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Greek Mythology > People, Places, & Things > Sack of Ilion to Seven Sages
Sack of Ilion to Seven Sages Seven Wonders of the World to Spartan Cipher Rod Sparti to Syrinx 2
One of the fragmentary remains of the Epic Cycle which was written by Arktinus (Arctinus) of Miletus and describes the actual destruction of Ilion (Troy) by the Greek army.
Only a few passages of the original two books survive; they give insight into the final assault on the city and the actions of a few of the combatants such as Aias (Ajax) and Neoptolemus; Hektor’s (Hector’s) son, Astyanax, was thrown from the city walls and Hektor’s wife, Andromakhe (Andromache) was taken as a slave by Neoptolemus; Aias apparently went insane and was in danger of being killed by his own men until he took refuge in the temple of Athene (Athena).
For the complete translations of the Epic Cycle I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.
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A single-edged battle ax carried by the Skythian (Scythian) soldiers when they were allies of the Persians during the invasion of Greece in 490 BCE.
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A sect of the Skythian (Scythian) nation who were the allies of the Persians during the invasion of Greece in 490 BCE.
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An Asian god associated with Dionysus and worshipped mainly by women.
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A river which originates in western-central Turkey and flows generally north for approximately 490 miles (789 kilometers) and empties into the Euxine (Black Sea); known in ancient times as the Sangarios River.
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A burial site in ancient Egypt near the city of Memphis in Lower Egypt; primarily noted for the Serapeum and Step Pyramid of king Djoser (2668-2649 BCE) of the 3rd Dynasty (2686-2613 BCE).
The Serapeum was an immense underground structure near Sakkara which served as the burial site of the Apis Bull and was the center of worship for the god Serapis.
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The Salaminia and Paralos were ceremonial warships used by the Athenians for special occasions such as envoys to the oracle at Delphi and the conveyance of high ranking Athenian statesmen; only Athenian citizens were allowed to serve on these ships.
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An island 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the southeastern coast of Greece due west of the city of Athens in the northern Saronic Gulf; with an area of 37 square miles (95 square kilometers) and a coastline of 64.6 miles (104 kilometers).
Salamis is noted as the birthplace of the Greek hero, Aias (Ajax) and the poet Euripides; the Greeks defeated the Persian navy of king Xerxes here in 480 BCE; the battle of Salamis was one of the most daring and desperate battles in Greek history.
The Persian army had crossed into northern Greece and fought its way down the eastern coast to Athens, where they burned and looted the deserted city; the Persians had traveled for one month to reach Greek soil and another four months to reach Athens; knowing the attack was imminent, the Athenians had retreated to Salamis and, with the Spartans and other Greek allies, debated the best way to make their last, united stand against the Persian army and navy.
A wall was hastily erected across the Isthmus of Korinth (Corinth) and the armies of the Peloponnesian Peninsula waited for the Persian army; a fleet comprising the combined Greek navy sheltered around Salamis.
When the Persians were mounting their invasion of Greece, the Athenians asked the oracle at Delphi for guidance; the priestess told the Athenians to retreat from Athens and make their stand on the divine isle, Salamis; all Greeks who had not submitted to the Persians gathered their 378 triremes at Salamis with some additional penteconters (before the battle began, two triremes deserted the Persian fleet and joined the Greeks which made a total of 380 plus the penteconters).
The majority of the Greek commanders wanted to leave Salamis and fight the Persians nearer to the isthmus so they would have a place to retreat if the Persians won the sea battle; the Pan-Hellenic forces were commanded by the Spartan, Eurybiades; the Athenians were organized and commanded by Themistokles (Themistocles).
Themistokles warned Eurybiades that if the Greeks withdrew from Salamis the war would be lost for three reasons: 1) the Persians would have the advantage in open water and the seas around Salamis were confining and therefore not advantageous for the superior numbers of the Persian fleet, 2) if the Greeks moved away from Salamis, the various Greek contingents would not fight as a single force and each individual army and navy would flee to their respective homes and be conquered one by one, and 3) Themistokles warned Eurybiades that if the fleet withdrew from Salamis, the entire Athenian contingent (more than half the naval force) would remove to their colony of Siris in Italy and leave the Greeks of the Peloponnesian Peninsula to defend themselves.
Eurybiades saw the tactical logic of Themistokles’ arguments but the other Greeks were not convinced and still wanted to retreat to the open waters near the isthmus to fight; Themistokles put a clever plan into motion that would end all debate and force the Greeks to stand and fight; he sent his servant secretly to the camp of Xerxes and told the king that the Greeks were planning to flee Salamis and, if the Persians acted quickly, they could surprise the Greeks and defeat them.
Xerxes accepted the bait and deployed his navy so as to surround Salamis and block all escape routes; an Athenian named Aristides ran the Persian blockade and told the assembled Greek commanders that the Persian fleet had surrounded the island; the skeptical Greeks did not believe him until another more believable witness confirmed all that Aristides had said.
As dawn approached, the Greeks took to their ships and the battle was joined; the details of the battle were not clearly recorded so the reports of extreme bravery and base cowardice are contradictory; for example: the Athenians accused the men of Korinth of cowardice but the other Greeks disputed this accusation; however, all agreed that the sailors from the island of Aegina distinguished themselves in the battle as the best of the Greeks.
As king Xerxes watched the battle from the shore, the Persians made several small conquests but the overall movements of the fleet were disorganized and lacked the discipline of the seasoned Greek sailors; when the Persian captains in the thick of the battle realized that they were destined to lose, they tried to retreat and sailed into the path of the reinforcements that were coming to assist them; the resulting confusion made the Persians easy targets for the aggressive Greeks.
Xerxes wanted the Greeks to think that he was mounting another attack so he feigned an approach to Salamis via a mole (a causeway built into the sea) which he had either begun before the battle or shortly thereafter; the king was afraid that his conscripted Ionian allies would take the opportunity provided by his naval defeat to desert him and block his escape across the Hellespont back into Asia; the defeat of the Persian navy meant that the supplies necessary to support the army could not be delivered; Xerxes humbly retraced his steps and returned to Asia Minor.
Approximate east longitude 23.26 and north latitude 37.54.
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The major city on the island of Salamis located in the northern central portion of the island.
Approximate east longitude 23.28 and north latitude 37.59.
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An ancient city on the island of Cyprus located on the eastern coast of the island; originally settled by colonists from the Greek island Salamis.
The city was ruled by a series of unremembered men until the reign of Euelthon; the linage from Euelthon was: Siromos, Khersis (Chersis), Gorgos, Onesilos and Gorgos again.
Euelthon was noted for the remarkable censer (an incense burner) he dedicated to the temple at Delphi and also as the ruler who rebuked the requests of the refugee from Libya, Pheretime, when she asked Euelthon to supply her with an army so that her son might reclaim his throne in Kyrene (Cyrene).
Euelthon gave Pheretime many gifts but would not give her an army; to make his point perfectly clear, he finally gave her some wool, a golden spindle and distaff thus informing her that these were the proper gifts for a woman.
Four generations later Onesilos took control of the city from his older brother, Gorgos, and led a revolt against the Persian Empire; after the Persians returned to reclaim the island of Cyprus, Onesilos was killed and beheaded; Gorgos was, again, placed on the throne as the satrap of the Persian king.
Approximate east longitude 33.90 and north latitude 35.17.
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A king of Elis and a son of Aiolos (Aeolus); he was the father of Tyro; through his daughter, Tyro, he was thus the great-grandfather of the famous adventurer, Iason (Jason).
As the son of Aiolos, Salmoneus was the grandson of the founder of the Greeks, Hellen; his brothers and sisters were variously listed as: Alkyone (Alcyone), Athamas, Kalyke (Calyce), Kanake (Canace), Kretheus (Cretheus), Makareos (Macareus), Perieres and Sisyphus.
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A cult leader from Thrake (Thrace).
There is a strange entry in the Histories by Herodotus of a man named Salmoxis; the people of Thrake said that this man had been a slave of the renowned mathematician, Pythagoras, and had come to Thrake from the island of Samos; Herodotus did not place too much credence in the stories told about Salmoxis because he believed that Salmoxis lived many years before Pythagoras but the fact that he relates this strange story demonstrates his curiosity and fairness.
Salmoxis was said to have established a home in Thrake and, compared to the local inhabitants, he was a man of education and culture; he entertained guests at his home and soon became, what can only be called, a cult leader; he promised his followers that anyone who drank with him, and their descendants, would not die but rather be taken to a place where they would live forever and have all manner of good things; while he was pontificating to his followers, he was secretly constructing an underground dwelling beneath his house; one day he vanished into his hideout and stayed hidden for three years; when he emerged on the forth year, his followers were convinced that his promises were credible and that he was indeed a prophet; to blunt the impact of this story, Herodotus says boldly that the people of Thrake lived hard lives and were rather stupid.
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An inlet of the Aegean Sea in south-central Makedon (Macedon) on the western side of the peninsula of Khalkidike (Chalcidice).
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The name of the island which was later called Kephallenia (Cephallenia).
In some translations of the older Greek texts (The Odyssey by Homer in particular), the island of Samos and the island of Same are regarded as identical; the two names seem to be used interchangeably even though the island to which the text is referring is near Odysseus’ home island of Ithaka (Ithaca); in many cases, the Greek text clearly says Samos, but the context denies that fact; at other times, the text calls the island Same; as I understand the distinction, Same was the name of the island which was later called Kephallenia and is very near Ithaka (Samos is 500+ miles (800+ kilometers) by sea from Ithaka).
As to how and why the islands of Samos and Same are equated, I have no explanation; some translators, such as Robert Fitzgerald, avoid this confusing problem by simply not calling the island by name; Kephallenia is the largest of the Ionian Islands located in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece; the island has an area of 287 square miles (743 square kilometers).
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A Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea and within 1.24 miles (2 kilometers) of the coast of Asia Minor; Samos has an area of 183 square miles (475 square kilometers) and a coastline of 99 miles (159 kilometers).
The island of Samos played an important role in the history of ancient Greece because of its strategic location; from Samos, there is easy access to the northern Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the islands of the Kyklades (Cyclades) Group and the coast of Asia Minor; the pre-history of the island is assumed to have been dominated by settlers from Asia Minor and the Middle East.
Regarding Greek influence, the island was settled as early as the third millennium BCE by the original Greeks, known as the Pelasgians.
Circa 1300 BCE, the mythical Mykenaean (Mycenaean) king, Angaeus, founded the main city on the island which was also known as Samos.
Circa 1100 BCE, the Ionian Greeks colonized the island but were soon conquered and ruled by a king of nearby Ephesus named Androklos (Androclus); approximately ten years later, Leogoras expelled the Ephesians from the island.
Circa 700 BCE a temple dedicated to the goddess Hera was constructed on the ruins of an older building of unknown origin; Samos was thought to be favored by Hera and the island was one of her most important cult centers; the temple was destroyed by the Persians during the rule of Kyrus (Cyrus) the Great (559-529 BCE); the master-builder, Rhoikos (Rhoicos), rebuilt the temple but the temple was again destroyed by the Persians, circa 520 BCE, and this time the task of rebuilding the temple fell to Rhoikos’ son, Theodoros; the historian Herodotus cited the Temple of Hera as the largest structure in the Greek world and as one of three great accomplishments by the people of Samos; the temple was also known for its grandeur in Egypt, and honored by the Egyptian king, Amasis, when he sent two wooden statues of himself to the temple as a tribute; he also allowed the Samiots to built a sanctuary to Hera in Egypt.
Between 540 and 523 BCE, the islanders constructed a great mole (breakwater or causeway) a quarter of a mile into the sea creating a harbor.
Another great building project which has fascinated and baffled engineers throughout the ages is the aqueduct under Mount Kastro which went from Agiades Spring, through the mountain and supplied fresh water to the city of Samos (modern Pythagoreon); the tunnel was 3,399 feet (1,036 meters) in length and provided an estimated 14,126 cubic feet (400 cubic meters) of water per day; the tunnel was the work of Eupalinos of Megara and was constructed between 530 and 520 BCE.
The history of the island of Samos seems to be dominated by the notorious tyrant, Polykrates (Polycrates) (535-515 BCE); he was a man of exceeding ambition and a keen intellect; he skillfully maintained the island’s independence from the Greeks and the Persians with guile and military might until he was finally tricked and murdered by the Persians.
Samos spawned many great thinkers and artists such as: Kallistatos (Callistatus), Rhoikos, Theodoros, Saurias, Kalliphon (Calliphon) and, the greatest of them all, Pythagoras.
The hilly geography of the island is punctuated with several sheer mountains which plunge to rocky beaches; Mount Kerkis is the highest mountain on the island with a height of 4,700 feet (1,433 meters); twenty percent of the island is covered with pine forests which, in olden times, furnished the raw materials for the triremes of Polykrates’ fleet.
Aside from the exploits and death of Polykrates, Herodotus had many interesting entries about Samos:
In some translations of the older Greek texts (The Odyssey by Homer in particular), the island of Samos and the island of Same are regarded as identical; the two names seem to be used interchangeably even though the island to which the text is referring is near Odysseus’ home island of Ithaka (Ithaca); in many cases, the Greek text clearly says Samos, but the context denies that fact; at other times, the text calls the island Same; as I understand the distinction, Same was the name of the island which was later called Kephallenia (Cephallenia) and is very near Ithaka (Samos is 500+ miles (800+ kilometers) by sea from Ithaka); as to how and why the islands of Samos and Same are equated, I have no explanation; some translators, such as Robert Fitzgerald, avoid this confusing problem by simply not calling the island by name.
Approximate east longitude 26.44 and north latitude 37.48.
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The ancient capital of the island of Samos located on the southeastern side of the island; the mythical Mykenaean (Mycenaean) king, Angaeus, founded the city circa 1300 BCE; now known as Pythagoreon, with a population of 9,000, the city joins the nearby port town of Vathi and is virtually linked to it as one city.
Approximate east longitude 27.00 and north latitude 37.45.
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A Greek island in the northeastern Aegean Sea with an area of 71 square miles (184 square kilometers); now known as Samothraki.
Approximate east longitude 25.32 and north latitude 40.30.
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The major city on the Greek island by the same name; located in the eastern central portion of the island due east of the seaside town of Kamarrotissa; now known as Samothraki.
Approximate east longitude 25.31 and north latitude 40.28.
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The queen of Babylon when the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were pronounced as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
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The river god of the Sangarios River; one of the many sons of Tethys and Okeanos (Ocean).
Zeus gave the Rivers, Apollon and the Okeanids the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.
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The ancient name for the Sakarya River; it originates in western-central Turkey and flows generally north for approximately 490 miles (789 kilometers) and empties into the Euxine (Black Sea).
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One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris collectively known as the Nereids, i.e. the daughters of the Nereus.
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(620?-565? BCE) The incomparable seventh century BCE Greek poetess from the island of Lesbos.
Sappho has the distinction of being one of the most quoted poets of antiquity; her imagery and passion spanned cultures and classes; noted as a lyre player and singer, she earned her place in history with no conscious effort to become immortal; she sang of love and the simple elegance of grace and beauty.
Her work is mostly in fragments but enough survives to give us a glimpse of the commonality that unites human hearts regardless of the age in which we live.
Many “serious” scholars have presented translations of Sappho which are complete fabrications, that is to say, they are not accurate in the extreme; as an example: suppose that the works of Shakespeare are lost and that 2,700 years from now someone finds the phrase “Alas poor Yorik, I knew him well... ” and proceeds to write the complete soliloquy from Hamlet but instead of saying that it’s their “interpretation” of how it might have been, they state that it was actually written by Shakespeare; this is how Sappho has been “translated” by many well meaning writers.
For the complete collection of Sappho’s extant poems I suggest the book “7 Greeks” by Guy Davenport (ISBN 0811212882); just reading the introduction of this excellent book will convince you that Mr. Davenport is as much a poet as he is a scholar; his description of Sappho’s life and work is moving and compelling; before you read anything else about Sappho, you should read Mr. Davenport’s book; this book can be found at your library in section 881 or you can order it through the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.
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An ancient city in western Asia Minor; the capital of ancient Lydia; also spelled Sardes; also called Tarne.
Approximate east longitude 28.00 and north latitude 38.49.
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The Greek name for the island of Sardinia.
Approximate east longitude 9.00 and north latitude 40.00.
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The body of water that separates the Greek mainland from the Peloponnesian Peninsula; the main islands of the Saronic Gulf are Aegina, Angistri, Poros, Hydra, Spetses and Salamis.
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One of the sons of Europa and Zeus; his brothers were: Minos and Rhadamanthus.
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In The Iliad, Sarpedon is said to have been the son of Zeus and Laodameia; he was a Trojan ally and one of the most fierce defenders of Troy; he was killed by Patroklos (Patroclus).
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A Persian word to denote a local ruler, i.e. a provincial governor.
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One of a class of woodland deities who were attendant on Bakkhus (Bacchus); represented as part human, part horse and sometimes part goat; noted for their riotousness and lasciviousness.
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Plays and vignettes which we would find to be generally obscene; the actors would assume the guise of grotesque satyrs and portray the randy or lascivious aspects of the ancient myths complete with suggestive language and lewd gestures; usually considered to be comic by the ancient Greeks and a staple for many theatrical productions including the Dionysian festivals.
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A painter from the island of Samos; credited with being the first painter to use the contrasting light and dark shading technique known as chiaroscuro.
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A clasp for holding a robe or cloak; named for its distinctive scarab beetle shape.
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(1822-1890 CE) Heinrich Schliemann was the man who changed the way Greek mythology was interpreted by his persistent, and successful, search for the city of Troy.
Scholars throughout the centuries had thought that Troy was nothing more than the fictional backdrop for the heroic epic, The Iliad by Homer; Mr. Schliemann was a successful businessman who had the resources and time to pursue his keen interest in archeology; he took the geographical clues given in The Iliad and, in 1870 CE, found the ruins of ancient Troy; his discovery was an astonishment and embarrassment to classical educators throughout the world but they slowly acknowledged his astounding accomplishment and the study of Greek history entered a new and exciting era.
Mr. Schliemann also undertook excavations at the city of Mykenae (Mycenae) and unearthed many so called “grave-shafts” where he announced that he had found the grave of Agamemnon; this discovery was, and still is, largely disputed but the importance of his discoveries can still serve as an inspiration to all serious and amateur scholars with a bent for dreaming followed by action.
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A body of water which connects to the northwestern corner of the Euxine (Black Sea); called the Maeetian Lake (Maeotic Lake) by the ancient Greeks; approximately 14,000 square miles (36,260 square kilometers) in area.
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The body of water which is an aspect of the southern Aegean Sea and is bounded by the island of Crete on the south and the Kyklades (Cyclades) island group on the north.
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A body of water in northwest Turkey between European and Asian Turkey connected with the Euxine (Black Sea) by the Bosporus Strait and connected with the Aegean Sea by the Dardanelles; also spelled Marmora.
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The Horae (Horai); goddesses of the Seasons; personifications of the cycle of death and rebirth and sometimes credited with social order; the daughters of Zeus and Themis.
The Horae are three in number and named: Dike (Justice), Eunomia (Order) and Eirene (Peace); in The Iliad, the Horae are the attendants of the dark veil that hides the summit of Mount Olympos (Olympus).
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The Moon; the daughter of the Titans, Hyperion and Theia; she is the sister of Helios (the Sun) and Eos (the Dawn).
The poet Aeskhylus (Aeschylus) said that the full moon is the eldest of the stars and calls her the Night’s Eye.
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An ancient city on the Tigris River; the capitol of the Seleukid (Seleucid) Empire.
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The powerful off-shoot of the Makedonian (Macedonian) dynasty (312-364 BCE) which ruled an empire that included much of Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, Baktria (Bactria) and Babylonia.
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(358?-281? BCE) A Macedonian general who served under Alexander the Great and after Alexander’s death, founded the Seleukid (Seleucid) Empire.
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The priests of Zeus who interpreted the rustling of oak leaves or the sound of the waters of a spring at the oracle of Dodona in Epirus.
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A daughter of Kadmus (Cadmus) and Harmonia; the mother, by Zeus, of Dionysus; she was mortal but after the birth of Dionysus she became immortal; the sister of Ino, Agaue, Polydorus and Autonoe; according to Hesiod we mortals call her Thyone.
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One of the female rulers of the city of Babylon mentioned by Herodotus; Semiramis ruled five generations before a woman named Nitokris (Nitocris) and was, according to Herodotus, not as wise as Nitokris; one of the city gates was named after Semiramis.
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Three daughters of Nyx (Night): Alekto (Alecto), Megaera and Tisiphone; they are called by many names but are usually referred to as the Furies.
They are also called the Erinys, Eumenides (Kindly Ones) and Semnai (the Holy); they are depicted as winged women of fierce countenance but, according to Pausanias (fl. 160 CE), their images on the Akropolis (Acropolis) at Athens were not fierce or supernatural.
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Seneca the Philosopher; a first century Roman philosopher and playwright who is noted here only because he rewrote at least nine Greek tragedies in Latin, borrowing from Greek authors such as: Euripides, Aeskhylus (Aeschylus) and Sophokles (Sophocles).
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An ancient town on the southeastern coast of the Cape of Magnesia.
When the Nereid, Thetis, defied Zeus, she was allowed to be taken by the mortal, Peleus, on the shore near Sepias; from that time forward, the entire shoreline has belonged to Thetis and her sisters.
When the Persians invaded Greece in 480 BCE, their navy was forced ashore near Sepias by a raging storm; the losses to the Persian fleet were disastrous; the storm was obviously of supernatural origin; to appease the goddess, the magicians of the Persians, the Magi, made sacrifices and cast enchantments on the wind.
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An immense underground structure near the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis in the burial site of Sakkara.
The Serapeum was dedicated to the worship of the god Serapis and the burial site of the sacred Apis Bull.
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An Egyptian god with many attributes in the ancient Greek pantheon, i.e. fertility, the Sun, healing and keeper of the dead.
The god Serapis evolved into the Greek pantheon from the dualistic Egyptian deity associated with the sacred Apis Bull; after death, the Apis Bull became Osiris-Apis; during the Greek dominated period of Egyptian history, generally referred to as the Ptolemaic Period (roughly 323-30 BCE), the duel nature of Osiris-Apis became homogenized into the singular deity of Serapis; an immense underground structure known as the Serapeum near the ancient Egyptian cemetery of Sakkara served as the burial place of the Apis Bull.
Serapis was worshiped throughout the Mediterranean basin; his worship seemed to transcend ethnic boundaries and earned him reverence in the Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.
There were two precincts dedicated to Serapis on the Akrokorinth, i.e. the Akropolis (Acropolis) of the city of Korinth (Corinth), when the traveler and historian, Pausanias described the Akrokorinth circa 160 CE.
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The Greek name for the Egyptian king, Rameses II who ruled Egypt in the fourteenth century BCE.
Rameses led his armies into eastern Europe and left columns proclaiming his victories and offering complements or insults to the bravery or cowardice of the inhabitants of the lands he conquered; Herodotus thought that a remnant of Sesostris’ army settled the land of Kolkhis (Colchis) on the Euxine (Black Sea) and that the so-called Greek inhabitants were really of Egyptian descent.
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An ancient town on the Hellespont in the district of Thrake (Thrace) and opposite the city of Abydos.
Sestos is noted as the point where the Persian king, Xerxes, crossed the Hellespont on a pontoon bridge during his failed invasion of Greece in 490 BCE; also, Sestos was the home of the priestess of Aphrodite, Hero, before she and her lover, Leander, were drowned.
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One of the seven surviving tragedies by the Athenian playwright Aeskhylus (Aeschylus) which was produced in 467 BCE.
Seven Against Thebes is the continuation of the tragic story of Oedipus, the cursed king of the city of Thebes; the eldest of the two sons of Oedipus, Eteokles (Eteocles), took the throne of Thebes after his father’s self-imposed exile and the younger son, Polynikes (Polynices) was forced into exile in Argos where he formed a coalition of seven armies to reclaim the city.
The seven armies Polynikes formed were led by Amphiaraus; Kapaneus (Capaneus); Eteoklus (Eteoclus); Hippomedon; Parthenopaeus; and Tydeus; the city of Thebes was called the City of Seven Gates and thus each army was to attack one of the gates.
Before the attack, Polynikes went to his exiled father and begged for his blessing but Oedipus cursed Polynikes and predicted that Polynikes and his brother, Eteokles, would both die without honor in the battle for the city; the attack failed and the two brothers died on each other’s spear.
This is a tragedy in the truest sense of the word, the play is fraught with noble intentions and profoundly sad results; if you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus II, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307948; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can order it through the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.
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A group of wise men who exemplified the characteristics and ideals of the ancient Greek rulers, lawgivers and advisors during the time period of 620-550 BCE.
The names of the men who were included as the Seven Sages varied with different ancient authors but several men were consistently included: Solon, Thales, Pittakus (Pittacus) and Bias; other men appeared on the list at one time or another: Khilon (Chilon), Kleobulus (Cleobulus) and Periander.
See Seven Sages by itself with citation tips (best for bookmarking).
Sack of Ilion to Seven Sages Seven Wonders of the World to Spartan Cipher Rod Sparti to Syrinx 2
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