The History of the Ancient Greek City of Thebes

Patricia Claus
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The History of the Ancient Greek City of Thebes
Thebes
“View of Thebes,” 1819, by Hugh W. Williams. Credit: Google Art Project/Public Domain Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

The ancient Greek city of Thebes played a central role in the long pageant of Greek history; appearing in many of the age-old legends of Greek mythology, it was part of the Mycenaean civilization during the Bronze Age.

Later becoming embroiled in the many conflicts between it and other Greek city states, Thebes (Θήβα, Thíva), in Boeotia, Central Greece once was the setting for the exploits of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and other figures from Greek mythology.

Archaeological digs in Thebes and its vicinity have revealed evidence of a Mycenaean-era settlement, as well as clay tablets with the Linear B script, indicating the importance of the site in the Bronze Age.

Thebes played central role in Greek mythology, military history of nation

Thebes, the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia, was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy, an alliance that was founded in 379 BC after a rebellion freed the cities of Boeotia from Spartan dominance.

It was a major rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under the Persian king Xerxes. Theban forces under the command of Epaminondas ended the Spartan hegemony at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. The Sacred Band of Thebes (an elite military unit) famously fell at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC against Philip II and Alexander the Great.

Prior to its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Thebes was such a major force in Greek history that it was the most dominant city-state at the time of the Macedonian conquest. During the Byzantine period, the city became famous for its silks as well.

Thebes is situated on a plain between Lake Yliki (ancient Hylica) to the north, and the Cithaeron mountains, which divide Boeotia from Attica, to the south. It is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of Athens.

Cadmea, Thebes
The remains of the ancient citadel of Thebes, the Cadmea, whose founding dates back to time immemorial. Credit: Nefasdicere/CC BY-SA 3.0

The record of the earliest days of Thebes was preserved in legends that rival the myths of Troy in their cultural ramifications and the influence that they exerted on the literature of the classical age.

The foundation of the citadel Cadmea by Cadmus, and the growth of the Spartoi, or “Sown Men” which was most likely an etiological myth explaining the origin of the Theban nobility which bore that name, was also a seminal legend about the history of Thebes.

The immolation of Semele and the advent of the god Dionysus, as well as the building of the famed “seven-gated” wall by Amphion, which were referenced in the tales of Oedipus and Antigone, and the sagas of the origins of Zethus, Antiope and Dirce, played their part as well in cementing this city in the long history of the Greek nation.

The tale of Laius, whose misdeeds culminated in the tragedy of Oedipus and the wars of the “Seven against Thebes” and the Epigoni, and the downfall of his house, are also part of the lore of Thebes, as well as Laius’ pederastic rape of Chrysippus, which may have provided an etiology for the practice of pedagogic pederasty for which Thebes was famous.

Silver stater Thebes
A silver stater, or coin, showing the Theban shield and an image of the god Dionysus. Credit: Exekias /CC BY 2.0

Legendary founder of Thebes was Cadmus, brother of Queen Europa

The Greeks believed that Thebes was founded by Cadmus, a Phoenician king from Tyre (now in Lebanon) who was the brother of Queen Europa. Cadmus was famous for teaching the Phoenician alphabet and building on the Acropolis of Thebes, which was named the Cadmeia in his honor; it became an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural center of the region.

Archaeological digs in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves, which are small stone coffin-like boxes or ossuaries used for the bodies of the dead, dating back to Mycenaean times. These graves contained weapons, ivory, and tablets written in the Linear B script — a precious link to the origin of this writing system.

The Dorians’ eventual conquest of Thebes is the origin of the stories of the successive attacks on that city.

The central position and military fortifications of the city raised it to a commanding position among the Boeotians, and from its early days its inhabitants established complete supremacy over the outlying towns.

By the time of Homer’s Iliad, which is believed to have been written around the middle of the eighth century BC, Thebes was already referred to as “Seven-Gated Thebes.”

In the late 6th century BC, Thebans had their first military conflict with the Athenians, who helped the small village of Plataea to keep its independence against them, and in 506 BC it repelled an attack into Attica.

Siding with Persians in Xerxes’ invasion of Greece

Historians speciulate that this long-standing rivalry with Athens may have led to Thebes siding with the Persians in their invasion of Greece in 480–479 BC. Although a contingent of 400 was sent to Thermopylae and remained there with Leonidas before being defeated alongside the Spartans, the governing aristocracy soon afterward joined King Xerxes I of Persia, fighting zealously on his behalf at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC.

The victorious Greeks subsequently punished Thebes by depriving it of the presidency of the Boeotian League; an attempt by the Spartans to expel it from the Delphic amphictyony, or religious association of tribes, was only frustrated by the intercession of Athens.

In 457 BC, Sparta, needing an ally against Athens, reversed her policy, reinstating Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. The great citadel of Cadmea served this purpose well by holding out as a base of resistance when the Athenians overran and occupied the rest of the country in 457–447 BC.

In the Peloponnesian War, the Thebans, embittered by the support that Athens gave to the smaller Boeotian towns, and especially to Plataea, were the firm allies of Sparta. In 424 BC, at the head of the Boeotian levy, they inflicted a severe defeat on an invading force of Athenians at the Battle of Delium.

After the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War, Thebes formed the nucleus of the league against Sparta. At the Battle of Haliartus in 395 BC and the Battle of Coronea in 394 BC, they again proved their military capacity by standing their ground against the fearsome Spartans.

However, the ultimate result of the war was especially disastrous to Thebes, while its power was further reduced in 382 BC, when a Spartan force occupied the citadel by a treacherous coup de main.

Three years later, the Spartan garrison in Thebes was expelled and a democratic constitution was set up in place of the traditional oligarchy. In the consequent wars with Sparta, the Theban army, trained and led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas, proved itself formidable.

Years of desultory fighting, in which Thebes established its control over all Boeotia, culminated in 371 BC in a remarkable victory over the Spartans at Leuctra. The winners were hailed throughout Greece as champions of the oppressed.

They carried their arms into Peloponnesus and at the head of a large coalition, permanently crippled the power of Sparta, in part by freeing many helot slaves, who formed the basis of the entire Spartan economy.

Decline and destruction of once-great city of Thebes

However, the predominance of Thebes was short-lived, with Thebes’ renewed rivalry with Athens, and the death of Epaminondas at the Battle of Mantinea in 362 BC; the city was then relegated to a secondary power.

In the Third Sacred War, in 356–346 BC with Phocis, Thebes finally lost its predominance in central Greece. The Thebans then lost the decisive battle of Chaeronea, and along with it every hope of reassuming control over Greece.

An unsuccessful revolt in 335 BC against Philip of Macedonia’s son Alexander the Great while he was campaigning in the north was punished by Alexander and his Greek allies with the destruction of the city; its territory was divided between the other Boeotian cities.

The Thebans themselves were cruelly sold into slavery.

Alexander spared only priests, leaders of the pro-Macedonian party and descendants of the poet Pindar. According to Plutarch, however, a special Athenian embassy, led by Phocion, an opponent of the anti-Macedonian faction, was able to persuade Alexander to give up his demands for the exile of leaders of the anti-Macedonian party — most particularly the orator Demosthenes — and not sell the people into slavery.

Hellenistic and Roman eras in Thebes

Plutarch, however, writes that Alexander grieved after his excess, granting them any request of favors.

Alexander’s father Philip had been raised in Thebes, albeit as a hostage; historians believe that Philip had later honored them, always seeking alliances with the Boeotians, even in the lead-up to the Battle of Chaeronea.

Thebes was also revered as the most ancient of all Greek cities, with a history of over 1,000 years by that time. Plutarch wrote that, during his later conquests, whenever Alexander came across a former Theban, he would attempt to redress his destruction of Thebes with favors to that individual.

Restoration by Cassander, successor to Alexander

Following Alexander the Great’s death in 323 BC, Thebes was re-established in 315 BC by his successor, Cassander. By this action, Cassander sought to rectify the perceived wrongs of Alexander – a gesture of generosity that earned the new leader much goodwill throughout Greece. Loyal allies in the Theban exiles then returned to resettle Thebes.

Cassander’s plan for rebuilding Thebes ultimately proved successful; the Athenians, for example, rebuilt much of the wall around the city. Major contributions were sent from Megalopolis, Messene, and even as far away as Sicily and Italy, for this purpose.

Despite the restoration, Thebes never again regained its former prominence. The city later became allied with Lysimachus and the Aetolian League.

Byzantine Thebes

During the early Byzantine period, Thebes served as a refuge against foreign invaders. From the 10th century onward, Thebes became a center of the important new silk trade, its silk workshops importing soaps and dyes from Athens. By the middle of the 12th century, the city had become the biggest producer of silks in the entire Byzantine empire, surpassing even the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.

The women of Thebes were famed for their skills in weaving the delicate threads. Theban silk was prized above all others during this period, both for its quality and its excellent reputation.

Although plundered by the Normans in 1146, Thebes quickly resumed its prosperous trades; it continued to grow rapidly until its conquest by the Latins during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.

It then became ruled by the Duchy of Athens as of the year 1210. Because of its great wealth, the city was selected by the Frankish dynasty de la Roche to be its capital, before it was permanently moved to Athens.

After 1240, the Saint Omer family controlled the city jointly with the dukes of the de la Roche family. The castle built by Nicholas II of Saint Omer on the Cadmea was one of the most beautiful of Frankish Greece.

Latin rule over Thebes lasted to 1458, when the Ottomans captured it. In the modern Greek State, Thebes served as the capital of the prefecture of Boeotia until the late 19th century, when Livadeia became the capital.

Notable Thebans

Notable people who hailed from Thebes in ancient times include the poet Pindar (c. 518–443 BC), the painters Aristides of Thebes (4th century BC); and Nicomachus of Thebes (4th century BC); and the Cynic philosopher Crates of Thebes (c. 365 – c. 285 BC).

Notably, St. Luke the Evangelist, who died in 84 AD, was said to have been buried in Thebes, although his remains were later taken to Padua, Italy.

A native of the ancient Greek city of Antioch, Luke was a physician; his polished Greek, beyond that of any other New Testament writer, has been n noted by scholars. Since he uses the term “we” in many different passages in the Book of Acts, it is believed that he accompanied St. Paul on many of his journeys.

New DNA analysis performed on the body that was in the ancient lead coffin in Padua tentatively supported the belief that it was indeed that of St. Luke, who is considered the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, according to a report from the New York Times.

Dr. Guido Barbujani, a population geneticist at the University of Ferrara, Italy, used DNA from a tooth found in the coffin, concluding that the DNA was indeed like that of people from the region of Antioch. Radiocarbon dating also showed that it had belonged to someone who died between the years of 72 A.D. and 416 A.D.

Ancient sources state that St. Luke died at the age of 84 in about the year 150 A.D. in Thebes. The coffin with his remains was first taken to Constantinople in 338 A.D. but was later transported to Padua, Italy.

Barbujani’s report was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.

The modern city of Thebes has an important archaeological museum, the remains of the Cadmea citadel, and scattered ancient ruins.

Greeks Are Descendants of the Mycenaeans, DNA Study Confirms

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Greeks Are Descendants of the Mycenaeans, DNA Study Confirms
Greeks Mycenaeans DNA
The tomb of Clytemnestra at Mycenae. Credit: Jean Housen /Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0

DNA evidence proves that Greeks are indeed descendants of the Mycenaeans, who ruled mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea from 1,600 BC to 1,200 BC.

The evidence comes from a well-publicized 2017 study in which scientists analyzed the genes from the teeth of nineteen people across various archaeological sites within mainland Greece and Crete.

Those included ten Minoans from Crete dating from 2900 BC to 1700 BC, four Mycenaeans from the archaeological site at Mycenae and other cemeteries on the Greek mainland dating from 1700 BC to 1200 BC., and five people from other early farming or Bronze Age (5400 BC. to 1340 BC) cultures in Greece and Turkey.

By comparing 1.2 million letters of genetic code, the researchers, who published their study in the journal, Nature, were able to plot how the individuals were related to each other.

DNA overlap was discovered between modern Greeks and Mycenaeans

After comparing the DNA of modern Greeks to ancient Mycenaeans, a genetic overlap was discovered that suggests that these ancient Bronze Age civilizations laid the genetic groundwork for later peoples.

The continuity between the Mycenaeans and living people is “particularly striking given that the Aegean has been a crossroads of civilizations for thousands of years,” said co-author George Stamatoyannopoulos of the University of Washington in Seattle.

This suggests that the major components of the Greeks’ ancestry were already in place in the Bronze Age after the migration of the earliest farmers from Anatolia set the template for the genetic makeup of Greeks and, in fact, most Europeans.

“The spread of farming populations was the decisive moment when the major elements of the Greek population were already provided,” says archaeologist Colin Renfrew of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the work.

Greeks Mycenaeans DNA
Mycenaean fresco depicting a woman. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain

Links between Minoans and Mycenaeans also found

One aspect that was revealed in the study was how the Mycenaeans themselves were closely related to the Minoan civilization, which flourished on the island of Crete from 2,000 BC to 1,400 BC.

Both cultures were shown to carry genes for brown hair and brown eyes, characteristics that are reflected on their frescoes and pottery despite having different languages.

The ancient Mycenaeans and Minoans were most closely related to each other, and they both got three-quarters of their DNA from early farmers who lived in Greece and southwestern Anatolia, which is now part of Turkey, the team reports today in Nature.

Both cultures additionally inherited DNA from people from the eastern Caucasus near modern-day Iran, suggesting an early migration of people from the east after the early farmers settled there but before Mycenaeans split from Minoans.

The Mycenaeans did have an important difference: They had some DNA—4 percent to 16 percent—from northern ancestors who came from Eastern Europe or Siberia.

According to Harvard population geneticist Iosif Lazaridis, any difference between the two civilizations suggests that a second wave of people came to mainland Greece from Eastern Europe but were unable to reach the island of Crete. In time they became known as the Mycenaeans.

Swedish Archaeologist Kristian Kristiansen at the University of Gothenburg commented on the significance of the study recently, saying that “The results have now opened up the next chapter in the genetic history of western Eurasia—and that of the Bronze Age Mediterranean.”

Greece Plans to Deploy Anti-Drone System Similar to Israel’s Iron Dome

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Greece Plans to Deploy Anti-Drone System Similar to Israel’s Iron Dome
Greece anti-drone
An Iron Dome launcher launching a missile. Credit: IDF, CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikipedia

Greece plans to deploy an anti-drone system similar to the Israeli Iron Dome, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias revealed on Wednesday.

Speaking on SKAI TV Dendias said that the “plan is under way.”

He added that by observing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, it was determined Greece needs anti-aircraft and anti-drone coverage. “It won’t happen tomorrow, but it will happen. There is a significant expenditure foreseen for this purpose,” he added.

As he noted, “Turkey has taken steps to produce drones, but Greece did not foresee [until now] that this gap in the defense capabilities should be bridged.”

Turkey’s Bayraktar drone concerns Greece

As drones change the face of modern warfare, their price sinks and their technological sophistication races ahead, more and more buyers are knocking on Turkey’s door. Its flagship Bayraktar TB2 drone has proven effective on battlefields in Ukraine, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and elsewhere. It generally costs less or performs better than rival models.

Like artificial intelligence, drone technology is developing by leaps and bounds, outpacing faltering attempts to regulate it. Drones can fire missiles, bombs, and guided rockets. Smaller ones can be used as weapons themselves, programmed to explode upon striking a target in a one-off “suicide” or “kamikaze” mission.

Israel’s anti-drone system a blueprint for Greece?

An incoming attack by more than 300 Iranian drones and ballistic missiles was the latest challenge to Israel’s air defense system, which already has been working overtime to cope with incoming rocket, drone, and missile attacks throughout the six-month war against Hamas.

Israel’s defense system with assistance from the US and Britain is credited with preventing serious damage or casualties.

The Iron Dome is a central component of Israel’s air defense system. Developed by Israel with US backing, it specializes in shooting down short-range rockets. It has intercepted thousands of rockets since it was activated early last decade, including thousands of interceptions during the current war against Hamas and Hezbollah.

Israel says it has a success rate of over 90 percent.

The Arrow is another system developed with the US and is designed to intercept long-range missiles, including the types of ballistic missiles Iran said it launched on Saturday. The Arrow, which operates outside the atmosphere, has been used in the current war to intercept long-range missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen.

Israel is likewise developing a new system to intercept incoming threats with laser technology. The government has said this system will be a game changer because it is much cheaper to operate than existing systems.

Serbia Slams Greece Over Kosovo’s Admission to the Council of Europe

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Serbia Slams Greece Over Kosovo’s Admission to the Council of Europe
Serbia Greece Kosovo
Former Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis drew the ire of Serbia for recommending the admission of Kosovo to the Council of Europe. Credit: PACE

Serbia’s representative slammed Greece’s rapporteur at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE) for recommending that Kosovo be admitted to the European human rights body.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) overwhelmingly passed a report recommending membership for Kosovo based on a report by former Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.

Serbia has strongly campaigned against membership for Kosovo, claiming that admitting the Balkan country would rubber stamp claims of human rights violations against Serbs and be considered a step towards recognizing its sovereignty.

Serbian representative Biljana Pantić Pilja called rapporteur Bakoyannis a “hypocrite,” adding, that Serbia was “a small nation but will never surrender – Zivela Srbija.”

The report by Bakoyannis said Kosovo is “broadly in line with the Council of Europe standards and that its Constitution is a very progressive instrument” aligned with various international conventions and human rights charters.

It also noted that “membership would strengthen human rights standards by ensuring access to the European Court of Human Rights for all those under Kosovo’s jurisdiction.”

The final membership decision now lies with the CoE’s Committee of Ministers, the organization’s executive body, which will meet in May. For Pristina’s membership to be approved, a two-thirds majority is required.

“Since 1951, the Committee of Ministers has not taken a decision different from the Opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; we believe that the next phase will also be completed successfully,” Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said after the vote.

“With Kosovo there, the Council of Europe gains a new and vibrant democracy, where the law rules and human rights are respected. Thanks to everyone. Congratulations to everyone,” Kurti said.

Serbia and Greece do not recognize Kosovo

Serbia and Greece do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state. Kosovo holds deep significance for Serbia. It contains many Serbian Orthodox Christian monasteries and is considered the cradle of Serbian civilization. The 1389 Battle of Kosovo, a defining moment in Serbian national identity, was fought there.

Kosovo’s population is predominantly Albanian, while Serbs are a minority. The bloody conflicts of the 1990s, fueled by ethnic tensions, still cast a shadow. Serbia views Kosovo as its rightful territory and fears an independent Kosovo could mistreat the Serbian minority.

Greece has historically emphasized the importance of respecting the territorial integrity of existing states. They worry that recognizing Kosovo could set a precedent that could be used to justify separatist movements within Greece itself.

Greece has close cultural and religious ties to Serbia, and they don’t want to take any actions that could be seen as undermining Serbia’s sovereignty.

Despite not recognizing Kosovo, Greece does maintain a constructive relationship with them. For instance, Greece supported the recent visa liberalization for Kosovo passport holders and participates in EU missions in Kosovo.

Related: Serbia President’s Alarming Message of Upcoming Balkan Conflict

Turkish Tourists Flock to Greek Islands During Eid Holiday

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Turkish Tourists Flock to Greek Islands During Eid Holiday
Turkish tourists Greek Islands
The island of Lesvos is among the favorite islands for Turkish tourists. Credit: Chris Kar, CC4/Wikipedia

Following Greece’s introduction of the visa-on-arrival program for Turkish tourists, around 20,000 Turks visited five Greek islands in the Aegean Sea throughout the nine-day Eid al-Fitr vacation, according to the Hurriyet daily.

The number of Turkish tourists visiting those Greek islands increased by 20 percent compared to the same period of last year, the paper says.

In the first 10 days of April, 3,800 Turkish travelers visited the Greek island of Lesvos, up from only 390 a year ago, while the number of Turks visiting Chios rose from 2,716 to 4,993.

Nearly 6,000 Turkish vacationers traveled to Rhodes during the Eid, up from 2,320 a year earlier. Samos and Kos welcomed 2,851 and 3,300 Turkish tourists, respectively.

In early April last year, some 5,969 Turks visited those five Greek islands.

Turkish tourists’ interest in Greek islands is likely to continue during the summer season as well as during the upcoming holidays on April 23rd National Sovereignty and Children’s Day as well as Eid al-Adha, said Engin Ceylan from the Association of the Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB).

Going on a vacation in Turkey is more costly due to inflation while vacationing on Greek islands has become more affordable for Turkish people, according to Ceylan.

Turkish visitors spend twice as much as tourists arriving on the island with charter flights, said Kostas Moutzouris, the Greek governor for the North Aegean region.

Greece has been offering fast-track visas for Turkish tourists to ten Eastern Aegean islands in a ground-breaking move that would increase tourist flows and promote the people-to-people relationship.

The move that was agreed upon at the meeting between Greek Prime Minster Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Athens last December will came into effect this tourist season.

The on-the-spot, seven-day visa will facilitate access to islands including Kalymnos, Limnos, Leros, Kos, Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, Symi, and Kastelorizo. These are all situated near the Turkish coast and are historically popular with Turkish visitors despite tense Greek-Turkish relations.

Previously, Turkish visitors faced a lengthy visa process via the Greek Consulate in Izmir. The new fast-track system simplifies entry with thousands already showing interest.

Greece’s islands favorites among Turkish tourists

One of the favorite destinations of Turkish tourists is Kos, which is easily accessible from the Turkish coast throughout the year. For the local economy and society, the benefits of good bilateral relations are important and were well-established quite a while ago.

Matina Voukelatou Christodoulidis, deputy mayor for Tourism and Culture, in Kos, told Deutsche Welle that the fast-track visa for Turkish nationals will confirm a reality that the islanders are already experiencing. The Turkish neighbors who choose to go on vacation to Kos are among the most loyal of customers.

“Over the years, they have established close friendships, professional relationships and even family ties on the island,” she said.

“Turkey is that neighboring country at the moment, with which we should have a common line in our tourism strategy,” she said in the framework of the ITB International Tourism Exhibition in Berlin. “It is a country that has a lot in common with Greece in terms of culture, food, dances and much more.”

Workers in Greece Strike in Protest to the Rising Cost of Living

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Workers in Greece Strike in Protest to the Rising Cost of Living
Strike Greece
Thousands are expected to join the strike on Wednesday. File photo. Credit: AMNA

Labor Unions in Greece have called a 24-hour strike on Wednesday in protest of the rise in the cost of living that affects hundreds of thousands of workers.

“We cannot live with dignity” is the central message of the protest organized by the Greek General Confederation of Labor (GSEE), the largest labor union in Greece.

GSEE says that despite increases to the minimum wage, thousands are in a worse economic situation than during the period of the economic crisis.

This month, Greece raised its monthly minimum gross wage by 6.4 percent to 830 euros, the fourth such increase in five years, as the country has been recovering from a decade-long financial crisis.

But workers say the increase in their wages is not enough to keep up with rising food and housing costs.

“The message is clear. Workers can’t make ends meet with bottom-most wages and ballooning prices,” GSEE, which represents some 2.5 million workers, said in a statement.

In a press briefing, GSEE says the rise in minimum wage will affect only 22 percent of all workers. “Workers remain stuck in the poverty zone and demand immediate and drastic measures to protect their income,” GSEE says.

“The increase in the minimum wage is not at the poverty line, it is poverty itself,” it notes and calls for a price cap on basic consumer goods for one year.”

Strike in Greece will paralyze public transport

The strike is expected to impact public transport services across Greece. During the strike, all three lines of the Athens metro and tram will be out of service while city buses will operate on a limited schedule from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Taxi drivers are holding a work stoppage from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. The national railway will also be affected, with the managing company, Hellenic Trains, announcing changes and cancelations on their website.

Additionally, the country’s seamen federation PNO will participate in the strike, resulting in ferries and boats remaining docked nationwide for the full 24 hours.

GSEE unionists will stage a protest rally at Klafthmonos Square at 11 a.m., while PAME, a union associated with the Greek Communist Party (KKE), will hold a separate rally a bit earlier at 10:30 a.m. at Syntagma Square. Delivery workers will conduct a protest motorcade in the center of the capital, commencing from Pedion tou Areos park at 5 p.m.

Greek journalists held a 24-hour strike Tuesday to protest the employers’ refusal to sign collective labor agreements in privately owned media, low wages, and a threat to plurality, their union said.

Related: Greeks Think Economy Is Biggest Future Threat, Survey Reveals

Greece ‘First in Europe’ to Ban Bottom Trawling in All Marine Protected Areas

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Greece ‘First in Europe’ to Ban Bottom Trawling in All Marine Protected Areas
Greece bottom trawling banned
Greece will ban bottom trawling in our national parks by 2026 and in all marine protected areas by 2030. Photo: Chania, Crete. Credit: Dimitra Damian/ Greek Reporter

Greece will ban bottom trawling in all of its marine protected areas by 2030, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Tuesday, making the the country the first in Europe to announce such a ban.

Speaking at the Our Ocean Conference in Athens, he said the country would become the first to bring an end to the damaging fishing practice in these protected areas. It will be banned in Greece’s three national marine parks, one of which is the largest in the East Mediterranean Sea, by 2026 with the rest following before the end of the decade.

Bottom trawling involves dragging heavy fishing nets across the ocean floor, which can destroy habitats and even release carbon into the ocean and atmosphere.

Though there are restrictions in place throughout Europe, this is the first outright ban that includes all of a single country’s marine protected areas.

Greece bottom trawling
Greek PM Mitsotakis at the Our Ocean conference in Athens. Credit: Press Office of the Greek MP

Mitsotakis said Greece will spend €780 million to protect its “diverse and unique marine ecosystems.”

He told delegates at the conference in Athens: “We’ve established two additional marine national parks, one in the Ionian and one in the Aegean, increasing the size of our marine protected areas by 80 percent and covering one-third of our marine territorial waters.”

“We will ban bottom trawling in our national parks by 2026 and in all marine protected areas by 2030,” he reported.

He said he would also establish a state-of-the-art surveillance system, including drones, to enforce the ban.

The proposed Ionian marine national park will cover almost 12 percent of Greek territorial waters, safeguarding sea mammals like sperm whales, striped dolphins, and the vulnerable Mediterranean monk seal and the South Aegean MPA, which covers 6.61 percent of Greek territorial waters.

However, the Athens government’s decision to go ahead with two new marine parks in the Aegean and Ionian has stirred up tensions with its historical rival Turkey. Ankara’s foreign ministry warned Greece last week that the proposal in the Aegean lay in a disputed area and that the initiative was “politically motivated.”

Our Ocean conference, Athens
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and US Climate Envoy John Kerry at the Our Ocean Conference in Athens. Credit: Press Office of the Greek MP

NGOs welcome Greece’s bottom trawling initiative

Conservationists welcomed the announcement and said they hoped the move would create a “domino effect” for other EU countries to do the same.

Nicholas Fournier, the campaign director for marine protection at the international conservation group Oceana, said: “Everyone was expecting France or Germany or Spain to step up. The fact that Greece is championing this ban on bottom trawling is surprising but very welcome.”

“We hope this creates a domino effect on other European countries to do the same,” Fournier said. “The pressure is on France, as it hosts the UN oceans conference next year.”

Oceana, along with other NGOs, the Marine Conservation Society and Seas at Risk, has urged the EU to take tougher action against members that still allow bottom trawling in their marine protected areas.

2500-Years-Old Greek-Illyrian Helmet Discovered in Croatia

Tasos Kokkinidis
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2500-Years-Old Greek-Illyrian Helmet Discovered in Croatia
Greek helmet
The immaculately well-preserved Greco-Illyrian helmet. Credit: Dolenjski Museum

Archaeologists discovered a Greek-Illyrian helmet dating 2,500 years in very good condition on Croatia’s Pelješac peninsula.

The same team that found the Greek-Ilyrian helmet in 2020, in the same place, has found the next helmet, which according to the first analysis is older than the one found earlier.

The previous example most likely belonged to a member of the warrior elite who was interred there because it was discovered in a grave with pieces of iron weapons.

Archaeologists think the recently discovered helmet may have been a votive deposit because it was discovered in a dry stone-walled addition to a grave.

Greco-Illyrian type helmets originated in Peloponnese, Ancient Greece, where it likely evolved from the Kegelhelm (or Kegel type) of the Archaic Period.

The Greek-Illyrian helmet is extremely rare

Both of the helmets found are of different types and dates: The helmet discovered in 2020 was of a type commonly used in Greece and Illyria in the 4th century BC. It was an open-faced helmet with a rectangular cross-section for the face and decorative edges.

The newly found helmet is thought to date from the 6th century BC and is extremely rare. Finding two different Greek-Illyrian helmets at one site is unprecedented.

This find, along with a wealth of clothing, jewelry, and burial artifacts unearthed since the excavations began, greatly expands our knowledge of the funeral practices of Illyrian communities in the latter half of the first millennium BC.

The Illyrians were a group of Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, along with the Thracians and Greeks.

“What is very interesting is that two different types appear here in the same place, which speaks of a continuity of power of the respective community. These helmets have always been a symbol of some kind of status and power,” said Professor Hrvoje Potrebica, from the Department of Archeology of the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb.

Speaking on the discovery, a representative from the Dubrovnik Museum told HeritageDaily: “Along with numerous finds of jewelry, costumes and grave goods, this find of a helmet contributes in many ways to the knowledge of funeral rituals of Illyrian communities in the second half of the last millennium BC, and it ranks the area of Pelješac as one of the most important archaeological zones of the eastern Adriatic coast.”

Recently, archaeologists in Southern Italy have unearthed several significant artifacts, including two helmets, fragments of weapons and armor, and pottery shards, at an archaeological site in the ancient Greek city of Velia.

Related: Ancient Greek Helmets: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Scientists Create ‘Goldene’, a Potentially Ground-Breaking New Material

Abdul Moeed
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Scientists Create ‘Goldene’, a Potentially Ground-Breaking New Material
Scientists Make ‘Goldene’, a new monolayer material
Scientists make ‘Goldene,’ a new monolayer material. Credit: Nature Synthesis / CC BY 4.0

Scientists have created a material called “goldene,” which is a super thin form of gold. The innovation followed the creation of graphene, a material made of only one layer of graphite atoms. Graphene is very strong and conducts heat and electricity better than copper.

Goldene works the same way as graphene. Researchers spread out gold so it’s only one atom thick. Like graphene, this process gives goldene new properties that could lead to big discoveries, as reported by The Independent.

Helpful in converting carbon dioxide to purifying water

Experts believe the new material could be handy in various tasks like turning carbon dioxide into another form, cleaning water, and improving communication gadgets. Scientists are also hopeful the new material will enable the production of goods and technology with significantly less gold.

Researchers think gold might just be the beginning. They are keen to discover whether the same can be done with other metals.

“If you make a material extremely thin, something extraordinary happens – as with graphene. The same thing happens with gold,” said Shun Kashiwaya, a researcher at the Materials Design Division at Linköping University.

“As you know, gold is usually a metal, but if single-atom-layer thick, the gold can become a semiconductor instead,” Kashiwaya explained.

For years, scientists tried to make thin gold like this, but they kept running into a problem. The metal would end up sticking together. Inspired by Japanese artisans, they finally figured it out by using a technique that has existed for about one hundred years.

Gold embedded between layers of titanium and carbon

Researchers found the new material unintentionally while searching for something else. It turns out gold works best when sandwiched between layers of titanium and carbon in a base material.

“We had created the base material with completely different applications in mind. We started with electrically conductive ceramics called titanium silicon carbide, where silicon is in thin layers,” said Lars Hultman, a professor of thin film physics at Linköping University.

“Then the idea was to coat the material with gold to make a contact,” Hultman said. “But when we exposed the component to high temperature, the silicon layer was replaced by gold inside the base material.”

Researchers had the new material, created through a process called intercalation, for a while. But they could not separate the gold from it.

Hence, they borrowed a technique from Japanese smiths, known as Murakami’s reagent. This method removes carbon from a material, often used to change the color of steel. Researchers tweaked the recipe to extract the gold.

Greeks Think Economy Is Biggest Future Threat, Survey Reveals

Matthew Norman
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Greeks Think Economy Is Biggest Future Threat, Survey Reveals
Greeks believe the state of the economy is the biggest threat to the future, according to a new survey.
Greeks believe the state of the economy is the biggest threat to the future, according to a new survey. Credit: Aster-oid. CC BY 2.0/flickr

One in two Greeks considers the state of the country’s economy the biggest threat to their future according to the latest Dianeosis major polling survey “What Greeks Believe.” This is twice as high as at the end of 2019.

The survey, conducted in January by Metron Analysis for Dianeosis, which has been consistently monitoring attitudes and perceptions of Greek society for almost a decade, is aimed at uncovering the “deepest values of the Greek population,” posing more than seventy questions on a range of topics. These reveal interesting correlations between opinions and groups of the population.

It can therefore be useful in several ways, including interpreting certain behaviors of Greeks, planning better and more targeted policy measures, or simply creating a detailed depiction of trends in Greek society.

The survey begins by asking respondents to choose up to two issues, which they consider to be the biggest threats to the future of Greeks. The most common answer in this latest survey concerns the state of Greece’s economy. Almost one in two respondents stated they believed the economy to be the main threat in the overall report.

This rate is not only practically twice as high as that of December 2019 but also nearly 10 points higher than February 2022. The second most-selected perceived threat is the demographic problem and population decrease. Climate change was mentioned by one in five respondents, making it the third-highest perceived threat to the future of Greeks.

However, when the survey asked respondents to select up to two issues that pose the greatest threats not only to the future of Greece but to the future of the planet one in two respondents chose climate change, which was the most common answer.

What else does the survey reveal about Greeks’ beliefs?

More generally, the results convey a trend of social modernization and a move towards a more liberal outlook, showcased by the fact that 60 percent of participants agree with the right of same-sex couples to marry. This is an upward trend compared with 52 percent in 2022, 41 percent in 2019, and 36 percent in 2015.

However, attitudes towards AI are more negative (51%) than positive (39%), and one in two respondents believes climate change “is an invention of rich countries at the expense of poor countries,” while one in four thinks climate change is an unsolvable matter.

For younger generations of Greeks, the top concern (41%) is low income, while unemployment is also a major worry (40%), though this is significantly lower compared to 2022 (67%). A new entry on the list of concerns is the housing crisis (13%), followed by the inability to form a family.

With regards to violence, 29 percent believe they have suffered sexual harassment, a percentage which hasn’t changed much over time but is higher among women (38%). Furthermore, 43 percent of respondents maintain there is an increasing trend of such incidents, while the majority (56%) believe they are not increasing but have become more visible.

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