Mycenae

In the second millennium BC, Mycenae was one of the major centers of Greek civilisation.  It dominated much of southern Greece, the Cycladitic islands, Crete and the western Anatolia.  At its peak in 1350 BC, the Citadel and the lower town had a population of 30,000.

With 3 of my children in front of the famous Lion Gate. 

Francesco Grimani in 1700 identified the ruins of Mycenae based on Pausanias' description.

Mycenae's Acropolis and surrounding countryside.  The German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) excavated Mycenae and nearby Tiryns.  Schliemann is considered as the modern discoverer of prehistoric or Bronze Age Greece. 

Grave circle, in the cemetery, inside Mycenae's citadel.

Wild cyclamens growing in the sun-parched fields of Mycenae's palace.

Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, conducted the 10 year war against Troy, to get beautiful Helen back to his brother Menelaus.  Legend tells us that the long and arduous war divided mortals and gods alike, and contributed to curses and vengeance that followed many of the Greek heroes.  After the war Agamemnon returned to Mycenae and although he was greeted warmly by his subjects, he was slayed by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegistheus.

 The heroes of the Trojan war inspired many writers in antiquity, Homer being the pre-eminent of all, as well as many poets in recent times among whom the American poet Louise Gluck who won the 2020 Nobel price for Literature.  Her emblematic poem on Achilles and her work according to Anders Olsson, Chairman of Nobel Committee,  is "deceptively natural, candid and uncompromising, with no trace of a poetic ornament".

The Triumph of Achilles

In the story of Patroclus

no one survives, not even Achilles

who was near god.

Patroclus resembled him; the wore

the same armor.

Always in these friendships

one serves the other, one less than the other;

the hierarchy

is always apparent, though the legends 

cannot be trusted

their source is the survivor,

the one who has been abandoned.

What were the Greek ships on fire

compared to this loss?

In his tent, Achilles

grieved with his whole being

and the gods saw

he was a man already dead, a victim

of the part that loved,

the part that was mortal.

Achilles tending Patroclus, identified in inscriptions on a vase.  Attic red-figure kylix, ca 500 BC

Achilles Island

The dying Achilles (Αχιλλεας θνησκων), a marble statue in the grounds of Achillion Palace, in the island of Kerkyra, raises the question to where Achilles the bravest of all Greeks was buried after he was killed in the Trojan War.  

In this Attic lekythos c. 510 BC we see Ajax carrying the body of Achilles.  It is exhibited at Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich. 

Although there are many sites claiming to be Achilles’ tomb, we have a credible story by Captain Kritzikly, who in 1824 visited the island of Leuke and discovered the ruins of a temple in which a wooden statue of Achilles was found.  Captain Kritzikly drew a map of the temple and described his findings in detail. 

In 1840s the island was visited again.  Unfortunately a lighthouse was built in the same spot and resulted in the complete destruction of the temple and the surrounding structures. (Image from Wikiwands)

The experts agree that there were many temples dedicated to Achilles on Leuke in the 6^th century BC.  Did the construction many temples on Leuke meant to honor Achilles or was it because he was buried in one of them?  Nobody knows as Achilles and Ajax likely were buried near Troy as Nestor tells Telemachus “so many battles round King Pram’s walls we fought, so many gone, our bravest and best fell.  There Ajax lies, there Achilles too, the greatest man of war. (Homer’s Odyssey Book Three 119-122), and this is why the “seabirds dip their wings in the water to sweep the temples clean”.  

Dawn of a New Day and a New Year

The games were over now. The gathered armies scattered,
each man to his fast ship, and fighters turned their minds
to thoughts of food and the sweet warm grip of sleep.

But Achilles kept on grieving for his friend,
the memory burning on . . .
and all-subduing sleep could not take him,
not now, he turned and twisted, side to side,
he longed for Patroclus' manhood, his gallant heart.

What rough campaigns they'd fought to an end together,
what hardships they had suffered, cleaving their way
through wars of men and pounding waves at sea.

The memories flooded over him, live tears flowing,
and now he'd lie on his side, now flat on his back,
now facedown again. At last he'd leap to his feet,
wander in anguish, aimless along the surf, 

until dawn appeared with her rosy finger flaming over the sea and shore 

would find him pacing.

 from Homer’s Iliad Book XXIV 

Parker Solar Probe acquired the first ever photo taken from inside the sun’s corona. The bright streak is a coronal streamer. Up to now, all photos of the sun have been taken from a great distance, either from ground or from telescopes in space given the sun’s extreme heat. The sun is a magnificent, hot, glowing ball of gas with its enormous hot plasma and bright coronal streamers streaking out into the surrounding blackness that matches Homer’s magnificent descriptions of sun’s rays at Dawn in both the Iliad and Odyssey. 

Today, at the dawn of the New Year, my favorite description of Dawn by Homer is… Dawn appeared with her rosy fingers.  I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Symi

Symi or Simi (Greek: Σύμη) is an island that belongs to the Dodecanese group of islands.  Its population is now 2,500 inhabitants down from 25,000 at the end of the 19th century.     

The history of the island begins in the ancient times. According to Greek mythology Syme was a water nymph that fell in love with Poseidon. Eros gave them pathos and the two had a son.  Syme’s son name was Chthonios and it was he who named the island after his mother when he became its king. In historic times the island is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad as its king Nireus send three boats and he and his men fought on the Greek side in the Trojan War.  

Archaeological evidence indicates Symi was continuously inhabited, and was part of the Roman and Byzantine Empires until its conquest by the Knights of Rhodes in 1373. The conquest of Symi fueled the Knights' interest in Byzantine war technology such as the Greek fire, and ship construction.  It was such knowledge that launched a period of several centuries of prosperity for the island.  In 1522, Symi was conquered by the Ottomans who allowed it to retain many of its privileges. Symi along with the rest of the Dodecanese changed hands several times until 1948 when it became part of Greece.    

Symi attained the height of its prosperity in the mid 19th century, primarily from shipbuilding and maritime commerce.  The similarities between the boats in antiquity such as that used by Greek Queen Kleopatra, the last of the Pharaohs, and those of yesteryear are amazing.  The name of modern wooden skiffs is sandala from the Greek word for sandals. 

The colorful neoclassical mansions covering the slopes near the main city date from late 1800s and early 1900s resulting from the prosperity the sea trade created.  Symi’s narrow streets, steps and houses are painted in vivid colors inspired from the sea and the sky and are reminiscent of the art deco style seen in Florida. 

Simi was also known for sponge fishing a trade that has moved to Florida when many of its inhabitants immigrated to Tarpon Springs after WWII.  Those hardy individuals who brought their knowledge, their stamina and desire to make an honest living also brought information on how to built traditional wooden boats called trachantiras or trochantiras in Byzantine Greek meaning curved bow or trechantiria in modern Greek that means a fast moving boat.

The island has become a haven for tourists, many of whom are now permanent residents.  Expatriates enjoy the good weather; lay back life style as well as mingling with the locals in many of the island’s festivities.