1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
2.
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
Greece
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Fresco displaying the Minoan ritual of "bull leaping", found in
Knossos,
Crete.
Greece
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Flag
Greece
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The
Lion Gate,
Mycenae
Greece
–
The
Parthenon on the
Acropolis of Athens is one of the best known symbols of
classical Greece.
3.
Modern regions of Greece
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The administrative regions of Greece are the countrys thirteen first-level administrative entities, each comprising several second-level units, originally prefectures and, since 2011, regional units. The current regions were established in July 1986, by decision of then-Interior Minister Menios Koutsogiorgas as a second-level administrative entities, as part of a decentralization process inspired by then-Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos, they were accorded more powers in the 1997 Kapodistrias reform of local and regional government. They were transformed into separate entities by the 2010 Kallikratis Plan. In the 2011 changes, the general secretary was replaced with a popularly elected regional governor. Many powers of the prefectures, which were abolished or reformed into regional units, were transferred to the region level. The regional organs of the government were in turn replaced by seven decentralized administrations. Bordering the region of Central Macedonia there is one region, Mount Athos. It is located on the easternmost of the three large peninsulas jutting into the Aegean from the Chalcidice Peninsula, ISO 3166-2, GR Administrative divisions of Greece
Modern regions of Greece
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Administrative regions of Greece Διοικητικές περιφέρειες της Ελλάδας (
Greek)
4.
Central Greece (region)
–
Central Greece Region is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. The region occupies the half of the traditional region of Central Greece. To the south it borders the regions of Attica and the Peloponnese, to the west the region of West Greece and to the north the regions of Thessaly, the Central Greece region was established in the 1987 administrative reform. With the 2010 Kallikratis plan, its powers and authority were redefined and extended, along with Thessaly, it is supervised by the Decentralized Administration of Thessaly and Continental Greece based at Larissa. The region is based at Lamia and is divided into five units, Boeotia, Euboea, Evrytania, Phocis and Phthiotis. The regions governor is, since 1 January 2011, Klearchos Pergantas, biggest towns in each regional unit, according to the census of 2001, Official website
Central Greece (region)
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Logo
Central Greece (region)
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Central Greece Περιφέρεια Στερεάς Ελλάδας
5.
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate. The letters represent the district that issues the plates while the numbers begin from 1000 to 9999, similar plates with digits beginning from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc. With the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki, all districts are represented by the first 2 letters, the final letter in the sequence changes in Greek alphabetical order after 9,000 issued plates. For example, Patras plates are ΑΧΑ-1000, where ΑΧ represents the Achaia prefecture of which Patras is the capital, when ΑΧΑ-9999 is reached the plates turn to ΑΧΒ-1000 and this continues until ΑΧΧ is finished. Only the letters from the intersection between the Latin and Greek alphabets by glyph appearance are used, namely Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Η, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Ρ, Τ, Υ, Χ. This is because Greece is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The rule applies in a way in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Combinations used for residents are L-NNNN and are limited. Until 2003, taxis used L-NNNN, the plate was aligned with the prefecture, when number plates were introduced to Greece, they were numbered and in the late 1950s the system was L-NNN and LL-NNN. The letters were Greek letters and Latin letters, respectively, in 1956, the system was NNNNNN. In 1972, they became lettered and the system was LL-NNNN while trucks used L-NNNN, in 1983, the system was LLL-NNNN and the first two letters are prefecture letters. In 2004, the euroband was added, the first 2 of 3 letters of a licence plate usually represent the prefecture where the car was registered. Π. — Disabled in war ΔΟΚ — Test plates ΔΣ — Corps Diplomatique or foreign delegation Ε. Α. or ΕΛ. ΑΣ. — Hellenic Police ΛΣ — Coast Guard ΞΑ — Foreign missions ΕΣ — Hellenic Army ΠΑ — Hellenic Air Force ΠΝ — Hellenic Navy ΠΣ — Fire Guard ΠΚ — President of the Government, i. e
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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Greek Europlate
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
–
A Greek motorcycle licence plate
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
6.
Latinisation of names
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Latinisation is the practice of rendering a non-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with personal names, with toponyms. It goes further than romanisation, which is the transliteration of a word to the Latin alphabet from another script and this was often done in the classical era for much the same reason as English-speaking cultures produce English versions of some foreign names. In the case of names in the post-Roman era this may be done to emulate Latin authors. In a scientific context, the purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent. Humanist names, assumed by Renaissance humanists, were very largely Latinised names, Latinisation in humanist names may consist of translation from vernacular European languages, sometimes involving a playful element of punning. Such names could be a cover for social origins. Latinisation is a practice for scientific names. For example, Livistona, the name of a genus of trees, is a Latinisation of Livingstone. In English, place names appear in Latinised form. This is a result of many text books mentioning the places being written in Latin. Because of this, the English language often uses Latinised forms of place names instead of anglicised forms or the original names. Examples of Latinised names for countries or regions are, Estonia Ingria Livonia During the age of the Roman Empire, additionally, Latinised versions of Greek substantives, particularly proper nouns, could easily be declined by Latin speakers with minimal modification of the original word. During the medieval period, following the collapse of the Empire in Western Europe, in the early medieval period, most European scholars were priests and most educated people spoke Latin, and as a result, Latin became firmly established as the scholarly language for the West. Though during modern times Europe has largely abandoned Latin as a scholarly language, by tradition, it is still common in some fields to name new discoveries in Latin. Romanization, conversion of a text in Latin letters Nicolson, Dan H, orthography of Names and Epithets, Latinization of Personal Names
Latinisation of names
–
Frontispiece of a 1743 legal text by
Barnabé Brisson shows his name Latinised in the genitive Barnabae Brissonii (‘of Barnabas Brissonius ’)
7.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
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Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
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regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
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Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
8.
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
Ancient Greece
–
The
Parthenon, a temple dedicated to
Athena, located on the
Acropolis in
Athens, is one of the most representative symbols of the culture and sophistication of the ancient Greeks.
Ancient Greece
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Dipylon Vase of the late Geometric period, or the beginning of the Archaic period,
c. 750 BC.
Ancient Greece
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Political geography of ancient Greece in the Archaic and Classical periods
9.
Thebes, Greece
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Thebes is a city in Boeotia, central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes. Theban forces ended the power of Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of Epaminondas, the Sacred Band of Thebes famously fell at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC against Philip II and Alexander the Great. Prior to its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Thebes was a force in Greek history. During the Byzantine period, the city was famous for its silks, the modern city contains an Archaeological Museum, the remains of the Cadmea, and scattered ancient remains. Modern Thebes is the largest town of the unit of Boeotia. Thebes is situated in a plain, between Lake Yliki to the north, and the Cithaeron mountains, which divide Boeotia from Attica and its elevation is 215 metres above mean sea level. It is about 50 kilometres northwest of Athens, and 100 kilometres southeast of Lamia, motorway 1 and the Athens–Thessaloniki railway connect Thebes with Athens and northern Greece. The municipality of Thebes covers an area of 830.112 square kilometres, the unit of Thebes 321.015 square kilometres. In 2011, as a consequence of the Kallikratis reform, Thebes was merged with Plataies, Thisvi, and Vagia to form a larger municipality, the other three become units of the larger municipality. Five main cycles of story may be distinguished, The foundation of the citadel Cadmea by Cadmus, the building of a seven-gated wall by Amphion, and the cognate stories of Zethus, Antiope and Dirce. See Theban pederasty and Pederasty in ancient Greece for detailed discussion, the immolation of Semele and the advent of Dionysus. The Greeks attributed the foundation of Thebes to Cadmus, a Phoenician king from Tyre, Cadmus was famous for teaching the Phoenician alphabet and building the Acropolis, which was named the Cadmeia in his honor and was an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural center. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to Mycenaean times containing weapons, ivory, *Tʰēgʷai in LHIIIB lost contact with Egypt but gained it with Miletus and Cyprus. In the late LHIIIB, according to Palaima, *Tʰēgʷai was able to pull resources from Lamos near Mount Helicon, and from Karystos and Amarynthos on the Greek side of the isle of Euboia. As a fortified community, it attracted attention from the invading Dorians, and this centralizing policy is as much the cardinal fact of Theban history as the counteracting effort of the smaller towns to resist absorption forms the main chapter of the story of Boeotia
Thebes, Greece
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Remains of the Cadmea, the central fortress of ancient Thebes
Thebes, Greece
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Theban workshop (Oinochoe type), 7th century BC.
Thebes, Greece
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Map of the Topography of Ancient Thebes.
Thebes, Greece
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Silver
stater of Thebes (405-395 BC). Obverse: Boeotian shield, reverse: Head of bearded
Dionysus.
10.
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
Gulf of Corinth
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The Peloponnesos, seen from space rotated to conventional map orientation. The seas are dark around the peninsula, reflecting their depth and the top-centre wide inlet is the Gulf of Corinth
Gulf of Corinth
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Gulf of Corinth from Acrocorinth
Gulf of Corinth
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Corinth Canal
Gulf of Corinth
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Rio-Antirio Bridge
11.
Megaris
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This is also the ancient Greek name of a small island off Naples, site of the Castel dellOvo. Megaris was a small but populous state of ancient Greece, west of Attica and north of Corinthia, whose inhabitants were adventurous seafarers, the capital, Megara, famous for white marble and fine clay, was the birthplace of Euclid. Mount Geraneia dominates the center of the region, the island of Salamis was originally under the control of Megara, before it was lost to Athens in the late 7th century BCE. The province of Megaris or Megarida was one of the provinces of the East Attica Prefecture and its territory corresponded with that of the current municipalities Aspropyrgos, Eleusis, Mandra-Eidyllia and Megara. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Wood, James. London and New York, Frederick Warne
Megaris
–
Pediment of the treasury of
Megara, Museum of Olympia
Megaris
–
Map of ancient Megaris.
12.
West Attica
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West Attica is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica, the capital of the regional unit is the town of Eleusis. The regional unit covers the part of the agglomeration of Athens. The regional unit West Attica is subdivided into 5 municipalities and these are, Aspropyrgos Eleusis Fyli Mandra-Eidyllia Megara With respect to parliamentary elections West Attica belongs to the electoral district of Attica. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit West Attica was created out of the former prefecture West Attica, the prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below, there were two provinces in the prefecture of West Attica, Megarida, and the Attica Province. List of settlements in Attica Official website News and information
West Attica
–
Municipalities of West Attica
13.
Attica
–
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
–
Cape Sounion
Attica
–
The port of
Laurium
Attica
–
Lake Marathon
Attica
–
The
Temple of Poseidon (c.440 B.C.) at
Cape Sounion, the southernmost point of Attica.
14.
Opuntian Locris
–
Opuntian Locris or Eastern Locris was an ancient Greek region inhabited by the eastern division of the Locrians, the so-called tribe of the Locri Epicnemidii or Locri Opuntii. Opuntian Locris consisted of a narrow slip upon the eastern coast of central Greece, the northern frontier town was Alpeni, which bordered upon the Malians, and the southern frontier town was Larymna, which at a later time belonged to Boeotia. The Locrians, however, did not inhabit this coast continuously, but were separated by a slip of Phocis, which extended to the Euboean sea. The Locrians north of Daphnus were called Epicnemidii, from Mount Cnemis, on the west, the Locrians were separated from Phocis and Boeotia by a range of mountains, extending from Mount Oeta and running parallel to the coast. In consequence of the proximity of the mountains to the coast there was no room for any considerable rivers. The largest, which, however, is only a mountain torrent, is the Boagrius, called also Manes by Strabo, rising in Mount Cnemis, and flowing into the sea between Scarpheia and Thronium. The Opuntian Gulf, at the head of which stood the town of Opus, is a considerable bay, in this bay, close to the coast, is the small island of Atalanta. Even Strabo, from whom the distinction is chiefly derived, in one place describes Opus as the metropolis of the Epicnemidii, in the Persian War the Opuntian Locrians fought with Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae, and also sent seven ships to the Greek fleet. The Locrians fought on the side of Sparta in the Peloponnesian War, the Locri Opuntii also minted coins in antiquity, some of which survive. The cities and towns of the Locri Epicnemidii, along the coast from north to south, were, Alpenus, Nicaea, Scarphe, Thronium, Cnemis, more inland, Tarphe later Pharygae, and Augeiae. The cities and towns of the Locri Opuntii, along the coast from north to south, were, Alope, Kynos, Opus, Halae, Larymna which later belonged to Boeotia, more inland, Calliarus, Naryx, and Corseia. Regions of ancient Greece Locris This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, on the geography of the Locrian tribes, see William Martin Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp.66, seq.170, seq.587, seq
Opuntian Locris
–
Opuntian Locris
Opuntian Locris
–
Reverse of a silver
stater of Opuntian Locris depicting
Ajax the Lesser.
15.
Phthiotis
–
Phthiotis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia, the name dates back to ancient times. It is best known as the home of Achilles, Phthiotis covers the northern and southern shorelines of the Malian Gulf, an inlet of the Aegean Sea. It stretches inland towards the west along the valley of the river Spercheios, in the south it covers the upper part of the Cephissus valley. Phthiotis means the region of Phthia, the southernmost region of ancient Thessaly around Pharsalus, in Classical times, it also referred to the region of Achaea Phthiotis, which bordered on Thessalian Phthiotis to the south and east. Achaea Phthiotis covered the part of the present regional unit Phthiotis. The southeastern part of present Phthiotis was covered by the ancient region Locris, NE Greek National Road 1/E75, SE, E, Cen. NE Greek National Road 3, SE, S, Cen, N Greek National Road 27, S, Cen. Greek National Road 38, W, Cen, the regional unit Phthiotis is subdivided into 7 municipalities. These are, Amfikleia-Elateia Domokos Lamia Lokroi Makrakomi Molos-Agios Konstantinos Stylida The prefecture Phthiotis and Phocis was created in 1845, in 1947 this prefecture was split into the southern part Phocis and the northern part Phthiotis. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Phthiotis was created out of the former prefecture Phthiotis, the prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below, Province of Domokos - Domokos Province of Phthiotis - Lamia Province of Locris - Atalanti Note, Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece. Thanos Livaditis Dimitrios Holevas Lamia F. C. Ionikos Lamias BC List of traditional Greek place names List of settlements in Phthiotis Media related to Fthiotis at Wikimedia Commons
Phthiotis
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Thermopylae pass
Phthiotis
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Municipalities of Phthiotis
Phthiotis
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Mount Oeta
Phthiotis
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Lamia
16.
Phocis
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Phocis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It stretches from the mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west. It is named after the ancient region of Phocis, but the regional unit also includes parts of ancient Locris and Doris. Modern Phocis has an area of 2120 km², of which 560 km² are forested,36 km² are plains, the massive ridge of Parnassus, which traverses the heart of the country, divides it into two distinct portions. The neighboring prefectures are Aetolia-Acarnania to the west, Phthiotis to the north, much of the south and east are deforested and rocky and mountainous while the valley runs from Itea up to Amfissa. Forests and greenspaces are to the west, the central part and its reservoir is the Mornos Dam on the Mornos river. It covers nearly 1 km to 3 km² and it was completed in the 1960s, and GR-48 was extended to pass through the dam. The regional unit Phocis is subdivided into 2 municipalities and these are, Delphi Dorida Phocis was created as a prefecture in 1947 out of the Phthiotis and Phocis Prefecture. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Phocis was created out of the former prefecture Phocis, the prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below, Province of Dorida - Lidoriki Province of Parnassida - Amfissa Note, Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece. With a population of 40,343, it is one of Greeces least populous regional units, in the summer months, the population nearly doubles due to the influx of tourists. Most of the villages are in the south, the southeast, the north and the west are the least populated. Greek National Road 3, NE Greek National Road 27, Cen, N Greek National Road 48, SW, Cen. Alexander of Phocis Giannis Skarimpas Here are the most popular sporting teams in the prefecture, all of the teams are under the Phocis Football Clubs Association in which it existed since 1985 after the separation and dissolution of the Phocis-Phtiotis Football Guild Union. Androutsos Gravia - Gravia Asteras Iteas - Itea Doxa Desfina - Desfina Isaia Desfina - Desfina Diagoras Polydrosos - Polydrosos Dorikos Nea Dorida - Nea Dorida Fokikos - Amfissa A. O. Malesina - Malesina List of settlements in Phocis Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
Phocis
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Municipalities of Phocis
17.
Mount Parnassus
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Mount Parnassus is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Dionysus and the Dionysian mysteries, it was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs. The mountain was also favored by the Dorians, there is a theory that Parna- derives from the same root as that which appears in the Luwian word for House. Parnassus is one of the largest mountainous regions of Mainland Greece and it spreads over three municipalities, namely of Boeotia, Phthiotis and Phocis, where lies its largest part. Its altitude is 2,547 meters and its highest peak is Liakouras, to the Northeast it is connected to Giona and to the south with Kirphe. Its name is due to the hero of the Greek mythology, son of Cleopompus and Cleodora. Etymological analysis, however, shows an origin of the name. The mountain is delimited to the east by the valley of the Boeotian Kephissus, the geological particularity of Parnassus is its rich deposits of bauxite, which has led to their systematic mining since the end of the 1930s, resulting in ecological damage to part of the mountain. Mount Parnassus is named after Parnassos, the son of the nymph Kleodora, a city, of which Parnassos was leader, was flooded by torrential rains. The citizens ran from the flood, following wolves howling, up the mountain slope, there the survivors built another city, and called it Lykoreia, which in Greek means the howling of the wolves. While Orpheus was living with his mother and his eight beautiful aunts on Parnassus, Apollo became fond of Orpheus and gave him a little golden lyre, and taught him to play it. Orpheuss mother taught him to make verses for singing, as the Oracle of Delphi was sacred to the god Apollo, so did the mountain itself become associated with Apollo. As the home of the Muses, Parnassus became known as the home of poetry, music, Parnassus was also the site of several unrelated minor events in Greek mythology. In some versions of the Greek flood myth, the ark of Deucalion comes to rest on the slopes of Parnassus and this is the version of the myth recounted in Ovids Metamorphoses. Orestes spent his time in hiding on Mount Parnassus, Parnassus was sacred to the god Dionysus. The Corycian Cave, located on the slopes of Parnassus, was sacred to Pan, in Book 19 of The Odyssey, Odysseus recounts a story of how he was gored in the thigh during a boar hunt on Mount Parnassus in his youth. Parnassus was also the home of Pegasus, the horse of Bellerophon. This relation of the mountain to the Muses offered an instigation to its more recent mystification, the periodical Modern Parnassus issued for the first time by Catul Mendes and Xavier Ricard contained direct references to Mt. Parnassus and its mythological feature as habitation of the Muses
Mount Parnassus
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Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus
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Mount Parnassus in 1821, by
Edward Dodwell.
18.
Mount Helicon
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Mount Helicon is a mountain in the region of Thespiai in Boeotia, Greece, celebrated in Greek mythology. With an elevation of 1,749 metres, it is located approximately 10 kilometres from the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth. In Greek mythology, two springs sacred to the Muses were located here, the Aganippe and the Hippocrene, both of which bear horse in their names. In a related myth, the Hippocrene spring was created when the winged horse Pegasus aimed his hoof at a rock, on Mt. Helicon too was the spring where Narcissus was inspired by his own beauty. In his Aitia, Callimachus recounts his dream in which he was once more. There had been an built on Helicon in their honor which contained statues of these Muses. The Hippocrene spring was considered to be a source of poetic inspiration, there the Muses inspired him and he began to sing of the origins of the gods. Thus Helicon became an emblem of poetical inspiration, Callimachus explicitly follows in the footsteps of Hesiod and he placed on Helicon the episode in which Tiresias stumbles upon Athena bathing and is blinded but given the art of prophecy. He explored the sacred grove by the spring Aganippe thoroughly and left a description as it then was. He saw images of Eupheme, nurse of the Muses, in the temenos were statues, some by famous masters, of Apollo and Dionysus and famed poets. The poetical image of Helicon established by the Roman poets became once more an emblem of inspiration with the Renaissance and is often referred to in poetry. Helicon was the inspiration for the balls held by the Hungarian composer Leó Festetics at his castle near Keszthely, Festetics also named the library he founded Helikon Library, promoting literacy and culture in his home city. A band in Manitowoc, Wisconsin named Heliconian River plays a blend of folk, rock, and bluegrass. The Scottish band Mogwai recorded two tracks as part of their Government Commissions, BBC Sessions 1996–2003 album entitled New Paths to Helicon, Pt.1 and New Paths to Helicon, Pt.2. Irish author Seamus Heaney wrote a poem entitled “Personal Helicon”, which references the story of Narcissus, the mountain as home of muses inspired the name of Helicon West, an open-mic/featured reader series in Logan, Utah, United States which began in 2005. Richard Hunter, The Shadow of Callimachus, Studies in the Reception of Hellenistic Poetry at Rome 2006, 16ff De Monte Sororum, In the Grove
Mount Helicon
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Ascent on Mountain Helikon
19.
Cephissus (Boeotia)
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The Cephissus or Kifisos is a river in central Greece. In Greek mythology the river god Cephissus was associated with this river, the river rises at Lilaia in Phocis, on the northwestern slope of Mount Parnassus. It flows east through the Boeotian plain, passing the towns Amfikleia, Kato Tithorea and it drained into Lake Copais, which was therefore also called the Cephisian Lake, until 1887, when the lake was drained. An artificial outflow has been created to Lake Yliki, further east, pausanias also says that the Lilaeans on certain days threw cakes and other customary items into the spring of the Cephissus and that they would reappear in the spring of Castalia. The Cephissus valley is of importance, connecting northern Greece via the passes of Mount Oeta and Mount Kallidromo to southern Greece. As a result, in the Frankish period a chain of forts and watchtowers was established along its course by the rulers of the Duchy of Athens
Cephissus (Boeotia)
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The river Kifisos
Cephissus (Boeotia)
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Location of the river Kifisos in Central Greece
20.
Lake Copais
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Lake Copais, also spelled Kopais or Kopaida, was a lake in the centre of Boeotia, Greece, west of Thebes. It was drained in the late 19th century, the area where it was located, though now a plain, is still known as Kopaida. When the lake existed, the towns of Aliartos, Orchomenus, rivers feeding the lake included the Cephissus, Termessus and Triton. The lake was surrounded by land, but the lake increasingly encroached on the surrounding land because of inadequate drainage. In total about 200 square kilometres were reclaimed and this land was returned to the Greek government in 1952. The Kopais Lake Agency was created in 1957 to supervise the draining of the lake, the task was completed that same year, but the agency with full-time staff of 30 still existed until 2010. Before this the lake drained into the sea by numerous subterranean channels, some of these channels were artificial, as the 1st century geographer Strabo recorded. Homer and other ancient authors refer to Copais as the Cephisian lake, Strabo, however, argues that the poetic expression refers to the smaller Lake Hylice, between Thebes and Anthedon. There was a legend that the lake came into being when the hero Heracles flooded the area by digging out a river, the Cephissus, which poured into the basin. Polyaenus explains that he did this because he was fighting the Minyans of Orchomenus, they were dangerous horseback fighters, another story has the lake overflow in the mythical time of Ogyges, resulting in the Ogygian deluge. The travel writer Pausanias and the 5th century BCE comic playwright Aristophanes record that in antiquity Lake Copais was known for its fish, the Mysteries of Lake Copias and the Island of Gla. Therese Ghembaza. Google Earth air view of the Lake Copais plain Google Earth ground view across the Lake Copais plain from the south Google Earth ground view across the Lake Copais plain from the east
Lake Copais
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Location of Lake Copais in antiquity.
Lake Copais
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British-built Lake Copais Company
dredger at work
21.
Orchomenus (Boeotia)
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Orchomenus, the setting for many early Greek myths, is best known as a rich archaeological site in Boeotia, Greece, that was inhabited from the Neolithic through the Hellenistic periods. Orchomenus is also referenced as the Minyean Orchomenus in order to distinguish the city from the Arcadian Orchomenus, according to the founding myth of Orchomenos, its royal dynasty had been established by the Minyans, who had followed their eponymous leader Minyas from coastal Thessaly to settle the site. In the Bronze Age, during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries, Orchomenos became a rich and important centre of civilisation in Mycenaean Greece, the palace with its frescoed walls and the great tholos tomb show the power of Orchomenos in Mycenaean times. A massive hydraulic undertaking drained the marshes of Lake Copaïs making it an agricultural area. Like many sites around the Aegean, Orchomenos was burned and its palace destroyed in ca.1200 BC, Orchomenos seems to have been one of the city-states that joined the Calaurian maritime League in the seventh century BC. Although their rivals Thebes confirmed their supremacy by the end of the century reflected bu inscriptions, the Agrionia, a festival of the god Dionysus, involved the ritual pursuit of women by a man representing Dionysus. Orchomenos struck its coinage from the mid-sixth century, in 480–479 BC, the Orchomenians joined their neighbouring rivals the Thebans to turn back the invading forces of Xerxes in the Greco-Persian Wars. In mid-century, Orchomenos sheltered the oligarchic exiles who freed Boeotia from Athenian control, in the fourth century the traditional rivalry with Thebes made Orchomenos an ally of Agesilaus II and Sparta against Thebes, in 395 and again in 394 BC. The Theban revenge after their defeat of Sparta in the battle of Leuctra was delayed by the tolerant policies of Epaminondas, although the Phocians rebuilt the city in 355 BC, the Thebans destroyed it again in 349. The broad plain between Orchomenos and the acropolis of Chaeronea witnessed two battles of importance in Classical antiquity. During Alexanders campaign against Thebes in 335 BC, Orchomenos took the side of the Macedonians, in recompense, Philip and Alexander rebuilt Orchomenos, when the theatre and the fortification walls, visible today, were constructed. The Second Battle of Chaeronea occurred when Roman forces under Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeated those of King Mithridates VI of Pontus near Chaeronea and this Second Battle of Chaeronea was followed by the Battle of Orchomenus, when Archelaus forces were completely destroyed. Orchomenos remained a town until Late Roman times, when the theatre was still in use. Most excavations have focussed on the early and Mycenean areas of the lower town, in 1880–86, Heinrich Schliemanns excavations revealed the tholos tomb he called the Tomb of Minyas, a Mycenaean monument that equalled the Tomb of Atreus at Mycenae itself. In 1893, A. de Ridder excavated the temple of Asklepios, in 1903–05, a Bavarian archaeological mission under Heinrich Bulle and Adolf Furtwängler conducted successful excavations at the site. Research continued in 1970–73 by the Archaeological Service under Theodore Spyropoulos, uncovering the Mycenaean palace, a prehistoric cemetery, the Tomb of Minyas is one of the greatest burial monuments of the Mycenaean period. The tomb was built for the members of the royal family of Orchomenos in 1250 BC and was plundered in antiquity. The monument was visible for centuries after its original use
Orchomenus (Boeotia)
–
Orchomenos Ορχομενός
22.
Pausanias (geographer)
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Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the time of Roman emperors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece, a work that describes ancient Greece from his first-hand observations. This work provides crucial information for making links between classical literature and modern archaeology, andrew Stewart assesses him as, A careful, pedestrian writer. interested not only in the grandiose or the exquisite but in unusual sights and obscure ritual. He is occasionally careless, or makes unwarranted inferences, and his guides or even his own notes sometimes mislead him, yet his honesty is unquestionable, before visiting Greece, he had been to Antioch, Joppa and Jerusalem, and to the banks of the River Jordan. In Egypt, he had seen the pyramids, while at the temple of Ammon, in Macedonia, he appears to have seen the alleged tomb of Orpheus in Libethra. Crossing over to Italy, he had something of the cities of Campania. He was one of the first to write of seeing the ruins of Troy, Alexandria Troas, Pausanias Description of Greece is in ten books, each dedicated to some portion of Greece. He begins his tour in Attica, where the city of Athens, subsequent books describe Corinthia, Laconia, Messenia, Elis, Achaea, Arcadia, Boetia, Phocis and Ozolian Locris. He famously leaves out key portions of Greece such as Crete, the project is more than topographical, it is a cultural geography. Pausanias digresses from description of architectural and artistic objects to review the mythological and historical underpinnings of the society that produced them and his work bears the marks of his attempt to navigate that space and establish an identity for Roman Greece. He is not a naturalist by any means, though he does from time to comment on the physical realities of the Greek landscape. He notices the pine trees on the sandy coast of Elis, the deer and the boars in the oak woods of Phelloe. Pausanias is most at home in describing the art and architecture of Olympia. Yet, even in the most secluded regions of Greece, he is fascinated by all kinds of depictions of gods, holy relics, Pausanias has the instincts of an antiquary. Some magnificent and dominating structures, such as the Stoa of King Attalus in the Athenian Agora or the Exedra of Herodes Atticus at Olympia are not even mentioned. While he never doubts the existence of the gods and heroes, he criticizes the myths. His descriptions of monuments of art are plain and unadorned and they bear the impression of reality, and their accuracy is confirmed by the extant remains. He is perfectly frank in his confessions of ignorance, when he quotes a book at second hand he takes pains to say so
Pausanias (geographer)
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Manuscript (1485), of Pausanias' Description of Greece at the
Laurentian Library
23.
Ionia
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Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements, never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian tribe who, in the Archaic Period, settled mainly the shores and islands of the Aegean Sea. Ionian states were identified by tradition and by their use of Eastern Greek and it was bounded by Aeolia to the north, Lydia to the east and Caria to the south. The cities within the region figured large in the strife between the Persian Empire and the Greeks, according to Greek tradition, the cities of Ionia were founded by colonists from the other side of the Aegean. Their settlement was connected with the history of the Ionic people in Attica, which asserts that the colonists were led by Neleus and Androclus, sons of Codrus. So intricate is the coastline that the voyage along its shores was estimated at four times the direct distance. A great part of area was, moreover, occupied by mountains. None of these mountains attains a height of more than 1,200 metres, the geography of Ionia placed it in a strategic position that was both advantageous and disadvantageous. Ionia was always a maritime power founded by a people who made their living by trade in peaceful times, the coast was rocky and the arable land slight. The native Luwians for the most part kept their fields further inland, the coastal cities were placed in defensible positions on islands or headlands situated so as to control inland routes up the rift valleys. The people of those valleys were of different ethnicity, the populations of the cities came from many civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean. Ancient demographics are available only from literary sources, Herodotus states that in Asia the Ionians kept the division into twelve cities that had prevailed in Ionian lands of the north Peloponnese, their former homeland, which became Achaea after they left. These Asian cities were Miletus, Myus, Priene, Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedos, Teos, Erythrae, Clazomenae and Phocaea, together with Samos and Chios. Smyrna, originally an Aeolic colony, was occupied by Ionians from Colophon. These cities do not match those of Achaea, moreover, the Achaea of Herodotus time spoke Doric, but in Homer it is portrayed as being in the kingdom of Mycenae, which most likely spoke Mycenaean Greek, which is not Doric. If the Ionians came from Achaea, they departed during or after the change from East Greek to West Greek there, Mycenaean continued to evolve in the mountainous region of Arcadia. Miletus and some other cities founded earlier by non-Greeks received populations of Mycenaean Greeks probably under the name of Achaeans, the tradition of Ionian colonizers from Achaea suggests that they may have been known by both names even then. In the Indian historic literary texts, the Ionians are referred to as yavanar or yona, in modern Turkish, the people of that region were called yunan and the country that is now Greece is known as Yunanistan
Ionia
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Mount Mycale, site of the
Panionium
Ionia
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One of the earliest
electrum coins struck in
Ephesus, 620-600 BC. Obverse: Forepart of stag. Reverse: Square incuse punch.
Ionia
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Northern Ionia, view from space.
Ionia
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The site of
Miletus, once coastal, now inland. The plain was a bay in
Classical Greece.
24.
Teos
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Tetraethyl orthosilicate, formally named tetraethoxysilane, is the chemical compound with the formula Si4. Often abbreviated TEOS, it is a liquid that degrades in water. TEOS is the ester of orthosilicic acid, Si4. It is the most prevalent alkoxide of silicon, like its many analogues, it is prepared by alcoholysis of silicon tetrachloride, SiCl4 +4 EtOH → Si4 +4 HCl where Et is the ethyl radical, C2H5, and thus EtOH is ethanol. TEOS is mainly used as an agent in silicone polymers. TEOS is also used as the source for synthesis of some zeolites. Other applications include coatings for carpets and other objects, TEOS is used in the production of aerogel. These applications exploit the reactivity of the Si-OR bonds, TEOS easily converts to silicon dioxide upon the addition of water, Si4 +2 H2O → SiO2 +4 C2H5OH An idealized equation is shown, in reality the silica produced is hydrated. This hydrolysis reaction is an example of a sol-gel process, the reaction proceeds via a series of condensation reactions that convert the TEOS molecule into a mineral-like solid via the formation of Si-O-Si linkages. Rates of this conversion are sensitive to the presence of acids and bases, the Stöber process allows the formation of monodisperse and mesoporous silica. At elevated temperatures, TEOS converts to silicon dioxide, Si4 → SiO2 +2 2O The volatile coproduct is diethyl ether, TEOS has low toxicity by ingestion. While tetramethoxysilane is highly damaging to eyes since it deposits silica, NIST Standard Reference Database 69, June 2005 Release, NIST Chemistry WebBook Details of TEOS deposition process CDC – NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards
Teos
25.
Thera
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Santorini, classically Thera, and officially Thira, is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km southeast of Greeces mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km2, the municipality of Santorini includes the inhabited islands of Santorini and Therasia and the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi, and Christiana. The total land area is 90.623 km2, Santorini is part of the Thira regional unit. Santorini is essentially what remains after a volcanic eruption that destroyed the earliest settlements on a formerly single island. A giant central, rectangular lagoon, which measures about 12 by 7 km, is surrounded by 300 m high, the main island slopes downward to the Aegean Sea. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another smaller island called Therasia. The islands principal port is Athinios, the capital, Fira, clings to the top of the cliff looking down on the lagoon. The volcanic rocks present from the prior eruptions feature olivine, and have a presence of hornblende. It is the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, the volcanic arc is approximately 500 km long and 20 to 40 km wide. The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history, the Minoan eruption, another popular theory holds that the Thera eruption is the source of the legend of Atlantis. Before then, it was known as Kallístē, Strongýlē, or Thēra, the name Thera was revived in the nineteenth century as the official name of the island and its main city, but the colloquial name Santorini is still in popular use. During the Ottoman Empires domination of the Aegean Sea, the Turkish exonym for the island was Santurin or Santoron, Oia is now called a Κοινότητα, within the municipality of Thera, and it consists of the local subdivisions of Therasia and Oia. The two main sources of wealth in Santorini are agriculture and tourism, in recent years, Santorini has been voted one of the worlds most beautiful islands. Santorini remains the home of a small, but flourishing wine industry, white varieties also include Athiri and Aidani, whereas red varieties include mavrotragano and mandilaria. The Cyclades are part of a complex that is known as the Cycladic Massif. The complex formed during the Miocene and was folded and metamorphosed during the Alpine orogeny around 60 million years ago, Thera is built upon a small, non-volcanic basement that represents the former non-volcanic island, which was approximately 9 by 6 km. The basement rock is composed of metamorphosed limestone and schist
Thera
–
View across collapsed caldera
Thera
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Fira, main town of Santorini
Thera
–
Satellite image of
Santorini caldera. The large island to the east is Thera, with Aspronisi and
Therasia making up the rest of the caldera ring, clockwise. In the centre is the larger
Nea Kameni and the smaller Palea Kameni.
Thera
–
Volcanic craters at Santorini today
26.
Argonauts
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The Argonauts were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War, around 1300 BC, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, Argo, named after its builder and they were sometimes called Minyans, after a prehistoric tribe in the area. After the death of King Cretheus, the Aeolian Pelias usurped the Iolcan throne from his half-brother Aeson, because of this unlawful act, an oracle warned him that a descendant of Aeolus would seek revenge. Pelias put to death every prominent descendant of Aeolus he could, instead, Pelias kept Aeson prisoner and forced him to renounce his inheritance. Aeson married Alcimede, who bore him a son named Jason, Pelias intended to kill the baby at once, but Alcimede summoned her kinswomen to weep over him as if he were stillborn. She faked a burial and smuggled the baby to Mount Pelion and he was raised by the centaur Chiron, the trainer of heroes. When Jason was 20 years old, an oracle ordered him to dress as a Magnesian, while traveling Jason lost his sandal crossing the muddy Anavros river while helping an old woman. The goddess was angry with King Pelias for killing his stepmother Sidero after she had sought refuge in Heras temple, another oracle warned Pelias to be on his guard against a man with one shoe. Pelias was presiding over a sacrifice to Poseidon with several neighboring kings in attendance, among the crowd stood a tall youth in leopard skin with only one sandal. Pelias recognized that Jason was his nephew and he could not kill him because prominent kings of the Aeolian family were present. Instead, he asked Jason, What would you do if an oracle announced that one of your fellow-citizens were destined to kill you, Jason replied that he would send him to go and fetch the Golden Fleece, not knowing that Hera had put those words in his mouth. Jason learned later that Pelias was being haunted by the ghost of Phrixus, Phrixus had fled from Orchomenus riding on a divine ram to avoid being sacrificed and took refuge in Colchis where he was later denied proper burial. According to an oracle, Iolcus would never prosper unless his ghost was taken back in a ship and this fleece now hung from a tree in the grove of the Colchian Ares, guarded night and day by a dragon that never slept. Pelias swore before Zeus that he would give up the throne at Jasons return while expecting that Jasons attempt to steal the Golden Fleece would be a fatal enterprise, however, Hera acted in Jasons favour during the perilous journey. There is no definite list of the Argonauts, H. J. Rose explains this was because an Argonautic ancestor was an addition to even the proudest of pedigrees. The following list is collated from several lists given in ancient sources, several more names are discoverable from other sources. Amyrus, eponym of a Thessalian city, is given by Stephanus of Byzantium as one of the Argonauts, he is said to have been a son of Poseidon. Azorus was the helmsman of Argo according to Hesychius of Alexandria, atalanta is included on the list by Pseudo-Apollodorus, but Apollonius claims that Jason forbade her because she was a woman and could cause strife in the otherwise all-male crew
Argonauts
–
Gathering of the Argonauts,
Attic red-figure
krater, 460–450 BC,
Louvre (G 341).
Argonauts
–
The Argo, by
Konstantinos Volanakis (1837–1907).
27.
Proto-Greek language
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The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants, who spoke the predecessor of the Mycenaean language, entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic or the Bronze Age. The evolution of Proto-Greek could be considered within the context of an early Paleo-Balkan sprachbund that makes it difficult to delineate exact boundaries between individual languages, Proto-Greek is mostly placed in the Early Helladic period, i. e. towards the end of Neolithic Europe. Strengthening of word-initial y- to dy-, palatalization of consonants followed by -y-, producing various affricate consonants and palatal consonants, they later simplified, mostly losing their palatal character. Vocalization of laryngeals between consonants and initially before consonants to /e/, /a/, /o/ from *h₁, *h₂, other unique changes involving laryngeals, see below. Raising of /o/ to /u/ between a resonant and a labial, merging of sequences of velar + *w into the labiovelars, with compensatory lengthening of the consonant in some cases. For example, PIE *h₁éḱwos > PG *íkkʷos > Mycenaean i-qo /íkkʷos/, Attic híppos, dissimilation of aspirates caused an initial aspirated sound to lose its aspiration when a following aspirated consonant occurred in the same word. It also postdates the change of /s/ > /h/, as it affects /h/ as well, ékhō I have < *hekh- < PIE *seǵʰ-oh₂ and it postdates even the loss of aspiration before /j/ that accompanied second-stage palatalization, which postdates both of the previous changes. On the other hand, it predates the development of the first aorist passive marker -thē- since the aspirate in that marker has no effect on preceding aspirates, Greek is unique in reflecting the three different laryngeals with distinct vowels. Most Indo-European languages can be traced back to a variety of late Proto-Indo-European in which all three laryngeals had merged, but Greek clearly cannot. For that reason, Greek is extremely important in reconstructing PIE forms, Greek shows distinct reflexes of the laryngeals in various positions, Most famously, between consonants, where original vocalic *h₁, *h₂, *h₃ are reflected as /e/, /a/, /o/ respectively. Greek vocalized them, Greek érebos darkness < PIE *h₁regʷos vs. Gothic riqiz- darkness, Greek áent- wind < *awent- < PIE *h₂wéh₁n̥t- vs. English wind, the sequence *CRHC becomes CRēC, CRāC, CRōC from H = *h₁, *h₂, *h₃ respectively. Sometimes, CeReC, CaRaC, CoRoC are found instead, Greek thánatos death vs. Doric Greek thnātós mortal and it is sometimes suggested that the position of the accent was a factor in determining the outcome. The sequence *CiHC tends to become *CyēC, *CyāC, *CyōC from H = *h₁, *h₂, *h₃ respectively, sometimes, the outcome CīC is found, as in most other Indo-European languages, or the outcome CiaC in the case of *Cih₂C. *CRHC > *CReHC > CRēC/CRāC/CRōC, or, *CRHC > *CeRHeC > *CeReC/CeRaC/CeRoC > CeReC/CaRaC/CoRoC by assimilation, *CiHC > *CyeHC > CyēC/CyāC/CyōC, or, *Cih₂C > *Cih₂eC > *CiHaC > *CiyaC > CiaC, or, *CiHC remains without vowel insertion > CīC. A laryngeal adjacent to a vowel develops along the lines as other Indo-European languages, The sequence *CRHV passes through *CR̥HV. In the sequence *CHV, the colors a following short /e/, as expected. In a *VHV sequence, the laryngeal again colours any adjacent short /e/ and that change appears to be uniform across the Indo-European languages and was probably the first environment in which laryngeals were lost. Proto-Greek underwent palatalization of consonants before *y and this occurred in two separate stages
Proto-Greek language
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A reconstruction of the 3rd millennium BC "Proto-Greek area", by
Vladimir I. Georgiev.
28.
Mycenean Greeks
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Mycenaean Greece was the last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece. It represents the first advanced civilization in mainland Greece, with its states, urban organization, works of art. Among the centers of power emerged, the most notable were those of Pylos, Tiryns, Midea in the Peloponnese, Orchomenos, Thebes, Athens in Central Greece. The most prominent site was Mycenae, in Argolid, to which the culture of this era owes its name. Mycenaean and Mycenaean-influenced settlements also appeared in Epirus, Macedonia, on islands in the Aegean Sea, on the coast of Asia Minor, the Levant, Cyprus and Italy. Their syllabic script, the Linear B, offers the first written records of the Greek language, Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace states that developed rigid hierarchical, political, social and economic systems. At the head of society was the king, known as wanax. Various theories have proposed for the end of this civilization. Additional theories such as natural disasters and climatic changes have also suggested. The Mycenaean period became the setting of much ancient Greek literature and mythology. The Bronze Age in mainland Greece is generally termed as the Helladic period by modern archaeologists, after Hellas, the Greek name for Greece. This period is divided into three subperiods, The Early Helladic period was a time of prosperity with the use of metals, the Middle Helladic period faced a slower pace of development, as well as the evolution of megaron-type dwellings and cist grave burials. Finally, the Late Helladic period roughly coincides with Mycenaean Greece, the transition period from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Greece is known as Sub-Mycenaean. Moreover, it revealed that the bearers of Mycenaean culture were ethnically connected with the populations that resided in the Greek peninsula after the end of this cultural period. Various collective terms for the inhabitants of Mycenaean Greece were used by Homer in his 8th century BC epic, the Iliad, in reference to the Trojan War. The latter was supposed to have happened in the late 13th – early 12th century BC, Homer used the ethnonyms Achaeans, Danaans and Argives, to refer to the besiegers. These names appear to have passed down from the time they were in use to the time when Homer applied them as terms in his Iliad. There is an reference to a-ka-wi-ja-de in the Linear B records in Knossos, Crete dated to c.1400 BC
Mycenean Greeks
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Mycenaean Greece
Mycenean Greeks
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The
Lion Gate, the main entrance of the citadel of Mycenae, 13th century BC.
Mycenean Greeks
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Two Mycenaean Greek warriors with boar's tusk helmets on a dual-chariot on a fresco from
Pylos (about 1350 BC) (left) and Two Mycenaean female charioteers from
Tiryns, 1200 BCE (right)
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Boeotia". Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 114–115. This cites as authorities:
