The Nine Muses

February 28, 2019 George Kokkos Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered where does the word ‘museum’ come from? No? Ok… I’ll tell you anyway: It’s connected with the Muses! The Nine Muses were deities who ruled over the arts and sciences and gave humans the necessary inspiration for creation.

According to Hesiod, Zeus slept with the young and beautiful Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne (the Greek word for ‘memory’) held a special importance in ancient times, when there were still no written records and manuscripts, so poets had to carry their work in their memory.

The offspring of the love affair between Zeus and Mnemosyne? The Nine Muses. God Apollo took them under his protection and when the Muses grew up they showed their tendency to the Arts. An epithet of Apollo was ‘Mousagetes’, meaning ‘leading the Muses’ and those young deities soon decided to dedicate their lives to the Arts:

1. Calliope : Epic poetry
2. Clio : History
3. Euterpe : Lyric poetry and flutes
4. Erato : Love poems
5. Melpomene : Tragedy
6. Polyhymnia : Sacred hymns
7. Terpsichore : Dance
8. Thalia : Comedy and pastoral poetry
9. Urania : Astronomy

Ancient writers, as early as Homer, appeal to the Muses at the beginning of their work. Homer appeals to the Muses both in the Iliad and Odyssey and until today, the Muses are symbols of inspiration and artistic creation. In the Ancient Graeco-Roman world, authors, statesmen, artists, philosophers they all believed they were successful because one or more of the nine Muses were guiding them.

Every learning institute with respect for itself had an altar to honor the Muses. The Ptolemies in Egypt dedicated the famous Library of Alexandria to the Muses. The word “museum” literally means a shrine dedicated to the Muses and you must have guessed by now the origins of the word “music”, too.
In modern times we tend to call someone who inspires an artist “a muse”!

9 Muses — The famous ‘Dance of Apollo and the Muses’ by the Italian architect and painter, Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi.

Religion

What makes us moral? (The Euthyphro Dilemma)

January 31, 2019 George Kokkos Leave a comment

In a lesser known book of Plato, we find Socrates in the Athenian Agora coming across Euthypro – a soothsayer he knew well – and the two men engage in a short conversation just outside the Royal Stoa. After sharing their news, the two men engage in an argument about morality.

Their conversation ended abruptly after Euthyphro felt a bit cornered and found an excuse to leave Socrates with the promise to finish their discussion some other time. Well… Can you blame him? It’s not just that Socrates wouldn’t let go easily… It’s also that the challenge Euthyphro was facing was a difficult one and remains so up until today.

Socrates asks Euthyphro whether something is moral because God commands it, or does God command it because it is moral? This simple question of Socrates has exercised tremendous influence in the history and study of morality.

The Royal Stoa was where the King Archon had his office. He was the official responsible (among others) for religious matters

The Euthyphro dilemma is technically an argument against the divine command theory, aimed at disproving God’s existence by raising an issue of morality. This isn’t of course explicitly declared by Socrates but I’m sure people like Epicurus would smile and nod when reading this part of the book. On the other hand, some religious people reject it as a ‘false dichotomy’ (google that) but this is actually up until today a persisting problem which also applies to meta-ethics.

Relax… We’re not going to embark on this now. I’m going to focus on an interesting detail that is somewhat irrelevant: the place that this conversation took place. Would you believe that we can pinpoint today the spot that Socrates was hanging out when he met Euthyphro?

Remains of the Royal Stoa today, outlined with red

Let’s see how the dialogue starts…

Euthyphro: Why have you left the Lyceum, Socrates? and what are you doing in the Royal Stoa? Surely you cannot be concerned in a suit before the King Archon, like myself?

Socrates: Not in a suit, Euthyphro; impeachment is the word which the Athenians use.

Euthyphro: What! I suppose that someone has been prosecuting you, for I cannot believe that you are the prosecutor of another.

Socrates: Certainly not.

Euthyphro: Then someone else has been prosecuting you?

Socrates: Yes.

Euthyphro: And who is he?

Socrates: A young man who is little known, Euthyphro; and I hardly know him: his name is Meletus, and he is of the deme of Pitthis. Perhaps you may remember his appearance; he has a beak, and long straight hair, and a beard which is ill grown.

Euthyphro: No, I do not remember him, Socrates. But what is the charge which he brings against you?

……………..

The conversation goes on. So, as we read, this dialogue takes place just outside the ‘Royal Stoa’ (Basileios Stoa). Guess what. -This stoa was excavated by American archaeologists and the traces of the building are there today! The first steps of the stoa have been unearthed.

Few passers-by today notice that quiet corner next to the busy Adrianou street but -unknowingly- countless people have had their drinks next to those same steps that Socrates was sitting, waiting for his turn outside the Royal Stoa.

The Acropolis overlooking the remains of the Royal Stoa

Mythology

The Flight of Icarus

December 31, 2018 George Kokkos Leave a comment

Stories told in Greek Mythology are just that: stories. They’re not parables. You can read it or hear it and then you draw your own conclusions. Maybe even change your mind later. You may conclude that the moral of a myth applies well to your own concerns but this may not be the case for someone else. The reader / listener is never presented with a ‘moral lesson’ at the end. The story ends. Period. You understand and see the myth through your own eyes.

The story of Daedalus and Icarus is still super-famous because they were the first humans that managed to fly! Not by using magic or through the grace of God. They did it through their human ingenuity.

Pre-WW2 stamp issued to fund the Greek Air Force

Icarus is considered to be even more famous than his father today, even though it was Icarus that perished. This seems a bit odd… Well, people since the ancient times, interpreted Icarus’ death as caused entirely by his own hubris.

For most people the moral of this story can be summarized in just 3 words:

Obey the rules.

That’s it. Simple. If you don’t, this will lead to your demise.

The vast majority of people from Plutarch to the latest YouTube creator believe that the story of Icarus teaches us one or all of the following:

Listen to your parents or you will fail
Respect the Gods or you will be punished
Restrain yourself or you will perish
Hear the warnings or you will die

At first glance, this meaning seems to make sense.

Some others believe that’s just the surface of the myth.

Delving deeper, I see Icarus as a symbol for people of action… Adventurers dare, they impulsively rush into the unknown. They go further and higher where everybody else thinks is foolish to do so. That is the spirit of great explorers.

Imagine if James Cook said… “Nah… I’d rather not do this. Sailing into the unknown is not such a good idea.” It wasn’t. But he sailed anyway! Roald Amundsen could have said “On second thoughts the Antarctic is way too cold. Humans can’t live there anyway, so screw this… I’m stayin’ home” Well guess what: he didn’t.

It’s this characteristic that only a tiny percentage of the population possesses. Not to heed warnings of danger and to follow temptation, even if you know that you may perish. To chase dreams and achieve the impossible. Yes, we can learn by the mistake of Icarus and at the same time be inspired by his daring legendary flight.

Aesthetics, History

Athens’ Royal Gardens

November 30, 2018 George Kokkos Leave a comment

Did you know that most ornamental plants of the National Gardens come from Genova, Italy?

When King Ludwig of Bavaria came to Athens to visit his son (King Otto), he was surprised by the complete lack of green areas in the little town of Athens!
Queen Amalia, consort of King Otto, worked tirelessly to lay out and complete the Royal Gardens. With the help of the great Bavarian architect Friedrich von Gartner, the gardens start to take shape. The aim was to find plants that could flourish on the ancient, relatively dry soil of Attica.

In autumn 1839, the Greek sail ship ‘Phoenix’ sailed from the port of Genova, heading straight to the port of Peiraeus. The ship carried 15,000 ornamental plants!

Thousands of flowers, trees and seedlings from Genovese gardens were brought to Athens and the Bavarian gardener Schmarat, with the help of the Prussian gardener Friedrich Schmidt, gathered more local plants and flowers from the south part of Attica (Sounion). Their vision was to create the most beautiful gardens at the south of Europe.

Queen Amalia planted herself seeds of palm trees that in 1842 she brought from the United States (a genus of palms native to the southwestern US). Most of them still stand tall today!

King Otto
Queen Amalia

History, Philosophy, Rome

Cicero’s end: why did he just ‘let go’?

October 30, 2018 George Kokkos Leave a comment

HOW EMOTIONS CAN DECIDE THE COURSE OF HISTORICAL EVENTS

The inglorious end of Cicero had always been a stain in the pages of Roman political history. He met his end out in the Italian countryside (near modern-day Gaeta), slaughtered by Roman sword. Marc Antony saw the return of the proscription as an opportunity to eliminate his most powerful enemy. In the end, he had Cicero’s hands cut off and nailed on the rostra (the speakers’ platform) at the Forum. A symbolic but utterly barbaric act. Such was the end of the last honest defender of the Roman Republic and her democratic principles.

Escape or surrender?

The tragic events of that winter of 43 BC have been discussed quite thoroughly over the centuries. But there’s one detail that is overlooked:

-Oddly enough, most scholars ignore the fact that Cicero had the option to escape but in the end he didn’t. He could actually have saved himself by resisting arrest. Still, it was his decision to stay, even though he was in the act of fleeing! He offered himself to be put to death. -Why?

This appears to have been a spur-of-the-moment decision… Cicero knew that Antony was coming after him and he planned his escape beforehand. So it’s easy to understand that his aim was to continue his political struggle, defending the Republic.

Part of the Roman Forum. On the right of the Arch of Septimus Severus, is where the Rostra was located.

Sadness and grief

What made him change his mind and decided to give up after he was tracked? The most obvious answer is that he felt (for different reasons) so disappointed that he decided to give up. His bad psychological state can only be explained if we take into account an -otherwise neglected detail of Roman history of the period: the unexpected death of Cicero’s daughter, Tullia. Just a year earlier, in the winter of 47–46 B.C.E. he went through a painful divorce with his wife, Terentia. He re-married but his new wife was pathologically jealous of Tullia, a reality that saddened Cicero even more. The loss of his daughter in the following summer, was an event too tragic for him to cope with.

He was so grief-stricken that he couldn’t find comfort in anything. His two most favorite things in the world- books and friends- failed to provide him with any consolation. He tried very hard. His friends were worried. They tried to help as best as they could. Cicero threw himself into a sea of philosophy and books. Yet, nothing could ease the pain in his heart. His childhood friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus, tried to comfort him the best he could by inviting Cicero to his estate that included a huge library. All was in vain. Cicero declared, “my sorrow defeats all consolation”.

Cicero - Palace of Justice, Rome — Cicero – Palace of Justice, Rome

A moment’s decision?

The loss of his only daughter, his dear Tulliola as he liked to call her, made him care less and less about all the other things that he was passionate in the past. It’s easy to understand why he decided to finally give up. His whole perception of life had changed. For him, it made no sense to resist being arrested and to survive. ‘What’s the point?’ he must have asked himself when Antony’s executioner found him. His life had little purpose now, that’s why he ordered his servants not to resist and he let himself to be put to death.

His life had recently lost all meaning. How do we know? Cicero himself tells us in one simple phrase. He wrote to Atticus: “I have lost the one thing that bound me to life”.

Maybe this explains everything.

G. Kokkos

Religion

The Olympian Gods

September 30, 2018 George Kokkos Leave a comment

This month: let’s Meet The Gods !

ZEUS – Father of Gods and Men, ruler of the universe. He was the supreme cultural embodiment of Graeco-Roman religious beliefs. Symbols : thunderbolt, eagle, oak tree, lion, scepter, scales.

HERA – Hera was the queen of all the gods; also the goddess of marriage. She was Zeus’ sister but also his wife. Some symbols : the peacock, cuckoo, and cow

POSEIDON – God of the seas, water, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes and horses. He was moody, restless and powerful.. Symbols : the horse, bull, dolphin, and -of course- trident

DEMETER – Demeter was super-important to humans as she was goddess of the harvest, fertility, agriculture, nature and the seasons. Symbols : the poppy, wheat, torch, cornucopia, and pig.

ARES – God of war and violence but also god of manly virtues. Favorite god to the Spartans and the Romans, he was tall, good-looking, mean and self-centered. Symbols: the boar, serpent, dog, vulture, spear, and shield.

GODS OF mt OLYMPUS — All Gods of mt.Olympus

ATHENA – Athena was famous for representing wisdom, knowledge, reason, intelligent activity, literature, handicrafts, science, strategy and defense. Symbols: the owl, olive tree, aegis, snake, shield

APOLLO – God of light, the sun, prophecy, philosophy, truth, inspiration, poetry, music, arts, medicine, healing but also plague. Some symbols: the sun, lyre, swan, mouse, bow & arrows

ARTEMIS – Goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, virginity, the moon, archery and childbirth. She was both huntress and protectress of the living world. Some symbols: the moon, horse, deer, hound, she-bear, snake, cypress tree, bow & arrows

HERMES – The messenger of the gods. Also protector of commerce, patron of travelers (and thieves!) and god of eloquence and diplomacy. Symbols: the caduceus (staff entwined with two snakes), winged sandals and cap, stork, and tortoise (whose shell he used to invent the lyre)

APHRODITE – Goddess of love, pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility, beauty and desire. She had a son named Eros (known as Cupid in Latin. Symbols: the dove, bird, apple, bee, swan, myrtle, and rose

HEPHAESTUS – Master blacksmith and craftsman of the gods; god of the forge, craftsmanship, invention, fire and volcanoes Some symbols: fire, hammer & anvil, axe, donkey, tongs, quail

DIONYSUS (aka BACCHUS) – God of wine. The youngest of the Olympians, he was patron god of the art of theater! He was also god of fertility, festivity, humor, ecstasy, madness and resurrection Symbols: the grapevine, ivy, cup, tiger, panther, leopard, dolphin, goat, and pinecone

HESTIA – Hestia was a gentle goddess, with an important job of her own. She was the goddess of hearth , home, fire and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family. Some symbols: hearth, flame, fire, kettle, donkey, pig

HADES (aka PLUTO) – Brother of Zeus and Poseidon, Hades ruled the Underworld, with which he was sometimes synonymous. Some symbols: a golden chariot (Helios being the previous owner), the three-headed guard dog, Cerberus.

Academy side — Demeter (detail at the Academy of Athens)

Seat of a priestess (Theater of Dionysus, Athens)

History

Parian Marble

August 31, 2018 George Kokkos Leave a comment

The Parian Chronicle is a chronology of events, inscribed on a marble stele, covering more than 12 centuries of Ancient Greek history. Focusing a lot on events linked with the city-state of Athens, this chronicle presents us with a timeline from the year 1582 BC to 299 BC.

It’s a unique timeline that, surprisingly enough, few scholars are familiar with. Most people don’t even know that a chronicle like that exists! Let’s see a few important events we all know:

1581 BC : Cecrops becomes king of Athens

The name of the city isn’t yet ‘Athens’ but instead ‘Cecropia’, named after king Cecrops. This obviously provides us with a ‘terminus post quem’ when it comes to the famous story of the contest of Poseidon and Athena! Note that this rivarly between the two gods, as they vied for control of the city of Cecrops and its surrounding territory, Attica, is NOT mentioned in the Parian Marble.

1528 BC : Great flood of Deucalion

There are, literally, dozens of cataclysms recorded by different civilizations all over the globe. A cataclysm is seen by different cultures as an act of divine retribution, sent by God or some other deity to destroy civilization and initiate a rebirth of a new, ‘improved’ breed of humans. The most famous of those flood myths (or deluge myths as they’re also known) is Noah’s Flood as narrated in the Bible, which can be placed about a thousand years earlier than Deucalion’s Flood.

1520 BC : Greeks renamed as ‘Hellenes’.

Hellen (Deucalion’s son) becomes king of Phthiotis. His kingdom is situated in the heart of the Greek peninsula. His people are now named after him, changing from ‘Greeks’ to ‘Hellenes’, giving their name to most other neighboring populations. The Romans however continue to use the ancient name (Graikos) instead of the later ‘Hellen’. Thanks to the Romans, the name ‘Greek’ is used up until today… but only in the western world.

1294 BC : King Minos rules in Crete. King Aegeas rules in Athens

1259 BC : Theseus assumes the throne of Athens

The young hero immediately introduces a constitution and sets the foundations for Democracy. It was obviously on that same year that his father, old king Aegeus, tragically perished.

1256 BC : The Amazons invade Athens!

Theseus at the last moment, manages to stop the Amazons at the Hill of the Muses and defeats them.

1218 BC : War of Troy starts

1209 BC : Troy is conquered

Section of the Parian Marble (3rd c. BC) — Paros, Archaeological Museum

907 BC : Homer appears

895 BC : Aegina mints silver coins.

From this date on, we have sound archaeological and historical evidence and we can be almost certain about the events recorded on the Parian Marble.
From this year on, all dates, events and names of people are spot on! It’s very tempting to assume that all previous dates and events are correct too. I wish…

George kokkos