Pericles was condemned for revoking the citizenship of those without two Athenian parents. Credit: National Hellenic Museum
At a “trial” organized by Chicago’s National Hellenic Museum a distinguished jury of 12 community leaders and an audience of over 600 attendees found the Athenian statesman Pericles “guilty” of subverting the law.
Pericles changed the Athenian Constitution to revoke the citizenship of those without two Athenian parents, claiming this was necessary to protect Athens from foreign influence.
Pericles is known as a great Athenian statesman and a guardian of Athenian democracy. He was responsible for building the structures on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon, which have survived through the ages to remind us of his greatness and visionary thinking.
He also promoted the arts, literature, and philosophy and gave free rein to some of the most inspired writers, artists, and thinkers of his time, giving Athens the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient world.
A great statesman, as well as a successful general, he increased the power of Athens through his use of the Delian League to form the Athenian empire.
Why the National Hellenic Museum trial found Pericles guilty
However, as leader of Athens, Pericles made many controversial decisions that complicated his legacy.
None of those decisions is more controversial than the 451 B.C. Citizenship Law, which changed the Athenian Constitution to revoke the citizenship of those without two Athenian parents. Previously, citizenship had been granted to anyone with an Athenian father.
Pericles and his allies claimed that the law was necessary to protect Athens from dangerous foreign influences and maintain the integrity of their democracy.
Others viewed it as tyrannical because they lost their previously held civil liberties, including the right to vote. Some believe Pericles would have been tried had he survived the plague of 430 B.C.
Credit: National Hellenic Museum
The Trial testimony from Pericles himself, played by Judge Paul Lillios (Ret.), and prosecution witness Olympia, a non-Athenian wife and mother in Athens, played by Judge Megan Goldish, with emotion and humor, the successful prosecution team was led by Katerina Alexopoulos (U.S. Department of Homeland Security), Patrick M. Collins (King & Spalding LLP), and Tinos Diamantatos (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP). Presenting the defense of Pericles were Sarah F. King (Clifford Law Offices PC), James C. Pullos (Clifford Law Offices PC), and Patrick A. Salvi II (Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard PC).
The event was emceed by award-winning Chicago media personality and NHM Trustee Andrea Darlas.
All three judges found Pericles guilty as well, which included Hon. Anna H. Demacopoulos (Ret. Circuit Court Judge, State of Illinois), Hon. Anthony C. Kyriakopoulos (Circuit Court Judge, State of Illinois), and Hon. Lindsay C. Jenkins (U.S. District Court Judge, Northern District of Illinois).
Their unanimous verdict underscored the significance of the trial’s deliberations, reflecting how Pericles’ decisions still resonate today, particularly regarding citizenship.
The Trial, an exploration of historical narratives, illuminated Pericles’ enduring impact, inviting reflection on the complexities of citizenship and governance across centuries.
2023 trial of Socrates
In 2023 Socrates, the philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy, was found not guilty in a mock trial conducted by the National Hellenic Museum (NHM).
Socrates was “re-tried” on charges of breaking Athenian laws 2,500 years ago when he was found guilty and put to death at the age of 70 in Ancient Greece.
Each of the Trials organized by NHM has received high acclaim.
The Nea Hellas docked. Credit: Greek Shipping Miracle
The historic passenger ship Nea Hellas brought tens of thousands of Greeks to America, enabling them to fulfill their dreams of a better life. Between the years 1939 to 1955, this steamship was the main escape route by which thousands fled poverty, Nazi Germany, and the difficult postwar years in Europe.
The Nea Hellas was built in the years after WWI in Glasgow, Scotland. Christened as the Turbine Steam Ship (T.S.S.) Tuscania, it went into service in 1921. At a weight of 16,991 tons, it was considered an example of “state of the art” marine engineering at the time.
The ship was sold to the General Steam Navigation Company of Greece, which was owned by a well-established Greek shipping family, the Goulandris brothers. They wanted to re-establish a trans-Atlantic service between Greece and the U.S. which had been interrupted in October 1935.
The 177-meter (531 feet) long ship was renamed Nea Hellas (meaning “New Greece”) and arrived in the Athenian port of Piraeus on the morning of March 8, 1939.
Nea Hellas: the state-of-the-art vessel with six decks
The journal Naftika Chronika(Nautical Chronicles) described how thousands of Greeks came to the King Constantine Pier in the port of Piraeus to get a glimpse of the state-of-the-art vessel. “People who descended to the great harbor, saw a massive and very elegant ship with six decks in front of them,” the journal wrote.
The ship had first, second (then known as “tourist”), and third-class cabins as well as restaurants and halls. Naftika Chronika reported that in all three levels of accommodations, the passengers found spacious halls with good quality furnishings, and the interiors were nicely decorated.
“The floors were completely refurbished in 1938, and given a rubber coating,” according to the journal. “The walls of the communal spaces were lined with luxurious woods, while the furniture in first class was covered with silk fabrics.”
A first class cabin on the Nea Hellas. Source: Naftika Chronika, 1939.The Nea Hellas’ first-class restaurant. Source: Naftika Chronika, 1939.
The Nea Hellas never attained the “glamour ship” status of some of her contemporaries, such as the Queen Mary, the Mauretania, and the Normandie. However, the ship was tastefully furnished and quite comfortable.
Its maiden transatlantic voyage from Piraeus to New York began on May 19, 1939.
Capable of a speed of sixteen knots, the Nea Hellas would take two weeks to transport the eight hundred passengers and two hundred crew members to the other side of the Atlantic.
However, tickets on the ship were not cheap at all. Eli Pinhas, whose family sailed from Piraeus to New York in 1951, wrote that “the fare was $205 each for my parents, my 3 ½ year old sister was half price—$102.50—and my 9-month-old brother was $10. Tax was $16. The total for all four tickets was $538.50.”
Grand welcome of the ship in New York
The New York Herald Tribune noted the first arrival of the Nea Hellas in New York. It reported that during her first stay there, a series of parties and dinners celebrating her arrival were planned for the New York business, social, and diplomatic community.
The Herald Tribune, in what amounts to a remarkable historical gift to the families of the passengers and crew, also recorded the names of some of the passengers and Captain Cardaras.
Unfortunately, the festivities for the ship were short lived. Within months of her maiden crossing, WWII broke out in Europe, and the Nea Hellas was placed under allied control, being put into service as troop transport.
During the next seven years the ship was affectionately dubbed the “Nelly Wallace” by her many passengers in the armed services.
After the war, the Nea Hellas resumed its service on the Piraeus-New York route until 1955 when it was renamed the New York, when it went on to ply the northern Europe-America route.
By 1959, the ship had reached the grand age of thirty-seven years.
On November 14, 1959 it returned to its home port of Piraeus for the last time, twenty years after its first departure as the pride of the Greek nation.
On August 19, 1961 the ship left Piraeus for Onomichi, Japan where it met its sad but inevitable fate in the scrap yards.
Like many great ships long gone, it left an indelible memory for those whose lives were touched by it. It became a great symbolic bridge in their lives.
Jim Kalafatis, who made four crossings on Nea Hellas in the early 1950s wrote that the ship would always be one of his happiest and most treasured childhood memories.
Kalafatis recalled recently, “I remember the ship’s captain letting me blow her steam whistle at noon to allow passengers to set their watches to the changing time zones. What a thrill to a seven year old! To a young boy who called the ‘Nea Ellas’ home for a total of eight weeks, she will never be forgotten.”
The remains of a 4,200-year-old ship on the Greek island of Dokos are believed to be the oldest in the world. Credit: Ministry of Culture
The 4,200-year-old shipwreck off the tiny island of Dokos near Greece’s Hydra is believed to be the oldest shipwreck ever discovered.
The wreck, located about 15 to 30 meters (50–100 ft) underwater, is dated to the Early Helladic period (2700-2200 BC) and consists mainly of a large collection of ceramic items that were likely cargo on the ship. The wooden parts of the ship have long since decomposed.
The Dokos shipwreck was discovered in 1975 by the American underwater archaeologist Peter Throckmorton. Since then, successive dives at the site have identified more than 500 well-preserved kitchen vessels, urns, cups, and seven or eight kinds of sauceboats.
Although archeologists have found obsidian stones from the Greek island of Milos, dated around 7000 B.C., in caves on the Peloponnese mainland, “Dokos is especially interesting because it’s the first actual proof we have of nautical trade from this period,” said George Papathanasopoulos, head of the 20-member team that completed excavation of the artifacts.
Dokos shipwreck includes anchors and hundreds of ceramics
Their findings include stone anchors and hundreds of ceramics dating from around 2250 B.C. in the early Helladic period, a Bronze Age period about which little is known. The Dokos site is a boon to archeologists not only because it is ancient but also because it is untouched by succeeding civilizations.
Papathanasopoulos suggested the ship probably belonged to a rich merchant. She came from the Greek mainland somewhere northeast of Athens, and her cargo included many ceramics from the Cyclades islands several hundred miles east of Dokos. The ship probably sank after running aground as she tried to enter the harbor.
The bowls and sauceboats of the Early Helladic period were the most common types found in Southern and Central Greece.
After further inspection of the sauceboats, it has been suggested that these types resemble those from Askitario in Attica and are also comparable to ones from Lerna and the Cyclades.
What was the trade route of the ship?
Evidence shows the shipwreck may lie on the maritime trade route from South Euboea to the Saronic and Argolid Gulfs. There were many amphorae found, as well as basins, wide-mouthed jars, braziers, baking trays, askoi, pithoi, and common household utensils.
Dr. Fredrick van Doorninck, a professor of anthropology at the institute, said the artifacts at Dokos had been positively identified as ones from the early Helladic period, but he said they might have fallen from the ship rather than sunk with it. Alternatively, they might have been thrown overboard as votive offerings. “No convincing argument on this has yet to be presented,” he said.
However, most marine archaeologists say evidence points to a shipwreck. First, the bay is a natural harbor on a known trade route. While overseeing the underwater research, Papathanasopoulos found what he said was evidence of two early Helladic period settlements on Dokos.
Then, there are the artifacts themselves. The large number of similar ceramics suggests a ship’s cargo, researchers say. They have also uncovered numerous millstones, often used by ships as ballast. Archeologists have also recovered two lead ingots that Papathanasopoulos believes come from the mines of Lavrion, about 40 miles south of Athens.
A short distance from the site, they found two boulders with holes bored through the top, possibly the oldest stone anchors ever found. This is the first time stone anchors have been found in conjunction with a possible ancient shipwreck, the researchers said, and they should enable scientists to date the find more accurately.
If the Dokos ship was like those depicted on vases from that period, it was probably at least 80 feet long, propelled by oars, with a low prow and a high stern, said Yiannis Vichos, a marine archeologists and specialist on ancient ships who was on the team.
Earth Day on April 22nd is celebrated once again as over one billion people in countries around the world help make the world a little greener, helping it recover from the ravages of industrialization and pollution. The Greek goddess Gaia would surely be in full accord with Earth Day, as she herself represented the bounty of the earth itself.
This year the theme for Earth Day is the demand for a 60 percent reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040. The theme, Planet vs. Plastics, calls to advocate for widespread awareness on the health risk of plastics, rapidly phase out all single-use plastics, urgently push for a strong UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, and demand an end to fast fashion.
The very first Earth Day in 1970 led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the monumental Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts, which have transformed the entire country, bringing back several species from the brink of extinction, perhaps most notably the American bald eagle.
Founded by Gaylord Nelson, the U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, Earth Day resulted from his witnessing the massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969. Earth Day has become a well-established tradition all over the world nowadays with events covering the entire globe from cleaning up shorelines to recycling to the launch of new phone apps that allow users to educate themselves on scientific subjects.
Today, around the globe from Greece to the USA, volunteers from over 192 countries dedicate their time on this day to support Mother Earth, or as she was known in Greek mythology, Gaia.
Gaia shown giving Erichthonius to the goddess Athena. Hephaestus is watching the scene. Side A of an Attic red-figure stamnos, 470–460 BC. Credit: Hermonax– User:Bibi Saint-Pol/Wikimedia Commons/ Public domain
But who was Gaia?
Gaia was the Greek goddess of the Earth, the “Great Mother of All,” the first deity from whom all the other gods of Greek mythology were born. She herself was born out of Chaos.
She is the mother of Ouranos, the sky, from whose sexual union she gave birth to the Titans (who were themselves parents of many of the Olympian gods), the Cyclopes, and the Giants. According to other sources, she was Ouranos wife.
According to Hesiod, Gaia also bore the Ourea (Mountains), and Pontus (Sea), “without sweet union of love” (that is, with no father). She then bore the primordial sea deities Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia from the union with the sea.
The equivalent deity in the Roman pantheon was Terra.
Greeks in ancient times believed the earth was a woman and the sky was a man because seeds go into the ground and the rain and sun from the sky help seeds grow. Gaia bore hundreds of children, including Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Cronus.
In mythological tales, she saved Zeus from his father, Cronus, after he began swallowing his children for fear they would dethrone him.
With a promise from Zeus that he would free the other children of Earth, Gaia supported him in overthrowing Cronus. After saving his brothers and sisters, Zeus ultimately became king of all the gods.
Gaia herself was worshiped under the epithet “Anesidora”, which means “giver of gifts.” Other epithets by which she was known were Calligeneia, Eurusternos, and Pandôros.
In ancient times, Gaia was mainly worshiped alongside Demeter and as a part of the cult of Demeter and does not seem to have had a separate cult. Being a chthonic deity, black animals were sacrificed to her while white animals were sacrificed to the god of the sun, Helios.
A bronze monument was unearthed at Delphi. Credit: Patricia Claus/Greek Reporter
Delphi was home to Gaia in antiquity
Gaia was usually worshiped out in the open or in caves, but Delphi was considered to be her earthly home in antiquity.
It was thus said: “That word spoken from tree-clad mother Gaia’s (Earth’s) navel-stone [Delphoi]” [34]. Depending on the source, Gaia passed her powers on to Poseidon, Apollo, or Themis. Pausanias wrote:
Many and different are the stories told about Delphi, and even more so about the oracle of Apollo. For they say that in the earliest times the oracular seat belonged to Earth, who appointed as prophetess at it Daphnis, one of the nymphs of the mountain.
As anyone who has ever been to Delphi can attest, the place is suffused with the spirits of the ancients even to this day.
Looking out over the mountain fastnesses and craggy peaks with the sea in the distance just about anyone can feel the presence of spirits from time immemorial and appreciate the creation of the earth in all its glory.
Some say that an oath sworn in the name of Gaia in ancient Greece was considered the most binding of all. Fruits are also a representation of Gaia and are often associated with the ancient goddess of the Earth.
Her statues were naturally to be found in the temples of Demeter, such as the Temple of Demeter in Achaia; in the Temple of Zeus Olympios in Athens, which historians believe had an enclosure dedicated to “Ge Olympia;” and atop the Acropolis in Athens, where there was a statue of Gaia depicting her beseeching Zeus for rain.
Depiction of Romulus and Remus at the Cathedral of Maria Saal in Rome. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0
The 21st of April is the traditional anniversary of the founding of the ancient city of Rome. According to legend, Rome was founded when Romulus and Remus started building a city on the Palatine Hill after being abandoned as infants and raised by a wolf. The traditional date for when Romulus founded Rome is April 21, 753 BCE. This would make Rome 2776 years old today. But is this really when Rome was founded?
The archaeology of the city of Rome
In reality, the archaeology of the city of Rome shows that it existed long before this, at least in some sense. There is definite evidence of a settlement there dating back to the ninth century BCE. For example, archaeologists have found remains of a stone wall along with pottery dating to that era.
In fact, there is even some evidence that the Palatine Hill was the site of a human settlement as early as the tenth century BCE.
Therefore, the evidence is clear that Rome existed in some form or another since long before the date of its official founding. What does this mean for the legends? Does this mean that the archaeology contradicts them and proves that they are just fiction? This is what some researchers claim, but the reality is more complicated than that.
What Greek mythology really says about the founding of Rome
Rather than suggesting that Romulus was the first person to ever build a settlement on the Palatine Hill, a variety of ancient Greek and Roman records make it clear that there was a previous settlement there.
This was not an invention of Virgil, as some people erroneously believe. This same tradition is supported by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a Greek historian of the first century BCE. It is also supported by Ateius Philologus, a Roman historian of that same era.
In fact, Ateius even tells us that Evander’s settlement was not the earliest either. According to this Roman historian, the original settlement on the Palatine Hill was named Valentia, and then in the time of Evander it had its name changed to ‘Rome’.
The much earlier historian named Antiochus of Syracuse, of the fifth century BCE, supports this inasmuch as he claimed that there had been a Rome that existed before the Trojan War.
Archaeology and legend on the earliest Rome
With these facts in mind, what can we say about the possible correspondence between the legends and the archaeological evidence?
Firstly, we should note that there is evidence that the ancient Greeks were mistaken in their calculations of the date of the Trojan War. Greek scholar Nikos Kokkinos is one of the modern historians who has demonstrated this. His research and that of others places the Trojan War centuries more recently.
This means that Aeneas would have lived centuries more recently as well. Based on this fact, what can we conclude about the very earliest settlement uncovered by archaeology at Rome? These remains are likely traces of the Valentia that Ateius Philology mentioned. At some point, it became the city of Evander. When did that happen?
When Evander founded Rome
The settlement that Evander supposedly founded is particularly interesting. He was a Greek king, and yet the Greeks did not start settling Italy until the eighth century BCE. This supports the aforementioned conclusion that the Trojan War occurred centuries more recently than its traditional date.
Archaeology has revealed some significant evidence in this regard. Although the evidence is limited, some scholars have argued that there may have been a Greek colony at the Palatine Hill in the eighth century BCE.
In all probability, Evander’s legendary Greek city almost certainly has its origin in this apparent Greek colony. It dates to some time after the very earliest settlement at Rome. This is exactly like how Evander’s Greek city allegedly came sometime after the founding of Valentia according to Ateius Philologus.
Thus, from one perspective, Evander was the one who founded Rome. He apparently did this in the mid-eighth century BCE. Perhaps by coincidence, this corresponds to the traditional date of the founding of Rome, 753 BCE.
When Rome was founded by Romulus
Now we come to the most significant of Rome’s foundings. According to the earliest records, Romulus was the direct son of Aeneas. This would place him a few generations after Evander. This is very interesting because it suggests that Romulus actually lived in the seventh century rather than the eighth century BCE.
The archaeological evidence for seventh-century Rome supports this conclusion. For instance, the Roman Forum was one of the foundation cornerstones of the city. Archaeology shows that the Forum first appeared in the seventh century BCE.
Furthermore, Romulus allegedly constructed a temple to Jupiter. According to archaeology, the first temple remains in Rome date to the seventh century BCE. This, again, supports the conclusion that Romulus actually lived in that century, about 100 years after his traditional dates.
Additional support for this comes from the fact that an important building called the Regia first appeared in c. 625 BCE. Roman legend credits the Regia to Numa Pompilius, the king who came just after Romulus.
When was Rome really founded?
In summary, what can we say about the true date of the founding of Rome? Well, the archaeology indicates that the most famous founding, which was the one by Romulus, actually occurred in the mid-seventh century BCE, about 100 years after the traditional date.
However, it appears that there was a founding of Rome near 753 BCE, although not connected to Romulus. In reality, the archaeology suggests that this was when the Greeks founded a colony at the future site of Rome. This would therefore be a match for Evander’s city. Yet not even this was the earliest founding of Rome. Before then, a settlement already existed at the Palatine Hill, likely the origin of the legendary Valentia recorded by Atieus Philologus.
Greek-Filipino actor Dave Bautista in Dune (2021). Credit: Warner Brothers
Dune: Part Two, like the first installment is making a big impact in the world of cinema. According to figures released this month, the sci-fi epic is nearing $700 million at the worldwide box office. The movie is an adaptation of the 1965 science fiction novel, also titled “Dune,” by Frank Herbert.
The sci-fi thriller tells the story of a group of families that fight for control of a powerful resource known as “spice” on the planet Arrakis.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, who also previously directed the science fiction remake “Blade Runner 2049”, the film was met with acclaim by critics and fans.
The protagonist of Dune, Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto of House Atriedes, joins his family to take over Arrakis, the planet recently awarded to them by the ruler of the Universe.
Paul and his noble family are descendants of Atreus, specifically Agamemnon — Atreus’ most notable son— and thus are known as Atreides, an ancient Greek name for those who come from Atreus’ direct line.
This reference grounds the story of one of ancient Greece’s most famous rulers — Agamemnon — and his legacy in mythology and the epic poetry of Homer.
Agamemnon infamously offended Chryses, the priest of Apollo, and Apollo spread pestilence among the king’s people.
The story of Agamemnon, the root of Dune’s Atreides family
At the beginning of the first book of the Iliad of Homer, Agamemnon insulted Apollo’s priest by refusing to give back his daughter, whom he had captured in a raid.
The priest knelt in front of Agamemnon and begged him to release his daughter.
But Agamemnon told the priest to get out of his sight as quickly as he could, lest he lost his patience.
The frightened priest runs away from the Greek camp. When he was at a safe distance, he immediately prayed to Apollo to punish the Greeks.
He reminded the god he had built a temple to honor and worship him, offering him rich sacrifices. “Make the Greeks pay for my tears,” he appealed to Apollo.
Chryses called Apollo “Sminthian,” the god of plague. The name Sminthos came from a town in Troas near which the Greeks had possibly pitched their camp.
Apollo listened to Chryses, becoming very angry with the insolence of Agamemnon.
He rushed “like night” out of Mt. Olympos in Thessaly and landed in the Greek camp near Troy.
He started shooting his invisible plague arrows at mules and dogs and then soldiers.
Homer says the dead fell to the ground for nine days, and fires everywhere burned their bodies.
This plague came to an end only by appeasing Apollo.
Achilles, “of the swift feet,” the greatest hero of the Trojan War, asked Kalchas, the “blameless” seer accompanying the troops, to reveal the reason why Apollo was spreading plague among the Greeks.
Achilles assured Kalchas he could count on him for his protection, so he urged him to tell the truth.
Kalchas said Apollo was furious because of the way Agamemnon had treated his priest, Chryses.
The Greeks, Kalchas said, should return “the glancing-eyed” daughter of the priest, Chryseis, to him and sacrifice 100 cattle in honor to Apollo, who would then cease his biological warfare against them.
Despite the threats of Agamemnon, Achilles and Kalchas prevailed. The Greeks returned Chryseis to her father, and Apollo stopped shooting them with his arrows of disease.
Alexander the Great before the Oracle at Siwa. Engraving by Francesco Salviati (Italy, Florence, 1510-1563) (crop). Public Domain
After Alexander the Great added Egypt to his conquests, he went on a long, perilous journey to meet the ancient Siwa Oracle where he received a mysterious message.
By 332 BC when the young king had already conquered vast swathes of the Persian empire in Anatolia, Syria, and the Levant, he proceeded south, taking over Palestine, Phoenicia, and Egypt, expanding his empire.
Alexander was a restless spirit and frequently pondered philosophical questions. He also faced several practical challenges, such as the assassination of his father, the dangers posed to a ruler, the purpose of his conquests, and how he would legitimize his rule as a Pharaoh. After all, his teacher was the great philosopher Aristotle who embedded some of his wisdom in his pupil.
When in Egypt, the king heard about the famous Oracle at Siwa, the most respected in the Eastern Mediterranean. He decided to make the journey to seek the oracle that would answer the questions that were torturing him.
The journey to faraway Siwa, deep in the desert bordering with Libya, is shrouded in mystery. Upon his return, Alexander had changed.
The Conquest of Egypt
The conquest of Egypt was crucial for Alexander the Great in order to secure his lines of communication. The Persian navy was still strong, maintaining bases in Egypt that were posing a threat to Greece. Persia still possessed a powerful navy that could threaten Greece and Macedonia, so Alexander needed to destroy all its bases. Furthermore, he wanted to secure Egypt from enemies who could attack his empire. He was also eyeing Egypt’s wealth.
At the same time, the Egyptians resented the Persian rule, so they greeted Alexander as a liberator and did not resist his army. During his time in Egypt, the young king made reforms such as organizing the military forces, introducing the Greek tax system, restoring temples of the Egyptian gods, offering traditional pharaonic sacrifices, and building the city of Alexandria to glorify his name.
Alexander the Great sought to govern Egypt in a manner that would earn him the Egyptians’ respect, portraying himself not as a tyrant, but as a benevolent ruler who would uphold their dignity and freedom. He showed respect for their civilization, their deities, and their way of life. And as the rulers of the past, he decided to visit the Oracle at Siwa.
Journey to the Oracle at Siwa
The Oracle at Siwa was located in a deep depression known as the Siwa Oasis, located in an isolated part of the desert towards the northwestern border with Libya. During the 26th Dynasty, the Pharaoh Amasis (r. 570-526 BC) built a shrine to Amun at the oasis to assert Egyptian control and win the favor of the Libyan tribes. The Egyptians worshipped Amun as the king of the gods, the equivalent of Zeus in Ancient Greece.
In February of 331 BC, Alexander the Great and his army entourage embarked from the city of Memphis with enough supplies to survive the Western Desert. It was a journey under scorching heat, full of hardships and disorienting mirages, but none of that would diminish Alexander’s determination, as the ancient sources say.
During the long journey, the Greeks ran out of water, but a hard rain helped quench their thirst and refill their water containers. Once they lost their way due to a sandstorm, but they were shown a path by two ravens or two snakes that guided them. This divine intervention proved to Alexander that he had the assistance of the gods, that his journey was truly purposeful, and that he would arrive safely at Siwa.
The Oracle at Siwa
It is not known how long the journey to Siwa was. But once the Greeks arrived, Alexander was mesmerized by the lush palm groves and cool, clear springs surrounding the ancient stone temples of Amun. The Oracle of Amun at Siwa was a deeply revered site. Just like the Oracle of Delphi in Greece, it was famous for its cryptic prophecies.
As instructed, he approached the oracle with the necessary reverence and asked to hear the divine message from the priests of Amun. There are three historians who wrote about the meeting of Alexander with the oracle, Arrian, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius Rufus. Of the three, Arrian is considered the most reliable because he drew directly from Alexander’s generals. According to him, Alexander received a satisfactory reply by the Oracle at Siwa, but he did not write anything about Alexander’s questions and the answers he received.
Plutarch wrote that the priest greeted Alexander as the son of Zeus-Amun and informed him that the empire of the world had been reserved for him and that all of Philip of Macedon’s murders had been punished. The Roman Quintus Curtius Rufus, who was criticized as not being very reliable, also said that the priest greeted Alexander as the son of Amun. Alexander replied that his human form had made him forgetful of this and inquired about his empire and the fate of his father’s murderers. Quintus Curtius Rufus added that Alexander’s companions asked whether it would be acceptable for them to offer divine honors to Alexander and received an affirmative answer.
Alexander’s Change After Siwa
After visiting the Oracle at Siwa, Alexander had changed. He started presenting himself as a god. Other than advertising himself as a god, it was a political move. As a foreigner, he wanted to legitimize himself in the eyes of the Egyptians, since rulers as gods or with characteristics of gods were common in Egypt and other territories in the Near East.
As Alexander the Great’s conquests expanded his empire further and further, his Companions noted a shift in behavior. He became more unpredictable and despotic. He exhibited signs of megalomania and paranoia, demanding that members of the Court would kneel before hime. For the Greeks, such an act was reserved for the gods and that strained the relationship between him and his Companions.
While this behavior might have been a result of the message he received at the Oracle at Siwa, is not certain. After all, his behavior was changing gradually as his conquests were multiplying. The consultation of the Oracle at Siwa is still an event shrouded in mystery, because whatever the message he received was, Alexander continued his victorious campaign as before, albeit more confident and fearless.
The visit to the Oracle at Siwa further contributed to the mythologization of Alexander’s persona, both during his lifetime and in World history.
AI-generated models will compete in a new beauty pageant for the title of “Miss AI”. Credit: Torsten Behrens / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
On Sunday, applications opened for the brand-new “Miss AI” competition. What sets this competition apart from other iterations of the popular beauty pageantry format is that the models themselves will not be human.
Instead, Miss AI is a beauty pageant for artificial intelligence (AI) models, who will be judged on their aesthetic qualities and influence on social media.
A ground total of $20,000 in prize money is up for grabs, with the creator behind the winning AI model set to receive $5,000 prize money and $3,000-worth promotional assistance on Fanvue, a subscription-based platform hosting virtual models. Further PR advice and assistance worth $5,000 will also be given to the winner.
According to the official website, the virtual contestants will be assessed in three categories: “beauty”, “tech”, and “social clout”.
“AI creators’ social clout will be assessed based on their engagement numbers with fans, rate of growth of audience, and utilization of other platforms such as Instagram,” commented the World AI Creator Awards (WAICAs), behind the Miss AI pageant and forthcoming competitions.
“We share the vision for the WAICAs to become the Oscars of the AI creator economy,” said Will Monanage, the co-founder of Fanvue.
Of the four judges, two are AI models themselves with large followings on social media platforms like Instagram. The two human judges are Andrew Bloch and Sally Ann-Fawcett. Bloch’s background is in business and technology, whereas Ann-Fawcett is a beauty pageant judge, historian, and former contestant.
I'm honoured to be on the judging panel for Miss AI and helping to crown the world's first digital Miss World 👑 .
The value of the AI economy is expected to exceed the £1billion mark this year, and Miss AI is the first contest of the World AI Creator Awards – the Oscars of the…
AI is being used in new – and arguably, unsettling – ways
Many social media influencers make a living sharing their content online with thousands of followers. Major companies are keen to collaborate with these influencers to advertise their products to a widening audience that increasingly eschews traditional media platforms like radio and television.
Some of the top social media influencers are young women who attract large numbers of followers thanks to their looks. However, with the arrival of AI-generated imagery, an increasing number of virtual models have been gaining similarly large numbers of followers on social media.
Social media is not the only space where AI avatars are making inroads. Some TV channels and news stations are also experimenting with AI-enabled hosts. For example, Channel 1, a Los Angeles-based startup, is experimenting with what they call, “the world’s first AI-powered news network.”
Such uses of AI, especially for public-facing roles like news anchors and presenters, or social media influencers, whose appeal is based on a sense of human intimacy, have their share of proponents and detractors.
Those in favor of the new phenomenon view these new uses for AI as promising innovations, whereas critics tend to perceive them as steps toward a digital dystopia. Time will tell who is right.
The showdown between the ancient Greek city states and the Achaemenid Empire of Persia was one of the pivotal moments of antiquity. Credit: Georges Rochegrosse, / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
World history could have been very different than what it is today had the ancient Greeks not halted the expansion of Persia through a series of epic battles on land and sea. These took place in the 4th century BC.
Known as the Persian, or Greco-Persian Wars, the conflict between the vast Persian Empire and a coalition of Greek city-states lasted from 499 to 449 BC and ended with the Peace of Callias treaty. This was once all Persian garrisons had been expelled from Greece, nearby European territories, and the land of the Scythians.
Beyond securing European territory, the triumph of the Greek allied forces against Persia is widely considered to have safeguarded values, such as democracy, and the political system of Greek city-states. These were later adopted by the Romans and spread across Europe after the Renaissance and the revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries.
All the surviving primary sources for the Greco-Persian Wars are ancient Greek, the most important being Historia, written by the fifth-century Greek historian Herodotus. He is known as the “Father of History.”
Despite criticism from later ancient historians as well as contemporary scholars, Herodotus’ account of the events is largely corroborated by archaeological findings.
The reputation of some of the eponymous protagonists of these battles survived to the modern era when they became global symbols of bravery and heroism. Such has also been the case with the heroes of the Trojan War, which took place seven centuries prior to the Greco-Persian Wars.
The Greco-Persian Wars
After Aristagoras, the Greek ruler of Miletus, declared a constitutional government in his city, he went on to expel the occupying Persians from the other city-states in Asia Minor.
Aristagoras then sailed to the Greek mainland and requested help in fending off the inevitable Persian reprisal. The Spartans refused him, but the Athenians promised to send twenty triremes, and the Eretrians promised a further five.
Trireme in the modern day. Credit: George E. Koronaios. CC BY 4.0/flickr
The vessels arrived in 498 BC, and the Ionians swiftly attacked and burned the city of Sardis, situated in modern-day Cyprus. This move inspired rebellions in other places with ancient Greeks in the states of Caria, Bosporus, the Hellespont, and Cyprus all rising up against Persia.
However, the Persians did eventually reclaim Cyprus in 496 BC, and Persian army groups then went on to retake control of the Bosporus and the Hellespont. Employing a huge fleet of ships, recruited from Phoenicia, Egypt, and Cyprus, the Persians won a decisive victory at sea and then sequentially took back control over rebellious city-states on the coast. Miletus was captured in 494 BC, and the Ioanian revolt was put to an end in 493 BC.
Once they had put down the Ionian revolt, the Persians made plans to invade the Greek mainland and bring about a calmer state of affairs. However, before Greece could be invaded directly, preparations had to be made in the surrounding areas.
Preparing for the Invasion of Greece
Darius, the Persian ruler, gave his son-in-law Mardonius the responsibility of achieving this task in 492 BC. Despite losing many men to the sea during a violent storm, Mardonius was successful in securing the strategic approaches to Greece.
The Persians’ main expedition took to the waters in 490 BC under the command of Datis and another official called Artaphernes, the former being the son of a powerful Satrap (provincial governor in the ancient Persian Empire). The first target was the island of Rhodes just off the southern coast of Ionia. The Persians did try to besiege the city of Lindos, but they failed.
The island of Naxos in the Cyclades was the first to fall to the Persians, with settlements being burnt and the population either fleeing into the mountains or being taken as slaves.
After this, the Persians targeted the island of Delos, which—after Datis had demonstrated his power—was spared destruction.
The fleet then island-hopped across the Cyclades, taking hostages and soldiers until they reached the city of Karystos in Euboea on the mainland of Greece. The city refused to surrender hostages and was raided until the leaders gave in and submitted to the Persians.
The first major city the Persians reached was Eretria, which they attacked and captured after a week-long siege, enslaving its people.
The Battle of Marathon
The next goal of the Persian forces was to get onto the Greek mainland. They chose the beach at Marathon as their entry point and were met by an army of Greeks, mainly from Athens. A five-day standoff ensued.
Despite outnumbering the ancient Greeks by more than two to one, the forces of Persia chose to put their soldiers back onto their ships and select another place to land. Once the cavalry had been loaded, however, the Greek forces sprung an attack, routing the Persian flanks before declaring a decisive victory and demolishing any hopes the Persians had of continuing the campaign.
Interbellum (490 – 480 BCE)
Following the Persian loss, it was evident that a much larger army was needed to defeat the Greek city-states, particularly if they united. Darius set out on his task to build an enormous army to take on this task.
However Darius died in 486, and his son, Xerxes I, took over his work. By 481 BC, the army building was complete, and Xerxes began the march toward Greece.
The Second Persian Invasion of Greece (480 – 479 BC)
The second Persian invasion of Greece marked the height of the conflict. With an army ten times the size of Darius, Xerxes was confident he could take Greece. The Persian forces crossed the Hellespont on two enormous pontoon bridges. Modern historians suggest the army may have been around 200,000 soldiers strong. Furthermore, it may have been supported by a fleet of between 600 and 1,200 triremes.
A relief depicting Xerxes. Credit: Sebastià Giralt. CC BY 2.0/flickr
August 480 BCE: The Battle of Thermopylae
The ancient Greeks strategically decided to defend the narrow pass at Thermopylae, positing that the bottleneck would reduce the numerical advantage of Persia. Led by Spartan King Leonidas, several thousand Greek hoplites defended the pass for two days.
When he intuited that the Persians were about to outflank the Greek force, he sent the main Greek force away and stayed behind with 300 Spartan warriors and 700 Thespians to delay the Persian advance. On the third day, the Persians took Thermopylae and killed Leonidas and his soldiers.
While the conflict in Thermopylae was playing out, the Greek fleet of 271 triremes defended the Straits of Artemisium in the Battle of Artemisium. This protected the Greek flank at Thermopylae. Following the defeat at Thermopylae, the badly damaged Greek fleet withdrew.
September 480 BC: Destruction of Athens and the Battle of Salamis
After forcing their entry to nearly all of northern Greece, the Persian army burned Athens. They had hoped they could induce a Greek surrender by destroying the Greek fleet. Under the lead of Themistocles, the Greek fleet retreated to the Isthmus of Salamis directly off the coast to the west of Athens.
Canvas depicting the Battle of Salamis Credit: History Maps. CC BY 1.0/flickr
It was there that the Persians suffered under their great numbers. This led to their being unable to maneuver effectively. After obliterating 200 Persian vessels, the Greeks secured a decisive victory.
From the Battles of Plataea and Mycale to the Wars of the Delian League
The Persian forces made an effort to draw the Greeks out into the open, where their larger army could make use of its cavalry. They set up camp north of a small river near the city of Plataea, where the Greek forces, heavily outnumbered, attempted to outmaneuver the Persians but were caught in the open and separated.
Siege of Plataea. Credit: Elbert Perce. CC BY 4.0/Wikimedia Commons/Elbert Perce
Despite the strategic error, the Greek hoplites were immensely powerful, and the Persian army was defeated at the Battle of Plataea.
Just a few days later, a Greek army at Mycale in Asia Minor won a victory over the Persian forces that were sent to face them. With the help of the Ionian Greeks who rebelled against their Persian commanders, the Greeks captured the Persian camp and burned the remaining Persian ships in another decisive battle.
Following the victories at Plataea and Mycale, the wars between Greece and Persia took a major turn, with the ancient Greeks now leading the offensive. The Athenians attacked and took the city of Sestos in 479 BCE in an effort to deny the Persians access to the Hellespont.
A year later, the Greeks sailed on Byzantium, which they captured after besieging the city. With control of Sestos and Byzantium, Hellespont and Bosporus were more or less denied to the Persian forces. This was an action that brought the second invasion of Greece to a close.
Following Xerxes’ failed attempt to conquer and subdue Greece, the Greeks continued their offensive in the Wars of the Delian League which lasted from 477 to 449 BC.
The Battle of Eurymedon and the Egyptian Revolt
On the southern coast of modern-day Turkey, the Persians had begun to regroup and rebuild their fleet. However, this fleet of around two hundred ships was destroyed by the Greeks in the Battle of Eurymedon sometime around 469 to 466 BC.
In the mid 480’s BC, the Egyptian Satrapy (area of Egypt ruled by a Satrap, a governor of the Persian Empire) rebelled against Persian rule. After roughly two decades, the Athenians chose to intervene on the side of the Egyptians, and the campaign ended in disaster when the Greek forces were besieged and destroyed in the 460s BC during the Egyptian Revolt.
A Peace Treaty Between the Ancient Greeks and Persia?
Historians are still in debate with one another as to whether a peace treaty took place, but the conflict appeared to die down, and actions were taken that suggest that some kind of agreement was reached. Thus, the conflict came to a close. A notable date suggested is 449 BC, when the Greeks exited the island of Cyprus.
The Greco-Persian Wars flared and calmed throughout their duration, and although the open war between the Greeks and the Persians came to an end, it was by no means an end to the struggle between the two powers. This also didn’t mean the end to the effects of conflict on the common people.
Persia participated in other battles, while Greece experienced a deadly war, known as the Peloponnesian War, between Sparta and Athens. It would be another century before Alexander the Great arrived on the scene and put an end to the Achaemenid Empire.
When did Persia become Iran?
Persia was historically the common name for the area of land known as Iran. However, on the Nowruz (holiday marking the Persian New Year) of 1935, then leader of the country, Reza Shah officially asked foreign delegates to use the Persian term Iran, the endonym of the country, in formal correspondence.
Henceforth, the people of Iran were referred to as Iranians rather than Persians.
Reza Shah Pahlavi as Minister of War. Credit: آنتوان سویروگوین.CC BY 4.0 Wikimedia Commons آنتوان سویروگوین
How does Iran relate to Greece in the modern day?
Amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East, which was sparked by the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th last year, Iran, which funds, trains, and provides weapons to Hamas, launched more than 300 drones and missiles against military targets into Israel.
The country did this in response to an alleged Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus on April 1st, which killed Iran’s top soldier, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, among other Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders.
The government of Greece issued a stern condemnation of Iran’s drone attack on Israel, labeling them as a “significant escalation.” Authorities in Greece are maintaining a state of alert and staying in close contact with Western allies, while Greek missions remain active in the wider region.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his condemnation of Iran’s attack and called for restraint to avoid a wider regional conflict.
“These are extremely unpleasant and very disturbing developments that are sparking a new conflagration in our wider neighborhood and of course in the Middle East,” Mitsotakis said.
“I want to start with the clear and unequivocal condemnation of the Greek Government and me personally against Iran’s attack on Israel,” he added in a message on social media.
Pyrite, also known as Fool’s Gold. Harvard Museum of Natural History. Pyrite. Chicote Grande, Inquisivi, La Paz, Bolivia. Credit: DerHexer Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
Pyrite, also known as fool’s gold because of its brass-yellow bright metallic luster, could be a potential source of lithium, an essential component in clean energy.
Lithium is the chemical element used in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, and electric vehicles. It is also used in non-rechargeable batteries that are used in heart pacemakers, toys, and clocks.
The particular chemical element was discovered from a mineral, while other common alkali metals were discovered from plant material. This is thought to explain the origin of the element’s name; from ‘lithos’, the Greek word for stone.
Lithium is found in rock ores, which are mined and crushed, or in briny water, where it can be extracted using evaporation. Lithium is an essential component of clean energy technologies, from electric vehicles (EVs) to the big batteries used to store electricity at power plants.
Furthermore, it has more sinister applications: Lithium-6, an isotope of the soft metal, is crucial for breeding tritium, which is the hydrogen isotope that lies at the heart of nuclear fusion. Along with the above qualities of lithium, we can understand why the U.S. government calls it a critical mineral.
Another property of lithium is that it is incredibly reactive. Pure lithium violently interacts with seemingly innocuous water, releasing heat and forming highly flammable hydrogen.
Lithium from Fool’s Gold
The high cost of lithium production has pushed scientists to seek less costly ways to obtain this important chemical element.
According to a Phys.org report, a team led by researchers from West Virginia University is exploring whether previous industrial operations could serve as a source of additional lithium without generating waste materials.
Shailee Bhattacharya, a sedimentary geochemist and doctoral student working with Professor Shikha Sharma in the university’s IsoBioGeM Lab, struck fool’s gold when they found traces of the chemical in pyrite.
The study focused on 15 middle-Devonian sedimentary rock samples from the Appalachian basin in the U.S. The team found plenty of lithium in pyrite minerals in shale, a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud.
Organic-rich shale may show potential for higher lithium recovery as a result of that curious interaction between the precious element and pyrite. However, samples from other geological sites need to be taken in order to find whether the same interaction would occur.
Bhattacharya said that this finding is promising because it hints at the possibility that certain shales could be a source of the element that doesn’t require new mines. This method would also be a very green option, as starting up new lithium mines costs a lot in time, money, and environmental pollution.
