Endy Zemenides, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council and U.S. Ambassador George Tsunis at the Greek Diaspora roundtable. Credit: Delphi Economic Forum
A roundtable discussion dedicated to the Greek diaspora was held on Wednesday at the 9th Economic Forum of Delphi, which takes place in Delphi from April 10-13.
The discussion on how the diaspora, counting more than 7 million people worldwide, can strengthen ties with Greece was chaired by Endy Zemenides, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council.
In his statement, the Secretary General of Hellenism Abroad and Public Diplomacy, Yiannis Chrysoulakis, referred to the diaspora as an “invaluable asset which is a key priority for Greece”.
He spoke about the recent establishment of the postal vote, through which 17,000 people voted in the recent parliamentary elections, while he emphasized that the registration process for the European elections is also in force.
National plan for action on the Greek diaspora discussed at Delphi
He also spoke about the drawing up of a national strategy for the expatriate Greeks with 5,000 different actions, noting that “our country wants to strengthen its relationship with the diaspora and help the everyday life of Greeks everywhere.”
He referred to a new program of action for 2024-2027, which will be offered for consultation. The program, according to Chrysoulakis, has been based on five main pillars:
The first objective is the support and development of networks and structures of the expatriate community.
The second objective is to take advantage of the presence of the expatriates for local issues in host countries.
The third objective is preserving and strengthening the Greek language, especially among the young generation.
The fourth objective is developing further links between the Greek diaspora and the Church while the sixth objective is the upgrading of the services provided by the consular authorities, with the digitization of many procedures.
Ambassador Tsunis: My generation has failed
George Tsunis, the US Ambassador emphasized that “diaspora is something we talk about a lot, but it is also a misunderstood concept. We must ensure that the relationship between Greece and the US is more vibrant than ever. We must make sure that there are opportunities for Greeks to study in America.”
Tsunis said: “My generation has failed, we have not done enough. I am not impressed with what has happened in recent years, there are problems everywhere.
“Where is the Greek Harvard? Why don’t we have excellent Greek schools? We must do more, do more, and approach things with a sense of responsibility. We need leadership and leadership is lacking.”
The US Ambassador also slammed the lack of institutions that can interest the diaspora world, stressing the need for introspection:
“We don’t have institutions that fascinate the world, that’s the reality. We need to introspect and decide what we want. We don’t have institutions that people believe in, giving our children equal opportunities to participate in them.”
Tsunis also spoke about education and the lack of connectivity with Greece through educational institutions.
“It is time to get serious about creating institutions that facilitate this connectivity. We’ve failed at it, we don’t support each other, if it’s not ideal we don’t even want to hear it. In America we don’t have a Greek university, schools are closing one after the other. The diaspora is such a rich and successful group. Why is this not translated into institutions? We must do more. If we don’t create connectivity, every year a bigger gap will be created” he concluded.
Taking the floor, the Australian ambassador to Greece, Alison Duncan, underlined that the Greek diaspora is one of those passionate about their country, having already taken many actions, something for which the Greeks should be proud.
On a similar wavelength, former ambassador of Australia to Greecey, Jenny Bloomfield, stated that five years after her retirement, she saw “a new Greece, different, a maritime superpower and a developed economy”, for which more things must be done, in cooperation between the country and the diaspora.
For his part, John Sotos, Co-President of the Hellenic Initiative Canada referred to the Prime Minister’s recent trip to Canada, which, as he noted, “motivated Greece and activated the investor community”, adding, at the same time, that it should to simplify procedures for Greeks abroad such as the Greek passport or their connection to real estate they have in Greece.
He also emphasized the need to create an organization that includes diaspora Hellenism, in all countries of the world.
Chora, the capital, at an altitude of 350 meters, (1,148 feet) is located near the center of the island. Public Domain
Amorgos, the Cyclades’ easternmost island, boasts marvelous beaches with azure waters, gorgeous caves, ideal spots for diving, scenic bays, and ancient footpaths leading through its steep rocky terrain.
It was there that the 1988 movie “Le Grand Bleu” ( The Big Blue) with Jean Reno was shot. The film became one of France’s most commercially successful films.
Built at the center of the island and surrounded by rocky hills, the maze-like Chora of Amorgos is considered to be one of the most picturesque in the Cyclades.
Here you can admire a breathtaking setting with beautiful squares, traditional Cycladic houses with bougainvillea trees in their courtyards and little whitewashed alleys.
In the morning you can wander around the narrow streets, visit the 13th century castle and the monasteries or relax at a local coffee shop; in the evening pick one of the cosy bars and tavernas scattered around Chora’s streets and squares and enjoy local specialties accompanied by a shot of raki.
Katapola is the main harbor of the island as well as a haven for boats and small cruise ships. Aigiali is the second harbor of Amorgos Island. It is very popular among young people as there is a camping site. Along its lively waterfront, you will find plenty of cafes and restaurants. Perched on the mountainside beyond Aigiali there are three picturesque villages: Tholaria, Lagkada and Potamos.
Beaches on Amorgos Island
On Agia Anna beach, where the film “Big Blue” was shot, you will find two amazing bays, one of which is home to the church of Agia Anna. The beach is pebbly, with rocks and caves, crystalline waters and is ideal for snorkeling.
Mouros Beach with its rocky landscape and secluded caves is superb. Take a moment to admire the breathtaking view from the top of the footpath that leads down to the beach.
Agios Pavlos is a small peninsula with pebbles. Take one of the boats departing from here to reach the small island of Nikouria, which boasts two amazing beaches.
Egiali Beach is a long sandy beach with many beach bars and tavernas. At one end of the beach, there is a path leading to the secluded beach of Levrossos.
Kalotaritissa Bay lies in the southernmost part of the island. It is a sandy, organized beach with beautiful blue water and a beach bar. Take a boat out to the stunning beach of Gramvoussa and bask on a white sandy beach with turquoise waters.
Maltezi is only accessible by boat departing from Katapola. It is an organized sandy beach with blue-green waters and a beach bar.
Mikri Vlyhada is a quiet secluded pebbly beach with crystal clear waters. In order to reach it you have to walk along a steep footpath (starting from Tholaria) but it is well worth the effort.
Panagia Hozoviotissa in Amorgos
The Panagia Hozoviotissa in Amorgos. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0
You will find the Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa on Amorgos clinging to a steep rock above the endless blue of Agia Anna Beach.
The Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa has been standing there, a bright white sentinel against the grey rock surrounding it, since the year 1088.
The monastery has eight floors connected by narrow stone staircases carved into the rock. 350 steps lead you to the monastery, the interior of which is like a labyrinth. The cells of the monks are all carved into the rock to form a unique example of traditional architecture.
According to tradition, the miraculous icon of Panagia arrived by boat on the beach of Asia from Hozova in Palestine, sent by a pious woman who wanted to save the icon from the Iconoclasts.
The monastery is perched on steep cliffs 300 meters (984 feet) above sea level. Incredibly, it is only visible from the sea.
Olympia shipwreck
The famous Olympia shipwreck lies on the southwestern coast of the Greek island, near Kalotaritissa beach. The shipwreck has been featured in many documentaries and travel shows.
According to residents, a ship approached the island in February 1980. The captain was looking for a place near the coast where he would find shelter from the strong north winds. The ship anchored near the beach of Kalotaritissa but did not hold and the waves threw it on the rocks.
The ship’s original name, “Inland,” is still visible despite the rust. It was later renamed “Olympia.”
Golden Visa applications in Greece are surging before the changes introduced recently take effect, as reports say that wealthy Americans are increasingly looking for supplementary passports.
New applications for five-year residence permits through the Golden Visa program continue unabated in Greece, as 1,299 new applications were submitted in the first two months of this year, compared to 1,248 applications submitted in the corresponding two months last year.
In total, it is estimated that since the beginning of the program, 24,000 properties have been acquired with a minimum investment value of six billion euros.
The surge in applications is expected to grow before the new requirements take effect at the end of August. Greece is increasing the minimum amount a third national needs to invest and secure the residence permit. This is to tackle the country’s housing crisis.
In popular regions, such as Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and the islands with a population of over 3,100 inhabitants, the threshold increases to 800,000 euros while in other areas the threshold is 400,000 euros and above.
Moreover, investors must purchase a property of at least 120 square meters. For buildings that have industrial use and are converted into houses, the required amount is 250,000 euros while the required amount for investment in a historic building stands at 250,000 euros.
Spain scraps Golden Visa scheme
The changes in the Greek Golden Visa come as Spain recently announced that it is scrapping the program introduced in 2013 altogether. Critics say it creates inflationary pressure and acts as a back door for dirty money to enter the economy. That prompted Pedro Sanchez’s government to announce in October that the scheme would be phased out.
“We are going to take the necessary measures to ensure that housing is a right and not just a speculative business,” Sanchez said.
The Minister of Housing said that between 2013 and 2023, more than 14,000 such permits had been issued, mostly to citizens of China and Russia.
Americans increasingly look for Golden Visa in Greece
Wealthy Americans are increasingly applying for second citizenship and national residences, including in Greece, according to the leading US law firm Henley & Partners.
It says the wealthy are building these “passport portfolios”—collections of second, and even third or fourth, citizenships—in case they need to flee their home country.
“The U.S. is still a great country, [and] it’s still an amazing passport,” Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners told CNBC.
“But if I’m wealthy, I would like to hedge against levels of volatility and uncertainty. The idea of diversification is well understood by wealthy individuals around what they invest. It makes no sense to have one country of citizenship and residence when I have the ability to actually diversify that aspect of my life as well.”
According to Henley, the top destinations for supplemental passports among Americans are Portugal, Malta, Greece, and Italy.
Greece’s and Portugal’s “Golden Visa” programs are especially popular since they provide a path to residency and citizenship—with visa-free travel in Europe—in exchange for an investment.
Pompeii dig unearths unique frescos from Greek mythology. Credit: Carlo Pelagalli / CC-BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
A stunning fresco of Helen of Troy and several other impressive artworks depicting scenes from Greek mythology were uncovered this week in Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried in an eruption from Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Archaeologists say the frescos are among the finest to be found in the ruins of the ancient site.
Mythical Greek figures such as Helen of Troy are depicted on the high black walls of a large banqueting hall.
— Àrchie Leishmàn 🏴🥃👍 (@ognittis37) April 11, 2024
In one, the god Apollo is seen trying to seduce the priestess Cassandra. Her rejection of him, according to legend, resulted in her prophecies being ignored.
The tragic consequence is told in the second painting, in which Prince Paris meets the beautiful Helen – a union Cassandra knows will doom them all in the resulting Trojan War.
🚨NEW 🚨
I was on site at Pompeii shortly after they made the stunning discovery of exquisite frescoes of figures from the Trojan War in a newly uncovered winter dining room.
Frescoes discovered in Pompeii are in exceptional condition
The Times reports that the frescoes are beautiful but what makes them so unusual is their extraordinary condition.
“It seems that the room had been decorated shortly before Vesuvius erupted. The frescoes appear to be some of the last works of art to be made in the doomed city,” The Times reports.
Amazing new discoveries from #Pompeii. This and many others will be featured in the new series starting on Monday pic.twitter.com/MlQ4ybwCJf
The frescoes, it transpires, are not in the traditional style and it seems that the painters were “doing something new”. Perhaps this was the very latest and very last artistic fashion in Pompeii, as they stand in an active building site that was permanently arrested when Vesuvius intervened, the British newspaper adds.
The room’s near-complete mosaic floor incorporates more than a million individual white tiles, the BBC says.
It adds that the current dig, the biggest in a generation, is underlining Pompeii’s position as the world’s premier window on the people and culture of the Roman empire.
Greek influence was strong in Pompeii, leaving its mark on the city’s art, architecture, and even religion. The Romans adopted the Greek pantheon of gods, and Pompeii was no exception. Residents worshipped Zeus, Hera, Athena, and other Greek deities alongside their Roman counterparts.
Recently a lavish fresco depicting mythological Greek siblings has been unearthed during an excavation in the ruins of Pompeii.
Still colorful after more than 2,000 years, the painting was among several frescoes found during restoration work around the mansion of the House of Leda.
The painting depicts Phrixus and Helle fleeing on the ram of the Golden Fleece. Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii
“Among the IV Style decorations that cover the back walls, the mythological painting depicting Phrixus and Helle fleeing on the ram of the Golden Fleece stands out,” the Pompeii Archaeological Park wrote in a statement on its website.
“Greece, conquered Greece, her conqueror subdued, And Rome grew polished, who till then was rude.”
Horace, the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.
In 146 BC, Greece yielded to the military might of the Roman Republic; sixty years later, when Athens and other Greek city-states rebelled against Rome, the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla destroyed the city of Socrates and Plato, laying waste to the famous Academy where Aristotle had studied.
However, the traditions of Greek cultural life continued to flourish during the centuries of Roman rule that followed—in the lives and work of a distinguished array of philosophers, doctors, scientists, geographers, and theologians.
In a new book titled “The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome,” Charles Freeman’s accounts of such luminaries as the physician Galen, the geographer Ptolemy, and the philosopher Plotinus are interwoven with contextual “interludes” that showcase a sequence of unjustly neglected and richly influential lives.
A cultural history on an epic scale, The Children of Athena presents the story of a rich and vibrant tradition of Greek intellectual inquiry across a period of more than five hundred years, from the second century BC to the start of the fifth century AD.
Conquered Greece never accepted Latin
Freeman notes that Greeks never accepted Latin as their language. They simply believed their language was superior.
“Greek is the most pleasant language and the most fitting for humans. If you observe the words used by other peoples in their languages, you will see that some closely resemble the wailing of pigs, others the sound of frogs, others the call of the woodpecker.”
Galen of Pergamon, one of the most influential ancient physicians in history.
While many groups, particularly in Western Europe, adopted Latin during the centuries after the Roman conquests, the Hellenistic world never did. They believed their language outranked Latin, Freeman writes.
“Even when the Greeks adopted Roman identity instead of calling themselves Hellenes, they still spoke the Greek language. Roman admiration for Greek put no pressure on them to change their language either.”
Map of the languages spoken in the Roman state in 500 AD. It is impressive that despite 600 years of Roman rule Greek was the main spoken language in the Roman Empire! Notice also that the main language spoken in Egypt was Greek and not Egyptian! pic.twitter.com/awgoSAvXS2
Of course, one of the most obvious aspects of the Greek culture that the Romans appropriated was their religion, adopting and renaming many of the Hellenic gods and keeping the many myths surrounding them.
Along with this, the Romans adopted Greek architectural and artistic styling.
Greeks integrated into Rome and its empire
After the Romans had conquered the Greek world, the Hellenes became very well-integrated.
By the end of the first century BC, under the emperor Augustus, Roman rule had become a comparatively frictionless process.
While prejudices remained stubborn – The Romans ridiculed the lack of fighting qualities among the Greeks, the Greeks saw the Romans as boorish and uncultured — the elites of both recognized the advantages of collaboration.
The more educated Romans were attracted by Greek philosophy, especially Stoicism, and science. Greeks provided the most respected doctors, as we shall see in the case of Galen, and the Roman elite spoke Greek, Freeman writes.
So important was Greek philosophy to the Romans that even one of their emperors, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, was heralded as a philosopher king.
He is considered one of the greatest and more influential Stoic philosophers in history, with his text The Meditations being the primary piece of literature he left behind to reveal his inner understanding and thoughts towards his philosophy.
Rome was “light” on Greece
“In fact, Roman administration was remarkably light, and this allowed Greek cities to run their own affairs and prosper,” Freeman notes.
Despite its suppression by Sulla, the Assembly in Athens is recorded as issuing its own decrees again as early as 49BC. The Romans invested in the Greek world, and the petty infighting that always held the Greek city-states back was no longer occurring.
“The two civilizations compensated for each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” Ironically the Greek cities did still continue competing with their neighbors, but now it was to try to make their city the best city in a more civic sense rather than militarily.
Roman immigrants to Greece “seem to have experienced few difficulties fitting in. Studies show that Roman immigrant families adopted Greek after two generations, largely as a result of marrying locals. They were even competing in Greek games.”
Rome had no dislike of Greece and its language
This is also telling – the Romans mostly had no phobia or dislike of the Greek language, no desire to subjugate it to Latin. Romans had no qualms about learning Greek.
This relationship worked because the Greeks knew if they rebelled consequences would be severe:
“The conquered Greeks had to accommodate themselves to the reality of Roman hegemony. There was tacit acceptance that Roman rule was impregnable and acquiescence inevitable.
“Opinions varied on the quality of the Roman mind (Remarkably, many of the Greek elite did not speak Latin at all). But some, such as Polybius and Plutarch, were prepared to seek out kindred souls and friendships (with the Romans),” according to Freeman.
The compatibility of Greek and Roman culture would eventually lead to the Romanization of Greek identity, eventually Greek speakers would be the only ones left carrying the Roman imperial banner after Late Antiquity.
The Greek intellectual tradition was also able to continue and thrive under Roman rule. And it was mostly those medieval Romans who would preserve the texts of the Ancient Greek intellectuals.
Major immigration facilities, looking east—Ellis Island, New York Harbor. Credit: Wikipedia/Public domain.
All the Greeks who arrived in the New World on April 11, 1890, had to pass through Ellis Island, which became the designated immigration station for arrivals in New York City after that date.
Almost all immigrants to the United States came through New York Harbor, first getting a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, just off the island although there were other immigration points as well, such as Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco, and New Orleans.
The Greeks passing through Ellis Island felt a mixture of hope and fear: hope that they would find a better life in America, and fear that they would have to live in an unknown world that would not necessarily be welcoming to them.
“At New York Harbor they put us in quarantine for a day and then they took us to Ellis Island, Euterpe Doukaki said. “There they treated us like sheep to examine us…we were all frightened that they would not find us completely healthy and turn us back. My father called Ellis Island ‘the island of tears and fear’.”
These are the recollections of Greek immigrant Euterpe Doukaki when she was interviewed on the Greek television show Reportage Without Borders.
A new opportunity for the Greek people
Between 1892 and 1924, more than half a million Greeks went through immigration intake at Ellis Island, and it is estimated that almost half of them returned to Greece at some later time. Many Americans did not seem to like them at first, with slurs such as “greaseballs” and “dirty Greeks” being hurled at some of the new arrivals.
In the South, Greeks were even targeted by the Ku Klux Klan.
Whatever might befall them next, most of the Greek migrants who arrived on Ellis Island felt happy to be there. The promise of a better life was stronger than the hardships they knew they would face ahead. “I saw tears of joy, a lot of them. I saw tears of regret,” Doukissa Papadakis recounted in Reportage Without Borders.
Then, there were the medical examinations. When there were indications of illness, doctors wrote a letter on the person’s coat with chalk and sent them for additional examinations.
The letter was a quick diagnosis. For example, N stood for neck, H for the heart, and X for paranoia and mental illness.
Immigrants waiting to be examined at Ellis Island. Credit: Wikipedia/Public domain.
More exhaustive investigations were conducted if a serious disease was diagnosed. In such cases, the migrants were banned from entering the United States and were sent back. Many stayed on the island for over a week until they heard the verdict on their case.
Pregnant women were detained on the island so their children would not be born in America proper and thereby acquire citizenship. More than 350 children were born on the island, and 3,500 people in total died before it was decided whether they were eligible to stay in the US or not.
Doctors worked in groups of two and used the “six-second” system. At the time, it was perceived that an experienced specialist could determine the overall health condition of an individual after examining him for a mere six seconds. If everything seemed sufficient, as happened in most cases, the migrants would be handed the coveted paper allowing them to stay.
Ellis Island: The first migrant station
On Ellis Island, many migrants received new names and new identities. If the state employees who worked on an island could not pronounce a name or thought that the migrant would face difficulties with their original names, they would give them new, shorter, “Americanized” names.
When the island opened its gates, there was a major change in migration to America. Arrivals from northern and western Europe (Germany, Ireland, Britain, and the Scandinavian countries) dwindled, and more and more migrants from southeast Europe arrived.
Among this new generation of migrants were many Jews, Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, and Slovaks, as well as many non-Europeans from Syria, Turkey, and Armenia. Everyone was hoping for a better life in the “Promised Land,” away from war, hunger, and persecution.
Ellis Island stopped being the first immigration point for New York in 1954. It is estimated that a total of 20 million people passed through the island during its operation. It is also estimated that about 40 percent of all current U.S. citizens had at least one ancestor who went through Ellis Island.
After Ellis Island closed off its immigration center, prospective migrants to the United States went through their respective consulates for migration procedures. Now, Ellis Island has been completely restored and functions as a museum, which recounts the immigrant experience.
European Parliament narrowly approves EU migration reforms. Credit: Coast Guard News. CC BY 2.0/flickr
The European Parliament has marginally passed the wide-reaching reform of the European Union’s migration and asylum policy, which was preceded by uncertainty due to the growing voices of rejection from both the left and right.
“We have listened, we have acted and we have delivered on one of the main concerns of people across Europe,” said Roberta Metsola, the Parliament’s president.
“This is a historic day,” she declared.
The reform, named the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which encompasses a set of five separate but intertwined pieces of legislation, just needs the final green light from member states, which is expected at the end of the month.
The five new migration laws
The five laws contained in the New Pact and approved on Wednesday by MEPs are:
The Screening Regulation envisions a pre-entry procedure to swiftly examine an asylum seeker’s profile and collect basic information such as nationality, age, fingerprints, and facial image. Health and security checks will also be carried out.
The amended Eurodac Regulation updates Eurodac, a large-scale database that will store the biometric evidence collected during the screening process. The database will shift from counting applications to counting applicants and prevent the same person from filing multiple claims. The minimal age for collecting fingerprints will be lowered from 14 to 6 years.
The amended Asylum Procedures Regulation (APR) sets two possible steps for claimants. The first of these is the traditional asylum procedure, which is lengthy and a fast-tracked border procedure, meant to last a maximum of twelve weeks. The border procedure will apply to migrants who pose a risk to national security, provide misleading information, or come from countries with low recognition rates, such as Morocco, Pakistan, and India. These migrants will not be allowed to enter the country’s territory and instead be kept at facilities on the border, creating a “legal fiction of non-entry.”
The Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) establishes a system of “mandatory solidarity” that will offer member states three options to manage migration flows. This will include relocating a certain number of asylum seekers, paying €20,000 for each claimant they refuse to relocate, or financing operational support. Brussels aims at 30,000 relocations per year but insists the system will not force any country to accept refugees as long as they contribute one of the other two options.
The Crisis Regulation foresees exceptional rules that will be triggered when the bloc’s asylum system is threatened by a sudden and massive arrival of refugees, as was the case during the 2015 to 2016 crisis, or by a situation of force majeure, like the COVID-19 pandemic. In these circumstances, national authorities will be allowed to apply tougher measures, including longer periods of registration and detention, and the Commission will be empowered to request additional “solidarity” measures.
Migration poses a complex challenge for Greece
Last month, Greece’s Immigration Minister expressed concern about the recent spike in the number of undocumented migrants arriving in the southern islands of Crete and Gavdos.
“The flow of migrants from eastern Libya is small, but with an increasing trend, which worries and concerns us, and that is why we are taking a series of initiatives to deal with this new front,” the Minister of Immigration and Asylum Dimitris Kairidis told SKAI at the time.
He was speaking after a boat carrying 91 migrants reached Gavdos, a small island south of Crete and the southernmost Greek island. A coast guard statement said the migrants, who were found on a beach on Gavdos in early March, were being taken to reception areas on Crete.
They are believed to have set off from the coast of eastern Libya about 170 nautical miles to the south. Their nationalities were not made public. Local authorities on Gavdos and Crete said they are seeing a spike in the arrival of people attempting the long and dangerous crossing from Africa.
Etruscan bronze oil lamp depicts Greek god Dionysus, new study claims. Credit: CharlesFred. CC BY 2.0/Flickr
A bronze, hanging oil lamp found in a ditch near the town of Cortona, Central Italy is far older than previously thought and depicts the Greek god Dionysus, a new paper published in De Gruyter’s Etruscan and Italic Studies argues.
The lamp was recovered together with a damaged and inscribed bronze plaque in 1840, but the dating of the objects has caused some consternation among the archaeological community. It is generally accepted that the lamp and the plaque are of different dates. In 1988, radiography revealed the lamp and plaque have different chemical compositions and thus were not made from the same batch of bronze.
However, the dating of the lamp and the meaning of its elaborate decoration have been the cause of some controversy since its discovery. Now, however, PhD student Ronak Alburz and Associate Professor Gijs Willem Tol of the University of Melbourne, Australia, have utilized several literary sources and other iconographic evidence to carry out a comprehensive new analysis of the item.
The Cortona lamp is formed roughly in the shape of a chandelier, measuring 60 centimeters across and weighing nearly 60 kilograms. It has its origins in the Etruscan civilization of Archaic Etruria, a region of Central Italy corresponding roughly to present-day Tuscany and part of Umbria. Etruscan civilization flourished from around 900 BC until it was gradually absorbed into the Roman Republic after about 400 BC.
The Cortona artifact is a large, intricately designed bronze hanging lamp that might have been part of rituals paying homage to the Greek god Dionysus, but it took a long time to reach this conclusion. https://t.co/u50feeiMKX
The Cortona lamp, in particular its iconography, has not succumbed to a satisfactory explanation for two main reasons. Firstly, very few similar items have been unearthed in Etruscan or ancient Greek art, making it a challenge to draw useful comparisons, and secondly, the lamp has no context, having been discovered with only an inscribed bronze plaque that is from a much later period.
This vagueness means there is no further information about the building it was potentially used in or how it was related to or associated with other artifacts. Researchers were thus limited to examining individual decorative motifs displayed on the lamp.
Etruscan lamp depicts Greek god Dionysus, authors claim
In their thorough re-evaluation, Alburz and Tol identified additional similarities with other iconography that indicate the lamp was created around 480 BC, much earlier than many previous estimates.
The pair also claim earlier scholars were incorrect in identifying the lamp’s sixteen bull-horned figures as the Greek river god Achelous. By drawing on a range of literary sources and presenting new iconographic evidence, they show that Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine and pleasure, was also typically depicted with the features of a bull.
They hence claim that the lamp depicts the Dionysian thiasus, the ecstatic retinue of Dionysus who are often portrayed as inebriated revelers.
Lead author Alburz said, “The lamp was probably an object associated with the mystery cult of Dionysus. Its decoration represents the Dionysian thiasus, perhaps engaged in a cultic performance in the cosmos of the mysteries in celebration of Dionysus.”
The education system needs to adapt to the new reality of AI. Credit: oleksandr p, Pexels
The unprecedented and rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in a wide variety of fields and sectors is fundamentally transforming many aspects of our lives, and the field of education is no exception.
As AI continues to profoundly reshape industries across the world and redefine the skills required by employers and people for success, the traditional educational approaches we are all familiar with, which heavily focus on memorization and standardized testing among other things, are becoming increasingly outdated and the alarm bells for what’s to come have already started to sound.
To prepare students for the AI-driven future that is inevitable, policymakers, educators, and parents must adapt their practices, the school curricula as well as their mindsets to prioritize the development of creativity and critical thinking skills.
The importance of creativity in the new AI world
In an era in which AI has already begun automating many tasks that used to rely on memorization and repetition on the employee’s behalf, creativity and critical thinking emerge as uniquely human skills that cannot easily be replicated by machines and will be desperately needed in the coming years and decades.
These particular skills enable students, regardless of their age, to approach complex problems from multiple angles. This is something that will not be as easy to find as it is now. People should therefore be able to generate new and innovative solutions and adapt to the ever-changing demands of the constantly-advancing modern world.
By focusing heavily on cultivating and promoting creativity and analytical thinking, teachers of the new age will be in a position where they’ll have the ability to equip students with the tools they are going to need to become lifelong learners. This is the most crucial aspect of the new era we’re all entering. We will need people capable of finding the right path to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the AI revolution that has only begun to unfold before our very eyes.
Credit: tima miroshnichenko, Pexels
The AI revolution is exposing limitations of traditional education
We all know, no matter where we come from, that traditionally, all educational systems place a strong emphasis on rote memorization.
Rote memorization involves the repetition and retention of information and facts without necessarily promoting a deeper understanding of subject matter. This is particularly true when it comes to exams, either the Panhellenic exams in the case of Greece or GSCEs and A Levels in England or any other examination system that exists in the world.
While this approach may have proven to be effective for short-term recall—this is actually why it’s been used for so many decades in so many countries—it fails to adequately prepare students for real-world problem-solving scenarios.
This couldn’t be more true in an AI-driven world. In this new era, the ability to apply knowledge creatively and critically will be far more valuable and important than the mere memorization of information that prior generations have become accustomed to.
Thus, overreliance on rote learning will hinder the development of higher-order thinking skills, leaving many of today’s students severely ill-equipped to tackle the challenges of the workforce of the 2030s and beyond.
Strategies for integrating critical thinking in education
The one-million-dollar question is going to be “How do we implement these fundamental changes in our educational systems?” Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to this, as we are all heading to uncharted territory based on the rapid pace of AI advancement. However, basic steps can be taken to help us head to the right direction.
To effectively integrate skills such as creativity, critical thinking, and logical reasoning into the existing curricula, policymakers along with teachers can employ various strategies that don’t require a radical change of their current systems, but instead, offer a more gradual transition to the new world.
One approach is to incorporate much more active, project-based learning. There is clear scientific evidence that this encourages students to explore real-world problems for themselves and develop innovative solutions as they encounter hurdles along the way. By engaging in hands-on projects inside and outside our schools, students can therefore apply their knowledge in meaningful ways and develop a much deeper understanding of subject matter. This comes in direct contrast with the traditional rote memorization that, unfortunately, many schools continue to employ.
Inquiry-based learning is another great and powerful tool that could be utilized by educators across the world. It allows students to ask all sorts of questions, investigate topics independently and on their own accord, and finally draw their own conclusions, which will help them attain a better grasp of the issues they are dealing with.
Our schools need to offer children the skills they will need in 20, 30, or 40 years. Credit: cottonbro studio, Pexels
One might think that schools, especially in the developed world, such as in Europe and North America, have already taken great steps to integrate technology into their learning. And this is true, as interactive boards, tablets, and laptops are indeed being used more and more by teachers and students in classrooms worldwide. However, the way these tools are being used plays a fundamental role in the way the younger generation is taught how to utilize them.
Integrating technology that will be focused on teaching how to use certain AI tools will further support creative problem-solving and critical analysis on the pupils’ behalf by providing them with access to vast amounts of information and enabling them to visualize and manipulate data in new ways. This should be done in ways that will be helpful in students’ future professional endeavors.
Moreover, fostering a classroom environment that values diverse perspectives instead of suppressing them in favor of the mainstream narrative is also very crucial. The AI-era classroom needs to encourage open-minded discussions that will be vital for the development of critical thinking skills. By exposing students to a wide range of sometimes conflicting viewpoints and encouraging them to respectfully challenge and build upon each other’s ideas, teachers will be able to create a space where this much-needed critical thinking thrives.
Furthermore, providing opportunities for children and adult learners to engage more proactively in creative activities, such as art, music, and independent writing, will help them develop their imaginative capacities and express themselves in unique ways. This is particularly crucial, as we all know that in many countries across the world, spending cuts and lack of adequate funding for state-run schools means subjects like these always take a hit. This is so as to balance issues such as lack of specialized teachers, support staff, resources, or even a combination of all these.
Finally, collaboration and teamwork should also be truly emphasized, as they promote the exchange of ideas and facilitate the provision of constructive feedback between students and even educators alike, further enhancing creativity and critical thinking among younger generations.
Adapting education to the world of AI
Of course, for creativity and critical thinking to become central components of this new educational experience, teachers of all levels and backgrounds must be willing to radically change and adapt their teaching methods. This is something that is undoubtedly not easy.
Professional development opportunities should start to focus more on equipping teachers with the skills and strategies desperately needed to effectively integrate these competencies into their lessons instead of thousands of hours being, quite frankly, wasted with unnecessary bureaucratic and admin training that shouldn’t even be a teacher’s job in the first place.
By modeling well-thought creative problem-solving and critical thinking in their own practice, teachers can truly inspire and guide students to embrace these skills. Additionally, collaboration among teachers, administrators, and policymakers is key if we want to drive systemic change in our schools and educational settings and ensure that the development of creativity and critical thinking becomes a national and international priority at all levels of educational systems around the world.
The big education crisis caused by AI is not going to be in schools (there was cheating before AI & we can figure out AI uses that boost learning), but after graduation.
White collar work is secretly based on an apprenticeship system that will break
In this challenging yet exciting new era of artificial intelligence, we all have an incredible opportunity to reimagine education and equip our children with the skills they’ll need to not just survive in this new landscape but thrive. By putting creativity and analytical thinking front and center in our classrooms, we will be able to ignite the sparks of imagination and independent thought in young minds, something that will prove extremely valuable in the coming years and decades.
This isn’t just about preparing children for future jobs and careers. It’s about empowering an entire generation to approach the new and somehow still unknown challenges with fresh perspectives. We need to help these young minds dream big and come up with innovative solutions that will question the status quo and create a better, much more inclusive world where AI will be an assistant rather than a threat. We need bold, original, and innovative thinkers who can see the potential in all these new emerging technologies and have the vision to use them proactively in ways that will benefit all of humanity instead of marginalizing people who start their journey in life from a disadvantaged position.
This is why educators are at the crossroads of a major change and have the profound responsibility and privilege of nurturing these crucial and essential skills in the minds of the younger generations. Of course, we all know that it won’t always be easy, as something like this requires a strong will to break free from the confines of rigid and old-established curricula and standardized tests.
However, by embracing these new tools in the classrooms and using them as core educational values, teachers will be able to unleash a wave of human potential that will carry us forward into an exhilarating future.
The auction house withdrew four ancient Greek vases after archaeologists found they were from a convicted antiquities dealer. Credit: mharrsch. CC BY 2.0/flickr
Christie’s, a British auction house, has withdrawn four ancient Greek vases from a New York auction after an archaeologist found out they were all linked to Gianfranco Becchina, who was convicted in 2011 of illegally dealing in antiquities.
Dr. Christos Tsirogannis, an affiliated archaeology lecturer at the University of Cambridge and a specialist in looted antiquities and trafficking networks, said there was damning evidence within the auction house’s own correspondence with the dealer, which was seized by the police, as reported by The Guardian.
The academic leveled criticism against the auction house for failing to make public that the items, planned to be in its April 9th auction in New York, could be traced to Gianfranco Becchina.
Christie’s has withdrawn four ancient Greek vases from Tuesday’s auction after Dr Christos Tsirogiannis discovered that each of them was linked to Gianfranco Becchina, who was convicted in 2011 of illegally dealing in antiquities.https://t.co/uyhFQgLyXm
— Chasing Aphrodite (@ChasingAphrodit) April 9, 2024
The Christie’s catalogue apparently stated it had sold three of the items in its Geneva auction in 1979, but, according to Tsirogannis, the auction company had left out the fact they were consigned to the auction house by Becchina. “This is a new insight into the tricks used by the market at its highest level,” he told The Guardian. “They deliberately exclude the connection of a trafficker in these three examples, although they’ve known about that connection for 45 years.”
The ancient Greek vases withdrawn from auction
The antiquities in question include an Attic cup, adorned with warriors and other figures, from about 570 to 560 BC. It was estimated it would get $15,000 to $20,000 in the Ancient Greek Vases from the Zimmermann Collection auction, but it has now been taken down from the webpage after the auction company was confronted with Tsirogiannis’ evidence.
The sale catalog notes: “The ancient Greek vases collected by Dr Manfred Zimmermann (1935-2011) rank among the finest private collections of its kind assembled during the late 20th-early 21st century.”
Other disputed items included Lot 3, the lid of a lekanis bowl decorated with sphinxes from around 570-550 BC and valued at $8,000 to $12,000, and Lot 10, a hydra or water pot displaying Greek god Dionysus with a drinking horn from circa 530 to 520 BC, estimated at $7,000 to $9,000. These objects have also been removed from the online catalog.
The work of Greek wrchaeologist Dr. Christos Tsirogannis
Over the past 18 years, the Greek archaeologist has identified more than 1,700 looted antiquities within auction houses, galleries, museums, and private collections, informing Interpol and other police forces of these.
He is based in Cambridge but heads illicit antiquities trafficking research for the UNESCO chair on threats to cultural heritage at the Ionian University in Corfu, Greece.
The late Paolo Giorgio Ferri, an Italian public prosecutor who went after and prosecuted traffickers of looted antiquities, valued Tsirogiannis’ work so highly that he made available to him tens of thousands of images and other archival material seized in police raids from Becchina and dozens of traffickers.
Tsirogiannis stated that documents related to the 1979 Christie’s sale were within Becchina’s seized archive and include Christie’s correspondence and the auction catalog, with objects circled by Becchina in red ink.
He thinks that, while the documentary evidence suggested that the owner was a “Mr Borowowza” with an Amsterdam dealer as his agent, that was a fake name, appearing at the bottom of Christie’s correspondence: “When a problem arose related to this auction, Christie’s contacted Becchina directly, which shows who the real owner is,” Tsirogiannis told The Guardian.
Tsirogiannis also noted that a Christie’s letter of 1981, related to the 1979 sale, notified Becchina that it was reimbursing him for lost antiquities. Tsirogiannis said: “But this lot is among the same consignments of the 1979 sale of ‘Mr Borowowza’ through [the Amsterdam dealer]. Why were Christie’s notifying Becchina directly? The answer is that the real owner and consignor was Becchina.”
Another removed Greek vase from the auction site, which previously filled Lot 20, was a lekythos or oil jar, displaying the Athenian hero Theseus, dated to 500 to 490 BC and estimated at a value of $20,000 to $30,000.
An example of a decorated ancient Greek lekythos or oil jar. Credit: diffendale. CC BY 2.0/flickr
In its ‘collecting history,’ Christie’s stated that Zimmerman had purchased it from a German dealer in the early 1990s, and it notes that, as with Lots 1 and 3, it was on display in two German museums in recent years. There was also no mention of Becchina here, but, among the material the police seized from him was an image of that vase.
“There is no condition report on the piece in the [April] Christie’s catalogue…It’s now in perfect condition, but they don’t say anything…According to hand-written notes by Becchina himself, the lekythos was delivered to him on 21 April 1990, which explains how Zimmermann acquired it in the early 1990s,” Tsirogiannis said. “But what is omitted is the most crucial information, that it is from Becchina, from the convicted looter Raffaele Monticelli.”
He added: “Not the auction house, not the collector or his family, not even the museums are bothered to check with the authorities to see if they are involved in exhibiting illicit objects.”
