#Argolid

[druidicentropy]

Abas

The son of Hypermnestra and Lynceus was King Abas of Argos. His two sons, Acrisius and Proetus, followed him as king after his father's death. Following their father's death, his children ruled in turns until Acrisius banished his brother. They had battled while still in their mother's womb. Acrisius was forced to give Proetus half of the kingdom when he returned with an army, dividing the Argolid in two.

[deathlessathanasia]

Apparently the ancient Athenians REALLY hated Hera as well, not just Ares. You'd think those people had nothing better to do than pick fights with random gods and purposefully rewrite the Iliad to make them look bad and what not.

[whencyclopedia]

Mycenaean Civilization

The Mycenaean Civilization flourished in the Late Bronze Age (c. 1700-1100 BCE), peaking from the 15th to the 13th century BCE. The Mycenaeans extended their influence throughout the Peloponnese in Greece and across the Aegean from Crete to the Cycladic islands. They are named after their chief city of Mycenae in the Argolid of the northeast Peloponnese.

The Mycenaeans were influenced by the earlier Minoan civilization (2000-1450 BCE) which had spread from its origins at Knossos, Crete to include the wider Aegean. Architecture, art and religious practices were assimilated and adapted to better express the perhaps more militaristic and austere Mycenaean culture. The Mycenaeans came to dominate most of mainland Greece and several islands, extending trade relations to other Bronze Age cultures in such places as Cyprus, the Levant, and Egypt. The culture made a lasting impression on later Greeks in the Archaic and Classical periods, most tangibly in their myths of Bronze Age heroes like Achilles and Odysseus and their exploits in the Trojan War.

Major Mycenaean Centres

The Mycenaeans were indigenous Greeks who were likely stimulated by their contact with Minoan Crete and other Mediterranean cultures to develop a more sophisticated sociopolitical culture of their own. Major Mycenaean centres included Mycenae (traditional home of Agamemnon), Tiryns (perhaps the oldest centre), Pylos (traditional home of Nestor), Thebes, Midea, Gla, Orchomenos, Argos, Sparta, Nichoria, and probably Athens. In time, the Mycenaeans would even establish themselves on Crete and especially at Knossos, thus superseding the Minoans as the dominant culture in the southern Aegean by the second half of the 15th century BCE.

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[ashaismz]

Sansa chose a pear instead, and took a small delicate bite. It was very ripe. The juice ran down her chin. That she is known to be in favour of Argos and the Argolid, a land known also for pears, and that people hailing from her region were known to be apian, show a possible strong link between the worship of Hera and apia.

ASOS SANSA IV + HERA AND HER ASSOCIATION WITH PEARS

[vickysaurus]

So I was talking with a friend about how Europe is not so much a continent and more of a nested peninsula - a peninsula made of peninsulas, most of which are made of peninsulas. So I ended up fucking around on Google Earth, picking a likely spot in Greece, and seeing just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

As a first-order peninsula, we have Europe, one of Eurasia's larger peninsulas.

Within Europe, we have a second-order peninsula, the Balkans.

Next up is the Pelopponese, a third-order peninsula (I am kind of ambivalent on whether I skipped a step here - arguably it's fourth-order and most of Greece is a third-order peninsula in itself rather than just the Balkans' tip)

Fourth-order peninsula: the Argolid peninsula (has the word peninsula lost all meaning for you as it has for me?)

Then we get this fifth-order peninsula.

Which is dominated by the sixth-order Methana volcano peninsula.

Which has a seventh-order peninsula.

And an eighth-order peninsula.

Which has a rocky outcropping that I think can generously be called a ninth-order peninsula. Looks like a nice cliff.

And even that has this rock poking out of it, if you want to get real fractal-ly about it. And this is just me eyeballing the map, I'm sure there's like, fourteenth-order peninsulas somewhere up in Norway or Croatia.

[verdantlyviolet]

Kanathia Festival

Every year there was a procession from Argos to Nauplia. Priestesses of Hera and attendants would escort the statue of Hera to the spring Kanathos where they would bathe her image according to the sacred purification rites. It is said when the statue emerged from the water Hera Teleia became a maiden once more, Hera Parthenos, pure and virginal.

Come now, graceful Horai, goddesses of the heavenly chorus  come to Hera’s grove with your pitchers and oils  Let us cleanse the great queen of the seasons past  and cover her in the softest silks  until, shining anew, she emerges in all her glory

It is assumed this purification ritual is to prepare Hera for her marriage to Zeus. In modern day it is believed the spring is the one that runs through a nunnery, Agia Moni.

Please note: a name for this ritual is not currently known. I chose Kanathia among other suggestions for this ritual as a nod to its namesake, the Kanathos spring. This is a festival specific to the Argolid. Pausanias 2.38.2-3

[ancestorsalive]

Hydra wall painting from an Etruscan tomb at the Necropolis of Pianacce, Siena, dated to the 4th century BC.

The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna, more often known simply as the Hydra, is a serpentine water monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which was also the site of the myth of the Danaïdes. Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld, and archaeology has established it as a sacred site older than Mycenaean Argos. In the canonical Hydra myth, the monster is killed by Heracles (Hercules) as the second of his Twelve Labors.

According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even it's scent was deadly. The Hydra possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source. Later versions of the Hydra story add a regeneration feature to the monster - for every head chopped off, the Hydra will regrow two heads.

[marvel-and-dc-geek]

The Labours of Alcides

The Nemean Lion

Gods could, of course, hear the prayers of mortals, and knew which beasts and ailments tormented them.That made it quite easy to choose the tasks.

After Alcides left his home, the chief hindu god, Shiva, left him as task that he didn’t expect the boy to complete: he was to murder a monstrous lion, grandchild of Typhon himself, and bring its skin back. The lion lives in Nemea, a region close to the Argolide.

The creature was so evil that it wouldn’t kill humans and cattle just for food: as if it has learned from humans themselves, the beats seemed to do so just for fun.

Many villagers tried to beg him not to go, even showing Alcides the shield of the last man who tried to slay it, which had been cut in half by a single blow with its paws. He didn’t even need to ask what had happened to the poor man, but he still wouldn’t back down.

He asked them to give him thirty days to come back, and if he didn’t, they could assume he was dead. None of the villagers expected to see him alive again, so, in desperation, they made plans to sacrifice a child to the gods to get rid of the beast.

It took weeks to find the creature’s track, until one day…

“Hurry up kid! We don’t have all day!” A white crow complained

“Shh, solo debemos vigilar !” The black crow complained

“I’m sorry if this has taken too long, but I need to see where the lion is. “ the redhead youth apologized.

Many gods didn’t believe that his strength was at such level. Sure, he had drank the ambrosia, but did that guarantee he could live through all the tasks? So, a one-eyed god had send the duo to observe the tasks, and send the word in case the boy ended up being the cat’s latest meal.

As to be fair, some gods of the pantheon he was supposed to join had given him some weapons that, while powerful, would be useless if he didn’t have the ability or the strength to use them properly. The one he expected to be most useful for that particular task had been a gift from Apollo himself: a beautiful golden bow, which carried equally beautiful arrows.

Tracking a creature was never easy, but there was a method that never failed; searching for a source of water. Every animal, from the smallest mouse to the biggest bear, needed to drink in order to live.

“Shh…” he told the crows as they got closer. It would be better not to startle it and kill the animal with the least amount of pain as possible.

He drew back the bow to set his target and shoot him straight to the heart, which should have given it a quick and painless death. Should’ve have, as the creature kept drinking as if nothing had happened.

“Ha, you missed !” The white crow laughed

“The human is going to fail!” The black crow laughed.

He observed, quite perplexed, that the arrow was simply on the ground. Maybe if he aimed for a leg, he would just need to get close and give it the killing blow.

So he targeted a leg, and he was sure he hit it, but instead of sticking, the arrow simply bounced. The lion stopped drinking and decided to take a nap. The young man took the chance to sneak close to it.

The god Hermes had given him a fine sword. Maybe he didn’t use the right amount of strength for the arrows, as, being a gift from Apollo himself, there was no way they could’ve just failed like that.

The beast didn’t wake up, so young Alcides tried to cut its head off, but all that came off was his blade. The lion woke up, not because of the hit, but because of the noise the metal made as it hit the ground it roared angrily and tried to scratch the hero with his claws, but the redhead stomped another one of his paws. The lion felt something new: pain.

“How did that hurt him?” Asked the white crow

“Not even the gods’ gifts harmed him!” The black crow commented.

The beast managed to get free and run back to his hideout, but that allowed the young man to think of a way to slay it.

Luckily, this time it was easier to track it down, as it had been close to the water and so his paws were covered in mud. So, he found the lion’s cave.

He couldn’t let it get away again: that would only make it be more fearful and careful, which would make him harder to find. Not to mention that the creature would keep killing innocents. Alcides checked the place as well as he could on the outside and found it had two entrances: he covered the one in the back with a huge rock to make sure the beast couldn’t get out. Going up front against an animal that couldn’t escape was usually a terrible idea, but in that case, it would be for the best.

Now, his strength could harm the lion, but his weapons couldn’t: he wouldn’t need a new one. After breaking a tree in half, Alcides used the remains of the sword to carve himself a clover. It was simple, yet effective.

“Not even the weapons the gods gave you worked, why would that thing work?” One of the crows laughed at him

“Oh it also won’t be an exact fit for the job, but it’s all part of the plan” answered young Alcides as he went into the cave. The crows decided to stay in a nearby tree to observe.

The lion was still scared about the fate of his poor little paw, so when he saw the hero peaking into his cave, he tried to run away, but the exit was blocked. Seeing that wasn’t possible, the lion roared and tried to leap against him, which gave the hero the chance to hit him as hard as possible on the head with the club.

That wasn’t enough to break his school and much less for killing him, but it left the lion stunned. It was so confused that the beast couldn’t even react when Alcides used the lion’s own strategy against him and jumped to grab the cat, putting his arms around his throat.

That was a rather cruel form to go, and much slower than the hero would’ve liked to used in order to slay the creature, but it was the only option he had. The lion squirmed and tried to free itself, making the hero squeeze his neck more and more until the lion breathed for one last time.

Hearing no more noise, the crows went to investigate and the saw dead lion on the Greek youth’s arms.

“You made it?” The white and black crow asked.

“Yes…” now he just had to take the body and leave, but the crows didn’t let him go through.

“Only the skin!” Said the white crow

“You will have to peel it off!” Said the black one, but that was pretty much impossible, seeing nothing could pierce jt.

So, wanting to test a theory he thought about, Alcides grabbed the cat’s paws: if his paws could pierce through a shield, maybe it would pierce its skin.

It worked: the skin bleed, and after a while, he had the lion’s intact skin. He grabbed it and started his journey to present the god’s his first accomplished mission.

It was just the thirty day after he had left the village: the people were about to sacrifice a young boy to the gods, so they would send help, but they saw the youth who they believed death return, and, even more astonishingly, with the lion’s skin. They immediately let the boy go and killed some cows instead.

“For our hero, Alcides!” They threw a feast in his honor, which he couldn’t refuse and so stayed with them for the rest of the night.

The crows stayed far away, as they shouldn’t draw any attention. The feast lasted until the next morning, and the hero came back with a piece of meat for both birds.

“What is that?” Asked the white crow

“Are you taking provisions?” Asked the black crow.

“They are for you: you kept me company during the whole hunting and it would be unfair if you went hungry “ Alcides had even made sure to ask for two raw pieces, as that type of bird preferred.

The people of Nemea wrote and told the story of the hero, just as it had happened. Of course they changed a detail, which was a lie that everyone, even a certain kid, accepted: the boy had offered to sacrifice himself of the hero didn’t return, in order to save his people.

[readysetimready]

“O'Brien, who deals extensively with Hera's role in the Argolid, 16 states that, ironically, while the Argives were building the Heraion, Hera's status was actually in decline due to the penetration of the Homeric epic tradition, which represented Hera as part of the "Panhellenic family" and as a less than sovereign "wife and sister". 17 This conclusion partially converges with my conclusions, but, to my mind, the critical question that emerges from this fact is why should the Argives choose to build such a magnificent temple to a weak goddess whose status was in decline?

In answer, my working hypothesis is formulated in terms of the tension between aristocratic particularism and Panhellenic tendencies. The aristocrats in the Argive plain shaped Hera's cult and temple as a response to the postulated Panhellenic wave that swept through many areas of Greece. For them, Hera was not only a mediator with the past but a symbol of their exclusive heroic past, and thereby of their identity. Devotion to Hera enabled them to mark their uniqueness in the face of the changes occurring in the Greek world. Based on this interpretation, there is nothing 'ironic' in the building of the Heraion: Rather, it was part of an effort to construct and preserve an aristocratic identity and ethos that would assist regional aristocrats in maintaining the distinction between themselves and the rest of their local society. Hera was given an important role in this campaign. Her cult was the local aristocratic alternative, the answer to an emerging Panhellenic tradition which centered around the idea of the powerful god, Zeus, who married his wife and sister, Hera.”

- Marrying Hera: Incomplete Integration in the Making of the Pantheon

Neta Aloni-Ronen

[fugengulsen]

Map of the Coast of Andalusia with the City of Grenada

Sardinia

Rhodes

Mykonos

Alanya

Argolid Peninsula

Piri Reis was a 16th century Ottoman Admiral famous for his maps and charts collected in his Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation), a book which contains detailed information on navigation as well as extremely accurate charts describing the important ports and cities of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1513 he produced his first world map, based on some 20 older maps and charts which he had collected, including charts personally designed by Christopher Columbus which his uncle Kemal Reis obtained in 1501 after capturing seven Spanish ships off the coast of Valencia in Spain with several of Columbus’ crewmen on board.

[secretsfromwholecloth]

Understanding Greek Religion by Jennifer Larson has a great chapter on Hera in particular (and how the differing demands of narrative compositions, such as epics like Homer's, on the one hand and the situation of her worship in places like the Argolid on the other pushed portrayals of her and her marriage in different directions), Panhellenic vs. local views of deities more generally, and how the stories and conceptions of the deities came to be the way we know them, though its chief focus is ritual and worship practices rather than myth per se (also fascinating!).

"in the original myth medusa was actually -" "well in the homeric version, achilles wasn't -" "no but in the real myth -"

read what you have just written. in the myth. myth.

these were not real people. myths change and shape to their contemporary situations with every retelling. whoever was telling or writing the myth put in or took out something different and new every time it was told. "accurate myths" are not a thing, I'm sorry. 'accurate to homer's version'? sure, go nuts. but they were never histories, and modern adaptations are not wrong for being different.

[archaeologs]

The Dendra panoply or Dendra armour is an example of Mycenaean-era panoply (full-body armor) made of bronze plates uncovered in the village of Dendra in the Argolid, Greece. Learn more / Daha fazlası Dendra: https://www.archaeologs.com/w/dendra/

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Ring with Greek Inscription to Hera.

Culture: Greek (Argive)

Place of origin: Argolid, Greece

Date: 575 B.C.

Medium: Gold

[cacaesar]

Thanks for tagging me @brisim-claimhte! And hi @littlesparklight! For a quick intro: I read Classics at the University of Oxford, and I specialise in Homeric lit and archaeology (basically, the Iliad and Odyssey and all the accompanying traditions, and the Mycenaean archaeology we associate with the sites mentioned in Homer, PARTICULARLY involving Spartan history!). I am also writing a Myth retelling at the moment of Apollo and Hyacinthus, which is where this is extra relevant to your question! Hyacinthus, being an ancestor of Helen and Tyndareus, has meant that I've spent a lot of time outside of even my degree having to research these later Spartans (no less because they show up in later chapters of my book!) We get quite a satisfactory answer from early on in epic tradition - actually from the Epic Cycle itself (the traditions surrounding which pre-date Homer's works, which are already VERY early, quite significantly!), and with the help of our best-friend Apollodorus as a more specific reference where he recalls these very early (canonised) traditions (Apollodorus 3.10.9): Thanks to the oath which is sworn over Helen's marriage (that the suitors shall protect her chosen husband from any quarrel over her), Menelaus receives the unanimous support of all of the palatial states through sacred oath. Placing him on the throne of Sparta only secures Sparta's safety, and essentially makes Menelaus the most glorious "son" of Tyndareus, so Tyndareus resigns his throne to him. That's the oldest variant I am aware of (coming from the epic cycle despite Apollodorus' record date being later; it is also in the Loeb on Greek Epic Cycle Fragments but I unfortunately do not have that to hand at the minute!), and it's the one which holds up with Homeric honour codes etc. Tyndareus has, by this point, already faced a (temporarily) successful attempt on his throne. If he can prevent it again by placing a unanimously agreed upon leader (and the other kings/princes had all agreed that Menelaus should marry Helen and be under their protection) there in his stead, then the kingdom is secured. It's quite a neat little wrap-up within the Epic tradition itself!! Though just to address the issue of the brothers Castor and Pollux for completeness:

firstly, take into account the very real concern of being overthrown. If Menelaus is on the throne, at least Tyndareus' family have the royal seat.

It is also possible that Menelaus was made king AFTER Helen was taken. The Tradition does not say WHEN Tyndareus gave up his throne to Menelaus, and there is a rather important incident right after Helen is taken by Paris (in fact, the beginnings of the incident allow for her to be taken!); the death of Castor (and Pollux).

The brothers died in an altercation with their cousins (again, issues re. brothers taking over thrones that Tyndareus might have been worried about) after Helen was taken and while their father was in Crete. It is more than reasonable to assume that in order for Menelaus to make war on behalf of his stolen wife, he needed the status of a βασιλευς (Basileus, roughly 'king') and, without any legitimate heirs to lay claim to the throne - with Agamemnon already ruling in his own kingdom (somewhere in the Argolid, the traditions all vary!) - Menelaus is the only choice left. Helen is of course entirely unaware of her brothers' deaths as we see in the Iliad, when she wonders why they're not there fighting for her. In short, if you take your Apollodorus reference with an earlier one in book 3 which references the actual epic cycle fragments and scholia, and the claims of which we see in the epic cycle fragments and Homeric epics themselves, you have your answer pretty well defined from a very early canon! Hope this helps in some way, even if just to say you already had the answer there? It's a 1am post, so apologies for it perhaps being a little clunky or poorly formatted! :) I am tired, and so too are my fingers from typing! TL;DR - the most easily-explained (and evidenced in the epic cycle itself, later recalled by Apollodorus) timeline is: Oath sworn, Helen abducted, Castor and Pollux die, Tyndareus hands down to who is now his only heir so the battle can be led as he is too old and the oath supports Menelaus not him; Menelaus crowned king. Then Trojan War

I was checking something quickly on Wikipedia but being there got curious about something else, namely, how Menelaos gets Sparta/Lakedaimon's throne.

This won't be exhaustive, because I only know of these three mentions that I'll discuss. If someone knows of others (especially scholia?) I'd love to see them!

Anyway.

Hyginus' Fabula #78 says this: She put it [the garland] on Menelaus, and Tyndareus gave her to him in marriage and at his death left him his kingdom.

The Bibliotheke has two separate statements, the first one earlier, in the third book (3.11.2): And when the Dioscuri were translated to the gods, Tyndareus sent for Menelaus to Sparta and handed over the kingdom to him. The second one in the Epitome (E.2.16): And Menelaus married Helen and reigned over Sparta, Tyndareus having ceded the kingdom to him.

The thing to note with the Epitome is that it only survives as summary of already short/summarizing statements - this is important. The Epitome's version of how Menelaos got the kingdom looks different than the Bibliotheke's third book at first blush. It's also not like the Bibliotheke doesn't contain many different accounts of a single myth, either (the compiler/author is often rather thorough). So we might have two different versions in the Bibliotheke, in contrast to the Fabula; one where Menelaos only gets the rule after the Dioskouroi are dead, and thus only right before the war, another where it seems he gets to rule right from marriage, with Tyndareos stepping aside and the Dioskouroi ignored.

We can't really know that, though. The other option, since the Epitome' statement is a summary of the actual paragraph, might well harmonize with the one in the third book. There's nothing to argue against that!

And frankly, to me it makes a lot more sense that Menelaos would only get to rule when the Dioskouroi are already dead, and Tyndareos only then turning to him - or, as with the version in the Fabula, only when Tyndareos has died. And we don't really know when the fabula imagines this supposed to happen, or the circumstances. Some myths and tragedies obviously have Tyndareos surviving until post-war (implying a/the version where he stepped down at some point pre-war in favour of Menelaos), but that's not always the case.

[verdantlyviolet]

📌 2024

Do you have anything you want to accomplish or resolutions and goals you’ve set for this upcoming year? Here’s a few things I hope to achieve …

Finalise Demeter/Persephone festival/s for Argos - research, or adapt from other areas of the Argolid (Hermione, Lerna, I’m looking at you!)

Learn classic Greek alphabet (I’ve actually made flash cards now, step 1)

Thebaid read along through January and February

Follow along Daily Stoic through the year

And some regular everyday things …

Emergency fund goal

Additional income goal

5k average daily steps across the year

Sunset beach picnic

[compassgr]

Αρχαιολογικός χώρος της Αργολίδας με παγκόσμια φήμη και ακτινοβολία, ανατολικά του Ναυπλίου και πλησίον της κωμόπολης του Λυγουριού, το Ασκληπιείο Επιδαύρου υπήρξε κατά την αρχαιότητα ένα λαμπρό θεραπευτικό κέντρο. Ένα από τα σημαντικότερα μνημεία του Ασκληπιείου Επιδαύρου είναι το θέατρο (ο Παυσανίας το αποδίδει στον αρχιτέκτονα Πολύκλειτο), που φημιζόταν από την αρχαιότητα για τη συμμετρία, την αισθητική, τη λειτουργικότητα και την έξοχη ακουστική του. Είναι ευρέως γνωστό ότι οι θεατές των παραστάσεων της Επιδαύρου, ακόμη και αυτοί που βρίσκονται στα υψηλότερα τμήματα του άνω διαζώματος, μπορούν να ακούσουν και τον παραμικρό ήχο από τη σκηνή και την ορχήστρα του θεάτρου. Στο θέατρο της Επιδαύρου, που είχε χωρητικότητα 13.000-14.000 θεατών, φιλοξενούνταν μουσικοί και ωδικοί αγώνες, καθώς και παραστάσεις αρχαίου δράματος. Χάρη στις αναστηλωτικές επεμβάσεις που πραγματοποιήθηκαν κατά τη διάρκεια του 20ού αιώνα, το θέατρο, εξαιρουμένου του σκηνικού οικοδομήματος, ανέκτησε σχεδόν εξ ολοκλήρου την αρχική μορφή του. Αρχής γενομένης από το 1954, το θέατρο της Επιδαύρου αποτελεί πόλο έλξεως και σημείο αναφοράς για τα καλλιτεχνικά πράγματα της χώρ��ς μας, καθώς φιλοξενεί παραστάσεις αρχαίου δράματος («Φεστιβάλ Επιδαύρου»), που παρακολουθούν ανελλιπώς επί σειράν δεκαετιών πολυάριθμοι έλληνες και ξένοι φίλοι της τέχνης. Γνωρίστε την όμορφη Επίδαυρο μέσω της COMPASS. Περισσότερες πληροφορίες στα: info@compasstravel.gr | t. 2310818111 COMPASS | We care. #compassgr #epidaurus #argolid #saronicgulf #palaiaepidaurus #argolis #asclepius #asclepeion #apollo #theatre #pausanias #acoustics #odeon #stadion #harmony #archaeology #ancientgreece #greece #temple #epidauros #monument #healer #epidavros Photo credits: www. discovergreece. com (στην τοποθεσία Epidavros, Greece) https://www.instagram.com/compassgr/p/Bu6GEWGn5Mr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ci9ijukaacj8