Greece Assumes Command of EU’s Red Sea Security Operation

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Greece Assumes Command of EU’s Red Sea Security Operation
Greece Red Sea
Commanding the operation will be Vassilios Gryparis. File photo. Credit: Hellenic Navy

Greece assumed command of the EU’s Red Sea maritime security operation which would aim to prevent attacks against ships and ensure freedom of navigation.

The EU announced that the operation dubbed “Aspides,” meaning “shields” or “protector” in Greek, will contribute to maritime security along the main sea lanes in an area including the Straits of Bab el-Madab, the Straits of Hormuz, and the international waters in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf.

The strategic objective will be to escort ships in the area of operations, provide situational awareness, and protect ships from multi-dimensional attacks at sea “in full respect of international law, including the principles of necessity and proportionality” in a sub-area of the area of operations.

Vassilios Gryparis of Greece to command operations in the Red Sea

Commanding the operation will be Greek Commander in Chief Vassilios Gryparis, with the Aspides operational headquarters located in Larissa in Central Greece.

Aspides will also cooperate with the US-led operation “Prosperity Guardian,” as well as with states wishing to contribute to maritime security in its area of activity.

It is supported by the European Union Satellite Centre (SATCEN) and the EU’s Intelligence Analysis Centre to gather information as required for the fulfilment of its tasks.

Its initial mandate shall be twelve months from the date of its entry into operation with the possibility of a review before the end of its period of validity.

“Our goal is to establish and launch this mission, Aspides, at the latest on the 19 February, I hope, and I’m sure, we will,” Josep Borrell, the bloc’s top diplomat said recently.

So far, five member states have publicly indicated they will participate in the mission: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, and Italy. Greece is expected to participate with the Hydra frigate.

In recent weeks, the dangers for shipping in the Red Sea region have increased dramatically, as Iranian-backed Houthi fighters have targeted commercial shipping with drone and missile attacks, as well as more brazen assaults by boat and helicopter.

Several Greek-owned vessels have been attacked by missiles suffering damage but there have been no casualties.

The Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen, have declared their backing for Hamas in its war with Israel. They say they are targeting commercial vessels with links to Israel.

Disruption of world trade

Much of the world’s oil and natural gas originates from the region, and the Red Sea is used to transport roughly fifteen percent of the world’s shipping traffic.

With Houthis attacking dozens of ships since the war in Gaza erupted, trade flows have been hit at a time when supply strains and low demand are putting pressure on prices globally.

There has been an “almost wholesale exodus” of larger container ships from the Red Sea and the adjoining Suez Canal, Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of shipping publication Lloyds List, told CNN.

Those ships, which ferry everything from trainers to mobile phones from manufacturers in Asia to customers in Europe have been taking longer routes to avoid the area.

Saint Yakinthos: Crete’s Valentine Equivalent

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Saint Yakinthos: Crete’s Valentine Equivalent
Valentines
The Greek island of Crete has its own saint connected to love, namely Saint Yakinthos, comparable to St. Valentine.Credit: Flickr / Marcu Ioachim Public Domain

February 14th is the globally-celebrated day of Saint Valentine, internationally known as the day of lovers. Millions of stores around the world are lavishly decorated in red and vast quantities of roses, chocolates, and stuffed animals are sold and consumed often at high prices.

However, few people know that the Greek island of Crete has its own saint associated with love, Saint Yakinthos, also known as St. Hyacinth, the patron saint of pure and noble sentiments, as well as creation and inspiration.

The commemoration of his life, however, unlike that of St. Valentine, who was also a martyr, has nothing to do with romantic love or “eros.” His memory concerns his total love for Christ, as evidenced by this young man’s sacrifice of his life for his beliefs.

Saint Yakinthos of Anogeia’s feast day is celebrated every year on July 3rd in the mountainous region of Anogeia in Rethymno.

The “Yakintheia,” as the martyr’s feast is called, is celebrated every summer and is the core of a series of cultural events which last for three days. The feast has grown in popularity both inside and outside of the country.

Local songwriter Loudovikos ton Anogion, one of the coordinators of the annual festival, has said poignantly that “Agios Yakinthos is not the saint of love but the saint of remembered and hoped-for emotion.”

Saint Yakinthos was a martyr

As part of Cretan tradition, people visit the temple of Saint Yakinthos, a small, round church made of stone which is located on Mount Psiloreitis at a height of 3,937 feet (1,200 meters).

The people of Anogeia had this new church built in 1998 to honor their beloved martyr. Constructed in the “mitato” style, it is a simple structure which resembles a typical shepherd’s hut.

According to the Orthodox Church, Saint Yakinthos, who was born in Cappadocia in the year 98, was a high-ranking courtier to Emperor Traianos (Trajan).

The Emperor Trajan asked Yakinthos to renounce his faith in Christ after he noticed that Yakinthos refused to partake in ceremonial pagan sacrifices.

Yakinthos, who flatly refused to do so, was then thrown into a prison located 7 miles (12 kilometers) south of Anogeia in Crete. He was fed food which had been steeped in blood from animals that had been sacrificed to idols.

The saint, who thereafter refused to eat for forty days, subsequently starved to death at twenty years of age, becoming a martyr for Christ.

The guards then found Yakinthos in his cell surrounded by angels who were holding candles. Emperor Trajan, enraged, then ordered the martyr’s remains to be thrown to the wild animals, but his body remained untouched as the angels continued to guard it.

The Assumption Catholic Church in Bavaria, which was the site of a Cistercian Abbey, claims to possess the entire preserved body of Saint Yakinthos.

World’s Oldest Lipstick Discovered in Iran

Abdul Moeed
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World’s Oldest Lipstick Discovered in Iran
Oldest Lipstick Ever Found
Mineralogical composition of the oldest lipstick ever found. Credit: F. Zorzi / Scientific Reports / CC BY 4.0

In southeastern Iran’s Jiroft region, archaeologists discovered a small vial made of chlorite. Inside it was a deep red substance thought to be ancient lipstick.

The discovery was detailed in the journal Scientific Reports. Analysis showed that the red material contained minerals such as hematite, manganite, and braunite.

It also had traces of galena and anglesite. These minerals were mixed with plant waxes and other organic materials much like modern lipstick recipes.

Dating back to the early 2nd millennium BCE, this discovery sheds light on the ancient Marḫaši civilization, referenced in cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia at the time.

Professor Massimo Vidale, an archaeology professor at the University of Padua in Italy and one of the study’s authors, shared insights with Bored Panda via email. He said that in the world of five thousand to four thousand years ago, we knew about makeup recipes, eyeliners, and eye shadows but not about lip paints.

Ancient knowledge of chemical processing

The ancient people of the region of Mesopotamia had advanced knowledge of chemical processing and used various metal ores, which probably made their cosmetic products more complex. The Jiroft civilization, possibly the ancient Marhasi, thrived in a valley abundant with different types of rocks, which likely helped in the production of advanced cosmetics.

Containers for cosmetics discovered in burial sites indicate the significance of displaying particular social statuses even after death in early city societies. Professor Vidale highlighted that cosmetics were vital in ceremonies and funerals, showing the social rankings of that era.

Previously, archaeological findings mostly centered on white or light-colored substances. However, the discovery of deep red lip pigments brings a fresh perspective to our knowledge of ancient cosmetics.

The birthplace of lipstick

Even though there are no historical records or images from the Jiroft region, this discovery hints that it might be where lipstick was first used. Professor Vidale warned against making firm statements about being the “earliest evidence,” recognizing that new findings could change our view of ancient cultures.

The slim design of the lipstick vial and its fit with ancient mirrors suggest similarities between old cosmetic habits and modern beauty routines.

The Jiroft civilization is still a puzzle because many of its graveyards were looted and damaged in 2000 to 2001.

In 2001, the archaeological remains of the Jiroft civilization were unearthed when the Halil River flooded its basin in Kerman, a region in southeastern Iran. Moreover, this flood exposed several graveyards dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE.

Following this discovery, locals engaged in extensive looting, leading to the loss of thousands of valuable artifacts to the antiquities market, according to a recent study.

Major Atlantic Ocean Current on the Verge of Collapse

Abdul Moeed
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Major Atlantic Ocean Current on the Verge of Collapse
Atlantic Ocean Current Collapse
A new study confirms that a major Atlantic ocean current is on the verge of collapse. Credit: Jaumellecha / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

A recent study raised alarms about a crucial ocean current’s potential collapse. Now, fresh data confirms these concerns.

In an article for The Conversation, the authors of the latest study caution that changes in temperature, sea level, and rainfall will greatly impact society. They stress that climate change is happening fast and won’t stop anytime soon.

The new study reveals a frightening possibility. One important aspect highlighted by René van Westen and colleagues from Utrecht University is an early warning system.

This foresight could offer the world a chance to brace itself for the future challenges ahead, as reported by ScienceAlert.

“We were able to develop a physics-based and observable early warning signal involving the salinity transport at the southern boundary of the Atlantic Ocean,” van Westen and team explained.

AMOC has been slowing down since the mid-1900s

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a massive system of ocean currents. It carries warm, salty water northward. As this water travels north, it cools down, becoming denser. Eventually, it sinks, pulling in water from other oceans to replace it at the surface, and the cycle begins again, moving southward.

Since the mid-1900s, the AMOC has been slowing down significantly. This slowdown is due to several factors. Melting glaciers and increased rainfall add more freshwater to the ocean.

This extra freshwater dilutes the saltiness of the water, making it less dense. As a result, the sinking process is disrupted, weakening the entire circulation system.

Through modeling ocean systems, van Westen and his team have devised a method to spot when the AMOC is nearing a critical point. They found that the slowdown in salinity decline at the southernmost edge of the Atlantic is a key indicator.

The authors said that once this threshold is reached, the tipping point is expected to occur within one to four decades.

Tipping point is a lot closer than previously thought

Direct monitoring of the AMOC has only been happening since 2004. This isn’t long enough to fully grasp how the current slowing trend will unfold. Therefore, scientists rely on indirect indicators like salinity levels to gain insights.

Van Westen and his team haven’t combined all factors to precisely predict when the AMOC might collapse. However, they believe this critical event is much closer than many current simulations indicate.

The latest modeling delves into the freshwater-induced tipping point without attempting to forecast its timing. However, the findings indicate that the AMOC is much more responsive to changes than previously thought in many climate models.

Stefan Rahmstorf, a climatologist from Potsdam University not involved in the study, commented on RealClimate, stating that the new research reaffirms previous worries about climate models overestimating the stability of the AMOC.

When Did Ancient Egyptians Start Using Hieroglyphs?

Matthew Norman
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When Did Ancient Egyptians Start Using Hieroglyphs?
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs.
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Credit: VdeX42. CC BY-2.0/flickr

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were commonly etched into stone and used in temples, tombs, and other monuments, with the first fully formed sentence found around 2800 BC. The word “hieroglyphs” comes from the Greek adjective “hieroglyphikos,” meaning “sacred carving.”

Early forms of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs existed before this time, however, with some experts claiming that the writing system may have its origins in artistic symbols used on Gerzean pottery from around 4000 BC. Some of this resemble the hieroglyphs we know today.

Gerzean pottery.
Gerzean pottery. Credit: kairoinfo4u. CC BY 2.0/flickr

Proto-hieroglyphic (the earliest form) symbol systems developed in the latter half of the 4th millennium BC. Examples of such can be seen on the clay labels of predynastic ruler Scorpion I, discovered at Abydos (modern-day Umm el-Qa’ab, Egypt) in 1988, and the Narmer Palette, which dates back to roughly 3100 BC.

The first full sentence etched in mature ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, thus far discovered, was found on a seal impression in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen at Umm el-Qa’ab. This has been carbon dated back to around 2800 BC.

Clay seal impression. Second Dynasty, about 2700 BC. From the tomb of Seth-Peribsen.
Clay seal impression. Second Dynasty about 2700 BC. From the tomb of Seth-Peribsen. Credit: akhenatenator. CC By 1.0/flickr.

Approximately eight hundred hieroglyphs are known to date back to the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom periods. By the Greco-Roman era, there were more than five thousand.

Why Were Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs Invented?

Although, approximately, it is known when ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs emerged as a writing system, there is still an immensely important question as to why they were invented. Some experts argue the reason for their invention had to do with Egypt’s unification into a single state and administration. This coincided with the emergence of the writing form.

“It is logical that a state of Egypt’s size and complexity required a flexible system of accounting that could keep information on the nature of goods, their quantities, provenance and destination, the people in charge of them and the date of transaction,” Marc Van De Mieroop, a history professor at Columbia University wrote in his book, A History of Ancient Egypt.

However, the author does also stress that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs might well have been invented to help glorify gods and the king, pointing out that some of the earliest carvings depicting ancient Egyptian kings contain hieroglyphs. “The glorification of the king may have been one of the driving forces in the script’s invention,” he wrote.

Ancient Egypt’s contact with another ancient society, that of Sumerian Mesopotamia, may have been the origin of writing in the modern-day African country. Some experts believe that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs came into existence not long after Sumerian script and thus were likely invented under the influence of the latter.

Sumarian cuneiform tablet at the Manchester Museum.
Sumarian cuneiform tablet at the Manchester Museum. Credit: purplemattfish. CC BY 2.0/flickr

It has also been suggested that the general idea of expressing words in writing came to Egypt from Sumerian Mesopotamia, given that there is lots of evidence for early Egypt-Mesopotamia contact. However, due to the lack of direct evidence for the transfer of writing, other researchers argue that no definitive conclusions can be made about the origin of hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt. Some maintain the writing form was developed independently by ancient Egyptians.

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs Appeared Suddenly

Since the 1990s, many scholars have argued that the hieroglyphs discovered at Abydos, weaken the theory that the Mesopotamian symbol system predates the Egyptian one. The strangest part, however, is that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs appeared suddenly at that time, whereas Mesopotamia had a long, gradual evolutionary history of sign usage for agriculture and accounting, mostly seen in tokens dating back as far as 8000 BC.

The Different Types of ‘Glyph’

Hieroglyphs contain three different types of ‘glyph.’ These include phonetic glyphs, which include single-consonant characters that function like an alphabet; logographs, which represent morphemes (the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression); and determinatives, which narrow down the meaning of logographic or phonetic words.

The Evolution of the Symbolic Writing System Over the Centuries

As writing was popularized throughout ancient Egypt, with its adoption by more and more people, more simple glyph forms began to develop. These resulted in the hieratic (priestly) and demotic (popular) scripts.

It could be said that these new forms were more suitable for writing on papyrus. The rise of more simplistic forms did not spell the end of hieroglyphs. Rather, all forms existed alongside each other. The Rosetta Stone is made up of three parallel scripts for instance, hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek.

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were even still in use during the era of Alexander the Great and under Persian rule (intermittent in the 6th and 5th centuries BC). Many comments and writings about ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs by ancient Greek and Roman writers have been misleading, and it is believed this happened as a response to the changing political situation. Some ancient thinkers claimed that the function of hieroglyphs was to distinguish between true Egyptians and foreign conquerors.

A different reason for the misleading comments around ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs may have sprung from the refusal of ancient Greeks and Romans to take ancient Egyptian culture on its own terms, Having discovered that hieroglyphs were sacred writings, Greco-Roman authors believed the symbol system to be magical, capable of transmitting mystical knowledge.

The Ancient Lemnian Language and Its Connection to Etruscan

Matthew Norman
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The Ancient Lemnian Language and Its Connection to Etruscan
Lost Lemnian, Etruscan and Raetic language were all closely related.
Lost Lemnian, Etruscan, and Raetic language were all closely related under the banner of the Tyrrhenian language group. Credit: Curious Expeditions. CC BY 2.0/flickr

The ancient language of Lemnian, which was spoken on the Greek island of Lemnos in the first millennium BC, was very closely connected with the Etruscan language, as uncovered inscriptions have found.

There have been sixteen inscription remnants found that display Lemnian, a now-extinct language thought to have some relation to the Raetic language of the Alps and the Etruscan language of northern, central, and southwestern Italy, which all formed part of the Tyrrhenian language group.

Area of Tyrrhenian languages (Rhaetian, Etruscan, Lemnian), Paleo-Corsican and Paleo-Sardinian languages.
Area of Tyrrhenian languages (Rhaetian, Etruscan, Lemnian), Paleo-Corsican, and Paleo-Sardinian languages. Credit: Nunziu Poggi. CC BY-4.0/Wikimedia Commons/Nunziu Poggi

The Tyrrhenian language group is generally considered to be formed of Paleo-European and non-Indo-European languages.

The Lemnos Stele

In use on the island of Lemnos in ancient Greece in the latter half of the 6th century BC, Lemnian first came to be known by the inscription on a funerary stone called the Lemnos Stele, which was discovered in 1884 embedded in a church near Kaminia, a village in the north of Lemnos.

The funerary stone is considered to be the most significant Lemnian artifact discovered to date because its decoding has helped later scholars in their translations of the Etruscan language, which still presents some challenges.

The stele displays seven rows of letters on its front with an additional three rows of letters on its right side, and, although most of the inscription cannot be understood, there are a couple of passages which match phrases found on the funerary artifacts of the Etruscans.

Lemnos Stele.
Lemnos Stele. Credit: diffendale. CC BY-2.0/flickr

In fact, one researcher who translated the intelligible parts of the Lemnian Stele wrote, “Although the inscriptions cannot be translated in their entirety, several phrases are intelligible, all of which point to funerary texts in honor of a Greek named Holaie Phokias.”

Holaie died at the age of forty and held an official position known as maras, according to the researcher. However, it has been argued that because of the baldness of the deceased man etched onto the stele, he may have been much older than forty when he died.

Lemnian is preserved on a total of sixteen inscriptions with most of them just a single word painted onto ceramic vessels. The inscriptions of the Lemnian language were written in an alphabet which had its origins in Phyrgia (a Kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia). However, a handful of letters—theta, phi, and khi—were borrowed from Greek.

Words in the Lemnian inscriptions were separated by colons and tri-colons with the writing being read from left to right and some lines in longer inscriptions written in boustrophedon style (right to left).

The Genetic Association Between Lemnian and Etruscan

One inscription, found by the Italian Archaeological School of Athens in the 1990s at the site of Efestia, uncovered a stone altar base. The front portion of the artifact was incised with four words arranged in two lines or right-to-left writing.

The four words were “heloke,” “hektaonosi,” “soroms,” and “aslas.” Researchers have deduced the meaning of the Lemnian verb “heloke” by comparing it to the Etruscan word “helu,” meaning “constructed.”

Hektaonosi is believed to be the beneficiary for whom the altar base was created, while the meaning of the remaining two words is uncertain. Researchers posit that they may represent the names of the two people who donated the monument.

Etruscan boundary cippus from Fiesole.
Etruscan boundary cippus from Fiesole. Credit: diffendale. CC BY 2.0/flickr

Among scholars, the Lemnian language surfaces during discussions on the origins of the Etruscans. There is a theory that the ancestors of the Etruscans arrived in Italy from the northern Aegean, possibly somewhere around the Black Sea in the latter half of the second millennium.

The discovery of Lemnian—linguistically related to Etruscan—in this geographical region is often used as evidence to support this theory and is, to some extent, in line with the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who said the Etruscans were descendants of the Lydians, the inhabitants of Anatolia.

Nonetheless, there is no archaeological evidence to support the theory that prehistoric speakers of Etruscan made their way from the Northern Aegean. Moreover, the linguistic evidence, although pointing to a close relation between Lemnian and Etruscan, does not answer the question of origins, which is further muddied by the addition of Raetic to this family of languages.

King Charles Calls Greek Monk for Prayers After Cancer Diagnosis

Tasos Kokkinidis
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King Charles Calls Greek Monk for Prayers After Cancer Diagnosis
King Charles Greek Monk
King Charles sought spiritual support from a Greek Orthodox monk. Credit: Catholic Church (England and Wales). CC BY-2.0/Flickr

After being diagnosed with cancer, King Charles called a Greek Orthodox monk on Mount Athos and asked him to pray for his health, as revealed on Tuesday.

Elder Ephraim who is currently Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi at Mount Athos told Cyprus TV that King Charles called him to receive consolation.

“When reaching out to a monk, you seek his prayers and consoling words for strength to overcome difficulties.”

He added that King Charles is a spiritual person with whom he has kept a close relationship over the years. “I believe he will overcome cancer.”

Ephraim also revealed that King Charles has visited the monastic community of Mount Athos eight times, and Ephraim himself has also visited King Charles several times, where he was always welcomed.

“We have developed a very good relationship with King Charles. He is interested in spiritual life and has spiritual concerns. Despite being Anglican and the protector of his church, he is still interested in our church” Ephraim said, adding that “his contemplation and the questions he asked always moved me.”

When the journalist asked Abbot Ephraim how King Charles feels after being diagnosed with cancer, he replied, “He knows what spiritual life is… Every person tries to bear their own cross.”

Relationship between Greek monk and King Charles

In 1998 he visited the Vatopedi Monastery, where he met Abbot Ephraim for the first time. Since then, his visits to Athos increased. From spring 2003 to May 2004 he visited Mount Athos three times. Always accompanied by bodyguards and politely refusing the presence of Greek officials.

A report by the Guardian newspaper in 2004 suggested that the then Prince Charles had become enamored of the Orthodox faith to the point that he adorned a section of his home at Highgrove with prized Byzantine icons. Many are believed to originate from Mount Athos, the Orthodox world’s holiest site.

“There is no question that the British royal is Orthodox in his heart,” a monk confided to the Guardian as Charles was making a secret visit to Mount Athos. “Sadly, he is very constrained by his position,” the monk added.

The British newspaper reported that when the prince arrived in Athos days after the death of Princess Diana, it was Abbot Ephraim who induced him to join the faith. Closeted in a chamber alone with the abbot, Charles is believed to have made a “spiritual commitment” to Christian Orthodoxy.

King Charles, has been diagnosed with a still undisclosed type of cancer for which he began regular treatments on Monday, February 5th.  Public duties have been postponed during treatment, Buckingham Palace has said.

According to the Palace, the king, 75, “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.”

The King and his relationship with Greece

Charles III is a well-known lover of Greece, a philhellene, and a regular visitor. He was present at and gave a speech during, the events to mark the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution.

When King Charles—then Prince Charles—said that Greece is in his blood upon his first official visit to the country, he was not just speaking metaphorically, as both his father and grandfather were born in Greece.

The grandfather of the Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, was born at Tatoi Palace, on the outskirts of Athens in 1882. His father, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was born on the island of Corfu at Mon Repos Palace in 1921.

Related: King Charles’ Mysterious Links to the Greek Orthodox Faith

 

 

Farmers in Greece Vow to Continue Protests Despite Government Handouts

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Farmers in Greece Vow to Continue Protests Despite Government Handouts
Farmers Greece
Farmers protesting recently in Thessaloniki. Credit: Achilleas Chiras/AMNA

Farmers in Greece say that their demands have not been met and protests will continue after a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday.

Speaking to public broadcaster ERT, one of the farmers’ representatives, Rizos Maroudas, said that the roadblocks will be strengthened to fulfill their demands, which will determine their “survival.”

“There are several young people at the blockades that are fighting this battle to stay in the profession and the village – and at the same time so we can continue to cultivate and produce, so there is good quality and inexpensive food,” he added.

At the meeting, the government proposed further support measures for farmers who have been protesting for weeks over rising energy costs and competition from abroad.

Greece farmers
Credit: AMNA

“I believe we can find common ground, taking into account your justified concerns,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told farmers’ representatives ahead of the meeting.

“I believe that we can arrive at a common ground, which takes into account your own justified concerns but also takes into account the fact that the country’s fiscal margins are given and limited,” he added.

The government announced that farmers will be eligible for lower electricity costs for two years beginning in April. This is a measure that will be partly financed by proceeds from renewables and carbon market credits.

After that period, electricity prices will be stabilized for a third of their power consumption for another eight years, the energy ministry said in a statement.

Mitsotakis told farmers they had received more than one billion euros in compensation for crops damaged in natural disasters since 2019 and noted Greece’s fiscal constraints.

Farmers’ demands in Greece

The farmers’ demands include duty-free agricultural diesel, reduced electricity costs, subsidies on supplies and animal feed, renegotiation of the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), full compensation for lost income, and cessation of the labeling of non-Greek produce as Greek.

Many of their demands mirror similar protests that have been gripping Europe for weeks now. However, in Greece, farmers also demand the government deliver on promises made months ago. This includes compensation for thousands of crops and livestock destroyed in deadly floods and rainstorms that battered the farming heartland in September 2023.

In a rash of measures recently announced, Mitsotakis said the state would settle farmers’ overdue power and water bills and a tax rebate of diesel fuel would be extended for another year.

“This is all the funding the federal budget can provide at this time,” said Pavlos Marinakis, a government spokesman. “If we could offer more we would. But we don’t want to make phony promises.”

Related: Farmers’ protests all over Europe

Ancient Greek and Roman Influences on St. Valentine’s Day

Stella Tsolakidou
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Ancient Greek and Roman Influences on St. Valentine’s Day
Valentine's Day Ancient Greece
Eros, the ancient Greek god of love. Credit: Metropolitan Museum of New York

St. Valentine’s Day on February 14th is celebrated among lovers and couples as a day of affection, romantic love and commitment to each other.

The chocolate and card industry flourishes on that day, with people around the world giving small gifts to their loved ones in the name of Cupid, the Roman deity of love and desire inspired by the ancient Greek winged deity of Eros.

But the origins of the celebration and St. Valentine are rather obscure, with many figures claiming to be the true inspiration behind the February feast.

The celebration of Saint Valentine did not have any romantic connotations until Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his poem about the Valentines in the 14th century when the tradition of courtly love began to flourish.

By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards known as valentines.

St. Valentine’s Day and the Roman Lupercalia celebration

Although there is no evidence linking Saint Valentine’s Day to the rites of the ancient Roman or ancient Greek cults,  popular modern sources claim links to the Roman Lupercalia celebration observed around February 13–15, a rite connected to fertility.

Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning Juno the purifier or the chaste Juno, was celebrated on February 13–14.

Pope Gelasius I (492–496) abolished Lupercalia. Juno is the ancient Roman name for the goddess Hera, the spouse of ancient Greek father of the gods Zeus. In the ancient Athenian calendar, the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of the couple.

Cupid with his white wings, golden arrows and playful mood is a typical symbol of St. Valentine’s day, which straightly derives from the Roman god of desire and affection Cupid and his ancient Greek counterpart Eros.

Eros, god of desire and affection

Eros was the godly child of Aphrodite. Although Eros appears in Classical Greek art as a slender winged youth, during the Hellenistic period he was increasingly portrayed as a chubby boy.

During this time, his iconography acquired the bow and arrow that remains a distinguishing attribute; a person, or even a deity, who is shot by Cupid’s arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire.

The story of Eros and Psyche appears in Greek art as early as the 4th century BC, but the most extended literary source of the tale is the Latin novel The Golden Ass, also known as Metamorphoses, by Apuleius (2nd century AD).

Often presented as an allegory of love overcoming death, the myth was a frequent image on Roman sarcophagi. The novel itself is written in a picaresque Roman style, yet Psyche retains her Greek name. Eros and Aphrodite are called by their Latin names Cupid and Venus, and Cupid is depicted as a young adult, rather than a child.

The story tells of the struggle for love and trust between Eros and Psyche. Aphrodite was jealous of the beauty of mortal princess Psyche, as men were leaving her altars barren to worship a mere human woman instead, and so she commanded her son Eros, the god of love, to cause Psyche to fall in love with the vilest creature on earth.

Instead, Eros falls in love with Psyche himself and spirits her away to his home, where they mostly spend time together during the night. Their fragile peace is ruined by a visit from Psyche’s two jealous sisters, who cause Psyche to betray the trust of her husband by taking a look at him against his warnings to do so.

Wounded, Eros leaves his wife, and Psyche wanders the Earth, looking for her lost love.

Eventually, she approaches Aphrodite and asks for her help. Aphrodite imposes four difficult tasks on Psyche, which she can achieve by means of supernatural assistance.

During the last and most difficult task of descending to Hades, Psyche takes a look at what is inside of a box she had to deliver to Persephone, the spouse of the underworld god Hades.

Psyche’s curiosity got the best of her and she looked in the box. Hidden within it was eternal sleep placed there by Venus. Cupid with the intervention of Zeus brought Psyche back from the dead to Mount Olympus where she became immortal to live alongside her husband Eros.

Aphrodite relents, and the couple gives birth to a daughter, Voluptas or Hedone, meaning physical pleasure, and bliss.

But Eros was also described in antiquity as mischievous and boyish, arbitrary and petulant, often depicted blindfolded (explaining the love is blind phrase).

In one legend, Eros cursed the god of light Apollo after he had insulted the young Eros for playing with bow and arrows. Then Eros took two arrows, one of gold and one of lead. With the leaden shaft, to incite hatred, he shot the nymph Daphne and with the golden one, to incite love, he shot Apollo through the heart.

Apollo was seized with love for the maiden, and she in turn abhorred him and fled him all the time. They were evenly matched in the race until Eros intervened and helped Apollo gain upon Daphne. The nymph asked for her father’s help and soon turned into a tree, whose leaves would crown the heads of leaders ever since.

Ancient Greek Temple of Zeus Unearthed in Sinai, Egypt

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Ancient Greek Temple of Zeus Unearthed in Sinai, Egypt
Pelusium Temple Zeus Egypt
An inscription in Greek at the Zeus temple was unearthed. Credit: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt

Archaeologists recently unearthed the ruins of a temple for the ancient Greek god Zeus in the Sinai Peninsula, authorities in Egypt said.

In a statement, the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said the temple ruins were found in the Tell el-Farma archaeological site in northwestern Sinai.

Tell el-Farma, also known by its ancient name Pelusium, dates back to the late Pharaonic period and was also used during Greco-Roman and Byzantine times. There are remains dating to the Christian and early Islamic periods, as well.

Pelusium, Pelousion in Greek, was located on the easternmost mouth of the Nile River. Almost four miles long, the site is enveloped by soft, salt-covered mud and wetlands, the remains of two branches of the Nile that once surrounded the city.

The ancient name of the city, from the Greek pelos, mud or silt, reflects its location.

Located on Egypt’s eastern boundary, the city was of immense strategic importance. It was both a departure point for Egyptian expeditions to Asia and an entry point for foreign invaders attempting to conquer Egypt. During peacetime, it was an important trading post, and in the Graeco-Roman period, it became one of Egypt’s busiest ports, second only to Alexandria.

Ships from the eastern Mediterranean and caravans from Syria-Palestine came here to exchange goods, such as wine, oil, and honey, which were transported to Egypt and the Red Sea by Nile barge and overland roads.

Zeus temple Egypt Pelusium
Credit: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt

The Temple of Zeus in Egypt destroyed in a powerful earthquake

Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said, according to the Associated Press (AP), archaeologists excavated the temple ruins through its entrance gate, where two huge fallen granite columns were visible. The gate was destroyed in a powerful earthquake in ancient times, he said.

Waziri said the ruins were found between the Pelusium Fort and a memorial church at the site. Archaeologists found a set of granite blocks probably used to build a staircase for worshipers to reach the temple.

Excavations at the area date back to the early 1900s when French Egyptologist Jean Clédat found ancient Greek inscriptions that proved the existence of the Zeus-Kasios temple, which, however, he didn’t unearth, according to the ministry.

Zeus-Kasios is a conflation of Zeus, the God of the sky in ancient Greek mythology and Mount Kasios in Syria, where Zeus once worshipped.

Hisham Hussein, the director of Sinai archaeological sites, said inscriptions found in the area show that Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138) renovated the temple.

He said experts will study the unearthed blocks and do a photogrammetry survey to help determine the architectural design of the temple.

Related: Ancient “Notepads,” Many Written in Greek, Uncovered in Egypt

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