1.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
Ancient Greek
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Inscription about the construction of the statue of
Athena Parthenos in the
Parthenon, 440/439 BC
Ancient Greek
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Ostracon bearing the name of
Cimon,
Stoa of Attalos
Ancient Greek
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The words ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ as they are inscribed on the marble of the 1955
Leonidas Monument at
Thermopylae
2.
Eurypontid
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This list of kings of Sparta details the important rulers of the Greek city-state of Sparta in the Peloponnesus. Sparta was unusual among Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age and it was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, called Archagetai, coming from two separate lines. The dynasties themselves, however, were named after the twins grandsons, the Agiad line was regarded as being senior to the Eurypontid line. Although there are lists of the earlier purported Kings of Sparta, Spartan kings received a recurring posthumous hero cult like that of the Dorian kings of Cyrene. The ancient Greeks named males after their fathers, producing a patronymic by infixing -id-, for example, in the case of royal houses the patronymic formed from the founder or an early significant figure became the age of the dynasty. A ruling family might in this way have a number of names, for example, Agis I named the Agiads, but he was a Heraclid. In cases where the descent was not known or was known the Greeks made a few standard assumptions based on their cultural ideology. A people was treated as a tribe, presumed to have descended from an ancestor bearing its name and he must have been a king, who founded a dynasty of his name. This mythologizing extended even to place names and they were presumed to have been named after kings and divinities. Kings often became divinities, in their religion, the Lacedaemonids contain Greeks from the age of legend, now treated as being the Bronze Age in Greece. In the language of mythologic descent, the kingship passed from the Leleges to the Greeks, years with no dates are unknown The Atreidai belong to the Late Bronze Age, or Mycenaean Period. In mythology these were the Perseides, as the name of Atreus is attested in Hittite documents, this dynasty may well be proto-historic. Years with no dates are unknown The Spartan kings as Heracleidae claimed descent from Hercules, disallowed the Peloponnesus, he embarked on a life of wandering. Years with no dates are unknown The dynasty was named after its second king, the dynasty is named after its third king Eurypon. Not shown is Lycurgus, the lawgiver, a son of the Eurypontids. Following Cleomenes IIIs defeat against Antigonus III Doson of Macedon and the Achaean League in the Battle of Sellasia, Sparta was a republic from 221 to 219 BC. The dual monarchy was restored in 219 BC, the Achaean League annexed Sparta in 192 BC. Notes References The Cyclopædia, Volume 20, sir William Smith, A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology, and Geography, Partly Based Upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
Eurypontid
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Genealogical Tree of the Kings of Sparta
Eurypontid
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Lelegids
3.
Sparta
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Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece. In antiquity the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece, given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars. Between 431 and 404 BC, Sparta was the enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, from which it emerged victorious. Spartas defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Spartas prominent role in Greece, however, it maintained its political independence until the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. It then underwent a period of decline, especially in the Middle Ages. Modern Sparta is the capital of the Greek regional unit of Laconia, Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training and excellence. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates, mothakes, perioikoi, Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanges were widely considered to be among the best in battle. Spartan women enjoyed more rights and equality to men than elsewhere in the classical world. Sparta was the subject of fascination in its own day, as well as in the West following the revival of classical learning and this love or admiration of Sparta is known as Laconism or Laconophilia. At its peak around 500 BC the size of the city would have been some 20,000 –35,000 free residents, plus numerous helots, olliers theory of the Spartan mirage has been widely accepted by scholars. The ancient Greeks used one of three words to refer to the location of the Spartans. The first refers primarily to the cluster of settlements in the valley of the Eurotas River. The second word was Lacedaemon, this was used sometimes as an adjective and is the name commonly used in the works of Homer. Herodotus seems to denote by it the Mycenaean Greek citadel at Therapne and it could be used synonymously with Sparta, but typically it was not. It denoted the terrain on which Sparta was situated, in Homer it is typically combined with epithets of the countryside, wide, lovely, shining and most often hollow and broken. The hollow suggests the Eurotas Valley, Sparta on the other hand is the country of lovely women, a people epithet. The name of the population was used for the state of Lacedaemon
Sparta
–
Territory of ancient Sparta
Sparta
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Hollow Lacedaemon. Site of the Menelaion, the ancient shrine to Helen and Menelaus constructed in the Bronze Age city that stood on the hill of
Therapne on the left bank of the
Eurotas River overlooking the future site of Dorian Sparta. Across the valley the successive ridges of Mount
Taygetus are in evidence.
Sparta
–
Eurotas River
Sparta
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The theater of ancient Sparta with
Mt. Taygetus in the background.
4.
Zeuxidamus
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Zeuxidamus can refer to two ancient Spartans. A king of Sparta, and 10th of the Eurypontid dynasty and he was grandson of Theopompus, son of Anaxandridas I, and father of Anaxidamus, who succeeded him. A son of Leotychides, king of Sparta and he died before his father, leaving a son, Archidamus II This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. article name needed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
Zeuxidamus
–
Lelegids
5.
Leotychidas
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Leotychidas was a ruler of Sparta in 491–476 BC. He led Spartan forces during the Persian Wars from 490 BC to 478 BC, later that year, he joined Cleomenes second expedition to Aegina, where ten hostages were seized and given to Athens. However, after Cleomenes death in 488 BC, Leotychidas was almost surrendered to Aegina, in the spring of 479 BC, Leotychidas commanded a Greek fleet consisting of 110 ships at Aegina and later at Delos, supporting the Greek revolts at Chios and Samos against Persia. Leotychidas defeated Persian military and naval forces at the Battle of Mycale on the coast of Asia Minor in the summer of 479 BC. In 476 BC, Leotychidas led an expedition to Thessaly against the Aleuadae family for collaboration with the Persians, upon returning to Sparta he was tried for bribery, and fled to the temple of Athena Alea in Tegea. Leotychidas died some years later, around 469 BC, Leotychidas is not to be confused with another Eurypontid, Leotychides, who was the son of Agis II. Andrew R. Burn, Persia and the Greeks, The Defense of the West 456-478 B. C, new York,1962 Peter Green, The Year of Salamis 480-479 B. C. London,1970 Simon Hornblower, The Greek World, 479-323 B. C
Leotychidas
–
Lelegids
6.
Agis II
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Agis II was the 18th Eurypontid king of Sparta, the eldest son of Archidamus II by his first wife, and half-brother of Agesilaus II. He ruled with his Agiad co-monarch Pausanias, Agis succeeded his father Archidamus in 427 BC, and reigned a little more than 28 years. In the spring of the year he led an army into Attica. In 419 BC, the Argives, at the instigation of Alcibiades, attacked Epidaurus, no one, Thucydides tells us, knew the purpose of this expedition. It was probably to make a diversion in favour of Epidaurus, at Leuctra the unfavourable aspect of the sacrifices deterred him from proceeding. In the middle of the summer the Epidaurians being still hard pressed by the Argives. By a skilful manoeuvre he succeeded in intercepting the Argives, but just as the battle was about to begin, the Argive generals Thrasyllus and Alciphron met with Agis and prevailed on him to conclude a truce for four months. Agis, without disclosing his motives, pulled his army back, on his return he was severely censured for having thus thrown away the opportunity of reducing Argos, especially as the Argives had seized the opportunity afforded by his return and taken Orchomenus. It was proposed to pull down his house, and inflict on him a fine of 100,000 drachmas. But on his earnest entreaty they contented themselves with appointing a council of war, consisting of 10 Spartans, shortly afterwards they received intelligence from Tegea, that, if not promptly reinforced, the party favourable to Sparta in that city would be compelled to surrender. The Spartans immediately sent their whole force under the command of Agis and he restored stability at Tegea, and then marched to Mantineia. By turning the waters to flood the lands of Mantineia, he succeeded in drawing the army of the Mantineans and Athenians down to the level ground, a battle ensued, in which the Spartans were victorious. The Battle of Mantinea was reckoned one of the most important battles fought between the Grecian states. In 417 BC, when the news reached Sparta of the counter-revolution at Argos, in which the oligarchical and Spartan faction was overthrown, an army was sent there under Agis. He was unable to restore the party, but he destroyed the long walls which the Argives had begun to extend down to the sea. While at Decelea he acted largely independent of the Spartan government and he seems to have remained at Decelea until the end of the Peloponnesian War. In 411 BC, during the administration of the Four Hundred, afterwards the focus of the Peloponnesian War shifted to Asia, and Lysander assumed a greater role in the siege of Athens. After victory was secured, Agis voted to charge his Agiad co-monarch Pausanias with treason, but Pausanias was acquitted
Agis II
–
Lelegids
7.
Agesilaus II
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Small in stature and lame from birth, Agesilaus became ruler somewhat unexpectedly in his mid-forties. He was greatly admired by his friend, the historian Xenophon, Agesilaus was the son of Archidamus II and his second wife, Eupoleia, brother to Cynisca, and younger half-brother of Agis II. There is little surviving detail on the youth of Agesilaus, born with one leg shorter, he was not expected to succeed to the throne after his brother king Agis II, especially because the latter had a son. Therefore, Agesilaus was trained in the curriculum of Sparta. However, Leotychidas was ultimately set aside as illegitimate and Agesilaus became king around 401 BC, Lysander and the young Agesilaus came to maintain an intimate relation, as was common of the period. Their unique relationship would serve an important role during Agesilaus later campaigns in Asia Minor, Agesilaus is first recorded as king during the suppression of the conspiracy of Cinadon, shortly after 398 BC. Then, in 396 BC, Agesilaus crossed into Asia with a force of 2,000 neodamodes and 6,000 allies to liberate Greek cities from Persian dominion. In these campaigns Agesilaus also benefited from the aid of the Ten Thousand, after spending the winter organizing a cavalry force, he made a successful incursion into Lydia in the spring of 395 BC. Tithraustes was sent to replace Tissaphernes, who paid with his life for his continued failure, an armistice was concluded between Tithraustes and Agesilaus, who left the southern satrapy and again invaded Phrygia, which he ravaged until the following spring. He then came to an agreement with Pharnabazus and once more turned southward, during these campaigns, Lysander attempted to manipulate Agesilaus into ceding his authority. Agesilaus, the passive lover of Lysander, would have nothing of this. He had Lysander sent away to assist the naval campaigns in the Aegean and this dominating move by Agesilaus earned the respect of his men-at-arms and of Lysander himself, who remained emotionally close with Agesilaus. A rapid march through Thrace and Macedonia brought him to Thessaly, reinforced by Phocian and Orchomenian troops and a Spartan army, he met the confederate forces at Coronea in Boeotia and in a hotly contested battle was technically victorious. However, the Spartan baggage train was ransacked and Agesilaus himself was injured during the fighting, resulting in a subsequent retreat by way of Delphi to the Peloponnese. Shortly before this battle the Spartan navy, of which he had received the command, was totally defeated off Cnidus by a powerful Persian fleet under Conon. During these conflicts in mainland Greece, Lysander perished while attacking the walls of Thebes, pausanias failed to fight for the bodies of the dead, and because he retrieved the bodies under truce, he was disgraced and banished from Sparta. In 393 BC, Agesilaus engaged in an invasion of Argolis. In 392 BC he took a prominent part in the Corinthian War, making several expeditions into Corinthian territory and capturing Lechaeum
Agesilaus II
–
Lelegids
Agesilaus II
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Agesilaus and Pharnabazus.
8.
Bribery
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Bribery is the act of giving money, goods or other forms of recompense to a recipient in exchange for an alteration of their behavior that the recipient would otherwise not alter. Gifts of money or other items of value which are available to everyone on an equivalent basis. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is a rebate and is not bribery. Giving the rebate to influence them to look favorably on the utilitys rate increase applications, however. The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipients conduct, in economics, the bribe has been described as rent. Bribery in bureaucracy has been viewed as a reason for the higher cost of production of goods, one must be careful of differing social and cultural norms when examining bribery. Expectations of when a transaction is appropriate can differ from place to place. Tipping, for example, is considered bribery in some societies, in some Spanish-speaking countries, bribes are referred to as mordida. In Arab countries, bribes may be called baksheesh or shay, french-speaking countries often use the expressions dessous-de-table, pot-de-vin, or commission occulte. While the last two expressions contain inherently a negative connotation, the expression dessous-de-table can be understood as a commonly accepted business practice. In German, the term is Schmiergeld. The forms that bribery take are numerous, for example, a motorist might bribe a police officer not to issue a ticket for speeding, a citizen seeking paperwork or utility line connections might bribe a functionary for faster service. Bribery may also take the form of a commission, a profit made by an agent, in the course of his employment. Euphemisms abound for this Bribers and recipients of bribery are likewise numerous although bribers have one common denominator, Bribery around the world is estimated at about $1 trillion. The reason for this dissociation is to make the steps of a corrupt deal already an offence and, thus. Besides, such a dissociation makes the prosecution of bribery offences easier since it can be difficult to prove that two parties have formally agreed upon a corrupt deal. A grey area may exist when payments to smooth transactions are made, in some countries, this practice is the norm, often resulting from a developing nation not having the tax structure to pay civil servants an adequate salary. Nevertheless, most economists regard bribery as a bad thing because it encourages rent seeking behaviour, a state where bribery has become a way of life is a kleptocracy
Bribery
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Photo of cash found in Congressman
William J. Jefferson 's freezer in the August 2005 raid was shown to jurors on 8 July 2009
Bribery
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Article II, Section 4 of the
United States Constitution
Bribery
–
Demonstration in Washington, DC
Bribery
–
A campaign to prevent bribes in
Zambia.
9.
Peloponnesian War
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The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases and this period of the war was concluded in 421 BC, with the signing of the Peace of Nicias. That treaty, however, was undermined by renewed fighting in the Peloponnese. In 415 BC, Athens dispatched an expeditionary force to attack Syracuse in Sicily. This ushered in the phase of the war, generally referred to either as the Decelean War. The destruction of Athens fleet at Aegospotami effectively ended the war, Corinth and Thebes demanded that Athens should be destroyed and all its citizens should be enslaved, but Sparta refused. The Peloponnesian War reshaped the ancient Greek world, the economic costs of the war were felt all across Greece, poverty became widespread in the Peloponnese, while Athens found itself completely devastated, and never regained its pre-war prosperity. Greek warfare, meanwhile, originally a limited and formalized form of conflict, was transformed into a struggle between city-states, complete with atrocities on a large scale. Indeed, the fifty years of Greek history that preceded the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War had been marked by the development of Athens as a major power in the Mediterranean world. The city proceeded to conquer all of Greece except for Sparta and its allies, by the middle of the century, the Persians had been driven from the Aegean and forced to cede control of a vast range of territories to Athens. This tribute was used to support a fleet and, after the middle of the century, to fund massive public works programs in Athens. According to Thucydides, although the Spartans took no action at this time, conflict between the states flared up again in 465 BC, when a helot revolt broke out in Sparta. The Spartans summoned forces from all of their allies, including Athens, Athens sent out a sizable contingent, but upon its arrival, this force was dismissed by the Spartans, while those of all the other allies were permitted to remain. According to Thucydides, the Spartans acted in this way out of fear that the Athenians would switch sides and support the helots, the offended Athenians repudiated their alliance with Sparta. When the rebellious helots were finally forced to surrender and permitted to evacuate the country, a fifteen-year conflict, commonly known as the First Peloponnesian War, ensued, in which Athens fought intermittently against Sparta, Corinth, Aegina, and a number of other states. The war was ended by the Thirty Years Peace, signed in the winter of 446/5 BC. The Thirty Years Peace was first tested in 440 BC, when Athens powerful ally Samos rebelled from its alliance with Athens, the rebels quickly secured the support of a Persian satrap, and Athens found itself facing the prospect of revolts throughout the empire. The Spartans, whose intervention would have been the trigger for a war to determine the fate of the empire
Peloponnesian War
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The walls surrounding Athens
Peloponnesian War
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The Peloponnesian war alliances at 431 BC. Orange: Athenian Empire and Allies; Green: Spartan Confederacy
Peloponnesian War
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The key actions of each phase
Peloponnesian War
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Eight bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre written by
Thucydides the sonne of
Olorus. Interpreted with faith and diligence immediately out of the Greeke by
Thomas Hobbes secretary to ye late
Earle of Deuonshire. (
Houghton Library)
10.
Pericles
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Pericles was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age—specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful, Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, a contemporary historian, acclaimed him as the first citizen of Athens. Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire, and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles promoted the arts and literature, it is principally through his efforts that Athens holds the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world and he started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis. This project beautified and protected the city, exhibited its glory, Pericles also fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call him a populist. Pericles was born c.495 BC, in Athens, Greece and he was the son of the politician Xanthippus, who, though ostracized in 485–484 BC, returned to Athens to command the Athenian contingent in the Greek victory at Mycale just five years later. Agariste was the great-granddaughter of the tyrant of Sicyon, Cleisthenes, according to Herodotus and Plutarch, Agariste dreamed, a few nights before Pericles birth, that she had borne a lion. Interestingly, legends say that Philip II of Macedon had a dream before the birth of his son. Pericles belonged to the tribe of Acamantis and his early years were quiet, the introverted young Pericles avoided public appearances, instead preferring to devote his time to his studies. His familys nobility and wealth allowed him to pursue his inclination toward education. He learned music from the masters of the time and he is considered to have been the first politician to attribute importance to philosophy and he enjoyed the company of the philosophers Protagoras, Zeno of Elea, and Anaxagoras. Anaxagoras, in particular, became a friend and influenced him greatly. Pericles manner of thought and rhetorical charisma may have been in part products of Anaxagoras emphasis on emotional calm in the face of trouble and his proverbial calmness and self-control are also often regarded as products of Anaxagoras influence. In the spring of 472 BC, Pericles presented The Persians of Aeschylus at the Greater Dionysia as a liturgy, Plutarch says that Pericles stood first among the Athenians for forty years. If this was so, Pericles must have taken up a position of leadership by the early 460s BC- in his early or mid-thirties, throughout these years he endeavored to protect his privacy and to present himself as a model for his fellow citizens. For example, he would often avoid banquets, trying to be frugal, in 463 BC, Pericles was the leading prosecutor of Cimon, the leader of the conservative faction who was accused of neglecting Athens vital interests in Macedon. Although Cimon was acquitted, this proved that Pericles major political opponent was vulnerable. The leader of the party and mentor of Pericles, Ephialtes, the Ecclesia adopted Ephialtes proposal without opposition
Pericles
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Bust of Pericles bearing the inscription "Pericles, son of Xanthippus, Athenian". Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original from c. 430 BC
Pericles
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Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to Pericles, Aspasia, Alcibiades and friends, by Sir
Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1868,
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.
Pericles
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Bust of Pericles after Kresilas,
Altes Museum,
Berlin
Pericles
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Aspasia of Miletus (c. 469 BC – c. 406 BC), Pericles' companion.
11.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
Athens
–
From upper left: the
Acropolis, the
Hellenic Parliament, the
Zappeion, the
Acropolis Museum,
Monastiraki Square, Athens view towards the sea
Athens
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Athena, patron goddess of Athens;
National Archaeological Museum
Athens
–
Acropolis of Athens, with
Odeon of Herodes Atticus seen on bottom left
12.
First Peloponnesian War
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This war consisted of a series of conflicts and minor wars, such as the Second Sacred War. There were several causes for the war including the building of the Athenian long walls, Megaras defection, at first the Athenians had the better of the fighting, winning the naval engagements using their superior fleet. They also had the better of the fighting on land, until 457 BC when the Spartans, the Athenians, however, counterattacked and scored a crushing victory over the Boeotians at the Battle of Oenophyta and followed this victory up by conquering all of Boeotia except for Thebes. Athens further consolidated their position by making Aegina a member of the Delian League, the Athenians were defeated in 454 BC by the Persians in Egypt which caused them to enter into a five years truce with Sparta. However, the war flared up again in 448 BC with the start of the Second Sacred War, in 446 BC, Boeotia revolted and defeated the Athenians at Coronea and regained their independence. The First Peloponnesian War ended in an arrangement between Sparta and Athens, which was ratified by the Thirty Years Peace, according to the provisions of this peace treaty, both sides maintained the main parts of their empires. Athens continued its domination of the sea while Sparta dominated the land, Megara returned to the Peloponnesian League and Aegina became a tribute-paying but autonomous member of the Delian League. The war between the two leagues restarted in 431 BC and in 404 BC, Athens was occupied by Sparta, a mere twenty years before the First Peloponnesian War broke out, Athens and Spartans had fought alongside each other in the Greco-Persian Wars. In that war, Sparta had held the hegemony of what scholars call the Hellenic League. Sparta grew wary of Athens strength after they had fought each other to disperse the Persians from their lands. When Athens started to rebuild its walls and the strength of its power, Sparta. Different policies made it difficult for Athens and Sparta to avoid going to war, since Athens wanted to expand its territory, Athens, meanwhile, had been asserting itself on the international scene, and was eager to take the lead in the Aegean. The Athenians had already rebuilt their walls, against the wishes of Sparta. In the winter of 479–8 BC they accepted the leadership of a new league, the Athenians rebuilt their walls in secret at the urging of Themistocles, who convinced the Athenians that this was the best way to protect themselves. After the completion of the walls Themistocles declared Athens independent of Spartan hegemony stating that Athens knew what was in its best interest and was now enough to defend itself. Modern scholars, although uncertain of the dating and reliability of this story, have cited it as evidence of the existence, even at this early date. For some time, however, friendly relations prevailed between Athens and Sparta, Themistocles, the Athenian of the period most associated with an anti-Spartan policy, was ostracised at some point in the early 470s BC, and was later forced to flee to Persia. In his place in Athens rose Cimon, who advocated a policy of cooperation between the two states, Cimon was Athens proxenos at Sparta, and so fond was he of that city that he named one of his sons Lakedaemonios, meaning Spartan
First Peloponnesian War
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The Athenian long walls which connected Athens to Piraeus.
First Peloponnesian War
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A map of the Delian League.
First Peloponnesian War
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A Greek trireme, the main type of ships used by the Greek states.
13.
Attica, Greece
–
Attica is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea, the modern administrative region of Attica is more extensive than the historical region and includes the Saronic Islands, Cythera, and the municipality of Troizinia on the Peloponnesian mainland. The history of Attica is tightly linked with that of Athens, Attica is a triangular peninsula jutting into the Aegean Sea. It is naturally divided to the north from Boeotia by the 10 mi long Cithaeron mountain range, to the west, it is bordered by the sea and the canal of Corinth. The Saronic Gulf lies to the south, and the island of Euboea lies off the north, mountains separate the peninsula into the plains of Pedias, Mesogaia, and Thriasion. The mountains of Attica are the Hymettus, the portion of the Geraneia, the Parnitha, the Aigaleo. Four mountains—Aigaleo, Parnitha, Penteli and Hymettus —delineate the hilly plain on which the Athens-Piraeus metroplex now spreads, Athens water reservoir, Lake Marathon, is an artificial lake created by damming in 1920. Pine and fir forests cover the area around Parnitha, Hymettus, Penteli, Myrrhinous and Laurium are forested with pine trees, whereas the rest are covered by shrubbery. The Kifisos is the longest river of Attica, according to Plato, Atticas ancient boundaries were fixed by the Isthmus, and, toward the continent, they extended as far as the heights of Cithaeron and Parnes. The boundary line came down toward the sea, bounded by the district of Oropus on the right, during antiquity, the Athenians boasted about being autochthonic, which is to say that they were the original inhabitants of the area and had not moved to Attica from another place. The traditions current in the classical period recounted that, during the Greek Dark Ages, Attica had become the refuge of the Ionians, who belonged to a tribe from the northern Peloponnese. Supposedly, the Ionians had been forced out of their homeland by the Achaeans, supposedly, the Ionians integrated with the ancient Atticans, who, afterward, considered themselves part of the Ionian tribe and spoke the Ionian dialect. Many Ionians later left Attica to colonize the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, during the Mycenaean period, the Atticans lived in autonomous agricultural societies. The main places where prehistoric remains were found are Marathon, Rafina, Nea Makri, Brauron, Thorikos, Agios Kosmas, Eleusis, Menidi, Markopoulo, Spata, Aphidnae, all of these settlements flourished during the Mycenaean period. According to tradition, Attica comprised twelve small communities during the reign of Cecrops, strabo assigns these the names of Cecropia, Tetrapolis, Epacria, Decelea, Eleusis, Aphidna, Thoricus, Brauron, Cytherus, Sphettus, Cephisia, and possibly Phaleron. These were said to have been incorporated in an Athenian state during the reign of Theseus. Modern historians consider it likely that the communities were progressively incorporated into an Athenian state during the 8th. Until the 6th century BC, aristocratic families lived independent lives in the suburbs, only after Peisistratoss tyranny and the reforms implemented by Cleisthenes did the local communities lose their independence and succumb to the central government in Athens
Attica, Greece
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Cape Sounion
Attica, Greece
–
The port of
Laurium
Attica, Greece
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Lake Marathon
Attica, Greece
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The
Temple of Poseidon (c.440 B.C.) at
Cape Sounion, the southernmost point of Attica.
14.
Plataea
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For the geometer moth genus, see Plataea. Plataea or Plataeae was an ancient city, located in Greece in southeastern Boeotia and it was the location of the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC, in which an alliance of Greek city-states defeated the Persians. Plataea was destroyed in the Peloponnesian War by Thebes and Sparta in 427 BC, the modern Greek town of Plataies is built near its ruins. Herodotus tells that, in order to avoid coming under Theban hegemony, however, the Spartans refused this offer and, wishing to cause mischief between the Boeotians and Athens, recommended that the Plataeans ally themselves with Athens instead. This advice was accepted and a delegation sent to Athens, where the Athenians were agreeable to such a proposal, on learning that Athens had accepted the alliance, the Thebans sent an army against Plataea, but were met by an Athenian one. Corinth attempted to mediate the dispute, and achieved an agreement that set the border between Thebes and Plataea, in addition, Thebes made a commitment not to interfere with cities that did not want to be a part of a Boeotian state. However, after the Corinthians had left and Athenians were starting their journey home, in the subsequent battle, the Athenians prevailed and set the river Asopus as the border between Thebes and Plataea. With Athens as their ally, the Plataeans were able to avoid subjugation by their neighbours, in honour of this debt, at the Battle of Marathon, Plataea alone would fight at the Athenians side. Sentinels spied dust clouds in the north and initially feared that another Persian army, instead it was the Plataeans coming panstratiá, i. e. having sent every available fighting man in Athens hour of greatest need. They were led by their general, Arimnestos, in acknowledgement and gratitude of their allys fidelity, the Athenians gave the Plataeans the honour of the left flank during the battle. After the battle, the Plataeans were allowed to share Athenian memorials, in 479 BC Plataea was the site of the final battle that repelled the second Persian invasion of Greece. According to Herodotus, the Spartan general Pausanias led an allied Greek defense against Mardonius Persian forces, although they were vastly outnumbered, the Greeks were able to kill Mardonius, his death precipitated the Persian rout that followed. Accounts vary, but there is agreement that the battle resulted in a significant number of Persian dead. This battle would mark the last time a Persian army invaded mainland Greece, the Greek victory at Plataea is commemorated by the so-called Serpent Column erected at Delphi. Instead the Theban commanders harmed no one but attempted to persuade all of the citizens of Plataea to join with Thebes allies, the enraged citizenry then attacked them. In one of the instances in which both women and slaves took part in what amounted to warfare, the citizenry killed over half the 300 Thebans. Thucydides reports that a number of the remaining Thebans escaped with the help of a Plataean woman who provided them with an axe to break one of the towns gates. Some of the tried to escape by jumping off the city wall
Plataea
–
The burial mound of the Plataeans, fallen at the
Battle of Marathon,
Marathon
15.
Thucydides
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Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC and his text is still studied at both universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue remains a work of international relations theory while Pericles Funeral Oration is widely studied in political theory, history. More generally, Thucydides showed an interest in developing an understanding of nature to explain behaviour in such crises as plague, massacres, as in that of the Melians. In spite of his stature as a historian, modern historians know relatively little about Thucydidess life, the most reliable information comes from his own History of the Peloponnesian War, which expounds his nationality, paternity and native locality. Thucydides informs us that he fought in the war, contracted the plague and was exiled by the democracy and he may have also been involved in quelling the Samian Revolt. Thucydides identifies himself as an Athenian, telling us that his fathers name was Olorus and he survived the Plague of Athens that killed Pericles and many other Athenians. He also records that he owned gold mines at Scapte Hyle, because of his influence in the Thracian region, Thucydides wrote, he was sent as a strategos to Thasos in 424 BC. During the winter of 424–423 BC, the Spartan general Brasidas attacked Amphipolis, eucles, the Athenian commander at Amphipolis, sent to Thucydides for help. Thus, when Thucydides arrived, Amphipolis was already under Spartan control, Amphipolis was of considerable strategic importance, and news of its fall caused great consternation in Athens. It was blamed on Thucydides, although he claimed that it was not his fault, using his status as an exile from Athens to travel freely among the Peloponnesian allies, he was able to view the war from the perspective of both sides. During his exile from Athens, Thucydides wrote his most famous work History of the Peloponnesian War, because he was in exile during this time, he was free to speak his mind. This is all that Thucydides wrote about his own life, but a few facts are available from reliable contemporary sources. Herodotus wrote that the name Olorus, Thucydidess fathers name, was connected with Thrace, Thucydides was probably connected through family to the Athenian statesman and general Miltiades, and his son Cimon, leaders of the old aristocracy supplanted by the Radical Democrats. Cimons maternal grandfathers name was also Olorus, making the connection exceedingly likely, another Thucydides lived before the historian and was also linked with Thrace, making a family connection between them very likely as well. Finally, Herodotus confirms the connection of Thucydidess family with the mines at Scapté Hýlē, in essence, he was a well-connected gentleman of considerable resources who, by then retired from the political and military spheres, decided to fund his own historical project. The remaining evidence for Thucydidess life comes from rather less reliable later ancient sources, pausanias goes on to say that Thucydides was murdered on his way back to Athens. Many doubt this account, seeing evidence to suggest he lived as late as 397 BC, Plutarch claims that his remains were returned to Athens and placed in Cimons family vault
Thucydides
–
Plaster cast bust of Thucydides (in the
Pushkin Museum). From a Roman copy (located at
Holkham Hall) of an early 4th Century BC Greek original.
Thucydides
–
The ruins of Amphipolis as envisaged by E. Cousinéry in 1831: the bridge over the Strymon, the city fortifications, and the acropolis
Thucydides
–
Bust of Pericles
Thucydides
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The Acropolis in Athens
16.
Kings of Sparta
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This list of kings of Sparta details the important rulers of the Greek city-state of Sparta in the Peloponnesus. Sparta was unusual among Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age and it was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, called Archagetai, coming from two separate lines. The dynasties themselves, however, were named after the twins grandsons, the Agiad line was regarded as being senior to the Eurypontid line. Although there are lists of the earlier purported Kings of Sparta, Spartan kings received a recurring posthumous hero cult like that of the Dorian kings of Cyrene. The ancient Greeks named males after their fathers, producing a patronymic by infixing -id-, for example, in the case of royal houses the patronymic formed from the founder or an early significant figure became the age of the dynasty. A ruling family might in this way have a number of names, for example, Agis I named the Agiads, but he was a Heraclid. In cases where the descent was not known or was known the Greeks made a few standard assumptions based on their cultural ideology. A people was treated as a tribe, presumed to have descended from an ancestor bearing its name and he must have been a king, who founded a dynasty of his name. This mythologizing extended even to place names and they were presumed to have been named after kings and divinities. Kings often became divinities, in their religion, the Lacedaemonids contain Greeks from the age of legend, now treated as being the Bronze Age in Greece. In the language of mythologic descent, the kingship passed from the Leleges to the Greeks, years with no dates are unknown The Atreidai belong to the Late Bronze Age, or Mycenaean Period. In mythology these were the Perseides, as the name of Atreus is attested in Hittite documents, this dynasty may well be proto-historic. Years with no dates are unknown The Spartan kings as Heracleidae claimed descent from Hercules, disallowed the Peloponnesus, he embarked on a life of wandering. Years with no dates are unknown The dynasty was named after its second king, the dynasty is named after its third king Eurypon. Not shown is Lycurgus, the lawgiver, a son of the Eurypontids. Following Cleomenes IIIs defeat against Antigonus III Doson of Macedon and the Achaean League in the Battle of Sellasia, Sparta was a republic from 221 to 219 BC. The dual monarchy was restored in 219 BC, the Achaean League annexed Sparta in 192 BC. Notes References The Cyclopædia, Volume 20, sir William Smith, A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology, and Geography, Partly Based Upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
Kings of Sparta
–
Genealogical Tree of the Kings of Sparta
Kings of Sparta
–
Lelegids
17.
List of kings of Sparta
–
This list of kings of Sparta details the important rulers of the Greek city-state of Sparta in the Peloponnesus. Sparta was unusual among Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age and it was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, called Archagetai, coming from two separate lines. The dynasties themselves, however, were named after the twins grandsons, the Agiad line was regarded as being senior to the Eurypontid line. Although there are lists of the earlier purported Kings of Sparta, Spartan kings received a recurring posthumous hero cult like that of the Dorian kings of Cyrene. The ancient Greeks named males after their fathers, producing a patronymic by infixing -id-, for example, in the case of royal houses the patronymic formed from the founder or an early significant figure became the age of the dynasty. A ruling family might in this way have a number of names, for example, Agis I named the Agiads, but he was a Heraclid. In cases where the descent was not known or was known the Greeks made a few standard assumptions based on their cultural ideology. A people was treated as a tribe, presumed to have descended from an ancestor bearing its name and he must have been a king, who founded a dynasty of his name. This mythologizing extended even to place names and they were presumed to have been named after kings and divinities. Kings often became divinities, in their religion, the Lacedaemonids contain Greeks from the age of legend, now treated as being the Bronze Age in Greece. In the language of mythologic descent, the kingship passed from the Leleges to the Greeks, years with no dates are unknown The Atreidai belong to the Late Bronze Age, or Mycenaean Period. In mythology these were the Perseides, as the name of Atreus is attested in Hittite documents, this dynasty may well be proto-historic. Years with no dates are unknown The Spartan kings as Heracleidae claimed descent from Hercules, disallowed the Peloponnesus, he embarked on a life of wandering. Years with no dates are unknown The dynasty was named after its second king, the dynasty is named after its third king Eurypon. Not shown is Lycurgus, the lawgiver, a son of the Eurypontids. Following Cleomenes IIIs defeat against Antigonus III Doson of Macedon and the Achaean League in the Battle of Sellasia, Sparta was a republic from 221 to 219 BC. The dual monarchy was restored in 219 BC, the Achaean League annexed Sparta in 192 BC. Notes References The Cyclopædia, Volume 20, sir William Smith, A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology, and Geography, Partly Based Upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
List of kings of Sparta
–
Genealogical Tree of the Kings of Sparta
List of kings of Sparta
–
Lelegids
18.
Laconia
–
Laconia, also known as Lacedaemonia, is a region in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The word laconic is derived from the name of the region by analogy—to speak in a concise way, as the Spartans were reputed by the Athenians to do. Laconia is bordered by Messenia to the west and Arcadia to the north and is surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea to the east and by the Laconian Gulf and it encompasses Cape Malea and Cape Tainaron and a large part of the Mani Peninsula. The islands of Kythira and Antikythera lie to the south, the island, Elafonisos, situated between the Laconian mainland and Kythira, is part of Laconia. The Evrotas is the longest river in the prefecture, the valley of the Evrotas is predominantly an agricultural region that contains many citrus groves, olive groves, and pasture lands. It is the location of the largest orange production in the Peloponnese, lakonia, a brand of orange juice, is based in Amykles. The main mountain ranges are the Taygetus in the west and the Parnon in the northeast, Taygetus, known as Pentadaktylos throughout the Middle Ages, is west of Sparta and the Evrotas valley. It is the highest mountain in Laconia and the Peloponnese and is covered with pine trees. Two roads join the Messenia and Laconia prefectures, one is a mountain pass through Taygetus. The stalactite cave, Dirou, a major tourist attraction, is located south of Areopolis in the southwest of Laconia, Laconia has a Mediterranean climate with warm winters and hot summers. Snow is rare on the coast throughout the winter but is common in the mountains. In ancient Greece, this was the region of the Spartan state. For much of antiquity the Spartan sphere of influence expanded to Messenia. Significant archaeological recovery exists at the Vaphio-tomb site in Laconia, found here is advanced Bronze Age art as well as evidence of cultural associations with the contemporaneous Minoan culture on Crete. Laconia was at war with the Kingdom of Macedonia and saw several battles, at the end of the Mycenaean period, from the early-2nd century BC until 395 AD, it was a part of the Roman Empire. In the medieval period, Laconia formed part of the Byzantine Empire, following the Fourth Crusade, it was gradually conquered by the Frankish Principality of Achaea. In the 1260s, however, the Byzantines recovered Mystras and other fortresses in the region and managed to evict the Franks from Laconia, by the mid-14th century, this evolved into the Despotate of Morea, held by the last Greek ruling dynasty, the Palaiologoi. With the fall of the Despotate to the Ottomans in 1460, with the exception of a 30-year interval of Venetian rule, Laconia remained under Ottoman control until the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence of 1821
Laconia
–
Eurotas (river) outside the city of Sparti.
Laconia
–
Municipalities of Laconia
Laconia
–
The theater of ancient
Sparta with modern Sparti and Taygetus in the background.
Laconia
–
Palace of
Mystras
19.
Lelex
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In Greek mythology, Lelex was a King of Laconia and a demigod. Lelex was married to the Naiad nymph Cleocharia and he had several sons, including Myles, Polycaon, Pterelaus and Cleson. The parentage of Lelex is variously stated and he was likely a son of Poseidon by Libya, or his father is said to be the sun-god Helios, or he was said to be autochthonous. Eurotas had a daughter named Sparta, who would later marry Lacedaemon, Lacedaemon named the city of Sparta after his wife, however, the citys name would also be his own, as it was called either Lacedaemon or Sparta interchangeably. Sources indicate that Perseus is a descendant of Lelex, lelex’s great-granddaughter Sparta gave birth to a daughter named Eurydice, who had married Acrisius, the king of Argos. Eurydice became the mother of Danaë, thus making her Perseus’ grandmother, Lelex appears to have been conceived by ancient mythographers as the eponymous founder of the Leleges, a semi-mythical people who lived on both sides of the Aegean Sea
Lelex
–
Here is shown
Eurotas, grandson of Lelex, with his daughter
Sparta
Lelex
–
Lelegids
20.
Eurotas
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In Greek mythology, Eurotas was a king of Laconia, the son of King Myles and grandson of Lelex, eponymous ancestor of the Leleges. He had no heir, but he did have a daughter Sparta. Eurotas bequeathed the kingdom to Lacedaemon, the son of Taygete, after whom Mount Taygetus is named, Lacedaemon married Sparta and renamed the state after his wife. The Bibliotheca gives a slight variant of the generation of Eurotas. River-gods are typically represented in Greek art, such as motifs, as figures with the bodies of bulls. If only the face appears, they might wear horns and have hair or be accompanied by fish. Claudius Aelianus states that the Eurotas and other rivers are like bulls, media related to Eurotas at Wikimedia Commons
Eurotas
–
Eurotas, from the modern monument of
Leonidas I,
Thermopylae
Eurotas
–
Lelegids
21.
Lacedaemon (mythology)
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Lacedaemon was a mythical king of Laconia and son of the Pleaid Taygete and Zeus in Classical Greek mythology. He was a father of King Amyclas of Sparta and Queen Eurydice of Argos, with Princess Sparta, Taygete has an association with Artemis in earlier mythology. Eurotas bequeathed the kingdom to Lacedaemon, who renamed the state after his wife, Sparta. According to Pseudo-Plutarch, Taygete was the wife of Lacedaemon
Lacedaemon (mythology)
–
Lelegids
22.
Perieres
–
In Greek mythology, Perieres was King of Messene, an ancient polis in southern Peloponnese. His parentage and offspring vary across ancient authors, in most sources, however, he was a son of Aeolus and Enarete, and husband of Gorgophone, daughter of the famous Perseus. According to John Tzetzes, Perieres was a son of Cynortas, King of Sparta, and father of Oebalus, who, in turn, became by Gorgophone father of Tyndareus and Icarius. In this case Tyndareus and Icarius, along with Hippocoon and Arene, would be sons of Oebalus, son of another Perieres, son of Cynortas, finally, according to Pausanias, Gorgophone, the daughter of Perseus, was one of the first women who married twice. She first married Perieres, King of Messene, son of Aeolus, after Perieres death she married Oebalus, king of Sparta, son of Cynortas, and had by him Tyndareus, Icarius and Arene. Finally, in Pausanias’ account, Hippocoon was Oebalus’ eldest natural son, for a detailed account of different Perieres offspring, see Theoi. com, Notes to Apollodorus 3c,188
Perieres
–
Lelegids
23.
Oebalus
–
In Greek mythology, King Oebalus /ˈɛbələs/ of Sparta, son of Cynortas, was the second husband of Princess Gorgophone and thus son-in-law of hero Perseus. With her, he fathered Tyndareus, Icarius and Hippocoon, as well as a daughter, Arene, Oebalus is often confused with Gorgophone’s first husband, Perieres, son of Aeolus. They are separate people, usually unrelated though Oebalus is sometimes said to be Perieres’ son
Oebalus
–
Lelegids
24.
Tyndareus
–
Tyndareus had a brother named Hippocoon, who seized power and exiled Tyndareus. He was reinstated by Heracles, who killed Hippocoon and his sons, tyndareus’ other brother was Icarius, the father of Penelope. Tyndareus’ wife Leda was seduced by Zeus, who disguised himself as a swan and she laid two eggs, each producing two children. When Thyestes seized control in Mycenae, two exiled princes, Agamemnon and Menelaus came to Sparta, where they were received as guests, the princes eventually married Tyndareus daughters, Clytemnestra and Helen respectively. Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world, and when it was time for her to marry, many Greek kings, among the contenders were Odysseus, Ajax the Great, Diomedes, Idomeneus, and both Menelaus and Agamemnon. All but Odysseus brought many and rich gifts with them, Tyndareus would accept none of the gifts, nor would he send any of the suitors away for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. Odysseus promised to solve the problem in a manner if Tyndareus would support him in his courting of Penelope. This stratagem succeeded and Helen and Menelaus were married, eventually, Tyndareus resigned in favour of his son-in-law and Menelaus became king. Some years later, Paris, a Trojan prince came to Sparta to marry Helen, Menelaus attempted to retrieve Helen by calling on all her former suitors to fulfil their oaths, leading to the Trojan War
Tyndareus
–
Tyndareus’ stepdaughter
Helen of Troy
Tyndareus
–
Lelegids
25.
Menelaus
–
In Greek mythology, Menelaus was a king of Mycenaean Sparta, the husband of Helen of Troy, and a central figure in the Trojan War. He was the son of Atreus and Aerope, brother of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and, according to the Iliad, although early authors such as Aeschylus refer in passing to Menelaus’ early life, detailed sources are quite late, post-dating 5th-century BC Greek tragedy. According to these sources, Menelaus father, Atreus, had been feuding with his brother Thyestes over the throne of Mycenae, after a back-and-forth struggle that featured adultery, incest and cannibalism, Thyestes gained the throne after his son Aegisthus murdered Atreus. As a result, Atreus’ sons, Menelaus and Agamemnon, went into exile and they first stayed with King Polyphides of Sicyon, and later with King Oeneus of Calydon. But when they thought the time was ripe to dethrone Mycenae’s hostile ruler, assisted by King Tyndareus of Sparta, they drove Thyestes away, and Agamemnon took the throne for himself. When it was time for Tyndareus’ step-daughter Helen to marry, many kings, among the contenders were Odysseus, Menestheus, Ajax the Great, Patroclus, and Idomeneus. Tyndareus would accept none of the gifts, nor would he send any of the suitors away for fear of offending them, Odysseus promised to solve the problem in a satisfactory manner if Tyndareus would support him in his courting of Tyndareus’s niece Penelope, the daughter of Icarius. Tyndareus readily agreed, and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, then it was decreed that straws were to be drawn for Helen’s hand. The suitor who won was Menelaus, the rest of the suitors swore their oaths, and Helen and Menelaus were married, Menelaus becoming a ruler of Sparta with Helen after Tyndareus and Leda abdicated the thrones. Menelaus and Helen had a daughter Hermione as supported, for example, by Sappho and their palace has been discovered in Pellana, Laconia, to the north-west of modern Sparta. Other archaeologists consider that Pellana is too far away from other Mycenaean centres to have been the capital of Menelaus, in a return for awarding her a golden apple inscribed to the fairest, Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in all the world. Homers Iliad is the most expansive source for Menelaus’s exploits during the Trojan War, in Book 3, Menelaus challenges Paris to a duel for Helen’s return. Menelaus soundly beats Paris, but before he can kill him and claim victory, in Book 4, while the Greeks and Trojans squabble over the duel’s winner, Athena inspires the Trojan Pandarus to shoot Menelaus with his bow and arrow. However, Athena never intended for Menelaus to die and she protects him from the arrow of Pandarus, Menelaus is wounded in the abdomen, and the fighting resumes. Later, in Book 17, Homer gives Menelaus an extended aristeia as the hero retrieves the corpse of Patroclus from the battlefield, according to Hyginus, Menelaus killed eight men in the war, and was one of the Greeks hidden inside the Trojan Horse. During the sack of Troy, Menelaus killed Deiphobus, who had married Helen after the death of Paris, there are four versions of Menelaus’ and Helen’s reunion on the night of the sack of Troy, Angry at Helen, Menelaus looked for and found her. In a fit of rage, he decided to kill her for leaving him for Paris, in a split second, Menelaus wrath went away instantly. He took pity on her, and decided to take her back as wife, Menelaus resolved to kill Helen but her striking beauty prompted him to drop his sword and take her back to his ship “to punish her at Sparta”, as he claimed
Menelaus
–
Marble bust of Menelaus
Menelaus
–
Menelaus regains Helen, detail of an Attic red-figure crater, c. 450–440 BC, found in
Gnathia (now Egnazia,
Italy).
Menelaus
–
Lelegids
26.
Orestes
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In Greek mythology, Orestes was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness and purification, in the Homeric telling of the story, Orestes is a member of the doomed house of Atreus which is descended from Tantalus and Niobe. Seven years later, Orestes returns from Athens and avenges his fathers death by slaying both Aegisthus and his own mother Clytemnestra, in the Odyssey, Orestes is held up as a favorable example to Telemachus, whose mother Penelope is plagued by suitors. According to Pindar, the young Orestes was saved by his nurse Arsinoe or his sister Electra, in the familiar theme of the heros early eclipse and exile, he escaped to Phanote on Mount Parnassus, where King Strophius took charge of him. In his twentieth year, he was urged by Electra to return home and he returned home along with his friend Pylades, Strophiuss son. The same myth is told differently by Sophocles and Euripides in their Electra plays, graves asserts that the sacrilege for which the Erinyes pursued Orestes was actually the killing of his mother, who represented matriarchy. The story of Orestes was the subject of the Oresteia of Aeschylus, of the Electra of Sophocles, in Aeschyluss Eumenides, Orestes goes mad after the deed and is pursued by the Erinyes, whose duty it is to punish any violation of the ties of family piety. He takes refuge in the temple at Delphi, but, even though Apollo had ordered him to do the deed, at last Athena receives him on the acropolis of Athens and arranges a formal trial of the case before twelve judges, including herself. The Erinyes demand their victim, he pleads the orders of Apollo, Athena votes last announcing that she is for acquittal, then the votes are counted and the result is a tie, resulting in an acquittal according to the rules previously stipulated by Athena. The Erinyes are propitiated by a new ritual, in which they are worshipped as Semnai Theai, Venerable Ones and he went to Tauris with Pylades, and the pair were at once imprisoned by the people, among whom the custom was to sacrifice all Greek strangers to Artemis. The priestess of Artemis, whose duty it was to perform the sacrifice, was Orestes sister Iphigenia. She offered to him if he would carry home a letter from her to Greece, he refused to go. After his return to Greece, Orestes took possession of his fathers kingdom of Mycenae to which were added Argos and he was said to have died of a snakebite in Arcadia. His body was conveyed to Sparta for burial or, according to a Roman legend, to Aricia, before the Trojan War, Orestes was to marry his cousin Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen. Things soon changed after Orestes committed matricide, Menelaus then gave his daughter to Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, according to Euripides play Andromache, Orestes slew Neoptolemus just outside a temple and took off with Hermione. He seized Argos and Arcadia after their thrones had become vacant and his son by Hermione, Tisamenus, became ruler after him but was eventually killed by the Heracleidae. There is extant a Latin epic poem, consisting of about 1000 hexameters, called Orestes Tragoedia, Orestes appears also to be a dramatic prototype for all persons whose crime is mitigated by extenuating circumstances. In one version of the story of Telephus, the infant Orestes was kidnapped by King Telephus, according to some sources, Orestes fathered Penthilus by his half-sister, Erigone
Orestes
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Orestes at
Delphi flanked by
Athena and
Pylades among the Erinyes and
priestesses of the
oracle, perhaps including
Pythia behind the tripod - Paestan
red-figured bell-krater, c. 330 BC
Orestes
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Orestes, Elektra, and Pylades at the tomb of Agamemnon - Campanian
red-figure hydria, c. 330 BC
Orestes
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For other uses, see
Orestes (disambiguation).
Orestes
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Orestes Pursued by the Furies by
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
