Discover Greece and the beautiful Greek islands

This complete site of the Greek Islands provides information and maps but also many hotels located in the: Cyclades, Ionians, Dodecanese, Crete, Sporades, Eastern Aegean and the Saronic. This site gives information about the islands of Greece and a large range of greek hotels… Just follow the links...

Greece Photo Beach

The Islands of Greece are considered by many as one of the top European holidays destinations. The reasons are obvious: 1400 scattered in the crystal blue waters of the Greek Aegean and Ionians Seas.
There are some 169 inhabited Greek Islands separated in different groups. Every island is unique, with its particular landscapes and beauty. The have everything to offer: beautiful landscapes, ruins of one of Europe’s greatest civilizations, charming villages, endless golden sandy beaches, active night life, water sports…

Beaches of Greece

My family and I visit Greece every year and inevitably we spend a great deal of time at the beaches of Greece during the summer. We like to travel around to discover new Greek beaches, and we tend to rate each beach after our visit.

This is not an official guide; Instead, these are our own observations of the beach qualities as we experienced them during our visit. Our beach reports here is based on on-site visits. Certain beaches we have visited only once, while many we have seen several times.Beaches are arranged here by province or island .

Government of Greece

Country name:
conventional long form: Hellenic Republic
conventional short form: Greece
local short form: Ellas or Ellada
former: Kingdom of Greece
local long form: Elliniki Dhimokratia
Government type:
parliamentary republic; monarchy rejected by referendum 8 December 1974
Capital:
Athens
Administrative divisions:
51 prefectures (nomoi, singular - nomos) and 1 autonomous region*; Agion Oros* (Mt. Athos), Achaia, Aitolia kai Akarmania, Argolis, Arkadia, Arta, Attiki, Chalkidiki, Chanion, Chios, Dodekanisos, Drama, Evros, Evrytania, Evvoia, Florina, Fokidos, Fthiotis, Grevena, Ileia, Imathia, Ioannina, Irakleion, Karditsa, Kastoria, Kavala, Kefallinia, Kerkyra, Kilkis, Korinthia, Kozani, Kyklades, Lakonia, Larisa, Lasithi, Lefkas, Lesvos, Magnisia, Messinia, Pella, Pieria, Preveza, Rethynnis, Rodopi, Samos, Serrai, Thesprotia, Thessaloniki, Trikala, Voiotia, Xanthi, Zakynthos
Independence:
1829 (from the Ottoman Empire)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 25 March (1821)
Constitution:
11 June 1975; amended March 1986 and April 2001
Legal system:
based on codified Roman law; judiciary divided into civil, criminal, and administrative courts
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Konstandinos (Kostis) STEPHANOPOULOS (since 10 March 1995)
elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 8 February 2000 (next to be held by NA February 2005); president appoints leader of the party securing plurality of vote in election
head of government: Prime Minister Konstandinos KARAMANLIS (since NA March 2004)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
election results: Konstandinos STEPHANOPOULOS reelected president; percent of Parliament vote - 90%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon (300 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: elections last held 7 March 2004 (next to be held by March 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - ND 45.4%, PASOK 40.6%, KKE 5.9%, Synaspismos 3.3%; seats by party - ND 165, PASOK 117, KKE 12, Synaspismos 6
Judicial branch:
Supreme Judicial Court; Special Supreme Tribunal; all judges appointed for life by the president after consultation with a judicial council
Political parties and leaders:
Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) [Nikolaos KONSTANTOPOULOS]; Communist Party of Greece or KKE [Aleka PAPARIGA]; New Democracy or ND (conservative) [Konstandinos KARAMANLIS]; Panhellenic Socialist Movement or PASOK [Yiorgos PAPANDREOU]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, EU, FAO, G- 6, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UPU, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Yeoryios SAVVAIDIS
consulate(s): Atlanta, Houston, and New Orleans
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
FAX: [1] (202) 939-1324
telephone: [1] (202) 939-1300
chancery: 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas J. MILLER
embassy: 91 Vasilissis Sophias Avenue, 101 60 Athens
mailing address: PSC 108, APO AE 09842-0108
telephone: [30] (210) 721-2951
FAX: [30] (210) 645-6282
consulate(s) general: Thessaloniki
Flag description:
nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white; there is a blue square in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolizes Greek Orthodoxy, the established religion of the country

Economy Of Greece

Economy - overview:
Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for half of GDP and with per capita GDP 70% of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 15% of GDP. Immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in menial jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of GDP. The Greek economy grew by 4.0% in 2003 and is expected to grow by 4.2% in 2004, the year that Athens will host the 2004 Olympic Games. Remaining challenges include the reduction of the public debt, inflation, and unemployment; and further restructuring of the economy, including privatizing several state enterprises, undertaking pension and other reforms, and minimizing bureaucratic inefficiencies.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $212.2 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $19,900 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 6.7%
industry: 22%
services: 71.2% (2003 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
25.5% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line:
NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.3% (1993 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
32.7 (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.6% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
4.39 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
industry 20%, agriculture 20%, services 59% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate:
9.4% (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $76.84 billion
expenditures: $79.48 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)
Public debt:
100.9% of GDP (2003)
Agriculture - products:
wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, olives, tomatoes, wine, tobacco, potatoes; beef, dairy products
Industries:
tourism; food and tobacco processing, textiles; chemicals, metal products; mining, petroleum
Industrial production growth rate:
0.7% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production:
49.79 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 94.5%
hydro: 3.8%
other: 1.7% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
48.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
1.062 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
3.562 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
5,992 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
405,700 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
84,720 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports:
468,300 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
4.5 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production:
35 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
2.021 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
2.018 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
254.9 million cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance:
$-11.33 billion (2003)
Exports:
$5.899 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles
Exports - partners:
Germany 12.6%, Italy 10.5%, UK 7%, US 6.5%, Bulgaria 6.2%, Cyprus 4.8%, France 4.2%, Turkey 4% (2003 est.)
Imports:
$33.27 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals
Imports - partners:
Germany 12.5%, Italy 12.2%, France 6.6%, Russia 6.1%, South Korea 5.4%, US 5.2%, Netherlands 5.2%, Japan 4.3%, UK 4.2% (2003 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$5.802 billion (2003)
Debt - external:
$65.51 billion (2003 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$5.4 billion from EU (1995)
Currency:
euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries
Currency code:
EUR
Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 365.399 (2000), 305.647 (1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

Geography Of Greece

Location: Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey
Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N, 22 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 131,940 sq km
water: 1,140 sq km
land: 130,800 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Alabama
Land boundaries: total: 1,228 km
border countries: Albania 282 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Turkey 206 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 246 km
Coastline:
13,676 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climate:
temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers
Terrain:
mostly mountains with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Olympus 2,917 m
Natural resources:
lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential
Land use:
arable land: 21.1%
permanent crops: 8.78%
other: 70.12% (2001)
Irrigated land:
14,220 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
severe earthquakes
Environment - current issues:
air pollution; water pollution
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
Geography - note:
strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 2,000 islands

Review - Ancient Greek Love Magic

By :Christopher A. Faraone
Ancient Greek Love Magic
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999.
ISBN 0674033205 :223 pages.

ANCIENT Athens was so brilliant, their art work, political theory, and philosophy still set the standards, but along with their glory was their mistreatment of large groups of people who were relegated not just to second class, but to no class of citizen. The largest of these groups was women, whom, we are taught, the men in power feared, if not despised. The impression of Athenian misogyny is based on literature and mythology, from Hesiod to Aristotle. But what about the women? Were they misogynists, too? Were they misandrists? Neither? In Ancient Greek Love Magic, Christopher A. Faraone looks at evidence from erotic charms, spells and potions to form a mixed picture of what relations between the sexes were really like.

In Ancient Greece, the men appear to have had contempt for and fear of their women because of the women's supposedly unquenchable lust. Semonides captures this in his caricatures of women as descendants of such animals as dogs, donkeys, pigs, and weasels. But if women were truly so rapacious and men so disinterested, what would LysistrataÂ’s sex strike have accomplished? And how did Faraone compile more than 70 spells by men to make women lustful?

Faraone says the Ancient Greek world had misogynists and misandrists side-by-side. In the misandrist model, itÂ’s the men who are out of control, violent, and cruel, while the women are controlled, sedate, and reluctant to have intercourse. Most of the spells Faraone examines relate more to the misandrist than the misogynist outlook.

There are two basis categories of spells, agoge and philia. Agoge spells are used by those in socially superior positions who wish to attract their social inferiors and lead them away from their families. The type of love involved is eros, rather than agape or philia (love for friends and family). Eros is described as “ballistic,” in a literal and figurative sense: literally, the god Eros shoots lust arrows or men throw charmed love apples at their victims; figuratively, in that women are supposed to be driven mad with lust. Philia spells, usually used by social inferiors are intended to keep mates interested, to rekindle affection, and to make the socially superior more loving. Generally, the spells fall along gender lines, with most of the philia spells performed by women on men. Of 80 surviving agoge spells, only seven were used by women to attract men.

The traditional misogynist model looks upon women as locked inside the womenÂ’s quarter, yet the spells aimed at getting women out of the house and into the bed of the would-be lover, have no effect on the womenÂ’s guardians. If sufficiently motivated, the lusted-after woman would simply walk out on her own. Faraone suggests women had free egress from their homes. That they stayed with their parents means they wished to. The agoge spells were designed to break down this filial attachment.

Agoge spells sometimes used effigies of the victim. The man would burn these pin-studded dolls while he asked the appropriate deity (mostly, Pan, Eros, Hekate, and Aphrodite) to make the victim burn with enough passion to reject her parents and join him. Sometimes a determined would-be lover procured a iunx bird. This small, supposedly sexually rapacious bird would be affixed to an instrument of torture (a wheel) where, with the right incantations, it would transfer it's sexuality to the human victim. One instance of a iunx spell comes from Theocritus Idyll II where itÂ’s a woman who calls on the iunx to bring her man to her home.

Philia spells, whose goal wasnÂ’t to wrench someone away from home and loved ones, but to temper or restore kindly feelings, tended to be more benign, using potions and ointments rather than effigies. Still, a potion made too strong would have more deleterious effects than a vicarious burning spell. Perhaps the most well known philia spell to backfire was the ointment Deianeira spread on HeraclesÂ’ garment when she was trying to win back the affection she saw drifting away from her and to a new woman (Iole).

You will be disappointed in Ancient Greek Love Magic if youÂ’'re expecting a few tried and true love spells with which to entice an unsuspecting victim. It is not a manual of amatory devices. Instead, it is a clear analysis of the literary uses of charms, spells, and drugs associated with enticing and keeping a mate, as well as a re-examination of ancient attitudes towards women.

The intended audience for this 223 page volume is the educated layperson without knowledge of Greek. For this reason, Faraone includes a glossary of Greek terms at the end of the book, where you'll also find a hefty bibliography and list of abbreviations. Footnotes, on page bottoms, sometimes distractingly continue on the following page. Minor shortcomings in Ancient Greek Love Magic are the shortage of quickly understood tabular, visual aids (because those few included seem so helpful), and the shortage of actual spells. A final shortcoming, in an otherwise eye-opening book, is a bewildering symbolic comparison, near the end, between stages in a woman's life and the misogynist and misandrist models.

Top-Five Best Beaches of Greece

# Sarakiniko (in Elafonisos Island, Peloponnese)
What a great experience we had at Sarakiniko beach. Simos beach is right around the corner and just as great of a beach! For such a tiny island, Elafonisos at the Southern end of Peloponnese offers three of the best beaches of Greece (Panagia beach is the third one), and just about the best looking water in the world.
# Egremnoi (Lefkada)
# One of the best kept secrets of Greece. Beautiful scenery, crystal clear turquoise water, and soft white coarse sand make this beach one of the best to visit. Its out-of-the-way location on the West coast of Lefkada, and the thousand make-shift concrete steps down (and then up), separate the huge crowds from this beach. Excellent by all measures.
# Myrtos (Kefalonia)
Myrtos was voted as the best beach of Greece a few years ago, and for good reason. Fantastic water and bright-white pebbles, nested among steep cliffs on the west coast of Kefalonia.
# Erimoupolis (Crete)
At the very northern tip of Eastern Crete, Erimoupolis stole our heart during our visit to this part of Greece. Nested between rugged rocks and an ancient cemetery, Erimoupolis is named after the "abandoned town" of Itanos, the ruins of which you have to pass on your way to the beach. Although the beach gets too crowded during the weekends, it is a joy to visit during weekdays.
# Myrtidiotissa (Corfu)
The road to Myrtidiotissa is a real hazard for any car, so travelers have to park high up the hill near the monastery of Myrtidiotissa, and then walk down about a kilometer of dirt road. The water is crystal-clear, and the strip of soft brown sand is sheltered by tall cliffs on all sides. This small beach tends to feel overcrowded during full season, but a real pleasure early in the summer.

The Best Beaches of Greece

Determining what are the "best" beaches of Greece is obviously a subjective affair. Our family travels to Greece every summer and we never let a day go by without visiting a beach. We like going to different beaches every time because we have found that each one has something unique to offer.

Some beaches are well organized and offer many luxuries, while others are very secluded and isolated. Some offer clear water, some perfectly soft sand, while others are framed by incredible landscape. The national Greek tourist organization has its own "top-ten beaches" list based on the voting of its web site visitors, and many beaches of Greece sport the Blue flag which symbolizes cleanliness and quality (although we have noticed that a "blue flag" does not always signify quality).

In deciding what the best beaches of Greece are, I use here our first-hand experience. This means that we know there are many more fantastic beaches we have yet to discover, so we keep going back to Greece year after year. In general to appear in this list, a beach must be extra-special. It must be a place that we would travel around the world just to swim in its waters and to lay on its sand.

Best Travel Destinations in Greece

This topic always pops up in conversations I have with friends who plan a visit to Greece: "What places should I include in my two-week long itinerary"? I often pondered with the question myself, and knowing that no matter where I go there will always be another place I wish I had visited, I return to Greece with my family year after year just to find out that the best we have not seen yet. Every year's visit packs a few surprises that make it even better that the previous trips.

I grew up in Greece, and I have traveled extensively around the country before I moved to the USA, and even now I make sure to visit Greece at least once per year. So I will include here my own personal favorite Greek destinations in brief, while in the other pages of this site I get to elaborate a little on each place.

The best vacations are often measured not by where one wanders, but by the friendships, the relationships, and the family bonds that one forges once there. The landscapes then act as mere vehicles for delightful moments.

A place is not enough. An open mind is also required to absorb the new social, cultural and visual signals that surround a traveler. Once this is understood, then it does not hurt to be absorbed by a unique topography, an ancient landscape, to be touched by a cool meltemi breeze, or to be lost in the azure ocean.

So then where is the best place to visit in Greece? What is the absolute must-see locale? To answer the question one must define one's own interests first. Greece can offer an incredible gamut of activities.

The cultural and historical background of Greece has sprinkled the landscapes with ruins that span six thousand years. The alternating invaders, the peacefull settlers, and the country's position at the crossroads between east and west, have all left their mark on the Greek cultural landscape. Archaeological sites abound in the country side, and museums in cities protect priceless artifacts from antiquity. It would be an omission to visit Greece and leave without experiencing the ancient Greek culture; the culture that is credited with the birth of western civilization.

Curriculum Vitae of George Th. Chronis

George Th. Chronis was born in Athens, Greece, in May 1945.

After his studies at the Greek-French school, the Lycee Leonin, he entered the University of Athens in the Physiognosy and Geography Department.

In 1973, he obtained a scholarship from the French Government, which enabled him to matriculate in the University of Bordeaux I (3rd cycle of studies). In 1975, he completed his studies in Bordeaux, where his special subjects concerned coastal dynamic sedimentology.

In 1979, he was awarded an UNESCO scholarship, to carry out research at the University of Perpignan, France. Working in cooperation with the University of Barcelona, an important research network was established which was concerned with marine research in the Mediterranean Sea. This cooperation was the starting point for many future large and complex EU-financed oceanographic projects, the development of which continues right up till now.

In 1985, he was awarded the degree of Ph.D. from the Department of Geology, University of Athens.

In 1994, he was elected Director of the Institute of Oceanography of the National Centre for Marine Research(NCMR) Athens, in which position he was re-elected in 1999. During his time of office, the candidacy of the Institute of Oceanography in the lists of European high-quality research institutes was confirmed by an internationally-refereed Commission. This came as a reward for the collective and cumulative efforts of the Institute of Oceanography, which had taken place during his time in office. One important result from that collective effort was an eleven-fold increase in the Institute’s income, deriving from projects funded by the European Union, the doubling of the work force, the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment and the construction of the new building TRITON which houses the Athens Centre of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research.

In November 2001, he was elected Full Professor of the University of Aegean in its recently-established Marine Science and Oceanography Department.

In March 2002, he was unanimously elected as President and Director of NCMR by the National Council for Research and Technology. In June 2003, he became Director and President of the Administrative Council at the newly-established research centre, the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) which resulted from the merging of the National Centre for Marine Research (NCMR) and the Institute of Marine Biology of Crete (IMBC). HCMR is now one of the most important centres of marine research in the Mediterranean Sea.

Professor Chronis’ participation in national and international projects has been particularly significant. He has been responsible for the planning, construction, coordination and implementation of a considerable number of European as well as national projects. His latest project, the coordination of the POSEIDON project, constitutes a significant step forward in the development of operational oceanography at the national and European level, not least because of the fact that Greece is the only country in the Mediterranean Sea with a network which can carry out continuous observation of all the parameters of the marine environment (oceanographic, environmental, meteorological).

Professor Chronis has participated in many national and international groups concerning research in the marine environment (Academy of Athens, European Union UNESCO, etc.). During the period 1995-2000, he was elected as member of the Executive Committee of UNESCO’s Intergovermental Commission of Oceanography. He is the author of many scientific articles in national magazines, as well as of a series of university textbooks concerning coastal dynamics, the marine ecosystem and operational oceanography.

In March 2003, he was awarded the special distinction of the Legion d’Honneur from the President of the French Republic, with special reference to his contribution to the cooperation between Greece and France in the field of marine research in the Mediterranean Sea.

He is married with one son.

Greece: Olympics Host on the Global Stage

The United States is one of a group of seven countries that are cooperating closely with Greece on security preparations for the 2004 summer Olympics in Athens, U.S. Ambassador to Greece Thomas Miller told a Policy Forum at the Western Policy Center. The other countries are Britain, Germany, France, Israel, Spain, and Australia.

The Athens games, he said, are being held in a more dangerous world, following the September 11 terrorist attacks, making any comparison between the security framework of the 2004 Olympics and that of the 2000 Sydney games inappropriate.

The aim, Miller said, is to "try to reduce risk as much as possible," a process similar to that being carried out by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge in the wake of the attacks in the U.S., so that terrorists will not view the Olympics as an attractive target. This would be the case, he said, anywhere the games were held in the post-September 11 environment. He stated that there was "no information to substantiate" that al-Qaeda was planning to target the Athens Olympics, an issue which is the focus of close cooperation between U.S. and Greek authorities.

In the present environment, taking into consideration its geographical location, "Greece has a sense of vulnerability and has engaged the United States on port security and shipping container issues," he noted.

Greece is working on numerous fronts to ensure a safe Olympics, including the scheduling of frequent tests of the security apparatus to make certain that all procedures are being carried out as designated, the ambassador said.

He noted that the infrastructure being put in place for the Olympics, including new construction and road building, will be of great value to potential investors in Greece after the games are over.

Turning to Greece?s six-month European Union presidency, which ended on June 30, the ambassador stated that Greece had done "an extraordinary job of handling the presidency under difficult circumstances" since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq occurred while Athens was at the helm of the EU.

He gave credit to the Greek government for trying to achieve a consensus among European countries on Iraq at a time when critical issues were on the EU?s agenda, such as the expansion of the bloc and the drafting of a new EU constitution. Despite the fact that Greece and the U.S. have had tactical differences with respect to Iraq, he said, the two countries "have had a certain commonality of objectives" concerning the country.

In addition, during its EU presidency, Greece did a "remarkably good job" of focusing EU and U.S. attention back on the Balkans and reminding Brussels and Washington that "there is still work to be done" in that region, Miller stated.

He noted that, in the 1990s, Greece and the United States had conflicting approaches to the Balkans, while "cooperation and convergence" now exist between the two countries in dealing with both the Balkan states and the Middle East.

Concerning Greek-Turkish tensions in the Aegean, Miller stated that there has been marked improvement in the communication between Greece and Turkey over the last several years. Greek and Turkish officials now "talk directly over the phone," he said, in contrast to the situation during the January 1996 crisis over the Imia/Kardak islets, when there was no direct communication link between the two countries, resulting in the intervention of the United States to defuse the crisis.

He stated that placing Cyprus on an EU accession path in 1995 was the right thing to do, with the premise being that it was important to introduce a "new element" into the process of negotiating a settlement.

The ambassador noted that Greece is one of the few countries in western Europe that is not in the United States? visa waiver program, which makes it unnecessary for citizens of countries in the program to acquire visas before traveling to the U.S. One of the reasons for this, he said, was the fact that Greece does not have a "central accountability mechanism" to maintain an accurate record of passports.

MYTHS AND FESTIVALS

The Gods of Olympus

For centuries before the birth of Christ, the ancient Greeks worshiped the gods and goddesses who were said to live on Mount Olympus. These twelve were the most important:

Zeus: king of the gods who ruled over the world and the deities. He punished those who violated the laws and was accompanied by an eagle carrying his thunderbolts.
Hera: wife of Zeus and Queen of Olympus. Protectress of women and marriage.
Poseidon: god of the sea, rivers and springs, wielding the power of storms and winds and over the fate of sailors and ships.
Demeter: sister of Zeus and mother of Persephone, Queen of Hades. She was goddess of sewing and the harvest.
Hestia: elder sister of Zeus. As goddess of the hearth she was the protecting divinity of the home and family life.
Ares: god of war who fought for the sheer love of fighting and had none of the gentle qualities of the other gods.
Hephaestus: god of fire and volcanoes who was the blacksmith of the gods and builder of their palaces and weapons.
Aphrodite: goddess of beauty and love. Her symbols were the dove, ram, dolphin, swan, tortoise and the rose.
Athena: goddess of wisdom, and of war and peace. As Zeus's favorite daughter she shared power over storms and lightning. Athens, Greece's capital, bears her name.
Apollo: the sun god personified both the mental illumination and the physical phenomenon of light. He was also the god of music and song.
Artemis: Zeus's daughter and the twin sister of Apollo was goddess of the forest and the hunt and often danced with the Nymphs of the woods.
Hermes: messenger of the gods who was revered as the god of commerce, as well as of wind and swiftness, gymnastics, numbers and the alphabet.

Christmas and New Year
The two major religious holidays are, Christmas and Easter, and these are celebrated all over Greece with customs that are universal in character, but differ in detail from place to place. Christmas has overtaken New Year's Day as the major occasion for gifts, parties and decorated fir trees. In Greece the traditional red-robed and white-bearded Santa Claus appears in the guise of Saint Basil, and on both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve the children go from house to house singing carols and collecting drachmas.

Especially in the countryside, preparations on Christmas Eve center around the food table, featuring the turkey or the pig which the family has been fattening since mid-summer. On Christmas Eve, too, every housewife without fail bakes a 'Christopsomo', literally a 'Christ-bread'. This is made in large sweet loaves of various shapes, with decorated images carved on the crust, usually representing some aspect of the family's life and work.

Thus, in Macedonia a farmer's Christmas loaf will often be decorated with lambs, kids or a sheepfold. Also it is unthinkable to forget the poor on Christmas Day. At Koroni in Messinia, for example, the first slice from the Christmas loaf is given to the first beggar who happens to pass by the house. Another common custom is to pour a few drops of oil or wine over the hearth. This is a survival from libations of the ancient Greeks to the hearth whose symbol was the Goddess Hestia.

On New Year's Eve family reunions and office parties share the custom of cutting the 'vasilopita', or 'Basil-cake', for good luck in the coming year. Like the western Christmas pudding the vasilopita contains a coin, usually a gold sovereign, which is said to bring luck for the rest of the year to whomever finds it in his slice.

Easter
Easter is the most significant holiday in Greece, deeply embedded in the conscience of the Greek people.

The candlelight processions of Good Friday, the celebratory fireworks at midnight on Saturday, and Easter Sunday feast and many other traditions, make this springtime celebration a very colorful, festive and distinctively Greek Orthodox holiday.

There are many rituals involved in the celebration of Easter. Churches are filled with worshippers and Lent is observed. On Holy Thursday, the Easter eggs are died red, the braided bread is baked. Good Friday is a day of mourning during which symbolic funeral services, commemorating the death of Christ, are conducted. In a solemn ceremony, the Sacred Icon of Christ is laid in a bier, adorned with flowers and garlands by the young girls of the parish. During the evening service, the bier is carried through the streets with the whole congregation following, carrying lit candles.

Late Saturday evening, the faithful flock to church, dressed in their best clothes, especially young children wearing their Easter outfits and carrying white or ribbon festooned "lambades" (candles), bought by their godparents. Inside the church, the lighting is low and precisely at midnight all lights are turned off. Then, the priest appears, chanting "Come receive the light", calling on the congregation to light their candles from his own. The flame is passed from candle to candle and the church is flooded with the "Holy Light", while people kiss each other, chanting with the priest "Christos Anesti" - "Christ is Risen."

At home, the table is set with baskets of deep red eggs, signifying the blood of Christ, "tsoureki", the special Easter bread, as well as the traditional Easter soup "mageiritsa". The meal usually starts with a favorite Easter tradition: everyone takes turns at an "egg-cracking" contest, each hoping that their own egg will be the strongest and make them the winner. The following day, Easter Sunday, is entirely devoted to feasting and enjoyment, with the festivities revolving around the sumptuous Easter dinner and the spit-roasted lamb. The celebration, singing, drinking and dancing continue for many hours in the outdoors to the sounds of music and merriment.

THE OLYMPIC GAMES

The Olympics in Ancient Greece

Olympia was the home of the ancient Olympic Games which, according to tradition, were established by Hercules himself with the Olympian gods as the first competitors.

We do indeed know that games were held at Olympia (which lies in the northwestern Peloponnese and was named after the highest mountain in Greece, Mt. Olympus), from the 9th century B.C. Later it was decided that the games should be repeated every four years from June until September. According to historical records, the first Olympic Games were held in 776 B.C. In 676 B.C. the games took on a panhellenic significance, and by 576 B.C. the prestige surrounding the institution had reached its peak.

Special messengers would set off in every direction to announce the beginning of the sacred truce and the suspension of all disputes and warfare among the city-states. The largest cities were represented by official ambassadors to Olympia, the "theoroi". The contests lasted five days, from the 12th to the 16th of each month, and included a great variety of events. Competitions testing endurance and strength had almost exclusively formed the earliest Olympic program. The list was soon expanded to include contests typical of the whole Hellenic world. As early as the 25th Olympiad, the four-horse chariot race was added. This was a recognition of the element of popular spectacle as distinct from individual athletic competition. Horse races were added later.

These events took place in the hippodrome, while the athletic contests were held in the stadium. Wrestling and boxing were combined in the pankration; jumping, discus-throwing, javelin-throwing, running and wrestling in the pentathlon.

The victors of the games were honored among all Greeks. Memorials were erected in their honor and they were praised in poems and songs. The victorious competitors received no trophies or medals. The symbol of supreme honor was the olive wreath placed on their heads. According to legend, some cities tore down sections of their walls to let their victorious athletes pass through, to signify that with such men they needed no fortifications.

The statues of the most illustrious victors stood in the sacred area of the Altis, as the entire sanctuary of Olympia with its temples and other buildings was known.

However, the importance of the Olympics and of the other great festivals was greater than the individual honors paid to the athletes who competed. In addition to inspiring succeeding generations to pursue competitive sports, they also contributed to a sense of unity between the Greek city-states of that time a contribution best measured by the fact that no wars were ever waged in during the games.

For a thousand years the games were held at regular intervals of four years. Tradition and imagination made it possible for the games to continue well after Olympia lost its glory. When the Romans conquered Greece in the second century B.C., the decline of the sanctuary had already begun, although the Caesars Hadrian and Herodus Atticus did succeed later in restoring some of its prestige.

The advent of Christianity inspired radical social and religious reforms, and soon the old monuments of Olympia were being used to build a castle. Still, the games continued until A.D. 393, when the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I banned them by decree.

In A.D. 426, Theodosius II ordered the total destruction of the sanctuary's temples. The Goths delivered the final blow by destroying everything that could not be carried away.
In the following centuries, the river Kladeos covered the sacred land with sand and pebbles. It was not until 1875, that archaeologists brought it back to light and re-discovered ancient Olympia.

The Modern Olympics
The modern revival of the Olympic Games is owed to the Barron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) who, on January 1894, in a letter to the athletic organizations of every country, pointed out the educational value of sports to modern man, if practiced in accordance with the ideals of ancient Greece.
Since the Olympic revival, the Greek athletes always lead the parade that marks the opening of the games preceded by the lighting of the Olympic torch.

The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.

The flame that is used to light the torch comes from the sacred site of Olympia, where it is lit from the sun's rays and then carried by a relay of runners to the city where the games are being held.

The first modern games took place in Athens, in 1896. Many of the original Olympic contests were retained, with new events added.

One of the original events still contested is the Marathon race, commemorating the feat of the unknown Athenian warrior who, in 490 B.C., ran in full armor from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens, to bring the news that the invading Persians had been defeated. He could only utter the words "Rejoice, we are victorious" before falling dead from exhaustion. This event is now regarded as the pinnacle of the Olympic Games. The present distance of the race is 26 miles, 385 yards or 42.2kms, the distance between Marathon and Athens. The first Olympic Marathon in 1896 was won by a Greek runner, Spyros Louis, in 2 hours, 58 minutes and 50 seconds.

Since their revival in Athens in 1896, the Olympic Games have been celebrated every fourth year, except for interruptions caused by World Wars. Athens will organize the Olympic Games of 2004.

Facts about Greece (for Kids)

Geography
Greece is located at the southernmost tip of Europe and has one of the most unique geographic formations of any country in Europe. Including the islands, it has an area of 50,959 square miles and a population of 10.2 million (1991 census). An estimated five million Greeks live abroad.

Greece is washed on three sides by seas: by the Ionian Sea to the west, the Aegean Sea to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. To the north lie Albania, former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. To the northeast is Turkey.
At the crossroads of three continents, Greece is a stepping-stone to Asia and Africa. Some four-fifths of Greece's land territory is mountainous. Its coastline, with its many gulfs and inlets, is one of the longest of any country in Europe.

The main geographic divisions of Greece are (1) the northern region which includes Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace; (2) Central Greece and Thessaly; (3) the Peloponnese which is separated from the mainland by the Corinth Canal; and (4) the islands of the Aegean Sea to the east of the mainland, the Ionian islands to the west, and Crete, the largest Greek island, to the south.

The highest mountain in Greece is Mount Olympus (9,754 ft.), seat of the gods of Greek mythology. Mount Parnassus (7,066 ft.) has on its lower slope the ancient site of Delphi, once dedicated to the god Apollo and famous for its oracle. On the peninsula of Chalkidiki, located in the north-east, is Mount Athos, where a number of monasteries of the Greek Orthodox Church form, as they have for centuries, an autonomous monastic community.

The largest city and capital of Greece is Athens, with a population of over three million. The second largest city, Thessaloniki, with nearly one million inhabitants, is located in northern Greece and is an important seaport, cultural and business centre. Other large cities include Piraeus, the main port of Greece, Patras, Volos, Larissa and Iraklion.

The seas adjoining Greece are studded with thousands of islands, islets and rocks, accounting for 8,919 square miles of Greece's total area. Famous among the islands of the Aegean are Crete; Cos, where Hippocrates, the father of medicine, was born; Patmos, where St. John wrote the Book of Revelation; Rhodes, Myconos, Hydra. Corfu is the best known of the Ionian islands.

None of Greece's rivers is navigable. They include Aliakmon, Axios, Strymon, and the Evros which forms the frontier between Greece and Turkey. The lakes of Kastoria, Ioannina and Prespa are the largest in Greece.

The climate of Greece is temperate Mediterranean. In general, summers are hot and dry, while winters, in most parts of the country, are mild. Most of the rain comes in autumn and winter.

History
Greece, also known as Hellas, is the birthplace of democracy. Greece's democratic ideals inspired among others the fathers of the U.S. Constitution. Its history stretches back almost 4,000 years to a time when the people who inhabited the island of Crete had developed a notable civilization known as Minoan.

The people of the mainland, called Hellenes or Greeks, were influenced by the Minoan civilization and developed it further. They organized great naval and military expeditions, and explored the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, reaching as far as the Caucasus Mountains. One of those expeditions, the siege of Troy, is narrated in the first great European literary work, Homer's Iliad. During these expeditions Greek settlements were founded throughout the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and the coast of North Africa.

During the Classical period (5th century B.C.), Greece was composed of city-states, the largest being Athens, Sparta and Thebes. A fierce spirit of independence and love of freedom enabled the Greeks to defeat the Persians in battles which influenced the history of civilization Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.

In the second half of the 4th century B.C., the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, conquered most of the then known world. Alexander, however, did not enslave the nations he conquered but sought to Hellenize them. In 146 B.C. Greece fell to the Romans.

In 330 A.D. Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, setting the foundations of the Byzantine Empire . Byzantium soon became purely Greek. It transformed the precious heritage of ancient Greece into a vehicle for the new Christian civilization which slowly spread to Western Europe.

The Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in 1453 and the Greeks remained under the Ottoman yoke for nearly 400 years. During this time, their language, their religion and their national conscience defied extinction.

On March 25, 1821, the Greeks revolted against the Turks, and by 1828 had won their independence. As the new state comprised only a tiny fraction of the country, the struggle for the liberation of all the lands inhabited by Greeks continued. In 1864, the Ionian islands were ceded to Greece; in 1881 parts of Epirus and Thessaly. Crete, the islands of the Eastern Aegean and Macedonia were added in 1913 and Western Thrace in 1919. After World War II the Dodecanese islands were also returned to Greece. During World War II Greece fought heroically against Facsism and Nazism alongside the Allies. Greece has been a member of the European Union since 1981.

Government
The 1975 Constitution defines the country's political system as a parliamentary republic headed by the President of the Republic, who is elected by the Parliament every five years. Popular sovereignty is the foundation of government.
The government as a whole and its members must enjoy the confidence of the Parliament (Vouli) which consists of only one House with 300 members.
A new Parliament is elected every four years by popular vote. The leader of the majority party becomes the Prime Minister who forms a government which wields the real political power in Greece. The judiciary is independent.

Religion
Ninety-eight percent of the people adhere to the Greek Orthodox faith.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution, and other religious groups, such as Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Moslems, have their own places of worship.

Mythological Creatures

1.The Minotaur - The minotaur was said to be a creature that was part man and part bull. It dwelt in a very large and puzzling maze where it was bound to stay for the rest of its life. The maze was built for King Minos of Crete and designed by the architect Daedalus to hold the Minotaur.

2.Cerberus - This is a tree-headed dog like creature about 15 times the size of a normal dog. It sits at the entrance of the underworld and guards it. It allows the dead to enter but it doesn't let them out again. If a living person tries to enter then it will eat them.

3.Centaurs - The centaur's were half man and half horse. They had the body of a horse but, in place of the horse's head the have the torso, head and arms of a man.

4.The Sphinx - This creature could be found on the road to Thebes. It would stop passers-by and ask them a riddle. If they got the answer wrong the Sphinx would eat them but if they got it right the Sphinx would die.

5.The Furies - They were sent by the Gods to punish the guilty. They would never give up or rest until the the criminal was punished or executed.

6.The Chimera - It breathes fire and eats anyone who attacks it. Some people believe that it was actually a volcano with lions living at the top, goats in the middle and snakes at the end.

7.The Harpies - Harpy means 'snatcher'. The could snatch people and carry them off to the underworld. They also used to snatch other things such as food and goods.

8.The Python - This was a huge snake or dragon that was born out of the mud left after the great flood. It lived in a cave and guarded the oracle of Delphi on mount Parnassus.

9.Sirens - These beings were beautiful women with amazing singing voices that all men could not resist. They sing so beautifully that sailors passing their island try to get closer until their ships are wrecked on sharp rocks and all of its sailors drown.

10.The Typhon - It could speak with the voice of a God, howl like a beast and shoot fire from its eyebrows. It was said to have scared the Gods so bad that they ran away from Olympus and hid out in Egypt.

11.Hydra - The Hydra was a deadly dragon/snake type creature. It had one head but every time one of its heads was cut off another two heads grew in its place.

12.Scylla - She was a sea monster who lived underneath a dangerous rock at one side of the Strait of Messia, opposite the whirlpool Charybdis. She threatened passing ships and destroyed them if she didn't like them.

13.Cyclops - They were giants with only one eye on their forehead. They were very stupid and ate humans. They also were very strong and stubborn.

14.Phoenix - The Phoenix was a mythical and sacred fire bird. Its was the strongest and most beautiful of all birds. When it died it burst into flames and was said to re spawn from the ashes.

15.Pegasus - Pegasus was a beautiful winged horse in that was a great flyer. It had a very large wingspan and was the biggest flying creature the world had ever seen.

16.Nemean Lion - This creature was a creature whose hide was impenetrable to weapons. It was a large lion and was as red and orange as fire.

Greek Gods

1.Zeus - King of the Gods. Zeus was the supreme God and ruler of Olympus. He was married to Hera who was Queen of the Gods. Zeus is known for his thunderbolts which he launched at enemies. His image was on most Greek coins.

2.Ares - God of war. He was not liked by either the Gods or humans. His favourite weapon was the sword although he also liked using spears. In battle he was decisive, determined and fearless although he was very bloodthirsty and impulsive.

3.Apollo - God of the sun. With his chariot he was said to have pulled the sun up at dawn and put the sun down at dusk everyday and night. He was also an athlete and an archer.

4.Hades - God of the Dead and Lord of the Underworld. Very rich on earth, especially with precious metals, but can be deceptive. Has a three headed dog called which he calls Cerberus.

5.Poseidon - God of the sea. Carries a trident and has a dolphin for company. He is also believed to be the force behind earthquakes, an odd expansion of the power of a sea god.

6.Hephaestus - God of fire and metalwork. An ugly blacksmith who lives in a volcano where he makes armour and jewellery for the Gods. He was said to be very creative and cunning.

7.Hera - Queen of the Gods. She was married to Zeus who was King of the Gods. She was said to be the most beautiful of all the goddesses. She was said to be the creator of many wicked and evil creatures responsible for killing lots of innocent people.

8.Aphrodite - Goddess of love. She was a gorgeous and perfect young woman with a beautiful body. She was said to have caused the Trojan War because she gave Prince Paris A Golden Apple which he used to steal(seduce)Helen away from her husband who was king of Sparta.

9.Athena - Goddess of arts. She always wore a helmet and carried shield. She was intelligent and a powerful defender in war but also a potent peacemaker.

10.Artemis - Goddess in charge of the moon and hunting. She always carried her bow which she used to hunt along with her hounds. She was very physically strong and well able to defend herself. She was also defender and guardian of women in childbirth and of wildlife in general.

11.Hestia - Goddess of the home. She is always nearby when there's a sacrifice at an altar and is prayed to before and after meals. She was very calm and gentle.

12.Demeter - Goddess of agriculture. She was often seen carrying wheat or her horn. Demeter controlled the fertility of the earth but was not to be reckoned with.

The Wooden Horse Of Troy : Greek Myth

The beginning of the story is set in the kingdom of Menelaus. This mighty kingdom was called Sparta. He is making a treaty with Prince Hector of Troy and his younger brother Prince Paris. King Menelaus has ordered for the execution of a grand festival in honour of this treaty. Eventually, after long consideration of both holders the terms of the treaty were agreed by both sides and it was written in blood.
In the morning the two Princes set sail for Troy with their halve of the treaty. Prince Hector felt he had a weight lifted from his weary shoulders after many years of war and killing. This feeling is short lived when Paris calls his brother below deck. He first asks him does he love him and would he protect him against enemy. Before Hector has a chance to reply Paris steps into the shadows and emerges with a figure which he had never seen before. It was Helen, the Queen of Sparta and wife of King Menelaus. He had sneaked on board before they set sail just hours before. Rage begins to build up inside of Hector as he realises that this could be the very mistake that could destroy the treaty with Sparta that he had worked so hard for. He then decides that he would not turn back as King Menelaus would spear him at his gates should he find out.
They arrive into the port of Troy and immediately walk to their fathers temple. The are greeted graciously by their father, King Priam, and his company. Their father then notices an unfamiliar figure standing beside Prince Paris. As soon as the wonder is noticed on his fathers face Paris tells him who she is and where she came from. Priam greets her as if she was a member of his family but at the same time lets a sigh out of him.
King Menelaus notices that night that his wife is missing and storms out into the town center to see if any one knew where she went. He is told by a fisherman that she left in the princes boat sailing to Troy. He immediately orders his personal servant to send emissary's to every ruler under his control. The emissary's would order the delivery of every soldier to be sent to the port of Sparta. Menelaus was breaking the treaty and going to war with Troy. His brother King Agamemnon was only too happy to play part in this war. The brothers would send a fleet of a thousand ships to fight against Troy. This war would be remembered throughout the ages. They sent a messenger to Achilles. He was the greatest warrior in all of Greece. He was weary in the beginning but he eventually decided to go.
After three long days the army of one thousand ships reached the beach of Troy. Immediately they were under attack from the Trojans. The Trojans had already seen Agamemnon's army in the distance and was preparing for battle while getting all their villagers into the city.
During this time Achilles was building his men's momentum through a speech fit for kings. Then he ended the speech and told his men that the country is theirs for the taking and all they have to do is grasp it with the tip of their sword. Achilles ship was much closer to the beach than others in the army. The men looked back and said mentally said their final goodbyes and then looked forward in belief as their ship drove up onto the shore.
Achilles small army was under attack from a legion of archers with flaming arrows. Some died as they reached their checkpoint where they formed a large walking wall with their shields. With this defense they strolled right up into the middle of the archers and slaughtered. Achilles and his men could hear the men in their ships screaming Achilles as they were amazed at his skill and technique in battle. Just minutes later the beach of Troy had been captured. There lay hundreds of bodies of the victims of Achilles and his men.
The rest of the ships slowly but surely reached the beach with the kings ships coming in behind the rest of the ships for safety. The men pitched up their tents and began to celebrate around a sizzling campfire. Everyone drank their full and ate their piece and fell slowly to sleep.
But suddenly, in the middle of the night, they were all awoken by the loud sound of the pounding of drums. It was coming from the top of the hill on the Trojan side of the island. It was the Trojans with an unlikely surprise. They had large balls of rope, the size of ten men or so, which they were rolling down the hill. The balls of rope were then shot with flaming arrows which made them ignite. One by one the flaming balls rolled through the Greek(Menelaus's and Agamemnon's)camp flattening everything in its path. Thousands of men were killed and their houses or tents were burnt to the ground. They were a perfect form of attack meant to drive the Greeks off their beach. But the Greeks were not going to give up that easily. Agamemnon ordered the complete assembly of their army and told them to prepare for battle.
With both his and his brothers(Menelaus's)army assembled Agamemnon ordered the killing of all the Trojans that stood behind the Trojan wall. They came close to the magnificently huge wall but was stopped once again by the Trojans who were led by the Trojan prince Hector. Without notice both armies started attacking. One after one after one men from both armies were killed. Their was blood and bodies everywhere. Agamemnon's army was being wiped out by the archers on Troys high walls before they even had a chance to attack Troys foot soldiers.
Agamemnon could see his army was having no effect on the size and determination of Troys so he ordered them to fall back, back to their already destroyed base on the beach. hat night the kings of Greece could only talk about how they were forced to pull back like cowards while their enemy rejoiced in happiness at the sight of their fear and cowardliness.
Then one wise king had a very wise idea. He said why don't we build a horse and offer it to the Trojans as a peace offering. The rest of the kings were disgusted at the notion of making peace with the Trojan dogs. This was before the wise king told them that they could make this horse big enough to hold Achilles and his men inside and when night fell they could sneak out and open the gates of Troy for the rest of the Greeks to enter and attack from inside. This was a great plan and all of the kings agreed. They made the horse and sent a messenger to the Trojan base while sailing out in their ships and hiding in the beach to the west of their current location behind the mountains.
The Trojan army marched down to the beach to see this wooden horse and make sure the Greeks were not playing a trick. They could see no Greeks so they decided to take the horse to their town square. hey had a great festival celebrating their victory over the Greeks. The towns people had never seen such a sight. A joyous celebration around a giant wooden horse had never been recorded in history.
Late into the night, when every Trojan citizen had gone home to bed and only the slightest amount of Trojan soldiers out patrolling Achilles and his men broke out of the inside of the wooden horse. They went straight for the gate killing all in their path as quickly and quietly as they could.
During this time the Greeks were assembling their army outside the gates of Troy. Within minutes the gates were open and every soldier rushed in. It took them about five minutes to reach the houses of the citizens. They burned their houses and killed the ones who woke up.
But a large portion of the army had their eyes on bigger buildings such as the kings palace and the town center. They killed the guards outside and ran inside the town center. They stole the jewels and gold and took the women as slaves. After a while they moved on to the kings palace. It was guarded by the rest of the Trojan army where they were taking their last stand. The Trojan army now comprised of some soldiers and more civilians wanting to protect their city. Eventually the Greeks broke down the doors of the kings palace and attacked the scared soldiers, nobles and last civilians of Troy. The Greeks killed them along with their king and thought they had killed the last of the Trojans. But little did they know that hundreds of the Trojans had escaped through a secret passage under their city to the forest and vast lands at the other side of the island. They left as they watched their city burn and heard the screams of their loved ones. They felt defeated but they had everlasting hope in their hearts as they were leaded by the young prince Paris who was grasping the 'Sword of Troy'..............

The Twelve Labours Of Hercules : Greek Myth

Hercules was the greatest hero in all of Greek Mythology. He was the son of the King of the Gods, Zeus. Although he was strong Hercules was driven mad by Hera and in a frenzy he killed his wife and kids. As a result he was sentenced to perform ten labors but once he had them done he was ordered to do another two. These labors were given to him by King Eurystheus. For twelve years he travelled all around the world to complete these incredible tasks.


Labour 1 - The Nemean Lion
Setting out on such a seemingly impossible labor, Hercules came to a town called Cleonae, where he stayed at the house of a poor workman-for-hire, Molorchus. When his host offered to sacrifice an animal for Hercules for good luck he told him to wait thirty days. Hercules said that if he returned with Nemean Lion's skin they could sacrifice it. He also said that if he was killed that he was to be sacrificed, as a hero. When Hercules got to the Nemean Lion he began following it and soon discovered that his arrows were useless against the beast. Hercules followed it to a cave which had two entrances. He blocked one of the entrances and approached the Lion. Grasping the lion in his arms, and ignoring its powerful claws, he held it tightly until he'd choked it to death. Hercules returned to Cleonae, carrying the dead lion, and found Molorchus on the 30th day after he'd left for the hunt. On this day they sacrificed the animal together and celebrated that Hercules was not dead. When Hercules made it back to Mycenae, Eurystheus was amazed that Hercules succeeded and became afraid of him. The King forbade Hercules from entering through the gates of the city. After that, Eurystheus sent his orders to Hercules through a herald, refusing to see the powerful hero face to face.

Labour 2 - The Lernean Hydra
From the murky waters of the swamps near a place called Lerna, the hydra would rise up and terrorize the countryside. It had nine heads and attacked with poisonous venom and one of its nine heads was supposedly indestructible. Hercules set off after the Hydra with his trusty nephew Iolaus. Iolaus accompanied Hercules on many of his twelve labours. The pair drove a chariot to Lerna and by the springs of Amymone, they discovered the lair of the fearsome hydra. First, Hercules lured the creature from the safety of its den by shooting flaming arrows at it. Once the Hydra emerged Hercules seized it but it was not easy to control. It rapped its tail around Hercules and squeezed him tightly. Hercules began cutting its heads of but every time he did two more heads grew back in its place! So Hercules called on his nephew Iolaus to help. Now when Hercules cut off one of the Hydra's heads Iolaus burned the tendons on the neck so it couldn't grow back. Eventually they had the better of the Hydra and with a final blow Hercules chopped off its last immortal head, buried it at the side of the road leading from Lerna to Elaeus and then put a large rock over it just in case. Eurystheus was not impressed with Hercules feat and said that since Iolaus helped it should not count as one of the ten labours however ancient authors gave Hercules the credit as they still saw the Hydra as a fierce and mighty creature.

Labour 3 - The Hind Of Ceryneia
For the third labor, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring him the Hind of Ceryneia. A hind is a female red deer and Ceryneia is a town in Greece, about fifty miles from Eurystheus's palace in Mycenae. This deer would be difficult to catch. This was a special deer, because it had golden horns and hoofs made of bronze. Not only that, the deer was sacred to the goddess of hunting and the moon, Diana; she was Diana's special pet. Because of this Hercules could not kill the deer. He was already in enough trouble with Heraand could not have another God out to kill him. Hercules set out after the deer and hunted it for a whole year. Finally the deer got tired and looked for a place to rest on a mountain called Artemisius, and then made her way to the river Ladon. Hercules shot the deer as he realized it was about to get away across the stream. Hercules put the dead deer on his shoulders and turned back for Mycenae. On his journey back to Mycenae he was met by Diana and Apollo. Diana was very angry at the sight of the dead deer as it was her sacred animal. She was about to take the deer and punish Hercules, but he was quick to explain what happened. He told her that the deer was going to get away and that he had to obey the oracle and do the labors Eurystheus had given him. Diana forgave Hercules and healed the deers wound and Hercules carried the deer alive to Mycenae.

Labour 4 - The Erymanthian Boar
For the fourth labor, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring him the Erymanthian boar alive. Boars were huge wild pigs with large tusks and a bad temper. But this pig was bigger, much bigger. This boar was called 'The Erymanthian Boar' because it lived in a mountain called Erymanthus. With each new day the boar would come tearing down from its lair in the mountain and kill all men and animals it saw. It would roam the countryside and charge at all other animals living there. On his way to the boar, Hercules stopped to visit a friend called Pholus. He was a centaur and lived in a cave near Mount Erymanthus. Hercules was very hungry and thirst so the centaur cooked for him and gave him something to drink.

Zakros

The palace of Kato Zakros is located at the eastern end of Crete at the slopes of a low rocky hill and surrounded by rugged mountains to the east. A stone paved road took the inhabitants from the palace entrance to the nearby harbor which was easily reached in a few minutes by foot. The Zakros harbor is better sheltered and suitable to host a large fleet of commercial or military vessels, than Palekastro a little to the North. Many vessels coming from the East probably found it more convenient to unload their cargo at Zakro, than trying to sail around the ever-windy cape Sideros at the north-east tip of Crete. To the east the "Gorge of the Dead" that slices the rocky mountains connects the palace to the modern day Epano Zakros, and beyond to the mainland. The inhabitants of Zakros must have been able to make a living from the sea because there is not sufficient fertile land around the site to sustain a large population through agriculture.

Zakros is the smallest of the known Minoan palaces, about five times smaller than Knossos, and its location nearest the commercial destinations of Egypt, Cyprus and the Middle East transcended it to an important hub for economic and military activity. Like the other Minoan palaces of Crete, it was built around 1900 BC and most of the ruins date back to the Neopalatial period. Surrounding the palace was a thriving city, and the palace was the administrative, commercial, and religious center for the entire area. Many of the buildings were multistoried, with interior staircases, and light wells. Since the palace of Zakro was built on very wet land, water was always an element that needed to be addressed. The palace features a number of drains, a cistern, and a fountain were built.

The palace plan follows the typical minoan outline, with its large central court flanked by buildings for cult, storage, administration, and public events. To the east of the main court were the chambers for the king and the queen, and to the west rooms for religious activities and public events. The "Treasury of the Shrine" is the only such room that was found untouched by robbers and yielded a great deal of precious artifacts. The wealth of imported materials such as ivory, various metals, and semi-precious stones testifies to the intense commercial activity of the palace. A large amount of rare clay tablets inscribed in Linear A were also unearthed from the Archive room. Many of the surviving tablets were preserved because they baked during the fire that destroyed the palace in 1450.

Malia

The palace found at Malia is the third largest palace of Minoan Crete after Knossos and Phaistos. It occupies 7500 square meters at the edge of a fertile valley near Hersonissos in Northern Crete. The palace's proximity to the sea was obviously important in the development of the site into a cultural hub for its ancient inhabitants. It was first built around 1900 BC, a time of feverish development for the entire island population. It subsequently followed the same cycle as the other palaces of the time, and it was destroyed by unknown reasons around 1650 before it was immediately rebuilt.

The ruins at the site today reflect this second rebirth of the palace on the ruins of the old one, and the excavations which persist to our day reveal a place of significant economic and political activity which lasted until its final destruction by fire in 1450 BC. The architecture of this Neopalatial palace roughly follows the plan originally laid by the destroyed palace. A large central court yard is surrounded by storage rooms to the east, the theater and several crypts and corridors to the West, and the main entrance to the south. Along the lines with other Minoan palaces, there is a smaller courtyard to the west where modern visitors normally enter the ruins, adjacent to the eight circular granaries.

An extensive complex of settlements had developed around the palace itself. A large complex dating back to the Protopalatial period (area "M" to the north-east of the palace) included workshops, storage and cult rooms. Nearby excavations of the Necropolis at Chrysolakos (meaning gold pit) yielded a wealth of important Minoan artifacts, including the famous gold bee pendant now exhibited at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. Nearby to the north of the palace, excavations continue at area "K" which was the agora of Malia.

Phaistos

The palace of Phaistos commands the Messara plain from its location on a low hill, and it is the second in size palace of Crete after Knossos. The site was inhabited since the late neolithic era with several well organized settlements on the hill and the surrounding area, and the first palace was built around 2000 BC. Excavations have unearthed a rich historical strata, and some ruins date back to neolithic times.

The palace, just like the other palaces of Minoan Crete, was destroyed three times before it was rebuilt on the ruins of the old buildings in 1700 BC. Aesthetically, Phaistos is built on the most spectacular setting of all palaces in Crete, high on a dramatic hill, overlooking the entire Messara plain framed by the Asterousia mountain range which is sprinkled with small villages to the south, and the Lasithi mountains to the East. Looking to the West one encounters the Messara gulf just beyond the low hill of Agia Triada, and the dramatic 2456m tall solid body of Mt. Idi, otherwise known as Psiloritis towers above when one gazes north.

The architecture of Phaistos is more simplified compared with Knossos, and it is built in an orderly arrangement that refers to a single architect. The building outlines and the ground plan is easily deciphered by the visitor at first glance, however further examination reveals the complexity built into the site over hundreds of years of destruction and rebuilding cycles. The complex of architectural elements is a delightful amalgam of the old and new palace structures. During the rebuilding of the palace in 1700 BC several of the rooms from the old palace were retained in the new building, and archaeologists today have excavated several areas of the new palace to reveal the older structures below. The pavement of the west courtyard along with the few bottom steps of the converging staircases have been exposed during modern excavations, for they were buried one meter deep when the new palace was built.

The exposed levels of the old palace which have been retained by the Minoans or exposed by archaeologists paint a picture of architectural intricacy which rivals this of the new palaces. The old levels are best preserved at Phaistos, more than in other palaces around Crete, and have prompted scholars to conclude that the complexity of the structures was not dramatically increased during the rebuilding of the Neopalatial period. The raised processional walkway which traverses the western courtyard diagonally in the old palace connected this area to the main courtyard after an abrupt turn at the south end of the palace. Today this part of the walkway is covered under the buildings of the Neopalatial era.

The main courtyard is vast and it retains its original pavement of stones, and it offers unobstructed views of the Messara plain. The irrigation works under the central courtyard and the entire palace indicate an emphasis on sanitation which was a priority for all Minoan palaces. The palace of Phaistos used the small river Ieropotamos at the foot of the hill for its water supply, along with some deep wells on the palace itself.

The builders of Phaistos took great care to create a functional as well as an aesthetically pleasing environment, which accommodated the spectacular views from the hill. The buildings are arranged around expansive courtyards following the uneven surface of the hill, and with their walls enclose the panorama of the Messara plain and Mount Idi to the south and North respectively. The spectators sitting at the theater would have had a great view of the south and the east. According to Vincent Scully, the buildings of the palace were constructed in such a way that the open areas were always enclosed on one side by a palace wall, and on the other side by a major mountain mass.

Phaistos was the home of Radamanthis, the brother of the legendary king of Minos. The palace continued to be used even after its destruction of 1400 BC, although it gradually lost its power until the emerging center of nearby Gortyn destroyed it finally in 200 BC.

Knossos

Knossos was undeniably the capital of Minoan Crete. It is grander, more complex, and more flamboyant than any of the other palaces known to us, and it is located about twenty minutes south of the modern port town of Iraklio.

Knossos was inhabited for several thousand years, beginning with a neolithic settlement sometime in the seventh millennium BC, and was abandoned after its destruction in 1375 BC which marked the end of Minoan civilization. The first palace on the low hill beside the Krairatos river was built around 1900 BC on the ruins of previous settlements. It was destroyed for the first time along with the other Protopalatial palaces around Crete at 1700 BC, probably by a large earthquake or foreign invaders. It was immediately rebuilt to an even more elaborate complex and until its abandonment was damaged several times during earthquakes, invasions, and in 1450 BC by the colossal volcanic eruption of Thera, and the invasion of Mycenaeans who used it as their capital as they ruled the island of Crete until 1375 BC.

Arthur Evans, the British Archaeologist who excavated the site in 1900 AD restored large parts of the palace in a way that it is possible today to appreciate the grandeur and complexity of a structure that evolved over several millennia and grew to occupy about 20,000 square meters. Walking through its complex multi-storied buildings one can comprehend why the palace of Knossos was associated with the mythological labyrinth.

According to Greek mythology, the palace was designed by famed architect Dedalos with such complexity that no one placed in it could ever find its exit. King Minos who commissioned the palace then kept the architect prisoner to ensure that he would not reveal the palace plan to anyone. Dedalos, who was a great inventor, built two sets of wings so he and his son Ikaros could fly off the island, and so they did. On their way out, Dedalos warned his son not to fly too close to the sun because the wax that held the wings together would melt. In a tragic turn of events, during their escape Ikaros, young and impulsive as he was, flew higher and higher until the sun rays dismantled his wings and the young boy fell to his death in the Aegean sea. The Labyrinth was the dwelling of the Minotaur in Greek mythology, and many associate the palace of Knossos with the legend of Theseus killing the Minotaur.

The Greek myth associated with the palace about Theseus and the Minotaur is fascinating, but walking around the ruins of Knossos today it is hard to imagine it to be a place of torment and death. Instead, the palace radiates with joyous exuberance through the elaborate architectural planes and volumes that were clustered around the central courtyard over time. The elegant wall frescoes which decorated the walls speak of a people who approached the subtleties of life and the splendor of nature with a joyous disposition.

For the visitor today, the area around the ramp which leads to the main palace, immediately exposes the rich strata of ruins that span millennia. To the left of the entrance ramp three large kouloures in the shape of large round pits reveal in their deep bottom the remains of Prepalatial building ruins. The palace of Knossos was the center of administration of the entire island during Minoan times, and its position as such allowed for unprecedented growth and prosperity as witnessed by the plethora of storage magazines, workshops, and wall paintings. The Throne room with its gypsum throne and benches to accommodate sixteen persons, the central courtyard, and the theater, along with the royal chambers paint a portrait of Knossos as a forum of elaborate rituals and extraordinary historical occurrences.

The restorations performed by Evans have been criticized as inaccurate, and there is a feeling that many of the details were reconstituted (to use Evans' term) utilizing at best "educated guesses". For the visitor however, the restorations render the incomprehensible strata of ruins along with their past grandeur a bit more obvious, and bring the majesty of Minoan life at the palace a little closer.

Parthenon West Pediment

The west pediment faced the Propylaia and depicted the contest between Athena and Poseidon during their competition for the honor of becoming the city’s patron. Athena and Poseidon appear at the center of the composition, diverging from one another in strong diagonal forms with the goddess holding the olive tree and the god of the sea raising his trident to strike the earth. At their flanks they are framed by two active groups of horses pulling chariots, while a crowd of legendary personalities from Athenian mythology fills the space out to the acute corners of the pediment.

The sculptures of the Parthenon pediments are some of the finest examples of classical Greek art. The figures are sculpted in natural movement with bodies full of vital energy that bursts through their flesh, as the flesh in turn bursts through their thin clothing. The thin chitons allow the body underneath to be revealed as the focus of the composition. The distinction between gods and humans is blurred in the conceptual interplay between the idealism and naturalism bestowed on the stone by the sculptors.

The sculptures were finished all around even though parts of them were placed against the back wall of the pediment never to be seen. Finishing the figures even in areas unseen was a necessary task in order to ensure the high degree of realism that the artists were aiming at. It would be extremely difficult to sculpt the front without the accurate reference of the back. It is also possible that the statues were exhibited freestanding before they were hoisted 16 meters above ground and placed at the pediment.

The overall character of the pediment sculptures was very energetic as thefigures were placed in a dense arrangement with many overlapping bodies and limbs. As a result, the negative space between the figures acquired a complexity analogous to the one found on the statues themselves, while glimpses of the flat background, which would allow the eyes to rest, were minimized. The space beyond the building was pulled into the pediment composition cleverly as the figures often reached out beyond the imaginary plane of the temple’s façade.

Parthenon East Pediment

The east pediment represented the birth of Athena. According to Greek mythology Zeus gave birth to Athena after a terrible headache prompted him to summon Hephaestus’ (the god of fire and the forge) assistance. To alleviate the pain he ordered Hephaestus to strike him with his forging hummer, and when he did, Zeus’ head split open and out popped the goddess Athena in full armor. The sculptural arrangement depicts the moment of Athena’s.

Unfortunately, the center pieces of the pediment were destroyed before Jacques Carrey created his drawings in 1674, so all reconstructions are subject to conjecture and speculation. The main Olympian gods must have stood around Zeus and Athena watching the wondrous event with Hephaestus and Hera probably near them. The Carrey drawings are instrumental in reconstructing the sculptural arrangement beyond the center figures to the north and south.

The birth of Athena took place at dawn, and this precise chronology is depicted by the heads of the horses that appear at the south corner of the pediment. The horses of Helios (sun) are depicted as if they are about to rise above the horizon pulling behind them the life giving sun. The horse’s faces are depicted in vigorous activity and full of energy, in contrast to the group of horses at the other end (the north) that appear fatigued and labor with bulging eyes, open mouths, and tense muscles to end their journey below the horizon. The horses of Selene (moon) are tired for they are at the end of their journey across the night sky.

The poses of the statues are mostly relaxed and exhibit moderate interaction with each other, while the formal elements of the drapery of the clothes provide most of the visual drama as they are carved in deep relief that provides high contrast between light and shadow. The figures at the center exhibit moderate movement, while the ones at the corners are reclined to accommodate the limited space, and to accurately depict the activity level during the early hours of the morning when most gods and mortals alike await the for the sun to rise.

Sculptures of the Parthenon

The main sculptural decorations of the Parthenon include the Chryselephantyne statue of Athena, the East and West pediments, the metopes of the peristyle, and the continuous frieze of the cella.

The temple on its exterior exhibited an abundance of sculptures. Its Doric exterior included the traditional Doric frieze that was decorated with alternating metopes and triglyphs, while the exterior wall of the cella exhibited a continuous Ionic frieze. The pediments of the Parthenon were decorated with elaborate marble statues dedicated to mythological aspects of Athena. The sculptures of the pediment were monumental in size and arranged in dynamic compositions that filled the confined triangular spaces efficiently.

The sculptures of the pediments (aetomata) were severely damaged when the Parthenon was converted to a Christian church and the only record of their arrangement in situ comes to us from the accounts of Pausanias and several drawing made by Jacques Carrey in1674.

The Parthenon’s main function was to provide shelter for the monumental chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Athena

Chryselephantine statue of Athena

The Parthenon’s main function was to provide shelter for the monumental chryselephantine (made of gold and ivory) statue of Athena that was created by Pheidias and dedicated in 438 BCE.

The statue stood approximately 9 or 11 meters (around 40 ft.) tall. It has not survived to our day, but we have enough accounts of its existence along with a number of smaller marble copies, including the one on exhibit at the National Museum of Athens.

Athena stands holding a Nike (Victory) on her right hand that extends forward from the elbow, as if offering Nike to the Athenian citizens. With her left hand she supports her shield which shelters a snake as it rests on the ground, and her lance that rests on her left shoulder.She is dressed with an Attica peplos, and on her head she wears a richly decorated helmet with a sphinx at the apex and two Pegasi on each side. Her breastplate is adorned with snakes and the head of Medusa at the center.

The statue was a hollow construction with a wooden armature that supported the outer surfaces of the golden drapery, and the ivory flesh of Athena. The statue was situated close to the south end of the cella and was surrounded by a procession of double-decked Doric columns on its flanks as well as the back. The floor of the cella in front of it was a shallow pool of water or oil, which added further drama to the statue’s context with its reflective surface.

Athena Nike Parapet Frieze

The parapet relief was created late during the Peloponnesian war (circa 410 BCE), after the Athenians suffered several humiliating defeats that placed the fate of their empire in jeopardy. The sculptures depict victory, repeated over and over around the structure in a monotonous manner with little variety in form or activity. Instead of a narrative the artist’s interest revolves around the intricate folds of the drapery of Nike’s chiton as it flows around the body seemingly oblivious to the laws of nature or the actions of the figure under it.

The craftsmanship of the relief is exquisite and reveals a change in focus from the human anatomy and narrative structure to a more formal (and some would say superficial) preoccupation with line and contrast as the fabric twists and turns more in order to create an impression, and less to realistically describe physical events. In this sense, the figures of Nike derive their meaning and importance from ornamentation and flair. Perhaps the relief was meant to be a distraction for the brutal reality of the enduring war, or simply the enchantment with the accurate representation of the figure had run its course and new aesthetic concepts were explored. In any case, the relief sculptures of the parapet of the temple of Athena Nike can be seen as a prelude to the later stylistic conventions of Hellenistic art.

Nike Adjusting her Sandal is a characteristic example of this new developments with the depiction of the transparent drapery that not only reveals the body underneath in all its glory, but it also implies the development of artists who, having mastered human anatomy look forward to unexplored ways to use the figure as an expressive medium, and to exhibit their aptitude.

The Parthenon Frieze

The Parthenon frieze, which runs on a continuous line around the exterior wall of the cella, is 1 meter high and 160 meters long. The sculptures are executed in low relief and depict the people of Athens in two processions that begin at the southwest corner and parade in opposite directions until they converge over the door of the cella at the east end of the Parthenon. Almost certainly it represents the Panathenaic procession that was a central celebration in Athens during Classical times.

The iconography of the frieze makes this interpretation highly probable. A small controversy remains with some scholars debating whether it represents an ideal or a specific Panathenaic procession. The sculpted marble depicts the Olympian gods seated while the citizens on Athens carved in low relief move stoically in the procession towards the central point around a scene depicting the folding of the peplos. The peplos was a central item in the Panathenaea and was woven by the virgins dedicated to the goddess Athena exclusively for use during the procession.

A large number of cavalry dominates the west end of the frieze, while a host of elders, musicians and people escorting sacrificial animals, fill the spaces towards the east end. The frieze over the door places the “peplos scene” at the center, while gods, and heroes, and women flank it on both sides. The gods are seated, making them twice as large as the rest of the figures who are standing or riding, and they appear in the typical realistic mortal form we are accustomed to seeing in Classical art.

The inclusion of a continuous Ionic freeze is not exclusive to the Doric Parthenon. What is unique however is the depiction of mere mortals as the subject in the decoration of a temple in Ancient Greece. If we accept that the frieze depicts the Panathenaic procession we are confronted with the fact that the line between the divine and the human has been deliberately blurred not only through the formal aesthetic conventions as with other sculptures, but via an intentional thematic narrative that places the gods among the mortals or the humans among the divine. Perhaps in the Parthenon frieze we finally glimpse the definitive formulation of Greek thought into concrete iconography: the natural world and the human being as a divine entity worthy of exploration and immortality through the arts.

In ancient times all the sculptures as well as the buildings were vividly painted and were complemented with metal attachments in the form of spears, swords, horse reins and other appropriate accessories. The result must have been a dazzling, (if not gaudy) array of three dimensional paintings, with a much different visual interpretation than the one we derive today trough the “sterilized” museum exhibits of white stone at eye level.

Kore / Korai Art

A great deal of Kore statues have been unearthed at the acropolis, most dating back to the beginning of the 6th c. BCE. In fact the Acropolis collection tends to monopolize the Kore discourse because of the large number and breadth of stylistic variety that have been unearthed at this site.

By definition, Kore (maiden) refers to statues depicting female figures, always of a young age, which were created during the Archaic period (600 – 480 BCE) either as votive or commemorative statues. Wealthy patrons commissioned them either to serve the deities in place of the patron, or as less often was the case, to become commemorative grave markers for members of a family. Many times their base (and sometimes on their dress) was inscribed with a short paragraph documenting the statue’s function, the patron, and the artist. According to the most accepted interpretations of the archaeological evidence, Kore statues never represented deities.

Korai statues are the female equivalent of Kouros. There are several distinct differences between the two, with the most significant one being the fact that Kouros statues were almost always portrayed in the nude, while Kore were always clothed. Consequently, when studying the statues, we tend to focus on the development of anatomy in Kouros, and on the development of the dress for the Kore along with the facial expression.

Most of the Kore statues are either life-size or a little smaller, and were developed with the same techniques and proportional conventions as the Kouros equivalents of the same era. With Kore statues, the human anatomy is acknowledged under the clothes but it is not emphasized. Instead, the lines of the drapery form smooth shapes that flow with ease creating a serene, almost hypnotic aura, which is duly complemented by the usual peaceful facial expression and the relative motionless body.

Kore statues were almost always standing, in a forward pose with the leg extended slightly forward (rarely with feet together), and with one hand pulling their dress as if not to step on it. The free hand was holding an offering to the god or goddess they served. Kore statues are depicted wearing either an Ionic chiton, or a heavier peplos as is the case with most statues from Attica, while some statues are shown wearing a peplos over a chiton. The sculptors took great pleasure creating rhythmic motifs with the dress as it draped over the obscurely developed human body underneath, and the carved in marble reveal the ornate quality of the garment’s edges, which was painted on the statues, or carved with the chisel.

Kore statues were thoroughly painted in ancient times in order to emphasize the life-likeness of the object by applying pigment in order to distinguish between surfaces (hair, flesh, eyes, cloth), and for ornate reasons, as was the case with the decorations painted on the garments. The color was applied to the surface of the stone by the encaustic technique. In this process, colored pigment was mixed with wax that was used as a bonding agent, and the mixture was applied to the sculpture after it was heated. Once cool, the waxed surface would seal the porous of the stone preventing thus its erosion. Ancient Greeks used this technique to apply color to create wall paintings, and to protect wooden panels and other architectural elements. It is the same process we employ today to preserve the surface of automobiles by “waxing’ it, except in this application the wax is not mixed with pigment.

Consequently, the material used to carve the statues was chosen more for its qualities in workmanship and its durability, and less for its color or translucently. In the early days most Kore and Kouros statues were made of limestone, which is relatively soft, and porous. As such, limestone is easy to carve and holds pigments well on its surface, but it deteriorates relatively fast when presented outdoors. When exposed to the elements, the details of a limestone statue could be lost even within the lifetime of the patrons who commissioned it. It is no surprise therefore that marble would be preferred since its hardness can resist erosion longer, even if it is harder to carve. The majority of the Kore sculptures were carved out of multiple stones, with the body usually carved out of one stone with cavities where arms could be doweled in place.

The Peplos Kore (c. 530 BCE)is a fine example of the Attica style, standing in a rigid pose, obedient and immobile as it were, yet bursting with strength and femininity through her soft arms, the kind features of her face, and the subtle suggestion of the curvature of her body under the heavy peplos. The ornate hair that drapes naturally on her shoulders, her measured “smile” and the pigmented iris bestow a sense of abundant vivacity and potential energy to the statue.

In contrast, the Chios Kore (c. 520 BCE) is presented ornate with a dazzling array of folds, textures, and colors on her chiton. The decorative nature, elegant features, and dress indicate that this was a statue made in Ionia (perhaps Chios), as it contrasts with the robust features and sparse vertical lines of the Peplos Kore.

The facial features developed over time from the naïve, and carefree expression of the early 7th century BCE, to the more austere gaze of the Late Archaic/Early classical era (compare the Korai pictures below).

No matter the expression or dress style however, one of the most important aspects of the Kore (and Kouros) statues of this era is the independent individuality that each statue emanates. In light of later developments in Greek culture and art, this representation of individualism cannot be attributed to mere mannerism in technique and process. Rather, it is indicative of a culture that begins to value the solitary human being as a distinct entity whose attributes of thinking, inquisition, and expression are worthy of the outmost attention and respect.

The Kore and Kouros of the Archaic time provide clues to a culture which was ripe to begin examining and explaining the physical world with inquisitive curiosity, a step which led to the philosophical, political, and cultural innovations of Classical Greece, innovations which themselves became the basis of western civilization.