Amber Road: The Ancient Trade Route of the ‘Northern Gold’

Amber Ancient Trade Route
The Amber Room was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace near Saint Petersburg. Public Domain

The Amber Road was an ancient route linking northern Europe to the Mediterranean through which amber often referred to as “northern gold” was traded from around 1500 BC to 300 BC.

Amber deposits are still present under the Baltic Sea, where they formed millions of years ago; and in Samland, in the southeast of the Baltic region, this gem washes up on the beach in huge quantities.

Harvested from these shores in the time of the Amber Road, it was traded to areas where it was in short supply, valued for its use in manufacturing adornments, implements, utensils, and even incense.

Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects.

Amber exported through the ancient trade route found in Greece

It has long been used in folk medicine for its purported healing properties. Amber and extracts were used from the time of Hippocrates in ancient Greece for a wide variety of treatments through the Middle Ages and up until the early twentieth century.

The oldest trade in amber started from Sicily. The Sicilian amber trade was directed to Greece, North Africa and Spain. Sicilian amber was also discovered in Mycenae by the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, and it appeared in sites in southern Spain and Portugal.

After a decline in the consumption and trade of amber at the beginning of the Bronze Age, around 2000 BC, the influence of Baltic amber gradually took the place of the Sicilian one

The gemstone was transported overland from the Baltic by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy, Greece, and the Black Sea. Other courses included a sea route spanning across the Baltic and North Seas towards Britain, then to the Mediterranean and several other areas, including Egypt and Syria.

It adorned the breast ornament of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (c. 1333-1324 BC), was sent to the temple of Apollo at Delphi as an offering, and has been found at Mycenae in Greece and in the Royal Tomb of Qatna in Syria.

In Roman times, the Amber Road took the form that’s most known today. A main route ran vertically south from the Baltic coast in modern-day Lithuania, through modern-day Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, to the head of the Adriatic Sea (Aquileia by the modern-day Gulf of Venice) and to Rome.

Other paths branched out from this main route, transporting amber all across Europe and into Asia.

In addition to amber, other valuable goods such as salt, metals, textiles, and exotic items were also traded along the Amber Road.

The trade routes were not limited to just one path; instead, they encompassed a series of interconnected routes, allowing for flexibility depending on political and geographic conditions.

The Amber Road played a significant role in cultural and economic exchanges between different regions of Europe and beyond. It facilitated the spread of ideas, technologies, and cultures, and it contributed to the development of various ancient civilizations

Is Indonesia’s Gunung Padang Pyramid the Oldest in the World?

Indonesia's Gunung Padang pyramid site.
Indonesia’s Gunung Padang pyramid site. Credit: Ikhlasul Amal. CC BY 2.0/flickr

A sensational science story which gripped the world last year claimed that the Gunung Padang site in West Java, Indonesia is the world’s oldest pyramid and could be more than 25,000 years old, but is there any truth in the claim?

Stonehenge and the oldest major pyramids are just a few thousand years old, while the previous record holder, Turkey’s Gobekli Tepe stone monuments, are believed to be around 11,000 years old.

Stonehenge, Salisbury, UK.
Stonehenge, Salisbury, UK. Credit: Loco Steve. CC BY-2.0/flickr

However, researchers in a paper published in Archaeological Prospection late last year claim that the Gunung Padang pyramid could be more than twice the age of these ancient structures. They wrote: “Evidence from Gunung Padang suggests advanced construction practices were already present when agriculture had, perhaps, not yet been invented.”

The claim caught the attention of news outlets all around the world, but it has since led to ferocious backlash from many experts, who argue that none of the evidence presented by the research team justifies their conclusions about the unprecedented age of Gunung Padang. They say the settlement at the site was likely built around 6,000 to 7,000 years ago.

“The data that is presented in this paper provides no support for its final conclusion—that the settlement is extraordinarily old,” Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University told The Guardian. “Yet that is what has driven the headline. I am very surprised this paper was published as it is.”

The academic pushback has forced the editors of Archaeological Prospection, published by Wiley, to carry out an investigation.

“The investigation addresses concerns raised by third parties regarding the scientific content of our paper. We are actively engaged in addressing these concerns,” the paper’s main author, geologist Professor Danny Hillman Natawidjaja of Indonesia’s national research and innovation agency, admitted in December last year.

The controversy around the age of Indonesia’s Gunung Padang pyramid was stoked by the fact that the paper was proofread by the pseudoscientific British writer Graham Hancock, who claims that a once advanced ancient culture, subsequently ended by a ‘cosmic incident,’ brought science, technology, agriculture, and monumental architecture to the primitive people who populated the world after the last ice age.

He has suggested in his Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse that Gunung Padang may be an example of such events.

The majority of scientists think these ideas are laughable. “He invokes myths, fanciful and often incorrect interpretations of archaeological sites,” said geologist Marc Defant in one review of his program. As Bill Farley, an archaeologist at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, put it, it is “a theory that says a group of ancient sages taught us everything we know [and it] simplifies history to a crude level and also robs Indigenous people of the claim that they developed their own ancient culture and sophisticated crafts.”

Natawidjaja told The Observer in December last year that he thinks Hancock’s ideas present a reasonable working hypothesis.

The ‘evidence’ for the unprecedented antiquity of Indonesia’s Gunung Padang pyramid

Sitting among tea plantations and banana palms nearly three thousand feet above sea level and seventy-five miles south of Jakarta, Gunung Padang comprises a series of stone terraces that rest on top of a non-active volcano. Pottery shards suggest the site is around a few thousand years old.

However, Natawidjaja and his colleagues argue their use of ground-penetrating radar conveys that, beneath the main structure, there are many deeper man-made layers with the lowest, a hardened lava core, showing signs of having been “meticulously sculpted,” as reported by The Guardian.

Gunung Padang.
Gunung Padang. Credit: zuki12. CC BY-2.0/flickr

The research team claims soil samples taken from material drilled out of the mound deep beneath the site were dated between 27,000 and 16,000 years old. Later accretions are believed to be around 8,000 years old.

Natawidjaja’s team came to the conclusions that Gunung Padang displays clear evidence that its construction could be traced back to 25,000 years or more, when the planet was still in the last ice age.

However, the claims have been denounced by archaeologists, who point out that the research team provides no evidence that the buried material was made by humans. They argue it might be more than 20,000 years old but was likely of natural origin, as there is no proof of any human presence, such as bone fragments or artifacts, in the soil.

Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio to Get New Lighting

Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounio, Greece, will soon have new lighting.
Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounio, Greece, will soon have new lighting. Credit: Tilemahos Efthimiadis. CC BY 2.0/flickr

The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio in East Attica, will be getting a new lighting system with the aim of showcasing the monument’s size and design more clearly, the Culture Ministry announced.

New lighting for the Temple of Poseidon

The announcement was made yesterday, Wednesday, February 28th, after Greece’s Central Archaeological Council approved a study, which had been prepared by internationally renowned, EMMY award-winning lighting designer Eleftheria Deko and her colleagues at the Office of Lighting. The scheme is being sponsored by Mytilineos in partnership with the ministry.

The aim of the improved lighting system is to showcase the monument and its surroundings without the need for intervention or alterations to its character. It is believed the new lights would be the best way to highlight the Temple of Poseidon’s outline and make it more visible, using what the ministry claims is an environmentally-friendly method.

“Twenty years after the installation of the existing lighting at the Temple of Poseidon during the Olympic Games, the physical wear and tear of time, failures and alterations in the light fixtures that resulted in the alteration of the lighting, require the installation of a modern lighting system,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said.

Deko is also behind the new lighting at the Acropolis.

The lighting project at the Acropolis

The new lighting for the great hill of Athens was unveiled in September 2020 in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, and President of the Onassis Foundation Antonis Papadimitriou.

The new lighting at the Acropolis was live-streamed on the website of the Culture Ministry at digitalculture.gov.gr and on the YouTube channel of the Onassis Foundation. It was also broadcast live by public broadcaster ERT1. It is unknown whether the same will happen for the new lighting at the Temple of Poseidon.

At the time of the new lighting, Deko, keen to showcase the monuments of the Acropolis, said, “My main concern since taking office at the Ministry was to upgrade the infrastructure and services provided at the Acropolis of Athens. The image of the Acropolis, our foremost monument, reflects and transmits the image of the country. The Onassis Foundation has kindly offered to undertake the significant sponsorship of a series of projects.”

According to an announcement made by the Ministry of Culture at the time, the study relies on lighting gradients in intensity and shades of white. In order to highlight architectural elements and enhance the perception of reliefs, depth, and plasticity, these will be placed in both inner and outer parts of the monuments.

Additionally, as part of the technical upgrade, any light pollution created by the lighting has now been reduced.

A date for the lighting upgrade for the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio has not yet been set.

Greek Stars Vougiouklaki and Papamichael Immortalized in Wax

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Wax figures of Dimitris Papamichael and Aliki Vougiouklaki at the Wax Museum of Theodoros Kokkinidis.
Wax figures of Dimitris Papamichael and Aliki Vougiouklaki at the Wax Museum of Theodoros Kokkinidis. Credit: Youtube Screenshot / Θεόδωρος Κοκκινίδης – Μουσείο κέρινων ομοιωμάτων

Aliki Vougiouklaki and Dimitris Papamichael, two giants of Greek cinema during its ‘golden age’, who were also married for a time, have been immortalized as wax figures in the popular Wax Museum of Theodoros Kokkinidis in Kavala.

Vougiouklaki and Papamichael’s Wax Figures

The waxwork figure of the late actress Aliki Vougiouklaki, who was known as the ‘national star’ of Greece, has been on display in the museum since spring last year, and now, right beside her, a wax-interpretation of her ex-husband and film partner Dimitris Papamichael has been placed.

The museum’s website states “The wax figure of the beloved actor Dimitris Papamichael has been completed and is taking its place in the Wax Museum of Theodoros Kokkinidis. The work captures him from the era of his color films between 1967-1969, when he himself was thirty-three to thirty-five years old. The effigy of him will be next to that of Aliki Vougiouklaki, being a favorite couple of the public, cinema, theater, life”.

The new wax figure was a subject of conversation during a prominent Greek TV show on Thursday morning, which veered in the direction of trying to determine whether the statue actually resembles Papamichael – with no comment on the Vougiouklaki figure. The show’s panel shared some of the public’s reactions to the artwork, and determined that there were very few positive comments, with some saying it looks like a character from The Crown.

Aliki Vougiouklaki was one of the most popular stars in Greek cinematic history. Born in Marousi, a northern suburb of Athens, in 1934, the family roots of the Greek star are mainly laid in the village of Lagia in the Mani peninsula of the Peloponnese.

In 1952, the starlet secretly auditioned for the drama school of National Theater of Greece, as she feared her family would not approve. Vougiouklaki passed the audition and soon began her classes. While there, she studied under the tutelage of Dimitris Horn, who was one of the best theatrical actors in Greece.

A stellar student, Vougiouklaki was able to develop her natural talents at the school. While studying, the budding star was called to replace an actress who abruptly dropped out of a performance of Romeo and Juliet in the National Theater.

Aliki Vougiouklaki
Aliki Vougiouklaki. Credit: Movie Screenshot

She jumped on the opportunity and performed in the role without official approval from the school. The actress received wonderful reviews for her performance and started to gain attention.

Upon her graduation in 1955, the name “Aliki Vougiouklaki” was already well known in the realm of Greek theater. The star began her career with theatrical productions, including Broadway musicals and works of ancient Greek drama.

Vougiouklaki married Papamichael in 1965, and the couple’s marriage lasted 10 years – but now they are together forever, in wax.

Statue of Atlas Reconstructed at Greek Temple of Zeus in Agrigento, Italy

Statue of the Greek god Atlas rebuilt at the Temple of Zeus in Agrigento.
Statue of the Greek god Atlas rebuilt at the Temple of Zeus in Agrigento. Credit: Zde. CC BY 4.0/Wikimedia Commons/zde

A colossal statue of the sky-bearing Greek titan Atlas, which was buried for hundreds of years among ancient ruins, has been reconstructed to claim its rightful place at the Temple of Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily after a twenty-year-long research and restoration project.

The giant Greek Atlas statue, towering at eight meters tall (26 ft), dates back to the 5th century BC. It was one of almost thirty-eight that decorated the Temple of Zeus and is believed to be the largest Doric temple every built constructed despite never being completed.

“The Atlas will become one of the highlights of the Valley of the Temples,” said Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, a cultural heritage assessor, in a joint statement with the Sicilia governor, Renato Schifani. Scarpinato added, “We can finally introduce this imposing work to the international community.”

When was the Greek titan Atlas statue found near the temple of Zeus in Agrigento?

The statue was discovered in 1812 by Charles R. Cockerell, a British architect who was visiting Agrigento to learn about the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Akragas, which was founded around 582 BC by ancient Greek colonists. The young architect was among the first to notice that a huge piece of sandstone near the aforementioned Temple of Zeus did not form part of the sanctuary’s pediment but rather the head of a statue of Atlas.

In Greek mythology, Atlas was a titan or god tasked with holding up the sky on his shoulders after being defeated by Zeus, one of the next generation of gods called Olympians.

Over time, Cockerell identified more pieces of the statues. According to archaeologists, the Atlas statues were found on the outer area of the Temple of Zeus. They were made like that to give the impression they were holding the temple up and sustain the entire entablature of the sanctuary. It was never finished because it lacked a roof as a result of the ancient Greek city of Akragas being conquered by the Carthaginians.

In the passing centuries, the temple was destroyed by earthquakes, and in the 18th century, it was quarried to provide building materials for Agrigento and Porto Empedocle.

The long-buried Atlas statue was rebuilt using blocks of sandstone and stacking each piece on shelves attached to a metal structure.

The restoration work

The first Atlas statue, housed within the Archaeological Museum of Agrigento, was reconstructed after the archaeologist Pirro Marconi unearthed several artifacts in 1920. In 2004, the Valley of the Temples park launched an extensive research campaign led by the German Archaeological Institute of Rome and supervised by Heinz-Jurgen Beste.

This program provided fresh insights into the monument, but it also led to the cataloging of ninety more fragments belonging to around eight different Atlas statues. There was a decision to assemble a new Atlas, bit by bit, and place it upright in front of the Temple of Zeus.

“The idea was to reposition one of these Atlases in front of the temple so that it may serve as a guardian of the structure dedicated to the father of the gods,” Roberto Sciarratta, director of the valley of the Temples park told The Guardian.

The Valley of the Temples is a UNESCO World Heritage site and boasts the largest area of any archaeological park in the world, covering around 1,600 hectares and encompassing the ruins of seven temples, city walls, an agora, an entry gate, as well as a necropolis and sanctuaries.

Temple of Zeus at the Valley of the Temple, Agrigento.
Temple of Zeus at the Valley of the Temple, Agrigento. Credit: José Luiz. CC BY-4.0/Wikimedia Commons/Jose Luiz

The nearby city-state of Akragas was one of the leading population centers in the region during the Golden Age of ancient Greece.

It was constructed on a high ridge over a 100-year-period, and its seven temples are considered among the most spectacular examples of ancient Greek architecture. More than one hundred thousand people lived in Akragas in the fifth century. According to the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher Empedocles, a citizen of Akragas, people would “party as if [they’d] die tomorrow, and build as if they [would] live for ever.”

The city was brought to ruins in 406 BC by the Carthaginians, and it did not return to its former glory until the rise of Timoleon in the late 3rd century BC. During the Punic Wars, the Carthaginians defended the city against Roman forces, which eventually took control in 210 BC.

The Romans renamed the city Agrigentum, and under their rule, it saw a period of monumental urban redevelopment with new public buildings, including at least two temples.

The Atlas statue stands over all that remains of the temple itself—a thick stone base, piled with crumbled pillars and blocks of stone.

“The work we have carried out on the Atlas and the Olympian area is part of our mission to protect and enhance the Valley of the Temples,” said Sciarratta. “Bringing these stone colossi back to light has always been one of our primary objectives.”

Dakos: The Specialty From Crete is World’s Best Salad

Dakos
The Cretan sald has the juices seep into the crunchy bread. Credit: Frente, CC BY-SA 3.0

A trademark of Cretan cuisine, dakos, topped the list of the world’s best salads according to ratings compiled by TasteAtlas recently.

Dakos has many variations but only one secret: the superior-quality ingredients of the Cretan land.

It consists of a slice of soaked dried bread or barley rusk, juicy tomatoes, xinomizithra (a creamy sheep or goat’s milk cheese), barley rusks, olives, and of course extra virgin olive oil.

British restaurant and food critic Yotam Ottolenghi once said that he developed a “not-so-mild obsession” with dakos.

Unlike most things that you come across on holiday, it tastes pretty much the same when you make it back home, said Ottolenghi.

Dakos describes Cretan cooking

“Simple is the best way to describe Cretan cooking,” food expert Lane Nieset wrote in Food and Wine magazine.

“The main ingredients may stay the same, but Cretans can concoct multiple cookbooks out of a short pantry list of items,” she added. “Barley rusks, for example, double as croutons in salad or form bruschetta-like dakos.”

Also known as koukouvagia, this Cretan meze has the juices seep into the crunchy bread, offering an experience you’ll be ready to repeat anytime.

Add the right glass of local wine to that and you’ll be somewhere near Crete’s paradise. Whether you eat it for breakfast, lunch or as a snack any time of the day, is always wholesome and filling.

Bare in mind that depending on the area of Crete in which you travel, you may meet it under different names: in Rethymno and Chania they also call it “koukouvagia” (which means owl), while in Heraklion and Lassithi the same dish is known as “landouristo”, “ladopsomo” and “kouloukopsomo”.

Salad boasts a variety of nutrients

Anastasios Papalazarou, an Athens-based dietician and nutritionist, told Olive Oil Times recently that the dakos salad boasts a variety of nutrients, including plant protein, fibers and vitamins.

“A portion of the traditional dakos dish accounts for 20 percent of the daily need of the human body for proteins and 20 percent in dietary fibers,” he said.

“The tomato, on the other hand, is rich in lycopene, a precious carotenoid, and also offers vitamins C and E, antioxidants. Additionally, the dish is an excellent source of monounsaturated fats due to the use of olive oil.”

Dakos is an integral part of Crete‘s cuisine which is based on the Mediterranean diet.

As Nieset notes “Crete checks everything off the list of Greek specialties: wine from centuries-old vineyards that is some of the best in the Mediterranean; olive oil dubbed the ‘elixir of life’ and said to be the source of the high longevity rate; and the infamous cheese, which is so specific, villages have their signature.”

Artifacts in Greek Mythology That Hold Supernatural Powers

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Perseus
Perseus takes flight with the sandals of Hermes. Credit: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Greek mythology is full of artifacts endowed with supernatural powers, in addition to a myriad of unforgettable gods, demigods, creatures, and characters.

These items are immensely varied. Some, like the coat of the Nemean Lion, offered its wearer invulnerability, whereas others, like Pandora’s box, spelled misery and doom for mankind.

In many stories, these mythical items were the object of a hero’s quest or proved essential to the completion of their goal. In others, the artifact came to be a symbol of its user and the attributes they embodied.

The Armor of Achilles

Towards the end of Homer’s Iliad, Patroclus, the cousin of Achilles, donned his armor and led the Myrmidons into battle. In the ensuing fight between Achaeans and Trojans, Patroclus was killed, largely due to the intervention of the god Apollo.

Hector landed the killing blow and stripped Patroclus of Achilles’ armor. Furious at the death of his companion, Achilles burned with the desire for revenge but could not go into battle without his armor.

Luckily for Achilles, his mother Thetis was respected by the Olympian gods and she persuaded the forge god Hephaestus to make Achilles a new set of armor. Homer describes the armor as being “brighter than blazing fire” and dedicates several pages to describing it.

Ultimately, the armor protected Achilles long enough for him to exact his vengeance against Hector and the Trojans. It did not however render him immune to fate itself, and he was struck dead when an arrow hit his vulnerable heel.

Achilles
The “Vatican Amphora,” which depicts ancient Greek warriors Ajax and Achilles playing a board game. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public domain

Poseidon’s trident

The trident of Poseidon, the god of the sea, is one of the most iconic artifacts in Greek mythology. Even in modern times, it functions as a potent symbol of all things maritime.

According to mythology, the trident was forged by the cyclopes and given to Poseidon as a gift. The trident, which resembled a fisherman’s fork, was used many times by Poseidon to channel his powers over the earth and sea.

In one such instance, the sea god struck a rock on the hill of the Athenian Acropolis to produce a well of seawater, in what became a contest between himself and Athena for dominion over Attica. When the Athenians chose Athena, Poseidon struck his trident a second time, causing the surrounding lands to dry up, thus depriving the Athenians of water.

In another myth, Poseidon created the first horses, which the ancient Greeks believed were sacred to him, by again striking his trident against the ground.

Poseidon's trident
Poseidon depicted holding his trident, a power Greek mythological item, c. 550-525 BC. Credit: Jastrow / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Pandora’s box

Pandora’s box was arguably among the most important Greek mythological artifacts, given the consequences it would hold for all mankind. Pandora was the first human woman in Greek mythology, created by Hephaestus from clay.

According to Hesiod, the purpose of Pandora’s creation was to punish mankind for the deeds of Prometheus, who had stolen the secret of fire from the gods and given it to humans.

Zeus, wishing to punish humans, deceived Epimetheus – the brother of Prometheus – by gifting him the hand of Pandora in marriage. Pandora brought with her the infamous box, although it would be more accurately described as a jar due to a mistranslation of ancient Greek.

In any case, Pandora was instructed not to open the jar, but curiosity had been woven into her very nature by the gods and she could not withstand this temptation. She opened the jar, letting out death, sickness, and all the evils which plague the world. Only hope remained in the jar. This was Hesoid’s explanation for all the hardships faced by mankind.

Pandora
Pandora’s box. Credit: Dante Gabriel Rossetti / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Pelt of the Nemean Lion

The first labor of the legendary ancient Greek hero Heracles was to bring King Eurystheus the skin of the Nemean Lion, a legendary mythical artifact that rendered its wearer invulnerable to harm. There was just one problem, the skin was still very much attached to the giant cat terrorizing the hills around Nemea.

When Heracles went up against the mighty Nemean Lion, he found that his arrows were useless against the impenetrable golden fur of the beast. To make matters worse, the lion’s claws could easily cleave a man in half.

Heracles improvised and managed to block the lion inside a cave. Although its golden fur could not be penetrated by any human weapon, the lion was not impervious to blunt force trauma and Heracles stunned it with his club. He then wrestled the lion and strangled it to death.

When Heracles attempted to skin the beast, he found that his knife was useless. It was only when the goddess Athena instructed him to use the lion’s claws that he was able to take the prized golden coat.

Far from pleased, King Eurystheus was terrified that Heracles had managed to kill the beast and instructed him to display all further proofs of his labors outside of the city gates. Heracles wore the coat of the Nemean Lion throughout his other labors, enjoying its superior protection.

Heracles and Prometheus
Heracles, wearing the coat of the Nemean Lion, approaches Prometheus. Credit: Christian Griepenkerl / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

The winged sandals of Hermes

The winged sandals of Hermes, known to the Romans as the Talaria of Mercury, are among the most unique artifacts in ancient Greek mythology.

The Greek god of blacksmithing and craftsmen was again responsible for this incredible creation. Hephaestus was said to have made the sandals out of imperishable gold. They conferred on the wearer the ability to fly.

Doubtless, the ability to fly was essential for the messenger god Hermes who spent his time flitting between gods, demigods, and mortals, passing on the most urgent of messages.

The hero Perseus briefly possessed the sandals and wore them during his quest to behead Medusa.

Hermes
Hermes depicted in the black figure pottery style wearing the winged sandals. Credit: Katolophyromai / Wikimedia Commons CC BY 4.0

Artifacts in Greek mythology: The Golden Fleece

The Golden Fleece is one of the most famous and iconic artifacts from ancient Greek mythology. According to legend, the fleece was the skin of a golden ram, which was given to the king of Colchis, a land located on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, by the god Hermes. The fleece was said to possess magical powers, and it became the focus of a number of heroic quests.

The most famous of these quests was undertaken by Jason and the Argonauts. According to the story, Jason was tasked with retrieving the Golden Fleece as a condition for him to claim the throne of Iolcus. He assembled a team of skilled warriors and set out on a perilous journey across the sea, encountering a variety of challenges and obstacles along the way.

After many adventures, the Argonauts finally arrived in Colchis, where the fleece was guarded by a dragon. With the help of the sorceress Medea, Jason was able to overcome the dragon and claim the fleece. He then returned to Iolcus, where he was able to claim the throne and establish himself as a hero of legend.

The Ancient Greek Origins of Zeibekiko and Other Contemporary Dances

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greek dances
Zeibekiko. Credit: YouTube/Shakallis Dance School

Greece is home to countless traditional Greek dances, many of which have direct connections to ancient Greek forms of rhythmic movement.

In ancient Greece, dance was an integral part of many aspects of cultural and religious events as well as daily life.

Dancing was very common throughout the ancient Greek world and featured prominently during many celebrations, such as weddings, and even at philosophical drinking parties or symposia.

Additionally, the choruses in ancient Greek drama often performed a choreographed routine when delivering their lines, and dance shows and routines were common forms of entertainment in ancient Greece.

Dance, or “horos,” has held a very important place in Greek culture for thousands of years and is still an important part of life in Greece to this very day.

Over time, it has evolved to suit the needs of different groups of Greeks, who have made their own dances, leading to great regional diversity in this most physically expressive of the arts.

Dances are extremely important to Greek communities and perform a social function as well. You will often see Greeks spontaneously burst into dance at weddings, Greek Easter, or school functions.

Several traditional Greek dances that are still performed to this day have deep connections to ancient Greece, particularly the dances zeibekiko, tsifteteli, and pyrrhichios or serra.

Traditional Greek dances and their ancient roots

One of the most unique and visually striking Greek dances is the zeibekiko. Zeibekiko originated in Asia Minor, and the legacy of tragic displacement and of a homeland lost certainly lives on through this dance.

It is difficult to dance the zeibekiko, mainly because it has no set steps and a complex rhythm. It requires an inner intensity because it is an improvised movement that expresses the feelings of the individual who gets up to dance.

This meaningful dance often conveys feelings of defeat, sadness, life’s despair and unfulfilled dreams, foreboding bad luck, and the dark at the end of the tunnel.

Zeibekiko is performed solo and was traditionally exclusively danced by males, but women have begun to take part in this expressive movement, as well, breaking gender roles.

The most iconic part of the dance is when the dancer stretches out his arms and twirls, sways, and moves with deep feeling and emotion.

This movement is often linked to the eagle, a traditionally solitary and powerful bird, but it may have a connection to a different bird—the crane.

Called “Geranos” in Greek, the crane is a beautiful bird with long, graceful wings. In antiquity, Greeks were known to perform a solitary dance called “Geranios,” which was modeled after the bird’s movements.

Most famously, as mentioned by Plutarch, the ancient Greek hero Theseus performed the crane dance on the island of Delos, which was very sacred as it was the site of Apollo’s birth, after freeing a group of young Athenians from the Minotaur’s Labyrinth.

The dance involves slowly moving in circular motions while holding one’s arms outstretched, much like the wings of a crane.

The movements of the crane dance described by ancient authors certainly resemble the Zeibekiko, which means that the ancient Greek dance may be linked to the modern one.

Is Tsifteteli related to the ancient Greek dance Kordax?

The modern Greek dance “Tsifteteli,” or ‘τσιφτετέλι’ in Greek, seems to be of Turkish or Eastern origin, as the name tsifteteli comes from Turkish, but it may also have links to an ancient Greek dance.

Tsifteteli is often described as Greek belly-dancing involving the rhythmic movement of one’s hips accompanied by sinuous arm movements. While both men and women can dance tsifteteli, it’s most often considered a feminine and highly sensual dance.

The ancient Greek dance Cordax is described in Aristophanes’ comic plays as a sexual, almost vulgar dance that involves hip gyrations. Other ancient authors have also described the dance, which was considered highly sexual, and often those performing it wore masks.

Although the links between this ancient dance and tsifteteli are clear, some scholars believe that there is no relationship between the two, as tsifteteli only became a popular dance in Greece after Greeks from Asia Minor were expelled from Turkey in the 1920s.

Pyrrhichios and Serra

One of the most famous ancient Greek dances is the Pyrrhichios (Πυρρίχιος), or “Phyrric dance,” which was the war dance of the ancient Greeks.

The ancient movement was likely first practiced by the Dorians but became popular across the country in antiquity, particularly in Sparta, where it was taught to children from a very young age.

According to Plato, the dance involved both movements that mimic strikes and assaults as well as actions that resembled dodging and avoiding the blows of one’s opponent.

Even Homer, the most famous ancient Greek poet, wrote that Achilles danced the Pyrrhichios around the burning funeral pyre of his companion Patroclus in the Iliad.

Serra, a traditional Greek dance from the Pontus region of the Black Sea, is believed to have strong links to the Pyrrhichios dance.

It is named after the Serra River, in the Trapezunda (Trebizond) region of modern-day Turkey. It is also sometimes referred to as the Lazikon dance.

Serra was created by Greeks from the Pontus area of the Black Sea. As is the case with most Pontic dances, the serra originated as a war dance and would have traditionally been used to motivate soldiers before entering battle.

The serra is traditionally performed by men holding hands throughout the dance.

As is the case with most Pontic dances, it is usually accompanied by the Pontic lyra.

Putin Warns of Nuclear War if West Sends Troops to Ukraine

Russian president Vladimir Putin
President Vladimir Putin again raises the danger of a nuclear holocaust. Credit: Council.gov.ru / Wikimedia Commons CC BY 4.0

On Thursday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin warned of a nuclear war if Western powers send ground troops to Ukraine.

Addressing parliament and other members of the country’s elite during the annual State of the Nation address, Putin repeated his accusation that the West is bent on weakening Russia.

He suggested Western leaders did not understand how dangerous their meddling could be in what he cast as Russia’s internal affairs.

He prefaced his warning with a specific reference to an idea, floated by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, of European NATO members sending ground troops to Ukraine – a suggestion that was quickly rejected by the United States, Germany, Britain and others.

“I want to assure you that there is no question of sending European forces, NATO forces, into Ukraine. There is no such issue for Greece and I believe that there is no such issue for the great majority of our partners,” Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

Putin: Threat of a nuclear war

“(Western nations) must realize that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?!” said Putin.

Putin, Russia’s paramount leader for more than two decades, suggested Western politicians recall the fate of those, like Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler and France’s Napoleon Bonaparte who unsuccessfully invaded his country in the past.

“But now the consequences will be far more tragic,” said Putin. “They think it (war) is a cartoon,” he said.

Putin, who was speaking ahead of a March 15-17 presidential election when he is certain to be re-elected for another six-year term, lauded what he said was Russia’s vastly modernized nuclear arsenal, the largest in the world.

He also said the Russian military has the “initiative” in the two-year, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and is advancing in several areas.

Ukrainian troops recently withdrew from the eastern town of Avdiivka – but overall, the frontlines have been largely unchanged for months.

No mention of Navalny and his untimely death

The BBC notes that Putin was speaking for about two hours, covering a range of key issues. But, as it points out, there was one name he refused to mention – Alexei Navalny – Putin’s most prominent critic.

Navalny’s death in a Russian Arctic penal colony earlier this month sparked a global outpouring of tributes and anti-Putin demonstrations, with his supporters convinced his death was a political assassination.

Hundreds of people were detained in Moscow, St Petersburg and other Russian cities for laying flowers in his memory.

Navalny will be buried in Moscow on Friday.

Has the Mystery of the Ancient Phaistos Disc Been Solved?

Phaistos Disc
Phaistos Disc. Credit: C. Messier/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA-4.0

The mystery of the Phaistos Disc has been “solved by 99 percent” Gareth Owens, a linguist, archaeologist, and coordinator of the program Erasmus of Crete Technological Institute announced recently.

Owens has devoted thirty years to trying to solve the puzzle. The Minoan goddess of love, Astarte, who is linked to the Eastern goddess Ashtart, is the key figure that unlocks the mystery of the Phaistos Disc, Owens argues.

The Phaistos Disc is a disk of fired clay from the Minoan palace of Phaistos on the island of Crete, possibly dating to the middle or late Minoan Bronze Age (second millennium B.C.).

Phaistos Disc: one of archaeology’s greatest mysteries

The disk is about 15 cm (5.9 in) in diameter and covered on both sides with a spiral of stamped symbols.

The language imprinted on the face of the mysterious disk has never been fully decoded, and its symbols are part of no known alphabet either ancient or modern.

Some symbols, however, do bear resemblance to those found in Linear A and Linear B, which were the ancient languages of the Minoans. Linear A has not yet been decoded.

Others are similar to hieroglyphs found in ancient Anatolian sites.

Although the vast majority of scholars believe that the Phaistos Disc is authentic, a few archaeologists are unconvinced of its authenticity.

Its purpose and meaning, and even its original geographical place of manufacture, remain disputed, making it one of the most famous mysteries of archaeology.

This unique object is now on display at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

Is the goddess of love the key to decoding the disk?

He, along with his team, is using evidence and strategies from linguistics and history to decode the mysterious disc.

Owens says: “We are reading the Phaistos disc with the vocal values of Linear B and with the help of comparative linguistics, i.e. comparing with other relative languages from the Indo-European language family. Reading something, however, does not mean understanding.”

According to his data, the disc is a religious text to a “pregnant goddess” that takes shape in the face of Astarte, the goddess of love.

“There is no doubt that we are talking about a religious text,” Owens reveals. “This is clear from a comparison made with other religious words from other inscriptions from the holy mountains of Crete. We have words that are exactly the same.”

The scholar adds that he suspects that “the Phaistos Disc is a hymn before Astarte, the goddess of love. Words such as those mentioned on the disc have been found on Minoan offerings.”

“As with today’s offerings, people pray when they are troubled, because of health problems or personal reasons,” he says. “Man doesn’t change, after all.”

The archaeologist says he believes that one side of the Phaistos Disc is actually dedicated to a pregnant mother goddess while the other is dedicated to the Minoan goddess Astarte.

On the importance of the figure, Owens noted that Minoan Astarte was the goddess of love, war, and the mountains and that her origin lies in the east. The goddess’s roots are “from ancient Mesopotamia, located in today’s Turkey; Astarte went to Cyprus and became Venus,” he explained.