Modern science shows Roman wheat farming advice was highly accurate

Plant biologists from The University of Western Australia have made an important discovery about rising temperatures and wheat crops—and subsequently learned that the Romans suspected the effect more than 2000 years ago (basically during Hellenic times, so I'm putting it up, because this did not come to "The Romans" in a vacuum).

The study, published in Scientific Reports, revealed what happens when wheat plants cannot get enough oxygen because of flooding. The scientists found the wheat was more susceptible to damage from flooding as the temperature got warmer—only to later read a Roman farming handbook that hinted at the same effect.

De Agri Cultura, believed to be written by Cato the Elder in 160 BC, suggests rainfall can be left on wheat fields through the cold part of winter but will damage the crops if not removed by spring. Lead researcher Dr. Shaobai Huang from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology at UWA said the study looked at what different types of wheat plants make inside their cells to help them cope with a lack of oxygen.

"We tested the plants at 15°C to 28°C, and we found a dramatic negative impact on how well wheat plants recovered from a lack of oxygen under the higher temperatures. Not only is temperature arguably more important than the type of wheat, but small temperature changes can make a huge difference. At 20°C they were fine but at 24°C they suffered really badly."

ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology Director at UWA, Professor Harvey Millar, said climate change was poised to deliver a double blow to wheat plants, with both increasing temperatures and a greater chance of flooding. Professor Millar said:

"This research shows that we don't need temperatures to rise at the hottest part of the year to have a big impact on our crops. It might just be the difference between having a cool spring or a warm spring."

But Professor Millar said being able to understand the mechanism inside wheat cells that is behind the 2000-year-old agricultural advice offered new hope to farmers.

"The Romans knew the problem but they didn't have any way to try and find a solution, other than to drain the field. Today we now know that amino acids play an important role in how plants respond to a lack of oxygen. Based on this new research we may be able to come up with a breeding solution, because after 2000 years we finally understand the mechanism behind the damage to wheat."

• Monday, April 30, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs Roman

PAT ritual announcement: sacrifice to Leukaspis

The Attikos deme Erkhia was located near the modern Spata, approximately twenty kilometers (twelve miles) east of Athens, with the deme center located at Magoula. The deme of Erkhia is unique as we have recovered an elaborate sacrificial calendar--the Greater Demarkhia--listing sacrifices, costs and rules for the festivals held under the supervision of the demarch. The calendar prescribes 59 annual sacrifices to 46 separate divinities, including heroes, nymphs and Gods, and some of them seem unique to the deme.

The Gods most frequently honored at Erkhia were Zeus, Apollon, Kourotrophos ('She who raises the young') and Athena. A few times a year, the men traveled to Athens to sacrifice to Zeus an Athena 'of the city', to Apollon Lykeios, and to Demeter of Eleusis. For worship at the deme, Erkhia had its own Akropolis, where the same Theoi were worshipped as on the Akropolis at Athens, as well as more obscure Gods, like Zeus Epopetes, the Heroines, the Herakleidai, the nymphs, and the Tritopateres, as well as local heroes like Leukaspis ('he of the white shield') and Epops.

Two of these sacrifices are upcoming: the one to the Leukaspis on the 20th of Mounikhion and the sacrifice to the Tritopatores on the 21th of Mounikhion. This is an announcement for the PAT ritual for the sacrifice to Leukaspis.

Leukaspis is the name of a good few heroes in Hellenic mythology. The most famous is the one depicted here on a drachma from Syracuse--designed around 405-400 BC by Eukleidas. Leukaspis, 'He of the White Shield' was a famed warrior and hero and tied to the myth of Herakles:

“While Heracles was making the circuit of Sicily at this time he came to the city which is now Syracuse, and on learning what the myth relates about the Abduction of Kore, he offered sacrifices to the Goddesses on a magnificent scale, and after dedicating to Her the fairest bull of his herd and casting it in the spring Cyanê, he commanded the natives to sacrifice each year to Kore and to conduct at Cyanê a festive gathering and a sacrifice in splendid fashion. He then passed with his cattle through the interior of the island, and when the native Sicani opposed him in great force, he overcame them in a notable battle and slew many of their number, among whom, certain writers of myths relate, were also some distinguished generals who receive the honours accorded to Heroes even to this day, such as Leucaspis, Pediacrates, Buphonas, Glychatas, Bytaeas, and Crytidas.” (Diod. Sic. IV 23)

As he was a Sican of Sicily, and apparently non-Hellenic, it's quite unlikely he was the one worshipped at the deme of Erkhia. It was most likely another Leukaspis that was a local hero. What, exactly, the source of this Leukaspis' renown was has been lost to us.

Alternatively, Noel Robertson in 'Religion and Reconciliation in Greek Cities', page 173, notes:

“When we meet Leupaspis at Erchia, we should not imagine that a Sican hero was brought to Attica.  Instead, the same name has been given to similar powers in the two places.”

Leukaspis appears not to be so much a war hero in Erkhia but a, what Robertson describes as a 'functional hero'. In Hellenic warfare a hoplite presses on the enemy with his shield, so that a buffering wind may well be likened to a shield-bearing warrior. As such, Leukaspis might have been a power associated with winds and tied to the begetting of a good harvest. So we wrote the ritual in that sense and used the two Orphic Hymns that best fit, To Zephyros and To Notos.

According to the Greater Demarkhia, the sacrifice to Leukaspis was a ram, along with a 'libation not of wine'. In modern times, a libation of milk, honey, and/or water will most certainly do.

You can find the ritual for the PAT ritual to Leukaspis here and join the community page here. The sacrifice to Leukaspis will take place on May 6th at 10 am EDT.

• Sunday, April 29, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture current affairs Elaion Erkhia festivals Leukaspis PAT

Ancient seaside fortification wall found on Lesvos island

Archaeologists have discovered part of the ancient seaside fortification wall in Mytilene town on Lesvos, during a rescue excavation on a plot of land in the northern ancient harbor; which is known today as Epano Skala.

It is a structure of voluminous carved blocks of local stone, part of the 3rd century BC wall, with repairs done during the Roman period, archaeologists.

Part of the same wall has also been found in the archaeological site of the ancient merchant gallery of the Hellenistic years, also in the area of ​​Epano Skala in Mytilene. The gallery is also made of the same stone.

According to archaeologists, this is an important finding for the history of ancient Lesvos and the landscape of the area 2,000 years ago.

• Saturday, April 28, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs modern Greece

PAT ritual announcement: the Olympieia

On May 5th, Elaion will host a PAT ritual for the Olympieia, in honor of Olympian Zeus. Will you join us at the usual 10 a.m. EDT?

 

Most worship of Olympian Zeus took place around or during the Olympic games in Olympia. In 550 BC, however, the tyrant Peisistratos (Πεισίστρατος) decided to build a temple to Olympian Zeus in Athens. The temple, which became known as the Naos tou Olympiou Dios (Ναὸς τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου Διός), was demolished by his sons, Hippias (Ἱππίας) and Hipparchos (Ἵππαρχος), after Peisistratos' death, but replaced by the foundations of a grander structure. Hippias was expelled in 510 BC, and the project abandoned for three hundred years. The project--which was epic in scale--was seen as hubristic and bad form. Aristotle wrote about it in his Politics:

"Another art of the tyrant is to sow quarrels among the citizens; friends should be embroiled with friends, the people with the notables, and the rich with one another. Also he should impoverish his subjects; he thus provides against the maintenance of a guard by the citizen and the people, having to keep hard at work, are prevented from conspiring. The Pyramids of Egypt afford an example of this policy; also the offerings of the family of Cypselus, and the building of the temple of Olympian Zeus by the Peisistratidae, and the great Polycratean monuments at Samos; all these works were alike intended to occupy the people and keep them poor." (Part XI)

The temple project was revived from 174 BC to 164 BC, when King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who presented himself as the earthly embodiment of Zeus, changed the design and put builders to work. The project halted again after his death. What followed was a period of disarray with looting, some minor attempts at restoration, and lots of neglect, until the project was finally completed in the second century AD, by Roman emperor Hadrian.

In 267, the temple was badly damaged during the Herulian sack of the city, and very few--if any--attempt was made to restore it. By 425, the worship of the Hellenic and Roman Gods was banned by Christian emperor Theodosius II, and the temple was slowly dismantled for building materials.

Even in its half finished state, Peisistratus and those who came after him, held a festival at the structure: the Olympieia, celebrated on the 19th of Mounikhion. For how long the festival was celebrated is unclear, but it died out somewhere during the reign of Hellas--most likely after the death of the Peisistratidae--before being brought back in the second century BC, as the temple was completed. The festival was a military one and featured a procession and contests by the Athenian cavalry. Also attested are large scale sacrifices of bulls to Olympian Zeus.

You will find the ritual for the event here and you can join the community page here.

• Friday, April 27, 2018
  Elaion festivals Olympeia Olympian Zeus PAT

Repost: Is your life religious, or are you religious in life?

There is a difference between the two, and although neither is 'better', or 'more valuable', it is something to consider, at least. Figuring out this question for yourself will come with a lot of clarity. That I can assure you. So, what is the difference? Religion is an interesting thing. For me, who grew up in a non-religious household, religion was something I had to learn. I started out not believing, then I wanted to believe, and over the years, I found myself religious. It took a while, to be honest. I grew up with the sense there was something there, something to explain some of the most important aspects of my life, but what (which eventually turned into 'who') was there, was a question that felt very foreign.

Religion is like a muscle; you can train it. It involves training your brain to see the divine in everything. This has nothing to do with you eyes, by the way. Eyes see--or don't see--everything. It's the brain that filters. And even if you're blind (in whatever way), there is no reason why you cannot invest in the mental pathways to a religious life. To live a religious life means to see the divine in everything, to live a life with the Gods always in mind. To shape yourself in the image They desire of you, to perform pious rites of your own free will, and to spread their message to whomever wants to hear it.

Followers of this blog are well aware I'm a very religious person. I practice to serve the Theoi. They are always on my mind, and I try to honor them with everything I do. I try to keep Their lessons in mind always, and base my life off of that. I'm not sure if that makes me a fundamentalist. I don't think it does, as I suspect the root of that entire conversation lies in people reacting strongly to being told what they should or should not do. If it does, though, I really hope my fundamentalism doesn't bother anyone; I've been very clear that I do not have a patent to the One True Way™, nor would I ever want to impose my views upon anyone. I might share them with you, but never with the intention of imposing them on you. Also, if you don't like my blog, or my person, you do not have to return to it. It would sadden me to see you go, but I would understand it.

I don't like the word 'fundamentalism', and I wish Sabina Magliocco had chosen another term. I understand wanting to be controversial--it's a sure-fire way to get readers or listeners--but putting the label 'fundamentalist' on something or someone tends to demonize them, as well as put an end to any kind of discussion. I also wish Magliocco had been clearer about the group she's talking about. I usually would not encourage finger pointing, but right now all the Pagan groups are accusing each other and the rifts that were already emerging within the community are only getting bigger. If Magliocco had a clear group in mind, I really wish she would have just come out and name it. Accuse one who is present, and all.

Magliocco and fundamentalism aside, there is a second way to honor the Gods: by being religious in life. By acknowledging the Gods and following a calendar that suits you, by making Them a part of your life, but not the main event. Religion, as a path to happiness. Obviously, this is not my way, but I support anyone for whom this manner of worship feels right. As I have said before, I don't have knowledge of the One True Way™, I just know what works for me.

Figuring out what place the Gods take in your life brings clarity and peace of mind; you can try to follow a different path, but if it does not suit you, you won't find much happiness in it. This can be a bit of a search, however, and it'll involve asking yourself the hard questions. Sometimes, it means taking some flack for your ideas. In the end, it'll be worth it, though, because not only will you have discovered something about yourself, you will have discovered a way to honor the Gods that you can stick with for years.

• Thursday, April 26, 2018
  current affairs faith Hellenismos 101 personal

Athos, the Thracian giant who begot Mount Athos

I'm going to have to have someone else tell you a story today, because I am extremely swamped! Today, the story of Athos, the mountain God who created Mount Athos. More tomorrow!

• Wednesday, April 25, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture Athos Mythology 101 personal

Feature: The world’s oldest living olive tree is on Crete

The Greek Reporter has a lovely little portrait up about the  oldest olive tree in the world, which happens to be on Crete.

The Vouves ancient tree is more than 3000 years old, has a trunk circumference of 12.5 meters, a diameter of 4.6 meters and belongs to the local variety of tsounati grafted at a height of 3 meters on a wild olive tree. Because of the grafting, its trunk is so beautifully shaped by nature that it resembles a sculpture. It's located in the village of Ano Vouves of Kissamos in Chania, Crete.In 1990, according to a unanimous decision of the prefecture of Chania, the Vouves Olive Tree was declared a Natural Monument of great importance.

The fruits of the evergreen olive tree make the best olive oil in the world, making the area the cradle of olive cultivation in Crete. The trunk of the tree is hollow as there is no heartwood, so the olive is renewed outward and the heartwood gradually rots. Since the olive tree is constantly renewing its wood, it is essentially a symbol of immortality.

Thousands of tourists visit the stunning tree every summer to marvel at it and learn its history. Mostly they are impressed by its enormous shape and the imposing volume of the trunk, but also by the fact that it remains alive and fruitful for 3000 years without pause.

The location of the olive tree, as well as the whole hill that hosts some villages, has thousands of olive trees and the villages produce the best olive oil in the world.

• Tuesday, April 24, 2018
  bloggers I admire current affairs Krete modern Greece

PAT ritual announcement: the Mounikhia

The Mounikhia (Μουνιχιας), the festival after which the month was named, is celebrated on the sixteenth of Mounichion. On this day of the full moon, Artemis Mounikhia (Αρτεμις Μουνυχια) was honored at the hill of Munikhia, for granting the Hellenes victory in the Battle of Salamis (Ναυμαχία τῆς Σαλαμῖνος).

During the festival, young girls walked in procession to the temple on top of the hill carrying green boughs, while the rest of the celebrants followed, carrying special cakes called 'amphiphontes' ('shining all round’). These round white cakes were adorned with dadia (little torches)--lit candle--and were supposed to represent the full moon. A she-goat is also attested as a sacrifice.

During this festival, an amphiphon was sacrificed to Artemis. It was a cheese pie on which candles were lit. Most likely, the amphiphon was a type of popanon; this is a large, round, flat cake with one or more, upright, protruding, knobs made from flour and cheese. The flat version of the cake, the popanon kathemenon was offered to Artemis, amongst others, as well as one with twelve knobs. We've seen this before for the Delphinia.

If you want to learn more about the festival and its history, please read this blog post.

To honour Artemis on this day, Elaion is organizing a PAT ritual. Will you be celebrating the Mounikhia with us? There will be two times: just after your dusk on1 May, or at our regular 10 a.m. EDT on 2 May As always, we hope you will join us at your oikos to honour Artemis, our eternal protector. You can join the community page here and find the ritual here.

• Monday, April 23, 2018
  Artemis Artemis Mounikhia current affairs Elaion festivals mounikhia PAT

Isocrates on good people

Isocrates (Ἰσοκράτης), 436–338 BC, was an ancient Hellenic rhetorician. He was one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and written works.

Hellenic rhetoric is commonly traced to Corax of Syracuse, who first formulated a set of rhetorical rules in the fifth century BC. His pupil Tisias was influential in the development of the rhetoric of the courtroom, and by some accounts was the teacher of Isocrates. Within two generations, rhetoric had become an important art, its growth driven by social and political changes such as democracy and courts of law.

I came upon a quote from "Panathenaicus" yesterday that I would like to share with you, because it resonated with me. I like these types of people as well, and I realized that I am very fortunate to know many who fit this description. Thank you!

“Which people do I call educated when I set aside the arts, sciences, and specialties? First, I prize those who handle well the events they meet each day and who have an appropriate judgment for each and the ability to plot the most advantageous path through them.

Then, I esteem those who always treat the people they are near appropriately and justly and who bear the unpleasantness and meanness of others with ease and good temper, and comport themselves towards their associates as lightly and measuredly as possible.

Then, I value those who always control their desires, who are not overcome by their misfortunes, but manage them bravely in a fashion worthy of the nature which we all happen to share.

Fourth—and most important—I consider people educated who are not ruined by their successes, who do not rebel against themselves and become arrogant, but instead remain positioned to be reflective and do not delight more in the goods they have received by chance than those which were theirs from the beginning by nature or thought. Those who have a mind well-fit not just to one of these qualities but to all of them are the men I say are prudent, complete people exhibiting all the virtues.” [30-32]

• Sunday, April 22, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture ethics Isocrates personal

Drone video of ancient Mycenae

Just something pretty today: aerial footage of the ancient site of ancient Mycenae.

Mycenae, located about 90 kilometers (56 miles) southwest of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese, is regarded as the most important and richest palatial center of the Late Bronze Age in Greece.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site is renowned for its technical and artistic achievements but also its spiritual wealth, which spread around the Mediterranean world between 1600 and 1100 BC and played a vital role in the development of classical Hellenic culture.

The palatial administrative system, the monumental architecture, the impressive artifacts and the first testimonies of Greek language, preserved on Linear B tablets, are unique elements of the Mycenaean culture; a culture that inspired the great poet Homer to compose his famous epics. At its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares.

UNESCO says that the monuments of Mycenae maintain their authenticity since the various restoration works carried out in the past were based on the international standards for the intervention on monuments, on archaeological evidence and on architectural remains of the Mycenaean period.

• Saturday, April 21, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs mycean Mycenae Mycenaean videos

PAT ritual announcement: the Delphinia

On Mounuchion 6, the Athenian festival of the Delphinia (Δελφίνια) starts in honor of Apollon and Artemis. To celebrate this festival, Elaion is hosting a PAT ritual at 10 am EDT on April 22. Will you be joining us?

The Delphinia is a festival to ask for the protection of all ships and sailors, to ask for guidance for young boys and girls transitioning into adulthood and--as a festival of purification--the Delphinia can be interpreted to be open to all who are going through a time of transition and/or struggle.

What is known about this festival is that virgin girls walked to the Delphinion (Δελφίνιον) atop the Acropolis in procession, carrying olive branches bound with wool (known as 'iketiria') and baked cakes known as Popana, made of soft cheese and flower. There is overwhelming evidence that the festival was held on the sixth of the month of Mounukhion, most notably from Plutarch, but the seventh of same month is also considered a possible date, quite possibly because the festivities could have taken place in the daylight hours of the sixth day, which is the same day as the start of the seventh of the month, as dusk rained in a new day.

Plutarch connects the sixth of the month Mounukhion to Apollon and Theseus--most importantly to Theseus' quest for the Minotaur--in his 'Life of Theseus'. Theseus vows to look over those the lots choose to be offered to the Minotaur in the maze on Krete. Roughly in the month of Mounukhion, the seafaring season started. It's therefor not odd that lots would have been cast about this time, for the youths--and everyone else with business across the sea--would set sail as soon as the weather allowed. The rising of the Pleiades, located in the constellation of Taurus, around late April, the beginning of May, was a signal for the boldest of sea-goers that the treacherous sea was at least moderately accessible. Still, it would be at least several months before the favoured seafaring season started, so anyone braving the sea, could probably use some protection. Somewhere shortly after the Delphinia would have been Theseus' first opportunity to sail to Krete, but it would place his return almost five months later; quite some time for a three day journey (one way) in favourable conditions.

During the Delphinia, young maidens presented Apollon Delphinion, and perhaps Artemis Delphinia, with the iketiria Theseus had presented them with as well, in the hopes of receiving for the Athenians the same guidance and protection at sea as the Kretan colonists, as well as Theseus and the youths, had gotten.

A connection can also be made with Theseus visiting the shrine of Apollon Delphinios as an opportunity for purification before his great quest, as the young supplicants who prepared for their personal collective journeys into adulthood would desire purification of their own, and Apollon in many of his epithets is a purifier. Also, in a little less than a month, the Thargelia took place in Delos, an event where the births of Artemis, and especially Apollon were celebrated. The rites at the Delphinia might have been part of the purification processes for those who were to go to Delos (with thanks to Daphne Lykeia for this interpretation).

As a festival of purification, the Delphinia can be interpreted to be open to all who are going through a time of transition and/or struggle. A divine purification of miasma might allow you to focus better on these issues, and receive guidance from the Theoi more easily--like Theseus, who purified himself at the Delphinion and prayed for the guidance of Aphrodite directly thereafter. Aphrodite made Ariadne fall for him, saving his life and those of the young men and women in the process.

One can celebrate this day by offering both Apollon and Artemis hymns, libations, and Popana cakes, and presenting Artemis with an iketiria, an olive branch wrapped with white wool, if you are a young female looking for aid. An iketiria was primarily used in rites of supplication.

The popana (or popanon) should be a flat cake with a single 'knob' in the center. We don't have a surviving recipe, but Cato's recipes for 'libum' seems to hold many of the same ingredients. It goes as follows:

"'Make libum by this method. Break up two pounds of cheese well in a mortar. When they will have been well broken up, put in a pound of wheat flour or, if you wish it to be more delicate, half a pound of fine flour and mix it well together with the cheese. Add one egg ...and mix together well. Then make into bread, places leaves beneath, and cook slowly on a hot hearth under an earthen pot."

That's a lot of Popana. Make this if you're with a large group, else the recipe would look something like this for something the size of a good loaf of bread or its equivalent in smaller portions:

- 14 ounces good ricotta or any fresh cheese, preferably unpasteurized (ricotta should always be drained overnight in a colander)

- 4 ounces (approx) flour, preferably farro

- 1 large egg

- a pinch of salt

- several bay leaves, preferably fresh

- olive oil, for the pan

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

You can either make large cakes or small ones. If you're making large ones, line a baking pan or sheet with bay leaves and brush them lightly with olive oil. If you don't have enough leaves to cover the surface, distribute the leaves as best you can. If you are going to make smaller cakes, brush one leaf with oil for each cake you are going to make.

Knead all the ingredients (except the bay leaves) until well blended. Add flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Shape the dough into a single, or several smaller cakes. Place either the large cake on top of the bay leaves, or put each little one on top of one. Then put it in a baking pan and into the oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes for a large cake, or (much) less long for smaller cakes. Just watch them until they are firm and light golden brown. Don't forget to enjoy it yourself!

The ritual for the event can be found here and you can join the community here.

• Friday, April 20, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture Apollon Delphinia Elaion festivals Mythology 101 PAT Theseus

The digitization of ancient Corinth to be created by Google Arts and Culture

As part of the world’s largest three-dimensional digital archive of endangered monuments to be created by Google Arts & Culture and the non-profit company CyArk, ancient Corinth will be digitalized. It is an initiative – on the occasion of the World Heritage Day on 18 April – to preserve the world’s civilization.

Google provides everyone through Google Arts & Culture with digital access to the data base of CyArk data collected around the world. So everyone can get in touch with the great works of world culture either through Google Arts & Culture’s “Open Heritage” website or through the iOS or Android free app.

The three-dimensional representation of more than 25 monuments from various parts of the Earth is already available. It has been accomplished with the use of sophisticated digital archeology techniques, such as laser scanners and drones.

• Thursday, April 19, 2018
  archeology Corinth current affairs

The Digital Corpus of Literary Papyri (DCLP) is now available

Scholars from Heidelberg University and New York University (USA) spearheaded the development of the newly released open-access database, which offers information about and transcripts of Greek and Latin texts preserved on fragments of papyri, but also, for example, on ceramic shards or wooden tablets.

The database is accessible to anyone and currently has information on nearly 15,000 fragments of ancient works. Approximately 1,000 of these entries include the corresponding Greek or Latin texts.
Literary works by major authors such as Homer, Sappho and Virgil, as well as subliterary documents like medical tracts and grammars, are among the texts, which date between the 4th-century BC and 8th-century AD and originate from Egypt and other Mediterranean regions. The DCLP offers a number of research options and efficient search functions.

It is designed particularly for scholars of ancient literature and culture, primarily classical philologists, theologians, and historians. “One special feature of the database is that the fragments are provided open-access and in a data format that conforms to robust standards”, explains Dr Rodney Ast of the Institute for Papyrology of Heidelberg University, who jointly directs the project with Prof. Dr Roger Bagnall of New York University.

The Digital Corpus of Literary Papyri is based on the infrastructure of Papyri.info, an internet portal administered by Duke University (USA) that provides access to transcripts and metadata on approximately 55,000 documents, such as ancient administrative records, letters, and contracts.
The Digital Corpus of Literary Papyri also features an online editing system for submission of content for peer review and subsequent inclusion in the database, thus ensuring its continual expansion. Other participants in the development of the DLCP include Dr James Cowey of the Institute for Papyrology at Ruperto Carola as well as classical scholars from the universities of Würzburg and Leuven (Belgium), the Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi (Italy), and Duke University.

The project was financed by the National Endowment for the Humanities in the USA and the German Research Foundation. Find out more: http://litpap.info.

• Wednesday, April 18, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs

PAT ritual announcement: the Herakleidai

The Herakleidai (Ἡρακλεῖδαι) are the descendants of Herakles. After the death of Herakles, his sons were pursued by Eurystheus. They claimed protection in Athens. The Athenians refused to surrender them and in the war that ensued Eurystheus' sons were killed. Eurystheus himself, who had fled in a chariot, was pursued and had his head cut off by Hyllos, son of Heracles. After the death of Eurystheus, the Herakleidai attacked the Peloponnesos and captured all the cities. When a plague ravaged the country the oracle of Delphi declared that this happened because the Herakleidai had returned before the proper time. So they retired and, after some unfortunate attempts to return, they made themselves masters of the Peloponnesus three generations later. In Erkhia, a yearly sacrifice was made to the sons (and hopefully the daughters) of Herakles and we will do the same on 20 April, at the usual 10 am EDT.

The Herakleidai claimed power in the Peloponnesos because they were descended, through Herakles, from Perseus, the founder of Mycenae. The current ruler op the Peloponnesos, Tisamenus, was a Pelopid, a descendant of Pelops. They also claimed that Tyndareus, ruler of Sparta, had been expelled by Hippokoon and argued that Herakles, having killed Hippokoon and his sons, had given the land in trust to Tyndareus. As such, they were the true rulers of both.

Hyllos, son of Herakles, sought to effect the return to power of the Herakleidai, so he went to Delphi and inquired how to go about this. The oracle declared that 'they should await the third crop before returning'. Hyllos supposed that the third crop signified a three year wait. He did, then returned with his army to Peloponnesos. He failed and was killed by Ekhemos. 

Aristomakhos, son of Kleodaeos, son of Hyllos, had been also killed in battle. His son Temenos blamed the oracle for the death of his father. He said that they had obeyed the oracle but the Oracle answered that they were themselves to blame, for they did not understand the prophecies, seeing that by 'the third crop' it was meant, not a crop of the earth, but a crop of a generation. 

So Temenos waited. He readied the army and built ships at Naupaktos. While the army was there, a soothsayer appeared. Karnos recited oracles but the Herakleidai took him for a magician sent by the Peloponnesians to be the ruin of the army. So Hippotes (son of Phylas, son of Antiochos, son of Herakles) threw a javelin at him and killed him. But Karnos was, indeed, a seer of Apollon and the one who established the cult of Apollo Karneos among the Dorians. Appollon destroyed the naval force and made the army suffer from famine. Eventually it had to disband.

After these two failed attempts, Temenos went back to the Oracle of Delphi to ask how he could stop the misfortune that had befallen them. The Oracle advised him to banish the Hippotes for ten years and to take for his guide 'the Three-Eyed One'. So the Herakleidai banished Hippotes and started searching for the Three-Eyed One.

One day they met Oxylos who was sitting on a one-eyed horse. So, guessing he was the man described by the Oracle, they made him their guide. Oxylos had fled from Aetolia to Elis on account of the accidental murder of Thermios (or Alcidokos, depending on the account). So, with Oxylos as a guide, the Herakleidai invaded the Peloponnesos again and finally defeated them. They slew Tisamenos, the last of the Pelopides to rule the Peloponnesos, and claimed it in its entirety. 

The return of the Herakleidai took place three generations after the end of the Trojan War and the death of Nestor after his return home. When the Herakleidai conquered the Peloponnesos, they cast lots for the cities. Argos was allotted to Temenos. The twin sons of Aristodemos, Prokles and Eurysthenes, got Lacedaemon and Sparta. Messenia was allotted to Kresphontes, who drove the descendants of Nestor from Messenia. Oxylos, for his help, became king of Elis after the victory of the Herakleidai.

What follows is a (probably incomplete) list of those who were called 'Herakleidai' at the time described.

The first generation:

Alcaeos, son of Herakles and Omphale. Father of Belos.

Antiochos, son of Herakles and Meda. Father of Phylas.

Hyllos, son of Herakles and Deianira or Melite. Father of Iole of Kleodaeos and Evaekhme.

Ktesippos, son of Herakles and Astydamia or Deianira. Father of Thrasyanor.

Phaestos, son of Herakles and an unknown mother. Father of Rhopalos.

The second generation:

Belos, son of Alcaeos.

Kleodaeos, son of Hyllos. Father of Aristomachos and Lanassa.

Phylas, son of Antiochos. Father of Hippotes and Thero.

Rhopalos, son of Phaestos. Father of Hippolytos.

Thrasyanor, son of Ktessipos. Father of Agamedidas and Antimachos.

The third generation:

Agamedidas, son of Thrasyanor. Father of Thersander.

Anaxandra, daughter of Thersander. Mother by Eurysthenes of King Agis of Sparta.

Antimakhos, son of Thrasyanor. Father of Deiphontes.

Aristomachos, son of Kleodaeus. Father of Temenos, Kresphontes and Aristodemos.

Eurysthenes, son of Aristodemos. Father of King Agis.

Hippotes, son of Phylas. Father of Aletes.

Hippolytos, son of Rhopalos. Father of Lacestades.

Lathria, daughter of Thersander. Mother by Prokles of King Sous of Sparta.

Prokles, son of Aristodemos. Father by Lathria of Sous and Eurypon.

The fourth generation:

Aristodemos, son of Aristomachos. Father of Eurysthenes and Prokles.

Aletes, son of Hippotes.

Deiphontes, son of Antimakhos. Father of Antimenes, Xanthippos, Argeos, and Orsobia.

Kresphontes, son of Aristomachos. Father of Aepytos.

Lakestades, son of Hippolytos.

Temenos, son of Aristomachos. Father of Agelaos, Eurypylos, Kallias and Hyrnetho (or Kisos, Kerynes, Phalkes, Agraeos, Isthmios and Hyrnetho).

Thersander, son of Agamedidas. Father of Lathria and Anaxandra.

The fifth generation:

Agelaus, son of Temenos.

Agraeus, son of Temenos.

Aepytos, son of Kresphontes.

Eurypylus, son of Temenos.

Hyrnetho, daughter of Temenos.

Isthmios. Son of Temenos.

Kallias, son of Temenos.

Kerynes, son of Temenos.

Kisos, son of Temenos. Father of Phlias and Medon.

Phalkes, son of Temenos.

The ritual for the event can be found here and you can join the community page here.

• Tuesday, April 17, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture Elaion Hēraklēs Mythology 101 PAT The Herakleidai