New C-Muse App Simulates Life in Ancient Athens

credit awards.eie.gr

The Cultural Memory as Updated Site-specific Experience (otherwise known as the C-Muse) is apparently the winner of the 2014 excellence in innovation and entrepreneurship awards of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, the General Secretariat of Research & Development and the General Secretariat for Youth.

So what is C-Muse?

It is a digital application, especially designed for three archaeological sites of the city of Athens, the Acropolis, Kerameikos, and the ancient Agora, which gives visitors a complete guiding tour of the sites but also provides a unique simulation experience of life in ancient Greece. Visitors can actually listen to Pericles' Funeral Oration (Epitafios) or to ceramists bargaining with their clients!

The app is based on an idea by Dimitris Vergados, Konstantino Tampouri and Elftheria Komi.

More info at: awards.eie.gr

SIMPLE LOGIC - Plato: Tyrants Stir Up War, Oligarchs Use Force To Gain Power

Cover of The Republic

Plato From The Republic - Translated by Benjamin Jowett

Socrates: But when he [the tyrant] has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.

Glaucon and Socrates:

And what manner of government do you term oligarchy?

A government resting on a valuation of property, in which the rich have power and the poor man is deprived of it.

I understand, he replied.

Ought I not to begin by describing how the change from timocracy to oligarchy arises?

Yes.

Well, I said, no eyes are required in order to see how the one passes into the other.

How?

The accumulation of gold in the treasury of private individuals is the ruin of timocracy; they invent illegal modes of expenditure; for what do they or their wives care about the law?

Yes, indeed.

And then one, seeing another grow rich, seeks to rival him, and thus the great mass of the citizens become lovers of money.

Likely enough.

And so they grow richer and richer, and the more they think of making a fortune the less they think of virtue; for when riches and virtue are placed together in the scales of the balance, the one always rises as the other falls.

True.

And in proportion as riches and rich men are honoured in the State, virtue and the virtuous are dishonoured.

Clearly.

And what is honoured is cultivated, and that which has no honour is neglected.

That is obvious.

And so at last, instead of loving contention and glory, men become lovers of trade and money; they honour and look up to the rich man, and make a ruler of him, and dishonour the poor man.

They do so.

They next proceed to make a law which fixes a sum of money as the qualification of citizenship; the sum is higher in one place and lower in another, as the oligarchy is more or less exclusive; and they allow no one whose property falls below the amount fixed to have any share in the government. These changes in the constitution they effect by force of arms, if intimidation has not already done their work.

Very true.

And this, speaking generally, is the way in which oligarchy is established.

Italian Scientist Cracks Mystery Code in Rare Copy of "Odyssey"!

An Italian computer engineer has apparently cracked the riddle of some mysterious handwritten notations that were discovered in the margins of 1504 Venetian edition of Homer’s Odyssey.

According to press reports, Daniele Metilli won a US $1,000 prize, that was awarded to him by the University of Chicago Library from a collector by the name of M.C. Lang (who had donated the book to the University of Chicago Library in 2007) for doing just that!

The Italian scientist who identified the mystery script as a system of shorthand invented by Frenchman Jean Coulon de Thevenot in the late 18th century, was quited as saying that although he reads Greek, and writes in French, as well as has spent days and nights trying to solve difficult word puzzles, he and his team rediscovered that the Odyssey was not an easy mystery to solve.

    "We approached the contest looking for an adventure, and we got it. It was a wonderful experience and we could not be more happy!”

"Una Faccia Una Razza" (One Face, One Race).

OPINION - When Heraclitus Met Greek Politics

The following article was written by Ambassador of Greece to the United States, 2005-2009 Mr. Alexandros P. Mallias. After reading it on the Huffington Post HellasFrappe decided to republish it. The article, which clearly manipulates classic Greek (common) logic as its base to get a new political message across, and is obviously a great promo piece to To Potami's leader Stavros Theodorakis. It is also comes to prove that Theodorakis has friends in (very) high places! We advise our readers to absorb the logic behind this article and how it analyzes the political world, and totally ignore the clear patting on the back to Theodorakis.

Thucydides, Pericles, Socrates and Aristotle are the preferred references in the search of the logic, if logic exists, in understanding politics in modern Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Sparta.

For more than one reason a modern disciple of Heraclitus, who visited Ephesus only a few weeks ago, took the risky step to join politics in Hellas.

Defying the calls of his friends and advisers for prudence and against all odds, he decided to join a party -- a movement rather than a party -- without aparatchiks, structures, politburos, etc.

It is no surprise that the new party that will contest in the uneven campaign for the European Parliament Elections scheduled for May 25 is named To Potami ( The River). In contemporary terms Heraclitus is considered to be a postmodern thinker. His thoughts transcend time, place, continents.

Heraclitus taught me that :

• air dies giving birth to fire. Fire dies giving birth to air. Thus water is born of earth, and earth of water.
• the river where you set your foot just now is gone and a new one is constantly formed.
• the way up is the way back.
• just as the river where I step is not the same, and it is, so am I, as I am not.

Can a party with no politicians meet the challenge and make the edge in Greek politics? Can it change the course, sidelining the political oligarchies that have been ruling Greece for roughly 70 years, often accused of lack of ethos, accountability and common sense?

Two weeks ago, I met To Potami's leader Stavros Theodorakis, a self-made man and articulate journalist. I did not hesitate for a moment to accept his invitation. The candidates of the Euro elections ticket are not politicians. They have all successfully served the country and the society. They have excelled in business, academia, medicine, farming.

     Our motto is "for a strong Greece in a more just Europe."

A United Europe cannot be achieved with divided Europeans along the north-south or south-north dividing lines. We say yes, to a Europe which will show respect for the dignity of its citizens. But to change Europe, we must first change the course of politics at home.

Heraclitus insists that "the beginning is the end" and that "without injustice the name of justice would mean nothing."In family, in society and in politics it is clear that "one's bearing shapes one's fate."

Heraclitus is what was really missing from politics today in Greece.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-alexandros-p-mallias/heraclitus-to-potami_b_5232968.html?1398786528

The rise and the fall of Athens

The capture of Sestos in 478 B.C. saw the end of the Persian wars against mainland Greece and thus the Hellenes could once again breathe the air of freedom. However, the capture of Sestos not only brought an end to Persia's advance into Europe, it also closed the chapter of Sparta's leadership over all the Hellenes which marked a new dawn over the history of Greece.

The emergence of Athens as the new dominant power over Hellas was a consequence of Sparta's inability to adapt to new conditions due to its tradition of conservatism and isolation. Athens on the other hand, was a state of vitalism since its democratic institutions gave the Athenian people an incentive to grow economically and this induced the expansion of the city's influence beyond the Sphere of Attica. The ability of Athens to be far-sighted made the city realize that its geographical location which was in poor land could only produce a meager subsistence and a low standard of living. The leaders of Athens such as Solon, knew very well that their city could only survive and grow through becoming a sea-power which could enable it to trade for wheat and other commodities.

Control of the sea for commercial trade wasn't the only purpose behind the emergence of Athens as a sea power.Being a city in the plains of Attica, Athens had no natural protection against invaders and therefore the only solution for its defense was the building of a powerful navy. This strategy was to prove itself correct in the consequent years when it was put into practice during the new Persian invasions where not only Athens, but the whole of Greece was saved mainly because of the Athenian navy.

The recognition of the Athenian supremacy over Sparta was undisputed among the newly-freed city states of the Aegean and the Asia Minor coast. This was even more re-enforced after the Spartans decided to retreat to the Peloponnese instead of helping the Athenians to free the Eastern Greeks of Asia Minor who had revolted against Persian rule over them. The battle of Sestos and the Athenian capture of the city gave Athens the official recognition as deliverers of the Eastern Greeks from the Persian yoke.

In the name of freedom and the protection from the barbarians, Athens undertook the responsibility of being ηγεμών or leader of the rescued cities. In the winter of 478-7 B.C., the voluntary confederacy of Delos was formed and the treasury of the league was established on the sacred island of Delos hence its from this island that the league took its name.

The league included the Ionian and Aeolian cities of Asia Minor, the islands adjacent to its coast from Lesbos to Rhodes, a large number of towns on the Propontis (Pontus) and some in Thrace, most of the Cyclades islands and all of Evboea except Carystus.

By declaring itself as the originator of the Ionian cities and therefore of all Greeks of the Ionian stock, Athens farther reinforced her claim as ηγεμών (leader) of the Confederacy, and took the liberty of setting down the tribute that each state had to pay. Some states had to provide ships and some money. The ships where incorporated into the Athenian navy and the number of ships that each city state had to contribute was changed annually.With these assessments of the φόρος or tribute on each member of the league, Athens was well on its way to becoming an empire.

As it was stated before, the original purpose of the Delos confederacy was to protect and free Eastern Greeks from Persian domination. The tribute money was supposed to cover campaigns and the building of new ships. Even though some of the money must have been spent for these purposes, most of it went into the reserve.

The Athenian fleet was increased and kept in good condition from the contributions of ships from the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, and probably Thasos, which were all rich in timber. It was this increase in its fleet that enabled Athens to wage campaigns against Persia which resulted in the capture of Eion-a most important stronghold of the Persians-which in tern helped to deliver the Asia Minor cities of the areas of Caria and Lycia from Persian rule. The cities from these districts were constrained and joined the confederacy.

Following up this success under the leaderships of Cimon, the Athenians won a battle in Eurymedon which freed Greece from all dangers on the side of the Persian Empire.

The purpose of the Athenian expedition in the eastern Mediterranean was to open up a trading route between that area and Athens so that badly needed wheat could reach the port of Piraeus. The later expeditions to free the Greek cities of the island of Cyprus and to help Egypt throw off the Persian yoke, where done with this intension.

Athens' allies in the meantime were increasingly reluctant to continue active campaigning abroad since the threat from Persia had gone. Many states started revolting with the islands of Naxos and Thasos first.Both islands were capitulated by Athens. The Athenian imperialist "might is right"policy was demonstrated very well in those 469-65 B.C. revolts and similar approaches were taken with other revolts which weren't few in number.

Upon the subjection of the revolting states, their autonomy was completely taken away and a constitution set up by Athens replaced it. Many times Athenian garrisons and civil officers were left behind in order to prevent farther troubles.

By the middle of the 5th century B.C., the turning of the alliance into an empire was well advanced. A further advance in Athenian imperialism was when the treasury was moved from Delos to Athens. The motive behind the transfer was to make league funds more accessible to Athens so that it could be used for its own purposes.

Under the leadership of Pericles, who was a strong statesman, Athens rose to become the greatest city state of Greece and of the then known world. Using the funds of the league, tribute payments from subjugated states, and money accumulated by their newly found wealth, the Athenians build majestic monuments for their city such as the Parthenon which are still marveled at to this day.

The greatness of 5th century B.C. Athens wasn't just its architecture-that was only one element of it.The whole city was bursting with life as thousands of aliens poured into its walls taking advantage of a good economy and the safety that it offered. The husbandmen and craftsmen, the retail dealers and the foreign traders however could have not been lured into Athens if it wasn't for its sea-power and the supremacy of the Athenian navy.

Being the mistress of the sea, Athens forced all trading ships in the Aegean to stop at the port of Piraeus were goods from all over the world could be traded or transshipped for re-export after duties were put on them. By doing this, Athens assured a constant food-supply which met the demands of the city's growing population and created jobs for its skilled and unskilled labor force. Above all it enabled the city to become a trading center which stimulated economic growth and a higher standard of living.

In the meantime, Athen's rival, Sparta, was getting restless upon seeing the increasing dominance and prosperity of the city. Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian league feared the naval empire of Athens and its rapidly extending trade because it competed with them. The Spartans who where of Dorian stock tried to include other Dorian city states in the Peloponnesian league in order to better its position against her Ionian rival, Athens.

The Peloponnesians had already tried to come to the aid of their Dorian brothers in Northern Greece by invading the region in 457 B.C. and setting up Thebes as a powerful state in order to hold Athens in check. However,this proved to be a failure to a great extent since this operation led to an assault on Athens by the Spartans and their allies which resulted in Athens capturing many Dorian cities.

The outcome was to make Athens not only a maritime power but also a continental one as well. The Spartans were not too keen in fighting battles outside the Peloponnese and after a few more loosing confrontations with Athens, they decided to come to terms with the Athenians and agreed to a thirty years' peace. In the agreement both parties agreed not to admit an ally of the other into its alliance, and neutral states could join whichever alliance they chose.

The feelings of hatred between the Peloponnesian league and Athens and its allies was steadily growing and the "Thirty Years' Peace" agreement between them did not put Spartan's mind to rest. The fear that Athens would try to extend its empire over the whole of Greece, was always constant and the increasing power and wealth of Athens, alarmed the Peloponnesians. Everybody felt that a final struggle would not take long to come.

The peace of Callias in 449 B.C. between Persia and Athens, had enabled Athens to divert its attention from the Eastern Mediterranean, and concentrate on maintaining and expanding its empire.With the peace of Callias, the original purpose of the Delian league was not longer in
effect, many of the allies wanted to secede from the league but Athens had already developed a firm control over them and it was able to hold its empire together. The revolt of Samos in 440 B.C. and its consequent siege and reduction was a lesson to be taught to other allies.

With its powerful fleet having firm control over its Aegean domination, Athens turned its ambitions of expansion westward.Since Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean was lost to the Persians, the Athenians needed to open up a new route so that they could develop trade for wheat and other commodities. However this westward expansion of Athens came into direct conflict with Corinth-a Dorian city of the Peloponnese whose wealth depended almost entirely on its trade with Sicily and Italy. The Athenians were entering into trade with the Greeks of Sicily and Italy at the expense of Corinth and the Corinthians were outraged at this Athenian intervention.

Corinth who was a leading member of the Peloponnesian league and had taken part in signing the "Thirty Years' Peace' agreement with Athens, was looking for an excuse to break the peace and enter into war with Athens in order to defend its trading interests. The Corinthians were at this time involved in a quarrel with their own colony of Kerkyra, the island state in the Ionian sea, and it was from this quarrel that Corinth found the excuse to come to open arms with Athens.

Kerkyra and Corinth had their differences for many years. Kerkyra, which had become one of the richest Greek city states of the day, had long stopped paying any honorary respect to its founder and mother city-Corinth. The Corinthians hated the Kerkyraeans for their wealth and felt that they neglected their mother city. In 435 B.C., the Corinthians decided to make an expedition against kerkyra in order to teach their colony a lesson of respect. The two states fought a naval battle in the Ionian sea in which kerkyra was the victor.

Corinth began to prepare for a greater effort against its powerful and detested colony. The work for preparation frightened Kerkyra, for while Corinth had the Peloponnesian league at her back, Kerkyra had no allies. The Kerkyraeans sent an embassy to Athens and asked the Athenians to accept them in their league. The Athenians had much to benefit with Kerkyra in their domain, because this island state could be used as a stronghold for their expansion to Sicily and Italy. Athens thus received Kerkyra into its alliance and sent ships to kerkyra in order to assist the state against Corinth.

When the Corinthians sailed against Kerkyra, the Athenians joined the Kerkyraeans in the sea battle and saved the city-state from being taken over by Corinth. The Corinthians returned back to their city, but before doing that, they sent a formal protest to the Athenians for braking the 'Thirty Years' truce. The excuse for declaring war on Athens was at last found.

In 431 B.C., after many strong debates at the Spartan assembly, Corinth and other coastal towns of the Peloponnese, convinced Sparta and the majority of the members of the Peloponnesian league to declare war against Athens. The main argument emphasized by Corinth and other coastal towns to convince the states of the interior-Sparta included-was that these states depended on the coastal states for the imports they needed from the outside of the Peloponnese and to market their exports. If Athens was left to dominate their trading routes, the Peloponnese would be cut off from the trading market and shortages of food and other commodities would occur. Such an outcome had to be stopped and the only way was to go to war against Athens.

The war that broke out between the Peloponnesian confederacy and Athens and her allies was to become widely known as the Peloponnesian War and it was to last for almost forty years. It was a civil war between Greeks of Dorian stock against Greeks of Ιοnian stock, and viceversa. Greek states fighting other Greek states.During the course of the Peloponnesian war, from 431 B.C. to 404 B.C., the Hellenic world saw itself being destroyed and its wealth and majesty fading away. The Greeks destroyed each other and at the same time destroyed themselves.

Athens not only had to fight against its Dorian enemies, it had to also fight against its own allies who revolted. These revolts were dealt with a very harsh manner, with the biggest atrocities committed on the islanders of Melos where all the adult males were sentenced to death, and the women and children were enslaved.

With the continuation of war against Sparta and its allies, Athens found it increasingly difficult to keep its allies under control and started losing them one by one. The reason that Athens lost the power of to control its allies is related to the loss of power of the Athenian fleet. After the catastrophic defeat of Athens in its Sicilian expedition, Athens had lost a large number of triremes to the Dorian Syracusians along with thousands of warriors. The state of affairs for Athens was hopelessly bad and the closing of the Lavrion mines in 413 B.C. left the city without a revenue supply.

The loss of many allies of Athens marked the downfall of the Athenian empire and after Sparta's military treaty with Persia, the survival of the city of Athens itself was in question.

The Persians financially helped the Spartans built a large fleet and it sailed off to meet the Athenians in a battle. The Peloponnesians met the Athenians at Aegospotami which was a bad position because it was an open beach without harbor. After a few days waiting, the Peloponnesian squadron found the Athenian fleet defenseless and captured it. With the capture of the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami by the Peloponnesians, the Athenian empire was transferred over to them. The city of Athens was blockaded and the people in it starved until they had no choice but to surrender.

Upon the surrender of Athens in 404 B.C., an assembly of the Peloponnesian allies was organized in order to decide what to do with their captured enemy. The general feeling was that no mercy should be shown. Most of the attendants at the assembly wanted to see Athens utterly destroyed and the whole people sold into slavery. However Sparta resolutely rejected the barbarous proposal of the confederacy because Athens was a Greek city which had done many noble services to Greece against the Persian invaders. Thus Athens was saved.

This post was researched and written by Noctoc

Orestes found not guilty at Chicago museum re-enactment trial

(Enet) - At the re-enactment of trial, held at the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago, Orestes, son of Agamemnon, of the cursed House of Atreus, was found guilty by two of the three judges presiding over the case, whose verdict, however, was not taken into account. The retrial of Orestes followed the tremendous success of the National Hellenic Museum’s restaging of the trial of Socrates, which took place early last year and featured the same all-star judicial team.

The Oresteia, by Aeschylus (525-456 BC), is a foundational literary work that examines the crucial place of law in society. Consisting of Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides, the trilogy constitutes a deeply affecting study of crime and punishment, probing such irresolvable and vexatious issues as the nature of justice, the frequent conflicts between love and duty, the torments of moral decision making, our obligations to the gods, society, and ourselves, and the spiritual consequences of irremediable actions. Above all, the Oresteia shows us the burdens of a culture based on the lex talionis—an eye for an eye—and the blessings of a jury trial in a court of law.

The court participants at the Orestes retrial included judges Richard A. Posner (presiding judge), Charles P. Kocoras and William J. Bauer.

Orestes was defended by Dan K. Webb (Winston & Strawn) and Robert A. Clifford (Clifford Law Offices).

Counsel for the prosecution was Patrick J. Fitzgerald (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom) and Patrick M. Collins (Perkins Coie).

The introductory remarks and the background story of the play was presented by Hariklia Karis of Kirkland & Ellis.

Serving on the jury were 16 distinguished Chicago citizens, among them J.P. Anderson, editor-in-chief, Michigan Avenue Magazine; Louis G. Apostol, executive director & general counsel, Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board; Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr., 27th ward, City of Chicago; John Corkery, dean, John Marshall Law School; Anna Davlantes, Chicago journalist; Dean R. Glassberg, regional president, First Midwest Bank; Angelo Kokkino, president of Ghafari Associates; Eleni Kouimelis, a partner in Winston & Strawn and president-elect of the Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois; Annie Kuhlman, American Bar Association; Anthony C. Kyriakopoulos, circuit judge, Circuit Court of Cook, County State of Illinois; Dan Mihalopoulos, Chicago Sun-Times; Dr Sara Monoson, professor of political science and classics, Northwestern University; Dr Robin Rhodes, archaeologist and historian of classical art and architecture, University of Notre Dame; A. Thomas Skallas, partner at Thompson Coburn and President of the Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois and vice-chairman of the National Hellenic Museum; Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times; and Larry Yellen, Anchor, Fox News.

Founded in 1983, the National Hellenic Museum is America’s only national institution to document and present the legacy of Greek Americans and their contributions to the American mosaic, while celebrating their Greek history and culture and the impact of their Hellenic heritage on the world.

The museum is located in a 3,700m2, three-story, eco-friendly building which is home to interactive exhibits, children’s education centre, research library, oral history centre, museum store, special events hall and rooftop terrace.

Eleftherotypia, EnetEnglish's parent publication, was a sponsor of the event.

Hey ... Psssttt ... Yeah You... Want the shortest path to the good life? Try cynicism!

Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio, 1509, showing Plato (left) and Aristotle (right) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are cynics and happiness mutually exclusive? For modern cynics, perhaps. But for the ancient Cynics, not necessarily. Research by the University of Cincinnati's Susan Prince shows that despite the historical perception of the ancient Cynics as harsh, street-corner prophets relentlessly condemning all passersby and decrying society's lack of virtue, these Greek philosophers, indirectly descended from Socratic teaching, weren't all doom and gloom. They actually might have espoused a shortcut to happiness.

     "We don't have good scholarship on the Cynics. They're seen as misanthropes and as sloppy and dirty people who want to cut down the elite," says Prince, UC assistant professor of classics, adding, "But there's a positive strand that needs to be recovered, and I'm really going to punch that hard with my research."

Much of Prince's work focuses on the individual believed to be the primary influence on the Cynic movement, Antisthenes.

Antisthenes was a pupil of Socrates and occasional rival of Plato. In fact, while history occasionally paints Plato as a philosopher of unequaled wisdom, UC's Prince says that through study of his texts, it's more plausible that he developed his ideas through tight intellectual debates with his contemporaries, and Antisthenes was among them.

ANCIENT CYNICS' RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS: AVOID AN EMPHASIS ON MATERIAL GOODS

Plato and Antisthenes shared many beliefs in common with all philosophers – rejection of wealth and luxury, and embracing the pursuit of wisdom and virtue. But Antisthenes' methods set him apart from Plato. Whereas Plato founded his Academy for philosophical teaching and lengthy study, Antisthenes advocated a short but rigorous path toward virtue and happiness.

Antisthenes' way was short in that he endorsed an abbreviated curriculum when compared to those of other schools of philosophy, which contended that the quick route was a road to nowhere. Antisthenes' teachings skipped over the technical aspects of logic in order to concentrate on ethical literature, such as reading Homer. And Antisthenes' way was rigorous in that it required a drastic attitude change. To follow the path of the Cynic was to abandon many societal conventions and to live in accord with nature – no more fancy clothes, no more exquisite feasts and even no more roof over your head.

ANCIENT CYNICS' LACK OF EMPHASIS ON MATERIAL GOODS LED TO MORE LEISURE TIME

Through this shortcut, Prince says Cynics were able to gain leisure time which could be put toward living the good life or what Antisthenes called "seeing the things worth seeing and hearing the things worth hearing." And that's how an ancient Cynic could exist in ethical bliss until the end of his days.

     "You get to your happiness quickly and then you practice your happiness for the rest of your life," Prince says.

In a modern context, there's some irony in the notion of a cynic devoted to the pursuit of happiness, and Prince hopes her research can clear the air on Antisthenes, et al. In addition to her paper for the Unisa conference, she has a 600-page manuscript on Antisthenes scheduled to be published through the University of Michigan Press in 2013 or 2014. She wants to show that the negative connotation associated with "cynic" might be historically inaccurate and to provide a little redemption for centuries of misjudgment.

     "I'm resisting the modern sense of 'cynic,'" Prince says. "That just hits the mission on the head: To recover the ancient Cynics and show that you can't just project straight backward. There's a whole history there that has led us to our modern sense of the term 'cynic,' and that comes from the negative tradition."

MORE BACKGROUND ON ANTISTHENES AND ANCIENT CYNICS

     "Plato didn't become great by himself," says UC's Prince. "Antisthenes was very important as one of the interlocutors who wasn't always Plato's enemy. Their relationship was more like a sibling rivalry."

Rivalry or not, when looking into history's rearview it seems as if Plato's shadow has grown larger than it appeared, diminishing the contributions of others. Peter van Minnen, head of the Department of Classics in UC's McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, thinks the Cynics have been under represented in the scope of Greek philosophers.

     "Susan's revised Greek text is explained in more detail than ever before," van Minnen says. "Once it is published, all classicists will turn to it for Antisthenes. The Cynics are kind of neglected but 'good to think with' so we don't take Plato and Aristotle as the only gospel in Greek philosophy."

Did Science historian crack the 'Plato Code'?

Cover of Plato

A science historian at The University of Manchester thinks he has cracked "The Plato Code" – the long disputed secret messages hidden in the great philosopher's writings. Plato was the Einstein of Greece's Golden Age and his work founded Western culture and science. Dr Jay Kennedy's findings are set to revolutionise the history of the origins of Western thought.

Dr Kennedy, whose findings are published in the leading US journal Apeiron, reveals that Plato used a regular pattern of symbols, inherited from the ancient followers of Pythagoras, to give his books a musical structure. A century earlier, Pythagoras had declared that the planets and stars made an inaudible music, a 'harmony of the spheres'. Plato imitated this hidden music in his books.

The hidden codes show that Plato anticipated the Scientific Revolution 2,000 years before Isaac Newton, discovering its most important idea – the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics. The decoded messages also open up a surprising way to unite science and religion. The awe and beauty we feel in nature, Plato says, shows that it is divine; discovering the scientific order of nature is getting closer to God. This could transform today's culture wars between science and religion.

     "Plato's books played a major role in founding Western culture but they are mysterious and end in riddles," Dr Kennedy, at Manchester's Faculty of Life Sciences explains. In antiquity, many of his followers said the books contained hidden layers of meaning and secret codes, but this was rejected by modern scholars. It is a long and exciting story, but basically I cracked the code. I have shown rigorously that the books do contain codes and symbols and that unraveling them reveals the hidden philosophy of Plato. This is a true discovery, not simply reinterpretation."

This will transform the early history of Western thought, and especially the histories of ancient science, mathematics, music, and philosophy.

Dr Kennedy spent five years studying Plato's writing and found that in his best-known work the Republic he placed clusters of words related to music after each twelfth of the text – at one-twelfth, two-twelfths, etc. This regular pattern represented the twelve notes of a Greek musical scale. Some notes were harmonic, others dissonant. At the locations of the harmonic notes he described sounds associated with love or laughter, while the locations of dissonant notes were marked with screeching sounds or war or death. This musical code was key to cracking Plato's entire symbolic system.

Dr Kennedy, a researcher in the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, says: "As we read his books, our emotions follow the ups and downs of a musical scale. Plato plays his readers like musical instruments."

However Plato did not design his secret patterns purely for pleasure – it was for his own safety. Plato's ideas were a dangerous threat to Greek religion. He said that mathematical laws and not the gods controlled the universe. Plato's own teacher had been executed for heresy. Secrecy was normal in ancient times, especially for esoteric and religious knowledge, but for Plato it was a matter of life and death. Encoding his ideas in secret patterns was the only way to be safe.

Plato led a dramatic and fascinating life. Born four centuries before Christ, when Sparta defeated plague-ravaged Athens, he wrote 30 books and founded the world's first university, called the Academy. He was a feminist, allowing women to study at the Academy, the first great defender of romantic love (as opposed to marriages arranged for political or financial reasons) and defended homosexuality in his books. In addition, he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery before being ransomed by friends.

Dr Kennedy explains:

     "Plato's importance cannot be overstated. He shifted humanity from a warrior society to a wisdom society. Today our heroes are Einstein and Shakespeare – and not knights in shining armour – because of him."

Over the years Dr Kennedy carefully peeled back layer after symbolic layer, sharing each step in lectures in Manchester and with experts in the UK and US.

He recalls: "There was no Rosetta Stone. To announce a result like this I needed rigorous, independent proofs based on crystal-clear evidence.

     "The result was amazing – it was like opening a tomb and finding new set of gospels written by Jesus Christ himself.

     "Plato is smiling. He sent us a time capsule."

Dr Kennedy's findings are not only surprising and important; they overthrow conventional wisdom on Plato. Modern historians have always denied that there were codes; now Dr Kennedy has proved otherwise.

He adds: "This is the beginning of something big. It will take a generation to work out the implications. All 2,000 pages contain undetected symbols."

Private London Collection Reveals Two Unknown Poems by Sappho

A second century CE Sappho papyrus showing the end of the 1st book of her poems (credit: Wikipedia)

According to British media, two poems attributed to the ancient Greek lyrical poet Sappho were discovered in a private collection in London. The reports in the media said that one of the poems appears to be hymn to the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite, while the other refers to Charaxos and Larichos.

The poems caught the attention of Oxford University papyrologist Dr. Dirk Obbink, who later confirmed their authenticity. He has apparently said that they appear to be related to extracts from poems that were written by Sappho. It was also announced that he would is going to publish a study on these poems this coming Spring in the German scientific journal Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik.

Charaxos and Larichos were two of Sappho’s brothers. In the poem with Charaxos, whose existence was disputed since he was never referenced in any of the previously discovered poems attributed to Sappho, the poet speaks of her brother’s escapades with a slave while migrating to Egypt without his nominal wife.

Sappho, who was born on Lesvos in 630 B.C., is perceived as being one of the most important lyrical poets of antiquity. Plato described her as “the tenth Muse”, while Anakreon had said that she “sang sweetly” and Horatio had stressed that even the dead in the underworld listen to her songs with wonder.

Ancient Greek Artists Used Palace Floors As Creative Canvas

IMAGE: This is a watercolor reconstruction of the Pylos Throne Room by Piet de Jong, Courtesy of the Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati.

The floors of Greek Bronze Age palaces were made of plaster that was often incised and painted with grids containing brightly colored patterns and/or marine animal figures.

In researching one such floor in the Throne Room at the Palace of Nestor, one of the best-preserved palaces of the Mycenaean civilization, University of Cincinnati Department of Classics doctoral student Emily Catherine Egan has found evidence that the floor's painted designs, dating back to between 1300-1200 BC, were meant to replicate a physical hybrid of cloth and stone – serving not only to impress but also to instruct the ancient viewer.

She will present her findings at the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, Jan. 2-5, in Chicago, one of a number of UC presentations at the conference. Her work at the Palace of Nestor builds on a long tradition in UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences since the remains of the site were first discovered in 1939 by UC archaeologist Carl Blegen.

According to Egan, "Mycenaean palatial floor paintings are typically believed to represent a single surface treatment – most often cut stone or pieced carpets. At Pylos, however, the range of represented patterns suggests that the floor in the great hall of the palace was deliberately designed to represent both of these materials simultaneously, creating a new, clever way to impress visitors while simultaneously instructing them on where to look and how to move within the space."

As part of her work with UC's Hora Apotheke Reorganization Project (HARP), Egan conducted research on the painted floor at the Palace of Nestor from 2012-13. She examined firsthand sections of the floor, as well as published and unpublished excavation documents and drawings.

During her research, Egan noted that some of the intricate motifs of the Throne Room floor recalled the mottled and veined patterns of painted stone masonry, while other elements mimicked patterns on depictions of textiles in wall paintings both from Crete and the Greek mainland.

She contended that the hybrid combination of these materials on the Throne Room floor (also evident in other paintings in the palace) was specifically designed to "supersede reality. It depicted something that could not exist in the real world, a floor made of both carpet and stone. As such, the painting would have communicated the immense, and potentially supernatural power of the reigning monarch, who seemingly had the ability to manipulate and transform his physical environment."

Egan also argued that the hybrid quality of the floor was intended to draw attention to one of its other notable features – a dramatic diagonal in the grid design, apparent upon standing at the doorway of the room. Past studies had posited that this introduction of a strong diagonal into the floor's otherwise regular grid pattern had been an uncorrected mistake.

However, Egan's firsthand examination of parts of the floor found evidence that small mistakes on individual painted tiles had been corrected by the ancient artists. Thus, she reasoned, "Since they corrected such small mistakes, it seems highly unlikely that those same artists would have left a major error, like mis-aligning a large portion of the room's floor, uncorrected. Instead, I believe that the diagonal was intentional – a way to draw both a visitor's eyes and his or her footsteps toward the throne positioned along the right-hand wall of the room. It was painting with a purpose."
               
In addition, Egan's study at the Palace of Nestor has uncovered the first evidence for the use of a drafting technique called an artist's grid to paint a floor. Until now, artists' grids have only been identified in Bronze Age wall paintings, almost all of them from Crete. (An artist's grid is just that, a faint grid laid down on a surface to be painted in order to subdivide that surface and aid in breaking down and accurately spacing a complex, repeating pattern or design.)

According to Egan, "A fragment of wall painting from Pylos shows evidence of the use of an artist's grid, and nine squares of the Throne Room's floor feature the same technique. As on walls, the floor grids were used to create a range of sophisticated, balanced designs – only this time on a horizontal rather than vertical canvas. This find is particularly exciting because it solves a longstanding riddle. When first excavated, these 'mini grids' were tentatively identified as functional elements of the room – marking out places for dignitaries to stand on occasions of state. My re-study of the grids, however, now shows that they were artists' tools, providing us with important new information about how the painted floor was designed and constructed."

Reflections on the Relgion of the Spartans

In the ancient world, Sparta was famous for its piety.  Individual Spartans could be granted leave even from a campaign to take part in a religious festival, and on two famous occasions recorded in Herodotus the entire Spartan army delayed deployment in an emergency because of the need to “honor the gods.” (The deployment to Marathon and Thermopylae).

But just what did “piety” or “honoring the gods” entail in Ancient Greece? I admit, I find it difficult to understand this concept of “honoring” fickle, unpredictable, immoral (as well as immortal) gods. And how could one ever please all the different gods of the Greek pantheon when they were so often at odds with one another?  In a polytheist world, honoring one god might offend another.

Yet in trying to understand Spartan society better, I discovered some very interesting aspects of Spartan religion.  First, Sparta’s patron was not, as I expected, Ares, but rather Athena.  On reflection, this made since Sparta was not, as modern commentators would like us to believe, a society obsessed exclusively with war, but a society which placed as high a value on training the intellect as the body. (See the excellent article by w. Lindsay Wheeler, “Doric Crete and Sparta, the home of Greek Philosophy,” in Sparta: Journal of Ancient Spartan and Greek History, Vol. 3, # 2). So giving pride of place to Athena was understandable.

Even more fascinating was to discover how multi-faceted Spartan religious beliefs were, and what an important place gods with positive connotations – Apollo, Asclepius, Helios and even Aphrodite – played in Spartan society. Nikolaos Kouloumpis in his article “The Worship and the role of Religion in the formation of the Spartan state,” (Sparta: Journal of Ancient Spartan and Greek History, Vol. 6, #1) lists cults to Asclepius, Achilles, Hercules, Alexandra/Cassandra, Agamemnon, Castor and Pollux/ Polydeukes and Helios. And, of course, Sparta’s most important festivals, the Karneia and Hyacinthia, were dedicated to Apollo.  Even the Gymnopaedia, arguably the most famous of Sparta’s annual festivals, was dedicated to Apollo and Artemis, Dionysus and Leto, while the more infamous than famous festival of Artemis Orthia was, as the name implied, dedicated entirely to Artemis.  However, the cult of Menelaus and Helen was only slightly less important, although we do not know how the Eleneia was celebrated.

Turning from festivals to sanctuaries, Pausanias, in his detailed guide to the “significant” sites of Sparta, records ten temples/shrines to Athena, six to Zeus, and five to Aphrodite.  The Devine Twins, Castor and Polydeukes, Apollo, Artemis, and Poseidon and Asklepios all have four temples each.  In contrast, there are only three temples out of more than 150 temples, sanctuaries and shrines mentioned by Pausanias that are dedicated to Ares. Two are notably located outside of Sparta proper, one in Amyclae and the other even farther away in Geronthrai.  The only temple to Ares in Sparta itself is one in which the God of War is shown in chains, according to Pausanias because “in Lakonia they think the god of war will never desert them if they keep him in chains; [just as] in Athens they believe Victory will stay with them forever because she has no wings.” (Pausanisus, Book III, 15:6).

While the large number of sanctuaries dedicated to Athena and Zeus hardly need an explanation given their power and prominence in the ancient Greek pantheon, it does seem odd that Aphrodite, Poseidon and Asklepios should receive comparatively more honors than the god of war in land-locked, warlike Sparta.  Poseidon might be explained in that he was also called the “Earth Shaker” and, given impact earthquakes had on Lacedaemon, the Earth Shaker was clearly a god to be appeased.  Notably one of Sparta’s temples to Poseidon is to the “Horse-Breeding” Posiedon, and so a reflection of Sparta’s interest and success in equestrian sports.

But why do Aphrodite and Asclepius place ahead of Ares in terms of the number of sites dedicated to them? One possible explanation would be the association of Aphrodite with Kythera, which was part of Lacedaemon for the better part of 500 years.  Allegedly, the worship of Aphrodite originated on Kythera, and conceivably the cult spread from there to the mainland of Lacedaemon.  However, it is notable that to date the only temple from the Classical period to have been identified on Kythera was dedicated not to Aphrodite but to Asclepius. (Again!)  Possibly the worship of the God of Healing also moved from Kythera to Sparta.  Alternatively, the need to treat battle injuries fostered a particular reverence for Asclepius. Such an interpretation and the fact that there appear to have been more temples to Asclepius than Ares suggests the Spartan’s trusted more to their own skills to win wars, than survive the aftermath.

In short, Sparta was filled with sanctuaries and temples to a great diversity of gods, demi-gods and heroes. By no means was Spartan worship narrowly focused upon the god of war, or even warrior heroes such as Achilles. Instead, the heroes Heracles, Castor and Polydeukes, whose greatest deeds were performed outside the context of war, receive more attention.  This plethora of religious/cult focus in turn suggests that Spartan society was far less narrow-minded and obsessed with things military than most modern commentators imply.

Yet the essence of Spartan piety and how the Spartans related to these various gods still eludes me.  The very diversity of god and demigods suggests, however, that there was no one Spartan religion or one Spartan way of worship.  On the contrary, I suspect that each Spartiate chose the god or gods he felt closest to and developed a highly individualistic and private relationship with these deities.  At the same time, Spartans publicly took part in the seasonal rituals celebrated by the city for each of the gods in turn -- just as many people do today.

spartareconsidered.blogspot.gr

UN General Assembly Proclaims Olympic Truce Period

2014 Winter Olympics (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly adopted an Olympic resolution that was drafted by Russia, the host country of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The idea of the resolution is to proclaim truce for the period of the Games.

Diplomats of all world nations paid tribute to tradition by voting at the United Nations for peace throughout the world. Truce is expected to be observed at least for the month while the 22nd Winter Olympics and the 11th Paralympics are under way in Sochi. The Head of the Sochi-2014 Organizing Committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, came to New York expressly to attend the voting on the resolution. It was he who submitted the Russian draft.

"Distinguished Mr. President, as the president of the organizing committee for 22 Olympic Games and the 11th Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, which will be held for the first time in Russia, I have the honor to introduce to the General Assembly a draft resolution entitled, 'Building a Peaceful and Better World Through Sports and the Olympic Ideal'. This draft resolution is mainly inspired by the ancient Greek tradition for more than 2000 years of calling for a truce during the Olympic Games, which ensured the safe passage of athletes to and from the site of the games," he said.

The voting at the United Nations is actually a combination of the ancient Olympic tradition and modern-day ways. The UN has adopted symbolic Olympic truce periods since 1993. Diplomats have since been voting once every two years on this kind of document. Although all of that is formal and non-binding, what matters is symbolism, said Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee.

"Precisely because many of our principles are the same, it must always be clear in the relationship between sport and politics that the role of sport is always to build bridges. It is never to build walls. Sport stands for dialogue and understanding, which transcend all differences. Sport and the Olympic movement especially understands the global diversity of cultures, societies and life designs as a source of richness. We never accuse or exclude anyone," he said.

The officials of the Russian Sochi-2014 Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee said at the United Nations that the forthcoming Games should serve to inspire people, and give an example of how differences could be peacefully reconciled.- Voice of Russia

The ULTIMATE BATTLE Of Wit - Plato Versus Aristotle

Ladies and Gentleman, It's The Throwdown Of The Ages. The One Size Fits All Battle Of Minds In Which Everyone Must Take A Side. We Have Seen Them Fight Over Theology, The Ideal State, The Nature of The Ideal And Just About Every Other Topic That Would Define Western Civilisation: The Individual Blows Of Their Fights Have Become The Paths Of Western Philosophy. Against These Two Men's Epic Ruckus, Aquinas's Entire Corpus Is Merely A Kick In The Balls Of Monism. Betrand Russell's Complete Works Become a Sneaky Punch In The Ribs.

In this specially arranged amphitheatre, modelled on Herod Atticus' patch up job on the one at the bottom of the Athenian Acropolis, these titans of though meet to sort it all out for all time.

In the red corner, carrying the weight of Abstract Ideals and a City State of Philosopher Kings on those broad shoulders, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's PLATO.

And in the blue corner, dragging along the categorisation of everything he could get his hands on, the late tutor to the Great Alexander: iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt's ARISTOTLE.

Plato saunters to the centre of the ring, nonchalant yet determined. He fixes his eyes upon his opponent and begins to speak, slowly and carefully.

"Why is it exactly that we are fighting?"

Aristotle looks at his feet. "In The Republic, you make the claim that the actor is a dangerous character. In your ideal society, a man who changes his roles at will upsets the balance of the state, in which everyone has their predetermined place. However, you do say that you'd be happy to hear a counter argument, since theatre remains pretty popular. I've got your answer."

Plato is nonplussed, but keeps his tone even. "It could be that," he drawls. "Or maybe Vile is messing about again, reluctant to actually do his essay."

"Interesting split infinitive there," Aristotle counters. "From the man who is acclaimed for his prose elegance."

"I split my infinitives far less than you split the entire Universe into categories."

"And it is just like you to get metaphysical about the battle, rather than look at the cold, hard material facts."

"Here's another characteristic of my thought." Plato chuckles. "I'll ask the questions. Why did you slip The Poetics onto the end of your Politics?"

"You started it. Your condemnation of theatre comes as part of a description of the perfect society. I am following your lead, and examining the social impact of theatre. Neither of us has a particular interest in pure aesthetics."

"Probably because the discipline doesn't turn up until Kant has a crack at it. His idea of the sublime - perhaps followed by Heideigger's interest in the uncanny - goes some way to account for the popularity of theatre that neither of us could acknowledge."

"You claim that the theatre has two weaknesses, two dangers. One is that it presents the gods as doing bad stuff, the other the problem of the actor's art. The first applies as much to Homer, Epic Poetry: you rememdy that by making up your own myths whenever you need them. That suggests a rather pragmatic attitude to religious narrative, especially for a philosopher who frequently invokes the divine."

"Neither of us had much time for the state religion. I was burned when they killed Socrates for 'corrupting the young' and encouraging belief in strange gods. You ended up running away from Athens to tutor a barbarian prince."

"Abstractions, again. Back to the fight. Where you argue that drama is a form of mimesis, an imitation, you make it bad by definition. Since you are already claiming that the physical universe is a mimesis of a pure form, an artistic copy is a further remove from the truth. I make a few strikes against that."

"So, the man who loves biology so much makes a stand for lies?"

"Not lies. Drama - and this goes for poetry in general - can use the myth to get away from the specifics of history, the detail, and look for more general patterns: the universal. A good play -  and I mean Sophocles' Oedipus Rex  - doesn't tell the history of a particular mother-loving monarch, but suggests how such a matter could play out."

"For most of us, contrary to a line in the play itself, sleeping with mummy isn't a concern. Are you making these mythological stories some kind of psychological drama?"

"I am not that interested in the content of the stories: it is more the structure that intrigues me. The way that Sophocles works through the process of revelation. That is universal."

"Let's hear about the complex plot, then."

"That's when two ingredients are added to the catastrophe - which every tragedy needs. The 'reversal of intention' (peripeteia) and the recognition (anagnorisis)."

"If we stick with Oedipus, I guess  the peripeteia is when Oedipus tries to get information about his past: he thinks it will clear his name, but it goes a little wrong... then he recognises who he is. That's why the play is so good: it is essential a horror story, and the climax is when the hero looks in the mirror, and realises that he was the villain all along."

"Precisely."

"And this is the best way of doing it? The protagonist - the hero - experiences reversal and recognition? Where does that fit into Medea?"

"Er... well, Theseus intends to reconcile with his ex-wife and it goes wrong?"

"He's the antagonist. What about The Oresteia?"

"It's a trilogy."

"Yet it has something at the end that fits your description.It resolves various plot threads in a coherent manner."

End of Round One. A victory on points to Plato.

vilearts

ANALYSIS - Plato and the Myth of Er

Plato explains that in the Myth of  Er, Er gives an account of his  experience in the afterlife. This story correlates to a complex  argument about the relationship  between free will and determinism (fate).

Er describes two openings  in the earth side by side, and two  corresponding openings in the sky above. A set of judges directs those souls who are deemed  moral towards one of the  openings in the sky, and those deemed to be immoral towards  one of the openings in the earth.

From each remaining opening  emerge either souls caked in  grime and dust (from the earth) or  clean souls (from the sky). These souls are returning from a long  journey and meeting again in this  middle place of judgment.

Following this is a journey to another place in which each soul  (having emerged from either opening) is given a choice by  Lady Lachesis, daughter of Necessity and who represents the  past, as to what kind of life they wish to lead next. Every kind of  human and animal life is offered, including every possible  combination of wealth, poverty, sickness, health etc.

Er goes onto explain that those who came out of the heavens  demonstrated a general trend to not make careful and considered decisions and thereby more often  than not chose non-virtuous lives. It is important to note that this is proposed as a trend and not as a law of nature. The souls who hurry their decisions may just as likely make a good choice rather than a bad choice.

Here a difference between moral behavior based on habituation and moral behavior based on philosophy becomes distinct.

Those souls who emerged from  the earth had a deeper  understanding of suffering and so were able to cope with difficult decisions and situations. A soul is  therefore conditioned by experience. However, there is an eternal regress argument here as it is the moral or immoral actions undertaken in life that determine  the judgment passed on that soul  in the afterlife, determining that  souls experience in the afterlife  and there-by the conditioning and  influence over future choices.

Here we can see that human choices can at once be  conditioned and free.

The presence of a sequence of  metaphysical causes is  expressed as a cycle of reincarnation. This cycle is eternal and so plays the role of having a broad influence over life. It could be described as a set of constraints.

In this system, our actions are our own free choice, but the consequences of those actions fit into a causal framework. This is not a strong view of free will as it seems that any individuals actions may at  once be free, and also a fated reaction to the actions of another  (spurred into being via a cause).

What is possible in the future remains indefinite and the truth or  falsity of a possibility relies on the consequence of the inclination of our free will (which is why a representative of both necessity and the past presides over  choice). Therefore there are an infinite number of possible futures.

The emphasis on choice in spite of habitation and conditioning tells that people are responsible for their lives, albeit  this is a weak view of freewill.

In other words, man is susceptible to  conditioning, though through  philosophical rigor may take full  moral responsibility for the life he leads.

greenskyatnight

Athena: The Goddess of Wisdom and War

 

Goddess Athena is a part of Greek Mythology. Athena was the Greek Goddess of War and the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. She was also known as the Goddess of Weaving and Metal Working. However, as the Goddess of War, her field of expertise was not violence and so on. That was the domain of Ares, God of War. Athena was the Goddess of the more disciplined aspect of War, such as Strategy.

The birth of Athena is a very interesting story. She is the daughter of Zeus (the ruler of the Gods in the Greek Pantheon) and Metis (the Goddess of Crafty Thought and Wisdom). It had been prophesized that if Metis had a son, he would be more powerful than the father. This meant that if Metis had a son from Zeus, then that son could overthrow Zeus. Frightened of this prospect, Zeus tricked Metis into transforming into a fly after he lay with her. As soon as she became a fly, he swallowed her. However, Metis was already pregnant and was making a helmet and an amour for the child within the fetis. The hammering caused such a headache for Zeus that he had to order Hermes to cut his head open and remove the source of the pain. As soon as his head was cut open, Athena jumped out, fully grown and clothed in the helmet and armour.

Athena’s appearance is always described as having grey eyes which were shining. She would always be accompanied by an owl. An owl is a symbol of wisdom and is a bird that has the capability of seeing in the dark. Often, Athena is also accompanied by the Goddess of Victory, Nike. Athena is always depicted wearing armour and a helmet.

Athena was always described as a virgin. There are no instances of her having any lovers. Hence, she was described as Athena Parthenos. Parthenos means virgin. The Greek temple called the Partheneon is dedicated to Athena.

There are many stories in Greek mythology, which describe the various good qualities of Athena. Some of them are given below.

How the city of Athens got its name is also a curious story. Apparently, both Poseidon (the sea god) and Athena competed to win the favour of the Greeks. So each of them gave a gift to the city people, who would then decide which was the best one. Poseidon thrust his trident into the ground and a spring gushed forth. Although the spring created a port in the city which would enable trade, the water of the spring was salty and not fit to drink. Athena, on the other hand, gave the city an Olive tree. The tree could be used for wood, the fruit for food and oil. The Greeks preferred the gift of the Olive tree, and hence the city was named ‘Athens’ after Athena the goddess of wisdom.

Athena is often referred to as Pallas Athena. There is a story behind that as well. Apparently, Pallas was her childhood friend and they would play with each other all the time. One day, accidentally, Athena injured Pallas and the injury caused her death. Since then, Athena took on the name of her friend, so that she would be remembered by her forever.

Another story tells us about Athena’s wisdom and hot-headedness and her talent with weaving. Apparently a lady called Arachne used to boast that she was the best weaver ever. Athena went and challenged her. A contest began. Athena wove a scene showing the contest between her and Poseidon over Athens. Arachne, in her vanity, wove a scene of Zeus in trouble with his many wives. Athena became furious and burned the tapestry down along with Arachne. Later on, she regretted it, and turned Arachne into a spider so that she would weave her beautiful designs forever.

There are also instances of Athena helping other people, in several stories from Greek Mythology. She helped Perseus in killing Medusa. She taught Heracles how to remove the skin of the Neaman Lion. She guided Odysseyus via his dreams on his long journey back home from Troy.

After Greece was conquered by Rome, Athena was incorporated with a similar goddess from Roman Mythology called Minerva.

mainstreettheblog

Can Philosophy Make Us Better Mathematicians?

Does mathematics consist of absolute truths, and are mathematical results always indisputable? Most people would probably respond yes without thinking twice, but the answer is actually also in part no. Mathematics can also be approached from a philosophical angle - and it is important to do so. Otherwise, we cannot ask the big, important questions in life, writes University of Southern Denmark-scientist in a new book.

The author is Jessica Carter, Associate Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at University of Southern Denmark. She teaches philosophy, and together with Tinne Hoff Kjeldsen from Roskilde University Center in Denmark she has written about the importance of learning some philosophy and history in order to become a competent and reflective mathematician.

The book is called "International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching" and it will be published by Springer Verlag in June 2013. The two authors have contributed with the chapter: "The Role of History and Philosophy in University Mathematics Education".

"Many believe that mathematics cannot be discussed. But it can - and it is important to do so. When discussing mathematics from a philosophical point of view, we stop learning equations and formulas by heart and start talking about all the different ways we can work with mathematics and the places it can take us."

According to Jessica Carter it is important to stamp out the long-lived myth that mathematics is indisputable.

     "There are many examples of matters within mathematics that can be discussed. I do not believe that the rigor of mathematics is up for discussion, but I think we should deal with the fact that it is changing and evolving as all other sciences."

A philosophical question, that can evoke many thoughts from a mathematician, is:

      "Has mathematics always existed, and do we know about it, because we have discovered it? Or has man created mathematics? "

The Greek philosopher Plato believed that mathematics is eternal, because concepts and ideas have their own existence. Opposite to this idea later philosophers believed that concepts and ideas cannot exist independently of man, and therefore mathematics is something that has been invented.

      "When I teach philosophy to our mathematics students and ask them to think about this question, my main point is not to give them an answer to the question. The aim is rather to teach the mathematics students to think philosophically about mathematics, to think critically, to ask questions, to analyze arguments and to assess assumptions. Mathematics is a subject which, like all other subjects has undergone development, and mathematicians, too, get smarter by thinking philosophically, reflecting and putting the subject into perspective."

Several centuries before Christ the Greek thinker Pythagoras believed that numbers were the basis of everything in the world. He explained the world from natural numbers and operated only with these and fractions (the ratio of natural numbers).

Pythagorean numbers were only positive integers, and this limited toolbox worked fine until one of his students discovered that the diagonal of a square with sides being integers could not be described only using integers. The problem was that the square root of 2 was not a rational number, but an irrational number. Immediately the problem was removed by throwing the presumptuous student in the sea, where he drowned - a radical, though not long-lasting solution. There was no getting around the fact that integers and fractions were not enough to describe the world. The mathematical way to solve the problem was to expand the concept of numbers and introduce irrational numbers. Negative numbers were also needed, but they came only later.

      "This story illustrates that mathematics is not fixed. Even mathematics has undergone an evolution, and it will continue to do so. Today's mathematicians are in the process of developing new mathematics, and mathematics students should be made aware of this, "says Jessica Carter.

Thucydides, the Origins Of The Greeks And Greece - MUST READ

The Peloponnesian War between the Athenian and Peloponnesian League, under the leadership of Sparta lasted, with some truces, since 431 BC to 404 BC and ended with the total defeat of the Athenians, ending the cultural "golden age." As you may know from our school years, the Greek historian Thucydides lived between 460-398 BC. and became world known for writing the classic History of the Peloponnesian War. In life's work recounts events that occurred during the civil war between Athens and Sparta; the Peloponnesian War lasted from 431 to 404 BC, a seven-year break "suspicious truce."

The preamble to the project read:

1. Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians. The syngrafin that was initiated at the outset of an explosion because proeiden that he will run counter large and more memorable than any previous war, and esymperaine so by the fact that both states katirchonto at him while they were at the edge of all kinds of military force of, and that he saw the other Greek prescribed either directly or intellectuals at least make the case to one or the other party. [1] Preamble (1-23).

This movement etaraxe toonti deeply to Greece, and part under barbaric and almost the whole world. The earlier events and the further past can not be identified clearly, due to the long passage of time. But presumptions, which, pusher my research so far distant past, judging reliably agomai to believe that there were not large, nor under polemikin or under another epopsin.

As to its origin, he says were Thracian, as father was Oloron, a name which also belonged to many kings of Thrace. The Oloron was the owner of gold mines in the coastal area opposite Thasos and therefore wealthy. Thucydides was born in Alimos had family ties with the Athenian political and general Miltiades and one of his sons, Cimon. During a campaign in the Crimean peninsula, Miltiades married Hegesipyle, daughter of Oloron, king of Thrace. The great historian received classical education and epireasike the great philosophical tradition of the Sophists, although it was rather aristocratic origin policy. The affinity and interaction with the circles of the aristocracy brought him into contact with people who shaped the history of the period for which he wrote. His character was said to be chilly, melancholic and pessimistic.

Alcibiades, politician with many skills and too ambitious, using as a pretext the war two Sicilian cities, Egesta and Selinus, convinced the ecclesia, despite the objections of Nicias, to organize a major expedition to Sicily under the guise of aid mission to Egestaious, friends of Athens. The Church appointed as leader of the expedition, three generals giving them full powers (generals emperors): Alcibiades, who was the initiator of the campaign, Nicias and Lamachos.

Thucydides was about 25-30 years old when he began the Peloponnesian War (431 BC). He fell ill during the plague that struck Athens between 430 and 427 BC and killed a quarter of its population between them and himself Pericles. In 424 BC elected general and assumed command of seven ships anchored in Thasos, probably because he had past dealings in the region. During the winter of 424/3 BC The Spartan general Brasidas hit Amphipolis, a coastal city of Macedonia to the west of Thassos, which was strategically important for the Delian League because of shipbuilding timber offered by the area and being close to the goldmines Pangee. The Athenian commander of the Macedonian city sought help from general Thucydides.

Brasidas, knowing that the forces of the Athenians was in Thassos because he feared would get reinforcements from the sea, rushed to offer favorable terms of delivery to the residents of Amphipolis and the latter accepted them. So when Thucydides arrived, the city was already under Spartan control. As was expected, the news of the loss of Amphipolis caused great political upheaval in Athens.

For his failure to save the city, Thucydides states:

     "It was also written to be exiled from my country for twenty years after the events of Amphipolis, and being present with both sides of the conflict and especially with the Peloponnesians by reason of my exile, I had time to watch the situations somewhat impartially."

With the status of the exile, with deep knowledge of local conditions, as evidenced in his work, the perceptive historian travels almost freely in theaters of war and have the opportunity to see the conflict from different sides. Probably traveled in Sicily during the Sicilian Expedition. According to Pausanias, someone Oinovios managed to pass a law allowing Thucydides to return from exile, probably shortly after the surrender of Athens and the war ended in 404 BC Pausanias also mentions that she was murdered on his return to Athens. Many dispute this version, considering that there are indications that he lived until 397 BC Whatever happened, certain is that although he lived after the war and the final defeat of Athens, did not live to complete his story. The narrative is interrupted somewhat abruptly in the middle of the year 411 BC, suggesting perhaps that died during the writing of the project. According to a tradition, the text was to end with an unfinished sentence. His remains were returned to the city of Pallas and buried in the family tomb of Cimon.

Migrations

Thucydides did not title his work, nor divorced in books. The division into eight books and the title Thucydides Histories writer due to the ancient grammarians. In the first book - after the preamble - follows the so-called archeology, which is a comparison between the Peloponnesian War and previous major events of Greek history:

     "This movement etaraxe toonti deeply to Greece, and part under barbaric and almost the whole world. The earlier events and the further past can not be identified clearly, due to the long passage of time. But presumptions, which, pusher my research so far distant past, judging reliably agomai to believe that there were not large, nor under polemikin or under another epopsin. "

Map of ancient Attica

According to him, Attica - because the terrain is meager and poor - it existed always free stops and for this reason it has always maintained the same residents. In contrast, efforotera above all apartments subject to perpetual variations of residents. As such areas indicate Thessaly, Boeotia, most of the Peloponnese, in addition to Arcadia and the rest of Greece the best parts:

     "Because it is obvious that the country is now called Hellas was not permanently inhabited outset, but were done in the past sychnai migrations and residents without much difficulty abandoning Tash dormitory, forcing thereunto by young noumerous individual settlers. Since neither the trade as taking place today, there was then, nor safe by land or sea transportation, and everyone exemetallefeto the ground, which was in the possession of, both only in irkei for his maintenance.
     Esorefan nor riches, nor the earth efytefan, both true since centuries facilities were not ochyromenai and therefore feared lest from moment to moment and other raiders made them remove everything they have. Because, moreover, believed that anywhere can ensure the necessary nourishment kathimerinin, emetanastefan not grudging and thereby were not strong, either by size of cities, nor at the polemikin general preparation. But efforotera above all apartments subject to perpetual variations of residents - as, for example, eparchies century, century opoiai now called Thessaly and Boeotia, and most of the Peloponnese, except Arcadia, and another from Greece's best places. "

The increase in wealth brought about conflicts and many fled to safer Athens, which over time became crowded and could not feed its population. Initially, the colonization of Ionia gave a solution to the problem:

     "Because the fertility of the land he brought increasing the power of certain persons which eprokalei civil strife, of which these apartments eftheironto both probably because they were more exposed to external aggression. Attica, in any event, because the terrain is meager and poor, it existed always free of stops and for this reason he kept always the same people. And here we have apodeixin of my claim that because of immigration, the other parts of Greece there were increased in a population such as Attica. Is stronger because of those, who, owing to external wars or internal attitudes exediokonto from another Greece, fled to Athens Tash as in locally safe, and politografoumenoi, made the polis, straight from very old times, even more crowded, so that because Attica proved inadequate for the population of the city, the Athenians sent a colony to Ionia.

The name of Greece

According to ancient Greek mythology, Hellen was the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha and had three sons, Aeolus Doros and Xanthus. Aeolus and Dorus together with his sons Xanthus, the Achaean and Jonah were the founders of the four major Greek tribes were the Achaeans, Dorians, Aeolians and Ionians. The name Greeks in Homeric times did not correspond only to a Greek tribe that inhabited the area around the river in today Spercheus Fthiotida (ancient Phthia), which was the leader of the mythical hero Achilles, head of the famous Mirmithones:

     "The 't they had been Fthiin hd' Greece kalligynaika. > / Kalefnto not Myrmidons and Hellenes and Achaeans "(Iliad II 683-4)

The Greeks in Homer's work also referred to as Achaeans Panachaiko, Danaans, Argives and Panhellenic:

     "Encheii d ekekasto / Ajax the ruler of Locris / Panhellenic and Achaia" (Iliad II 530).
According to Aristotle, Greece was initially named area near Dodona. The etymology of the word Gentile has caused various discussions. The most popular version is that the word comes from the Selli (Until the Trojan War, Greece did not attempt anything in common:
     "The inability, after all, the old times it seems to me that demonstrates the fact above all that, before the Trojan War is nothing epecheirisen jointly by Greece. I suggested that this name had not yet dothi crushes him the place, not even existed before the Greeks, son of Deucalion, but different genders, and to a greater stretching the Pelasgian, the latter placed his name in the goods which they inhabited apartments. But from that time like the Greeks and his sons proved powerful in Fthiotida, and was calling the help of the residents of other cities, the various tribes as a result of this communication, were called already for rather more Greeks, although much time went before the name of this imporesi prevail generally. Better apodeixin provides Homer. Because, although he lived much later and more from the Trojan War, nowhere they called with this name everyone, nor other than those they followed Achilles on Fthiotida, who were also the first Greeks, but calls them in his poems generally Danae and Argives and Achaeans. "

Homer does not make a distinction between Greeks and barbarians:

     "Neither barbarians, moreover, mentions for the word, as I think, that neither the Greeks were still distinguished by common name otherwise."

Certainly the various Greek tribes, on whose name the Greeks, that community of language, exiploneto successively from one periphery to another, until it was extended subsequently in total, did not do kammian koinin enterprise before the Trojan War, due to weakness and lack mutual communication. Besides, the ekstrateian even against Troy then only tried together, when they had already acquired considerable empeirian the sea.

Thucydides (ca. 460 -398 BC) was an ancient Greek general and historian, world renowned for writing The History of the Peloponnesian War. This is a classic historical work, the first of its kind that tells the events of the war between Athens and Sparta

Greek and Greece

Dictionary of Mpampiniotis refers and type Ellopos, identified inhabitants of Dodona and northern Evia. Aristotle defines Dodona as original homeland of the Greeks. From a morphological point of view it is understood that Greeks and Greece are derivatives of noun Elloi - Elloi - Selli, as these types are found in Homer and Pindar. The Christian Hesychius interprets as follows: Elloi; Greeks in Dodona and priests. " All these language types are unknown etymou and importance when Mr. Mpampiniotis. [3]

As already mentioned, in Homer the word is restricted locally in the Thessalians Fthia, while the use of later authorities. adj. Ellanodikai increased its prestige due to the importance of the Olympic Games. Thucydides explains the geographical extension of the term from the Greek mythological Greek hero, who traveled often and acted in other cities. The ancient historian Herodotus believes that the term "Greeks used to emphasize the common origin of the various breeds of Greek space. [3]

The exclusion of the mythic from the history I might make it less terpnin as Akroama, I will be not sufficient, however, if my work is perceived as beneficial who want to have accurate perception on events, you have already taken place, and those which in the anthropinin nature may hereafter occur approximately similar. Thucydides [2]

The "Gender of the Greeks'

Unrest in Greece revives an ancient name of the Greeks, the Greeks name, used even before the Greeks established the word. An inscription of the 4th century. read: '"Greeks onomasthisan the previously called Greeks." Aristotle (Meteorology 1352 a) writes: "okounn [techniques, etc in Dodona in Epirus] the Selloi (the so Ellous] and then called true Greeks, now not Greeks. "Information of Aristotle and the general tradition of antiquity are that both the Greeks and Greek names and the area the initial installation of the Greeks placed in the region of Epirus around Dodona and the current Ioannina.

The south side of the Parthenon, Athens

In Alexandrian times, the name Greeks encountered but less parallel to the Greeks. In Byzantium alongside the Romans used to a limited extent, and the Greeks, hiring the particular significance "Greek Orthodox" as opposed to the Greek (= pagans, polytheists) and Latinos (= Western Christians / Catholics). In the 15th century (at the Council of Florence) refer 'meeting Latinos TE and Greeks. " The keen antiquarian Adamantios Korais before the revolution and other writers and fighters (King, Christopoulos and others) talk about the "Gender of the Greeks" and anaskolopistheis Athanasios Diakos - refusing to join the Ottoman army ... - Turks answered proudly: "I Grekos born, Graikos each to die. " With the establishment of the new Greek state, the name Greeks replaced by the Greeks. The Greeks, either as residents (later) the Graeae in Euboea and Evian Kimi colony in southern Italy either directly (older) from the region of Epirus, became known to the Italians, who were named Graeci, they are alien names of the Greeks as Greek (GATE), Grec (gall.), Grieche (germ.). However, foreigners use for the Hellas Hellas, as an official name of Greece to the European Union, alongside the names of Greece (GATE), Grece (gall.) and Griechenland German.

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