1.
Sleep
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It is distinguished from wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, but is more easily reversed than the state of being comatose. Sleep occurs in repeating periods, in which the body alternates between two distinct modes known as non-REM and REM sleep. Although REM stands for rapid eye movement, sleep affects other brain-body functions, during sleep, most systems are in an anabolic state, helping to restore the immune, nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems. The internal circadian clock promotes sleep daily at night, however, sleep patterns vary among individuals. In the last century, artificial light has substantially altered sleep timing in industrialized countries, the diverse purposes and mechanisms of sleep are the subject of substantial ongoing research. Sleep seems to assist with improvements in the body and mind, Research in the 21st century is investigating whether sleep is a period of maintenance for removing metabolic waste compounds from the brain. Sleep is sometimes confused with unconsciousness, but is different in terms of the thought process. REM and non-REM sleep are so different that physiologists classify them as distinct behavioral states, REM sleep is associated with desynchronized and fast brain waves, loss of muscle tone, and suspension of homeostasis. NREM is considered to be sleep, it shows no prominent eye movement or muscle paralysis. Sleep occurs in cycles of approximately 90 minutes and this rhythm is called the ultradian sleep cycle. Sleep proceeds in cycles of NREM and REM, normally in that order, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine divides NREM into three stages, N1, N2, and N3, the last of which is also called delta sleep or slow-wave sleep. The whole period normally proceeds in the order, N1 → N2 → N3 → N2 → REM, REM sleep occurs as a person returns to stage 2 or 1 from a deep sleep. An adult reaches REM approximately every 90 minutes, REM sleep usually lasts for longer during latter half of sleep than in the part of the sleep episode. There is an amount of deep sleep earlier in the night. Key physiological indicators in sleep include EEG of brain waves, electrooculography of eye movements, simultaneous collection of these measurements is called polysomnography, and can be performed in a specialized sleep laboratory. In other words, sleeping persons perceive fewer stimuli, however, they can generally still respond to loud noises and other salient sensory events. Awakening can mean the end of sleep, or simply a moment to survey the environment, sleepers typically awaken from slow-wave sleep, soon after the end of a REM phase or sometimes in the middle of REM. Internal circadian indicators, along with reduction of homeostatic sleep need, typically bring about awakening
2.
Thanatos
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In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the personification of death. He was a figure in Greek mythology, often referred to. His name is transliterated in Latin as Thanatus, but his equivalent in Roman mythology is Mors or Letum, the Greek poet Hesiod established in his Theogony that Thánatos is a son of Nyx and Erebos and twin of Hypnos. Then gave him into the charge of swift messengers to him, of Hypnos and Thanatos, who are twin brothers. Counted among Thanatos siblings were other negative personifications such as Geras, Oizys, Moros, Apate, Momus, Eris, Nemesis, Thanatos was loosely associated with the three Moirai, particularly Atropos, who was a goddess of death in her own right. He is also specified as being exclusive to peaceful death. His duties as a Guide of the Dead were sometimes superseded by Hermes Psychopompos, conversely, Thanatos may have originated as a mere aspect of Hermes before later becoming distinct from him. The gods character is established by Hesiod in the passage of the Theogony, And there the children of dark Night have their dwellings, Sleep and Death. The glowing Sun never looks upon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, Thanatos was thus regarded as merciless and indiscriminate, hated by - and hateful towards — mortals and gods alike. But in myths which feature him, Thanatos could occasionally be outwitted, when it came time for Sisyphus to die, Zeus ordered Thanatos to chain Sisyphus up in Tartarus. Sisyphus cheated death by tricking Thanatos into his own shackles, thereby prohibiting the demise of any mortal while Thanatos was so enchained, eventually Ares, the bloodthirsty god of war, grew frustrated with the battles he incited since neither side suffered any casualties. He released Thanatos and handed his captor over to the god, Sisyphus would evade Death a second time by convincing Persephone to allow him to return to his wife stating that she never gave him a proper funeral. This time, Sisyphus was forcefully dragged back to the Underworld by Hermes when Sisyphus refused to accept his death. Sisyphus was sentenced to an eternity of frustration in Tartarus where he rolled a boulder up a hill and it would roll back down when he got close to the top. Sisyphus, son of Aiolos was a more than mortal figure, for mortals Thanatos usually presents an inexorable fate, Thanatos was consigned to take the soul of Alkestis, who had offered her life in exchange for the continued life of her husband, King Admetos of Pherai. Heracles was an honored guest in the House of Admetos at the time, when Thanatos ascended from Hades to claim Alkestis, Heracles sprung upon the god and overpowered him, winning the right to have Alkestis revived. Thanatos fled, cheated of his quarry, Euripides, in Alcestis, Thanatos, Much talk. All the same, the woman goes with me to Hades house, I go to take her now, and dedicate her with my sword, for all whose hair is cut in consecration by this blades edge are devoted to the gods below
3.
John William Waterhouse
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John William Waterhouse RA was an English painter known for working in the Pre-Raphaelite style. He worked several decades after the breakup of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, born in Italy to English parents who were both painters, he later moved to London, where he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Art. He soon began exhibiting at their annual exhibitions, focusing on the creation of large canvas works depicting scenes from the daily life. Later on in his career he came to embrace the Pre-Raphaelite style of painting despite the fact that it had out of fashion in the British art scene several decades before. The exact date of his birth is unknown, though he was baptised on 6 April, and his early life in Italy has been cited as one of the reasons why many of his later paintings were set in ancient Rome or based upon scenes taken from Roman mythology. In 1854, the Waterhouses returned to England and moved to a newly built house in South Kensington, London, in 1871 he entered the Royal Academy of Art school, initially to study sculpture, before moving on to painting. Waterhouses early works were not Pre-Raphaelite in nature, but were of classical themes in the spirit of Alma-Tadema, the painting was a success and Waterhouse would exhibit at the annual exhibition every year until 1916, with the exception of 1890 and 1915. He then went from strength to strength in the London art scene, perhaps due to his success, his paintings typically became larger and larger in size. In 1883 he married Esther Kenworthy, the daughter of an art schoolmaster from Ealing who had exhibited her own flower-paintings at the Royal Academy and they had two children, but both died in early childhood. In 1895 Waterhouse was elected to the status of full Academician and he taught at the St. Johns Wood Art School, joined the St Johns Wood Arts Club, and served on the Royal Academy Council. One of Waterhouses most famous paintings is The Lady of Shalott, a study of Elaine of Astolat and he actually painted three different versions of this character, in 1888,1894, and 1916. Like The Lady of Shalott and other Waterhouse paintings, it deals with a woman dying in or near water and he also may have been inspired by paintings of Ophelia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. He submitted his Ophelia painting of 1888 in order to receive his diploma from the Royal Academy, after this, the painting was lost until the 20th century, and is now displayed in the collection of Lord Lloyd-Webber. Waterhouse would paint Ophelia again in 1894 and 1909 or 1910, Waterhouse could not finish the series of Ophelia paintings because he was gravely ill with cancer by 1915. He died two years later, and his grave can be found at Kensal Green Cemetery in London, in total he produced 118 paintings. List of paintings by John William Waterhouse Moyle, Franny, Pre-Raphaelite art, simpson, Eileen, Pre-Raphaelites for a new generation, Letters,17 June, Pre-Raphaelite revival, The Daily Telegraph. Dorment, Richard, Waterhouse, The modern Pre-Raphaelite, at the Royal Academy – review, The Daily Telegraph
4.
Greek underworld
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The Greek underworld, in mythology, is an otherworld where souls go after death, and is the original Greek idea of afterlife. At the moment of death the soul is separated from the corpse, taking on the shape of the former person, the Underworld itself is described as being either at the outer bounds of the ocean or beneath the depths or ends of the earth. It is considered the counterpart to the brightness of Mount Olympus. Hades is an invisible to the living, made solely for the dead. There are five rivers that are visible both in the living world and the underworld. Their names were meant to reflect the emotions associated with death, the Styx is generally considered to be one of the most prominent and central rivers of the Underworld and is also the most widely known out of all the rivers. Its known as the river of hatred and is named after the goddess Styx and this river circles the underworld seven times. The Acheron is the river of pain and its the one that Charon, also known as the Ferryman, rows the dead over according to many mythological accounts, though sometimes it is the river Styx or both. The Lethe is the river of forgetfulness and it is associated with the goddess Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness and oblivion. In later accounts, a poplar branch dripping with water of the Lethe became the symbol of Hypnos, the Phlegethon is the river of fire. According to Plato, this leads to the depths of Tartarus. The Cocytus is the river of wailing, oceanus is the river that encircles the world, and it marks the east edge of the underworld, as Erebos is west of the mortal world. In front of the entrance to the underworld live Grief, Anxiety, Diseases, fear, Hunger, Death, Agony, and Sleep also live in front of the entrance, together with Guilty Joys. On the opposite threshold is War, the Erinyes, and Eris, close to the doors are many beasts, including Centaurs, Gorgons, the Lernaean Hydra, the Chimera, and Harpies. In the midst of all this, an Elm can be seen where false dreams cling under every leaf, the souls that enter the Underworld carry a coin under their tongue to pay Charon to take them across the river. Charon may make exceptions or allowances for those carrying a certain Golden Bough. Charon is appallingly filthy, with eyes like jets of fire, a bush of unkempt beard upon his chin, although Charon embarks now one group now another, some souls he grimly turns away. These are the unburied which cant be taken across from bank to bank until they receive a proper burial, across the river, guarding the gates of the Underworld, is Cerberus
5.
Poppy
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A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colorful flowers, following the trench warfare which took place in the poppy fields of Flanders during World War I, poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime. Poppies are herbaceous annual, biennial or short-lived perennial plants, some species are monocarpic, dying after flowering. Poppies can be over 4 feet tall with flowers up to six inches across, flowers of species have 4 to 6 petals, many stamens forming a conspicuous whorl in the center of the flower and an ovary of from 2 to many fused carpels. The petals are showy, may be of almost any color in the, the petals are crumpled in the bud and as blooming finishes, the petals often lie flat before falling away. In the temperate zones, poppies bloom from spring into early summer, most species secrete latex when injured. Bees use poppies as a pollen source, the pollen of the oriental poppy, Papaver orientale, is dark blue, that of the field or corn poppy is grey to dark green. The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, grows wild in eastern and southern Asia and it is believed that it originated in the Mediterranean region. Poppies of several genera are also cultivated in gardens. A few species have uses, principally as sources of drugs. The opium poppy is widely cultivated and its production is monitored by international agencies. It is used for production of dried latex and opium, the precursor of narcotic and analgesic opiates such as morphine, heroin. Poppy seeds are rich in oil, carbohydrates, calcium and protein, Poppy oil is often used as cooking oil, salad dressing oil, or in products such as margarine. Poppy oil can also be added to spices for cakes, or breads, Poppy products are also used in different paints, varnishes, and some cosmetics. In Greek and Roman myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead, poppies used as emblems on tombstones symbolize eternal sleep. This symbolism was evoked in the childrens novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a second interpretation of poppies in Classical mythology is that the bright scarlet color signifies a promise of resurrection after death. The poppy of wartime remembrance is Papaver rhoeas, the corn poppy. This poppy is a weed in Europe and is found in many locations, including Flanders
6.
Morpheus (mythology)
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Morpheus is a god of dreams who appears in Ovids Metamorphoses. Morpheus has the ability to any human form and to appear in dreams. His true semblance is that of a daemon, an imagery shared with many of his siblings. In myth, Morpheus was also said to send dreams through one of two gates, one of ivory, and the other of horn, starting in the medieval period, the name Morpheus began to stand generally for the god of dreams or of sleep. In Carl Michael Bellmans Fredmans Epistle No,72, Glimmande nymf, Morpheus is invoked as the god of sleep. The name of the opiate drug morphine is derived from the name of Morpheus, new York, ISBN9780940322660 CS1 maint, Uses editors parameter. A Commentary on Ovid, Metamorphoses XI, Hermathena, 162/163, Dublin, kearns, E. Morpheus, in S. Hornblower & A. Spawforth, Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford, ISBN9780198661726 CS1 maint, Uses editors parameter. Morpheus – The God of Dreams
7.
Nemesis (mythology)
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In the ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia/ Rhamnusia was the goddess who enacted retribution against those who succumb to hubris. Another name was Adrasteia/ Adrestia, meaning the inescapable and her Roman name/ counterpart is Invidia. The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word νέμειν némein, meaning to give what is due, divine retribution is a major theme in the Hellenic world view, providing the unifying theme of the tragedies of Sophocles and many other literary works. Hesiod states, Also deadly Nyx bore Nemesis an affliction to mortals subject to death, Nemesis appears in a still more concrete form in a fragment of the epic Cypria. As the Goddess of Rhamnous, Nemesis was honored and placated in a sanctuary in the isolated district of Rhamnous. There she was a daughter of Oceanus, the primeval river-ocean that encircles the world, pausanias noted her iconic statue there. Her cult may have originated at Smyrna and she is portrayed as a winged goddess wielding a whip or a dagger. In early times the representations of Nemesis resembled Aphrodite, who bears the epithet Nemesis. Later, as the goddess of proportion and the avenger of crime, she has as attributes a measuring rod, a bridle, scales, a sword, and a scourge. The word Nemesis originally meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, later, nemesis came to suggest the resentment caused by any disturbance of this right proportion, the sense of justice that could not allow it to pass unpunished. O. Gruppe and others connect the name with to feel just resentment, from the fourth century onward, Nemesis, as the just balancer of Fortunes chance, could be associated with Tyche. In the Greek tragedies Nemesis appears chiefly as the avenger of crime and the punisher of hubris, and as such is akin to Atë and the Erinyes. She was sometimes called Adrasteia, probably meaning one from whom there is no escape, her epithet Erinys is specially applied to Demeter, Nemesis has been described as the daughter of Oceanus or Zeus, but according to Hyginus she was a child of Erebus and Nyx. She has also described, by Hesiod as the daughter of Nyx alone. In some metaphysical mythology, Nemesis produced the egg from which hatched two sets of twins, Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, and the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux. While many myths indicate Zeus and Leda to be the parents of Helen of Troy, Nemesis, to avoid Zeus, turns into a goose, but he turns into a swan and mates with her. Nemesis in her bird form lays an egg that is discovered in the marshes by a shepherd and it is in this way that Leda comes to be the mother of Helen of Troy, as she kept the egg in a chest until it hatched. Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesias of Aegina, Cypria Fragment 8, but Zeus ever pursued and longed in his heart to catch her
8.
Eris (mythology)
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Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Her name is the equivalent of Latin Discordia, which means discord, Eris Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Latin counterpart is Concordia. Homer equated her with the war-goddess Enyo, whose Roman counterpart is Bellona, the dwarf planet Eris is named after the goddess, as is the religion Discordianism. She then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making mens pain heavier and she also has a son whom she named Strife. Enyo is mentioned in Book 5, and Zeus sends Strife to rouse the Achaeans in Book 11, the most famous tale of Eris recounts her initiating the Trojan War by causing the Judgement of Paris. The hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the fairest by Zeus, the goddesses stripped naked to try to win Paris decision, and also attempted to bribe him. Hera offered political power, Athena promised infinite wisdom, and Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. While Greek culture placed an emphasis on prowess and power, Paris chose to award the apple to Aphrodite, thereby dooming his city. In Nonnus Dionysiaca,2.356, when Typhon prepares to battle with Zeus, Eris was Typhons escort in the melée, another story of Eris includes Hera, and the love of Polytekhnos and Aedon. They claimed to each other more than Hera and Zeus were in love. This angered Hera, so she sent Eris to rack discord upon them, Polytekhnos was finishing off a chariot board, and Aedon a web she had been weaving. Eris said to them, Whosoever finishes thine task last shall have to present the other with a female servant, but Polytekhnos was not happy by his defeat, so he came to Khelidon, Aedons sister, and raped her. He then disguised her as a slave, presenting her to Aedon, when Aedon discovered this was indeed her sister, she chopped up Polytekhnos son and fed him to Polytekhnos. The gods were not pleased, so turned them all into birds. The Discordian version of Eris is considerably lighter in comparison to the rather malevolent Graeco-Roman original and she told him that She had always liked the Old Greeks, but that they cannot be trusted with historic matters. They were, She added, victims of indigestion, you know, the story of Eris being snubbed and indirectly starting the Trojan War is recorded in the Principia, and is referred to as the Original Snub. The Principia Discordia states that her parents may be as described in Greek legend and she is the Goddess of Disorder and Being, whereas her sister Aneris is the goddess of Order and Non-Being. The concept of Eris as developed by the Principia Discordia is used and expanded upon in the fiction work The Illuminatus
9.
Greek mythology
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It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Greek mythology is explicitly embodied in a collection of narratives. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. These accounts initially were disseminated in a tradition, today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homers epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War, archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles, in the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an influence on the culture, arts. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes, Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. Mythical narration plays an important role in every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus and this work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c, 180–125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed the basis for the collection, however the Library discusses events that occurred long after his death, among the earliest literary sources are Homers two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the cycle, but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the part of the so-called Lyric age. Hesiods Works and Days, a poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides and Simonides, and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion, additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama
10.
Hades
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Hades was the ancient Greek chthonic god of the underworld, which eventually took his name. In Greek mythology, Hades was regarded as the oldest son of Cronus and Rhea and he and his brothers Zeus and Poseidon defeated their fathers generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, Hades was often portrayed with his three-headed guard dog Cerberus. The Etruscan god Aita and Roman gods Dis Pater and Orcus were eventually taken as equivalent to the Greek Hades and merged as Pluto, the origin of Hades name is uncertain, but has generally been seen as meaning The Unseen One since antiquity. Modern linguists have proposed the Proto-Greek form *Awides, the earliest attested form is Aḯdēs, which lacks the proposed digamma. West argues instead for a meaning of the one who presides over meeting up from the universality of death. In Homeric and Ionic Greek, he was known as Áïdēs, other poetic variations of the name include Aïdōneús and the inflected forms Áïdos, Áïdi, and Áïda, whose reconstructed nominative case *Áïs is, however, not attested. The name as it came to be known in classical times was Háidēs, later the iota became silent, then a subscript marking, and finally omitted entirely. Perhaps from fear of pronouncing his name, around the 5th century BC, Plouton became the Roman god who both rules the underworld and distributed riches from below. This deity was a mixture of the Greek god Hades and the Eleusinian icon Ploutos, and from this he received a priestess. More elaborate names of the genre were Ploutodótēs or Ploutodotḗr meaning giver of wealth. Epithets of Hades include Agesander and Agesilaos, both from ágō and anḗr or laos, describing Hades as the god who carries away all. He was also referred to as Zeus Katachthonios, meaning the Zeus of the Underworld, by avoiding his actual name. In Greek mythology, Hades the god of the underworld, was a son of the Titans Cronus and he had three sisters, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera, as well as two brothers, Zeus, the youngest of the three, and Poseidon. Upon reaching adulthood, Zeus managed to force his father to disgorge his siblings, after their release, the six younger gods, along with allies they managed to gather, challenged the elder gods for power in the Titanomachy, a divine war. The war lasted for ten years and ended with the victory of the younger gods, following their victory, according to a single famous passage in the Iliad, Hades and his two brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, drew lots for realms to rule. Some myths suggest that Hades was dissatisfied with his turnout, but had no choice, Hades obtained his wife and queen, Persephone, through abduction at the behest of Zeus. Despite modern connotations of death as evil, Hades was actually more altruistically inclined in mythology, Hades was often portrayed as passive rather than evil, his role was often maintaining relative balance
11.
Homer
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Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the semi-legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of Greek literature. The Odyssey focuses on the home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Many accounts of Homers life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a bard from Ionia. The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value, the Homeric question - by whom, when, where and under what circumstances were the Iliad and Odyssey composed - continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion on the authorship question falls into two camps, one group holds that most of the Iliad and the Odyssey is the work of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the crystallization of a process of working and re-working by many contributors and it is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. Most researchers believe that the poems were transmitted orally. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education, to Plato, the chronological period of Homer depends on the meaning to be assigned to the word Homer. Was Homer a single person, an imaginary person representing a group of poets and this information is often called the world of Homer. The Homeric period would in that cover a number of historical periods, especially the Mycenaean Age. Considered word-for-word, the texts as we know them are the product of the scholars of the last three centuries. Each edition of the Iliad or Odyssey is a different, as the editors rely on different manuscripts and fragments. The term accuracy reveals a belief in an original uniform text. The manuscripts of the work currently available date to no earlier than the 10th century. These are at the end of a missing thousand-year chain of copies made as each generation of manuscripts disintegrated or were lost or destroyed and these numerous manuscripts are so similar that a single original can be postulated. The time gap in the chain is bridged by the scholia, or notes, on the existing manuscripts, librarian of the Library of Alexandria, he had noticed a wide divergence in the works attributed to Homer, and was trying to restore a more authentic copy. He had collected several manuscripts, which he named, the Sinopic, the one he selected for correction was the koine, which Murray translates as the Vulgate. Aristarchus was known for his selection of material
12.
Lemnos
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Lemnos is an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a municipality within the Lemnos regional unit. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina, at 477.583 square kilometres, it is the 8th-largest island of Greece. Lemnos is mostly flat, but the west, and especially the northwest part, is rough, the highest point is Mount Skopia at the altitude of 430 m. The chief towns are Myrina, on the western coast, Myrina possesses a good harbour, which is in the process of being upgraded through construction of a west-facing sea wall. It is the seat of all carried on with the mainland. Fruit and vegetables that grow on the island include almonds, figs, melons, watermelons, tomatoes, pumpkins, the main crops are wheat, barley, sesame, in fact Lemnos was Constantinoples granary during Byzantine times. Lemnos also produces honey, but, as is the case with most products of a nature in Greece. Muscat grapes are widely, and are used to produce an unusual table wine that is dry yet has a strong Muscat flavor. Since 1985 the variety and quality of Lemnos wines have increased greatly, the climate in Lemnos is mainly Mediterranean. Winters are generally mild, but there will be a snowfall occasionally, strong winds are a feature of the island, especially in August and in winter time, hence its nickname the wind-ridden one. The temperature is typically 2 to 5 degrees Celsius less than in Athens, for ancient Greeks, the island was sacred to Hephaestus, god of metallurgy, who—as he tells himself in Iliad I. 590ff—fell on Lemnos when Zeus hurled him headlong out of Olympus. There, he was cared for by the Sinties, according to Iliad or by Thetis, sacred initiatory rites dedicated to them were performed in the island. Hephaestus forge, which was located on Lemnos, as well as the name Aethaleia, sometimes applied to it and it is said that fire occasionally blazed forth from Mosychlos, one of its mountains. The ancient geographer Pausanias relates that an island called Chryse. All volcanic action is now extinct, the earliest inhabitants are said to have been a Thracian tribe, whom the Greeks called Sintians, robbers. The name Lemnos is said by Hecataeus to have applied in the form of a title to Cybele among the Thracians. The worship of Cybele was characteristic of Thrace, where it had spread from Asia Minor at an early period
