1.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
2.
Stratos, Greece
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Stratos is a settlement in central Aetolia-Acarnania, Western Greece. It is best known for its remains of the namesake ancient Greek city and capital of Acarnania. Stratos is situated on the bank of the river Acheloos,9 km northwest of the town of Agrinio. The area north of Stratos is mountainous, whereas the south is flat and it is now an Aromanian village and a municipal unit of the Agrinio municipality. It was where judicial proceedings common to all the Arcananians took place, and by Thucydides time Stratos was the capital of Acarnania, as a result, it prospered greatly in the 5th century BC. As capital of Acarnania, Stratos was involved in many wars, in the 5th century BC, the Corinthians were forced out of their Acarnanian settlements by Athens. In 429 BC in the Pelopponesian War, the Pelopponesians under the Spartan Knemos attacked Stratos and were defeated with great slaughter. In about 390 BC the cities of Acarnania surrendered to the Spartans under King Agesilaus, the Acarnanians later sided with the Boeotians in their fight against Sparta, and with Athens against Philip II of Macedon at Chaeronea. In 314 BC, King Cassander of Macedon took the city to use as a base against the Aetolians. After 252 BC however, Stratos fell to the Aetolians, during the march of Philip V on Thermos in the Social War in 218 BC, he marched along the Achelous and onto Stratos where he unsuccessfully challenged the citizens to fight. In 169 BC Stratos invited the Romans into Greece as allies against Perseus of Macedon, with the founding of Nicopolis in 28BC, much of the population was obliged to move to the new city and Stratos fell into decline. The main excavations are of the Agora and Stoa, the temple of Zeus, the theatre, the area enclosed by the city walls of 7.5 km length including four long hills and three valleys is alone impressive, their height and strength also. They are constructed of blocks and include towers at intervals. The temple stands on the top of a hill at the remote northwest end of the city. It was of the Doric order, with Corinthian columns in the cella, in addition to this combination of architectural orders, the monument shows several more structural and planning innovations. Construction of the began in 321 BC but was never finished. Before 1928 the village was named Sorovigli, before the 2011 local government reform Stratos was an independent municipality. The municipal unit has an area of 153.307 km2, the municipal unit had a population of 5,429 in 2011, the community 979
3.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
4.
Aetolia
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Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. The country has a level and fruitful coastal region, but an unproductive, the mountains contained many wild beasts, and acquired fame in Greek mythology as the scene of the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions that Curetes was the old name of the Aetolians, the Aetolians took part in the Trojan War, under their king Thoas. The mountain tribes of Aetolia were the Ophioneis, the Apodotoi, the Agraeis, the Aperantoi, the primitive lifestyle of those tribes made an impression on ancient historians. Polybius doubted their Greek heritage, while Livy reports that spoke a language similar to the Macedonians. On the other hand, Thucydides claims that Eurytanians spoke a very difficult language and they were semi-barbaric, warlike and predatory. They worshiped Apollo as god of nature and Artemis as goddess of wilderness. They also worshiped Athena, not as goddess of wisdom, and they called Apollo and Artemis “Laphrios gods, ” i. e. patrons of the spoils and loot of war. In addition, they worshiped Hercules, the river Achelous and Bacchus, in Thermos, an area north of Trichonis lake, there was after the 7th century a shrine of Apollo “Thermios, ” which became a significant religious center during the time of the Common Aetolia. The Aetolians refused to participate in the Persian Wars, in 426 BC, led by Aegitios, they defeated the Athenians and their allies, who had turned against Apodotia and Ophioneia under the general command of Demosthenes. However, they failed to regain Naupaktos, which had meanwhile been conquered by the Corinthians with the aid of the Athenians, at the end of the Peloponnesian War, the Aetolians took part as mercenaries of the Athenians in the expedition against Syracuse. Then the Achaeans occupied Calydon, but the Aetolians recovered it in 361 BC, in 338 BC, Naupaktos was again taken by the Aetolians, with the help of Philip II. During the Lamian War, the Aetolians helped the Athenian general Leosthenes defeat Antipater, as a result, they came into conflict with Antipater and Craterus, taking great risks, but were eventually saved by the disagreement between the two Macedonian generals and Perdiccas. The Acarnanians then attempted to invade their land, but the Aetolians were able to force them to flee, the Aetolians set up a united league, the Aetolian League, in early times. It soon became a confederation and by c.340 BC it became one of the leading military powers in ancient Greece. Subsequently, the Sotiria Games were established by the Aetolians, in honour of Zeus the Saviour, the Aetolians’ power increasingly magnified with the occupation of the lands of Ozoloi, Locrians and Phocians, as well as Boeotia. They then united under the power of their League in the areas of Tegea, Mantinea, Orchomenus, Psophida, between 220–217 BC, the Social War broke out between the Achaean and Aetolian Leagues. The war was first started by the Aetolians with the help of the Spartans and Eleans, allies of the Achaeans were the Macedonians, the Boeotians, the Phocians, the Epirotes, the Acarnanians and the Messenians
5.
Achelous
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In Greek mythology, Achelous was originally the god of all water, and the rivers of the world were viewed by many as his sinews. His name is pre-Greek, its not entirely certain. Recent arguments suggest it is Semitic in origin, with the Greek root Aχ stemming from Akkadian aḫu, which means bank of the river, and aḫû, meaning seashore. Likewise, the Greek root ἑλώἴος probably stems from the Akkadian illu, meaning watercourse or water of the river invading land, and also elu and ilu, which mean deity. Achelous was also an important deity in Etruscan mythology, intimately related to water as in the Greek tradition, man-faced bull iconography was first adapted to represent Achelous by the Etruscans in the 8th century BC, and the Greeks later copied this tradition. Recent arguments have demonstrated both the form and substance of Achelous, as a god of water primarily depicted as a man-faced bull, have roots in Old Europe in the Bronze Age. Some Greek sources say that he was the son of Gaia and Oceanus, however, ancient Greeks generally believed with Hesiod that Tethys and Oceanus were the parents of all three thousand river gods. In the Renaissance, the improvisatory mythographer Natalis Comes made for his parents Gaia and Helios, Homer placed Achelous above all, by Roman times, Homers reference was interpreted as making Achelous prince of rivers. Others derived the legends about Achelous from Egypt, and describe him as a second Nilus and this wide extent of the worship of Achelous also accounts for his being regarded as the representative of sweet water in general, that is, as the source of all nourishment. Achelous was a suitor for Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus king of Calydon, but was defeated by Heracles, who wed her himself. The contest of Achelous with Heracles was represented on the throne of Amyclae, on several coins of Acarnania the god is represented as a bull with the head of an old man. The sacred bull, the serpent and the Minotaur are all associated with the Earth goddess Gaia. Achelous was sometimes depicted as an old man or a vigorous bearded man in his prime, with a horned head. When he battled Heracles over the river nymph Deianeira, Achelous turned himself into a serpent, Heracles tore off one of his horns and forced the god to surrender. Achelous had to trade the goat horn of Amalthea to get it back, Heracles gave it to the Naiads, who transformed it into the cornucopia. Achelous relates the bitter episode afterwards to Theseus in Ovids Metamorphoses, sophocles makes Deianeira relate these occurrences in a somewhat different manner. The most common depiction of Acheloios in Archaic and Classical times was as a man-faced bull. Often times, a city would feature a bull on its coinage to represent a local epithet of Achelous, such as Achelous Gelas of Gela, Sicily, or Achelous Sebethos of Neapolis
6.
Gulf of Corinth
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The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. The gulf is in tectonic movement comparable to movement in parts of Iceland and Turkey, in medieval times, the gulf was known as the Gulf of Lepanto. Shipping routes between the Greek commercial port Pireus to western Mediterranean and hemisphere ports pass along this gulf, a further crossing in the form of ferry links Aigio and Agios Nikolaos, towards the western part of the gulf. Length,130 km Width,8.4 to 32 km Max Depth 935 m The gulf was created by the expansion of a tectonic rift due to the movement of the Anatolian Plate. The surrounding faults can produce earthquakes up to magnitude 6.8, cetaceans such as fin whales or dolphins are known to come into the Corinthian gulf occasionally
7.
Aetolia-Acarnania
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Aetolia-Acarnania is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the regions of Aetolia and Acarnania, it is the countrys largest regional unit. Its capital is Missolonghi for historical reasons, with its biggest city, the area is now connected with the Peloponnese peninsula via the Rio-Antirio Bridge. The surrounding regional units take in Arta in Epirus, a narrow length bordering Karditsa of Thessaly, Evrytania to the northeast, Mountains dominate the north, northeast, west and southeast, especially the Acarnanian Mountains. The longest and main river is the Acheloos, which ends as a delta in wetlands to the southwest on a fertile valley. The second longest is Evinos, others include the Ermitsa, the Inachos, the regional unit excludes the islands lying to its west, since they belong to the Kefalonia and Ithaca regional units. There is one reservoir and a lake in its central part, lakes include the Amvrakia, the Lysimachia, Ozeros, and Trichonida, and artificial lakes and reservoirs include Kastraki, Kremasta, the largest lake in Greece since its creation in 1970, and Stratos. Two lagoons are found in the part of the regional unit, the Messolongi. Its climate tends toward hot summers and mild winters in the low-lying areas. At the highest elevations, summers are cool, and snow, during the Ottoman period, between the 16th century until the Greek War of Independence, the region was called Karleli and formed a province in the Rumelia Eyalet. Evrytania separated from the prefecture in 1948, in the 20th century, ferry services between Rio and the Peloponnese began. And in the 1950s and the 1960s ferry services began to incorporate vehicles, following World War II and the Greek Civil War a number of buildings needed to be repaired. A drawbridge linking the island of Lefkada began in the 1960s, two more dams were added, the Stratos Hydroelectric Dam in the 1980s and another in the late-1980s. The following years, GR-5 bypassed Messolonghi and Agrinion and GR-38 became connected with paved road with Eurytania, in the late-1980s, the by-pass of Naupaktos began construction but after paving the road, the signs did not appear and until 1998, it was left unopened. In 1999, the road was re-repaired and finally opened to traffic, in 2000, the construction of the Rio-Antirio or the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge connecting the Peloponnese began construction and was opened to traffic in August 2004. A railway formally served the places from Kryoneri and Agrinio and served with the ferry with Rio, in the 1980s, the service came to an end and was the next on the list of prefectures not connected with rail. Greek National Road 5/E55, SE, S, Cen, N Greek National Road 38, Cen
8.
Epirus
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Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It is currently divided between the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece and the counties of Gjirokastër, Vlorë, the largest city in Epirus is Ioannina, seat of the region of Epirus, with Gjirokastër the largest city in the Albanian part of Epirus. A rugged and mountainous region, Epirus was the north-west area of ancient Greece. It was inhabited by the Greek tribes of the Chaonians, Molossians, and Thesprotians, and home to the sanctuary of Dodona, the oldest ancient Greek oracle, and the most prestigious one after Delphi. Unified into a state in 370 BC by the Aeacidae dynasty, Epirus achieved fame during the reign of Pyrrhus of Epirus. Epirus subsequently became part of the Roman Empire along with the rest of Greece in 146 BC, following the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade, Epirus became the center of the Despotate of Epirus, one of the successor states to the Byzantine Empire. Conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, Epirus became semi-independent during the rule of Ali Pasha in the early 19th century, but the Ottomans re-asserted their control in 1821. Following the Balkan Wars and World War I, southern Epirus became part of Greece, the name Epirus is derived from the Greek, Ἤπειρος, Ḗpeiros, meaning mainland or terra firma. It is thought to come from an Indo-European root *apero- coast, and was applied to the mainland opposite Corfu. The local name was stamped on the coinage of the unified Epirote commonwealth, the Albanian name for the region, which derives from the Greek, is Epiri. The historical region of Epirus is generally regarded as extending from the end of the Ceraunian mountains, located just south of the Bay of Aulon. The northern boundary of ancient Epirus is alternatively given as the mouth of the Aoös river, epiruss eastern boundary is defined by the Pindus Mountains, that form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia and Thessaly. To the west, Epirus faces the Ionian Sea, the island of Corfu is situated off the Epirote coast but is not regarded as part of Epirus. The definition of Epirus has changed over time, such that modern administrative boundaries do not correspond to the boundaries of ancient Epirus, the region of Epirus in Greece only comprises a fraction of classical Epirus and does not include its easternmost portions, which lie in Thessaly. Epirus is a rugged and mountainous region. It is largely made up of the Pindus Mountains, a series of limestone ridges that are a continuation of the Dinaric Alps. The Pindus mountains form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia, the ridges of the Pindus are parallel to the sea and generally so steep that the valleys between them are mostly suitable for pasture rather than large-scale agriculture. Altitude increases as one moves east, away from the coast, reaching a maximum of 2, 637m at Mount Smolikas, most of Epirus lies on the windward side of the Pindus, and the prevailing winds from the Ionian Sea make the region the rainiest in mainland Greece
9.
Greek mythology
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It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Greek mythology is explicitly embodied in a collection of narratives. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. These accounts initially were disseminated in a tradition, today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homers epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War, archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles, in the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an influence on the culture, arts. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes, Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. Mythical narration plays an important role in every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus and this work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c, 180–125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed the basis for the collection, however the Library discusses events that occurred long after his death, among the earliest literary sources are Homers two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the cycle, but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the part of the so-called Lyric age. Hesiods Works and Days, a poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides and Simonides, and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion, additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama
10.
Homer
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Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the semi-legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of Greek literature. The Odyssey focuses on the home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Many accounts of Homers life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a bard from Ionia. The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value, the Homeric question - by whom, when, where and under what circumstances were the Iliad and Odyssey composed - continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion on the authorship question falls into two camps, one group holds that most of the Iliad and the Odyssey is the work of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the crystallization of a process of working and re-working by many contributors and it is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. Most researchers believe that the poems were transmitted orally. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education, to Plato, the chronological period of Homer depends on the meaning to be assigned to the word Homer. Was Homer a single person, an imaginary person representing a group of poets and this information is often called the world of Homer. The Homeric period would in that cover a number of historical periods, especially the Mycenaean Age. Considered word-for-word, the texts as we know them are the product of the scholars of the last three centuries. Each edition of the Iliad or Odyssey is a different, as the editors rely on different manuscripts and fragments. The term accuracy reveals a belief in an original uniform text. The manuscripts of the work currently available date to no earlier than the 10th century. These are at the end of a missing thousand-year chain of copies made as each generation of manuscripts disintegrated or were lost or destroyed and these numerous manuscripts are so similar that a single original can be postulated. The time gap in the chain is bridged by the scholia, or notes, on the existing manuscripts, librarian of the Library of Alexandria, he had noticed a wide divergence in the works attributed to Homer, and was trying to restore a more authentic copy. He had collected several manuscripts, which he named, the Sinopic, the one he selected for correction was the koine, which Murray translates as the Vulgate. Aristarchus was known for his selection of material
11.
Ithaca
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Ithaca or Ithaka is a Greek island located in the Ionian Sea, off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and to the west of continental Greece. Ithacas main island has an area of 96 square kilometres and had a population in 2011 of 3,231 and it is the second-smallest of seven main Ionian Islands, after Paxi. Ithaca is a regional unit of the Ionian Islands region. Modern Ithaca is generally identified with Homers Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, the fact that classical Greek authors often used eponymous explanations to explain away names through folk etymology makes it more likely that Ithakos derives from Ithaca rather than vice versa. It may have been the capital of Cephalonia during the Mycenaean period, the Romans occupied the island in the 2nd century BC, and later it became part of the Byzantine Empire. The Normans ruled Ithaca in the 13th century, and after a short Turkish rule it fell into Venetian hands, Ithaca was subsequently occupied by France under the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio. It became a French possession again in 1807, until it was taken over by the United Kingdom in 1809, under the 1815 Treaty of Paris, Ithaca became a state of the United States of the Ionian Islands, a protectorate of the British Empire. In 1830 the local community requested to join with the rest of the newly restored nation-state of Greece. Under the 1864 Treaty of London, Ithaca, along with the remaining six Ionian islands, were ceded to Greece as a gesture of friendship to Greeces new Anglophile king. The United Kingdom kept its use of the harbour at Corfu. The origins of the first people to inhabit the island, which occurred during the last years of the Neolithic period, are not clear. The traces of buildings, walls and a road from time period prove that life existed and continued to do so during the Early Hellenic era. In the years some of the migrated to part of the island. The buildings and walls that were excavated showed the lifestyle of this period had remained primitive, during the Mycenaean period, Ithaca rose to the highest level of its ancient history. The Ithacans were characterized as great navigators and explorers with daring expeditions reaching further than the Mediterranean Sea, the epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, shed some light on Bronze-Age Ithaca. Recent studies concluded that Homer recorded oral history from elders, after the end of the Mycenaean period Ithacas influence diminished, and it came under the jurisdiction of the nearest large island. During the ancient Hellenic prime, independent organized life continued in the northern and southern part of the island, in the southern part, in the area of Aetos, the town Alalcomenae was founded. From this period, many objects of important historical value have been found during excavations, among these objects are coins imprinted with the name Ithaca and the image of Odysseus which suggest that the island was self-governed
12.
Cephalonia
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Cephalonia or Kefalonia, formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia, is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece. It is also a regional unit of the Ionian Islands region. It was also a former Latin Catholic diocese Kefalonia–Zakynthos and short-lived titular see as just Kefalonia, the capital of Cephalonia is Argostoli. The main island of the unit is Cephalonia and has a size of 773 km2. The town of Argostoli has one-third of the islands inhabitants, Lixouri is the second major settlement, and the two towns together account for almost two-thirds of the prefectures population. The other major islands are, Petalas Island, Asteris Island, Cephalonia lies in the heart of an earthquake zone, and dozens of minor, unrecorded tremors occur each year. In 1953, a earthquake destroyed almost all of the settlements on the island. Important natural features include Melissani Lake, the Drogarati caves, the island has a rich biodiversity, with a substantial number of endemic and rare species. Some areas have been declared a site in the European Union’s Natura 2000 network, the top of Mount Ainos is covered with fir trees and is a natural park. Forestry is rare on the island, however its output is one of the highest in the Ionian islands. Forest fires were common during the 1990s and the early 2000s, Cephalonia is well known for its endangered loggerhead turtle population which nest on many beaches along the south coast of the island. Caves on these parts of the coast offer ideal locations for the seals to give birth to their pups, the European pine marten is known to live on the island. Over 200 species of birds have been spotted on the island, Cephalonia is a distinct regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. The seat of administration is Argostoli, the main town. Amid the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the unit of Kefallinia was created from part of the former Kefalonia. During the same reform, the current municipality of Cephalonia was created from the eight former municipalities, the Cephalonia regional unit also includes a number of uninhabited islands of the Echinades group. They are administered by the municipality of Pylaros and he was rewarded with the island of Same, which thereafter came to be known as Cephallenia. Cephalonia has also suggested as the Homeric Ithaca, the home of Odysseus
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Acarnania". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Acarnania". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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