Four Stories About Coffee That Made Greek History

Irene Ivanaj
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Four Stories About Coffee That Made Greek History
Waste Coffee Boost Concrete Strength
Four Stories About Coffee That Made Greek History. Coffee was incredibly important in ancient times, as it still is today. Credit: David Joyce / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

The rise and fall of empires has been determined to a significant degree by trade, especially insofar as rare materials are concerned. Coffee is one such commodity, and its history is the story of nations. The coffee plant is native to Yemen and Ethiopia, and control over the trade of coffee has determined the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Magic Beans, the Beginning of the History of Coffee

Coffee began being commonplace in Eastern Africa around the ninth century. The plant was native to Ethiopia. It was known by Ancient Greeks, and Homer mentions coffee in his writing.

According to Arab legend, coffee was discovered by a simple goat herder, Kaldi (or Khalid) around the year 850 B.C. The goat herder from Kaffa noticed that when goats consumed these red berries, their energy levels increased, and they started prancing around in an unusual manner. As a result, Kaldi then tried this fruit himself. According to legend, he immediately took the berries to a local place of worship.

The priests examined the berries and declared that they were the Devil’s work and disposed of the coffee beans in the fire. The wonderful and strong smell that came from the roasting coffee filled the room. The head priest that threw the beans into the fire ordered that the fire be put out immediately and hot water be poured over them to preserve the smell.

When they drank the mixture, they experienced the joy of coffee for the first time ever. They were able to think and participate in lively discussions for a much longer time and were grateful for the discovery. They then went on to share this discovery with others.

It should be noted that the modern word, “coffee,” actually stems from the name of the city, Kaffa, where the goat herder came from. ‘Kaffa’ then became ‘kahva’ in Arabic and, subsequently, ‘café’ or ‘kafe.’

Coffee, a Secret Weapon From History

The Ottomans conquered Arabia and dominated over other Islamic empires but kept coffee a secret.

Only a restricted group of people controlled coffee cultivation and the product’s export. Specific climatic conditions needed by coffee made its production challenging. The habit of roasting the beans preserved them from mold and produced a much more flavorful type of coffee, but it also ensured no beans could be of use for cultivation. The famous “Arabica” roast of coffee is a prime example of this even to this day.

Coffee was central to Ottoman culture, and it was a major military advantage and source of power for Ottoman elites who controlled production. It was part of military rations and sustained night-time attacks, longer incursions, and wars of attrition.

Coffee must have been the secret weapon of Greek, Slav, and Albanian mercenary units, the stratioti, that fought together throughout Europe in the 15th to 18th centuries.  The stratioti must have seemed invincible to enemies, as they pioneered light cavalry tactics and excelled in swift, caffeine-fueled attacks.

Antonio Casanova describes his time among the stratioti while serving prison time in Venice in the 17th century. He described their traditional dress, hardened demeanor, manner of traveling with their many children, and love of garlic. Casanova spent almost a year among them, handwriting their letters in Latin, before eventually fleeing the prison island where the stratioti lived during their time in Venice.

Turkish and Greek Coffee, Strength and Weakness of the Ottomans

Until the 17th century, coffee was unknown in Northern Europe. Tea was still a rare imported commodity, and Northern Europeans were skeptical of it. This was because of a fear among kings that while drunk people had a good time together, people who assembled for this purpose might also plan revolutions.

One has to wonder whether the fall of the Ottoman Empire, one of the oldest empires, could in fact be attributed to this. The Ottomans attempted to ban coffee in 1543, fearing that men gathering in coffeehouses could potentially plan revolts. A chief religious authority issued a fatwa against the drink, which led to the Ottomans’ dumping of roast bags into the sea. This did not last long, however, mostly due to the fact that non-Muslims were not subjected to religious authority in the empire and the drink had already attained widespread popularity.

Surely, the Greeks fighting for their independence at the end of the 18th century were as caffeinated as the janissaries they were fighting. Some believe the popularity of coffee throughout Europe is among the many causes of Ottoman demise.

How the monopoly was broken in the 17th century remains a mystery. Some legends speak of a Yemeni merchant stealing unroasted beans and selling these abroad to be planted in America. Others talk of the Siege of Vienna and how the Ottomans were forced to abandon whatever they could, leading to the discovery of coffee by the Austrians.

Another Type of Greek Coffee: the Frappé

What was commonly known as Turkish coffee was actually a variety of types prepared using the typical pot with a long handle. For non-Muslim women, coffee was a pleasure, while, for Muslim women throughout Ottoman history, coffee was a lifeline. For quite some time, there was a law that a husband’s duty was to provide enough coffee for his wife. In the case that he did not do so, she could legally divorce him.

However, in modern times, both recipes and preferences have changed. Hundreds of different coffee recipes can be found at coffee shops. At times, they are nothing like the classic coffee with which most of our ancestors are familiar.

Frappé, for example, is a foamy iced coffee drink, unintentionally invented in 1957 by Dimitris Vakondios during the International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki. Having no hot water on hand, he placed ice, instant coffee, cream and sugar in a shaker. He then realized the result was frothy and much appreciated.

To this day, frappés are widely appreciated, as is the bean they are made from. Coffee continues to be widely available in all its forms and is still consumed, as it was by the stratioti, for enhanced productivity and focus.

Could a Global Flood Destroy Humanity?

Caleb Howells
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Could a Global Flood Destroy Humanity?
Noah after the Flood
Noah after the Flood. Credit: CC-BY-SA-4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

All around the world, there are ancient records of a global flood that wiped out humanity early in human history. The most famous version of this is the account of Noah’s Flood from the Bible, but there is also a version of this in Greek mythology. This is the legend of the Flood of Deucalion. Both of these stories have strong similarities to even earlier records from the Ancient Sumerian civilization.

What was the Greek and Biblical version of the Flood?

The Flood of Deucalion is a legend set very early in the history of Greece. Because of mankind’s wickedness, Zeus resolved to destroy mankind. He sent an enormous deluge, flooding Greece and destroying all its people. However, Deucalion managed to survive by following the direction of his father, Prometheus, and building an enormous wooden chest.

According to at least one version of the story, recorded by the second-century writer Lucian, Deucalion took pairs of animals with him. The giant wooden chest kept them all safe during the flood. Eventually, after nine days, the floodwaters receded and they came to rest on a mountain. Deucalion and his wife then repopulated the world by throwing rocks behind them, which became people.

The Biblical account is quite similar. Noah and his family lived early in human history. The people of that time were wicked, so God decided to destroy humanity. However, he gave Noah instructions about how to survive the coming flood. During a period of many years, Noah and his family built an enormous wooden ark, or chest.

This ark kept them, as well as a few of each type of animal, safe during the flood. After many months, the ark came to rest on a mountain and the floodwaters began receding. Finally, Noah and his family left the ark. His three sons and their wives then became the ancestors of mankind.

What explains these similarities?

Why would there be such extensive similarities between a story from the Bible and a story from Greek mythology? Well, one possibility is that the Greeks adapted it directly from the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible. While there are various references to Deucalion in Ancient Greek texts, it appears that the earliest reference to his flood comes from the first century BCE.

By that century, the Greeks had long been in contact with the Jews. They had ruled Judea for a few centuries, before the Romans finally conquered the area. The Jewish sacred texts had already been translated into Greek before the first century BCE. Therefore, it is perfectly possible that the Greek legend of Deucalion’s Flood was influenced directly by the Jewish story.

However, it seems more likely that this story has a more ancient origin. After all, many cultures all over Europe, and much further afield too, have stories of a global flood early in mankind’s history. Many of these may have originated from Mesopotamia.

Sumerian tablet
Sumerian cuneiform writing. Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP (Glasg) / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

The Sumerian flood story

In Ancient Mesopotamian records, there is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Within this legend, there is a story of a great flood that destroyed all of humanity. According to this legend, a man named Utnapishtim survived a flood that destroyed the whole world. A divine being told him to build a wooden chest to save him and his family, along with various animals.

Unlike the Bible’s version, this chest was a giant cube, measuring sixty meters on each side. The Flood came and destroyed everything just like in the Bible’s account and the story of the Flood of Deucalion.

The length of the flood in this version is also much more similar to the Greek story. The Epic of Gilgamesh says that the flood lasted a week, while the legend of Deucalion gives it a similar length of nine days. On the other hand, the Flood in the Bible lasts many months.

As the floodwaters began to recede, the ark of Utnapishtim came to rest on a mountain, Mount Nisir. Again, this is just like what happened in the parallel versions in the Bible and in Greek mythology.

Greek mythology’s connection to Sumerian records

Aside from the length of the flood matching the Sumerian tale more closely than the Bible’s account, what reason do we have for concluding that the Greek legend might have stemmed from the Sumerian version? There is actually a lot of evidence that various aspects of Greek mythology originally came from Ancient Sumer, or Mesopotamia, in general.

For example, the story of Adonis and Aphrodite seems to come directly from the myth of Tammuz and Ishtar. Furthermore, one reference work states that “one ancient Greek fable is nearly a literal translation of an Akkadian original.”

Some scholars have also noted that the Greek pantheon in general appears to be related to the gods of Mesopotamia. A certain scholar explained:

The same general grouping is to be recognized; the same genealogical succession is not unfrequently to be traced; and in some cases even the familiar names and titles of classical divinities admit of the most curious illustration and explanation from [Mesopotamian] sources.

In view of all of this evidence, it is very likely that the story of Deucalian’s flood originally came from Sumer, although exactly when and how is up for debate.

Will the Flood happen again?

The Bible’s account of the Flood ends with God telling Noah that he will never again flood the earth. He even refers to the first rainbow as a sign of this promise. Interestingly, we also find the same concept in several other flood stories from around the world, although it is found neither in the Sumerian nor the Greek version.

In a flood legend from Mexico, God gives the rainbow as a sign of his promise that “no other flood would destroy earth” again. In northern India, a flood legend presents God as ending the flood by sending a snake to stop the water. It did so by puffing itself up into the shape of a rainbow.

Since the Indus Valley civilization in northern India had much contact with Ancient Sumer, perhaps this reference to a rainbow preserves a detail that was also originally in the Sumerian version of the flood story.

Onassis’ Legendary Yacht “Christina O” Spotted Off Nafplio, Greece

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Onassis’ Legendary Yacht “Christina O” Spotted Off Nafplio, Greece
Onassis Yacht
The yacht has been a host to several celebrities and influential figures of the 20th century. Credit: Argolikes Eidiseis

Aristotle Onassis’ legendary yacht “Christina O“, a luxury boat has hosted some of the world’s biggest celebrities in the past century, has been spotted on patrol in the Arvanitia gulf of the city of Nafplio.

The yacht has been a host to several celebrities and influential figures of the 20th century when it was owned by Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis.

Among those who have graced its decks over the years were Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, JFK, Frank Sinatra, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco and, of course, Onassis’ wife and former First Lady of the US, Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

At 99.06 metres long, Christina O  was originally a Canadian anti-submarine River-class frigate called HMCS Stormont and was launched in 1943.

She served as a convoy escort during the WWII Battle of the Atlantic and was present at the Normandy landings.

After the end of the Second World War, she was one of many surplus naval vessels; Onassis purchased her at a scrap value of $34,000. He then spent US$4 million to convert her into a luxurious super-yacht named after his daughter Christina.

Upon Onassis’ death, Christina donated the yacht to the Greek government as a presidential yacht, renamed Argo.

Allowed to decay, the vessel was purchased in 1998 by fellow Greek shipping magnate John Paul Papanicolaou, an Onassis family friend, who secured it in a government-sponsored auction.

He spent $50 million to retrofit her, restoring her previous name in honor of his then-departed friend, Christina. Since Papanicolaou’s death in 2010, Christina O has been rented for private charters and cruises.

Life aboard Onassis’ legendary yacht

The captain of Aristotle Onassis’ legendary yacht “Christina O” recently broke his long self-imposed silence, speaking about the celebrities the Greek tycoon once entertained onboard.

In an extensive interview with Greek daily Espresso, Giorgos Zacharias spoke about Onassis’ kindness to his staff and recalled personalities such as Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo, Maria Callas, and Jackie Onassis.

Zacharias, who served as the captain of the yacht for ten years, said that Onassis treated him as a trusted and valued employee. He was often the dining companion of the billionaire.

“Churchill was a very weird person…Because of his weight, most of the time he was sitting on a chair eating, sleeping or drinking,” the captain related. “He emptied whole bottles of whisky while on board.”

Zacharias said that “he will never forget Greta Garbo.” The Hollywood actress, in her heyday during the 1920s and 1930s, was much older when she befriended Onassis, but she was “still elegant and beautiful.”

Flooded Heartland of Greece Sparks Public Health Fears

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Flooded Heartland of Greece Sparks Public Health Fears
Greece flooded
The main highway between Athens and Thessaloniki is flooded. Credit: AMNA

A week after the passing of Storm Daniel, which caused destruction in Central Greece in Thessaly, the agricultural heartland of the country, remains flooded.

Greece has asked for EU assistance after the floods in the region claimed the lives of at least 16 people.

The storm resulted in the most rain, 910 millimeters (3 feet) on Zagora near Thessaly’s port town of Volos, according to Meteo, the country’s weather service. About 100 kilometers (60 miles) inland, the town of Karditsa saw 659 millimeters (2 feet) of rainfall.

Parts of Larissa, the biggest city in Thessaly remain underwater.

The situation remains difficult in the surrounding villages, with huge swathes of the countryside still covered by mud and flood water as operations to reach trapped residents continued.

Among the many problems created are the scores of dead animals whose rapid collection is a critical health issue, as the increased humidity also attracts large mosquito populations, exacerbating the health threat.

Several thousand animals have reportedly died and estimates suggest a significantly higher final number once the waters recede.

At the same time, there is great concern about the pollution of the water table by oil stored in tanks for agricultural needs and carried away in the floods. The same holds true for pesticides and fertilizers in storage.

Greece’s main highway remains flooded

The Aegean Motorway, linking northern and southern Greece, is closed off at the Tempi valley section due to overflowing by Pinios River, the managers said on Monday.
There is extensive flooding in the Gyrtoni-Sykourio region.

The sections operating normally are between Thessaloniki and Leptokarya, and from the Nikea (Larissa) junction to Athens, both sections being open to traffic in both directions.

In comments on Monday, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras said that he is confident circulation will be restored within the next few days, though the full extent of the damage on the road cannot be assessed until the water recedes completely.

Staikouras was less confident about the restoration of train service, however.

“We have extensive damage to electrical and mechanical equipment, infrastructure, superstructure and bridges on the rail network. This means that it will be difficult to fully restore the Athens-Thessaloniki route in the next few weeks. The existing service to Domokos [from Athens] may possibly continue and buses may be employed from Larissa on, but the damage is significant,” he said.

Up to five years will be required for the lands of the Thessalian plain, which were affected by the bad weather Daniel, to reach their former state, Dr. Nikolaos Danalatos, Dean and Professor of Agriculture & Plant Ecology, University of Thessaly told iefimerida.

“It’s really going to take four to five years to turn all of these materials into soil. All this mass, which cannot be cultivated at least for the first one or two years, will turn to “stone” and will not yield. People will try but their production will be greatly reduced.”

Storm Daniel moved to Libya where floods swept away entire neighborhoods and wrecked homes in multiple coastal towns in the east of the North African nation.

As many as 2,000 people were feared dead, one of the country’s leaders said on Monday.

The Awe-Inspiring Helmet of Ancient Greek Warrior Miltiades

Philip Chrysopoulos
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The Awe-Inspiring Helmet of Ancient Greek Warrior Miltiades
miltiades helmet ancient Greek warrior Marathon
The Helmet of Miltiades. Photograph: Archaeological Museum of Olympia/ Oren Rozen/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0

The discovery of the helmet of Miltiades, who fought at the Battle of Marathon is one of the most important archeological finds in world history.

Miltiades, one of the most important figures of ancient Greece, served as the general of the army of Athenians which defeated the Persians in the famous Battle of Marathon.

Visitors to the Archaeological Museum of Olympia stand in awe before the well-preserved artifact, discovered in the late nineteenth century.

The discovery of the helmet of Miltiades

The magnificent helmet was recovered from the ruins of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia.    Its dome is missing, but the rest of the Corinthian-style helmet is almost intact after 2,500 years.

On the side are the words “ΜΙΛΤΙΑΔΕΣ ΑΝΕ[Θ]ΕΚΕΝ [Τ]ΟΙ ΔΙ.” This means “Militiades offered his helmet to Zeus.”

Historians argue that the helmet was found in the temple for one of two reasons. Either the great warrior wanted the support of Zeus for an upcoming battle or the offering was to thank the god for a battle won.

If the latter is true and Miltiades wanted to express his gratitude to Zeus for defeating the Persians in the Battle of Marathon, then the discovery of his helmet is of even greater significance and the priceless artifact itself even more awe-inspiring.

Based on the writings of Plutarch and Herodotus, some historians and archeologists do indeed believe that Miltiades offered the helmet to Zeus after he returned victorious from Marathon, thus saving the great city-state of Athens from the hands of the Persians.

Of course, this, in turn, preserved the course of history and western civilization as we know of it today.

The Battle of Marathon

Miltiades (550 to 489 BC) was born an aristocrat, the son of Cimon Colelamos, a famous Olympic chariot racer who was a champion in three Olympic Games.

He received a good education which not only helped him become an able politician but a great general, as well.

When he became the ruler of Athens, he defended the city against Persian despotism and showed his resolve and determination when he put the Persian heralds who came to demand the surrender of the city to death.

Miltiades then struck out from the city with his outnumbered army and beat the Persians at Marathon.

The Battle of Marathon is one of the most famous ancient battles in the entire world, generating numerous legends and stories over the millennia based on writings of ancient historians, such as Plutarch and Herodotus.

The two armies clashed on the Plain of Marathon in 490 BC in an area located some 42 km (about 26 miles) north of Athens.

It was Miltiades’ idea to fight the Persians far from the city, knowing that a siege would be disastrous. With his clever strategy, he positioned his troops so that they dealt a heavy blow to the Persians, forcing them to retreat.

From the writings of Herodotus, modern historians assume that he must have spoken to old veterans who had known and fought under Miltiades, as he reported several details of the battle.

The great speech of Miltiades

What stands out most, perhaps, is a speech Miltiades made to Callimachus, a general with an important role in the Athenian army.

The inspiring speech, which seems authentic based on eyewitness accounts, must have changed the mind of certain generals who wanted to face the Persian army in Athens rather than in Marathon. The speech, as seen below, also likely raised the morale of the hoplites who fought with great discipline and bravery:

With you it rests, Callimachus, either to bring Athens to slavery, or, by securing her freedom, to be remembered by all future generations. For never since the time that the Athenians became a people were they in so great a danger as now.

If they bow their necks beneath the yoke of the Persians, the woes which they will have to suffer…are already determined. If, on the other hand, they fight and overcome, Athens may rise to be the very first city in Greece. We generals are ten in number, and our votes are divided: half of us wish to engage, half to avoid a combat.

Now, if we do not fight, I look to see a great disturbance at Athens which will shake men’s resolutions, and then I fear they will submit themselves. But, if we fight the battle before any unsoundness shows itself among our citizens…we are well able to overcome the enemy. On you therefore we depend in this matter, which lies wholly in your own power.

You have only to add your vote to my side and your country will be free—and not free only, but the first state in Greece. Or, if you prefer to give your vote to them who would decline the combat, then the reverse will follow.

Miltiades believed in the greatness that was the democratic city-state of Athens and wanted to preserve it for generations to come.

He may be less well-known than Pericles, but his contribution to ancient Greece, and consequently western civilization, is invaluable.

2,700-Year-Old Well-Preserved Skeleton Found in Turkey

Abdul Moeed
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2,700-Year-Old Well-Preserved Skeleton Found in Turkey
2,700-Year-Old 'Extremely Well Preserved' Skeleton
An ariel view of a 2,700-year-old extremely well-preserved skeleton found at Ayanis castle in Turkey. Credit: Mehmet Işıklı

In Turkey, archaeologists made a new discovery of a very well-preserved skeleton, found at the Ayanis Castle, located in the country’s Van province in Eastern Turkey, bordering Iran. They found the remains of a high-status person who might have died during an earthquake about 2,700 years ago.

This person was wearing fancy jewelry and was surrounded by weapons and special items like double-sided inscriptions and seals.

It’s clear that this individual enjoyed a very luxurious life in the 8th century B.C. until they tragically perished in a fortress. The individual was found still holding onto their personal belongings, according to Mehmet Işıklı, who leads the Ayanis excavations and is a professor in the Atatürk University Department of Archaeology.

The Ayanis fortress was an important site for the Ancient Urartian civilization. This is where the skeleton was discovered. The Urartu Kingdom existed during the Iron Age, from the 9th to 6th centuries B.C. Their territory covered areas we now know as Armenia, Western Iran, and Eastern Turkey, according to Live Science.

For a while now, experts have assumed that Ayanis fell due to an earthquake and a subsequent fire. However, since experts began digging there in the late 1980s, they haven’t found much proof in support of this idea of an earthquake contributing to the city’s decline.

Mehmet Işıklı, who is in charge of the excavation, mentioned in an email to Live Science that discovering this skeleton provides especially significant proof in support of the earthquake theory.

Anthropological analysis of the well-preserved skeleton

Experts will closely examine the skeleton to determine the person’s age and sex. They will also attempt to see if there are any remains of the person’s brain, although some researchers disagree on whether any such soft tissue might still exist.

A double-sided inscribed cuneiform tablet was also discovered alongside the skeleton. Soon, experts will translate it and report their findings, revealed Live Science.

Depending on the contents of the inscription, we might learn about the person’s position and status in the Urartian society. It could also provide important information about what was happening socially and politically in Ayanis during that time.

Mehmet Işıklı mentioned that both the skeleton and skull are in good shape. Based on earlier information, there may even be some chemically-disintegrated parts of the brain left.

Erkan Konyar, an associate professor at Istanbul University who specializes in Ancient History and isn’t part of this discovery, cautioned that brain tissue usually doesn’t endure in the Van region’s climate.

Thousands Feared Dead From Floods in Libya

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Thousands Feared Dead From Floods in Libya
Libya floods
The destruction appeared to be worst in Derna. Credit: Twitter/WxNB

Mediterranean Storm Daniel, which caused destruction in Greece, moved to Libya where floods swept away entire neighborhoods and wrecked homes in multiple coastal towns in the east of the North African nation.

As many as 2,000 people were feared dead, one of the country’s leaders said Monday.

The destruction appeared to be worst in Derna, a city formerly held by extremists in the chaos that has gripped Libya for more than a decade and left it with crumbling and inadequate infrastructure. Libya remains divided between two rival administrations, one in the east and one in the west, each backed by militias and foreign governments.

According to health authorities, the confirmed death toll from the weekend flooding stood at 61 as of late Monday.

But the tally did not include Derna, which had become inaccessible, and many of the thousands missing there were believed carried away by waters.

Video by residents of the city posted online showed significant devastation. Entire residential areas were erased along a river that runs down from the mountains through the city center. Multi-story apartment buildings that once stood well back from the river were partially collapsed into the mud.

2,000 feared dead from the floods in Libya

In a phone interview with al-Masar television station Monday, Prime Minister Ossama Hamad of the east Libyan government said 2,000 were feared dead in Derna and thousands were believed missing. He said Derna has been declared a disaster zone.

Ahmed al-Mosmari, a spokesman for the country’s armed forces based in the east, told a news conference that the death toll in Derna had surpassed 2,000. He said there were between 5,000 and 6,000 reported missing. Al-Mosmari attributed the catastrophe to the collapse of two nearby dams, causing a lethal flash flood.

In Derna, local media said the situation was catastrophic with no electricity or communications.

Essam Abu Zeriba, the interior minister of the east Libya government, said more than 5,000 people were expected to be missing in Derna. He said many of the victims were swept away towards the Mediterranean.

“The situation is tragic,” he declared in a telephone interview with AlArabiya. He urged local and international agencies to rush to help the city.

Meanwhile, Greece has asked for EU assistance after storm Daniel caused devasting floods in the region of Thessaly and claimed the lives of at least 15 people.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a letter to EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen seeking the “maximum possible” financial aid from the EU.

Before a meeting with von der Leyen on Tuesday in Strasbourg, the Greek leader said, “Europe must stand by our country […] we demand from Europe to rise to the occasion.”

Greece Seeks EU Help as Death Toll From Floods Climbs to 16

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Greece Seeks EU Help as Death Toll From Floods Climbs to 16
Floods Greece
Residents are being evacuated from flooded areas by the army. Credit: AMNA

Greece has asked for EU assistance after devasting floods in the region of Thessaly claimed the lives of at least 16 people and destroyed a large part of the agriculture in the region.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a letter to EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen seeking the “maximum possible” financial aid from the EU.

Before a meeting with von der Leyen on Tuesday in Strasbourg, the Greek leader said, “Europe must stand by our country […] we demand from Europe to rise to the occasion.”

The number of confirmed deaths from the flooding in Thessaly rose to 16 after the bodies of four people previously considered missing were found on Sunday.

Three of the bodies were located in villages near the city of Karditsa in Western Thessaly. They are an 88-year-old woman and her 65-year-old son, who were found in their home, as well as a 58-year-old man whose body was found between two villages.

The coast guard said Sunday that the body of a 42-year-old man that had been missing since Tuesday, was found floating in the sea near the city of Volos. He was last seen in his car unable to control it in raging waters.

The “bread-basket” of Greece was devastated by the floods

Thessaly is regarded as the “bread-basket” of Greece. The water has receded but left a muddy layer on otherwise rich agricultural lands. Restoring them to fertile conditions will take years, and will involve much more than restoring power and water and clearing up debris.

Roughly twelve percent of Greece’s cultivated lands are located in Thessaly, and agriculture’s contribution to the regional economy is an outsized thirty-five percent.

The region produces nearly forty percent of Greece’s cotton. In turn, Greece produces eight percent of Europe’s cotton. It is also one of the main tobacco-producing areas in the country.

A wide range of crops are grown, including cereals, legumes, beets, watermelons, and melons. Corn, tomato, and apple crops have been destroyed by the floods over the past few days.

The unprecedented flash floods were triggered by rainfall from the arrival of Storm Daniel on Monday, September 4th. The following day in the village of Zagora, on Mt. Pelion, a record-breaking thirty inches of rain fell in just eighteen hours.

“To put this in perspective, London gets about [twenty-three inches] of rain over the course of a year while Thessaly gets [twenty inches], meaning that on Tuesday, about 1.5 years’ worth of rain fell in 18 hours,” says Ioanna Stamataki, a Lecturer in Hydraulics and Water Engineering, University of Greenwich.

“Imagine the most torrential rain you have ever experienced, perhaps a cloudburst lasting 20 minutes or so,” she adds, writing in The Conversation. “Now imagine it raining that hard but without pause for an entire day.”

Those affected by floods will be compensated

Greece will stand by citizens who were affected by the floods, Mitsotakis said on Sunday, speaking from Larissa. He added that the special platform for those affected will open on Monday.

The Prime Minister said the main concern is public health, noting that farmers and breeders will be fully compensated.

“I know how difficult and how hard it is for farmers who lost their animals,” the PM said. “We want these people to stay in their place, to rebuild their livestock and I want them to know that we will be by their side in every step of this process.”

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Makes Breathable Oxygen on Mars

Nisha Zahid
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Makes Breathable Oxygen on Mars
NASA's Perseverance rover can now generate oxygen on Mars
NASA’s Perseverance rover can now generate oxygen on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

In a groundbreaking achievement, NASA’s Perseverance rover has successfully created enough oxygen on Mars to support an astronaut for three hours. The rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, accomplished this remarkable feat through a special device called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE).

MOXIE worked by transforming carbon dioxide into oxygen during multiple episodes over a span of two years. Since its arrival on the Red Planet, this compact device, about the size of a microwave, has produced 4.3 ounces (equivalent to 122 grams) of oxygen, as reported by NASA.

To put it in simpler terms, this is approximately what a small dog breathes in over the course of ten hours. This development is a source of optimism for scientists, as it raises the possibility of sustaining human life on the challenging Martian terrain in the future.

“We’re proud to have supported a breakthrough technology like MOXIE that could turn local resources into useful products for future exploration missions,” stated Trudy Kortes, who serves as the director of technology demonstrations within the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

She further said, “By proving this technology in real-world conditions, we’ve come one step closer to a future in which astronauts ‘live off the land’ on the Red Planet.”

Oxygen extraction by using MOXIE device

Carbon dioxide is plentiful on Mars, making up 95 percent of the planet’s thin atmosphere, as reported by NASA. The MOXIE device achieved the extraction of oxygen through a process involving sixteen separate experiments.

It essentially separated oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide (CO2), carefully assessed their purity, and securely stored them in a container. Any remaining materials were released as carbon monoxide.

Scientists highlight that these oxygen-extraction devices have multiple applications beyond providing breathable air for future settlers. They can also be used in the production of rocket fuel.

Pamela Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator, expressed her enthusiasm for MOXIE’s outstanding performance, saying, “MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that it is feasible to extract oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere—oxygen that could help supply breathable air or rocket propellant to future astronauts.”

Melroy stressed the importance of developing such technologies for resource utilization on the Moon and Mars, as it is a crucial step toward establishing a sustainable presence on these celestial bodies, fostering economic activities on the Moon, and supporting human exploration missions to Mars.

Substantial health challenges

While the successful generation of oxygen on Mars marks a significant achievement, there remain substantial health challenges that must be addressed for the establishment of a sustainable Mars colony.

To begin with, Mars is an extremely cold planet, with an average temperature plummeting to around minus eighty degrees Fahrenheit (equivalent to minus 62 degrees Celsius). Without protective space suits, exposure to such temperatures would swiftly prove fatal.

Additionally, Mars has an exceptionally low atmospheric pressure, a condition that would cause human blood to boil.

Furthermore, Mars lacks a protective ozone layer, leaving its surface exposed to harmful radiation that can increase the risk of cancer. The arduous journey to Mars also poses risks, including severe losses in bone density.

Until these formidable obstacles can be surmounted, human exploration of Mars remains confined to missions like Perseverance. This robotic explorer plays a pivotal role in NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, with the aim of uncovering traces of ancient life by collecting numerous rock samples for eventual transport back to Earth.

Accompanying Perseverance is the Ingenuity helicopter, which has already completed fifty-seven successful flights over Martian terrain.

The First Aircraft Hijacking in Greece

Tasos Kokkinidis
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The First Aircraft Hijacking in Greece
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The first hijacking in Greece occurred during the Civil War. Public Domain

The first aircraft hijacking in Greece took place during the Civil War on September 12th, 1948 when six pro-communist students who wanted passage to Yugoslavia, hijacked a plane that was traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki.

Alexandros Koufoudakis, 21, Dimitrios Koufoudakis, 23, Achilleas Ketimlidis, 19, Antonis Voyazos, 18, Giorgos Kelas, 17, and Spiros Helmiadis, 18, were on the run and accused by the police of sabotage.

They boarded a civilian TAE midday flight from Athens to Thessaloniki to make their escape.

Hijacking as aircraft was flying over Evia, Greece

A few minutes after take off and while the plane was flying over northern Evia, four of the six young men entered the flight deck, held the pilot Athanassios Igoumenakis at knife-point, and ordered him to fly towards Yugoslavia.

Hijacking Greece
Pilot A. Igoumenakis (center) in front of the hijacked plane after the ordeal. Public Domain

The co-pilot and the radio operator were injured by the hijackers. The plane landed near Skopje in today’s North Macedonia. The six hijackers disembarked and fled.

They were eventually tried in absentia by the Extraordinary Military Tribunal of Thessaloniki and sentenced to death.

Two of them, Spiros Helmiades and Achilleas Ketimlidis, illegally returned to Greece and were killed in the battles of the Civil War.

The remaining four lived in Eastern European countries for many years.

The civil war in Greece

The Greek Civil War took place between 1943 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and the United States and won in the end.

The losing opposition was governed by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its military branch, the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), as well as the People’s Republic of the Provisional Democratic Government. The rebels were supported by Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.

The war began as a conflict between the communist-dominated left-wing resistance organization, the EAM-ELAS, and loosely-allied anti-communist resistance forces. It later escalated into a major civil war between the state and the communists.

It resulted from a highly-polarized struggle between left and right ideologies that started when each side targeted the power vacuum resulting from the end of Axis occupation (1941–1944) during World War II.

The struggle was the first proxy war of the Cold War and represents the first example of postwar involvement on the part of the Allies in the internal affairs of a foreign country, an implementation of George F. Kennan’s containment policy in his Long Telegram.

Greece in the end was funded by the United States (through the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan) and joined NATO (1952), while the insurgents were demoralized by the bitter split between the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin, who wanted to end the war, and Yugoslavia’s Josip Broz Tito, who wanted it to continue.

The fighting resulted in the defeat of the DSE by the Hellenic Army.

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