Le Cratère de Périclès a été découvert à Athènes.

 

Un Cratère (une coupe à vin) ayant très probablement été utilisée par Périclès, l'homme qui fit la renommée d'Athènes dans l'Antiquité, a été découvert sur le chantier d'un parking a Kifissia dans le nord de la capitale grecque, a rapporté mercredi le quotidien Ta Nea.

 

Après avoir reconstitué la coupe en céramique brisée en douze morceaux, les archéologues ont eu la surprise de lire sous l'une des poignées le nom de "Périclès" gravé aux côtés de cinq autres noms visiblement inscrits par ordre d'âge, explique le quotidien. 

Les scientifiques se disent sûrs à "99%" que la coupe a été utilisée par le général et homme d'Etat du Ve siècle avant JC car le nom d'"Ariphron", qui était celui du frère aîné de Périclès, figure également sur l'objet. "Le nom d'Ariphron est extrêmement rare et son inscription au-dessus de celui de Périclès nous rend sûr à 99% qu'il s'agit là des deux frères", a déclaré dans Ta Nea Angelos Matthaiou, secrétaire de la Société grecque d'épigraphie.

Selon l'expert, le jeune Périclès, alors âgé d'une vingtaine d'années, aurait partagé un verre de vin avec ses cinq compagnons qui auraient gravé leurs noms en souvenir de ce moment de convivialité. "Ils devaient être un peu ivres car celui qui a écrit le nom de Périclès a fait une erreur qu'il a corrigée", a observé M. Matthaiou. "La coupe a vraisemblablement été offerte à un septième homme nommé "Drapetis" ("évadé" en grec) qui était sans doute un esclave travaillant comme serveur ou le propriétaire de la taverne", a expliqué l'archéologue Galini Daskalaki dans Ta Nea.

Ironie de l'histoire: la coupe a été trouvée rue de Sparte, la grande rivale d'Athènes durant la guerre du Péloponnèse qui a déchiré les deux cités pendant trente ans (431-404 avant JC). Périclès en fut l'une des victimes, mort en 429 avant JC. D’une épidémie qui ravagea la cité assiégée.

Aristotle's Lyceum (a gymnasium near Athens and the site of a philosophical school founded by Aristotle) open to Public.

Aristotle’s Lyceum, believed to have been established as the ancient philosopher’s seat of learning in 335 BC, opened to the public June 4, after years of preparation. The Lyceum - a plot measuring 11,000 square metres - is located between the Athens Conservatory and the Byzantine Museum.

Recent excavations by the Greek Archaeological Service (archaeologist Effi Lygouri in 1996) in the area of modern Syntagma have revealed that the area immediately to the East of the ancient city wall was filled with ancient cemeteries and factories, and an immense bathing complex of the Roman period. In addition, sections of a broad, ancient road running East -West through this area have been uncovered. These finds merely add to the list of similar buildings, baths, and graves previously found in the Syntagma area.

Excavations in the area of modern Rigillis Street uncovered a structure that has been identified by the excavator as a palaistra in the Lyceum. The site continues to be excavated and studied and has not yet been fully published.

It is one of the sites chosen as part of the green cultural routes program organized by the Culture Ministry’s Directorate of Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programs. 

The tour introduces attendees to new and exciting information about life in ancient Greece. 

The Lyceum’s official inauguration is expected to take place within the next couple of months.

The Sacred Way

The archaeological site of the recently excavated Sacred Way (ancient Iera Odos) is located at Estavromenou Square in Aigaleo, near the homonymous metro station. Sacred ways usually led to sanctuaries and were followed by religious processions during official celebrations. This one was the most important Sacred Way in ancient Greece. It began at the Sacred Gate in the Kerameikos and led from Athens to Eleusis following the same course as modern Iera Odos. The street and adjacent cemetery were revealed during excavations for the extension of Line 3 of the Athens Metro.

Eighteen fragmentary graves of different types were excavated along the street: cist and tile graves, shaft graves, cremations, a jar-burial, and the bottom of three sarcophagi. The graves lay close to the surface and were largely destroyed as a result. Their grave gifts - a few plates, small arybaloid lekythoi and kantharoi of the fourth century BC - were scattered across the site. Throughout the site, archaeological strata lay very close to the surface and were continuously disturbed through time. The recovered pottery thus dates from the fifth century BC to the twentieth century AD.  

Previous rescue excavations, carried out during the widening of modern Iera Odos, had revealed parts of the Sacred Street. The recent excavations at Estavromenou Square, however, uncovered the street's full width over a considerable distance. The site was subsequently listed, conserved, and rendered accessible to the public.

Portrait d’une génération en exil : Le voyage du Mataroa

L’Institut français d’Athènes organise le vendredi 11 octobre de 9h30 à 19h00 une journée d’étude suivie d’une table ronde, sur le légendaire voyage du Mataroa. 

Le bateau affrété par l’Institut français en décembre 1945, qui a ramené toute une série d’intellectuels importants grecs vers le France. Les rapports intellectuels franco-helléniques sont marqués par cet événement.

Revenant sur sa portée historique, mais également mythique, cette journée vise à parler de protagonistes de cette aventure, parmi lesquelles figurent des philosophes, architectes, juristes, écrivains, poètes ou encore artistes devenus des figures de proue de leur génération. 

 Une table ronde est prévue visant à élargir la réflexion sur la portée symbolique de ce voyage et ses différentes réappropriations. 

Intervenants: 

Nikos ALIVIZATOS, professeur, Université d’Athènes

Lucile ARNOUX, maître de conférences, Tours 

Servanne JOLLIVET, chargée de recherche, CNRS/Curapp 

Kostis KORNETIS, professeur, Center for European and Mediterranean Studies, New York University Vassiliki LALAGIANNI, professeur, Université du Péloponnèse 

Polina KOSMADAKI, conservatrice, Musée Bénaki 

Nicolas MANITAKIS, maître de conférences, Université d’Athènes 

Evgenios MATTHIOPOULOS, professeur, Université de Crète 

Panagiotis TOURNIKIOTIS, professeur, École polytechnique d’Athènes 

Maria OIKONOMOU-MEURER, professeur, Université de Vienne 

Cette manifestation, financée par l’Ecole française d’Athènes, s’inscrit dans le cadre du programme quadriennal ‘’Athènes-Paris 1945-1975’’.

The heart of Eleutherna beat for a very long time, from the Neolithic era to the Byzantine period

“If you were to imagine Crete as a human being, Eleutherna would be its heart.” I am standing with Nicholas Stampolidis, a professor of history and archaeology at the University of Crete, on a small hill overlooking the archaeological site of Eleutherna, some 30 kilometers from Rethymno. From this rise, we can see the entire area of the university’s excavation of the site, which began in 1985. The view is breathtaking, with swaths of olives trees, carobs, oaks, plane trees, laurel bushes and walnut trees across the terraces of the hilly landscape. It is the horizon especially that is most striking.

The archaeologist takes me by the arm and turns me 360 degrees so that I can take in the majesty of the peaks of Psiloreitis, Talaia, Aravanes and Tympanatoras, the latter of which took its name from the myth according to which local tribesmen would beat their shields with sticks, making a drumming sound that would cover the sobs of young Zeus so that Cronus would not hear him and devour him as he did his other children. Further away, on the horizon, I can see the sea shimmering in black-and-white tones under the hot, bright sun. I am standing on ground under which one of the island’s most important city-states is buried, between ancient Knossos and Cydonia.

The heart of Eleutherna beat for a very long time, from the Neolithic era to the Byzantine period, when it vanished from the map. When the Culture Ministry granted the University of Crete permission to excavate the site, no one could have imagined that it would uncover a palimpsest showing a constant human presence that dates back to 3000 BC, architecture from the late Minoan period, prosperity in Homeric times and a great burst of growth in the Roman era. The decline of Eleutherna was gradual, starting in the 8th century AD and culminating in the 13th century. In the 14th century, the Venetians prohibited the unruly Cretans from living in the fortified city due to fears they would create a rebel stronghold.

The excavation has uncovered hundreds of objects and remains of homes, but it has been focused mainly on the rich bounty yielded by a cemetery used from the Geometric period, which, like one end of a piece of string, will lead to more discoveries.

Ideal location

As we descend toward the imposing yet elegant shelter that covers the excavation site of the cemetery, Stampolidis explains why the ancients chose this particular spot to build their city.
“It overlooks the sea, but is also invisible to enemies approaching by boat. It is only one-and-a-half hours’ walk from its port. It is on a hill that can be reached only through a narrow pass, providing excellent natural protection. No weapons during antiquity could shoot this far,” Stampolidis says.

“There is fresh running water nearby, as well as woodland that provided lumber, land for farming or grazing, and a quarry. We have found 252 species of herbs and wild greens that were used in many different preparations, and the spot forms a crossroads for those traversing the island either north to south or east to west,” the archaeologist adds.

Stampolidis says that there is also ample evidence of lively commercial activity.

“Many of the grave offerings we have found were brought from other parts of the Aegean – Cyprus, Asia Minor, Phoenicia and so on – proving that the city had developed commercial ties beyond Crete,” he says.

Protecting nature

With the modern-day village of the same name behind us, we entered Ancient Eleutherna, which is protected as an archaeological site but also as a natural woodland by law. The excavation teams that have worked at the site have planted rows of trees to delineate pathways, while the site of the museum that will one day house all the finds is just a short walk away, on the other side of the hill.

One of the most impressive observations about the site is the care taken by the archaeologists to preserve the natural environment, allowing visitors to take a mental leap back in time and imagine the location as it was when it was first settled – nestled in the protective embrace of the woodland.

Stampolidis confirms that preserving the natural environment was one of his team’s biggest concerns.

“We are interested in Eleutherna becoming a paradigm of how we can showcase ancient sites. You can’t hear passing cars, and, other than the shelter, all of our interventions are discreet, retaining the purity of the landscape. We used large rocks rather than cement to divert the flow of a stream, the electricity cables are all below ground, thanks to the Public Power Corporation, and all the steps are made of rock and earth. Almost everything here is made by hand, and the best part is that we – the archaeologists and the workers on the dig, which is funded by the University of Crete – did it ourselves,” says Stampolidis.

The excavation’s chief archaeologist also explains how the university managed to appropriate the land under which Eleutherna was buried.

“I find funding myself by approaching people who love the place but want to remain anonymous. It is thanks to them that we could buy up all the land that comprised the woods in which the site is located,” he explains, adding that the project has also received the full support of the local community.

“I think that they have all realized that Eleutherna will never have all the annoyances, say, of Knossos, where there are souvlaki joints and souvenir shops next to the archaeological site. They love the excavation, they protect it and they have supported our work in every possible way,” Stampolidis adds.

The Homeric-era cemetery

The archaeologist and I walk downhill to the shelter. Nikos Stampolidis knows every rock and tree here like the back of his hand. After all, it was one of the first digs he ever participated in and he was not yet 30 years old when he started.

“The broader area of the Eleutherna excavation was separated into three zones. The first picks went to archaeologists Petros Themelis and Thanasis Kalpaxis. I took the zone west of the hill on which the acropolis stood. I had observed that the earth there had a grayish tint unlike the yellow earth in other parts. This often occurs because of rotten leaves, but it could also be attributed to ash from wood fires. The first dig we made revealed finds just a few inches beneath the surface. It was the crematorium. We proved that the ancients used to burn their dead in this spot. We also found that the locals had used a lot of material from the site to build the terraces along the hills,” Stampolidis explains.
“Do you need luck in archaeology?” I ask.

“Of course. But in which sense? As the piece that completes knowledge. Manolis Andronikos knew where to look for for Vergina, but he was lucky in finding a grave that was intact,” says the professor.

We are now standing on a necropolis that dates back to Homeric times, unique in the Mediterranean region. You cannot but feel awed. We see the burial sites, some consisting of large ceramic coffins, funerary monuments and a fascinating maze that goes deep underground, revealing the different chronological periods during which the cemetery was used.

“Once the excavation is finished, we will make special cases to house the bones of the dead that are now being examined by anthropologists. They belong here, not in the storage room of some museum. Who am I to disturb their peace?” asks Stampolidis.

The archaeologist moves between the graves, talking about some of the most striking finds he and his team have made. The excavation so far has revealed remains ranging from aristocratic warriors to very simple burials. One of his most touching finds was the grave of a 12-year-old boy, whose dog was buried in a small marked grave right beside him. One of the graves that contained the remains of several women from the same aristocratic family also contained ornate jewelry.

Prisoners of war

The ancient cemetery of Eleutherna also provided the answer to the age-old question that had split Plato and Aristotle – whether the Greeks killed their prisoners of war.

“These were not human sacrifices, but the justice of war, ritualistic revenge,” explains Stampolidis. “Beside the funerary pyre of a prince who died in battle, we found the skeleton of another man who we believe had his elbows tied together behind his back. We also found a knife and a whetting stone nearby. Traces of his skull were later found at the prince’s feet and were singed by the fire, suggesting the sequence of events. He was a prisoner of war who was executed in retribution. One of the workers on the dig told me the story of Stefanoyiannis, a Cretan hero who was executed by the Nazis in World War II. His fellow fighters saw who it was who had killed him and stole into the enemy camp at night, kidnapped the perpetrator and killed him on Stefanoyiannis’s grave in revenge,” Stampolidis explains.

Every burial site has it own fascinating story. After two hours touring the excavations, we headed back to Rethymno, making a brief stop at the museum, which is currently under construction.

In the car, Stampolidis tells me his own story, a kind of epilogue to our tour: “When I first came here as a young man, I told myself that I would dig up all of Eleutherna before I retired. The hill must have heard me and laughed at my plans. Now that I am older, I am better at hearing what the hill has to say.”

The museum is a very impressive structure that resembles a shelter of sorts. It is slated for completion in 2015 and so far only the exterior has been completed. It will contain an exhibition hall for the thousands of finds made at the cemetery and in the city so that visitors can see the pieces of the puzzle that compose this fascinating site.

From its lofty position atop a hill, it affords a wonderful view of the acropolis and the shelter protecting the cemetery, as well as the entire area where Eleutherna once stood and, of course, Mount Psiloreitis.

Plans for the museum include landscaping the surrounding environment and applying some of the latest concepts in museology. The project is moving apace and is expected to be ready on time, while Stampolidis makes certain that, like at the site, every last detail is just right.

By Margarita Pournara

 

Inauguration de la place Jacqueline de Romilly

 

Jacqueline de Romilly aimait la Grèce! Elle n’est plus là pour le dire, c’est pourquoi nous parlons à sa place. Bien qu’elle habitât Paris et Aix-en-Provence, bien qu’elle vienne siéger tous les Jeudis à l’Académie Française, nous savions que son esprit et son cœur étaient constamment tournés vers la Grèce, et particulièrement vers Athènes. C’est pourquoi je remercie la municipalité d’Athènes de son beau geste d’avoir donné son nom à une Place, et de l’avoir choisie de telle sorte que Jacqueline de Romilly n’ait que quelques pas à faire pour rejoindre la Grèce classique, la Grèce du Ve Siècle, qu’elle aimait particulièrement", a déclaré l'ancien président de la République Française, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, lors de l'inauguration lundi à la mairie d'Athènes de la place Jacqueline de Romilly dans le quartier de Thissio.

« Qui veut, qui peut donner un avis sage à sa patrie ? ». C’est le message que nous fait entendre Jacqueline de Romilly du Parnasse où elle se trouve désormais, à un moment tourmenté de l’histoire du peuple hellène, dont les amis de la Grèce, dont je suis, commencent à apercevoir la fin. Elle nous recommande: « Que s’expriment ceux qui veulent, ceux qui peuvent, donner un avis sage à leur patrie »", a conclu M. Giscard d'Estaing.

Le maire d'Athènes, Georges Kaminis, la présidente du Centre culturel hellénique de Paris, Alexandra Mitsotaki, à laquelle revient l'initiative de cette cérémonie, et le ministre de la Culture, Panos Panagiotopoulos ont notamment assisté à la cérémonie d'inauguration de la place Jacqueline de Romilly.

Το κατάλοιπο της έκθεσης Τσόκλη στη Σπιναλόγκα.

Για την Σπιναλόγκα, το 2012 χαρακτηρίστηκε από την παρουσία της έκθεσης Τσόκλη.

Πολλά τα σχόλια και οι κριτικές για την έκθεση αυτή, με τα περισσότερα να καυτηριάζουν τόσο τον καλλιτέχνη και το έργο του, όσο και τις δημόσιες υπηρεσίες και τους τοπικούς άρχοντες που εισήγαγαν νέα «ήθη» στην προστασία της πολιτιστικής μας κληρονομιάς.

Με το τέλος της έκθεσης αυτής θα έλεγε κανείς, επιτέλους τέλος.

Κι όμως, οι άσχημες εντυπώσεις που έπονται του θέματος αυτού, για τους επισκέπτες της Σπιναλόγκας απλώς συνεχίζονται.

Αν και βαδίζουμε προς το τέλος της τουριστικής σαιζόν 2013, ο περίφημος σταυρός που χάραξε και πλήγωσε το μνημείο, εξακολουθεί να βρίσκεται πεταμένος στην είσοδο του.

Υπάρχει τελικά κάποιος «υπεύθυνος» να λυτρώσει τον ιστορικό αυτό χώρο και να σεβασθεί τις τόσες χιλιάδες επισκεπτών που έρχονται αντιμέτωποι με αυτό το

«κατάλοιπο»

Γιάννης Κοτζιάνογλου

Ξεναγός  

Exhibition «Art of Medieval Serbia» at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the National Museum of Belgrade. The inauguration will be attended by the H.E. the Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Athens, Mr Dragan Županjevac and the director of the National Museum of Belgrade Mrs Bojana Borić Brešković.

Notable objects, original and copies from the National Museum of Belgrade form an exhibition that is presented in the first floor of the Duchess of Plaisance building, and is divided into four thematic units.

 On display are minor art objects (11th-14th c.), double-sided icons and Sanctuary doors and also wall-painting copies. 
These copies reproduce wall-paintings from important medieval monuments of Serbia, i.e. from the monasteries of Μileševa, Sopoćani, Studenica, Gračanica and elsewhere, which reflect the values of the Byzantine artistic tradition.

These important items that will eventually be displayed in the New Permanent Exhibition of the National Belgade Museum, are presented in Greece as an ensemble for the first time, offering to the public the unique opportunity to come into touch with the medieval culture and art of Serbia.

In the exhibition area a short film (8') will be screened presenting the most important Serbian monuments of this period.
During the next months (June-August 2013) Serbian and Greek Byzantinists will give informal talks in specific issues related to the architecture, the painting and, in general, to the art of Serbia during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Duration of the Exhibition: May 28-August 18, 2013

«Manolis de Vourla»

1922. Manolis, petit Grec d'Asie mineure, a sept ans. Il joue au cerf-volant avec Ismet, son ami turc. Mais, les deux enfants ne se doutent pas que la guerre va mettre fin à leur amitié. Commence alors la Grande Catastrophe d'Asie Mineure. Plus d'un million de Grecs devront quitter la Turquie. 

Dans l'exode, Manolis sera séparé des siens. Heureusement, il y aura Sophia, sa grand-mère, qui ne le quittera pas. Où est sa mère, où sont ses frères ? Que va-t-il devenir ? Il n'en sait rien. Il lui faut d'abord apprendre à vivre en Grèce, la mère patrie qu'il ne connaît pas. 

Avec ce roman, c'est l'histoire de son père qu'Allain Glykos nous raconte. L'histoire d'une destinée singulière qui se confond avec le sort de tous ceux que la folie de l'Histoire, aujourd'hui encore, déracine et jette sur les routes de l'exil.

Biographie:
Allain Glykos est né à Bordeaux en 1948 de père grec et de mère française. Il enseigne la philosophie à l'université scientifique de Bordeaux, est rédacteur en chef des Cahiers art et science. Il a publié une douzaine de récits, romans et nouvelles et notamment Parle-moi de Manolis qui retrace le chemin qui l'a conduit vers ses racines grecques. A travers Manolis de Vourla, Allain Glykos poursuit cette quête des origines.

«Manolis de Vourla»
d’Allain Glykos
aux Editions Quiquandquoi, 2005, p. 143

Le 25 Mars, jour de l’indépendance pour la Grèce.

 

Partout défilés ‘privés’ pour les politiciens.

Comme l'année dernière, à Athènes, le défilé s'est déroulé sans la population athénienne. La place Syntagma était fermée au public, 4.ooo policiers ont bouclé la zone et seuls les officiels ont pu assister au défilé. Pour les athéniens, il ne restait que l'option télévisée...

A Rhodes, un groupe de citoyens indignés a insulté les politiciens locaux. Un policier a tenté de mettre de l'ordre et des manifestants en colère l'ont frappé au visage. La police anti-émeute a dû intervenir pour que la parade se poursuive. Une femme aurait même attaqué  un conseiller municipal avec un couteau.

A Ierissos, le village qui a dernièrement été envahi par la police anti-émeute et la bridage anti-terroriste suite aux évènements de la mine de Skouries, le défilé scolaire s'est transformé en une nouvelle manifestation contre l'exploitation minière et la répression policière. Les étudiants portaient un t-shirt "SOS Halkidiki" ou "Des gaz lacrymogènes dans l'école, 7 mars 2013" en rappel des évènements répressifs.

 

A Loutraki, le chef de la police a été suspendu après l'agitation des participants qui refusaient aux néo-nazis de l'Aube Dorée de déposer leur offrande.

Un maire a également été menacé par Elias Kasidiaris, le porte parole de l'Aube Dorée, pour avoir refusé de lui laisser placer une couronne. Des membres du groupuscule néo-nazi ont manifesté devant la chaîne de télévision Mega car elle diffuse des séries turques. Un des parlementaires aurait uriné sur la porte de la chaîne...

Un garçon de l'école d'Athènes a été nommé comme porte drapeau pour donner un signal contre le racisme et contre l'Aube Dorée.

Un garçon de l'école d'Athènes nommé comme porte drapeau comme un signal contre le racisme.

A Thessalonique, une banderole en soutien à Chypre a été présentée ("Nous sommes tous chypriotes")

Source / traductions Okeanews.

 

France-Grèce: une amitié solide se construit au XIXème siècle

La Fondation du Parlement hellénique et l’Institut français d’Athènes ont publié les Actes du colloque effectué en mars 2011 à l’Institut, sur le thème: ’’La Grèce et la France au XIXème siècle’’.

A cet égard, l’Ambassade de France en Grèce, en partenariat avec l’Institut français d’Athènes, a eu une collaboration très fructueuse avec la Fondation du Parlement hellénique pour l’organisation et la réalisation de ce colloque, réalisé sous l’égide du professeur Evangelos Chrisos, ancien secrétaire général de la Fondation et professeur émérite de la Fondation. 

Tout au long du XIXe siècle, les relations franco-grecques ont été marquées par une coopération constante et par une interaction réussie dans des domaines très divers tels que l’histoire politique, économique et militaire, la science juridique, l’archéologie, les arts et la culture en général, tant dans la sphère publique que privée. En témoignent de façon révélatrice les interventions publiées ici. 

‘’Depuis la formation de l’Etat grec, la France n’a cessé d’être pour la Grèce un défenseur de premier ordre. Et chaque fois que la Grèce avait besoin de la France, la France était présente’’, souligne l’ambassadeur Christophe Farnaud en ajoutant qu’il y a une influence française sur la Grèce et en même temps une influence grecque sur la France.

Genomes and language provide clues on the origin of Homer's classic.

(ISNS) -- Scientists who decode the genetic history of humans by tracking how genes mutate have applied the same technique to one of the Western world's most ancient and celebrated texts to uncover the date it was first written.
The text is Homer's "Iliad," and Homer -- if there was such a person -- probably wrote it in 762 B.C., give or take 50 years, the researchers found. The "Iliad" tells the story of the Trojan War -- if there was such a war -- with Greeks battling Trojans.

The researchers accept the received orthodoxy that a war happened and someone named Homer wrote about it, said Mark Pagel, an evolutionary theorist at the University of Reading in England. His collaborators include Eric Altschuler, a geneticist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, in Newark, and Andreea S. Calude, a linguist also at Reading and the Sante Fe Institute in New Mexico. They worked from the standard text of the epic poem.

The date they came up with fits the time most scholars think the "Iliad" was compiled, so the paper, published in the journal Bioessays, won't have classicists in a snit. The study mostly affirms what they have been saying, that it was written around the eighth century B.C.

That geneticists got into such a project should be no surprise, Pagel said.
"Languages behave just extraordinarily like genes," Pagel said. "It is directly analogous. We tried to document the regularities in linguistic evolution and study Homer's vocabulary as a way of seeing if language evolves the way we think it does. If so, then we should be able to find a date for Homer."
It is unlikely there ever was one individual man named Homer who wrote the "Iliad." Brian Rose, professor of classical studies and curator of the Mediterranean section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, said it is clear the "Iliad" is a compilation of oral tradition going back to the 13th century B.C.

"It's an amalgam of lots of stories that seemed focused on conflicts in one particular area of north-western Turkey," Rose said.
The story of the "Iliad" is well known, full of characters like Helen of Troy, Achilles, Paris, Agamemnon and a slew of gods and goddesses behaving badly. It recounts how a gigantic fleet of Greek ships sailed across the "wine dark sea" to besiege Troy and regain a stolen wife. Its sequel is the "Odyssey."

Classicists and archaeologists are fairly certain Troy existed and generally know where it is. In the 19th century, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann and the Englishman Frank Calvert excavated what is known as the Citadel of Troy and found evidence of a military conflict in the 12th century B.C., including arrows and 5 feet of burned debris around a buried fortress. Whether it was a war between Troy and a foreign element, or a civil war is unknown, Rose said.
The compilation we know as the "Iliad" was written centuries later, the date Pagel is proposing.
The scientists tracked the words in the "Iliad" the way they would track genes in a genome.

The researchers employed a linguistic tool called the Swadesh word list, put together in the 1940s and 1950s by American linguist Morris Swadesh. The list contains approximately 200 concepts that have words apparently in every language and every culture, Pagel said. These are usually words for body parts, colors, necessary relationships like "father" and "mother."
They looked for Swadesh words in the "Iliad" and found 173 of them. Then, they measured how they changed.

They took the language of the Hittites, a people that existed during the time the war may have been fought, and modern Greek, and traced the changes in the words from Hittite to Homeric to modern. It is precisely how they measure the genetic history of humans, going back and seeing how and when genes alter over time.

For example, they looked at cognates, words derived from ancestral words. There is "water" in English, "wasser" in German, "vatten" in Swedish, all cognates emanating from "wator" in proto-German. However, the Old English "hund" later became "hound" but eventually was replaced by "dog," not a cognate.

"I'm an evolutionary theorist," Pagel said. "I study language because it's such a remarkable culturally transmitted replicator. It replicates with a fidelity that's just astonishing."

By documenting the regularity of the linguistic mutations, Pagel and the others have given a timeline to the story of Helen and the men who died for her -- genetics meets the classics.

Image credit: Iliad VIII 245-253 in codex F205 | Taken from http://bit.ly/Yyof3T

By: Joel N. Shurkin, ISNS Contributor

Thessalonique rend hommage aux déportés juifs

La Journée Nationale de Mémoire des Martyrs juifs grecs et des Héros de l'Holocauste a été célébrée dimanche à Thessalonique. 

Etaient notamment présents à la cérémonie le ministre de Macédoine-Thrace, Théodore Karaoglou, le chef de la région de Macédoine centrale, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, le maire de la ville, Yannis Boutaris, l'ambassadeur d'Israël en Grèce ainsi que le président du Comité central israélite de Grèce et de la communauté israélite de Thessalonique.

La cérémonie s'est déroulée à l'emplacement du Monument de l'Holocauste, sur la place où l'occupant allemand avait rassemblé en juillet 1942 quelque 9.000 Juifs de sexe masculin afin de les soumettre à une humiliation publique. La première déportation des Juifs de Thessalonique vers les camps de concentration d’Auschwitz a eu lieu en mars 1943. Au total quelque 50.000 Juifs de Thessalonique, soit 96% de la population juive de la ville, allaient y être exterminés.

La Journée Nationale de Mémoire a été établie en 2004 après une décision unanime du Parlement grec.

New era begins for former royal estate

While the former royal estate of Tatoi on Mount Parnitha, north of Athens, came under the possession of the Greek state 10 years ago, little was done in the way of safeguarding, promoting and developing the summer palace, its outbuildings and vast grounds until last year.

A few weeks ago, the Ephorate of Contemporary and Modern Monuments of Attica unanimously approved plans for the renovation and reutilization of three Tatoi buildings. At the same time, all household and other items were removed from the palace itself. 

Following a decision by Alternate Minister of Education, Religion, Culture and Sports Costas Tzavaras, a number of these items are now protected under a cultural heritage law and are being conserved by the General Secretariat of Culture's conservation department.
In addition, a study developed as a part of the Strategic Plan for Athens regarding the possible future usage of the former royal estate has been released for public consultation. Objections to three of the study’s key ideas have already been expressed by the Tatoi Friends Association, an organization largely responsible for much of the action surrounding Tatoi’s plight in the last few months.

One of the most positive aspects resulting from the Tatoi Friends Association’s citizen action was the unanimous approval of a plan regarding the restoration of a route connecting Tatoi with Lake Kithara. The study was originally put together by the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage, a proposal which paved the way for Tatoi’s inclusion in the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through a budget set at 6.5 million euro. 

Historian Costas Stamatopoulos played a pivotal role in promoting the Tatoi issue at times which could be defined as “unfriendly” to the former royal estate, both through his writings on Tatoi as well as in his capacity as vice president of the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage.

A few days ago, winemaker and current Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris and Sotiris Ioannou, a prominent wine producer and president of the Greek Inter-professional Organization for Vine and Wine, met with Attica Regional Governor Yiannis Sgouros in an attempt to secure the latter’s support with regard to a long-term agricultural project aimed at reviving the estate’s 30-acre vineyard, among others.

Boutaris noted that the area could serve as a vehicle for the production of over 300 grape varieties, while production of 250,000 bottles of wine per year would suffice for the venture to become financially viable. The project is also aimed at developing dairy, honey and olive oil production through a system of model farms with a strong educational and research scope. Sgouros agreed to examine a request for the funding of the project’s feasibility study.
Besides bold private sector initiatives, the current mobilization with regard to the future of the Tatoi estate is also due to what seems to be a change in sentiment at the Ministry of Culture.

“In my opinion, the collaboration between the public and private sectors is the best solution when it comes to the estate’s management. This collaboration, however, will have to be defined by clear rules and be based on strict criteria. The former royal estate is defined as a historical area and should be treated as such,” said Lina Mendoni, general secretary at the ministry.
According to Mendoni, while the plan devised as part of the Strategic Plan for Athens includes a number of positive aspects, some points need more fine-tuning.

“Tatoi should not turn into a large-scale cafeteria,” she said. “You need state-of-the-art touches which will follow in the footsteps of the estate’s original function and which will eventually revive both the estate’s buildings as well as the entire area.”
Source: Kathimerini

39th anniversary of Polytechnic students' uprising

The gates of the Athens Polytechnic opened on Thursday morning for the annual three-day commemoration of the November 17, 1973 Athens Polytechnic students' uprising that led essentially led the collapse of the 7-year military dictatorship in Greece (1967-74).

Officials, trade union representatives and citizens laid wreaths and placed flowers at the Polytechnic (now the National Technical University of Athens-N.T.U.A.) monument.
The three-day events will wind up on Saturday, November 17, with a march to the US embassy in Athens.

A three-day commemoration is held nationwide each year in tribute to a student uprising against the military dictatorship ruling Greece at the time, that was violently put down in the early hours of November 17, 1973 when the army and tanks were brought in to disperse the students that had taken over the Athens Polytechnic building and the civilians who had thronged to the site in support of the uprising.

The commemoration will once again take place under stringent security measures. The various departments of Athens University scattered throughout the Greek capital closed on Wednesday night and will remain closed throughout the three-day events.

The Polytechnic gates will open every morning and close at night during the three days, while teams of students, professors and N.T.U.A. workers will remain inside the Polytechnic campus to guard the premises.




Traffic restrictions have already gone into effect in the Polytechnic environs.
The organizers of the commemoration are mulling the holding of memorial events inside the campus in addition to the traditional exhibitions and speeches.

The commemoration of the Polytechnic uprising will be held on Friday in primary and secondary schools.
Source:amna

“Deux fois étranger”: l’histoire du déracinement des populations grecques de l’Asie mineure, au musée Benaki

Le drame du déracinement subi par des populations expatriées au cours du XXème siècle fait l’objet de l’exposition “Deux fois étranger” qui sera présentée au musée Benaki du 19 septembre au 25 novembre.

A travers des témoignages de migrants et de leurs descendants, ainsi que de rares vidéos et photographies, l’exposition raconte l’histoire des populations déracinées de leur terre natale et transférées ailleurs en dépit de leur propre volonté.

 

“Deux fois étranger” met en lumière l'échange des populations grecques et turques en 1923, des populations allemandes et polonaises après la fin de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, mais aussi le transfert entre musulmans et hindous lors de la partition de l’Inde en 1947 et la naissance du Pakistan. Chypre y fait partie aussi de ce tableau pour ce qui concerne les événements de 1974, suite à l’invasion turque sur l’île.

A noter également au programme, des événements parallèles, comme des narrations de contes, des projections de documentaires, ainsi que des soirées gastronomiques inspirées de la cuisine de l’Asie Mineure et de l’Inde.

Les prochaines escales de cette exposition, qui a déjà voyagé à Istanbul et à Nicosie, seront Stockholm et Luxembourg.