A closer look at Euripides

Several years ago, most of the collection of Hellenistic art at the Louvre was housed in one of the larger ground-floor rooms. The lighting there was relatively poor, and in my memory, the statues were only touched by the changing moods of daylight.

There were no huge crowds in those days, although this is where we would find the Resting youth by Polycleitus; the elegant Aphrodite said to be a replica of Callimachus’ original; a young satyr playing the flute, a replica of an original Praxiteles; the touching elderly Faun holding a Child; a copy of Hermes attaching his sandal; the Hunting Diana in full swing; the Eros ready to shoot his arrow which is a replica of Lysippos as well as the famous Azara Hermes of Alexander the Great another replica of an original Lysippos, and several others. I often sighed that the statues were so dusty, itching to get some water and soap out to wash them off. Despite all this, the unique atmosphere in that half-lit room made you feel close to times long gone since.

Almost lost in a corner near one of the large windows stood the small statuette of a seated Euripides staring out into a world that was not his. However, it caught my attention because the back panel of this statuette listed 32 of his plays. Exhibited at eye level, I would read the titles one by one, and it was as if each name disclosed an entire shelf of papyri ready to be unscrolled.

Then the room was closed for years until the entire collection was moved elsewhere and arranged in a way complying with the demands of today’s visitors, where each piece of art is highlighted in appropriate floodlights. There was, however, no trace of “my” Euripides, and I wondered what had happened to him. Maybe he was moved to a different room to fit another topic. Who knows?

Yet, all was not lost! At times, it takes patience, and the reward came last year when I visited a temporary exhibition at the Louvre-Lens called Music, Echoes from Antiquity. Many old musical instruments had been brought together, not only from the Greek and Roman era but also from Egyptian, Persian, Sogdian, Assyrian, and Sumerian times. To complement the instruments, several paintings, vases, reliefs, and statues represent the musicians in action.

For no apparent reason, it was here that I suddenly found my precious Euripides! The reason for this presence among the vases and small musicians was not obvious, except that Greek theater plays included choral songs that told the story. I was overjoyed to find my friend sitting in front of this oversized window presiding over his oeuvre.  

Euripides was by far the most prolific tragedian of his time, producing more than his contemporaries Aeschylus and Sophocles together. During his lifetime (ca. 480 - ca. 406 BC), he stayed in Pella at the court of King Archelaus, Alexander’s great-grandfather, and at least two of his plays were performed in Macedonia, one of which is the Bacchae. It tells the story of the  king of Thebes, Pentheus, who is killed by his mother and other women in a maenadic frenzy.

It seems no coincidence that the Bacchae is being performed this summer at the theater of the Getty Villa in Malibu, California. This production is directed by Anne Bogart (one of the three Co-Artistic Directors of the SITI Company and Professor at Columbia University)  and translated by Aaron Poochigian (who earned a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Minnesota and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University). This is an excellent opportunity to immerse ourselves back in history and watch a play that Alexander must have seen more than once!

It is not surprising that Alexander grew up with an intimate knowledge and great love for theatrical performances, which he loved to organize all through his eastern campaigns – often inviting celebrated actors from Athens for the occasion.

Isn’t it amazing how much one small statuette has to tell?

The Kingdom of the Bosporus

The Kingdom of the Bosporus comprised the lands between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, more precisely the Taman Peninsula and the Kerch Peninsula on either side of the Cimmerian Bosporus.

[Picture from Wikipedia Public Domain]

As developed in an earlier blog about the Greek colonization of the Black Sea (see: The many colonies of Miletus), the Ionian city of Miletus created new colonies especially over the period from 580 to 560 BC. Here, the foundations were laid for the Kingdom of the Bosporus which lasted for almost a thousand years. Over the centuries it became a melting pot of civilizations as the Greeks mingled with neighboring Scythians and Sarmatians. This kingdom whose capital was Panticapaeum, reached its peak between the 6^th and the 3^rd century BC when the new colonists maintained strong cultural and trade relations.

This part of the world, which – let’s not forget - cannot have been unknown to Alexander, is subject at present to successive excavations triggered by the Russians who are constructing a highway leading to the Kerch Bridge over the Strait of the same name in order to link Russia with the Crimea.

The area turns out to be rich in archaeological finds. One of them is a Roman villa from the middle of the 1^st century AD considered to be a true example of daily life. It has yielded a number of household items, various tools, cheap jewelry, and small terracotta figurines which are identified as toys and have been baptized Hellenistic Barbie dolls. At that time, the economy was booming in the kingdom of the Bosporus which included not only eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula but also the downstream areas of the Don River. The archaeologists have concluded that the area was occupied by a slightly well-off middle class but by no means large Roman landowners.

Another project is the Greek necropolis in the Taman Peninsula counting some 600 burial mounds. They belong to several Greek colonies that lived in the wider area from the end of the 7^th century BC until the middle of the 4^th century BC. A Corinthian bronze helmet has been unearthed in a grave from the 5^th century BC. This is a spectacular discovery considering that these helmets appeared in Greece only a century before and were widely used by the Greek hoplites. It was also the stereotype model that was applied when representing Athena or Pericles, for instance.

In a burial mound in Crimea, on the other hand, Russian archaeologists discovered a partly disintegrated wooden sarcophagus from the second half of the 4^th century BC holding the skeleton of a teenager. Among the grave goods, they found many sport-related gifts like ten alabastrons, a strigil, 150 knucklebones and a red-figure wine jar belonging to the so-called Kerch style.

It will be interesting to follow the excavations around the Black Sea for they certainly will reveal many more treasures.

[Thessaloniki Byzantine Agora, Agia Sophia Station [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

As until recently archaeological discoveries depended purely on coincidences and good luck, the modern road and metro works carried out in cities like Athens, Rome, Thessaloniki, Sofia (ancient Serdica), Plovdiv (ancient Philippopolis), and many others, are yielding knowledge and information otherwise inaccessible. As always, excavations are a matter of politics and money – sadly.

[Picture Hellenistic Barbie Doll from Archaeology News Network]
[Picture Corinthian Helmet from Archaeology News Network]

The Nature of Alexander by Mary Renault

The Nature of Alexander by Mary Renault (ISBN 0-394-73825-X) is not a historical novel like her bestsellers Firefrom Heaven and The Persian Boy but rather a biography of Alexander the Great in as far as the story of his life can be told as such.

During his lifetime Alexander was a legend and after his death the legend only grew to such an extend that it is very difficult to paint a true portrait of the world conqueror some 2,500 years afterwards. Whoever writes or talks about Alexander from antiquity onward has his/her own tainted version for it is utterly impossible to be impartial – the figure of Alexander is just too complex for that.

In order to write her two above-mentioned historical novels, Mary Renault made an in-depth study of the authors from antiquity, the closest we can come to lifetime information. This biography recounts the Alexander figure as it transpires through her research and is evidently not the one and only facet of his personality. Pushing her book aside as unfit for a serious student of Alexander is underrating her personal approach to the world conqueror. Beyond being a general, a leader of men (and what a leader!), a king, he is also a man with great visions and far ahead of his time. His ambitions were not understood by his Macedonian commanders and soldiers, nor were they accepted by the conquered Persians, Sogdians or Indians. I share Mary Renault’s viewpoint that the only person who truly understood Alexander was his lifetime friend Hephaistion.

The great merit of Mary Renault is that she underscores this private side of Alexander and examines his thoughts and considerations as daily events and life in general unfold. It is one thing to write about the conqueror Alexander and his generalship, but it is another – and far more challenging – to write about the great man he was, a genius as the world has never seen since.

Spotlight on the Evros River

Among the rivers that have a magic name, the Evros or Hebrus River certainly is one of them.

For a start, it is the second longest river in Europe after the Danube. Its source is to be found in the Rila Mountains in Bulgaria where it is called Maritsa. I remember how the Maritsa River runs through Plovdiv, ancient Philippopolis but never realized that this is the same river as the Hebrus.

The Hebrus River has repeatedly made headlines because today it largely constitutes the border between Greece and Turkey, except at Edirne (Turkey) that sits on both river banks. Also in its lower course the river – named Maritsa – forms the border between Bulgaria and Greece.

[Picture from Wikipedia]

The total length of the combined rivers is 480 kilometers, of which 320 run through Bulgaria and 160 kilometers are shared between Greece and Turkey.

When the Thracians ruled over that part of Europe in the 7^th and 6^th century BC, they spoke of the Euros or Ebros River. Eventually the Romans changed the name into Hebros or Hebrus. In modern Greek it is still called Evros.

In the Footsteps of a World-Changer

Another enticing title for the tour which Peter Sommer Travel's offers to rub shoulders with Alexander the Great!

Most of us who are interested in the ancient world eventually come to look in detail at its cultures, religion, politics and art. But for a lot of us, what first grabbed us were the stories. Stories of individuals who lived extraordinary lives and had an impact out of all proportion to their lifespan. In this tour, you travel with such an individual, and experience the world they changed forever.

Alexander’s reign was epic in so many ways – the height of his ambition in taking on the mightiest empire in the world, his personal heroism in some of the most vividly-described, fiercest battles of the epoch, his deliberate emulation of the heroes and in the scale of the transformation his reign brought to the whole Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds. It’s at the beginning of that reign that some of the most powerful tales come: the spear thrown to claim the land of Asia, the visit to the temple at Troy to obtain Achilles’ shield, the brutal charge at the Granicus which saw Alexander’s nearly-lost life saved by brave Cleitus – a debt tragically betrayed in a tent in central Asia years later. This is the glittering, dynamic curtain-raiser to a journey that would darken later on, beset by demons and difficulties.

Here you get to visit the stupendous sites of the early days of this almost unbelievable turning point in history, to feel a connection with the young hero-king. Contemporaries often set this up as the latest in a clash of civilisations, East versus West. Here you’ll see the deeper story – how the Greeks and their neighbours met and fought - or embraced: unsurpassed Istanbul-Constantinople, queen of Greek Christian civilisation bridging east and west, lofty, breath-taking Sardis from whose wealthy kings the early Greeks took so many ideas, and proud Bodrum, the ancient Halicarnassus that gave the world the insatiable explorer of other worlds, Herodotus, and the great Mausoleum, the perfect blending of Greek and eastern ideas. And behind and before all, there’s Troy – the centre and origin of so much of what it means to be Greek, or western, but whose story also fittingly is about what it means to be human, whatever side you’re on. With a fine new museum housing the treasures of its long and fabled, there’s never been a better time to go – and no better experts to go with. Alexander and Troy began our journey, too. In this inspiring tour, you’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with Alexander and, like him, discover and fall in love with a rich mix of Greek and eastern civilisations. Alexander followed his yearning to find a wider world. Not a bad idea. Paul’s written about the most modern phase of this encounter here, Agamemnon returns to Troy.  29th Apr - 10th May 2019 Read More

Making a fortune as a fisherman in antiquity

Even in antiquity it was possible to make a fortune being a “simple” fisherman.

The recent discovery of a villa in Halicarnassus dating to the 2^nd century AD is there to prove it and we even have the name of its owner, Phainos, whose reputation was famous in his days.

 

The villa is richly floored with mosaics depicting huge fishes and a fisherman – modesty was not a virtue in antiquity! At a depth of only three meters, archaeologists have also unearthed many marble slabs, some pottery, perfume bottles and, of course, fishing equipment. Moreover, a Roman bath and a group of ten tombs with human remains have also been discovered.

 

It is, however, strange to read that other villas and mosaics referring to Phainos were found as early as the 1890s. How did modern Bodrum handle these finds and where are they now, I wonder.

[Pictures are from Archaeology News Network]

Oldest Olive Oil recorded in Sicily

Until very recently and based on storage jars from Cosenza and Lecce in southern Italy, it was believed that olive oil made its appearance in the 12th and 11th century BC (Copper Age).

But a strange egg-shaped jar retrieved from excavations at Castelluccio in southeastern Sicily has proven that this golden liquid was used some 700 years earlier (actually the Bronze Age).

The jar was found during the 1990s and it took conservators a while to restore and reassemble the 400 ceramic fragments – speaking of patience! The result is a curious egg-shaped container of approximately one meter high decorated with rope bands; it could be lifted using the three vertical handles on the sides. The design as such had all the characteristics of Sicilian tableware from the end of the 3rd/beginning of the 2nd millennium BC (Early Bronze Age).

This called for more in-depth research on the site of Castelluccio where the experts found two fragmented basins with an internal septum (i.e. a dividing partition) indicating that several substances could be kept in one place but separated from each other. On the other hand, a chemical analysis of the organic residues found inside the jar and the basins was carried out. Traditional techniques as used on archaeological pottery were implemented: Gas Chromatography, Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. As a result, the researchers found oleic and linoleic acids, specific to olive oil.

In short, we now have the first evidence of the oldest olive oil in Italy.

[Picture from Heritagedaily]

The damaged site of Hatra

The World Heritage Site of Hatra in modern Iraq definitely deserves our undivided attention!

We will remember the bone-chilling pictures of ISIS smashing and destroying so many features of this Parthian city that survived for two thousand years.

[Map from Mr Barton's AP World History]

As early as the 7^th century, Parthia occupied the land in modern northeast of Iraq but when a century later Cyrus the Great created his larger Persian empire, the territories of the Medes and the Parthians were automatically assimilated. This was the empire which the Achaemenids inherited and Alexander the Great conquered in 331 BC. After his death, this part of his realm fell into the hands of the Seleucids. Parthia soon established its own empire but remained the center of conflicts between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies, and later on the Romans. Their empire was created in 247 BC and as an independent country they managed to survive for roughly five hundred years. Eventually they fell to Ardashir who became the first king of the Sassanid Empire in 224 AD.

Parthia was very much coveted as a prosperous center of trade and commerce, being located on the Silk Road between the Roman Empire and the rising Empire of the Han dynasty in China. Because of its strategic position, the country underwent the influences of both west and east, generally showing a combination of Achaemenid and Seleucid elements. Yet they added their own architectural features like for instance the vaulted iwans which they produced on monumental scale (the largest iwan has a span of 15 meters).

Overall, the surviving remains of Hatra date from the 1^st century BC but most buildings belong to the period between 117 and 150 AD.

Recently the ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives has published a highly interesting article by Jaimy O’Connell about the damaged relics of Hatra with great photographs of pre- and post-damaged buildings and features enhanced with pertinent comments. Please click on this link to see them all as I will show you only a select choice.

The temenos of Hatra in the center of the city counted almost twenty temples. This aerial view 

[An aerial photograph of the temenos of Hatra (Dr. Suzanne E. Bott, US State Department; October 16, 2009)]

as well as the plan tell a lot about the grandeur of that time.

This pre-damaged picture of the interior speaks for itself:

[A pre-damage photograph of the interior of room 12 of the Great Iwans (Dr. Suzanne E. Bott, US State Department; January 2010)]

The same goes for this splendid Hellenistic Temple before being damaged.

[A photograph of the colonnade of the Hellenistic Temple (from the southeast) showing damage from gunfire or mortars (Art Daily, April 27, 2017).]

The pictures of the recent barbarian destruction simply break my heart and I cannot include them in this precious reference to glorious times past but they are part of the article by the ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives and have been showed on several occasions in the media also.

Would it be asking too much to see that future generations will remember the beauty and the splendor of places like Hatra without having to relive the senseless destruction by these fanatics? Unfortunately, all wars over the centuries have destroyed precious relics out of pure stupidity and/or greed. It seems that mankind will never learn.