THE WAY TO GREECE

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM ANTIQUITY TO MODERN TIMES

MARIA BELIVANI

ELLINIKA GRAMMATA ATHENS 2004

PART I

Preface by Maria Belivani, April 2004

Is there a way to live in harmony with ourselves and the environment? The aim of this book is to suggest some answers to this question. Our guides will be the glorious Greeks (those of the Golden Era of the 5^th BC to the modern Nobel-laureate poets), who can show us a path to a better life. That path has been called “the Golden Mean,” the only philosophy for living that places humankind (rather than some other creator) at its center.

The classicist Bruno Snell wrote that “European thinking begins with the Greeks. They have made it what it is: our only way of thinking; its authority, in the Western world, is undisputed … They discovered the human mind.

Yet the Greek way has never been to regard itself as exclusively European or Western, but as one open – like the Olympic Games that were born of this broadminded ideal – to the whole world. In the fifth century BC, Isocrates wrote that “the word Greek is not so much a term of birth as of mentality, and its is applied to a common culture rather than a common descent.” Or as Alexander the Great said: “The origin of citizens or the race into which they were born is of no concern to me. I have only one criterion by which to distinguish – virtue. For me any good foreigner is a Greek and any bad Greek is worse than a barbarian.”

I decided to write this book in English because this language is very dear to my heart and will help these ideas travel around the world.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to James Owen, the historian, writer, and journalist; Kathleen Hart, editor and professor of English Literature; Bob Chatel, professor of Philosophy and Humanities; the writer Vassilis Vassilikos, permanent Representative of Greece to Unesco; and Christos Memis, managing editor of the Athens daily To Vima. A very special thanks to my parents Yiannis and Roula, my sister Nicole, and my husband Dimitris Katsantonis.

I would like to dedicate this book to my son Jason and hope that in the future he may find some answers here.

I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.

Socrates

Greek philosopher (469-399 BC)

THE BRONZE AGE (3000 BC – 1200 BC)

The Greeks have always believed that their culture had its origins in the Bronze Age, the era of the Cycladic, Cretan, and Mycenaean civilizations. This period has been immortalized in the epic poems of Homer (which were written much later), the great ancient tragedies, the tales of Greek heroes like Jason, Hercules, Achilles, and the myth of Atlantis.

The astonishing archeological discoveries in Crete, Mycenae, and Troy in the last 150 years have largely confirmed the factual basis for these legends and brought the myths closer to reality.

Cycladic Civilization: Europe’s earliest culture

The earliest evidence of civilization in Europe has been found in the Cycladic islands. The best-known relics of the pre-historic cultures that flourished in this region are small figurines of nude women with their arms folded across their chests.

Minoan Crete

Even today, the grand palace of Knossos impresses visitors with its size and the complexity of its facilities: four storys of luxurious royal apartments, elaborate shafts for lighting, toilets that flushed, and a plumbing system that provided a standard of cleanliness perhaps not reached by the rest of the world until the end of the 19^th century.

Santorini or perhaps Atlantis?

In 1500 BC a volcanic explosion rocked the island of Santorini, covering half of it with ash and pumice.
The other half slid beneath the waves and may have thus inspired the legend of the lost civilization of Atlantis.
In 1967 excavations at Akrotiri revealed one of the most important prehistoric sites of the Aegean, with the remarkably well-preserved remains of a pre-historic town buried under thick layers of ash and pumice.

Greece during the late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC)

Mycenae: Resting place of King Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War?

According to Homer, when King Agamemnon returned to his magnificent palace at Mycenae at the end of the Trojan War, he was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover.
In 1874 excavations conducted by Heinrich Schliemann, who also discovered Troy, revealed royal burial sites of extraordinary grandeur.
When Schliemann found a gold death mask, he sent a telegram to the King of Greece saying, “Today I have looked upon the face of Agamemnon.”
These finds have now been dated to the 16^th century BC, some three centuries before the Trojan War is believed to have taken place.

Greek migrations

Cretan civilization appears to have been influenced by the Cycladic cultures, spread by these seafaring folk. The Cretans, in turn, influenced Mycenean culture.
The eruption of the volcano on Santorini had a tremendous impact on the entire Aegean. The Minoan palaces on Crete were destroyed; new ones were built, only to be destroyed again some years later by another natural disaster.
Mycenean civilization flourished until 1200 BC and was followed by a “dark age.”
Many Greeks migrated from the mainland and settled along the western coast of Asia Minor and on the larger islands off its coast, founding twelve cities and creating Ionia.
Over the next few centuries, this area flourished and made a significant contribution to Greek culture, beginning with Homer, who came from the region.

HOMER AND HESIOD: THE ORIGINS OF WESTERN LITERAURE

It is said that the Greek myths herald the dawn of Western Civilization. Homer is often recognized as the author of the first work of literature that Europe may truly count as its own.
A great deal of what we know as “Western” culture – sculpture, music, painting and literature – have found their source of inspiration in Greek mythology.
In the eighth century BC, Homer is believed to have composed the two most widely known epic poems of the ancient Greek world: The Iliad and The Odyssey.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Mount Olympus in Thessaly is the highest point in Greece. The ancient Greeks believed its cloud-shrouded peak was the seat of the pantheon, derived from pan (all) + theos (god).
The pantheon was the assembly of the twelve gods of Mount Olympus and was dominated by Zeus who was thus given the epithet “Olympian.”

THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES

The Olympic Games were the most important sporting event of the ancient world. They took place at the stadium at Olympia every four years, in the middle of the summer, and were dedicated to Olympian Zeus, the king of gods and mortals.
The Olympic Games were a religious and political event that survived for 1,169 years and were revived at the end of the 19^th century.

The sacred truce

The spirit of the Olympic games is best described through the idea of the Olympic Truce or ekecheria (holding of hands).
The Olympic Truce was observed for twelve centuries, thus making it the longest-lasting peace accord in history.
All hostilities between Greek cities ceased in order to ensure the safety of thousands of spectators, athletes, and artists traveling to Olympia and back.
The truce lasted approximately three months, as the Greek world at that time was much larger than modern Greece and included many colonies in places like Sicily, Marseilles, Alexandria, and Constantinople.
The significance of the Olympic Truce was that it showed that sports could help people live together in peace and thus discover that they had more things in common than they had originally believed.

The role of sports in Ancient Greece

In ancient Greece sport was not perceived merely as a healthy pastime but was considered to be an integral part of a complete education.
Greeks believed hat a healthy mind could only exist in a healthy body and thus education could not be divided into physical and intellectual.
The aim of education was to create a man who was kalos (beautiful) and agathos (virtuous), a man who lived in harmony with his mind and body.
Armonia (harmony) was very important in ancient Greece: from a very young age pupils had to learn how to dance, sing, and play music as well as to read and write.
Physical education included training in rhythm and music, all of which sought to create a well-balanced personality and a citizen who, according to Pericle’s famous funeral oration would, “love beauty without excess and love wisdom without being weak.”
An ideal citizen should live a life of responsibility and maintain an open mind. In order to be able to do so, one had to feel secure about both one’s intellectual and physical abilities.

The prizes

At the close of the Games, the victors gathered at the temple of Zeus. A herald called out their name, their father’s name, and the names of their cities while the crowd cheered.
A crown of wild olive wood (kotinos) was their only prize, but the fame and respect they gained were invaluable.
For the rest of their lives they would be remembered as victors and their names recorded in the archives; sometimes their statues would also be erected at Olympia.
When the victors returned home, their fellow citizens would demolish part of the city walls for them to enter through; having such a hero meant that the city did not need any other protection.

PHILOSOPHY: Words of wisdom

In the history of Western philosophy, the Nobel-Laureate Bertrand Russell wrote that not only philosophy but the principles of history, theatre, medicine, science, and many types of Western literature originated in the ancient Greek world.
He notes that the words of the ancients seem as fresh today as when they were uttered 2,500 years ago.
While acknowledging the contributions of Egypt and Mesopotamia to civilization, he claims that “certain elements had been lacking until the Greeks supplied them. What they achieved in art and literature is familiar to everybody, but what they did in the purely intellectual realm is even more exceptional.”

Philosophy before Socrates: The origins of Western philosophy and science (philos + sophia = the friends of wisdom)

Pre-Socratic philosophy was born in the Greek cities of Ionia at the end of the seventh century BC. The first philosophers of that time explored the origins of the creation of the world and sought to explain the forces that existed in nature.
The spirit of enquiry was unshackled from religion and moved towards what we now call science.

The Seven Sages of Antiquity

Bias of Priene: Most men are bad

Chilo of Sparta: Consider the end

Cleolobus of Lindos: The Golden Mean

Periander of Corinth: Nothing is impossible to industry

Pittacus of Mytilene: Seize time by the forelock

Solon of Athens: Know thyself

Thales of Miletus: Who hateth suretyship is sure

Solon of Athens: the first democrat

Solon (640-558 BC) was one of the Seven Sages of Antiquity. His laws and radical social policies helped bridge the gap between rich and poor.
His most important law was one that did not allow citizens to be indifferent to public affairs.
Injury done to the least of its citizens is injury done to all.
A I grow older I never cease to learn something new.
Call no man happy until he dies.

Thales of Miletus (624-549 BC)

The first scientist-philosopher was Thales of Miletus, who rejected the religious and mythological explanations of the world and declared that the universe was a single entity and water was the most fundamental substance.
He predicted the eclipse of the sun for the year 585 BC and measured the height of the pyramids by their shadow.
He is said to have been the one who divided the year into 365 days.
Time is wise because it brings everything to light.
What is difficult? To know yourself.
What is easy? To give advice.

Anaximander (610-547 BC)

Anaximander published a geographical map of the known world. He created solar clocks and pondered whether humans had been like fish at some time in the past.
Everything is indefinite and infinite.
Motion is eternal.
Innumerable worlds are being born, dissolved, and born again according to the age to which they can survive.

Heraclitus of Ephesus (6^th century BC)

Heraclitus’s doctrine of the unity of opposites influenced modern philosophers like Hegel and Marx. He believed that the principle of the universe is “becoming,” which implies that everything is and, at the same time, is not, so far as the same relation is concerned.
He also believed that stability is an illusion, and that only change and the law of change are real.
You cannot swim twice in the same river, for the waters constantly change.
Much learning does not teach understanding.
War is the father and king of all things.
The road up and the road down are one and the same.

Pythagoras of Samos (570-500 BC)

Pythagoras contributed greatly to the progress of mathematics and geometry, notably with his celebrated theorem. But he was also a philosopher and mystic.
A vegetarian, he was famous for his musical teachings and his belief in reincarnation; he used to say he could remember all his past lives.
Pythagoras was the first to use the term “cosmos” to suggest that the entire universe has an order that can be understood through mathematics.
The Pythagoreans, having discovered the mathematical laws of musical pitch, believed that planetary motions produce a “music of the spheres.”

The Sophists: The people who professed to teach wisdom

This group of traveling teachers would accept payment for their lessons in rhetoric. As the Greek economy expanded, a class emerged of newly-rich merchants who needed instruction in public speaking, debate, and general culture. They called on the services of the Sophists to satisfy these needs.
Protagoras (490-420BC) did not believe that there was an absolute truth.
Man is the measure of things. Of God I cannot say either that they exist or that they do not; it is a very difficult subject and life is not long enough.
Gorgias (483-376 BC) was the first sceptic. He believed that nothing exists, that if anything did exist then it could not be known, and that if anything did exist and could be known, then it could not be communicated.

Democritus (470-360 BC)

The pre-Socratic period ends with Democritus. Thale’s initial question about the true nature of matter culminated a century later in the concept of atoms, a concept that brought humankind closer to the truth than any other theories in the ensuing two millennia.
Democritus was the father of atomic theory. He believed that the nature of things consists of an infinite number of extremely small particles, which he called atoms. These atoms are surrounded by a void. He recognized that there are many different kinds of atoms and that they all move in space.
Even the most pleasant becomes unpleasant in excess.
All the world is a stage; life is a passage: you come, you see, you leave.

The Way to Greece Part 1