'll use it in my rites.</div></div></div></div></div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-40215907662178644052021-10-29T00:00:00.003-07:002021-11-08T16:42:35.873-08:00Orion's hymn to Poseidon<p> <span style="font-size: 16px;">Poseidon is the God of the Mediterranean seas, who can strike down His trident and create fresh water springs, or disastrous earthquakes. He is also the Lord of horses, presumably because of the foamy waves rising up like a herd of horses before crashing on the shore. He has made His home underwater, with his wife</span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2012/10/introducing-amphitrite-queen-of-sea.html" style="font-size: 16px;">Amphitrite</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">and other water creatures, many of which immortal. He's a powerful God, one of three brothers who rule the sky, the sea and the underworld.</span></p><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Claudius Aelianus (Κλαύδιος Αἰλιανός), commonly called Aelian, was born at Praeneste around 175 AD. He was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who spoke Greek so perfectly that he was called "honey-tongued" (meliglossos). He preferred Greek authors, and wrote in a slightly archaizing Greek himself. "<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2382184804747180588#allposts">On the Nature of Animals</a>" (Περὶ Ζῴων Ἰδιότητος) is a collection of seventeen books. All contain brief stories of natural history, sometimes selected with an eye to conveying allegorical moral lessons, sometimes because they are just so astonishing. He also quotes other authors and in the collection, he quotes a hymn to Poseidon I'd like to share with you today. It was originally written by Arion, son of Cycleus, it seems. He wrote the poem in thanks to Poseidon for saving his life. He focusses on dolphins. It goes as follows and probably stems from the fifth century BC:</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;">"Highest of the Gods, Lord of the sea, Poseidon of the golden trident, earth-shaker in the swelling brine, around thee the finny monsters in a ring swim and dance, with nimble flingings of their feet leaping lightly, snub-nosed hounds with bristling neck, swift runners, music-loving dolphins, sea-nurslings of the Nereid maids divine, whom Amphitrite bore, even they that carried me, a wanderer on the Sicilian mean, to the headland of Taenarum in Pelops' land, mounting meupon their humped backs as they clove the furrow of Nereus' plain, a path untrodden, when deceitful men had cast me from their sea-faring hollow ship into the purple swell of ocean."</div><div><br /></div></div><b></b>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-87138305935762873462021-10-28T00:00:00.005-07:002021-11-08T16:50:47.245-08:00"The Minotaur Island"<p> I'm a little short on time, so it's time for a video! This one is called "The Minotaur Island" and it's pretty cool!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6VMhR6fpC-E/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6VMhR6fpC-E?feature=player_embedded" width="495"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"The mysterious island of Crete has always loomed large in imagination, as the home of the Minotaur -- that monstrous creature, half-man half-bull -- imprisoned in Daedalus' labyrinth. Before Crete collapsed in fire and violence, it gave birth to Europe's first civilization nearly 5,000 years ago, and boasted an advanced, prosperous Mediterranean civilization with hinged doors, flush toilets, and magnificent palaces."</div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-31127726488055810382021-10-27T00:00:00.004-07:002021-11-08T16:35:44.414-08:00Euripides’ Bacchae, First Chorus<p> Swamped, sorry! It seems like my life has been ruled by Dionysos this week and I'm going to spend my Saturday unraveling some of the mess. So, for what it's worth, here's a tribute to Dionysos for you. May he be kind!</p><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Euripides’ Bacchae, First Chorus (part 1): 64-119</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b></b><br />From the Asian land</div><div style="text-align: center;">After leaving sacred Tmôlos I speed—<br />A toil for Bromios that is sweet,<br />And a worn but happy weariness—<br />Crying out to the Bacchic god.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Who is in the road? Who is on the road?<br />Who is in the palace? Have every person come out!<br />Have each one hold a quiet tongue in sacred silence. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />I am hymning Dionysus<br />In the customs that are always used.<br />You are blessed if you are lucky<br />To know the rites of the gods<br />And lead a pure life;<br />And join your soul to the band<br />Of Bacchic revelers on the mountains<br />In the sacred cleansing worship.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Taking care of the Great mother’s mysteries<br />Shaking the thyrsus all about<br />once you are wreathed in ivy,<br />you tend to Dionysus!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Go, Bacchae, Go Bacchae,<br />Lead on this Bromios, a divine child of a god,<br />Dionysus</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />From the Phrygian mountains on<br />To the streets of Greece, wide-enough for dances.<br />Once, his mother went<br />Into the forced labors of birth<br />From Zeus’ thunder in flight<br />She released him from her womb<br />Too early, and lost her life<br />At the lightning’s strike.<br />But Zeus, Kronos’ son<br />Immediately welcomed him<br />Into his hands<br />And hid him in his thigh—</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />He sewed him up with golden pins<br />To keep him a secret from Hera.<br />When the Fates made him grow,<br />He gave birth<br />To a bull-horned god<br />And crowned him with wreaths of snakes.<br />This is why the Maenads weave<br />Beast-eating serpents in their hair.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Thebes, the nurse of Semele,<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Crown yourselves with ivy!</div><div style="text-align: center;">Flourish, Grow with the green<br />Leaves flush with fruit.<br />Make yourselves Bacchae too<br />With branches of oak or pine.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Adorn your clothes of stitched fawn<br />With strands of white wool.<br />Make sacred the arrogant wands.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Right now the whole earth will dance<br />As Bromios leads out his bands<br />To the mountain, to the mountain where<br />the woman-born mob stands<br />driven mad from their shuttles and looms<br />by Dionysus.</div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-52649309610489625622021-10-26T00:00:00.014-07:002021-11-08T16:18:06.569-08:00First excavation season of Mycenaean Settlement/Necropolis on Trapeza Plateau completed<p>The first season of this year’s excavation on the Trapeza plateau, eight kilometers southeast of Aegion (Northwest Peloponnese), <a href="https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/first-excavation-season-of-mycenaean.html">has been completed</a>, bringing to light, among other things, valuable assemblages of grave gifts and bronze swords. The site has been identified as Rhypes, a city that flourished in early historical times and participated in colonization, founding Croton in Magna Graecia.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQK24lWlhzx85E7b7eM95QDZL7BdNYj0xCmD7q3F3ifm8mCkVBNW99IJFvTRTPuc99bwOSjHfNLyx8sfWVT85hhQgJp4GMDRqmAgizpQ3-zKkxc5a_tHc7jmyXwpyKI7DzK1PbGEFRr0r8FhJYXMeB4B9qCA3FnoiZOU0NP9BgQ6DkvEq8cPynlozb4A=s639" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="639" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQK24lWlhzx85E7b7eM95QDZL7BdNYj0xCmD7q3F3ifm8mCkVBNW99IJFvTRTPuc99bwOSjHfNLyx8sfWVT85hhQgJp4GMDRqmAgizpQ3-zKkxc5a_tHc7jmyXwpyKI7DzK1PbGEFRr0r8FhJYXMeB4B9qCA3FnoiZOU0NP9BgQ6DkvEq8cPynlozb4A=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><p>The excavation focused on investigating the Mycenaean necropolis which extends across the plateau’s southwestern slope and is located on the ancient road that led to the acropolis of historical times. The tombs are chambered, carved into the soft sandy subsoil. Already during the Early Palace period of the Mycenaean world, their use was long and intensive, in parallel with the prosperity of the great centers of Mycenae, Tiryns and Pylos. Significant reuse of the tombs dates back to the 12th century B.C. when they were repeatedly reopened, being at once a place for conducting burials and complex ritual practices until the end of the Bronze Age in the 11th century BC.</p><p>The excavation of the necropolis has yielded valuable assemblages of grave gifts consisting of vases, a number of seal stones and all kinds of beads and tesserae of various materials – glass, faience, gold, carnelian and rock crystal – for the making of necklaces and ornaments such as the gold talismans shaped like bulls’ heads, suggesting trade relations with the eastern Aegean and Cyprus.</p><p>The rectangular shaped chamber of tomb 8, investigated this year, presented a complex stratigraphy. In the first layer of tombs of the 12th c. BC, three burials containing stirrup jars (amphorae) were investigated in situ. The bones inside the older tombs had been removed and placed reverently and very carefully in two successive piles at the back of the chamber, in contact with the walls of the tomb. Three decorated clay alabastron flasks and an amphora found on top of these bone collections, date these first burials to the Early Palace period (14th century BC).</p><p>An exceptionally well preserved bronze sword had also been placed among the bones and offerings such as carnelian and glass beads and a clay horse figurine that accompanied these earlier burials. At the base of the pile of bones two more intact bronze swords were also found with part of their wooden grips/handles. The three swords belong to different types, namely Sandars D and E, and date back to the heyday of the Mycenaean Palace period. The presence of these weapons as well as the long spears of the same time period found during the excavation in neighbouring tombs in the Trapeza necropolis is particularly important. It is distinguished from the other necropoleis of Achaia, emphasizing the direct dependence of the local community on the powerful palace centers. The weapons are products of the palace workshops, perhaps of Mycenae, thus consistent with the genre of the homeric epos and the mythological tradition handed down to us. According to the latter, Achaia belonged to the kingdom of Agamemnon who as ruler of Mycenae gathered the men of most value in neighbouring Aegion to discuss how the campaign against the state of Priam should take place.</p><p>The location of the Mycenaean settlement of Trapeza is still not entirely clear. Probably, during the early cycle of use of the necropolis, the settlement was situated on a hill about 100 meters south of Trapeza. This year, at the same time as researching the Mycenaean necropolis, the excavation of an area of the settlement revealed part of a building, perhaps a mansion. It is a wide rectangular chamber with a hearth in the center and typical pottery that dates it to the 17th century BC.</p><p>The excavation at Trapeza, Aigion (ancient Rhypes) is led by Dr. Andreas G. Vordos, archaeologist of the Achaia Ephorate of Antiquities. Participating in the interdisciplinary research programme of the Mycenaean necropolis and the prehistoric settlement is Elisabetta Borgna, Professor of Aegean Archaeology at the University of Udine with a group of students from the Universities of Udine, Trieste and Venice, as well as postgraduate students from Greek Universities. The main sponsor of the excavation at Trapeza Aigialeias (ancient Rhypes) is the A.G Leventis Foundation. The excavation work is also supported by Olympia Odos SA.</p>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-75317512962222135862021-10-25T00:00:00.001-07:002021-10-25T13:01:05.157-07:00Constellation Taurus: the bull<p>Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. It's located in the northern hemisphere's winter sky, between <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2012/11/constellation-aries-ram.html">Aries</a> to the west and <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/06/constellation-gemini-twins.html">Gemini</a> to the east; to the north lie <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2014/01/constellation-perseus-hero.html">Perseus</a> and <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2012/11/constellation-auriga-charioteer.html">Auriga</a>, to the southeast <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/12/constellation-orion-hunter.html">Orion</a>, to the south <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/06/constellation-eridanos-river.html">Eridanos</a>, and to the southwest <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/02/constellation-cetus-whale.html">Cetus</a>. This constellation forms part of the zodiac, and hence is intersected by the ecliptic. This circle across the celestial sphere forms the apparent path of the Sun as the Earth completes its annual orbit. As the orbital plane of the Moon and the planets lie near the ecliptic, they can usually be found in the constellation Taurus during some part of each year.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.astronomytrek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/taurus1.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.astronomytrek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/taurus1.gif" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><br />In Hellenic mythology, Taurus was identified with Zeus, who assumed the form of a magnificent white bull to abduct Europa, a legendary Phoenician princess. In illustrations of Hellenic mythology, only the front portion of this constellation are depicted; this was sometimes explained as Taurus being partly submerged as he carried Europa out to sea. From Apollodorus' '<a href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus3.html#1">Library</a>':<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"...But some say that Europa was a daughter not of Agenor but of Phoenix. Zeus loved her, and turning himself into a tame bull, he mounted her on his back and conveyed her through the sea to Crete. There Zeus bedded with her, and she bore Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthys; but according to Homer, Sarpedon was a son of Zeus by Laodamia, daughter of Bellerophon. On the disappearance of Europa her father Agenor sent out his sons in search of her, telling them not to return until they had found Europa. With them her mother, Telephassa, and Thasus, son of Poseidon, or according to Pherecydes, of Cilix, went forth in search of her. But when, after diligent search, they could not find Europa, they gave up the thought of returning home, and took up their abode in divers places..." [3.1.1]</div><br />A second Hellenic myth portrays Taurus as Io, a mistress of Zeus. To hide his lover from his wife Hera, Zeus changed Io into the form of a heifer. From Hyginus' '<a href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae3.html#145">Fabulae</a>':<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Jupiter [Zeus] loved and embraced Io, and changed her to heifer form so that Juno [Hera] would not recognize her. When Juno found out, she sent Argus, who had gleaming eyes all around to guard her. Mercury, at Jove’s command, killed him. But Juno sent a fearful shape to plague her, and out of terror of it she was driven wildly and compelled to cast herself into the sea, which is called Ionian. Thence she swam to Scythia, and the Bosporus is named from that; thence she went to Egypt where she bore Epaphus. When Jove realized that for his sake she had borne such suffering, he restored her to her own form, and made her a goddess of the Egyptians, called Isis." [145]</div><br />Greek mythographer Acusilaus marks the bull Taurus as the same that formed the myth of the <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/11/labour-seven-capture-cretan-bull.html">Cretan Bull</a>, one of The Twelve <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/p/labours-of-h.html">Labours of Hēraklēs</a>.<br /><br />There are two more myths linked to this constellation, one that relates to the Hyades, and one to the Pleiades. The Hyades were daughters of Atlas (by either Pleione or Aethra, one of the Oceanides) and sisters of Hyas in most tellings, although one version gives their parents as Hyas and Boeotia. The Hyades are sisters to the Pleiades and the Hesperides. They are a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. These five nymphs whose stars outline the face of the bull Taurus. They were nurses of the god Dionysus who were awarded for their service with a place amongst the stars of heaven. Their rising heralded the onset of the rainy season in Greece. Some say they were teary nymphs placed in the heavens following the death of their brother Hyas, who was killed by a lion. Presumably this Hyas and the lion were represented by the constellations Aquarius and Leo. According to Hyginus in his '<a href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusAstronomica2.html#21">Astronomica</a>':<br /><div style="text-align: center;">"It faces towards the East, and the stars which outline the face are called Hyades. These, Pherecydes the Athenian says, are the nurses of Liber [Dionysos], seven in number, who earlier were nymphae called Dodonidae. Their names are as follows: Ambrosia, Eudora, Pedile, Coronis, Polyxo, Phyto, and Thyone. They are said to have been put to flight by Lycurgus and all except Ambrosia took refuge with Theits, as Asclepiades says. But according to Pherecydes, they brought Liber to Thebes and delivered him to Ino, and for this reason Jove expressed his thanks to them by putting them among the constellations." [II.21]</div><br />The seven nymphs whose stars form the 'tail' of the bull Taurus are called the Pleiades. The sisters were placed amongst the stars by the Zeus, after the lustful giant <a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/12/constellation-orion-hunter.html">Orion</a> had pursued them across the earth for seven years. Orion was also set in heaven, but doomed to continue a futile chase for all eternity. Again from Hyginus:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"The Pleiades were so named, according to Musaeaus, because fifteen daughters were born to Atlas and Aethra, daughter of Ocean. Five of them are called Hyades, he shows, because their brother was Hyas, a youth dearly beloved by his sisters. When he was killed in a lion hunt, the five we have mentioned, given over to continual lamentation, are said to have perished. Because they grieved exceedingly at his death, they are called Hyades. The remaining ten brooded over the death of their sisters, and brought death on themselves; because so may experienced the same grief, they were called Pleiades. Alexander says they were called Hyades because they were daughters of Hyas and Boeotia, Pleiades, because born of Pleio, daughter of Ocean, and Atlas.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">The Pleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. This reason has been advanced, that of the seven, six mated with immortals (three with Jove, two with Neptune, and one with Mars); the seventh was said to have been the wife of Sisyphus. From Electra and Jove, Dardanus was born; from Maia and Jove, Mercury; from Taygete and Jove, Ladedaemon; from Alcyone and Neptune, Hyrieus; from Celaeno and Neptune, Lycus and Nycteus. Mars by Sterope begat Oenomaus, but others call her the wife of Oenomaus. Merope, wed to Sisyphus, bore Glaucus, who, as many say, was the father of Bellerophon. On account of her other sisters she was placed among the constellations, but because she married a mortal, her star is dim. Others say Electra does not appear because the Pleiades are thought to lead the circling dance for the stars, but after Troy was captured and her descendants through Dardanus overthrown, moved by grief she left them and took her place in the circle called Arctic. From this she appears, in grief for such a long time, with her hair unbound, that, because of this, she is called a comet.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">But ancient astronomers placed these Pleiades, daughters of Pleione and Atlas, as we have said, apart from the Bull. When Pleione once was travelling through Boeotia with her daughters, Orion, who was accompanying her, tried to attack her. She escaped, but Orion sought her for seven years and couldn’t find her. Jove, pitying the girls, appointed a way to the stars, and later, by some astronomers, they were called the Bull’s tail. And so up to this time Orion seems to be following them as they flee towards the west. Our writers call these stars Vergiliae, because they rise after spring. They have still greater honour than the others, too, because their rising is a sign of summer, their setting of winter - a thing is not true of the other constellations." [II.21]</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div>The constellation Taurus is visible at latitudes between +90° and −65°, and best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of January.</div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-54943067965884228402021-10-24T00:00:00.001-07:002021-10-25T13:00:02.148-07:00Question Collections post 41<p>I get a lot of questions from readers, and most of the time, the answers are fairly short. When I feel the question or the reply would be valuable to others as well, I make a post with a collection of them and post them in one go. Today is one of those posts.</p><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"The only real question I have is the meaning behind 'khaire'. I looked everywhere for a solid definition but no one can seem to agree."</div><br />'Khaire' and its plural cousin 'Khairete' are greetings. They were used by the likes of Homeros in their writings. They both have the literal meaning '<span class="il">rejoice</span>,' 'fare well,' and 'hail.' As such they can be used both as a greeting or as a goodbye. <a href="http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~mclennan/OM/CSC.html">This</a> is some interesting reading on the words and their use.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Should I construct an Altar to the Gods I want to worship?"</div><br />Some definitions you will need: an altar is one of those basic necessities within Hellenismos, and it differs from a shrine. Where an altar is a 'work space', dedicated not so much to a specific deity, but used to do the bulk of the (daily) rituals, a shrine is a devotional area where an altar might be located. In ancient Hellas, the shrine was usually a temple, the altar an actual altar, standing outside of it. Household worship took place at a multitude of shrines. You need an altar for Hellenic sacrifice, and you could build a shrine to the Gods you wish to honour, if you so desire.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"I want to celebrate the Galaxia, but would Kronos not be offended if I offer to another God?"</div><br /><div>The ancient Hellenes (and modern Hellenisist with them) felt strongly all the Gods are connected in some way. Thus you will only very rarely--if ever--sacrifice to just one God. Sacrificing to the Gods in the periphery of the main God you wish to worship establishes kharis and is simply good form. The Gods care about Their family just as we do, so honouring Their mothers, daughters, sons and brothers is very important.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">"I would like to adopt the custom of having a kathiskos, but I'm really worried about all of that decomposition and decay that is tied into it all. Would you have any advice for me?"</div><br />A kathiskos is an offer jar of foodstuffs used to protect the household's food storage. Typically, it has olive oil and water. The rest is up to the household. The Kathiskos is dedicated to Zeus Ktesios, guardian of the household. The jar is typically emptied into the compost bin or garden and refilled with fresh foodstuffs every month. In generl, kathiskoi have a lid--a lid that tightly screws on. If you have that, then you really need to worry about anything like decomposition and decay.<br /><br />Below is a picture of an example kathiskos that has not been changed for a little over a year (!) now. It still looks pretty fresh, doesn't it? And this one has fruit! Of course, if I were to open this one know, it would smell foul. My kathiskos always smells foul. That's the point. Think of it like this: all the rotting and fermentation that took place in your kathiskos did not happen to your other foodstuffs. The worse the smell and the worse the status of your content, the better.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmJ6a1Ft07ArGH9ZtprmG65nVvGtPjuHct0QBB3Kwzm4_ajH40whm1VKaUjntJE158J2f8BP2VrYuITlq1MQvnDqFYOezL4Gzvuz0gV7VqsBp1Iq-KCu8dBo-v5Stds3jrzH9DXTJhwSf/s1600/DSC_0975.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmJ6a1Ft07ArGH9ZtprmG65nVvGtPjuHct0QBB3Kwzm4_ajH40whm1VKaUjntJE158J2f8BP2VrYuITlq1MQvnDqFYOezL4Gzvuz0gV7VqsBp1Iq-KCu8dBo-v5Stds3jrzH9DXTJhwSf/s400/DSC_0975.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"My sister recently gave birth to a baby girl and I said a prayer of thanks to Hera and Artemis. Now she has two other children, 2 boys, and I was wondering, should I say prayers on their behalf to Artemis as well, or to some other deity?"</div><br />Congratulations on your niece (and nephews, of course). Artemis is the protectress of all children, as a Kourotrophos The Kourotrophos are (mostly) female deities who watched over growing children--Gaea, Artemis, Hekate, Eirênê, Aglauros and Pandrosos, especially. They also watched over young boys and were offered to to keep them safe. Zeus, Athena and Hēraklēs were also prayed to by young boys in order to grow big and strong, and these Theoi were also prayed to to guide and protect the boy.</div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-21294000484188089792021-10-23T00:00:00.001-07:002021-10-23T01:45:51.641-07:00"Grant me happiness from the blessed Gods..."<p><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Those who visit this blog on a regular basis know that I'm a fan of Solon and his </span><a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/05/arete-and-tenets-of-solon.html" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">reformations</a><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> of the </span><a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2013/05/pbp-jury-reformations-of-solon.html" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">political landscape</a><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> of Athens in the sixth century BC. </span><a href="http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.nl/2015/06/seven-sages-series-wisdom-of-solon-of.html" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: quot; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Solon</a><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> (Σόλων) was an Athenian statesman and lawmaker who lived from 638 BC to 558 BC. He spent most of his adult life trying to legislate against political, economic, and moral decline in archaic Athens. His ideologies are often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. Solon's reforms created a system where the power was in the hands of the people, because instead of leaving justice to be administered by the aristocracy. He was also a poet and some of his work has miraculously survived. Today, I would like to share one of the fragments of his work that have survived.</span></p><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">"Glorious children of Olympian Zeus and Memory</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Pierian Muses, hear me as I pray.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Grant me happiness from the blessed Gods and possession</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Of a good reputation among all people forever.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">In this may I be sweet to my friends and bitter to my enemies,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Revered by the former and terrible for the latter to see.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">I long to have money, but I do not want to obtain it</span></div><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Unjustly—punishment inevitably comes later."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">[</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #393939; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 0.93rem;">Fr. 13. 1–8</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #393939; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 0.93rem;">Translation <a href="https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2018/10/08/not-exactly-the-serenity-prayer/">here</a>.]</span></div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-46448683696201464642021-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:002021-10-23T01:44:34.559-07:00The Anemoi, the Hellenic Gods of Weather<p> Greece has seen much turbulent summer weather with storms, rains and floods lashing different parts of the country.While tourists dash for shelter from the rain, and lightning bolts light up the Acropolis, it is worth considering how the ancient Hellenes explained the weather.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNzT126vR7_xeYDRVM8QKGfsOG7e4XIguaYNJnaZTsU3S2UNKssVMWQ6Ob9pvlUcxjwDrmIBrbv_5L95YAMAjqoTWfCk_S5L3UCurhMrJoGUuOUhS_Oko4TxqU7tM_jjY1vpPoGJieKCX/s1600/wind.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="800" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNzT126vR7_xeYDRVM8QKGfsOG7e4XIguaYNJnaZTsU3S2UNKssVMWQ6Ob9pvlUcxjwDrmIBrbv_5L95YAMAjqoTWfCk_S5L3UCurhMrJoGUuOUhS_Oko4TxqU7tM_jjY1vpPoGJieKCX/s400/wind.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Although Zeus is well known for his thunderbolts, it is the Anemoi which seem to correspond more specifically with the winds and the weather they brought to Greece. Each such God was ascribed a cardinal direction from where they would bring the wind and other weather phenomena.<br /><br />Boreas is the north wind and bringer of cold winter air. Zephyrus is the west wind and bringer of light spring and early-summer breezes, and Notus is the south wind and bringer of the storms of late summer and autumn. Eurus is another weather God but was not associated with any of the specific ancient Hellenic seasons, of which they had only three.<br /><br />There were a host of other, more minor, Hellenic deities whose names were gives to the particular winds which would blow at different times of the year. The Romans adopted some of these Gods, giving them new names, but still ascribing to them the power to bring different types of weather.<br /><br />The Winds were portrayed as either man-shaped, winged Gods who lived together in a cavern on Mount Haimos (Haemus) in Thrake (Thrace), or as horse-shaped divinities stabled by Aiolos Hippotades, "the Reiner of Horses", on the island of Aiolia and set out to graze on the shores of the earth-encircling River Okeanos.<br /><br />Early poets, such as Homer and Hesiod, drew a clear distinction between the four, relatively benign, seasonal Winds (Anemoi) and the destructive Storm-Winds (Anemoi Thuellai). The latter, spawned by the monster Typhoeus, were either housed in the caverns of Aiolos or guarded by the Hekatonkheires in the pits of Tartaros. Later authors blurred the distinction between the two.<br /><br />The female counterparts of the Anemoi were the Aellai Harpyiai (Harpies). Mated with the Winds they produced many swift, immortal horses.Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-76479214462093566012021-10-21T00:00:00.033-07:002021-10-23T00:28:35.090-07:00Interpol lists looted art, antiquities on International Archaeology Day<p> International Archaeology Day, celebrated on October 16 every year, is <a href="https://greekreporter.com/2021/10/16/looted-art-antiquities-interpol-international-archaeology-day/">a time to take stock of the pieces of looted art and antiquities</a> from all around the world that are still missing and consider how much of our global cultural heritage has been lost through this kind of theft.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Gold-myrtle-wreath-arch-museum-thessaloniki-credit-Tilemahos-efthimiadis-Creative-commons-attribution-share-alike.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Gold-myrtle-wreath-arch-museum-thessaloniki-credit-Tilemahos-efthimiadis-Creative-commons-attribution-share-alike.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Greece has been no stranger to this tragedy of stolen heritage, which with some antiquities amounts to a culture genocide; of its list of missing antiquities worldwide, currently Interpol has no less than 1,159 that were taken from Greece. </p><p>Ranging from an unknown female marble sculptural figurine from the Late Hellenic or Early Roman times, to a head dating back to the Archaic Period that was chipped away from a frieze, to priceless Byzantine-era icons, the list is a long and ignominious one.</p><p>Archaeological sleuths such as Greece’s Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis have dedicated their lives to finding treasures such as these and getting them repatriated back to their original countries. Museums around the world have historically engaged in shady deals with people who call themselves art collectors but who are indeed nothing more than thieves or middlemen at best, in the trade in looted antiquities.</p><p>The famous case of the 4th-century BC gold wreath from Macedonia which was once worn by an unknown nobleman is just one of the best-known and most visually spectacular of these looted antiquities.</p><p>Used as a case study by Greek scholar Bettina Tsigarida as part of her master’s thesis, the infamous theft was the result of not only the original looting but of Greek and other authorities looking the other way, as well, allowing such cultural theft to take place. In addition, the Getty Museum’s acquisition of the golden wreath was made possible by what can only be charitably described as sloppy record-keeping on the part of one of the world’s largest museums.</p><p>The sum total of what can happen to a looted objet d’art or artifact can be seen in the Odyssey taken by the gold wreath in its journey from a grave to the Getty Museum, located in in Los Angeles, California.</p><p>Finally taking its rightful place in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in 2007, there was no guarantee that this happy ending would ever become a reality.</p><p>And it would not have happened at all without the likes of Dr. Tsirogiannis; journalist Nikolas Zirganos; prosecutor Ioannis Diotis; the then-head of the Greek police’s art squad, the late police Captain Giorgos Gligoris; and two Greek lawyers, Costantinos Kyriopoulos and Renia Stamatoudi.</p><p>They not only successfully liberated the priceless golden wreath from Macedonia but a marble archaic kore statue from Paros, a funerary stela from Orchomenos and a votive relief from Thasos Island as well, which had all been in the holdings of the huge Los Angeles museum.</p><p>The golden wreath, depicting myrtle flower branches, even still has some traces of green and blue enamel on it after the passage of millennia. Dating back to late 4th century BC, its first appearance on the black market for looted art dates back to 1990.</p><p> An Italian man called Gianfranco Becchina received two photographs of the wreath that had been sent to him by a Greek smuggler in 1990. However, they did not come to an agreement as to the price for the wreath; it then somehow appeared in Munich in 1992.</p><p>It was part of an art exhibition in February of that year in Germany. A Serbian who went by the name of Kovacevits, and two Greek men named Tsatalis and Kagia, feasted their eyes on the treasure as part of the exhibition.</p><p>A painter, George Seliachas, told the three men that if they wanted to make deal for it, a good person to contact might be Christophe Leon — who ended up being the one to sell the wreath to Getty after stating on the official acquisition papers that it had come from a “private Swiss collection.” Conveniently, Leon hadn’t even filled in the box for the name of the country of origin for the priceless wreath. The Getty gave Leon a cool $1,150,000 for the looted grave goods, which had once graced the head of a Macedonian nobleman or noblewoman. However, questions had been asked of officials in Greece and Italy as to the provenance of the artifact and whether or not it had been stolen — to which the Greek officials answered in the negative.</p><p>After the Greek Art Squad asked the Ministry of Culture to work with it to get to the bottom of the theft, the Ministry refused, telling them in a confidential memorandum that it was taking care of the issue by diplomatic means. Greek journalist Nikos Zirganos unearthed these documents, publishing his exposé of the case in Epsilon magazine.</p><p>Eventually, Greek officials made a 180-degree turn, opening up a criminal investigation –not only of the Getty Museum but its curator as well. As a consequence, Marion True, Christoph Leon, the two Greek looters (now named as Georgios Tsatalis and Georgios Kagias) and the Serb middleman, Kovasevic, had charges brought against them in November of 2006.</p><p>Thanks to the tireless work of Tsirogiannis and the others, Greece negotiated the return of three other antiquities from the Getty as well — resulting in the repatriation of a 5th century BC marble relief from Thassos, a grave stele from Boeotia dating back to 400 BC. and a Kore statue.</p><p>All of the priceless looted artifacts finally returned home to Greece on March 26, 2007. The wreath now is displayed in all its splendor in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.</p><p>A special exhibit titled “The End of Antiquities Trafficking” was staged in 2007 at the Museum to highlight the cultural theft represented by these repatriated treasures. With a special section titled “The Abduction of History,” it highlighted the extraordinary objects that thankfully had been repatriated due to the efforts of Tsirogiannis and others.</p><p>Tsirogiannis told Greek Reporter in an exclusive interview this week “This wreath is a unique late 4th century B.C. artifact made by a highly-skilled Greek artist in central Macedonia, at the area around Thessaloniki. Other wreaths made with this technique and characteristics are attributed to the same Greek workshop.</p><p style="text-align: center;">“This wreath was most probably looted from a tomb, which remains unknown to us, so the story of the distinguished ancient Greek who was buried with this wreath and an unknown number of other artefacts, is erased and lost forever, because some people chose to steal from all of us and profit by selling our looted common heritage.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The subsequent trafficking took this wreath in the early 1990s to Germany and then to California, at the Getty museum, before we managed to bring it back to our homeland in 2007. I will always be proud for being one of the six-member team that represented Greece and brought this significant archaeological object back.”</p><p>But that kind of dogged determination on the part of art sleuths is rarely rewarded with such spectacular results. In its recent video on the subject of looted art, Interpol officials say that, tragically, there has been no letup recently in the trade of looted art and antiquities; quite the opposite is the case.</p><p style="text-align: center;">“The coronavirus has created a global crisis that threatens our shared cultural heritage. The antiquities coalition has already documented a worrisome increase in conditions that make the looting and the illicit trafficking of cultural material more likely right now. Tragically, we expect to see more looted artifacts on the market.” </p><p>The Antiquities Coalition is now taking action to combat this shameful global trade.</p><p>Perhaps most disturbingly, looting — including from national museums — is helping to fund insurgency and civil war in a country that the UN says is suffering the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, Interpol notes. A case in point is a stunning alabaster stone with inscriptions from the third century AD that was taken from the Awam temple in Marib, Yemen as a result of the ongoing insurgency in that embattled nation.</p><p>For his part, Tsirogiannis is happy to continue to do what he can do ensure that priceless works of art that are part of his own heritage are returned to their rightful owners in Greece. He says that he is gratified that his life’s work has had an impact, stating “I am glad as a Greek, but also as a citizen of the world, I am contributing to helping governments repatriate their cultural property.” He tells Greek Reporter that his respect for our ancient ancestors is what drives him:</p><p style="text-align: center;">“It is the responsibility we have to our ancient ancestors and their feelings that have been brutally violated by the barbaric extraction of these objects. Some of these objects were buried in the tombs of the ancient people. They were dedicated to them. People grieved for their loss. They put these objects there with love and affection. Other objects were at the homes of ancient people, or they were dedicated to ancient gods, placed in sanctuaries and temples.” </p><p>Tsirogiannis says “Thousands of years later, it is sacrilege for these antiquities to be looted for money and profit. This is what drives me mostly to continue my research.”</p>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-79321625744612905462021-10-20T00:00:00.005-07:002021-10-20T03:24:45.092-07:00Ancient Greece Tours Episode 01 - The Acropolis<p>Oh, this is fun! Podcaster Dan has created a historic tour of Ancient Hellas using Assassin’s Creed The Odyssey to create a magnificent view of the Acropolis back in its glorious days. Learn about the history of ancient Hellas both in audio and video and check your understanding at the end of the episode. </p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XyRC1aDNUY4" title="YouTube video player" width="495"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyRC1aDNUY4">Direct link in case the player decides to be annoying</a>]</div>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-38994941681404265912021-10-19T00:00:00.003-07:002021-10-19T02:16:38.593-07:00Entire ancient Hellenic city of Ephesus is UNESCO world heritage site<p>Ephesus, an ancient Hellenic city on the coast of Ionia, is one of the greatest archaeological treasures on Earth, <a href="https://greekreporter.com/2021/10/14/ancient-greek-city-ephesus-unesco-world-heritage-site/">with the entire city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site</a>. The great city, which went through endless transformations over the years as a result of earthquakes, wars and conquests, was founded in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists.</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hox-J4mkqbA" title="YouTube video player" width="495"></iframe></div><p></p><p>The city was famous in its day for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), which was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Its many monumental buildings included the Library of Celsus and a theater capable of holding no less than 24,000 spectators. Archaeologists estimate that the population of any ancient city was ten times that of the capacity of its largest theater; therefore, they believe the population of Ephesus was approximately 250,000.</p><p>Ephesus also had one of the “seven churches of Asia” referred to in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may also have been written there, and it was the site of several 5th-century Christian Councils, including the Councils of Ephesus that took place in 431, 449 and 475 AD.</p><p>The city was destroyed by the Goths in their invasion in the year 263; although it was rebuilt, its great importance as a commercial center declined as its harbor was slowly silted up by the Meander River. In the year 614, it was partially destroyed by an earthquake. Eventually abandoned, this might have been a blessing in disguise for Ephesus, as its ancient ruins lie in plain sight, rather than being buried under centuries of buildings.</p><p>Today, the ancient city of Ephesus is a huge draw for international tourists and scholars because of its ancient provenance and its many historical treasures.</p><p>The areas around Ephesus were settled as far back as the Neolithic Age (about 6000 BC), as shown by evidence from excavations at the nearby artificial mounds known as “tells” in Arvalya and Cukurici. After being founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC, the ruler Androklos drove away most of the native Carian and Lelegian inhabitants of the city and united his people with the remainder. He was a successful warrior, and as a king he was able to join the twelve cities of Ionia together into the Ionian League. During his reign the city began to prosper. Androklos and his dog are depicted on the Hadrian temple frieze, dating from the 2nd century.</p><p>A temple dedicated to the Egyptian god Serapis, which was also rediscovered in the ancient Greek city, was built in the 2nd century A.D. as a symbol of devotion to the Egyptian god; it is considered the best preserved and largest temple in all of Anatolia. It was constructed in an area measuring an astounding 7,700 square meters (194,520,997 square feet) while the building alone measures over 1,000 square meters (10,764 square feet).</p><p>Although it was shaken by the earthquake, almost all of the temple’s pieces are still intact. The Ephesus Foundation has undertaken the restoration project, following the restoration of the city’s illustrious Celsius Library.</p><p>The Goddess Artemis and the great Anatolian Goddess Kybele were identified and worshipped together as “Artemis of Ephesus.” The many-breasted “Lady of Ephesus”, identified with Artemis, was venerated in the Temple of Artemis, which was the largest building in the ancient world, according to Pausanias.</p><p>The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, once stood 418 feet by 239 feet with over 100 marble pillars each 56 feet high. The temple earned the city the title “Servant of the Goddess”.</p><p>Pliny tells us that the magnificent structure took 120 years to build but is now represented only by one lonely column, revealed during an archaeological excavation by the British Museum in the 1870s and still standing alone in the center of the ruins in a grassy field.</p><p>About 560 BC, Ephesus was conquered by the Lydians under King Croesus, who treated the inhabitants with respect and even became the main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis. His signature has been found on the base of one of the columns of the temple (now on display in the British Museum). The city later fell to the Persian army commander Harpagos in 547 BC. The Persians then incorporated the Greek cities of Asia Minor into their Achaemenid Empire.</p><p>Ephesians participated in the Ionian Revolt against Persian rule in the Battle of Ephesus in 498 BC, which instigated the Greco-Persian wars. In 479 BC, the Ionians, together with Athens, were able to oust the Persians from the shores of Asia Minor. In 478 BC, the Ionian cities with Athens entered into the Delian League against the Persians.</p><p>During the Classical Roman period, which lasted from 129 BC to 395 AD, Ephesus, as part of the kingdom of Pergamon, became a subject of the Roman Republic, coming under its yoke in 129 BC after the revolt of Eumenes III was suppressed. Mark Antony was welcomed by Ephesus when he was proconsul of Rome; and again in 33 BC with Cleopatra ,when he gathered his fleet of 800 ships before the decisive Battle of Actium with Octavius. When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, he made Ephesus the capital of proconsular Asia. According to the geographer Strabo, it was second in importance and size only to Rome.</p><p>Ephesus also served as an important center for early Christianity beginning as early as the AD 50s. From 52–54, the apostle Paul lived in Ephesus, working with the congregation and apparently organizing missionary activity into the hinterlands of Asia Minor. Initially, according to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul attended the Jewish synagogue in Ephesus, but after three months he became frustrated with the stubbornness of some of the Jews, and moved his base to the school of Tyrannus. Later a silversmith named Demetrios stirred up a mob against Paul, saying that he was endangering the livelihood of those making silver Artemis shrines.</p><p>Between 53 and 57 AD Paul wrote the letter known as 1 Corinthians from Ephesus — possibly from the “Paul tower” near the harbor, where he was imprisoned for a short time. Later, he wrote his Epistle to the Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome, around 62 AD. The Gospel of John might have been written in Ephesus a bit later, c. 90–100. Ephesus was one of the seven cities addressed in the Book of Revelation, indicating that the church of the city was already a major presence.</p><p>According to Eusebius of Caesarea, Saint Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus. A legend, which was first mentioned by Epiphanius of Salamis in the 4th century, purported that the Virgin Mary may have spent the last years of her life in Ephesus. The Ephesians derived the argument from the apostle John’s presence in the city, and Jesus’ instructions to John to take care of his mother, Mary, after his death. Epiphanius, however, pointed out that while the Bible says John was leaving for Asia, it does not say specifically that Mary went with him. He later stated that she was buried in Jerusalem.</p><p>Since the 19th century, The House of the Virgin Mary, about 7 km (4 miles) from Selçuk, has been considered to have been the last home of Mary. It is still a popular place of Catholic pilgrimage. The city and temple were destroyed by the Goths in 263. This marked the first precipitous decline of the city’s ages of splendor. However, the emperor Constantine the Great rebuilt much of the city and even constructed new public baths. The Church of Mary near the harbor of Ephesus was the setting for the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, which resulted in the condemnation of Nestorius. A Second Council of Ephesus was held in 449.</p><p>Ephesus remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia, however, after Constantinople, in the 5th and 6th centuries.The basilica of St. John was built during the reign of emperor Justinian I in the 6th century.</p><p>The importance of the city as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the river despite repeated dredging during the city’s history. The loss of its harbour caused Ephesus to lose its access to the Aegean Sea, which was important for trade. People started leaving the city for the surrounding hills.</p><p>Eventually, the ruins of its great temples were tragically used as building blocks for new homes. Precious marble sculptures from antiquity were ground to powder to make lime for plaster. Sackings by the Arabs, first in the year 654–655 and later in 700 and 716, hastened the decline of the great city of Ephesus even further. By the time the Seljuk Turks conquered Ephesus in 1090, it was just a small village.</p><p>The Byzantines resumed control in 1097 and changed the name of the town to Hagios Theologos. They kept control of the region until 1308 — but by that time, the exquisite Temple of Artemis had been completely forgotten by the local population. It would have been lost to human memory completely if it were not for the excavation and restoration efforts of modern archaeologists.</p><p>The town surrendered, on October 24, 1304, to a Turkish warlord. Nevertheless, contrary to the terms of the surrender the Turks pillaged the church of Saint John and deported most of the local population to Thyrea, Greece. During these events many of the remaining inhabitants were cruelly massacred. The once-shining city of Ephesus, with its sweeping public spaces, temples and library, was completely abandoned by the 15th century.</p><p>But the city is still beloved by those who walk its broad, stone-paved central street and take in the breathtaking ruins of days gone by. Moreover, the ancient Greek city is set to once again have a harbor on the Aegean coast, as the result of an ambitious new project.</p><p>In the ancient era Ephesus, which is today one of Turkey’s top tourist attractions, was connected to a harbor on the Aegean Sea with a spacious canal, but the port and the canal became silted up by the river in the years since.</p><p>An ambitious canal project proposed by Turkey in 2018 pledged to uncover the canal and eventually link the ancient harbor city to the sea once again after a 6,130-meter length of the canal became covered with alluvial deposits over the centuries. So far, however, nothing has been done to make this project a reality.</p><p>The ruins of the once-glorious city still stand, however, and welcome visitors today from all over the world, continuing to tell the stories of its many illustrious inhabitants over the millennia.</p>Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.com14