One of the fragmentary remains of the Epic Cycle which was written by Arktinus of Miletos (Arctinus of Miletus) and describes the actual destruction of Ilion (Troy) by the Greek army.
Only a few passages of the original two books survive; they give insight into the final assault on the city and the actions of a few of the combatants such as Aias (Ajax) and Neoptolemus (Neoptolemos); Hector's son, Astyanax, was thrown from the city walls and Hector's wife, Andromache, was taken as a slave by Neoptolemus; Aias apparently went insane and was in danger of being killed by his own men until he took refuge in the Temple of Athene (Athena).
For the complete translations of the Epic Cycle, including the Sack of Ilion, I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.
A single-edged battle ax carried by the Scythian soldiers when they were allies of the Persians during the invasion of Greece in 490 BCE.
Histories, book 7.64
A sect of the Scythian nation who were the allies of the Persians during the invasion of Greece in 490 BCE.
Histories, book 7.64
An Asian god associated with Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine) and worshiped mainly by women.
A river which originates in western-central Turkey and flows generally north for approximately 490 miles (789 kilometers) and empties into the Euxine (Black Sea); known in ancient times as the Sangarios River.
A burial site in ancient Egypt near the city of Memphis in Lower Egypt; primarily noted for the Serapeum and Step Pyramid of King Djoser (2668-2649 BCE) of the 3rd Dynasty (2686-2613 BCE).
The Serapeum was an immense underground structure near Sakkara which served as the burial site of the Apis Bull and was the center of worship for the god Serapis.
Serapis was worshiped throughout the Mediterranean basin; his worship seemed to transcend ethnic boundaries and earned him reverence in the Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.
There were two precincts dedicated to Serapis on the Akrocorinth, i.e. the Acropolis of the city of Corinth, when the traveler and historian Pausanias described the Akrocorinth circa 160 CE.
Descriptions of Greece, book 2 iv 6
Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs, chapter 10, Miscellaneous Dynasties
The Salaminia and Paralos (Paralus) were ceremonial warships used by the Athenians for special occasions such as taking envoys to the Oracle at Delphi and the conveyance of high ranking Athenian statesmen; only Athenian citizens were allowed to serve on these ships.
Hellenica, book 6 ii 14
An island 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the southeastern coast of Greece due west of the city of Athens in the northern Saronic Gulf; with an area of 37 square miles (95 square kilometers) and a coastline of 64.6 miles (104 kilometers).
Salamis is noted as the birthplace of the Greek hero Aias (Ajax) and the poet Euripides; the Greeks defeated the Persian navy of King Xerxes near Salamis in 480 BCE; the battle of Salamis was one of the most daring and desperate battles in Greek history.
The Persian army had crossed into northern Greece and fought its way down the eastern coast to Athens, where they burned and looted the deserted city; the Persians had traveled for one month to reach Greek soil and another four months to reach Athens; knowing the attack was imminent, the Athenians had retreated to Salamis and with the Spartans and other Greek allies, debated the best way to make their last, united stand against the Persian army and navy.
A wall was hastily erected across the Isthmus of Corinth and the armies of the Peloponnesian Peninsula waited for the Persian army; a fleet comprising the combined Greek navy sheltered around Salamis.
When the Persians were mounting their invasion of Greece, the Athenians asked the Oracle at Delphi for guidance; the priestess told the Athenians to retreat from Athens and make their stand on the divine island of Salamis; all Greeks who had not submitted to the Persians gathered their 378 triremes at Salamis with some additional penteconters (before the battle began, two triremes deserted from the Persian fleet and joined the Greeks which made a total of 380 triremes plus the penteconters).
The majority of the Greek commanders wanted to leave Salamis and fight the Persians nearer to the Isthmus of Corinth so they would have a place to retreat if the Persians won the sea battle; the Pan-Hellenic forces were commanded by the Spartan, Eurybiades; the Athenians were organized and commanded by Themistokles (Themistocles).
Themistokles warned Eurybiades that if the Greeks withdrew from Salamis the war would be lost for three reasons: 1) the Persians would have the advantage in open water and the seas around Salamis were confining and therefore not advantageous for the superior numbers of the Persian fleet, 2) if the Greeks moved away from Salamis, the various Greek contingents would not fight as a single force and each individual army and navy would flee to their respective homes and be conquered one by one, and 3) Themistokles warned Eurybiades that if the fleet withdrew from Salamis, the entire Athenian contingent (more than half the naval force) would remove to their colony of Siris in Italy and leave the Greeks of the Peloponnesian Peninsula to defend themselves.
Eurybiades saw the tactical logic of Themistokles's arguments but the other Greeks were not convinced and still wanted to retreat to the open waters near the Isthmus of Corinth to fight; Themistokles put a clever plan into motion that would end all debate and force the Greeks to stand and fight; he sent his servant secretly to the camp of Xerxes to tell the king that the Greeks were planning to flee Salamis and if the Persians acted quickly, they could surprise the Greeks and defeat them.
Xerxes was fooled by the ruse and deployed his navy so as to surround Salamis and block all escape routes; an Athenian named Aristides ran the Persian blockade and told the assembled Greek commanders that the Persian fleet had surrounded the island; the skeptical Greeks did not believe him until another more believable witness confirmed all that Aristides had said.
As dawn approached, the Greeks took to their ships and the battle was joined; the details of the battle were not clearly recorded so the reports of extreme bravery and base cowardice are contradictory; for example: the Athenians accused the men of Corinth of cowardice but the other Greeks disputed this accusation; however, all agreed that the sailors from the island of Aegina (Aigina) distinguished themselves in the battle as the best of the Greeks.
As King Xerxes watched the battle from the shore, the Persians made several small conquests but the overall movements of the fleet were disorganized and lacked the discipline of the seasoned Greek sailors; when the Persian captains in the thick of the battle realized that they were destined to lose, they tried to retreat and sailed into the path of the reinforcements that were coming to assist them; the resulting confusion made the Persians easy targets for the aggressive Greeks.
Xerxes wanted the Greeks to think that he was mounting another attack so he feigned an approach to Salamis via a mole (a causeway built into the sea) which he had either begun before the battle or shortly thereafter; the king was afraid that his conscripted Ionian allies would take the opportunity provided by his naval defeat to desert him and block his escape across the Hellespont back into Asia; the defeat of the Persian navy meant that the supplies necessary to support the Persian army could not be delivered; Xerxes humbly retraced his steps and returned to Asia Minor.
Approximate East Longitude 23º 26' and North Latitude 37º 54'
Histories, book 7.90 and 7.141; book 8.40-97; book 9.4-6 and 9.19
The major city on the island of Salamis located in the northern central portion of the island.
Approximate East Longitude 23º 28' and North Latitude 37º 59'
An ancient city on the island of Cyprus located on the eastern coast of the island; originally settled by colonists from the Greek island of Salamis.
The city was ruled by a series of unremembered men until the reign of Euelthon; the linage from Euelthon was: Siromos, Chersis, Gorgos, Onesilos and, for a second time, Gorgos.
Euelthon was noted for the remarkable censer (an incense burner) he dedicated to the Temple of Apollon at Delphi and also as the ruler who rebuked the requests of the refugee from Libya, Pheretime, when she asked Euelthon to supply her with an army so that her son might reclaim his throne in Kyrene (Cyrene).
Euelthon gave Pheretime many gifts but would not give her an army; to make his point perfectly clear, he finally gave her some wool, a golden spindle and distaff thus informing her that these were the proper gifts for a woman.
Four generations later Onesilos took control of the city from his older brother Gorgos and led a revolt against the Persian Empire; after the Persians returned to reclaim the island of Cyprus, Onesilos was killed and beheaded; Gorgos was again placed on the throne as the satrap, i.e. a provincial governor, of the Persian king.
Approximate East Longitude 33º 90' and North Latitude 35º 17'
Histories, book 4.162; book 5.104-105 and 5.108-115
A king of Elis and a son of Aeolus (Aiolos); he was the father of Tyro; through his daughter Tyro, Salmoneus was thus the great-grandfather of the famous adventurer, Jason.
As the son of Aeolus, Salmoneus was the grandson of the founder of the Greeks, Hellen; his brothers and sisters were variously listed as: Alkyone (Alcyone), Athamas, Kalyke (Calyce), Kanake (Canace), Kretheus (Cretheus), Makareos (Macareus), Perieres and Sisyphus (Sisyphos).
A cult leader from Thrace.
There is a strange entry in the Histories by Herodotus of a man named Salmoxis; the people of Thrace said that this man had been a slave of the renowned mathematician Pythagoras and had come to Thrace from the island of Samos; Herodotus did not place too much credence in the stories told about Salmoxis because he believed that Salmoxis lived many years before Pythagoras but the fact that he relates this strange story demonstrates his curiosity and fairness.
Salmoxis was said to have established a home in Thrace and compared to the local inhabitants, was a man of education and culture; he entertained guests at his home and soon became what can only be called, a cult leader; he promised his followers that anyone who drank with him, and their descendants, would not die but rather be taken to a place where they would live forever and have all manner of good things; while he was pontificating to his followers, he was secretly constructing an underground dwelling beneath his house; one day he vanished into his hideout and stayed hidden for three years; when he emerged on the forth year, his followers were convinced that his promises were credible and that he was indeed a prophet; to blunt the impact of this story, Herodotus says boldly that the people of Thrace lived hard lives and were rather stupid.
Histories, book 4.95 and 496
Gulf of Salonika; an inlet of the Aegean Sea in south-central Macedon on the western side of the peninsula of Chalkidike (Chalcidice).
The name of the island which was later called Kephallenia (Cephallenia).
In some translations of the older Greek texts (The Odyssey by Homer in particular), the island of Samos and the island of Same are regarded as identical; the two names seem to be used interchangeably even though the island to which the text is referring is near Odysseus's home island of Ithaka (Ithaca); in many cases, the Greek text clearly says Samos but the context denies that fact; at other times, the text calls the island Same; as I understand the distinction, Same was the name of the island which was later called Kephallenia and is very near Ithaka (Samos is 500+ miles (800+ kilometers) by sea from Ithaka).
As to how and why the islands of Samos and Same are equated, I have no explanation; some translators, such as Robert Fitzgerald, avoid this confusing problem by simply not calling the island by name; Kephallenia is the largest of the Ionian Islands located in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece; the island has an area of 287 square miles (743 square kilometers).
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 1, line 246; book 4, (Samos) lines 671 and 845; book 9, line 24; book 15, (Samos) lines 29 and (Same) 367; book 16, lines 123 and 249; book 19, line 131; book 20, line 288
Odyssey (Fagles), book 1, line 286; book 4, lines 755 and 950; book 9, line 26; book 15, lines 29 and (Samian) 410; book 16, lines 138 and 279; book 19, line 146; book 20, line 321
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 1, line 291; book 4, lines 718 and 898; book 9, line 27; book 15, lines 44 and (Samian) 449; book 16, lines 144 and 296; book 19, line 155; book 20, (Samian) line 317
A Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea and within 1.24 miles (2 kilometers) of the coast of Asia Minor; Samos has an area of 183 square miles (475 square kilometers) and a coastline of 99 miles (159 kilometers).
The island of Samos played an important role in the history of ancient Greece because of its strategic location; from Samos, there is easy access to the northern Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the islands of the Kyklades (Cyclades) Group and the coast of Asia Minor; the pre-history of the island is assumed to have been dominated by settlers from Asia Minor and the Middle East.
Regarding Greek influence, the island was settled as early as the third millennium BCE by the original Greeks, known as the Pelasgians.
Circa 1300 BCE, the Mycenaean king Angaeus founded the main city on the island which was also called Samos.
Circa 1100 BCE, the Ionian Greeks colonized the island but were soon conquered and ruled by a king of nearby Ephesus (Ephesos) named Androklos (Androclus); approximately ten years later, Leogoras expelled the Ephesians from the island.
Circa 700 BCE a temple dedicated to the goddess Hera was constructed on the ruins of an older building of unknown origin; Samos was thought to be favored by Hera and the island was one of her most important cult centers; the temple was destroyed by the Persians during the rule of Cyrus the Great (559-529 BCE); the master-builder Rhoikos (Rhoicos) rebuilt the temple but the temple was again destroyed by the Persians, circa 520 BCE, and this time the task of rebuilding the temple fell to Rhoikos's son, Theodoros; the historian Herodotus cited the Temple of Hera as the largest structure in the Greek world and as one of three great accomplishments by the people of Samos; the temple was also known for its grandeur in Egypt, and honored by King Amasis of Egypt when he sent two wooden statues of himself to the temple as a tribute; he also allowed the Samiots to built a sanctuary to Hera in Egypt.
An interesting building project which has fascinated and baffled engineers throughout the ages is the aqueduct under Mount Kastro which went from the Agiades Spring, through the mountain and supplied fresh water to the city of Samos (modern Pythagoreio); the tunnel was the work of Eupalinos (Eupalinos) of Megara and was constructed between 530 and 520 BCE; the baffling aspect of this aqueduct is the fact that it was dug through the mountain at a continuous and gentle grade so the water would flow from the source to the other side of the mountain; the engineering techniques Eupalinus used to achieve this feat must have been very clever and sophisticated.
The historian Herodotus reported that the aqueduct was 4,620 feet (1,408 meters) long but recent excavations dispute that figure and place the length at only 1,100 feet (335 meters).
Another notable engineering accomplishment of the Samiots was built between 540 and BCE; the islanders constructed a great mole (breakwater or causeway) a quarter of a mile into the sea creating a harbor.
The history of the island of Samos seems to be dominated by the notorious tyrant, Polykrates (Polycrates) (535-515 BCE); he was a man of exceeding ambition and a keen intellect; he skillfully maintained the island's independence from the Greeks and the Persians with guile and military might until he was finally tricked and murdered by the Persians.
Samos spawned many great thinkers and artists such as: Kallistatos (Callistatus), Rhoikos, Theodoros, Saurias, Kalliphon (Calliphon) and the greatest of them all, Pythagoras.
The hilly geography of the island is punctuated with several sheer mountains which plunge to rocky beaches; Mount Kerkis is the highest mountain on the island with a height of 4,700 feet (1,433 meters); twenty percent of the island is covered with pine forests which in olden times, furnished the raw materials for the triremes (war ships) of Polykrates's fleet.
Aside from the exploits and death of Polykrates, Herodotus had many interesting entries about Samos:
1) The fate of a mixing bowl the Spartans commissioned and sent to King Kroesus (Croesus) of Lydia became a mystery and a point of contention between Samos and Sparta; Kroesus had humbly and graciously solicited the Spartans for their friendship because he intended to make war on the Persians; the Spartans accepted Kroesus's gifts and sent a large bronze bowl to show their willingness to be his ally; while the bowl was in transit, Kroesus and his kingdom were captured by the Persians; the gigantic bowl disappeared; the Spartans said that the bowl had been stolen on Samos but the Samiots maintained that the Spartans, who had been entrusted with the delivery of the bowl, had sold it to pirates;
2) Herodotus states that the Samiots, although they were Ionian colonists, spoke their own unique dialect of the Greek language; and
3) During the Ionian Revolt against the Persians circa 498 BCE, the Samiots disgraced themselves by fleeing in the face of the Persian fleet.
In some translations of the older Greek texts (The Odyssey by Homer in particular), the island of Samos and the island of Same are regarded as identical; the two names seem to be used interchangeably even though the island, Same, to which the text is referring is near Odysseus's home island of Ithaka (Ithaca); in many cases, the Greek text clearly says Samos, but the context denies that fact; at other times, the text calls the island Same; as I understand the distinction, Same was the name of the island which was later called Kephallenia (Cephallenia) and is very near Ithaka (Samos is 500+ miles (800+ kilometers) by sea from Ithaka); as to how and why the islands of Samos and Same are equated, I have no explanation; some translators, such as Robert Fitzgerald, avoid this confusing problem by simply not calling the island by name.
Approximate East Longitude 26º 44' and North Latitude 37 48'
Histories, book 1.70 and 1.142; book 2.148 and 2.182; book 3.39, 3.40, 3.44-46, 3.54-60, 3.120-123, 3.142-149; book 4.95, 4.162; book 5.112; book 6.8 and 6.14; book 9.90
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 2, line 634
Iliad (Fagles), book 2, line 728
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 2, line 753
Anabasis, book 1, vii 5
The ancient capital of the island of Samos located on the southeastern side of the island; the Mycenaean king Angaeus founded the city circa 1300 BCE; now known as Pythagoreio, with a population of 9,000, the city joins the nearby port town of Vathi and is virtually linked to it as one city.
Approximate East Longitude 27º 00' and North Latitude 37º 45'
A Greek island in the northeastern Aegean Sea with an area of 71 square miles (184 square kilometers); now known as Samothraki.
Approximate East Longitude 25º 32' and North Latitude 40º 30'
The major city on the Greek island of the same name; located in the eastern central portion of the island due east of the seaside town of Kamarrotissa; now known as Samothraki.
Approximate East Longitude 25º 31' and North Latitude 40º 28'
A letter in some forms of the early Greek alphabet; uppercase Ϡ, lowercase ϡ.
The ancient Greeks did not have lowercase letters in their alphabet; the lowercase letters were not invented until the ninth century CE, i.e. about eleven hundred years ago.
The sampi was used to create an ss or xi sound and was called a disigma (double sigma) in ancient times; the sampi was eventually dropped from the Greek alphabet but was retained to represent the number 900 and was written as ϡ or as a sampi followed by an acute accent, ϡ'.
The queen of Babylon when the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were included as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The river god of the Sangarios River; one of the many sons of Tethys and Okeanos (Ocean).
Zeus gave the Rivers, Apollon and the Okeanids the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, line 344
The ancient name for the Sakarya River; it originates in western-central Turkey and flows generally north for approximately 490 miles (789 kilometers) and empties into the Euxine (Black Sea).
A Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea in the Kyklades (Cyclades) group with an area of 30 square miles (78 square kilometers).
The island was magically created from a clod of earth which was presented to one of the Argonauts by the half-fish, half-man shaped god, Triton.
Triton guided the Argonauts out of the desert wastes of Libya and gave Euphemos (Euphemus) a clod of earth as a gift; Euphemos had a divinely inspired dream about the clod of earth and threw it into the sea; an island arose and a descendant of Euphemos named Theras migrated to the island and named it after himself; when the island first arose from the sea it was called Kalliste (Calliste), i.e. the Most Beautiful; the island was known as Thera during the Late Minoan period (1700-1100 BCE) but was devastated by the second most violent volcanic eruption in recorded history circa 1600 BCE; the island is now called Santorini.
Approximate East Longitude 25º 42' and North Latitude 36º 41'
Histories, book 4.147 and 4.148
Argonautika, book 4, lines 1553-1563 and 1733-1764
sah OH
One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris collectively known as the Nereids, i.e. the daughters of the Nereus.
Other than a passing reference to her name, the only Nereid to receive any individual attention in the ancient literature was Thetis; as the mother of Achilles and one of the few goddesses to refuse the amorous intentions of Zeus, Thetis was unique; when the Immortals needed the Nereids, they called upon Thetis to rally her sisters for whatever task was needed.
The Nereids and the Argonauts - After Jason and the Argonauts had taken the Golden Fleece from Kolchis (Colchis), Medeia (Medea), the daughter of King Aietes (Aeetes), helped Jason murder her half-brother Apsyrtos (Apsyrtus) in a rather cowardly way; Zeus swore revenge for such a dastardly act but his sister/wife Hera wanted to protect the Argonauts until Jason and Medeia could be absolved of their crime by the Dread-Goddess Kirke (Circe); Hera called upon Thetis to gather the Nereids so they could quiet the waters of the sea so the Argonauts could safely navigate to Kirke's island; Thetis plunged into the sea and called to her sisters; her call was answered and the Nereids helped save the Argonauts.
The Nereids at the funeral of Patroklos (Patroclus) - In the last year of the Trojan War, Achilles's companion Patroklos was killed; Achilles took Patroklos's death very hard and called out to his mother Thetis for consolation; Thetis and the Nereids rose from the sea and graced the dead body of Patroklos with their divine presence.
The Nereids at the funeral of Achilles - The death of Achilles was one of the most dramatic events of the Trojan War; as the son of Thetis, his death had particular significance to the Nereids; at the funeral of Achilles, Thetis, the Nereids and the Muses all came to pay their respects.
Theogony, line 243
(620?-565? BCE) The incomparable seventh century BCE Greek poet from the island of Lesbos.
Sappho has the distinction of being one of the most quoted poets of antiquity; her imagery and passion spanned cultures and classes; noted as a lyre player and singer, she earned her place in history with no conscious effort to become immortal; she sang of love and the simple elegance of grace and beauty; her work is mostly in fragments but enough survives to give us a glimpse of the commonality that unites human hearts regardless of the age in which we live.
There are many references to Sappho and her poems by Greek writers and she is even quoted into the Roman era, i.e. after the Hellenistic age; she was included in many anthologies and catalogues which listed the lyric poets and their places in the chronological record; her poems were always praised and much effort was made to distinguish her actual life and work from other poets and particularly from another women named Sappho who also lived on the island of Lesbos.
The references to Sappho are numerous and often contradictory but we can draw upon the consensus of these references and piece together an enticing portrait of the woman and the artist; she was from the city of Mytilene and was the daughter of Kleis (Cleis) and Eurygyus; she had three brothers named Larichus, Charaxus and Eurygyus; she had a daughter named Kleis; her personal appearance was that of a small, dark woman who was not beautiful or unattractive; she wrote nine books of poetry.
For the complete collection of Sappho's extant poems I suggest the book 7 Greeks by Guy Davenport (ISBN 0811212882); just reading the introduction of this excellent book will convince you that Mr. Davenport is as much a poet as he is a scholar; his description of Sappho's life and work is moving and compelling; before you read anything else about Sappho, you should read Mr. Davenport's book; this book can be found at your library in section 881 or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.
An ancient city in western Asia Minor; the capital of ancient Lydia; also spelled Sardes; also called Tarne.
Approximate East Longitude 28º 00' and North Latitude 38º 49'
The Greek name for the island of Sardinia.
Approximate East Longitude 9º 00' and North Latitude 40º 00'
The body of water which separates the Greek mainland from the Peloponnesian Peninsula; the main islands of the Saronic Gulf are Aegina (Aigina), Angistri, Poros, Hydra, Spetses and Salamis.
One of the sons of Europa and Zeus; his brothers were: Minos and Rhadamanthys.
sar pee DON
Sarpedon was the son of Zeus and Laodameia; during the Trojan War, Sarpedon was an ally of the Trojans and was killed by Patroklos (Patroclus).
The Trojan War was instigated by Zeus with the intention of ridding the world of the demigods, i.e. the children of Immortals who mated with mortals; Sarpedon was a demigod and therefore slated to die; Sarpedon was the commander of the troops from Lykia (Lycia) with Glaukos (Glaucus) as the co-commander.
Sarpedon's most notable victorious confrontation during the Trojan War was when he fought Tlepolemos; as the son of Herakles (Heracles), Tlepolemos was bold and confident; he taunted Sarpedon and ridiculed his claim as being the son of Zeus; he reminded Sarpedon that Herakles had captured Troy with only six ships and boasted that the heroes of old were better men than Sarpedon could ever be; after enduring Tlepolemos's insults, Sarpedon stabbed Tlepolemos in the throat with his spear; before he died, Tlepolemos was able to wound Sarpedon in the left thigh but Zeus intervened and turned the spear point away so that his son would not be seriously injured; this was a peculiar situation where Zeus saved his son (Sarpedon) but allowed his grandson (Tlepolemos) to die.
After Prince Hector had been seriously injured and then miraculously restored to health by Apollon, the Trojans were filled with enthusiasm and seemed to be gaining the advantage over the Achaean (Achaian) Greeks; with Apollon leading the charge, the Trojans breached the defensive wall which protected the Greek ships; Sarpedon commanded one of the detachments which overwhelmed the Greeks and was the first man to enter the Greek compound; with the Greek ships ablaze, it looked as if the Trojans could win the war before the sun went down; Agamemnon, as the commander of the Greeks, could not inspire his men to fight and the situation was rapidly becoming critical.
Achilles was the best warrior in the Greek army but he refused to fight because he was angry with Agamemnon; Achilles's ships were beached farthest away from the battle lines and he swore that he would only fight to protect his ships; Achilles's companion Patroklos tried to convince Achilles of the seriousness of the situation but Achilles was unmoved; with Achilles's reluctant consent, Patroklos donned Achilles's armor and charged into the Trojan ranks; the Greeks thought that Achilles had entered the battle and regained their courage; the Trojans thought that Achilles was back in the fighting and began to retreat.
Patroklos had phenomenal success as he made his way towards the walls of Troy and killed many Trojans; Patroklos finally encountered Sarpedon; aiming his spear at Patroklos, Sarpedon missed his target and struck one of the chariot horses, Pedasos (Pedasus); since Patroklos was in Achilles's chariot, Pedasos belonged to Achilles and was the only mortal horse in the team; Patroklos dismounted the chariot and he and Sarpedon began to fight; Sarpedon made the first spear cast but it missed and went over Patroklos's right shoulder; Patroklos's aim was deadly; his spear struck Sarpedon directly in the center of his chest and the hero bellowed as he fell to the ground; Sarpedon called to his co-commander Glaukos to rally the Lykians but the Greeks were determined to disgrace Sarpedon's body and strip him of his armor; Sarpedon died when Patroklos pulled the spear from his chest.
Glaukos and the other Lykians tried to drag Sarpedon's body from the fray but Patroklos called to the two fierce Aiantes, i.e. Aias and Aias, to do the same; the fighting was so intense and there were so many dead bodies lying over Sarpedon that the fallen hero was unrecognizable in the dirt and gore; finally, the Greeks stripped Sarpedon's armor from his shoulders and took it as a trophy.
Zeus had been sympathetically watching Sarpedon and the terrible fight for his body; after Sarpedon had been stripped of his armor, Zeus sent Apollon to retrieve his son's body; Apollon removed Sarpedon's body from the blood soaked battlefield, washed him in a river, anointed Sarpedon's body with ambrosia and then dressed him in ambrosial clothing; Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death) carried Sarpedon's body to the rich countryside of his homeland, Lykia.
A Persian word to denote a local ruler, i.e. a provincial governor.
One of a class of woodland deities who were attendant on Bacchus (a.k.a. Dionysos, god of Wine); represented as part human, part horse and sometimes part goat; noted for their riotousness and lasciviousness.
Plays and vignettes which we would find to be generally obscene; the actors would assume the guise of grotesque satyrs and portray the randy or lascivious aspects of the ancient myths complete with suggestive language and lewd gestures; usually considered to be comic by the ancient Greeks and a staple for many theatrical productions including the Dionysian festivals.
The mask shown above was worn by actors in Satyr Plays; the nose holes were actually at eye level to add larger-than-life grotesqueness and allow the actor to see.
A painter from the island of Samos; credited with being the first painter to use the contrasting light and dark shading technique known as chiaroscuro.
A clasp for holding a robe or cloak; named for its distinctive scarab beetle shape.
Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890 CE); with his persistent and successful search for the ruins of the ancient city of Troy, Mr. Schliemann changed the way in which Greek pre-history is interpreted and taught.
Scholars throughout the centuries had thought that Troy was nothing more than the fictional backdrop for the heroic epic, The Iliad by Homer; Mr. Schliemann was a successful businessman who had the resources and time to pursue his keen interest in archeology; he took the geographical clues given in The Iliad and in 1870 CE found the ruins of ancient Troy; his discovery was an astonishment and embarrassment to classical educators throughout the world but they slowly acknowledged his astounding accomplishment and the study of Greek history entered a new and exciting era.
Mr. Schliemann also undertook excavations at the city of Mycenae and unearthed many so called "grave-shafts" where he announced that he had found the grave of Agamemnon; this discovery was, and still is, largely disputed but the importance of his discoveries can still serve as an inspiration to all serious and amateur scholars with a bent for dreaming followed by action.
SKEE thees
One of the Idaean (Idaian) Daktyls who dwelt on Mount Ida on the island of Crete.
The Daktyls were born in a cave on Mount Dikte on the island of Crete; their mother was the Nymph Anchiale from the Cretan town of Oiaxos (now Axos); the Daktyls were famous for their skills as metal workers and magicians.
Hesiod states that the Idaian Daktyls taught the smelting and tempering of iron on Crete; the only three Daktyls mentioned by name are Kelmis (Celmis), Damnameneus and Scythes (or perhaps his name was Delas); Kelmis and Damnameneus discovered iron on the island of Cyprus and are said to be the first Daktyls; Scythes is credited with the discovery of bronze smelting.
Argonautika, book 1, line 1129
Diodorus Siculus, book 3.74.4
Hymn to The Idaean Daktyls
The ancient name for the area northwest of the Euxine (Black Sea) on the lower courses of the Borysthenes (Dnieper) River.
The earliest accounts we have about the Scythians are from the historian Herodotus and he freely admits that he had never been to Scythia and that his source of information had likewise never been there; with this in mind, Herodotus reported that Scythia was reputed to be the home of the female warrior Amazons and a variety of nomadic people; Herodotus described the inhabitants as only slightly civilized and resistant to any form of foreign influence; he also states that the Scythians were like the majority of Greeks in that they despised menial labor and preferred the art of war to any trade or profession.
It's interesting to note that Herodotus says the Scythians worshiped the same gods and goddesses as the Greeks but then goes on to say that the Scythian gods had different names; the primary deities were: Histia (Hestia) (Tabiti), Zeus (Papaeus, i.e. Great Father) and Gaia (Api); I assume that Herodotus meant that the Scythian gods had similar attributes and for that reason he recognized them to be the same gods and goddesses.
In 634 BCE the Scythians invaded the heart of the Median Empire in western-central Asia and defeated the Median king, Kyaxares (Cyaxares); they marched south through Syria and were ready to enter Egypt but the Egyptians were able to negotiate a truce before the Scythians could crossover into Africa; despite their military prowess, the Scythians were brutal and inefficient administrators; they ruled western-central Asia for twenty-eight years before Kyaxares and the Medes were able to drive them back to their homeland near the Euxine.
Histories, book 1.103-106; book 2.167; book 4.59
The Sea of Azov is an inland sea which is connected to the Black Sea (the ancient Euxine) and situated southeast of the Ukraine and bordered by the Crimean Peninsula on the west, the Caucasus Mountains on the south and Russia on the east; the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea are connected by the Kerch Strait which is named after the largest city on that narrow strait; the Sea of Azov is approximately 15,444 square miles (40,000 square kilometers) in area.
The Sea of Azov was called the Maeetian Lake (Maeotic Lake) by the ancient Greeks; the cities of Panticapaeum and Phanagoria were colonized by the Greeks as early as the sixth century BCE and their location on the Kerch Strait made them prosperous because of the various products which were shipped through the strait and destined for markets in Greece and Asia Minor.
The Sea of Azov is the shallowest sea in the world with a maximum depth of 46 feet (14 meters); the northern, eastern and western shores of the sea have sandbars which are called spits or sandspits but the southern shore is rocky and steep; the sea floor is generally flat and the salinity varies from three percent at the mouth of the Don River to eighteen percent on the western shore where the sea connects with the Kerch Strait and the Syvash Lake which has a salinity of 60 percent.
The primary rivers flowing into the Sea of Azov are the Don and the Kuban; the Don River enters the Sea of Azov in the northeastern corner where the prosperous Greek city of Tanais was founded in the seventh century BCE; the Don River supplies more than fifty percent of the fresh water flowing into the Sea of Azov; the Kuban River flows into the Sea of Azov on the southeastern side; other minor rivers include the Obytochna, the Berda, the Kalmiius, the Miius and the Yeia.
The geographer Strabo (circa 50 BCE) stated that there was a tradition that the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea were once connected by way of the Sea of Azov; a careful inspection of a satellite map will confirm that possibility via the Don River valley; this has led to the assumption that the ancient Maeetian Lake was the entrance to a larger sea which occupied the same area as the modern Caspian Sea but was enormous by comparison.
The Russian name for the Sea of Azov is Azovskoye More or Azovskoe More.
The Sea of Azov is shown on the above map with the German name Asowsches Meer.
Histories, book 1.104
The body of water which is an aspect of the southern Aegean Sea and is bounded by the island of Crete on the south and the Kyklades (Cyclades) island group on the north.
A body of water in northwest Turkey between European and Asian Turkey connected with the Euxine (Black Sea) by the Bosporus Strait and connected with the Aegean Sea by the Dardanelles; also spelled Marmora.
The Horae (Horai); goddesses of the Seasons; personifications of the cycle of death and rebirth and sometimes credited with social order; the daughters of Zeus and Themis.
The Horae are three in number and named: Dike (Justice), Eunomia (Order) and Eirene (Peace); in The Iliad, the Horae are the attendants of the dark veil that hides the summit of Mount Olympos (Olympus).
Iliad, book 5, line 749
Theogony, line 901
seh LEE nee
The Moon; the long-winged Selene embraces the earth with her radiance after she bathes in the waters of Okeanos (Ocean); she then drives her glistening steeds through the skies dividing the months as she waxes to full brightness; she is a token and a sign to all mortals.
In the poem Theogony by Hesiod, Selene is said to be the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia; she is the sister of Helios (the Sun) and Eos (the Dawn); however, in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes she is said to be the daughter of Pallas.
In the Homeric Hymn to Selene, she is said to have a daughter fathered by Zeus named Pandeia (Pandia) which can mean All-Luminous; also, in this Homeric Hymn, there is a curious reference to Selene's path through the skies; the word Ogmos is metaphorically translated as "orbit" but literally means swath or furrow, as in a plowed field; it is known that the ancient Greeks understood that our solar system was heliocentric, with the planets orbiting the sun but whether the author of this hymn meant for Ogmos to be metaphorical or literal is a matter for debate.
The poet Aeschylus said that the full moon is the eldest of the stars and calls her the Night's Eye.
Theogony, lines 19 and 371
Homeric Hymn to Selene
Homeric Hymn to Hermes, lines 99 and 141
Seven Against Thebes, line 390
An ancient city on the Tigris River; the capitol of the Seleukid (Seleucid) Empire.
The powerful off-shoot of the Macedonian dynasty (312-364 BCE) which ruled an empire that included much of Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, Baktria (Bactria) and Babylonia.
(358?-281? BCE) A Macedonian general who served under Alexander the Great and after Alexander's death, founded the Seleukid (Seleucid) Empire.
The priests of Zeus who interpreted the rustling of oak leaves or the sound of the waters of a spring at the Oracle of Dodona in Epirus.
seh MEH lee
A daughter of Kadmos (Cadmus) and Harmonia; as the consort of Zeus, Semele was the mother of Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine).
Named by her parents as Thyone, she didn't assume the name of Semele until after her mortal body was fatally burned by Zeus and she was granted immortality.
When Zeus made Thyone pregnant, he incurred the wrath of his sister/wife, Hera; the angry goddess enchanted Thyone and induced her pray to Zeus and ask for eternal life; Zeus granted her prayer but his lightning destroyed Thyone's mortal body and she became the immortal Semele; Hermes rescued the child from the flames which consumed Thyone's mortal body and gave the babe to Makris (Macris), daughter of Aristaios, on the island of Euboia; Makris soothed the child but was soon driven from her home by Hera; Zeus took the infant and sewed it into his thigh so that it might have his protection; Dionysos was re-born on Mount Nysos (Nysa); the name, Dionysos, literally means God of Nysos, i.e. Dio = God and Nysos = Mount Nysos.
Thyone's son was destined to become one of the most revered Immortals on Mount Olympos (Olympus); the rites of Dionysos were incorporated into the rituals of all the Immortals and his impetuous followers were welcomed for their free spirited abandon and feared because of their unbridled lascivious behavior.
Thyone was the sister of Ino, Agaue, Polydoros (Polydorus) and Autonoe.
Theogony, lines 940 and 976
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 14, lines 323 and 325
Iliad (Fagles), book 14, lines 387 and 389
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 14, line 363
Hymn to Dionysos, lines 4 and 21
Hymn to Dionysos, lines 1 and 57
Histories, 2.145
Semiramis was one of two female rulers of the city of Babylon mentioned by the historian, Herodotus; Semiramis ruled five generations before a woman named Nitokris (Nitocris) and was, according to Herodotus, not as wise as Nitokris; one of the city gates was named after Semiramis.
Semiramis was an Assyrian and her Assyrian name was Shammu-Ramat; her husband, Shamshi-Adad, captured Babylon and ruled the city until he died in 811 BCE; after his death, Semiramis ruled for five years.
Histories, book 1.184; book 3.155
Three daughters of Nyx (Night): Alekto (Alecto), Megaera and Tisiphone; they are called by many names but are usually referred to as The Furies.
They are also called the Erinys, Eumenides (Kindly Ones) and Semnai (The Holy); they are depicted as winged women of fierce countenance but according to the traveler and historian Pausanias (fl. 160 CE), their images on the Acropolis at Athens were not fierce or supernatural.
see moh NEE dees
A lyric poet of the late seventh century BCE.
The term Lyric Poetry is quite literal and designates poetry written to be sung to the accompaniment of the lyre; the lyric poets flourished from roughly 700 BCE until 400 BCE.
Semonides is not to be confused with Simonides of Keos; Semonides was originally from the island of Samos but eventually made his home on the island of Amorgos in the southern Aegean Sea in the Kyklades (Cyclades) Group.
Of the two fragments of Semonides's poems which are extant, one is a biting satire on women and the other is about the unhappy life men are forced to endure.
Regarding women, if you don't have a sense of humor you will be very offended by this entire poem; women, Semonides rants, are a plague that Zeus inflicted on men to make their lives unbearable; of all the unfavorable comparisons Semonides makes to women (ape, ass, sow, dirt, sea water), the only kind comparison he makes is to that of a bee; it seems that a woman formed from a bee was the only gracious gift that Zeus bestowed on mankind.
Regarding men, Semonides declares that men are not the masters of their own fate and that there are many, many ways for them to meet their inevitable doom; he advises that men would be wise not to dwell on their misfortunes or ills; this advice seems strange coming at the end of a poem which dwells on the misery and afflictions of men.
On a personal note, if I could go back in time and see one, and only one, lyric poet perform, I would choose Semonides; I can easily imagine him as a man with an insightful view of life that would be entertaining as well as thought provoking.
There are several excellent collections of lyric poetry that I can personally recommend; if you want to read a sampling of this poetic style, I suggest 7 Greeks by Guy Davenport or Greek Lyric, an Anthology in Translation by Andrew M. Miller; however, the most complete collection is undoubtedly the three volume collection from the Loeb Classical Library, Greek Lyric, Greek Lyric II and Greek Lyric III; you can sometimes find these books at your local library or you can purchase any of these books from the Book Shop on this site; look in the Poetry section.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca; circa 4 BCE - 65 CE; Although he was born in Spain, Seneca was raised in Rome and became a noted playwright, orator and philosopher; his fame gained him a position as tutor and advisor of Emperor Nero; after he fell from the emperor's favor, he chose to commit suicide rather than be assassinated; Seneca is noted here only because he rewrote at least nine Greek tragedies in Latin, borrowing freely from Greek authors such as: Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles.
An ancient town on the southeastern coast of the Cape of Magnesia.
The seashore near Sepias became a sacred place when Thetis was given to a mortal man named Peleus on that shore; Thetis refused the amorous advances of Zeus and as a punishment, Zeus forced her to marry Peleus; from that time onward, the entire shoreline has belonged to Thetis and her sisters, the Nereids, i.e. the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris.
When the Persians invaded Greece in 480 BCE, their navy was forced ashore near Sepias by a raging storm; the losses to the Persian fleet were disastrous; the storm was obviously of supernatural origin; to appease the goddess, the magicians of the Persians, the Magi, made sacrifices and cast enchantments on the wind.
Histories, book 7.191
An immense underground structure near the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis as part of the burial site at Sakkara.
The Serapeum was dedicated to the worship of the god Serapis and the burial site of the sacred Apis Bull.
Serapis was worshiped throughout the Mediterranean basin; his worship seemed to transcend ethnic boundaries and earned him reverence in the Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.
There were two precincts dedicated to Serapis on the Akrocorinth, i.e. the Acropolis of the city of Corinth, when the traveler and historian Pausanias described the Akrocorinth circa 160 CE.
Descriptions of Greece, book 2 iv 6
Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs, chapter 10, Miscellaneous Dynasties
An Egyptian god with many attributes in the ancient Greek pantheon, i.e. fertility, the Sun, healing and keeper of the dead.
The god Serapis evolved into the Greek pantheon from the dualistic Egyptian deity associated with the sacred Apis Bull; after death, the Apis Bull became Osiris-Apis; during the Greek dominated period of Egyptian history, generally referred to as the Ptolemaic Period (roughly 323-30 BCE), the duel nature of Osiris-Apis became homogenized into the singular deity of Serapis; an immense underground structure known as the Serapeum near the ancient Egyptian cemetery of Sakkara served as the burial place of the Apis Bull.
Serapis was worshiped throughout the Mediterranean basin; his worship seemed to transcend ethnic boundaries and earned him reverence in the Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.
There were two precincts dedicated to Serapis on the Akrocorinth, i.e. the Acropolis of the city of Corinth, when the traveler and historian Pausanias described the Akrocorinth circa 160 CE.
Descriptions of Greece, book 2 iv 6
Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs, chapter 10, Miscellaneous Dynasties
The Greek name for the Egyptian king, Rameses II who ruled Egypt in the fourteenth century BCE.
Rameses led his armies into eastern Europe and left columns proclaiming his victories and offering complements or insults to the bravery or cowardice of the inhabitants of the lands he conquered; Herodotus thought that a remnant of Sesostris's army settled the land of Kolchis (Colchis) on the Euxine (Black Sea) and that the so-called Greek inhabitants were really of Egyptian descent.
Histories, book 2.102-111
An ancient town on the Hellespont in the district of Thrace and opposite the city of Abydos (Abydus).
Sestos is noted as the point where King Xerxes of Persia crossed the Hellespont on a pontoon bridge during his failed invasion of Greece in 490 BCE; the bridge Xerxes had constructed was a remarkable in concept and size; Xerxes needed the bridge to allow his enormous army to cross from Asia to Europe; the army had as many as five hundred thousand men not counting the support personnel; Xerxes lashed ships together side by side to create the 4,077 foot (1,243 meter) bridge across the Hellespont; the first bridge he made was destroyed by violent winds but the second attempt proved successful and the Persian troops marched safely across.
Sestos was the home of the priestess of Aphrodite (goddess of Love), Hero; Hero was in love with a young man named Leander who lived on the Asian side of the Hellespont in the city of Abydos; each night, Leander would swim the Hellespont guided by the light on the western shore; one cloudy night he lost his way and drowned before he could reach the safety of the beach; Hero was so distraught that she threw herself into the sea and joined Leander in his watery tomb.
Leander's nightly feat of swimming the Hellespont became legend and has been imitated many times; the most famous person to swim the Hellespont was Lord Byron in 1810 CE; as an indicator of just how popular this swim has become, there is actually a website called swimhellespont.com.
The seven armies formed to capture the city of Thebes after the exile of King Oedipus left the kingship of the city in dispute.
This noble and sad story began when King Laius and Queen Iokaste (Jocasta) of Thebes decided to have their infant son taken into the wilderness and left for the animals to kill; Laius had been given a prophecy by Apollon that his son would kill him so killing his infant son was Laius's way of trying to cheat the Fates; however, the servant who was instructed to leave the infant in the wilds could not carry out such a cowardly act and gave the child to a shepherd from a neighboring province; the child was finally presented to the king of the city of Corinth where he was named Oedipus and raised as part of the royal household.
When Oedipus became a man, he was given a prophecy by the Oracle at Delphi (which is Apollon's shrine) that he would kill his father; thinking that the king of Corinth was his father, Oedipus left home and traveled to Thebes; as he approached Thebes, Oedipus encountered King Laius; an argument ensued and King Laius was killed; both of Apollon's prophecies had come true at that moment.
Also, before Oedipus could reach Thebes, he killed a deadly Sphinx which had been terrorizing the countryside; Oedipus was greeted as a hero by the Thebans; without the curse of the Sphinx and without a king, Oedipus was urged to marry the widowed queen and become the next king of Thebes.
Oedipus and Queen Iokaste had four children and things seemed to be going well until a plague befell the country; the Oracle at Delphi declared that the plague would not be lifted until the murderer to King Laius had been brought to justice; ignorant of his guilt, Oedipus ordered an investigation and soon found out the horrible truth ... he had murdered his father and married his mother.
Oedipus left Thebes in a self-imposed exile; his two sons (who were actually Oedipus's brothers) decided to share the now vacant throne with one brother at a time as king; Eteokles (Eteocles) was the eldest and the first to take the throne; when the time came for Eteokles to surrender the throne to his brother Polyneikes (Polyneices), he banished Polyneikes and declared himself the one and only king of Thebes.
Polyneikes went to Argos and was given sanctuary by King Adrastus (Adrestos) of Sikyon (Sicyon); while in Argos, Polyneikes married Adrastus's daughter and had a son; Polyneikes nursed his hatred for his brother until he finally had the support he needed to take Thebes by force; he found six suitable men to command armies and counting himself as a commander, each of the seven armies would attack one of the seven gates of Thebes.
The Seven Against Thebes were:
Polyneikes - Leader of the Seven; the father of Thersandros (Thersander);
Adrastus - King of Sikyon; the father of Aigialeus (Aegialeus);
Amphiaraus (Amphiaraos) - A seer who knew that he would die at Thebes; the father of Alkmaeon (Alcmaeon);
Kapaneus (Capaneus) - The father of Sthenelos (Sthenelus);
Hippomedon - The father of Polydoros (Polydorus);
Parthenopaeus - The son of Hippomenes and the famed huntress, Atalanta; the father of Promachos (Promachus);
Tydeus - The father of Diomedes.
The Seven Against Thebes marched off to war and their doom; the Thebans, led by Eteokles, put up a fierce defense and Polyneikes's army was soundly defeated; with the exception of Adrastus, all the commanders were killed; Polyneikes and Eteokles died on each other's spears.
Ten years after the defeat of the Seven, the Epigoni, i.e. After-Born (the sons of the Seven), mounted another assault on Thebes and were successful in breaching the walls and capturing the city.
The Epigoni consisted of:
Thersandros - The son of Polyneikes.
Aigialeus - The son of Adrastus;
Alkmaeon - The son of Amphiaraus;
Sthenelos - The son of Kapaneus;
Polydoros - The son of Hippomedon;
Promachos - The son of Parthenopaeus;
Diomedes - The son of Tydeus.
Aigialeus, the son of Adrastus, was the only commander of the Epigoni to die in the fighting; because of the loss of his beloved son, Adrastus died of grief on his return to Argos.
The strife and sorrow for the people of Thebes caused by these events persisted through four generations ... from the time of King Laius until the victory of the Epigoni; we can get a rough idea of the timeframe involved by the participation of Diomedes as one of the Epigoni; the Trojan War began circa 1250 BCE and Diomedes was one of the heroic warriors in that war; that would mean that the assault of the Epigoni on Thebes took place several years (perhaps five years) before the start of the Trojan War; the exile of King Oedipus took place approximately twenty years before the Epigoni captured Thebes; using these generalized figures, we can assume that:
1) King Laius ruled Thebes circa 1295 BCE;
2) King Oedipus went into exile circa 1275 BCE;
3) The Seven attacked Thebes circa 1265 BCE;
4) The Epigoni captured Thebes circa 1255 BCE.
One of the seven surviving tragedies by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus which was produced in 467 BCE.
Cast of Characters:
Eteokles (Eteocles) - Ruler of Thebes
Antigone - Sister of Eteokles
Ismene - Sister of Eteokles
Seven Against Thebes is the continuation of the tragic story of Oedipus, the cursed king of the city of Thebes; the eldest of the two sons of Oedipus, Eteokles (Eteocles), took the throne of Thebes after his father's self-imposed exile and the younger son, Polyneikes (Polyneices) was forced into exile in Argos where he formed a coalition of seven armies to reclaim the city.
The seven armies Polyneikes formed were led by Amphiaraus (Amphiaraos); Kapaneus (Capaneus); Adrastus (Adrestus); Hippomedon; Parthenopaeus; and Tydeus; the city of Thebes was called the City of Seven Gates and thus each army was to attack one of the gates.
Before the attack, Polyneikes went to his exiled father and begged for his blessing but Oedipus cursed Polyneikes and predicted that Polyneikes and his brother, Eteokles, would both die without honor in the battle for the city; the attack failed and the two brothers died on each other's spear.
This is a tragedy in the truest sense of the word, the play is fraught with noble intentions and profoundly sad results; if you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus II, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307948; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.
A group of wise men who exemplified the characteristics and ideals of the ancient Greek rulers, lawgivers and advisors during the time period of 620-550 BCE.
The names of the men who were included as the Seven Sages varied with different ancient authors but several men were consistently included: Solon, Thales, Pittakus (Pittacus) and Bias; other men appeared on the list at one time or another: Chilon, Kleobulus (Cleobulus) and Periander.
Seven monumental structures that came to be collectively known as The Seven Wonders of the World.
The Wonders were named by Phylo of Byzantium circa 225 BCE:
1) The Pyramids of Egypt, which are at least 1,500 years older than the other Wonders and are the only ancient Wonders to still exist;
2) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, also called the Gardens of Samyrnus;
3) The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus which was built in 356 BCE and finally destroyed in 401 CE;
4) The Statue of Zeus at Olympia which was built circa 345 BCE as the center piece for the Temple of Zeus;
5) The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus which was completed in 353 BCE by Artemisia as a tomb for her husband, Mausolus; his name has become synonymous with burial vaults;
6) The Colossus of Rhodes which was built as a tribute to Helios (the Sun) in 249 BCE and was destroyed by an earthquake in 224 BCE; and
7) The Pharos (i.e. lighthouse) of Alexandria was constructed on an island off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt; the lighthouse dates from the third century BCE and was in use for approximately 900 years until it was toppled by an earthquake in 641 CE.
The goddess, Aidos.
In the poem Works and Days, Hesiod warns his brother Perses that in the fifth generation of mortal men (the Age of Iron), Aidos and Nemesis (Indignation) will leave the earth and there will be no defense against evil; she is also referred to as Modesty and Respect.
Works and Days, line 200
A comedy by Menander of Athens (circa 342-292 BCE); only the first half of the original text of this play survives but trying to remain faithful to Menander's style, several "complete" copies of the play have been published; the following synopsis was derived from a reconstruction/translation by Sheila D'Atri and Palmer Bovie.
Cast of characters:
Daos - an old slave of Kleostratos
Smikrines - the older brother of Chairestratos
Tyche - goddess of Chance
Chairestratos - the younger brother of Smikrines
Chaireas - the step-son of Chairestratos
Sostratos - a fake doctor
Kleostratos- the step-brother of Chairestratos
Chorus - revelers in the street
This was the second play of Menander's I had the pleasure of reading; the plot is actually straight forward but there are twists and turns which make the story surreal as well as believable.
The story revolves around two brothers who are both wealthy but one is stingy and the other is generous; one is a miserly old bachelor and the other is a beloved family man.
The slave Daos returns from a war in Lydia and relates the death of his master, Kleostratos; the battle was so fierce that the dead soldiers could not be given individual burials; Daos found a dead and disfigured soldier carrying Kleostratos's distinctive shield and assumed that Kleostratos was dead; Daos returns home to Athens with the gold and slaves Kleostratos had captured before his death and tells Kleostratos's grieving father and conniving uncle the bad news.
Tyche, the goddess of Chance, appears early in the play to remind the audience that things are not always as they seem and that the reports of Kleostratos's death might be premature.
Chairestratos is the step-brother of Kleostratos and has two pressing problems regarding his daughter and Kleostratos's fiancé; Smikrines, the miserly brother of Chairestratos, decides that he will marry Chairestratos's daughter, his niece, and claim her dowry; he does not care that he is forcing the poor girl to marry an old man instead of her youthful lover, Chaireas.
At this point in the play, Kleostratos seemingly returns from the dead; he was not killed in the war but only wounded; his slave Daos found his distinctive shield next to a disfigured dead body and mistakenly assumed that his master had been killed; Kleostratos has now returned home and is ready to marry his fiancé.
Kleostratos's return from the dead is greeted with joy and disbelief but before Smikrines hears the news, Daos has a brilliant idea to save Chairestratos's daughter from a forced marriage and at the same time, see that the scheming old Smikrines gets what he deserves; the whole family enthusiastically agrees to join in the plot against Smikrines.
In order for the plot to succeed, Kleostratos must remain hidden from Smikrines and Chairestratos must feign a severe illness; a fake doctor is summoned and pretends to examine Chairestratos and then informs Smikrines that his brother will soon die; while Smikrines is reeling from the news of his brother's impending death, Daos casually mentions the fact that Kleostratos's fiancé has a sizable dowry and now has no one to marry since Kleostratos was killed in the war; as the senior man of the family, Smikrines can dictate who marries who and begins to rethink the hastily concocted scheme marry his niece; he realizes that if he marries Kleostratos's fiancé, he will get a much larger dowry and that's all he really wants.
The fake doctor announces that Chairestratos has died; Smikrines declares his love for Kleostratos's fiancé and relinquishes his claim to marry his niece; instead of astounding his family with his boldness, Smikrines is the one who is astounded when Kleostratos and Chairestratos both emerge alive and well; Chairestratos's daughter is now free to marry her young lover and Kleostratos can marry his fiancé; Smikrines realizes that he has been tricked and that there is nothing he can do about it; all in all, a happy ending.
As I said at the beginning of this review, the original text of this play is not complete and the "completed" play which I reviewed was a reconstruction based on what the modern authors thought the original "might" have looked like; I can only assume that the modern authors were sincere in their appreciation of Menander and sought to complement his play and make it accessible for others to appreciate; I personally appreciated the way this play is presented and recommend it for readers of all ages.
A 480 line poem attributed to the seventh century BCE poet Hesiod and is considered to be a part of The Catalogue of Women.
The setting of the poem is a sacred grove of the god Apollon; the poem tells the story of Herakles (Heracles) and his charioteer Iolaos in their deadly confrontation with Ares (god of War) and his son Kyknos (Cycnus).
As you can surmise from the title, the poem is primarily a description of Herakles's shield which was crafted by the god Hephaistos (Hephaestus); the shield is virtually alive with animated scenes depicting gods, goddesses, heroes and mortals in all types of situations ranging from simple daily activities to murderous atrocities.
The Shield of Herakles can be found as part of the Richmond Lattimore book, Hesiod, which includes Works of Days, Theogony and The Shield of Herakles, ISBN 0472081616 (paper bound) or 0472439030 (clothbound); you can also find this book at most libraries or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.
An Asian maiden who gained the gift of prophecy and long life from Apollon; the term Sibyl (a female seer or prophet) comes from the name Sibylla.
An island in the Mediterranean Sea separated from the southwestern tip of Italy by the Strait of Messina.
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea with an area of 9,924 square miles (25,703 square kilometers); known in ancient times as Sikilia; located in such a strategic position, Sicily was a very desirable area for colonies and settlements.
A brief outline of its history could begin circa 800 BCE when an Indo-European group known as the Sicani or Siculi settled the island; circa 735 BCE the Greeks founded their first colonies on the island and gradually established towns and settlements in Messana (modern Messina), Katane (Catania), Gela, Selinus (Selinunte), Akragas (Agrigento) and the most important Greek colony, Syracuse.
Circa 550 BCE the Carthaginians established colonies on Sicily and a longstanding animosity between the Greeks and Carthaginians developed; the island was essentially divided in half with the Carthaginians on the west and the Greeks on the east; this division lasted until the Romans eclipsed both the Greeks and the Carthaginians and declared the island as their first province (circa 241 BCE).
Sicily was also called The Island of the Sun, i.e the island where Helios (the Sun) kept his oxen.
An ancient Phoenician city located approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of modern Beirut, Lebanon.
The archeological evidence suggests that the city was inhabited as early as 4000 BCE but came into historical significance circa 1200 BCE and reached its peak during the rule of the Persian Empire (550-330 BCE); the city was located on a promontory overlooking the sea; a small offshore island provided a shelter from the sea and created a natural harbor which made the city desirable to all powers wishing to control the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East.
The Persians made good use of the city's resources: primarily its glass, purple dye and the skill of its sailors; circa 351 BCE, the city resisted the domination of the Persian Empire and as a result, the city was destroyed and most of its inhabitants were killed.
In 333 BCE, when Alexander the Great marched into Sidon; the city was too weak to defend itself and fell easily to the Greeks; the city prospered in relative peace under Greek and then Roman rule but was again cast into a period of turmoil when the Moslems conquered the city in 636 CE.
The eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet; uppercase: Σ; lowercase: σ; sigma used as the final letter of a word: ς.
The ancient Greeks did not have lowercase letters in their alphabet; the lowercase letters were not invented until the ninth century CE, i.e. about eleven hundred years ago.
Letters of the Greek alphabet were also used as numerals; the letter sigma represented the number 200 and was written as a simple σ or as sigma followed by an acute accent, σ'.
see KEE nos
The son of the water Nymph Oinoie (Oenoe) and King Thoas.
Thoas was the king of the island of Lemnos and a son of Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine); when we are dealing with the children of the Immortals (demigods) we can never be sure if the events in their lives are divinely directed or merely happenstance; although he was the king of Lemnos, Thoas barely escaped certain death on the island and eventually found sanctuary with Oinoie; Thoas lived one generation before the Trojan War and his encounter with Oinoie can be dated to circa 1270 BCE.
When Thoas was king of Lemnos, the men of the island "conceived a fierce passion" for the women they had captured during their raids in Thrace; their fascination for the captive women finally exceeded the limits of toleration for their neglected wives; the women of Lemnos rose in revolt; they not only killed their husbands and the captive women and to assure that there would be no retribution for their harsh justice, they began to kill all the other men of the island; in order to save his life, Thoas's daughter Hypsipyle put him in a chest and cast him adrift on the sea; Thoas drifted southward in the Aegean Sea for over 270 miles (434.5 kilometers) until some fishermen found the floating chest and dragged it ashore on Oinoie's island; Thoas was still alive and subsequently became Oinoie's consort; Sikinos was their son and after his birth, the name of the island was changed from Oinoie to Sikinos.
The island of Sikinos is one of the Dodecanese Islands and located approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of the island of Santorini.
His name may also be rendered as Sikinus or Sicinos.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 609-639
see KEE nos
Sikinos is one of the Dodecanese Islands and located approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Santorini.
The island was originally called Oinoie (Oenoe) and was named after the water Nymph Oinoie; Oinoie was the consort of King Thoas from the island of Lemnos.
Thoas was the son of Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine) and king of the island of Lemnos; when the women of Lemnos rose in a frenzy and began to kill the all the men on the island, Thoas's daughter Hypsipyle put him in a chest and cast him adrift on the Aegean Sea; Oinoie's island is approximately 270 miles (434.5 kilometers) south of Lemnos; fishermen found the floating chest and dragged it ashore on Oinoie's island; Thoas was still alive and became Oinoie's consort; Sikinos was their son and after his birth, the name of the island was changed from Oinoie to Sikinos.
The name may also be rendered as Sikinus or Sicinos.
Argonautika, book 1, lines 609-639
An ancient city in southern Greece northwest of the city of Corinth.
Any of a group of forest Spirits similar to satyrs; named after Silenus.
A forest Spirit; the foster father, teacher and companion of Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus, god of Wine); Silenus is a forest Spirit but is often, and incorrectly, thought of as an elderly satyr; Silenus is usually represented as a drunken old man but sometimes he is depicted with the legs and ears of a horse.
Silenus often accompanies Dionysos as he travels but he also has his own rascally adventures; Midas was the infamous king of Phrygia in Asia Minor who was cursed with the Golden Touch; while Midas was entertaining Silenus, he was granted a wish by the wily Spirit; Midas foolishly wished that everything he touched would be turned to gold; when Midas found that his food was also turned to gold, he renounced the wish which Silenus had inflicted upon him and by washing his hands in the river Paktolus (Pactolus), he lost his golden touch; the river Paktolus has had golden sand ever since.
The above image of Silenus is from a silver coin from the island of Naxos circa 410 BCE.
A river god; one of the many sons of Tethys and Okeanos (Ocean).
Zeus gave the Rivers, Apollon and the Okeanids the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, line 342
Simonides of Keos (Ceos) (456?-468 BCE); the Greek poet who immortalized himself by writing a short poem to the seer Megistias who died with the Spartan soldiers at the battle of Thermopylae.
In 480 BCE, King Xerxes of Persia marched his army from Asia into Europe with the intention of conquering Greece; the first significant resistance he encountered was at a narrow pass called Thermopylae, i.e. the Hot-Gates; three hundred Spartans and several thousand Phokian (Phocian), Lokrian (Locrian), Thespians and Thebans soldiers blocked the pass and forced King Xerxes to fight his way through; the Phokians (Phocians) and Lokrians (Locrians) retreated but the Spartans, the Thespians and the Thebans put up a strong resistance to the overwhelming Persian army; their refusal to retreat gave the other Greek city-states time to organize their defenses.
There was a seer with the Spartans named Megistias who foresaw his own death at Thermopylae but refused to leave the battle-lines; Simonides immortalized the heroic death Megistias; there are numerous versions of Simonides's tribute to Megistias which he inscribed on the wall at Thermopylae but the poem might be rendered as follows:
This is the tomb of Megistias renowned, whom the Median foemen,
Where Sperchios doth flow, slew when they forded the stream;
Soothsayer he, who then knowing clearly the Fates that were coming,
Did not endure in the fray Sparta's good leaders to leave.
The daughter of the river Asopos (Asopus) and the sister of Antiope; she was a clever maiden who attracted the amorous attention of Zeus.
When Zeus promised Sinope anything she might want, she said that she desired virginity; Zeus honored his promise and when Apollon also sought her as a lover, he too was forced to honor the promise made by Zeus.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 946-965
A Greek city on the southern central coast of the Euxine (Black Sea) named after the maiden, Sinope.
A Greek island in the southwestern Aegean Sea in the Kyklades (Cyclades) Group with an area of 28 square miles (73 square kilometers); noted for its gold and silver mines.
The Sirens are part woman and part bird; they inhabit the island of Anthemoessa; they are children of the Muse, Terpsichore and the river Acheloios (Achelous); their names are Thelxiope (or Thelxinoe), Molpe and Aglaophonus; their names reflect their vocally seductive prowess: Thelxiope means Charming-With-Her-Voice (Thelxinoe means Charming-The-Mind), Molpe means Song and Aglaophonus means Lovely-Sounding.
The Sirens lure mariners with their seductive singing to the rocky shore where the memorized sailors die in their wrecked ships; the Dread-Goddess Kirke (Circe) warned Odysseus about the irresistible lure of the Sirens so that when he came near their island, he had his sailors put wax in their ears so that they could not hear the enchanted singing but he had himself lashed to the mast so he could hear the Siren's song without flinging himself into the sea and swimming to his doom.
The Argonauts passed the island of the Sirens several generations before Odysseus; the master musician Orpheus played his lyre for the sailors and all but one was able to resist the Siren's song; the Argonaut Boutes jumped into the water and swam towards Anthemoessa but before he could reach the deadly shore, he was plucked from the water by Aphrodite (goddess of Love) and deposited safely in the Libyan desert.
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 12, lines 39+
Odyssey (Fagles), book 12, lines 44+
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 12, lines 46+
Argonautika, book 4, lines 885-921
Catalogues of Women, fragment 47
The faithful dog of Ikarios (Icarius) which was placed in the sky as the Dog Star; located in the constellation Canis Major; the brightest star in the sky; the name literally means Scorcher; its rising coincides with the hottest part of the year, i.e. late August.
When the god of wine, Dionysos (a.k.a. Bacchus), was traveling in Attica, he was entertained by the a kindly man named Ikarius.
As a reward for his hospitality, Dionysos gave Ikarios the gift of wine which was unknown to mortal men at that time; when Ikarios shared the wine with his neighbors, they became drunk, murdered Ikarios and hid his body; knowing something was wrong, Ikarios's daughter Erigone used the faithful dog Maira (Maera) to search for her father; when Erigone found Ikarios's dead body she was so overwhelmed with sadness that she committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree; with Erigone and Ikarios both dead, the faithful dog Maira was placed in the sky as the brightest star and thereafter called the Dog Star and thereafter called Sirius, the Scorcher.
Works and Days, lines 417 and 587
Shield of Herakles, lines 153 and 397
The dog of the hunter Orion.
A son of Aeolus (Aiolos) and the ruler of the city of Corinth who was noted for his cleverness.
Sisyphus was the grandson of the founder of the Greeks, Hellen; his siblings were: Alkyone (Alcyone), Athamas, Kretheus (Cretheus) Perieres and Salmoneus; Sisyphus was the father of Glaukos (Glaucus) and the grandfather of Bellerophontes (Bellerophon).
There are several interesting stories regarding Sisyphus which have earned him the reputation of a rogue and a scoundrel:
1) When another rogue named Autolykos (Autolycus) tried to steal and disguise Sisyphus's cattle, the clever Sisyphus was able to identify his herd because he had marked his cattle on the under-side of their hoofs;
2) When Thanatos (Death) came to claim the life of Sisyphus, the undaunted king captured Thanatos and kept him in chains until Ares (god of War) forced Sisyphus to release him; while Thanatos was in chains, all death stopped on the earth and chaos prevailed;
3) When Zeus stole Aegina (Aigina), the daughter of the river Asopos (Asopus), Sisyphus knew who had perpetrated the crime but would not tell Asopos until the mighty river supplied a spring on the top of the Akrocorinth; Zeus did not take kindly to having his infidelities exposed; for this and other blunders, when Sisyphus was finally taken to the Underworld, he was punished by being compelled to roll a stone to the top of a slope where it always escaped him and would roll down the slope again; Sisyphus would begin the task again and thus continue forever.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 6, lines 153 and 154
Iliad (Fagles), book 6, lines 180 and 181
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 6, line 177
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 11, line 593
Odyssey (Fagles), book 11, line 681
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 11, line 709
Descriptions of Greece, book 2 iv 1
Catalogues of Women, fragments 3 and 7
The son of Hector and Andromache.
Skamandrios was only an infant when Troy was plundered and he was thrown from the walls of Troy by Neoptolemus (Neoptolemos), the son of Achilles; he was called Skamandrios (Scamander) by Hector but everyone else called him Astyanax.
His name may also be rendered as Skamandrius or Scamandrius.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 6, line 402
Iliad (Fagles), book 6, line 476
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 6, line 467
A river god; one of the many sons of Tethys and Okeanos (Ocean).
Zeus gave the Rivers, Apollon and the Okeanids the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Skamandros is known to the Immortals as Xanthos (Xanthus); during the final stages of the Trojan war, Xanthos was forced to rise from his banks and fight with Achilles.
Achilles was the most fierce and aggressive warrior attacking Troy; Achilles was determined to kill Prince Hector but was unsuccessful because Apollon protected Hector; with the frustration of Hector escaping his spear, Achilles let his rage guide him onto the heart of the fighting; when Achilles reached the banks of Xanthos, the slaughter became unimaginable; Xanthos chose the Trojan ally Asteropaios (Asteropaeus) to stop Achilles; Xanthos placed valor in Asteropaios's breast and persuaded him to stand against Achilles; when Asteropaios was killed instantly, his men turned and ran; Achilles chased them down and killed them without hesitation; Achilles continued to throw dead bodies into the river until Xanthos rose from his banks and commanded Achilles to stop clogging his waters with dead Trojans; Achilles said that he would stop throwing bodies in the water but he would not stop killing Trojans until Hector was dead.
Xanthos rose up and sloshed the dead bodies from his waters; he then hurled a giant wave against Achilles and washed him into a whirlpool; Achilles leapt from the waters of Xanthos and ran the distance of a spear-cast but Xanthos still pummeled Achilles with violent waves; Zeus was watching Achilles's ordeal and decided that in order for Achilles to survive the onslaught of Xanthos, the Immortals had to become directly involved; Zeus sent Athene (Athena) and Poseidon (lord of the Sea) to Achilles's side; Poseidon assured Achilles that he was not going die by the devices of Xanthos and that he was destined to kill Hector; the goddess Hera sent her son Hephaistos (Hephaestus) to save Achilles and by using fire against Xanthos, Hephaistos burned the corpses which Achilles had left on the dry ground and then turned his fire on the river; Xanthos begged Hephaistos to stop the fires and said that he would no longer fight with Achilles; Xanthos retreated to his depths.
Theogony, line 345
The ancient name for the river Kucukmenderes in Asia Minor which flows across the Trojan plain into the Dardanelles; 60 miles (97 kilometers) in length.
From the Greek word Skepikoi; one who thinks or examines.
The Skiraphoria was a fertility festival for the women of Attica; the Skiraphoria was celebrated on the twelfth day of the month of Skiraphorion, which would be approximately early July by our calendar.
Skiraphorion was the twelfth month of the year in Attica and approximately corresponds to the third week of May to the third week of June of our calendar; this was the last month of the year in Attica and had several important festivals:
The Arrhephoria was held on the sixth and seventh day of Skiraphorion; the Arrhephoria honored the two girls (Arrhephoroi) who had been chosen to be the attendants of the goddess Athene (Athena) at her shrine on the Acropolis; the Arrhephoroi were of noble birth and chosen in their seventh year; they served the goddess for one year and carried the peplos (dress) and other holy objects for Athene Polias, i.e. Athene, Guardian of the City; during the celebration of the Arrhephoria, the new Arrhephoroi were initiated and the two retiring girls were ritualistically given sacred gifts and relieved of their duties.
On the twelfth of Skiraphorion there was a fertility festival for the women of Attica; the festival was called the Skiraphoria;
On the last day of Skiraphorion, and thus the last day of the year, there was a celebration of Zeus Soter and Athene (Athena) Soter as saviors to ensure their blessings for the coming new year.
The name of the North-West wind; the name literally means, the wind which blows from the Skironian Rocks which were located on the Isthmus of Corinth.
There are two types of Winds:
1) The divinely created winds, i.e. Boreas (North Wind), Notos (South Wind), Zephyros (West Wind) and the Etesian winds, and
2) The ill-favored winds that were created by the monster, Typhoeus, when Zeus imprisoned him under the earth.
The divinely created winds nourish and bless the earth but the winds of Typhoeus are wild and destructive; Skiron is one of the winds of Typhoeus.
Theogony, lines 869-880
The robber who was killed by Theseus.
Theseus was the son of King Aegeus of Athens and Aethra of Troezen; Theseus was destined to become an Athenian hero but before he could claim his heritage, he had to travel from his mother's home in Troezen to Athens; on his way to Athens, Theseus had to face a variety of dangers and villains; Skiron was one of the villains he encountered.
When Theseus came to the coastal city of Megara, he met the semi-divine man named Skiron who would force travelers to wash his feet and then kick them from a cliff into the sea to be eaten by a giant sea-turtle which waited on the rocky shore; Theseus threw Skiron to his death from the cliff.
SKOH lee ah
A drinking song.
The Lyric poet Terpander (fl. early seventh century BCE) is credited with inventing the skolia which would be sung a banquets or any other occasion which permitted groups of men and women to drink wine and be of good spirits; the guests would pass a myrtle branch from one to the other and take turns singing; the name skolia, was chosen for this type of song because the song "went around" or "zigzagged" and when a guest held the myrtle branch he or she would lead the singing.
A Greek island in the western Aegean Sea; one of the large islands of the Northern Sporades group; Skopelos is located near the eastern coast of mainland Greece and north of the large island of Euboea.
A Greek sculptor and architect; fl. fourth century BCE.
The hideous beast that attacked Odysseus as he sailed through the Strait of Messina on his way home after the sack of the city of Troy.
Skylla has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on her image to view that page.
A cup with a deep bowl, two horizontal handles near the rim and a broad base; the Skyphos was one of the most popular drinking vessels of the sixth century BCE; the original design originated in Corinth but the Attic adaptation of the Skyphos was essentially the same style except it had thinner walls; many artistic depictions were painted on the Skyros but one of the most dominant was the Komast style which used reveling, somewhat drunken men as the primary decoration.
A Greek island in the western Aegean Sea; the largest island of the Northern Sporades group of islands.
Skyros is located near the eastern coast of mainland Greece and northeast of the large island of Euboea; 81 square miles (210 square kilometers) in area.
Approximate East Longitude 24º 55' and North Latitude 38º 88'
Androktasias; Slaughters or Manslaughters; the children of Eris (Discord).
Theogony, line 228
Shield of Herakles, line 155
Hypnos; one of the many children of Nyx (Night).
Hypnos has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on his name to view that page.
Theogony, line 212 and 759
There were two men named Smerdis who played a major role in the continuation of the Persian Empire circa 522 BCE; the two men are called Smerdis and false-Smerdis.
Smerdis was the son of Cyrus the Great and Kassandane (Cassandane); his older brother Kambyses (Cambyses) ascended to the throne after the death of Cyrus and established himself as a harsh and arrogant monarch; his blasphemy and cruelty bordered on madness.
Smerdis accompanied Kambyses to Egypt and assisted his brother in the subjugation of that country; when Kambyses sent spies to Ethiopia in preparation for an invasion, the Ethiopians were unimpressed with the Persian representatives and gave them a bow to take back to Kambyses with the warning that until the Persians could string the bow, they were no match for the Ethiopian army; the only Persian who could string the mighty bow was Smerdis; Kambyses was furious and sent Smerdis back to Persia.
Shortly afterwards, Kambyses had a dream in which he saw Smerdis sitting on the throne of Persia with his head reaching towards the heavens; Kambyses believed that the dream meant that Smerdis was plotting to steal the throne from him, so he dispatched one of his most trusted men, Prexaspes, to secretly murder Smerdis.
The plan worked too well; since only Kambyses and Prexaspes knew that Smerdis was dead it was relatively easy for a Mede named Smerdis to take the throne and by keeping himself secluded in the palace, was able to rule the Persian Empire in Kambyses's absence; when Kambyses heard the news that a false-Smerdis was on the throne, he set out for his capital Susa but while he was traveling through Syria, accidentally wounded himself with his own sword and became deathly ill; while on his death-bed, Kambyses assembled the highest ranking Persians of his army and told them that he had ordered the murder of his brother Smerdis and that a false-Smerdis had assumed the throne and must be deposed at all costs.
The Persian commanders were accustomed to Kambyses's madness so they simply refused to believe him and accepted the false-Smerdis as their new king; Smerdis and Kambyses, the only sons of Cyrus the Great, left no children to inherit their kingdom.
Histories, book 3.30, 3.65-66, 3.71, 3.74 and 3.88
(False-Smerdis); the usurper of the throne of the Persian Empire.
When the second king of the Persian Empire, Kambyses (Cambyses), murdered his brother Smerdis, the Mede that Kambyses left in charge of his household devised an ingenious plan whereby the Medes could reclaim the empire that the Persians had stolen from them one generation earlier.
A Mede named Patizeithes had a brother named Smerdis who not only bore the same name as Kambyses's brother but was also physically similar to him, with one exception: the Median Smerdis had no ears; Kambyses had inflicted a punishment on the Mede that required that his ears be lopped off; the two Medes were able to perpetuate the charade by keeping the false-Smerdis hidden in the palace and never allowing high ranking Persians or his wives to see him.
In order to provoke Kambyses and establish his power, Patizeithes sent heralds throughout the empire proclaiming that Smerdis was now king of the Persians; Kambyses heard the news as he was traveling through Syria on his way back to his capitol of Susa; he had committed many atrocious acts as king and he knew that the Persian aristocracy, the army and the common people would support a revolt that would remove him from power; he also knew that his brother was dead and therefore could not be on the throne; after considering the facts, he correctly perceived the truth of the matter, i.e. the Smerdis on the throne was the brother of his steward Patizeithes and that the Medes were now in control of his empire.
As Kambyses was preparing to take his army to Susa, he accidentally wounded himself with his sword and within days, the wound became infected and his was eminent; he called the highest ranking Persians of his army to his side and told them the truth; he told them how he had sent Prexaspes to secretly murder his brother Smerdis and that a Mede, a false-Smerdis, had assumed the throne; he urged them to use any means necessary to depose the false-Smerdis and place a Persian on the throne.
The Persians who heard the story of the false-Smerdis simply did not believe it; Kambyses had been such a cruel and manipulative man that they assumed this was his final death-bed act of spite and disruption; after Kambyses died, Prexaspes, to protect himself from reprisals, denied any knowledge of the murder of Smerdis; the army and almost all of the Persian people believed that the false-Smerdis was the rightful heir to the empire and they did not question his authority or identity.
In the first few months of his reign, false-Smerdis proclaimed that his subjects would be exempt from tribute (taxes) and that mandatory military service would be curtailed for three years; he established himself as a magnanimous sovereign quite opposite from the oppressive domination that Kambyses had instituted; however, a few Persians devised a way to verify his true identity; they persuaded one of his many wives to secretly feel his head to see if he had ears; the true Smerdis had ears and the false-Smerdis did not; while false-Smerdis was asleep, she felt his head and found that he had no ears; she told her father of this revelation and he and six others began plotting to kill the false-Smerdis and reclaim the throne for a Persian ruler.
False-Smerdis and his brother Patizeithes devised their own way of securing the throne and removing any opposition to their false claim to the throne; they called upon the murderer of the true-Smerdis, Prexaspes, to publicly proclaim that the false-Smerdis was in fact the true-Smerdis; they offered him riches and position if he would commit this one final act of betrayal of his nation and his people; Prexaspes agreed to the lie but as he was addressing the Persian citizens from the palace balcony, he had a change of heart and told the truth; he admitted that he had killed the true-Smerdis and that false-Smerdis and Patizeithes were trying to reclaim the throne for the Medes; at that point, Prexaspes threw himself from the balcony and died honorably.
Seizing the moment, the Persians who were plotting to assassinate false-Smerdis and Patizeithes burst into the palace and fulfilled their mission; they killed false-Smerdis and Patizeithes, cut off their heads and ran through the streets with their trophies proclaiming their successful revolution; the other Persians took up the cause and began slaughtering every Mede they encountered; the seven perpetrators of the coup chose one of their members, Darius, to be the next king of the Persian Empire; the year was 521 BCE; false-Smerdis ruled for seven months.
Histories, book 3.61-80 and 3.88
SMEEN theh os
An epithet for the god Apollon; the word is of Cretan origin and is assumed to mean Mouse God; the translator Robert Fagles states that "perhaps" it implies that Apollon is associated with the mouse because he is the god who bears the plague.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb) book 1, line 39
Iliad (Fagles) book 1, line 45
Iliad (Fitzgerald) book 1, line 46
Smyrna or Zmyrna; the mother of Adonis and daughter of King Kinyras (Cinyras) of the island of Cyprus; she is usually called Zmyrna.
Zmyrna was the mother of Adonis by the unnatural union with her father; she had dishonored Aphrodite (goddess of Love) and the angry goddess had her revenge by causing Zmyrna's father to seduce her; Adonis was the result of that union; when Kinyras came to his senses he intended to kill Zmyrna but the Immortals intervened and turned the disgraced girl into a myrrh tree.
Her name may also be rendered as Myrrha.
An ancient Greek city located on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Izmir approximately 40 miles (64 kilometers) due west of the Lydian capital of Sardis; Smyrna is now known as the Turkish city of Izmir.
In relation to columns, the underside of an architectural feature, as in a cornice.
(469-399 BCE) The famous Athenian philosopher who was executed for his aggressive style of confrontational argument.
Socrates used questions to elicit admissions or lead students and opponents to conclusions that they might not otherwise endorse; he was unjustly ridiculed and satirically characterized as an uncouth and generally annoying person; comic writers such as Aristophanes, portrayed Socrates as a blithering intellectual with no regard for his actions or ideas; Aristophanes may have contributed to the notion that Socrates had corrupted the religion and morals of the youth of Athens because Socrates was condemned to death for such misconceptions; Socrates wrote nothing and our knowledge and understanding of this great man is only preserved by such writers as Plato and Xenophon.
SOH lon
The Athenian statesman who introduced the idea of a just constitution which recognized the necessity of including all classes of citizens in the government; Solon lived circa 638-558 BCE.
Solon was considered to be one of the wisest men in Greece and was always honored by his inclusion as one of the Seven Sages; the Athenians had been burdened with the harsh code of laws imposed by Drako (Draco) in 621 BCE and they were anxious for a new form of government which would benefit all citizens; of course, each strata of the population wanted to better their own situation without inciting the ire of the other classes but all agreed that change was absolutely necessary; the prosperous citizens wanted to keep their wealth and the poorer citizens wanted a more equitable distribution of the land; they asked Solon to draft a new code of laws which would change everything but still retain the social dynamics of the city; his frank and eloquent explanations of his intentions earned him the respect of all classes of Athenian citizens and as his popularity increased, the citizens wanted him to assume the title of tyrant but he refused because, although their were beneficent and kindly tyrants, the title had generally become tainted with the stains of indulgence and corruption; Solon opted for a constitutional form of government which would include all classes in the administration of the civil and criminal policies of the city.
Solon's most liberating innovations were: 1) the freeing of people who had been sold into slavery or exiled because of debt and 2) the return of all mortgaged land to the debtors; this latter policy was compromised when he confided in several of his friends that he intended to abolish all debts and leave land ownership untouched; his friends immediately borrowed money to purchase land and when the new laws went into effect, were freed from their debts and given a clear title to the land they had acquired; even with these flagrant indulgences, the new laws were deemed appropriate and generally beneficial.
Solon's new constitution included four classes of citizens based on their wealth and occupations:
1) Pentakosiomedimnoi - the owners of large, productive tracts of land;
2) Ippeis - horsemen and charioteers;
3) Zeygitai - ox drivers; and
4) Thetes - hired farm workers who served as lightly-armed soldiers and common seaman.
When asked which city he though would be the best place to live, Solon replied that it would be a city where even the citizens who were not wronged exerted themselves to punish wrongdoers; in other words, he envisioned a society where all citizens wanted justice for all others; to instill and legitimize this concept, Solon included laws that would disenfranchise anyone who did not take a side on issues discussed in the Assembly.
Solon made the legislation of Athens dependant on three different bodies: 1) the Areopagus, which was comprised of former Archons of the city, 2) the council of citizens, which was made up of one hundred men from each of the four classes of citizens and decided which issues were to be placed before the Assembly, and 3) the Assembly, which democratically decided all public issues.
Solon's laws were of two categories: the Kurbeis and the Axones; the Kurbeis dealt with sacred rites and sacrifices and the remainder of the laws were considered to be Axones; the term Axones (from which we get the English word Axiom) denotes anything that is worthy or justified; Axones was also the name given to the wooden plaques on which the new laws were publicly displayed.
To list a few of Solon's laws:
- It was prohibited to export products of the soil except fig and olive oil; the area around Athens, i.e. Attica, was very poor farmland and all food grown there was necessary to sustain the population;
- Foreigners were forbidden to became citizens of Athens unless they were permanently exiled from their homeland or practiced a viable commercial trade; Solon wanted the Athenians to welcome people who were motivated and productive but he also realized that such people would only come to Athens if they knew they had a chance to become citizens;
- If a father did not teach his son a trade, the son would not be legally obliged to care for his father in his old age; seafaring merchants would not come to a city that had no goods to trade so Solon enacted this law to encourage men to train their sons in the manufacturing trades;
- It was illegal to speak ill of the dead; Solon felt that it was important to regard the dead as sacred; also, it was illegal to speak ill of the living in temples, courts, public offices or at festivals; for committing such crimes, a fine of three drachmas had to be paid to the person who was offended and two drachmas had to paid to the public treasury (at that time, a drachma was worth a sheep or a bushel of grain);
- The institution of a last will and testament made the distribution of a dead man's property more equitable; up until that time, a man could not bequeath money or belongings to his friends and lovers, therefore all property would automatically go to the next of kin; the legalization of a last will and testament put the concepts of love and friendship on an equal footing with blood relations; in order to have a legal will, the man writing the will had to be of sound mind and not under the influence of; 1) illness, 2) drugs, 3) imprisonment or 4) undue pressure from his wife;
- Dowries were prohibited; a bride could only take three changes of clothing and a few household items into her new home; Solon believed that there should be no monetary motives when two people decided to marry; marriage was intended for love and the begetting of children; also relating to marriage, Solon believed that no marriage should be tolerated "which age forbids," i.e. the young and the old should not intermarry;
- Women were not allowed to wear more than three garments in public and not allowed to carry food or drink worth more than one obol, i.e. the price of a light meal; also, women were not allowed to be out after dark unless they were in a cart with a lantern;
- Regarding funerals, it was illegal to lacerate the flesh as sign of grief; in times past, it was customary for women to rip their cheeks with their fingernails as a sign of grief; unless it was during the burial, it was illegal to visit a grave or tomb of a person who was not a relative; no oxen could be sacrificed at a grave and the dead could not be buried with more than three sets of clothing;
- An adulterer, caught in the act could be killed; the crime of rape was punished by a fine ranging between twenty and one hundred drachmas;
- Trees could not be planted too close to a neighbors property; olive and fig trees were required to be planted further away than other trees; and
- If you could not find water on your property, you were allowed to use your neighbors water in limited quantities.
The laws that Solon initiated were intended to be in place for at least ten years without alteration but almost immediately, people began to approach Solon seeking to add to, subtract from, reword and generally change the laws; others begged him to define and explain his laws more clearly; Solon had no desire to encourage disagreements or kowtow to his friends so he left Athens for an extended period of travel; he visited Egypt, Cyprus and Sardis; while Solon was in Egypt, he heard the story of the founding of Athens by the refugees from Atlantis; he intended to write the complete story himself but never did; it finally came down to us through Plato but the legend was brought back to Greece by Solon; while in Cyprus, Solon advised King Philokyprus (Philocyprus) to move his capitol city to a more fertile location and Philokyprus was so pleased with the idea that he named the new city Soli in honor of Solon; Solon then went to Sardis in Lydia and had a brief interview with King Kroesus (Croesus); Kroesus was aware of Solon's reputation and tried to impress him with his wealth; he asked Solon who he thought was the most blessed man in the world because Kroesus fully expected Solon to bestow that honor on him; Solon did not please Kroesus with his answer because he named three men who he thought had lived and died well and were indeed blessed by the Immortals; he went on to explain that a man's life could not be judged until after his death because seemingly rich men are merely lucky and might still die without honor whereas a poor man who died as nobly as he had lived was truly blessed.
After ten years of traveling, Solon returned to Athens and found the city again divided into bickering factions; Solon met with the various leaders of the factions and tried his best to settle their differences in a harmonious way but he was unable to persuade them to return to his constitutional government; the most powerful and charismatic factional leader was a man named Pisistratus (Peisistratus); Pisistratus was a man of physical beauty and personal charm but his glowing rhetoric did not fool Solon; Solon was related to Pisistratus and had known him all of his life, he knew that Pisistratus was reckless and vainglorious and that he had no intentions of acting in the best interests of the city; the poorer classes of the Athenians admired Pisistratus and the wealthy citizens were afraid to stand up against him; after a series of cleverly choreographed theatrics, lies and threats of violence, Pisistratus dismantled Solon's constitution and became tyrant of Athens; there was nothing Solon could do except symbolically place his weapons in the street outside his house and retire to a quiet life of writing poetry and heaping reproaches on the Athenians for being short sighted and cowardly; Pisistratus did not seek revenge on the aging Solon, he treated him with respect and let him live out the remainder of his life in peace.
Plutarch's Lives, Solon
Histories, book 1.29-33; book 2.177; book 5.113
The fierce fighters that Bellerophontes (Bellerophon) was obliged to fight for the lord of Lykia (Lycia), Iobates; Bellerophontes's son, Isandros was later killed by Ares (god of War) in close battle with the Solymoi.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 6, lines 184 and 204
Iliad (Fagles), book 6, lines 217 and 242
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 6, lines 216 and 240
Originally Sophists were noted as teachers and scholars; they earned their living by teaching and were regarded as honorable men; by the fifth century BCE the term Sophist became a derogatory designation for men who argued for the sake of argument and were more concerned with winning arguments than seeking truth or knowledge.
A dialogue by Plato denouncing the Sophists as false teachers and men of dishonor.
(496-406 BCE) An Athenian playwright who has the rare honor to have been loved and appreciated in his own time and down through the ages until the present day.
He was a man of wealth, physical beauty and commanding personality; his extant plays include: The Theban Plays (Oedipus Tyrannus, Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus), Elektra (Electra), Aias (Ajax), Trachiniae and Philoktetes (Philoctetes); he was a renowned citizen of the city of Athens but seemed to have no political ambitions; he had two sons: Iophon and Agathon.
The son of Agathon and the grandson of the Athenian playwright by the same name, Sophocles; after his grandfather's death, he produced his grandfather's play, Oedipus at Colonus (circa 401 BCE).
One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE).
Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy; an oligarchy is a system of government allowing a few select people or families to rule a city or region based on the assumption that their bloodline or intellect gave them a superior predisposition and right to rule.
The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.
Hellenica, book 2.3
An island group which includes the Dodekanese (Dodecanese), and located off the southwestern coast of Asia Minor.
The foster-mother of Cyrus the Great who became the king of the Persian Empire.
Spako is the Median name for Kyno (Cyno); her name played an important part in the legend that made Cyrus such a powerful and charismatic leader because kyno and spax mean female dog in Greek and Median respectively; she was the wife of the cowherd, Mitradates, who raised Cyrus as her son.
The story begins with the Median king Astyages and his daughter, Mandane; Astyages wanted his daughter's infant son murdered and gave the foul task to one of his trusted kinsmen, Harpagus; after Harpagus gave thought to the matter, he decided to keep his hands clean and give the dirty deed to someone of lower rank; he ordered a herdsman named Mitradates to take the baby into the wilderness and leave it to the beasts and elements.
Mitradates took the baby back to his home and found that his wife Kyno had just given birth but that her baby had been born dead; Kyno persuaded Mitradates to spare the life of the king's grandson and to present their dead baby to Harpagus and declare that the evil deed had been done; Harpagus believed Mitradates's story and gave the matter no more thought.
Mitradates and Kyno raised the child as their own and all went well until the young boy had a dispute with his playmates; a group of boys were playing a game and Mandane's son was chosen to play the role of the king; when one of the boys disobeyed a "royal" command, the "king" ordered that he be beaten; the boy who had been punished took offense at such base treatment because his family was of noble birth and a mere herdsman's son had ordered him beaten; the boy's father took the insulting matter to King Astyages for justice.
Astyages called Mitradates and his "son" to stand trial but when Astyages saw the family resemblance of the boy to his daughter and to himself he realized that Mandane's son was still alive; Astyages demanded the truth from Mitradates and he soon understood the entire sequence of events; the young boy was taken from Mitradates and Kyno and given to his natural mother and father, Mandane and Kambyses; the boy was named Cyrus and as he grew to manhood he was the best and brightest of his peers.
Cyrus united the Persians and led a successful revolt against King Astyages; in order to add an element of divine intervention to the life of Cyrus, his mother and father told a slightly augmented version of his early life; they claimed that he had been left in the wilderness as Astyages had ordered and that he had been nursed by a female dog, i.e., a kyno, until he was old enough to take revenge on his grandfather Astyages and end the rule of the Medes.
Histories, book 1.110-122
The son of Queen Tomyris of the nation of the Massagetae which was located in eastern Asia Minor.
When the Persians faced the Massagetae in battle circa 529 BCE, Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire set a devious trap for Spargapises and captured him.
Queen Tomyris begged Cyrus to retreat and leave her country in peace but Cyrus was determined to conquer all of Asia Minor and refused to withdraw; Queen Tomyris told Cyrus that if he wanted blood, she would drown him in his own blood.
The war continued but when Cyrus was unable to defeat the Massagetae, he pretended to retreat and left his supply wagons behind for the Massagetae to plunder; the Massagetae were poor by Persian standards and the Massagetae army ate and drank themselves into a stupor on the extravagant supplies the Persians left behind; Cyrus pounced on the sated Massagetae and took Spargapises captive.
With Spargapises as a hostage, Cyrus thought the war was over and relaxed his guard; he released Spargapises from his bonds and the young man was able to escape; when the Persians engaged the Massagetae again, they were soundly defeated and Cyrus was killed; Queen Tomyris wanted to humiliate Cyrus even after his death so she put a bag of blood over his head.
Histories, book 1.211-214
Sparta is a city in southern Greece on the Peloponnesian Peninsula and the primary city of the district of Lakonia (Laconia); located by the river Eurotas and originally settled by the Dorians.
Sparta was a respected and powerful city before the Trojan War, i.e. before 1250 BCE; King Tyndareus (Tyndareos) ruled Sparta when his wife Leda gave birth to Helen, Kastor (Castor) and Polydeukes (Polydeuces or Pollux) who were all children of Zeus; Helen married Menelaos (Menelaus) who became the king of Sparta after Tyndareus died; the Trojan War began when Helen was taken to Troy; commanded by Menelaos, the troops from Sparta joined the other Greek cities and fought for Helen's return.
Although the city of Sparta existed before well 1250 BCE, the ideals of austerity and simplicity which we generally associate with Sparta did not come into play until much later; at the instigation of a man named Lykurgos (Lycurgus), a rigid code of Spartan laws were implemented and obediently obeyed for over five hundred years; the time in which Lykurgos lived is not known with certainty but a good guess would be circa 776 BCE.
The laws which Lykurgos introduced were designed to unite and equalize the citizens of Sparta; all social and family activities were mandated to guarantee the city's social and economic independence; the Spartans refused to indulge the construction of elaborate temples or impressive architecture because they sincerely believed in simplicity and practicality rather than superficial displays of wealth and culture; even today, we use the term Spartan to denote something that is very basic, with no frills or ornaments.
After the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), Sparta was the undisputed dominant power of the Greek mainland, Ionia and Asia Minor; the people of Sparta were very proud and the city was known as the "city with invisible walls" because they sincerely believed that if they could not defend their city with the strength of their army, and not stone walls, they did not deserve to be free.
As if he was speaking directly to us in the twenty-first century, the historian, Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War (Introduction, section 10), stated that if Sparta was deserted and all that remained was the temples and the foundations of buildings, it would be difficult to imagine the power and influence the city once wielded; he also said that if the city of Athens was viewed in the same way, it would appear twice as powerful as it had once been.
There are several references in Greek literature which exemplify the Spartan ideals:
1) The historian Herodotus (Histories, book 7.133-137) relates the story of how the Persian king, Darius, had sent ambassadors to Sparta and Athens to demand earth and water as a symbolic tribute and submission to the Persian king; the Athenians threw the Persian heralds into The Pit, which was the punishment meted out to criminals; the heralds received similar treatment in Sparta.
A group of enraged Spartans threw the Persian heralds into a well and told them that they could get all the earth and water they wanted at the bottom of the well; the Athenians thought no more of the matter but the Spartans became more and more distressed at their rash behavior; their sacrifices in a shrine of Talthybius, which pertained to heralds, were repeatedly unfavorable.
Ten years later, the city fathers asked for volunteers to go to the new Persian invader, Xerxes, to confess the disgraceful crime against the heralds and offer themselves for execution; two men of property and of high birth volunteered (Sperthias and Bulis) and surrendered themselves to Xerxes; the new Persian king surprised everyone, including his generals and advisors, by not executing the Spartan volunteers; instead, he took the Spartans on a tour of his assembled army and navy and let them return to Sparta unharmed; the purpose of this maneuver was to allow the Spartans to marvel at his strength and be cowed into submission rather than fight a pointless war; he seriously misjudged the Spartans because they would never surrender without a fight and any fight they entered would end either when they were victorious or when there were no Spartans left to fight.
2) Another example of Spartan idealism can also be taken from Herodotus (Histories, book 3.46):
The people of the island of Samos were being oppressed by an unfit ruler named Polykrates (Polycrates) so they sent an emissary to Sparta to ask for assistance; the emissary from Samos gave a long and detailed plea for assistance to the Spartan ephors and was astonished to be told that he should come back the next day and restate his appeal; the emissary was advised that the Spartans were not like the Athenians and that he should simplify his request if he expected any help; the following day when the emissary addressed the ephors, he held up an empty grain sack and said simply, "The sack is empty," one of the ephors replied, "We can see that it's a sack, there was no need to say that."
3) As an example of Spartan dominance after the Peloponnesian War, Xenophon relates an interesting story in Anabasis (book 7, chapter 1) where six thousand battle-hardened mercenary soldiers were confronted by a few red-cloaked Spartan officers and told that they could not stay in the city of Byzantium; the weary and hungry mercenaries obeyed the Spartans even though they could have easily pushed them aside but they knew that such an act would never be forgotten or forgiven by the Spartans; the mercenaries were angry but they complied with the Spartan demand and left the city without delay; the Spartans were the masters of all Greece and their authority was questioned only by fools.
The Spartans, like all Greek nations, were fiercely independent and this tendency was probably the cause of their eventual decline and subjugation; by circa 300 BCE, the Spartans had been effectively surrounded by unsympathetic hostile forces and were cut off from their sources of slaves and commerce.
The loss of Spartan independence did not come with one fatal attack or incident but with the slow decline of their influence throughout the Aegean area and, more importantly, on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
After 200 BCE, the Spartans were quickly reduced to a minor Greek influence and finally, in 146 BCE, they became subjects of the Roman Empire.
The Spartans were also called the Lakedaimonians (Lacedaimonians) because they inhabited Lakedaimon (Lacedaimon).
Approximate East Longitude 22º 25' and North Latitude 37º 4'
Also called a Message Stick; the Greek name was Okytala.
A method was needed to insure the security and privacy of messages and the Spartan Cipher Rod was a simple solution to this problem.
A strip of paper or cloth was wrapped in a spiral around a round wooden rod and a message was written on the paper and then the paper was unwrapped and dispatched to the intended receiver; when the unwrapped paper was viewed, the message was incomprehensible but when the intended receiver re-wrapped the paper around a wooden rod of the same diameter the message became clear.
Lives, Lysander, chapter 19
Pindar, Olympian Ode 6, line 91
A group of fully armed warriors who sprang from the dragon's teeth that Kadmos (Cadmus) planted at the advice of Athene (Athena).
When Kadmos founded the city of Thebes a dragon guarded the nearby spring; Kadmos killed the dragon and Athene knocked the teeth from the dead dragon's head and gave half to Kadmos and the other half to King Aietes (Aeetes) of Kolchis (Colchis).
Kadmos planted the teeth and Earth-Born warriors rose from the ground; he induced a fight between the magical soldiers which sprang from the dragon's teeth and finally only five remained alive; these survivors became the ancestors of noble families of Thebes.
When Jason was trying to take possession of the Golden Fleece, he also had to fight the Earth-Born soldiers; Jason used the same trick that Kadmos had used and after the Earth-Born soldiers had reduced their numbers by fighting amongst themselves, he easily killed the rest.
Argonautika, book 3, lines 1278-1407
A Spartan citizen; a member of the ruling class of ancient Lakonia (Laconia), i.e. Sparta.
SPEE oh
One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris collectively known as the Nereids, i.e. the daughters of the Nereus.
Other than a passing reference to her name, the only Nereid to receive any individual attention in the ancient literature was Thetis; as the mother of Achilles and one of the few goddesses to refuse the amorous intentions of Zeus, Thetis was unique; when the Immortals needed the Nereids, they called upon Thetis to rally her sisters for whatever task was needed.
The Nereids and the Argonauts - After Jason and the Argonauts had taken the Golden Fleece from Kolchis (Colchis), Medeia (Medea), the daughter of King Aietes (Aeetes), helped Jason murder her half-brother Apsyrtos (Apsyrtus) in a rather cowardly way; Zeus swore revenge for such a dastardly act but his sister/wife Hera wanted to protect the Argonauts until Jason and Medeia could be absolved of their crime by the Dread-Goddess Kirke (Circe); Hera called upon Thetis to gather the Nereids so they could quiet the waters of the sea so the Argonauts could safely navigate to Kirke's island; Thetis plunged into the sea and called to her sisters; her call was answered and the Nereids helped save the Argonauts.
The Nereids at the funeral of Patroklos (Patroclus) - In the last year of the Trojan War, Achilles's companion Patroklos was killed; Achilles took Patroklos's death very hard and called out to his mother Thetis for consolation; Thetis and the Nereids rose from the sea and graced the dead body of Patroklos with their divine presence.
The Nereids at the funeral of Achilles - The death of Achilles was one of the most dramatic events of the Trojan War; as the son of Thetis, his death had particular significance to the Nereids; at the funeral of Achilles, Thetis, the Nereids and the Muses all came to pay their respects.
Theogony, line 245
A cave-like temple or tomb cut into rock; Speos means Cave.
The Sphinx was a very unusual creature which was usually represented as having the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle.
The Sphinx was referred to as Dog-Faced and the Claw-Foot Lady by Sophocles in the play Oedipus Tyrannus; she was the offspring of the serpent Echidna and the two-headed dog, Orthos; she was the sister of the Nemean Lion.
The Sphinx became infamous when she stationed herself on a hill outside the city of Thebes and began asking travelers to answer a riddle; if they answered her riddle incorrectly, she killed them; her reign of death continued until a traveler came along who was destined for a fate far worse than death.
An ill-fated man named Oedipus was trying his best to escape a prophecy given to him by the Oracle at Delphi when he encountered the Sphinx; Oedipus had been told that he was destined to kill his father so he fled his home in Corinth so that the prophecy could not be fulfilled; Oedipus did not realize that the people who had raised him were not really his parents and unwittingly went to Thebes where his real parents were the king and queen.
When Oedipus was near Thebes, he encountered the Sphinx and she asked him to answer her riddle; Oedipus was a clever man and answered the riddle correctly; the Sphinx killed herself.
Oedipus also encountered an arrogant man on the road to Thebes; a deadly quarrel erupted and Oedipus killed the man and all but one of his servants; Oedipus did not realize until many years later that the man he killed was his father, King Laius of Thebes.
When Oedipus entered the city, the citizens knew that he had killed the Sphinx but did not know that he had killed their king; the Thebans welcomed Oedipus as a hero and thought that his arrival was somehow fated; they asked him to marry the widowed queen and become their next king; the queen was of course his mother and Oedipus's life continued on a downward spiral of misery and tragedy.
The riddle which the Sphinx posed to Oedipus was briefly referred to by the poet Hesiod in Works of Days: What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening?; the answer is Man, i.e. he crawls on all-fours as an infant, walks on two legs in his prime and walks with a cane in old age.
Theogony, lines 324+
Works and Days, line 533;
A promontory near the city of Thebes.
Sphinx Hill was aptly named because it is where the Sphinx would sit and menace travelers to Thebes; the Sphinx was a unusual creature with the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle; she would ask travelers riddles and kill them if they answered incorrectly.
Finally the Sphinx's reign of death came to an end when she encountered the future king of Thebes, Oedipus; he correctly answered her riddle and the Sphinx took her own life, presumably on Sphinx Hill.
Shield of Herakles, line 33
Two groups of islands in the Aegean Sea; the Northern Sporades are near the coast of mainland Greece and directly north of the large island of Euboea; the Southern Sporades, which include the Dodekanese (Dodecanese), are located off the southwestern coast of Asia Minor.
Google Map for the Northern Sporades
Google Map for the Southern Sporades
A unit of measure which is also called a Stade or Stadium and is normally considered to be the length of a racecourse; the stade was a common unit of measure in ancient Greece and was later incorporated in the Roman system of measurement in a slightly altered form.
There seems to have been at least four different lengths attributed to the stade; the problem is not with the definition of the stade, but rather with the definition of the Greek foot used to make a stade; a stade was 600 feet, however, there were several lengths ascribed to the Greek foot.
Greek foot:
An Attic foot is equal to .9649 English feet or .2941 meters;
A Roman foot is equal to 1.0105 English feet or .308 meters;
A Doric foot is equal to 1.0725 English feet or .3269 meters;
An Ionic foot is equal to 1.1440 English feet or .3487 meters.
Stades:
Olympic stade (600 Attic feet) = 578.7 English feet or 176.4 meters;
Italian stade (600 Roman feet) = 606.3 English feet or 184.8 meters;
Babylonian-Persian stade (600 Doric feet) = 643.4 English feet or 196.1 meters;
Phoenician-Egyptian stade (600 Ionic feet) = 686.4 English feet or 209.2 meters.
The Parthenon on the Acropolis at Athens was built in the Doric style and a version of the Greek foot was used in its construction; the Acropolis, on which the Parthenon was built, was known as the Hecatompedon meaning, measure of a hundred feet; that implied that if a unit of 100 could be found on an obvious part of the Parthenon and then compared to other parts of the structure, the measurements would yield round numbers, not fractions; the stylobate (the foundation on which the rows of columns were placed) was found to be 100 units wide and 225 units long; it seemed that the Greek foot used for the Parthenon had been found but before the celebrations could begin, it was discovered that a variation on the Parthenon foot had also been used; this unit of measure is called a trimmed lesser foot and made the stylobate 111.111 feet wide; the Parthenon owes its lasting symmetrical beauty to the fact that aesthetic considerations were more important than a strict adherence to units of measure; the arbitrary nature of the Greek foot makes the length of the stade likewise, arbitrary.
An ancient town in northeastern Greece, in Macedon on the eastern Chalkidike (Chalcidice) Peninsula; the birthplace of Aristotle.
An storage jar having an oval body tapering at the base and two horizontal handles set on the shoulders.
Limos; Famine or Starvation; one of the sons of Eris (Discord).
Theogony, line 227
Works of Days, line 299
Perhaps the author of The Kypria.
The Kypria was part of the Epic Cycle and has survived only in fragments; the original eleven books have been reduced to twenty two fragments which describe the Trojan War, the Judgment of Paris and other facts about the war and its participants; several of the fragments refer to the author as Stasinus but others note the author as either Homer or Hegesias.
The Kypria, fragments 2, 6, 12 and 22
The sister of the last Persian king, Darius III and the wife of Alexander the Great.
In 325 BCE, after his conquest of India, Alexander returned to the city of Babylon and tried to consolidate his power before going home to Greece; he actively tried to mix the Greeks with the Persians through marriage and shared authority; to demonstrate his intentions, he married Darius's sister, Stateira; her official name was Barsine but she was generally called Stateira.
Arrian, Campaigns of Alexander, book 7.4
A unit of money, one gold stator was worth two silver drachma; one drachma was the fee for a fully equipped mercenary for one day.
One of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The Statue of Zeus was built as the centerpiece for the Temple of Zeus in the city of Olympia in the district of Elis on the Peloponnesian Peninsula; designed by the legendary sculptor, Phidias and constructed circa 435 BCE.
While it was still standing, the statue was described in detail by several travelers including Phylo of Byzantium and Pausanias; the statue was made of gold and ivory fashioned over a wooden frame (this type of ivory-gold construction is called chryselephantine); Zeus was seated on a throne with an olive garland and jeweled crown on his head; in his right hand he was holding the figure of the goddess Nike (Victory) and in his left hand was a scepter with an eagle perched on top; his robe was made of gold and decorated with figures of animals and white lilies.
The paving stones in front of the statue were black and there was a small moat filled with olive oil to preserve the ivory from the dankness of the temple's interior; the statue was perhaps overlarge for the size of the room in which it was enthroned but it's assumed that the proportions of the room and statue were deliberately designed to instill a sense of awe in the worshipers; the exact size of the statue is unknown but it can be assumed to have been at least 30-40 feet (9-12 meters) in height; the sculpture was dismantled circa 420 CE and removed to Constantinople where it was presumed to have survived for another fifty years.
An upright stone or column with an inscription; usually used as a monument or as a commemorative plaque on the face of a building.
The stele pictured above was found on the Acropolis of Athens and records various details of the construction of the statue of Athene (Athena) Parthenos including the expenses for the gold and ivory used on the statue.
One of the Titans, i.e. one of the children of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (the Heavens); one of the cyclops; he and his brothers, Brontes and Arges, forge the thunderbolts for Zeus.
Theogony, line 139
stee SEE hoh ros
A lyric poet from Himera on the northern coast of Sicily, circa 525 BCE.
The term Lyric Poetry is quite literal and designates poetry written to be sung to the accompaniment of the lyre; the lyric poets flourished from roughly 700 BCE until 400 BCE.
Very little remains of the poems of Stesichorus but, judging by references to him, he wrote long epic-style poems dealing with the Trajan War, Herakles (Heracles) and King Oedipus of Thebes.
One interesting observation Stesichorus makes in regard to the cause of the Trojan War concerns Helen's father, Tyndareos; according to Stesichorus, Tyndareos made sacrifices to all the Immortals except Aphrodite (goddess of Love) and it was this oversight which prompted Aphrodite to enchant Helen and Alexandros (Paris); the two helpless lovers fled to Troy and the Trajan War began; the classical explanation for the love affair between Alexandros and Helen is that Aphrodite promised Helen to Alexandros when he chose her as the most beautiful goddess at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis; Stesichorus offers a new explanation which still lays the blame on Aphrodite but varies slightly in the details.
There are several excellent collections of lyric poetry that I can personally recommend; if you want to read a sampling of this poetic style, I suggest 7 Greeks by Guy Davenport or Greek Lyric, an Anthology in Translation by Andrew M. Miller; however, the most complete collection is undoubtedly the three volume collection from the Loeb Classical Library, Greek Lyric, Greek Lyric II and Greek Lyric III; you can sometimes find these books at your local library or you can purchase any of these books from the Book Shop on this site; look in the Poetry section.
A queen of Argos; the wife of King Proetus and noted for her role in the banishment of Bellerophontes (Bellerophon).
The name Stheneboea was given to this queen at a date sometime after the composition of The Iliad, i.e. after 750 BCE; she was referred to as Anteia by Homer when Bellerophontes recounts his linage in book 6 of The Iliad.
According to Bellerophontes, Anteia (Stheneboea) tried to seduce him but he refused her advances; the queen went to her husband King Proetus and told him that Bellerophontes had tried to force his affections on her; Proetus did not want to kill Bellerophontes outright so he sent the young man to Anteia's father in Lykia (Lycia) with instructions for Bellerophontes to be killed; Anteia's father is not named in The Iliad but in later versions of the story, his name is given as King Iobates; the king did not kill Bellerophontes immediately and soon came to have the greatest respect for him as a man and a warrior.
She is also called Antia and as the wife of Proetus, was the mother of Iphianassa, Iphinoe and Lypsippe.
STHEH neh los
The son of Kapaneus (Capaneus) and one of the commanders of the Epigoni, i.e. After-Born.
Sthenelos was also one of the co-commanders of the Greeks from Argos during the siege of Troy; Diomedes was the commander and Euryalos (Euryalus) was the other co-commander.
Prior to the Trojan War, Sthenelos's father Kapaneus had been a member of the Seven Against Thebes who had attacked and failed to capture the city of Thebes; with the exception of Adrastus (Adrestos), Kapaneus and all the other commanders of the Seven were killed.
Ten years after the failure of the Seven, the sons of the Seven, the Epigoni (After-Born), attacked Thebes and successfully breached the walls and captured the city; Sthenelos and Diomedes were both members of the Epigoni because Diomedes's father Tydeus had also been killed as a commander of the Seven Against Thebes.
We can assume that Sthenelos was at least twenty years old when the Epigoni captured Thebes; since the Trojan War began circa 1250 BCE, we might assume that Sthenelos was in his mid-twenties when the Trojan War began.
Iliad (Lattimore), book 2, line 564; book 4, line 367; book 5, lines 108, 111, 241 and 835; book 8, line 113; book 9, line 48; book 23, line 510
Iliad (Loeb), book 2, line 564; book 4, line 367; book 5, lines 108, 111, 241 and 835; book 8, line 114; book 9, line 48; book 23, line 511
Iliad (Fagles), book 2, line 655; book 4, line 428; book 5, lines 118, 121, 268 and 965; book 8, line 132; book 9, line 55; book 23, line 568
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 2, line 665; book 4, line 443; book 5, lines 124, 125, 127, 279 and 954; book 8, line 129; book 9, line 56; book 23, line 583
The son of Aktor (Actor) who accompanied Herakles (Heracles) on his Ninth Labor, i.e. to Retrieve the Belt of the Amazon, Hippolyte.
Sthenelos died on the shores of the Euxine (Black Sea) before he could return home; when the Argonauts passed his burial mound, Persephone allowed his "shade" to rise from the Underworld and gaze upon the heroes and their ship; Orpheus dedicated his lyre to Sthenelos and thereafter the land was named Lyra.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 911-929
A descendant of Perseus and the father of Eurystheus; the goddess Hera delayed the birth of Herakles (Heracles) so that Eurystheus could be born first and therefore be the king of Argos; Eurystheus became the taskmaster of Herakles and commanded him to perform the Twelve Labors.
Iliad (Lattimore and Loeb), book 19, lines 116 and 123
Iliad (Fagles), book 19, lines 134 and 144
Iliad (Fitzgerald), book 19, lines 131 and 141
One of the three sisters known as the Gorgons.
The Gorgons, with the exception of Medusa, were immortal creatures and all three were hideous to behold; Sthenno and her two sisters had snakes on their heads, about their wrists and around their waists; Sthenno and her sister Euryale gave chase to Perseus after he beheaded Medusa but could not catch him; the Gorgons were the daughters of Phorkys (Phorcys) and Keto (Ceto) and sisters of the Graiae (the Gray Sisters).
Theogony, lines 276+
The school of philosophy founded by Zeno circa 300-315 BCE; Zeno taught that people should be free of passion, unmoved by joy or grief and submit without complaint to unavoidable necessity.
Various trees of the genus Styrax or Liquidambar which produce an aromatic resin; the historian Herodotus said that the Arabians burned storax in order to drive the flying serpents away from the frankincense plant so that they could harvest the profitable export.
Histories, book 3.107
The Logoi; Logoi can be translated as Lies, Stories or Fables but the meaning is clear no matter which name you choose for these sons of Eris (Discord).
Theogony, line 229
One of the fragmentary remains of the Epic Cycle.
There are only three fragments of this six thousand six hundred verse poem in existence and the fragments we possess are references to the poem and not excerpts from this lost epic.
According to these references, Oedipus's children were born from a woman named Euryganeia and not by his mother, Iokaste (Jocasta); we are also informed that Haemon the son of Kreon (Creon), did not kill himself but was killed by the Sphinx.
For the complete translations of the Epic Cycle I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.
A narrow passage of water separating Italy from the northeastern coast of the island of Sicily.
The strait separates the Ionian Sea from the Tyrrhenian Sea and derives its name from the Sicilian city Messina, which was known in ancient times as Messana.
The narrow passage of the Strait of Messina forced unwitting sailors to come dangerously close to one of two terrible creatures; one was Skylla (Scylla) and the other was Charybdis; Skylla would swoop down form her lair in the high rocks and pluck sailors from the decks of their ships; Charybdis was a whirlpool which would alternately spew-out and suck-down the waters of the strait.
The most notable adventures to survive the ordeal of Skylla and Charybdis were Odysseus and Jason; Odysseus lost several of his men to Skylla while trying to avoid Charybdis; Jason and the Argonauts had the protection of the goddess Hera and were able to sail through the Strait of Messina without loss of life.
The name simply implies "a military commander."
By circa 500 BCE the Athenians had ten Strategi elected from each of the "tribes" which represented their interests in military affairs and commanded a troop of hoplites; the Strategi were governed by a polemarch until it became obvious that such a system was inefficient; the command of the hoplites fell to taxiarchs and the overall supervision of the various military campaigns were assigned to specific Strategi.
In the late fifth century BCE there were two classifications of Strategi: one was elected by all the tribes as commander-in-chief and the other was chosen for command of specific military tasks.
One of the sons of Nestor and Eurydike (Eurydice); he and his brother, Echephron, participated in an animal sacrifice when Telemachos (Telemachus) visited the home of Nestor.
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 3, line 439
Odyssey (Fagles), book 3, line 462
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 3, line 447
Eris; the goddess of Discord or Strife; she is the daughter of Nyx (Night); the sister and companion of the god of War, Ares.
The children of Eris are:
Algea (Pains),
Amphillogias (Disputes),
Androktasias (Manslaughters),
Ate (Blindness),
Dysnomia (Lawlessness),
Horkos (Oath),
Hysminai (Battles),
Lethe (Forgetfulness),
Limos (Starvation),
Logoi (Lies),
Machai (Quarrels),
Neikea (Grievances),
Phonoi (Murders) and
Ponos (Hardship).
Theogony, line 225+
Shield of Herakles, line 148
A curved scraper, usually of wood or bronze, used by the ancient Greeks to remove water or oil from the skin; the strigil was also used to remove sweat after athletic exercise.
In Greek drama, the Strophe is the first of two motions where the chorus directs its attention to one side of the stage and then, with the Antistrophe, directs its attention to the other side of the stage.
One of the six tribes that comprised the original Medes.
The Medes were inhabitants of Asia Minor and subjects of the Assyrian Empire until circa 709 BCE and derived their name from the notorious sorceress Medeia (Medea) and her son Medus after they fled Greece and settled in Asia Minor.
The Medes were the first group to revolt against the Assyrians and after ruling for four generations, set the stage for the formation of the Persian Empire; the Medes were united by a man named Deiokes (Deioces) who was their first king.
The other five tribes of Medes were: Arizanti, Budii, Busae, Magi, and Paratakeni (Parataceni).
Histories, book 1.101
A river god; one of the many sons of Tethys and Okeanos (Ocean).
Zeus gave the Rivers, Apollon and the Okeanids the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
Theogony, line 339
STA low bate
In classical architecture, the stylobate is the foundation on which a row of columns is placed.
A flock of predatory birds that inhabited Lake Stymphalus in Arkadia (Arcadia); the fierce birds were driven away and killed by Herakles (Heracles) as his Sixth Labor; also called the Stymphalosian Birds.
Although she is often called The Oath River, Styx is actually an Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys.
Styx has a page in the Immortals section of this site ... click on her name to view that page.
A town which was located on the southern tip of the peninsula of Attica 40 miles (64 kilometers) due south of Athens; the extreme end of the peninsula is known as Cape Sunium.
The isthmus that juts into the sea to form the Cape of Sunium rises sharply to the promontory and is bounded on the east by a narrow inlet which could serve as a shelter against bad weather for the cargo ships bound for the Saronic Gulf and the port of Athens, Piraeus; the town of Sunium was a prosperous small community until it was completely leveled during the Persian invasion of 480 BCE; the town was rebuilt and, during the Peloponnesian War, was fortified with a double wall with towers; the fortifications later fell into ruin and became a refuge for pirates and runaway slaves; the final destruction of the town and temples came after the area was occupied by slaves who escaped from the silver mines of Laurium (circa 100 BCE).
Cape Sunium; a promontory at the southern tip of Attica approximately 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the city of Athens; Sunium was mentioned in The Odyssey (book 3, line 279) when Phrontis, the helmsman of Menelaos (Menelaus) was killed by an arrow shot from the bow of Apollon; Menelaos, with Helen and the rest of his crew from Troy, were blown off course and ended up in Egypt instead of the Peloponnesian Peninsula and their intended destination of Sparta.
The ruins of the Doric style Temple of Poseidon still stand on the highest point of Cape Sunium; the Temple was built during the time of Pericles (circa 444 BCE) and was constructed on the foundations of a shrine that had occupied the cliff until it was destroyed by the Persians when they invaded Attica in 490 BCE; a small Temple to Athene (Athena) Sounias once occupied the isthmus but all that remains today are the foundation stones.
The isthmus that juts into the sea to form the Cape of Sunium rises sharply to the promontory and is bounded on the east by a narrow inlet which could serve as a shelter against bad weather for the cargo ships bound for the Saronic Gulf and the port of Athens, Piraeus; the town of Sunium was a prosperous small community until it was completely leveled during the Persian invasion of 480 BCE; the town was rebuilt and, during the Peloponnesian War, was fortified with a double wall with towers; the fortifications later fell into ruin and became a refuge for pirates and runaway slaves; the final destruction of the town and temples came after the area was occupied by slaves who escaped from the silver mines of Laurium (circa 100 BCE).
Approximate East Longitude 24º 1' 28.3'' and North Latitude 37º 39' 0.4''
Pictures of the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sunium
A humble petitioner; in ancient Greece, it was customary for a suppliant to kneel and grasp the knees of the person from which mercy or favors were desired.
The Suppliants (Suppliant Women or Suppliant Maidens) is one of the seven surviving tragedies by the Athenian playwright, Aeschylus.
Cast of Characters:
First Chorus - The Suppliant Maidens
Second Chorus - Slaves of King Pelasgus
Danaus - Father of the Maidens
King Pelasgus - Ruler of Argos
Herald - An Egyptian
This is a dramatic tale which has sparse action but is full of interesting references to the Heifer-Maiden Io and her complicated relationship to with Zeus.
The Supplicants is the story of Danaus and his fifty daughters after they fled Egypt and landed on the shores of Argos seeking sanctuary; the young women huddle at the altar of the Immortals which is sacred ground and plead with Zeus to protect them; if they had stayed in Egypt they would have been forced to marry the sons of King Aegyptus who were their cousins; Danaus and his daughters fled Egypt to avoid the forced marriages.
The maidens are terrified that the people of Argos will turn them away and deny their supplications; when King Pelasgus approaches, Danaus tries to calm the girls and reminds them of the proper way for supplicants to behave; they must be respectful, honest, brief and above all, humble.
King Pelasgus is a kindly man but he is also cautious; he carefully questions the girls and is satisfied that they are sincere in their need for sanctuary but he is fearful that offering his protection to the girls will precipitate a war between Argos and Egypt; the maidens make an excellent argument that they are the descendants of Zeus and the Heifer-Maiden Io; Io was born in Argos and the maidens believe that they have come to their ancestral home and should be protected.
King Pelasgus sympathizes with the maidens but says that he must consult with the people of Argos before he commits them to a possible war with Egypt; he and Danaus retreat to an assembly of the people while the maidens remain at the altar and continue to beg Zeus to protect them.
When the sails of Egyptian ships are seen offshore, the maidens go into a frenzy; they are sure that their father and the king will not return in time to save them from being abducted by the Egyptians; the herald for the Egyptians is an overbearing and abrupt man; he tells the maidens that they will come with him either willingly or by force; he has no compunction against dragging the maidens by their hair if they resist him; the maidens insist that they will not come willingly and would sooner die than be taken back to Egypt.
Before the herald can lay hands on the maidens, King Pelasgus and Danaus return accompanied by soldiers; the king confronts the herald and will not tolerate his course and blasphemous talk; the king says that the people of Argos have voted and unanimously agreed to go to war with Egypt to protect the maidens; the king berates the herald and says that if he thinks he has come to a land of cowards and weaklings, he is sadly mistaken; the king goes on to insult the courage and piety of the beer drinking Egyptians.
The Egyptian herald loses his bravado and eventually retreats to his ship; the maidens are now the wards of Argos and can live as free citizens without fear of ever having to endure the forced marriages to their cousins.
If you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus II, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307948; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site.
The Suppliants or The Suppliant Women; a tragedy by Euripides produced circa 423 BCE.
Cast of Characters:
Theseus - Ruler of Athens
Aethra - Theseus's mother
Admetos - The king of Argos who survived the assault on Thebes
Evadne - The wife of Kapaneus (Capaneus)
Iphis - The father of Evadne
This tragedy takes place at the Temple of Demeter at Eleusis near Athens and centers around the aftermath of the attack on Thebes by Polyneikes (Polyneices) and the six other commanders who were known as the Seven Against Thebes; the attack on Thebes failed and the mothers of the seven commanders have come to supplicate Theseus to help them retrieve the bodies of their dead sons so that they can be given the proper burial rites; Kreon (Creon), the king of Thebes, will not allow the bodies of the dead Argive commanders to be removed from the battlefield because even in death, he wants them be humiliated by being eaten by wild animals.
The story opens with Theseus's mother Aethra at the Temple of Demeter where she is confronted by the grieving mothers; when Theseus arrives he is moved by the utter sadness of the suppliant women but after speaking with Admetus (Admetos), refuses to intervene because the Seven Against Thebes acted contrary to the will of the gods and their sad fate is their punishment for their lack of piety; Aethra reminds Theseus that although the attack on Thebes did not have divine sanction, it was a commandment of the gods that the dead be treated with respect regardless of their earthly deeds.
Theseus relents to the pleas of his mother and prepares to send a herald to Thebes to respectfully demand the surrender of the dead commanders; at that moment, a messenger from Thebes arrives; the Theban messenger is arrogant and outspoken; he and Theseus have a spirited debate regarding democracy as opposed to monarchy; Theseus, of course, has the better argument and finally demands that the messenger simply deliver his message and cease making speeches; the messenger says that King Kreon of Thebes warns Theseus not to interfere in matters that don't concern him and threatens that if the Athenians try to help the supplicant women there will be war.
Theseus will not be swayed by threats because he knows that he is acting in accordance with the will of the gods; he gathers his army and marches off to Thebes; the Athenians win the battle but stop fighting when the dead soldiers they came to retrieve are in their hands; the bodies of the Seven Against Thebes are returned to Eleusis and all but one are put on a common pyre; Kapaneus (Capaneus) is given a separate pyre because he was struck by Zeus's fire and not actually killed by the Thebans; Evadne, the widow of Kapaneus, enters the action dressed not as a grieving widow but in her finest dress; she declares that she would rather die than live in loneliness and intends to throw herself on her husband's pyre; her father Iphis tries to talk her out of such a drastic act and has some very interesting insights regarding youth and maturity.
The goddess Athene (Athena) appears in the last scene and comforts the orphaned sons of the Seven Against Thebes; she promises the young boys that they will eventually avenge the shameful treatment their fathers suffered and that they would capture Thebes with the blessing of the gods.
This is a tragedy of the highest order; we have widows, orphans, unburied copses, suicide and promises of vengeance.
I personally recommend the translations compiled by Richmond Lattimore and David Grene; you can find this and other plays by Euripides in the 882 section of your local library or you can order them from the Book Shop on this site.
The ancient capital of the Persian Empire; located approximately 300 miles (483 kilometers) east of Babylon and 200 miles (322 kilometers) north of the Arabian Gulf.
The bird which is often called the Daughter of Pandion, i.e. Prokne; the wailing of the swallow marked the beginning of Spring.
Works and Days, line 567
A group of islands mentioned in The Odyssey; the exact location of the islands is not known but they are probably the islands in the Ionian Sea known as the Echinades; I have included this entry because it provides a fascinating glimpse into the sometimes confusing process of translating and transliterating ancient Greek into English.
When Telemachos (Telemachus) was returning to his island home of Ithaka (Ithaca) after searching for news of his long overdue father Odysseus, his ship was propelled by a favorable wind from the goddess Athene (Athena); as the sun was setting, Telemachos sailed past Pheai (Pheae) and lovely Elis, and then steered for the Swift Islands wondering whether he would be killed or taken prisoner by his mother's contemptible suitors.
Different translators render the description of the islands in a variety of ways; the following list will demonstrate that point:
Lattimore - the Pointed Islands;
Loeb - the swift islands;
Fagles - the Jagged Islands;
Fitzgerald - the running pack of islets.
The debate as to what those mysterious islands should be called began with the Greek geographer Strabo (fl. 30 BCE); Strabo had doubts as to why Homer would use the word swift (θοαι) as an adjective for an island; Strabo finally decided that the word that Homer meant to use was sharp (οξειαι) because it would be a better adjective and also fit the rhyme scheme; Strabo's assumptions had to do with certain poetic formulas which were used by Homer to describe swift ships; the use of the word swift in conjunction with islands did not really make literal sense so Strabo replaced swift with sharp which still didn't make literal sense but seemed better than swift; two of the translators listed above chose to side with Strabo and use variations on the sharp theme by calling the islands Jagged and Pointed; I personally believe that if they were going to take liberties with Homer's text, they should have simply called the islands the Sharp Islands; the Loeb translation uses the literal translation and calls the islands the swift islands which seems to me to be more correct than the other translations; Fitzgerald seems to have gone a little too far by calling the islands the running pack of islets.
Translators in the nineteenth century seemed to be equally confused as to what to call the islands; Samuel Butler called them the flying islands and William Cowper called them the sharp Echinades; the Echinades are a group islands off the western coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea but were not actually mentioned in the Greek text referring to the islands which Telemachos saw.
Iliad, Lattimore and Loeb, book 15, line 299
Iliad, Fagles, book 15, line 332
Iliad, Fitzgerald, book 15, line 370
An expression derived from an event which took place at the court of the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysus I.
A traveler named Damocles was a guest at the court of Dionysus and began prattling about the tyrant's good fortune, Dionysus placed Damocles under a sword that was suspended by a single hair to dramatically demonstrate the precarious nature of happiness; thus the phrase The Sword of Damocles implies that happiness is very tenuous and should be savored whenever it is experienced.
The uncle and husband of Dido, princes of Tyre.
Sychaeus was the brother of Dido's father, King Matgenos of Tyre; after the marriage of Dido and Sychaeus, Dido's brother Pygmalion murdered Sychaeus to get Sychaeus's fortune but Dido took the fortune and fled to northern Africa where she founded the city of Carthage and became queen of the prosperous new city.
The brother of the notorious tyrant of the island of Samos, Polykrates (Polycrates).
When Polykrates took control of Samos in 532 BCE, Syloson was given control of one third of the island; his other brother, Pantagnotus, also had one third of the island; Polykrates soon had Pantagnotus killed and Syloson banished.
King Darius of Persia invaded Samos after the death of Polykrates and placed Syloson in command of the island as one of his satraps (regional governors); the subjugation of Samos went smoothly at first but when the islanders rose up in armed resistance to the Persian invaders, the Persians killed almost everyone on the island.
Histories, book 3.39, 3.139-140, 3.144-149
A Nymph of the air; a young Sylph is known as a Sylphid.
A small island north of the island of Rhodes; now called Simi.
Approximate East Longitude 27º 83' and North Latitude 36º 62'
The deadly rocks (or islands) which stood at the narrow passage between the Propontis (Sea of Marmara) and the Euxine (Black Sea).
The twin rocks were located near the entrance to the Euxine and would clash together whenever any living thing tried to pass between them; when the Argonauts were on their way to Kolchis (Colchis) to retrieve the Golden Fleece, they were forced to negotiate the formidable Clashing Rocks, which were also called the Kyanean (Cyanean), i.e. Dark-Rocks.
The blind prophet Phineus told the Argonauts to send a dove through the rocks before they attempted to sail their ship through; if the dove survived, it would be safe for their ship, the Argo, to proceed; the dove made it through the Clashing Rocks with only the loss of its tail feathers and the Argo sailed boldly into the passage; Athene (Athena) held back one of the rocks with one hand and pushed the Argo through with the other; after the Argo survived the Clashing Rocks they became stationary islands and never menaced sailors again.
Argonautika, book 2, lines 341-359 and 593-610
The Synoikia was an Attic festival to celebrate the unification of Attica under the rule of Athens; this event took place under the reign of King Theseus circa 1280 BCE.
Synoiklon literally means A Joint Lodging and seems to be an appropriate name for the festival; the unification of Attica under the solitary rule of Athens was a brilliant maneuver by Theseus because the individual cities of Attica were weakened by their independent governments and policies; the cities of Attica would work together when the need arose but otherwise they worked counter to their common interests and were occasionally hostile towards one another; the historian Thucydides cites an occasion where a ruler of the Attic city of Eleusis named Eumolpus made war on King Erechtheus of Athens.
The Synoikia was a public feast celebrated on the seventeenth day of the month of Hekatombaion (which would be early September by our calendar); in his marvelous book, Traveler's Guide to the Ancient World, Ancient Greece, Eric Chaline insists that the Synoikia was celebrated in the month of Hekatombaion (approximately the third week of June to the third week of July of our calendar) whereas the Liddell & Scott Greek-English Lexicon gives the month of the Synoikia as Boedromion (approximately the third week of August to the third week of September of our calendar); since the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries were held in mid-Boedromion and would have interfered with the celebration of the Synoikia, I will have to agree with Mr. Chaline that the correct month would be Hekatombaion.
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, book 2.15
The Greek city on the southeastern coast of the island of Sicily.
The city was first settled by colonists from the Greek city of Corinth circa 734 BCE; the city was a frequent battleground because of its strategic location and suffered invasions from the Carthaginians as well as other Greek nations; Syracuse was the birthplace the Greek mathematician, astronomer, physicist and renowned inventor, Archimedes.
Approximate East Longitude 15º 17' 10'' and North Latitude 37º 05' 15''
In ancient times the actual boundaries of Syria were unclear but we do know that prior to 500 BCE Syria was ruled by the Medes and after 500 BCE it was ruled by the Persians; the Greeks called the inhabitants of Syria, Kappadokians (Cappadocians); ancient Syria was probably much more narrow and located farther north than modern Syria.
The island home of Eumaios (Eumaeus), the swineherd of Odysseus.
Syria was near the island of Ortygia and the inhabitants of Syria lived long and peaceful lives; when the inhabitants reached old age, Apollon and Artemis killed them with painless arrows; Eumaios was kidnapped by traders when he was a young boy and eventually sold into slavery to Odysseus's father, Laertes.
The Fagles and Fitzgerald translations spell it as Syrie.
Odyssey (Lattimore and Loeb), book 15, lines 403
Odyssey (Fagles), book 15, lines 453
Odyssey (Fitzgerald), book 15, lines 490
A Nymph who was loved by the Goat-God Pan and was turned into a reed so that she might escape him.
The syrinx is a simple instrument which consists of seven reeds of different lengths bound together; the instrument was originally played by the Goat-God Pan and then adopted by herdsmen as a source of entertainment; the instrument is also called a Pan Pipe but is more properly called a syrinx because it was named after the Nymph Syrinx, who was turned into a reed so that she could escape Pan's amorous advances.
