|
Hetairia
The syssitia ( grc, συσσίτια ''syssítia'', plural of ''syssítion'') were, in ancient Greece, common meals for men and youths in social or religious groups, especially in Crete and Sparta, but also in Megara in the time of Theognis of Megara (sixth century BCE) and Corinth in the time of Periander (seventh century BCE). The banquets spoken of by Homer relate to the tradition. Some reference to similar meals can be found in Carthage and according to Aristotle (''Politics'' VII. 9), it prevailed still earlier amongst the Oenotrians of Calabria. The origin of the ''syssítia'' is attributed to Rhadamanthus, the legendary lawgiver of Knossos of Crete. This is explained by Cleinias of Crete in conversation with an Athenian and a Spartan, in Plato's dialogue the Laws. Lycurgus of Sparta certainly made use of the practice in Sparta. Sparta In Sparta, where the system was most evolved, they were also called ''pheiditia'' (, The term is probably a corruption of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically related city-states and other territories. Most of these regions were officially unified only once, for 13 years, under Alexander the Great's empire from 336 to 323 BC (though this excludes a number of Greek city-states free from Alexander's jurisdiction in the western Mediterranean, around the Black Sea, Cyprus, and Cyrenaica). In Western history, the era of classical antiquity was immediately followed by the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine period. Roughly three centuries after the Late Bronze Age collapse of Mycenaean Greece, Greek urban poleis began to form in the 8th century BC, ushering in the Archaic period and the colonization of the Mediterranean Basin. This was followed by the age of Classical G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lycurgus Of Sparta
Lycurgus (; grc-gre, Λυκοῦργος ; 820 BC) was the quasi-legendary lawgiver of Sparta who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. All his reforms promoted the three Spartan virtues: equality (among citizens), military fitness, and austerity.Forrest, W.G. ''A History of Sparta 950–192 B.C.'' Norton. New York. (1963) p. 50 He is referred to by ancient historians and philosophers Herodotus, Xenophon, Plato, Polybius, Plutarch, and Epictetus. It is not clear if Lycurgus was an actual historical figure; however, many ancient historians believed that he instituted the communalistic and militaristic reforms – most notably the Great Rhetra – which transformed Spartan society. Biography Early life Most information about Lycurgus comes from Plutarch's "Life of Lycurgus" (part of ''Parallel Lives''), which is more of an anecdotal collection than a real biography. Plutarch himself remarks th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obol (coin)
The obol ( grc-gre, , ''obolos'', also ὀβελός (''obelós''), ὀβελλός (''obellós''), ὀδελός (''odelós''). "nail, metal spit"; la, obolus) was a form of ancient Greek currency and weight. Currency Obols were used from early times. According to Plutarch they were originally spits of copper or bronze traded by weight, while six obols make a drachma or a handful, since that was as many as the hand could grasp. Heraklides of Pontus (died ca. 310 BC) is cited as having mentioned the obols of Heraion and also gives the etymology of ''obolos'' (the name of the coin) from ''obelos'' (the word for "spit, spike, nail"). Similarly, the historian Ephorus in his equally lost work ''On Inventions'' (mid 4th century BC) is said to have mentioned the obols of Heraion. Excavations at Argos discovered several dozen of these early obols, dated well before 800 BC; they are now displayed at the Numismatic Museum of Athens. Archaeologists today describe the i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aegina
Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and became its king. Administration Municipality The municipality of Aegina consists of the island of Aegina and a few offshore islets. It is part of the Islands (regional unit), Islands regional unit, Attica (region), Attica region. The municipality is subdivided into the following five communities (population in 2011 in parentheses ): * Kypseli (2124) * Mesagros (1361) * Perdika (823) * Vathy (1495) The regional capital is the town of Aegina, situated at the northwestern end of the island. Due to its proximity to Athens, it is a popular vacation place during the summer months, with quite a few Athenians owning second houses on the island. Province The province of Aegina ( el, Επαρχία Αίγινας) was one of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley production is used as animal fodder, while 30% as a source of fermentable material for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various foods. It is used in soups and stews, and in barley bread of various cultures. Barley grains are commonly made into malt in a traditional and ancient method of preparation. In 2017, barley was ranked fourth among grains in quantity produced () behind maize, rice and wheat. Etymology The Old English word for barley was ', which traces back to Proto-Indo-European and is cognate to the Latin word ' "flour" (''see corresponding entries''). The direct ancestor of modern English ''barley'' in Old English was the derived adjective ''bærlic'', meaning "of barley". The first citation of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athenaeus
Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD. The ''Suda'' says only that he lived in the times of Marcus Aurelius, but the contempt with which he speaks of Commodus, who died in 192, shows that he survived that emperor. He was a contemporary of Adrantus. Several of his publications are lost, but the fifteen-volume '' Deipnosophistae'' mostly survives. Publications Athenaeus himself states that he was the author of a treatise on the ''thratta'', a kind of fish mentioned by Archippus and other comic poets, and of a history of the Syrian kings. Both works are lost. The ''Deipnosophistae'' The '' Deipnosophistae'', which means "dinner-table philosophers", survives in fifteen books. The first two books, and parts of the third, eleventh and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dicaearchus
Dicaearchus of Messana (; grc-gre, Δικαίαρχος ''Dikaiarkhos''; ), also written Dikaiarchos (), was a Greek philosopher, geographer and author. Dicaearchus was a student of Aristotle in the Lyceum. Very little of his work remains extant. He wrote on geography and the history of Greece, of which his most important work was his ''Life of Greece''. Although modern scholars often consider him a pioneer in the field of cartography, this is based on a misinterpretation of a reference in Cicero to Dicaearchus' ''tabulae'', which does not refer to any maps made by Dicaearchus but is a pun on account books and refers to Dicaearchus' ''Descent into the Sanctuary of Trophonius.'' He also wrote books on ancient Greek poets, philosophy and politics. Life He was the son of one Pheidias, and born at Messana in Sicily, though he passed part of his life in Greece, and especially in Athens and the Peloponnesus. He also travelled to make his measurements of mountains. He was a disciple of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polemarch
A polemarch (, from , ''polemarchos'') was a senior military title in various ancient Greek city states (''poleis''). The title is derived from the words ''polemos'' (war) and '' archon'' (ruler, leader) and translates as "warleader" or "warlord". The name indicates that the polemarch's original function was to command the army; presumably the office was created to take over this function from the king. The title held a high position in Athenian society, alongside the ''archon eponymos'' and the ''archon basileus''. In Modern Greek, polemarchos means warlord. Ancient Greece Athens In Athens, the ''polemarchos'' was one of nine annually appointed ''archontes'' (''ἄρχοντες'') and functioned as the commander of the military, though to what extent is debated among historians. At the Battle of Marathon Herodotus described the vote of the ''polemarchos'', Callimachus, as the deciding factor during debate over engagement in battle; it is disputed whether this vote implies tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcman
Alcman (; grc-gre, Ἀλκμάν ''Alkmán''; fl. 7th century BC) was an Ancient Greek choral lyric poet from Sparta. He is the earliest representative of the Alexandrian canon of the Nine Lyric Poets. Biography Alcman's dates are uncertain, but he was probably active in the late seventh century BC. The name of his mother is not known; his father may have been called either Damas or Titarus. Alcman's nationality was disputed even in antiquity. Unfortunately, the records of the ancient authors were often deduced from biographic readings of their poetry, and the details are often untrustworthy. Antipater of Thessalonica wrote that poets have "many mothers" and that the continents of Europe and Asia both claimed Alcman as their son. Frequently assumed to have been born in Sardis, capital of ancient Lydia, the Suda claims that Alcman was actually a Laconian from Messoa. The compositeness of his dialect may have helped to maintain the uncertainty of his origins, but the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Soup
Black soup was a regional cuisine of ancient Sparta, made with boiled pork meat and blood, using only salt and vinegar to flavour. The soup was well known during antiquity in the Greek world, but no original recipe of the dish survives today.Maciej Kokoszko, "''Mélas Zomós'' (μέλας ζωμός), or on a Certain Spartan Dish. A Source Study," in ''Studies on Ancient Sparta,'' eds. Ryszard Kulesza and Nicholas Sekunda, Akanthina, no. 14, ed. Nicholas Sekunda (Gdańsk: Gdańsk University Press, 2020), 9-28. . OCLC 1225234705. The earliest recorded mention of the soup can be dated to the fifth century BC, in a comedy titled ''The Miners'', written by Pherecrates. The ancient sources provide contradictory accounts on whether the soup was a luxurious meal served only at banquets or a dish that could be afforded by all Spartiates. Throughout history, black soup has been praised by and associated with figures such as Benjamin Rush and Adolf Hitler.Carl J. Richard, ''Greeks and R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pederasty In Ancient Greece
Pederasty in ancient Greece was a socially acknowledged romantic relationship between an older male (the ''erastes'') and a younger male (the ''eromenos'') usually in his teens. It was characteristic of the Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, Classical periods. The influence of pederasty on Greek culture of these periods was so pervasive that it has been called "the principal cultural model for free relationships between citizens." Some scholars locate its origin in initiation ritual, particularly rites of passage on Crete, where it was associated with entrance into military life and the religion of Zeus. It has no formal existence in the Homeric epics, and seems to have developed in the late 7th century BC as an aspect of Greek homosociality, homosocial culture, which was characterized also by Nudity in sport, athletic and Depictions of nudity, artistic nudity, delayed marriage for aristocrats, symposium, symposia, and the social seclusion of women. Pederasty was both i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', a series of biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans, and ''Moralia'', a collection of essays and speeches. Upon becoming a Roman citizen, he was possibly named Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (). Life Early life Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, about east of Delphi, in the Greek region of Boeotia. His family was long established in the town; his father was named Autobulus and his grandfather was named Lamprias. His name is derived from Pluto (πλοῦτον), an epithet of Hades, and Archos (ἀρχός) meaning "Master", the whole name meaning something like "Whose master is Pluto". His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Ancient Greece")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Polemarch")
