The APSIM project (Applications of Situated Simulations) aims to promote the Greek culture using innovative technologies, assisting both the general public and the new generations to get familiar and love the archaeological wealth of Greece. Using an Augmented Reality (AR) application, visitors of archaeological sites and museums will have the opportunity to enjoy a completely different tour-experience in the archaeological sites, resembling one of a video gaming!

Through the Augmented Reality application CirculAR, cultural heritage sites are transformed into immersive, interactive experiences that connect the past with the present. By combining scientifically documented content with advanced 3D modeling, spatial mapping, and gamification techniques, CirculAR enables users to explore monuments in their original form directly within their physical environment. Using a smartphone or tablet, visitors can visualize reconstructions, navigate around monuments, and engage with historical narratives in a dynamic and intuitive way. The appliation is available free of charge for Android devices via the Google Play Store and for iOS via the App Store.

The creation of the CirculAR application was the result of multifaceted collaboration among scientists from different fields: archaeologists, historians, computer engineers, interface designers, educators, and specialists in cultural policy development. It was developed within the framework of the European APSIM project, coordinated by the I-SENSE research team of the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTU), with the participation of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, the Department of History and Archaeology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (University Excavation of Dion), the Epigraphic Museum of Athens, and the companies “GEOANALYSIS S.A.” and “Comic IKE.” The project is implemented under the “Research–Create–Innovate” action of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology, co-funded by the European Union.

The island of Delos- sacred in antiquity serving for millennia as a cultural, economic, and religious center - comes to life once again with the help of the innovative Augmented Reality application CirculAR. Using a simple smartphone or tablet, users of the application can experience an augmented reality journey: they can bring the monuments of Delos to life, view them in three dimensions, rotate them, walk around them, and enjoy a completely new, immersive visiting experience. The Temple of Apollo, the Stoa and the House of the Naxians, the Propylaea, the Terrace of the Lions—all those monuments that today are discernible only through their architectural remains—are revived through augmented reality and the use of scientifically documented content.

By using the camera, sensors embedded in mobile phones, and spatial mapping and positioning algorithms, the application “reads” the landscape and digitally places monuments or traces of the past exactly where they once stood. “The user participates, learns, and forms an emotional connection with the monument, transforming historical memory into a personal experience. And this is precisely the goal—so that we can creatively reconnect with the past,” notes researcher Dr. Tina Katika, Head of the XR Department at I-SENSE. (Source: apsim-project.eu,  amna.gr)

APSIM’s Pilot Demonstrations in Delos Island

According to Dr. Angelos Amditis, project coordinator and Director of Research and Development at ICCS/NTUA, speaking to the Athens–Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), “We are effectively bridging today’s imagination with life in the past. Through the application, you don’t simply see stones or foundations—you see stories, you see architecture, you see human activities. As a result, the application becomes a means of interpretation and understanding, as well as an educational tool grounded in scientific accuracy, essentially transforming the ordinary citizen from a passive observer into an active explorer. In this way, every visit becomes a process of discovery, navigation, knowledge gathering, interaction, and connection”. “The greatest value of the application is that it functions as a bridge across time, carrying the past into the present and the present into the future. In this way, it helps us preserve not only the material but also the intangible dimension of History—creating knowledge and experience, and forging a meaningful relationship between people and place.” (Source: amna.gr)

The application is not limited to Delos. Through the same technology, users can also explore other monuments across Greece. The aim is to incorporate additional monuments into the application in the future.

The Episcopal Basilica of Dion in Pieria.  The ancient Dion, in the region of Pieria, was a sacred site of the Macedonian kingdom. The Roman colony of Dion flourished during the imperial period, particularly in late antiquity. Dion became an episcopal see, which reinforced its importance as an urban centre for the wider region. Near the centre of the ancient city and at a short distance from the Forum, the so-called Episcopal Basilica was built in the 5^th century CE, with at least two successive building phases.

The Philo’s Arsenal (Skeuotheke of Philon), located in the port of Zea (Piraeus), is a significant building preserving the technological memory of ancient warships. In 347 BC, the Athenians decided to construct a building in Piraeus to store the equipment of the military fleet—such as sails, ropes, and tents—during the winter months. The rectangular building, 130 meters long and 18 meters wide, called the Skeuotheke, was designed by the architects Philo and Euthydomos. Ancient writers considered the building the most eminent among the structures of ancient Greek architecture. Its virtual reconstruction was based on a surviving marble inscription, now exhibited at the Epigraphic Museum of Athens, which has been preserved in its entirety.

I.A.

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Johanna Hanink is professor of Classics at Brown University, and her work in Classics focuses on classical Athens, particularly on the intellectual and political life of the city's fourth century BCE. She is especially interested in the construction and reception (in both antiquity and more modern times) of the idea of the ancient 'Greek miracle'. Some of her work touches on the points of contact between modern politics and ideas about ancient Greece, and antiquity more generally. She is the author of Lycurgan Athens and the Making of Classical Tragedy (Cambridge 2014) and The Classical Debt: Greek Antiquity in an Era of Austerity (Harvard 2017). She is is a translator Ancient as well as Modern Greek, having translated among others The Archeologist and Selected Sea Stories (Penguin 2021; a volume of works by Andreas Karkavitsas), she is active in Brown's Program in Modern Greek Studies  and hosts a biweekly podcast called Lesche: Ancient Greece, New Ideas.

Professor Hanink spoke to Rethinking Greece* on how she was inspired by other academic podcasts and her desire for more informal scholarly dialogue to create her own podcast, Lesche, which aims to foster a sense of community within academia. Hanink discusses featuring authors of longue durée studies, as well as translators—such as Emily Wilson and Daniel Mendelsohn—whose work offers a unique bird’s-eye view of entire Ancient Greek texts and makes them more accessible to contemporary readers.

She also highlights the wealth of creative work inspired by Greek mythology, such as Kaos, the British mythological dark comedy TV series, whose creator Charlie Covell, appeared on the podcast. Hanink emphasizes that the barriers between academics and creatives should be lower, and that there should be space for open dialogue between the two groups about their work on Greek antiquity. Finally, she expresses her hope that the podcast will gain listeners among undergraduates—not just classicists—especially at a time when the Humanities are under threat; students need to know that Humanities research demands real expertise and generates new knowledge.

Professor Hanink, your podcast Lesche brings together Hellenists to discuss their latest work. What inspired you to create this kind of conversational platform, and why did you choose the format of a podcast over more traditional academic dissemination? How does this concept of a lesche inform your approach?

During the pandemic, I hosted a few Zoom events for my department for which I interviewed colleagues about their newly published books. I really enjoyed the format—the conversations last about 45 minutes, and covered everything from the book’s conception to the author’s ideas for their next project. Then, over the last couple of years, I became an avid listener of Anthony Kaldellis’ podcast Byzantium and Friends. We didn’t have anything quite like that in the field of Ancient Greek Studies (nor is there one for Roman Studies, as far as I know). By “like that” I mean a podcast hosted by an active researcher in the field who curates a program of conversations with colleagues about their latest work in the field. It all finally clicked into place last summer, when some exciting titles came out: e.g., Rachel Kousser’s Alexander at the End of the World, but also Ferdia Lennon’s wonderful Glorious Exploits, which takes an anecdote from Plutarch about the Athenian invasion of Sicily during the Peloponnesian War and spins a whole novel out from it. When those books appeared it pushed me over the edge, and I decided to give podcasting a try.

The concept of the lesche certainly informs the vibe I’m going for: I wanted the podcast to feel like a place where people can chat informally about their work and ideas. Honestly, I often prefer those kinds of relaxed conversations to formal academic lectures. The ideas seem to flow more naturally, and I like to be able to joke around a little with the guests. I also like that the word lesche has similar, positive resonances of friendship and idea-exchange in both Ancient and Modern Greek.

Your focus is on the latest work of Hellenists in the field of Classics. What trends or shifts in Hellenistic studies have you noticed emerging through these discussions? Are there particular themes you find repeatedly surfacing?

I try to cover a good spread of topics, but the books/projects I do choose to cover inevitably reflect my own interests. I spend a lot of time scouring publishers’ lists of forthcoming books, though, and on the basis of those I’d say that there is still a lot of interest in classical Athens, and that maybe the boom in Hellenistic Studies is subsiding somewhat. (I hope that I’m wrong.) I’ve especially enjoyed speaking to guests about projects with very long temporal ranges—John Ma on his Polis book, Emma Greensmith on her new Cambridge Companion to Greek Epic, and archaeologist Alex Knodell on the Small Cycladic Islands Project (SCIP). Those kinds of longue durée studies are really important.

Translation is another big theme; the first season featured Emily Wilson on her Iliad and Daniel Mendelsohn on his Odyssey. I hope to have more translators on to discuss their work in Season 2. Classicists tend to read very small passages from texts in a fragmented way, whereas translators gain a unique birds-eye view of the entire work they’ve translated. There’s a lot of insight to be had in that.

Season one of Lesche features conversations about monumental translation efforts like Daniel Mendelsohn’s Odyssey and Emily Wilson’s Iliad, as well as the Cambridge Greek Lexicon. What do you think these projects reveal about how we’re reimagining access to ancient Greek texts today?

Both Wilson and Mendelsohn’s translations of Homer and Diggle’s Cambridge Greek Lexicon share an aim of rendering Ancient Greek texts more accessible to contemporary readers, whether those readers know no Ancient Greek whatsoever or are experts who still need to consult a good lexicon every so often. I work with both kinds of texts, in my teaching (for which I assign translations of Homer) and my research (I’m writing a commentary, and use the CGL all the time). There really is still a strong interest in these texts, and it’s been exciting to host conversations with scholars who are making better access to them possible.

The podcast has been running for a year now. What has been a particularly memorable or insightful moment for you as a host, perhaps one that deepened your own understanding or sparked new ideas?

I have to say it was really a thrill to do an episode with Charlie Covell, creator of the Netflix show Kaos. Kaos sparked a lot of discussion in the U.S., Britain, Greece, and beyond, and I loved talking to Charlie about their vision for the show and how they brought it to life. After the episode came out Charlie and I stayed in touch, and we were lucky enough to host them for a week in the Classics Department at Brown last spring. For their final event with us, Charlie did a table reading, with a Brown undergraduate actor, of their short one-act play called “Asphodel,” which had marked the start of Charlie’s worldbuilding for Kaos. There is so much creative work out there inspired by Greek mythology, and I’d love to see more dialogue between those creators and academics. Creators read academic works, and academics teach about creative reception of antiquity, so the barriers between them really should be lower. Meeting Charlie through the podcast helped me see that more clearly.

Looking ahead, what role do you see for the podcast in engaging with these broader, perhaps more critical or unconventional, perspectives on ancient history and classics, beyond traditional scholarly work? Are there audiences beyond academia you especially hope to reach?

I’m always happy to hear that audiences outside academia are interested in the podcast, but one of the reasons I started Lesche was to improve the sense of community within the academic field. There are amazing podcasts out there that speak to wide general audiences, but I do want Lesche to be a place where both academics and creatives can speak about their work on Greek antiquity in technical terms. I initially envisioned the podcast as an academic one, but something I love about conversation is that it can make even highly-specialized topics very accessible—much more accessible than on the pages of an academic journal. A lot of the listeners are non-academics.

I would be very happy to see the podcast gain listenership among undergraduates, and not just classicists. I think it’s good for students to be exposed to academic research in the Humanities—that is, to learn that Humanities research really does require expertise and produce new knowledge. In a moment when the Humanities are very much under threat (we always say that, but it’s truer than ever right now), people need to know that Humanities work is serious, and the most basic aim of Lesche is to showcase the serious and exciting new work going on in my field.

*Interview to: Ioulia Livaditi

The post Rethinking Greece|Ancient Texts, Modern Voices: Inside Johanna Hanink’s ‘Lesche’ Podcast appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

Αt the northeastern edge of Attica, about 60km from Athens, next to the Euboean Gulf, lie the ruins of the ancient deme of Ramnous (Ramnountas). Ramnous is the best-preserved ancient Attic deme site and belonged to the Aiandidae tribe (Demes were suburbs or subdivisions of the ancient city-state of Athens - after Cleisthenes' reforms, Athens was divided into 139 demes). The name "Ramnous" derives from the local Mediterranean shrub 'rhamnos' (Rhamnus Alaternus). Within the walls, public buildings, sanctuaries, and homes were constructed. An Athenian garrison was permanently stationed at the town's acropolis, overseeing the sea route between Attica and Euboea (Cover photo: Ephorate of Antiquities of Eastern Attica).

General view of Ramnous (Ephorate of Antiquities of Eastern Attica)

The famous Temple of Nemesis at Ramnous is the most important sanctuary of the deity in the Greek world. Nemesis was the goddess of indignation against, and retribution for, evil deeds and undeserved good fortune. She personified the resentment felt by people towards those who committed crimes with apparent impunity or enjoyed excessive good fortune. According to the myth, to win her over, Zeus transformed himself into a swan while she took the form of a goose. After their union, Nemesis laid an egg, which was given to Leda. From this egg hatched the beautiful Helen (the central figure of the Trojan War) and the Dioscuri. The sanctuary honoring Nemesis is believed to have been founded in the early 6^th century BCE, reaching its peak during the 4^th and 5^th centuries BCE.

The Temple of Nemesis (Photo: wikipedia.org). The area was shaped by the construction of strong isodomic retaining walls on the north and east sides to support the soil. The first archaic limestone temple was destroyed by the Persians in 479-480 BCE, along with many other buildings in Attica. A new, larger temple was built after the mid-5th century BCE, north of and very close to the previous one. It is a Doric peripteral temple with 6 columns on the short sides and 12 columns on the long sides. The temple consists of a pronaos and an opisthodomos with two columns between pilasters and measures 21.40 by 10.05 meters. Today, only ruins of this temple remain (Source:  searchculture.gr)

The restored entablature of the Temple of Nemesis (above) and restored columns of the Temple (lower left). Although the beginnings and ends of the characteristic flutings of the Doric order were properly carved, the work was never completed, leaving the large temple with the appearance of an unfinished project. Reconstruction of the statue of Nemesis at Ramnous (lower right). Inside the temple was kept the famous statue of the goddess Nemesis, a work by Agorakritos of Paros, a student of Phidias. The sculpture has survived only in a very fragmentary condition and is dated to the decade 430–420 BCE. The statue, standing 3.50–3.60m tall (4.40m including its base), was made of Parian marble and depicted the goddess standing, dressed in a chiton and himation, holding a phiale in her extended right hand and a branch in her left. The base of the statue was made of marble from Dionysus and has been restored from numerous fragments found scattered around. The relief decoration depicts the presentation of Helen to her mother Nemesis by Leda. The destruction of the statue of the goddess by Christians is dated to the late 4th century CE (Photos: huffingtonpost.gr/).

The area of Ramnous has been continuously inhabited since the Neolithic period. Ramnous is mentioned by the geographer Scylax as an important fortress. The sanctuary of Nemesis at Ramnous inspired the Athenian army to fight at nearby Marathon. The fortress of Ramnous, like that of Sounion on the southern coast of Attica, is believed to have been constructed during the Peloponnesian War to control the ships carrying grain to Athens. In 322 BCE, the admiral of the Macedonian army, Cleitus, landed troops at Ramnous but was expelled by Phocion, who captured the fortress. In 296 BCE, the fortress was taken by Demetrius the Besieger. The decline begins during the Hellenistic period. Pliny mentions visiting Ramnous in the mid-1^st century CE. The temple of Ramnous also interested Herodes Atticus, who perhaps funded its repair. The area was gradually abandoned, but the temples of Nemesis continued to be maintained until the 4th century CE (Source:  odysseus.culture.gr).

Ruins of houses with simple walls. The stronger wall was made of large, well-built stones (Ephorate of Antiquities of Eastern Attica)

The first excavations at Ramnous were carried out by the Dilettanti in 1813 and by Dimitrios Filios in 1880. Between 1890 and 1892, excavations conducted by V. Stais uncovered the sanctuary, the fortress, and many burial enclosures. From 1975 to the present, the archaeological site of Ramnous has been systematically excavated and studied, funded by the Archaeological Society and directed by the archaeologist, V. Petrakos.

The fortress, along with the wall surrounding the settlement, small sanctuaries, the theater, and the city’s gymnasium, have been preserved. Remarkable statues were found inside the early 6^th century BCE small temple, which no longer survives today, but its existence was confirmed by preserved Laconian roof tiles. The small temple was rebuilt in the early 5^th century BCE with polygonal masonry, and its ruins are visible today. (Source:  odysseus.culture.gr).

Statue of Themis (left). Sculpted by Chairestratos, made of Pentelic marble, height 2.22m, dated to around 300 BCE. Discovered in 1890 at the small temple of Nemesis and dedicated to Themis by Megacles, as inscribed on the base. Now housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Themis was the goddess of divine law and order. She was the first to instruct humankind in the primal laws of justice and morality, including the principles of piety, hospitality, good governance, proper conduct in assemblies, and devout offerings to the gods (Photo: el.wikipedia.org). Statue of Aristonoe, priestess of the goddess Nemesis (right). Pentelic marble,1.62m in height, dated to the 3^rd c BCE. Discovered in 1890 at the small temple of Nemesis. According to the inscription on the base, the statue was commissioned by Hierocles. Aristonoe was the daughter of Nicocrates from Ramnous. During the excavation, a tomb was found on the temple floor in front of the pedestal. This tomb may have belonged to Aristonoe herself, who, due to her status as a priestess, was likely buried within the temple and honored with a statue.  (Photo: el.wikipedia.org)

Inside the fortified enclosure, both private and public buildings have been uncovered. Notably, the theater and the gymnasium stand out, while the agora of the deme was also located this area. At the top of the hill—within the inner fortified zone—stood the military installations, including the fortress. Below the fortress, on the coastline, two small harbors—the eastern and the western—served ships tasked with controlling passage through the Euboean Gulf.

The fortress surrounding the settlement of Ramnous consists of an outer enclosure wall, approximately 800m in length, and a smaller inner enclosure that surrounds the hilltop. The main entrance of the outer enclosure is on the southern side and is flanked by rectangular towers for protection. Similar rectangular towers were also built at various other points along the wall to reinforce the fortifications (Ephorate of Antiquities of Eastern Attica)

The Southern Gate (Ephorate of Antiquities of Eastern Attica)

Excavations also uncovered a section of the ancient road that once led to the deme of Ramnous. This road passed in front of the Sanctuary of Nemesis and continued up the fortress. Along this route, archaeologists discovered numerous luxurious burial enclosures dating from the Classical period, featuring remarkable funerary reliefs, small shrines, and columns. Several of these enclosures have been carefully restored (Ephorate of Antiquities of Eastern Attica)

Funerary Monuments from Ramnous. A funerary small temple (naiskos) belonging to the Pytharchos family features a typical depiction of a farewell "reception" between father and son, with the young grandson resting on his grandfather’s knees. Behind them stands, likely, his wife, Pythocriti (upper left). The large funerary naiskos of the Diogeiton family, in the Ionic order, restored and preserved, was part of the family’s burial enclosure (upper right). The funerary stele of the Menestides family portrays a touching family grouping (lower). A missing fragment, lost due to looting in 1879, is now housed in the National Archaeological Museum. The scene depicts two men on the left — Menestheus and Menesthenes, sons of Menestides — and three women on the right: their two sisters standing, and their mother, Nausiptolema, seated. (Photos: huffingtonpost.gr/).

(Source: welovemarathon.gr)

A visit to Ramnous today can be ideally combined with a nature hike or a refreshing swim at the nearby beaches (visitgreece.gr). Access to the beach is a bit challenging due to the dirt road leading to it, but the final destination is well worth the effort. The beach lies directly below the Sanctuary of Nemesis, tucked away in a secluded and scenic cove. Its exotic beauty and the natural surroundings, including a pebbled shoreline and peaceful atmosphere, make it an ideal spot for those seeking a close connection with nature. Since the beach is not organized, visitors are advised to bring all necessary supplies for their stay. Due to its isolation and crystal-clear waters, the beach has also become a popular choice for naturists.

Ramnous beach (Photo: tripadvisor.com.gr)

Ramnous beach (Photo: athensvoice.gr)

(Source: athensvoice.gr)

I.A.

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The winner of the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award 2025 is Sasha Dugdale for The Strongbox (Carcanet 2024). 

Announcing the result of this year’s competition on Friday 13 June at a ceremony in the Great Hall of King’s College London, in the presence of a large audience in the hall and online, Sofka Zinovieff, the chair of judges, said: “I am delighted that The Strongbox has won the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award for 2025. We had a remarkable shortlist this year, which made the judges' decision particularly difficult, but Sasha Dugdale is an outstanding winner.  The Strongbox is an extraordinary collection of poetry. It shows how the rich inheritance of ancient Greek myth and literature continues to inspire the creation of outstanding works of art in the 21st century.”

 The winner of the Award, poet, playwright, and translator Sasha Dugdale, said:  I’m deeply honoured to be awarded the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award and very grateful to the judges for their appreciation of The Strongbox. My work is a poetic response to the wars and political tensions of the last years and it was shaped by my own experience of translating testimony relating to war and repression. In The Strongbox I considered how Greek mythologies are dynamic and still shape our perception of civilisation and culture, of war and difference. I used those mythologies to explore the effects and implications of the very modern tragedies we were witnessing.  This recognition by the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award is incredibly gratifying.”

 The Chair of the Council of the League, Kevin Featherstone, said: “Sasha Dugdale's The Strongbox is an extraordinary work and worthy member of the distinguished roster of Runciman Award winners. The Council of the Anglo-Hellenic League would like to extend its warmest congratulations to Sasha and to thank our generous sponsors: the A.G. Leventis Foundation and the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation.”

The judging panel for the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award, had agreed on a total of six books for their shortlist for the competition in 2025. Sofka Zinovieff, the chair of judges, said: “The long list this year was exceptional in both range and quality, and we were able to select a very strong shortlist which highlights the enduring quality and vibrancy of writing in English on Greek history, culture and literature. The chosen works embrace truly innovative history and ground-breaking creative writing in both prose and poetry. Together they represent an outstanding literary contribution.”

The shortlist for 2025 was as follows:

Sasha Dugdale: The Strongbox (Carcanet)

The Strongbox opens with the abduction of a woman to a foreign land and ends with the Rape of Europa.  Drawing in elements of Greek mythology, epic literature and recent history, this protean work gives shape to a cast of characters both ancient and modern, as they flit in and out of tales, their voices overlapping and interacting. An unnamed girl is persuaded to leave behind her country and her childhood and travel to a warzone. Helen of Sparta, already trapped behind the walls of Ilium, is plagued by dreams about the coming conflict. Gods continue their manipulations, while mortals persist in defying the will of their gods. Through a series of interconnected scenes and dialogues this singular work traces the role of myth in shaping our accounts of both history and contemporary events.

Poet, playwright, and translator Sasha Dugdale was born in Sussex, England. She has worked as a consultant for theater companies in addition to writing her own plays. From 1995 to 2000, she worked for the British Council in Russia. She is author of the poetry collections Deformations (2020), Joy (2017), winner of the 2017 Poetry Book Society Winter Choice Award; Red House (2011); The Estate (2007); and Notebook (2003). In The Poetry Review, Claire Crowther praised Joy: “These compelling stories of strange happenings in an almost imperceptibly strange style make your mind understand foreignness as our process. Sasha Dugdale is a wise bard and her book is a civilising read.” Dugdale’s honors include the SOA Cholmondeley Award and the 2016 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (for “Joy”).

Pat Barker:  The Voyage Home (Penguin Hamish Hamilton)

After ten blood-filled years, the war is over. Troy lies in smoking ruins as the victorious Greeks fill their ships with the spoils of battle. Alongside the treasures looted are the many Trojan women captured by the Greeks – among them the legendary prophetess Cassandra, and her watchful maid, Ritsa. Enslaved as concubine – war-wife – to King Agamemnon, Cassandra is plagued by visions of his death – and her own – while Ritsa is forced to bear witness to both Cassandra’s frenzies and the horrors to come.

Meanwhile, awaiting the fleet’s return is Queen Clytemnestra, vengeful wife of Agamemnon. Heart-shattered by her husband’s choice to sacrifice their eldest daughter to the gods in exchange for a fair wind to Troy, she has spent this long decade plotting retribution, in a palace haunted by child-ghosts. As one wife journeys toward the other, united by the vision of Agamemnon’s death, one thing is certain: this long-awaited homecoming will change everyone’s fates forever.

Pat Barker was born in Yorkshire and began her literary career in her late thirties, when she took a short writing course taught by Angela Carter. She has published sixteen novels, including her masterful Regeneration Trilogy which includes the Booker Prize-winning The Ghost Road. The Silence of the Girls was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and won an Independent Bookshop Award 2019. The Women of Troy was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. The Voyage Home continues the series.

Alex Christofi:  Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean (Bloomsbury)

In Cypria, named after a lost Cypriot epic which was the prequel to The Odyssey, British Cypriot writer Alex Christofi writes a deeply personal, lyrical history of the island of Cyprus, from the era of goddesses and mythical beasts to the present day.

This sprawling, evocative and poetic book begins with the legend of the cyclops and the storytelling at the heart of the Mediterranean culture. Christofi travels to salt lakes, crusader castles, mosques and the eerie town deserted at the start of the 1974 war. He retells the particularly bloody history of Cyprus during the twentieth century and considers his own identity as traveler and returner, as Odysseus was.

Written in sensitive, witty and beautifully rendered prose, with a novelist's flair and eye for detail, Cypria combines the political, cultural and geographical history of Cyprus with reflections on time, place and belonging.

Alex Christofi is Editorial Director at Transworld Publishers and author of four books published in 12 languages, including the novels Let Us Be True and Glass, winner of the Betty Trask Prize for fiction. Dostoevsky in Love, his first work of non-fiction, was shortlisted for the Biographers' Club Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize and named as a Literary Non-fiction Book of the Year by the Times and Sunday Times. He followed Dostoevsky in Love with Cypria, a new history of Cyprus and the Meditteranean.

Julia Kindt:  The Trojan Horse and Other Stories: Ten Ancient Creatures That Make Us Human (CUP)

What makes us human? What, if anything, sets us apart from all other creatures? Ever since Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the answer to these questions has pointed to our own intrinsic animal nature. Yet the idea that, in one way or another, our humanity is entangled with the non-human has a much longer and more venerable history. In the West, it goes all the way back to classical antiquity. This grippingly written and provocative book boldly reveals how the ancient world mobilised concepts of 'the animal' and 'animality' to conceive of the human in a variety of illuminating ways.

Through ten stories about marvelous mythical beings – from the Trojan Horse to the Cyclops, and from Androcles' lion to the Minotaur – Julia Kindt unlocks fresh ways of thinking about humanity that extend from antiquity to the present and that ultimately challenge our understanding of who we really are.

Julia Kindt is a Professor of Ancient History at the University of Sydney, a Future Fellow of the Australian Research Council (2018-22), and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. She is a senior editor of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religions (ORE), and a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Ancient History and Antichthon. Her previous, highly regarded, books include Rethinking Greek Religion (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and Revisiting Delphi. Religion and Storytelling in Ancient Greece (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Ferdia Lennon:  Glorious Exploits (Penguin Fig Tree)

In Ferdia Lennon’s charming debut, “Glorious Exploits,” Athenian prisoners stage Euripides for their wine-swilling, foul-mouthed captors. On the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they’ve herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of Medea..

Told in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving, Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.

Ferdia Lennon was born and raised in Dublin. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. Glorious Exploits is his first novel. A Sunday Times bestseller, it was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and was the winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024.

Glenn Peers:  Byzantine Media Subjects (Cornell UP)

Byzantine Media Subjects invites readers into a world replete with images—icons, frescoes, and mosaics filling places of worship, politics, and community. Glenn Peers asks readers to think themselves into a world where representation reigned and humans followed, and indeed were formed. Interrogating the fundamental role of representation in the making of the Byzantine human, Peers argues that Byzantine culture was (already) posthuman.

The Byzantine experience reveals the extent to which media like icons, manuscripts, music, animals, and mirrors fundamentally determine humans. In the Byzantine world, representation as such was deeply persuasive, even coercive; it had the power to affect human relationships, produce conflict, and form self-perception. Media studies has made its subject the modern world, but this book argues for media having made historical subjects. Here, it is shown that media long ago also made Byzantine humans, defining them, molding them, mediating their relationship to time, to nature, to God, and to themselves.

Glenn Peers is Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at both Syracuse University and the University of Texas at Austin. Among his eight books are, as author, Animism, Materiality, and Museums and Sacred Shock, and, as editor, Byzantine Things in the World. He lives in Bennington, Vermont.

First conceived in 1983 and presented for the first time in 1986, the Runciman Award is an annual literary award offered by the Anglohellenic League for a work published in English dealing wholly or in part with Greece or Hellenism. Named in honor of Sir Steven Runciman, the eminent Byzantine scholar, the aim of the Award is to stimulate interest in Greek history and culture culture from earliest times to the present, to reward and encourage good and accessible writing as well as to promote wider knowledge and understanding of Greece’s contribution to civilization and values.  Previous winners have included Mark Mazower, Antony Beevor, Richard Clogg,K.E. Fleming, Emily Greenwood, Juliet du Boulay, Bruce Clark,  A.E. Stallings, and of course, Roderick Beaton, the only author to have won it four times.

The Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award is sponsored by the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation and the A.G. Leventis Foundation. The winner receives a prize of £10,000.

I.L.

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Previously inaccessible areas on the slopes of the Acropolis have been cleared and given to the public, following restoration works by the Ephorate Of Antiquities of The City of Athens. Visitors now have the opportunity of an enhanced archaeological experience, gaining access to previously closed-off sites.

The re-opened pathways, along a the newly-inaugurated visitor center, were recently presented at a ceremony, in the presence of Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, who stated that “The Ministry of Culture attaches the appropriate importance to the most visited archaeological site in our country, a global cultural and historical landmark, with projects that facilitate accessibility and optimize the experience of millions of visitors from Greece and abroad”. Those attending were entertained by the Greek band Encardia, which presented songs and dances from the Greek-speaking regions of the Italian South.

Pathways re-opened

The Acropolis, the most recognizable landmark of the city of Athens, and one of the most iconic monuments worldwide, has more to offer to the visitor besides the famed Parthenon. Being an ancient citadel of great strategic, cultural and religious importance not only for Classical Athens but for centuries to follow, it contains the remains of several ancient buildings, including sites of archaeological importance that remain obscure to the wider public.

The northern slope route of the rocky hill, covered in pine and olive trees, has undergone extensive restoration works, which helped make it accessible to the public for the first time in decades. Most notably, visitors now can discover parts of the Sacred Rock that had been closed off for decades, including the Klepsydra natural spring and the Cave Sanctuaries of the Acropolis.

The Klepsydra spring, located on the north-west slope of the hill, stood within the ancient fortifications around Acropolis. In the fifth century BC, a paved court, a well and a well-house had been constructed there, possibly as part of a sanctuary. A new well and well-house would be constructed in the Roman times, while a Byzantine chapel is also believed to have been located there. In the Ottoman times, it fell into disuse. Greek archaeologist Kyriakos Pittakis rediscovered the source of the spring in the early 19^th century, leaving the first written account of the site in 1835.

The Cave Sanctuaries of the Acropolis are natural fissures in the rock of the hill; these fissures and the terraces before them were used as sites of worship in the antiquity. Among them we find the Sanctuary of Aphrodite and Eros: an open-air sanctuary excavated in 1932 by American archaeologist Oscar Broneer, who identified the site with Aphrodite and Eros. The cave is divided into two sanctuaries; its excavation brought to light finds including fragments of marble statuary and dedicatory carvings, which had been set into niches hollowed out from the rock, and also clay vases and figurines. Two inscriptions carved into the rock, dating from 450–430 BC, include a dedication to Aphrodite and a reference to a festival for Eros.

Another important cave sanctuary on the northwestern slope is a complex of three caves dedicated to Pan, Zeus and Apollo respectively. The identification of the sanctuary was based on the testimonies of Euripides, Aristophanes and Pausanias, and also to the excavation of two votive reliefs on the site.

On the eastern slope of the hill we find the largest cave in the city, known as the Sanctuary of Aglaurus or Aglaureion. Its identification (not unanimously accepted by the scientific community) with the eponymous deity (the daughter of Athens’ mythical founder, Cecrops, who fell to her death from the top of the Acropolis to fulfill a prophecy which demanded a human sacrifice for the city to be saved) is owed to the discovery, east of the cave, of a stele inscribed in 247/6 or 246/5 BC with a decree in which the Athenian Demos honors a priestess of the Aglaurus.

New visitor center and welcome area

The new visitor center was established thanks to the cooperation of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Organization for the Management and Development of Cultural Resources. It houses a gift shop offering a wide range of high-quality souvenirs. The center has been designed to seamlessly integrate into the surrounding natural and archaeological landscape.

The Ephorate Of Antiquities of The City of Athens shaped the plateau south of Areopagus Hill, in front of the sales point, offering visitors an impressive view while also improving visitor flow management. Another key feature is the construction of pavements that facilitate access to people with disabilities as well as two new dedicated parking spaces.

The landscaping of the plateau south of Areopagus was funded by national funds of 140,000 euros allocated to the Ministry of Culture, while the restoration of the route in northern slope of the Acropolis hill was made possible thanks to a donation from the Onassis Foundation, which has been supporting the Ministry of Culture's work on the Acropolis since 2020.

N.M. (Image source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture Press release, except where noted)

Sources: Hellenic Ministry of Culture Press release; Odysseus portal

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Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was a physician in Classical Greece, born on the island of Kos. For his foundational contributions to the nascent field of medical science he has been dubbed “the Father of Medicine”.

Life and work

Not much biographical information is known about Hippocrates, as the main sources are not entirely reliable and some contain different accounts on his life. It is however generally accepted that he was born in 460 BC on the Greek island of Kos (now part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea).

Hippocrates is mentioned in famous works of his contemporaries, namely in Plato's dialogues Protagoras and Phaedrus, and in Aristotle’s works Parts of Animals and Rhetoric; the latter refers to him as "the Great Hippocrates", showing great respect and highlighting his value as an early systematic thinker in the study of nature and medicine, even though he disagreed with some of his theories.

According to his first and most comprehensive biography (written by the Greek physician Soranus of Ephesus, who lived at least 3 centuries later) he came from a line of physicians, who taught him medicine, while he may also have been a student of Democritus, and was probably trained at the asklepieion (healing temple) of Kos.  He practiced medicine throughout his life and travelled to various parts of the Greek world. He is also said to have died at an advanced age.

Medicine as a rational science

Hippocrates’ most influential contribution to the field of medicine and science in general was that he proposed that diseases had natural causes, rooted in environmental factors, lifestyle, and diet—laying the groundwork for rational, scientific approaches to medicine.

He is believed to be the first person to attribute physical ailments to somatic rather than supernatural causes. Until that time, disease was widely regarded as a curse placed by gods; therefore, demonstrating the role that environmental factors and living habits had on health was revolutionary in and of itself, regardless of whether many of his specific theories would later be disproven.

One very telling example is the condition of epilepsy, which was regarded as either a malediction or even a sign of favor from the gods – hence it was characterized as “sacred”. In the treatise On the Sacred Disease, part of the Hippocratic Corpus, we find the first recorded observations of epilepsy, with the author attributing the phenomenon to an imbalance of bodily fluids, rejecting any metaphysical explanation.

Hippocrates also introduced the concept of prognosis and clinical observation, by emphasizing detailed, systematic observation of patients. He advocated for careful recording of symptoms, disease progression, and treatment outcomes – forming the basis of clinical case studies and patient history-taking in modern medicine. Additionally, he shifted some focus from just curing illness to predicting and managing it, helping physicians plan treatments and prepare for outcomes.

Hippocratic Corpus

The Hippocratic Corpus is a collection of around 60 medical texts attributed to Hippocrates and his followers. These works cover a wide range of medical topics, including anatomy, surgery, and ethics, and they served as essential references for centuries. The majority of these texts date from the Classical period, while there are also some works from the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods. This collection of inestimable value represents the central nucleus of ancient Greek medical literature, containing textbooks, lectures, research, notes and even philosophical essays on medical issues.

The medical framework underlying the Hippocratic Corpus was the theory of the four humors, a physiological theory suggesting that health is maintained by a balance of four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. This, now debunked, theory dominated Western medicine for over a millennium and influenced diagnosis and treatment practices.

Arguably the most famous text of the Corpus is the Hippocratic Oath, an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. Although not written by Hippocrates himself in its final form, the oath is attributed to his school and forms the basis for modern medical ethics—emphasizing the principles of medical confidentiality, non-maleficence, and professionalism. The use of an oath to be sworn by medical professionals, a practice still prevalent today, has its roots in this original text.

Legacy

The deep influence of Hippocratic ideals on his contemporaries is undeniable. His methods and those of the school named after him were studied and applied by subsequent physicians, as they were revolutionary for their time. This influence transcended the field of medicine: Aristotle’s approach to biology and empirical observation was clearly influenced by the medical tradition Hippocrates helped shape.

The empirical, observational methods described in the texts of the Hippocratic Corpus continued to be adopted by physicians for many centuries after the Classical Period. Galen of Pergamon [129–c. 216 AD], the most important Greek physician after Hippocrates, revered Hippocrates and integrated much of the Corpus into his own vast medical system, preserving and popularizing Hippocratic texts.

The Corpus was translated into Latin, Syriac, and Arabic; in the Middle Ages, the Hippocratic texts, together with the works of the aforementioned Galen, formed the basis of the curriculum for medical training in both Europe and the Arab world (Islamic Golden Age). The influence of the Hippocratic Corpus continued well into the Renaissance, until it was eclipsed by the advances in anatomy, microbiology and pharmacology in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Last but not least: Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Corpus have also left behind a rich vocabulary that has formed part of the medical lexicon for thousands of years. A number of words still used to this day, such as urethra, pneumonia or arthritis, first appeared in the writings of Hippocrates (while several more can be found in the works of Galen).

These contributions are in fact not limited to the scope of medicine, and include some words used in everyday conversations. For example, paranoia is also a Hippocratic term. A few more words have their roots in the four temperament theory, part of the aforementioned humoral theory: "Melancholy”, which literally means "black bile"; "phlegm" in the sense of a calm and cool response to stress or danger; "choleric", meaning irritable; and "sanguine" (the only word with Latin roots) meaning optimistic. Other words deriving from humorism include, of course, "humor", as well as "idiosyncrasy"; the latter is a compound word coming from idios "one's own" + syn "with" + krasis, literally "mixture", here used with the sense of "blend of the four humors".

Finally, there are some clinical symptoms named after Hippocrates, due to having been first recorded in the Hippocratic Corpus, such as the Hippocratic facies (the change in one’s face interpreted as a sign of impending death), the Hippocratic fingers (nail clubbing) and the Hippocratic succession (gastric splash). "Hippocratic wreath" is also used to describe androgenetic alopecia.

N.M. (Intro image: Hippocrates refusing the gifts of Artaxerxes, 1792, Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson)

Read also via Greek News Agenda: Greek words about health and medicine in English; Medical advancements in Ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire; The Plague of Athens as told by Thucydides: a timeless analysis of an epidemic

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The Executive Board of UNESCO, on April 14^th, unanimously decided to approve the designation of February 9^th as “World Greek Language Day”. The official proclamation will take place during the 43^rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, in November 2025. The decision of the Executive Board recognizes the universality and the global contribution of the Greek language to the cultural heritage of humanity. It underlines, among other things, the unbroken continuity of 40 centuries of oral tradition and 35 centuries of written tradition of the Greek language, its influence on all other European languages, as well as the fact that it remains to this day an inexhaustible source of international scientific terminology. On this occasion, GNA presents two elements connected to the written Greek language that were inscribed on the UNESCO “Memory of the World” International Register in 2023 and 2015, respectively, "The Lead Tablets of the Dodona Oracle" (Part 1) and "The Derveni Papyrus: The oldest book of Europe” (Part 2).

The Derveni Papyrus, the oldest surviving book in Europe, is one of the most treasured exhibits of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. It is also among the rarest finds in Greece, as the country's climate is not conducive to the preservation of papyri. The papyrus, which survived only because it was charred, was found in 1962 inside cist grave A of the Derveni cemetery, amid the remains of the funeral pyre. Archaeologists Petros Themelis and Maria Siganidou recovered the upper parts of the charred papyrus scroll and fragments from ashes atop the tomb’s slabs; the lower parts had burned away in the funeral pyre. (cover photo © Orestis Kourakis)

The papyrus script dates between 340 and 320 BC, although the original work it copies is in fact quite older - dating approximately around 420-410 BC. The text is written in columns, 26 of which have been restored, and is divided into two parts. It features a mix of ancient Greek dialects, primarily a blend of Attic and Ionic, with occasional Doric forms. In some cases, the same word appears in different dialectal variations.

In 1962, Anton Fackelmann, curator of the papyrus collection of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna and the world’s leading expert in the handling of carbonized papyri, was invited to the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki to try to make the almost charred scroll of Derveni papyrus suitable for reading. By spraying the papyrus with plant sap and placing the fragments under a heat lamp, he managed to save 266 fragments (left) (Source: Kathimerini newspaper), Exhibition of the Derveni Papyrus fragments at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (right)

The book contains the eschatological teaching of a mantis (a religious prophet). The content is divided between religious instructions on sacrifices to gods and souls, and allegorical commentary on a theogonical  poem ascribed to Orpheus (probably an Orphic hymn that accompanied the ceremonies of the mystics, as the book was initially intended for them). The author’s outlook is philosophical, displaying, in particular, a physical system close to those of Anaxagoras, the Atomists, and Diogenes of Apollonia. His allegorical method of interpretation is especially interesting, frequently reminiscent of Socrates’ playful mental and etymological acrobatics as seen in Plato’s Cratylus.

The identification of the author is a matter of dispute among scholars, most probably being Euthyphro(n) of Prospalta, a community in Attica. The debate between Euthyphron and Socrates influenced generations of theologians and gave rise to the question of the relationship between God and morality known as the Euthyphro dilemma: "Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?". Diagoras  of Melos, and Stesimbrotus of Thasos have also been proposed, though with varying degrees of likelihood. (Source: The Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, wikipedia.org)

Fragments of the Derveni Papyrus, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

The Derveni papyrus is registered in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register and noted as the oldest known European book. According to UNESCO, the Derveni Papyrus is of immense importance not only for the study of Greek religion and philosophy, which is the basis for the western philosophical thought, but also because it serves as a proof of the early dating of the Orphic poems offering a distinctive version of Pre-Socratic philosophers. The text of the Papyrus, which is the first book of western tradition, has a global significance, since it reflects universal human values: the need to explain the world, the desire to belong to a human society with known rules and the agony to confront the end of life (Source: UNESCO)

Over the last 45 years the text of the Derveni Papyrus has undergone extensive reconstruction and study. Theokritos Kouremenos, George M. Parássoglou, and Kyriakos Tsantsanoglou have been among the leaders of this effort, publishing an authoritative text of the papyrus along with extensive commentary in 2006. (Source: The Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University)

Derveni, January 15, 1962: during the widening of the Thessaloniki-Kavala highway, a mechanical excavator struck the walls of a cist tomb, "suffocatingly full" with valuable grave goods, as the late Petros Themelis, excavator of the site, describes in his publication. A total of six tombs -including pit graves, cist tombs, and one built of Macedonian type - were discovered in 1962 in the region around Derveni, 10 km NW of Thessaloniki. Some of them were found unlooted. They contained male and female cremations and burials with rich offerings, dated to the last quarter of the 4^th century BC. The most precious findings can be seen in the permanent exhibition "The Gold of Macedon" at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.

The Derveni Tomb A - a cist tomb - contained a bronze crater with the ashes of the dead, a gold wreath, several bronze vases, iron spearheads. The Derveni Papyrus was found burnt in the thick layer of ashes which was brought here from the cremation pyre and covered the slabs of the tomb. (Source: odysseus.gr)

Derveni Tomb A (upper left), Fragments of the Derveni Papyrus (upper right), Bronze vessel, perforated for the dispersal of light from the lamp placed within (lower left), Bronze vessels from Tomb A (© Orestis Kourakis) (lower right), Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

The Derveni Tomb B is the most significant in size and rich in offerings cist tomb, which was constructed in order to accept the ashes of a man and a young woman. For this, the Derveni Crater with dionysian scenes, unique in the history of art, was used. In the tomb twenty silver vases have also been found together with many bronze and alabaster vases, pottery, iron weapons and fragments of a leather corselet. Other finds include a pair of bronze greaves and a gold triobol of Philip II. (Source: odysseus.gr)

Derveni Tomb B (upper left), a silver vessel (askos), upper right), Gilded bronze scales , reconstructed erroneously as a gorget, the Derveni Krater (lower right), findings from Derveni Tomb B, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

The Derveni Krater (details). The renowned volute krater of Derveni, a unique masterpiece of metalworking of the 4^th c. BC, was most probably manufactured in a Macedonian workshop, by an artist acquainted with Attic art styles. An inscription with silver letters along the rim offers us the owner's name: it belonged to Astion, son of Anaxagoras, who originated from the city of Larissa. Its golden colour is due to the large content of tin in the copper alloy. It contained the remains of a cremation, with a gold coin of Philip II, a gold ring, two gold pins and a bronze, gilded wreath. The mouth of the krater was covered by a bronze strainer-like lid, which was used to strain wine. A gold myrtle wreath was placed on top of the vessel. The main figures on the relief decoration that adorns the body are Dionysos and Ariadne, in a sacred wedding scene. A group of maenads surrounds the couple, dancing ecstatically (lower right). Four statuettes rest on the shoulders: Young Dionysos and a maenad on one side, a sleepy Silen with a flask in his hand and an ecstatic maenad on the other (upper and lower left). (Source: Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Photos: commons.wikimedia.org).

The gold myrtle wreath, Derveni, Tomb Δ, 350-325 BC, permanent exhibition "The Gold of Macedon" at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (left), a solid gold finger ring bearing on its bezel the dedicatory inscription “ΚΛΕΙΤΑΙΔΩΡΟΝ” (a gift for Kleita), 2.1 x 1.8 cm, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. It was discovered in Derveni Tomb Z, the smallest in size (1.10 x 0.86 m) and the simplest in shape (the only pit grave) of the seven rich tombs at Derveni. Kleita, most probably the deceased of “Tomb Z”, may have been of Thessalian origin, since this female name was common in Pelasgiotis (Larissa) in Thessaly (right).

The Tomb of Makridi Bey at Derveni, also known as the Tomb of Langadas, is an ancient Macedonian tomb of the Classical or early Hellenistic period (late 4^th or early 3^rd century BC). It is located at the site of ancient Lete - one of the major cities of the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia – in modern Derveni, between Thessaloniki and the city of Langadas. The tomb, which had already been looted in antiquity, was excavated by the Greek Ottoman-era archaeologist Theodore Makridi in 1910, two years before the liberation of Thessaloniki. It is a double-chambered, barrel-vaulted tomb with a monumental facade in the Ionic rhythm and a marble sarcophagus in the burial chamber. The original marble door that once sealed its entrance is on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museums. An extensive restoration project was undertaken between 2012 and 2015, making it accessible to visitors. Watch the video (Source, Wikipedia, Kathimerini Newspaper)

Read also:

Ancient Voices on Lead: the Tablets of the Dodona Oracle and the Timeless Search for Answers to Human Concerns

The Golden Age of Hellenistic Jewellery: Art, Craft, and Symbolism at the Benaki Museum

The Archaeological Site and Polycentric Museum of Aigai

Philippi: a “small Rome” in Macedonia

I.A.

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The Executive Board of UNESCO, on April 14^th, unanimously decided to approve the designation of February 9^th as “World Greek Language Day”. The date marks the anniversary of the death of Greece’s national poet, Dionysios Solomos, who passed away in 1857. The official proclamation will take place during the 43^rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, in November 2025. The decision of the Executive Board recognizes the universality and the global contribution of the Greek language to the cultural heritage of humanity. It underlines, among other things, the unbroken continuity of 40 centuries of oral tradition and 35 centuries of written tradition of the Greek language, its influence on all other European languages, as well as the fact that it remains to this day an inexhaustible source of international scientific terminology. On this occasion, GNA presents two elements connected to the written Greek language that were inscribed on the UNESCO “Memory of the World” International Register in 2023 and 2015, respectively, "The Lead Tablets of the Dodona Oracle" (Part 1) and "The Derveni Papyrus: The oldest book of Europe” (Part 2).

The lead tablets of Dodona are a unicum in the ancient Greek world dated from the 6^th century BC to the mid-2^nd century BC, on the basis of script characteristics. They are small pieces of lead strips (measuring not more than ca. 13,20 cm long and 6,70 cm wide), on which questions were inscribed, addressed either only to Zeus or to him and Dione, his cult partner at the Dodona Oracle. In total, more than 4,000 lead tablets have been discovered, scattered within the site of Dodona. Most of the unique authentic tablets of Dodona are kept in the Archaeological Museum of Ioannina.

The pilgrims of the Oracle wrote their question on one side of the lead sheet and then fold or roll it up, enclosing the question inside. Regarding their subject, the questions are divided into public and private. Public questions are relatively few. They are asked by cities or “koina”, and usually concern political or religious matters. Most private questions are usually asked by men, less often by women or couples, and comprise aspects that occupy people at all times and cause them stress, such as family, health, career, travel, property disputes. On the 24^th of May 2023, the lead tablets were included to the UNESCO’s list ”Memory of the World” (Source: National Archaeological Museum, archaeology.wiki/blog)

Bronze oak branch with leaves, Dodona, 4^th-3^rd century BC, National Archaeological Museum (left), Lead tablet from Dodona in Corinthian Boustrophodon script. Hermon asks to which god he should pray to have useful descendants by his wife Kretaia, Archaeological Museum of Ioannina, 525-500 BC (right)

At Dodona, oracular consulting was given through the interpreting of the rustling of oak-leaves, or of the cooing of doves (peleiai), of the flight of birds nesting in the oak trees, as of the murmuring of the waters from the sacred spring or of the clanking of brazen vessels which were hung on the branches of the oak-trees, reminding of modern wind chimes.

The lead tablets give us a direct and unbiased access to the concerns of enquirers. They do not only attest different dialects, but also different handwritings given the multitude of people that visited the oracle over the centuries. Due to the typological variety of the questions and the very diverse origins of the inquirers, the tablets are a set of finds that not only allows a unique insight into the cult practice of the Oracle but also offers instructive information about socio-historical and political contexts and backgrounds, as well as epigraphy and dialectology (Source: UNESCO, Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina)

Folded lead tablet (upper left), Lead tablets: M30 (upper right), MI 1724 (middle) and MI 11477 (lower), Archaeological Museum of Ioannina (Source: Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina)

The first oracular tablets were found in 1876-77 by archaeologist Konstantinos Karapanos. Many of the tablets that came to light were published by him in Paris, in 1878, in his work “Dodone et ses ruines/Dodona and its ruins”. The bulk of the tablets, which survive today, came to light during the systematic excavations of Dimitrios Evangelides in 1929-1935 and 1952-1959 and were continued after his death by his collaborator Sotiris Dakaris. Dodona Online (DOL) is a project whose purpose is to edit online the oracular tablets (lamellae) from Dodona. (Source: archaeology.wiki/blog)

Aerial view of the archaeological site of Dodona (Source: Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina)

The oracle shrine (christirion) at Dodona is located in the northwestern part of Greece, in Epirus, 22km south-west of the city of Ioannina. Placed in the narrow valley east of the foothills of Mt Tomaros, 600 meters above sea level, it used to be most easily accessible from the coast of Thesprotia. It was probably the oldest and most prominent Oracle in the early ancient Greek world, dated to the 2^nd millennium BC, yet soon it became second to importance after the oracle shrine of Delphi. In the early 3^rd century BC, King Pyrrhus made Dodona the religious capital of its domain, adding a number of significant buildings around the oracle such as the temple of Dione. Though quite downgraded from then on, it was active up until the rise of Christianity in 390 AD, when Emperor Theodosius silenced the oracle, closed the temple and cut down its only one surviving oracular oak tree.

Dodona, the Hiera Oikia (Holly Residence - Temple of Zeus) with the oracular oak-tree had a rectangular structure, measuring 20.80x19.20 m and at least four building phases (Source: odysseus.culture.gr, Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina)

The oracle shrine at Dodona was initially dedicated to mother earth (Gaia), who was known as Dione there and later to the couple of Zeus and Dione; in early historic times the sanctuary was an oak tree surrounded by a sacred forest of oak trees with a spring on its foot, sacred to Zeus. Aristotle (Meteorologica) considers the site of Dodona to be the cradle of Hellenes, known as the ancestors of the entire Hellenic race. The Homeric epics inform us that the Oracle was dedicated to Zeus, the lord of Dodona, god of the Pelasgians (i.e. the ancient inhabitants of Greece). According to Homer, Zeus’s priests were barefoot and used to sleep on the ground under the divine oak-tree, and so we can assume that at first there was probably only an outdoors altar in proximity to the oak trees while the temple and the surrounded buildings were constructed in later years (from the 4^th century BCE and on).

An integral part of the Dodona sanctuary, the ancient theatre of Dodona counts among the largest and best preserved ancient Greek theatres, able to accommodate about 18,000 spectators. It was erected during the period of King Pyrrhus (297-272 BC) (Source: travelioannina.com, odysseus.culture.gr)

Offerings to the divine couple of Zeus and Dione are dated as early as in the 8^th century BC. Among them there were jewellery, weapons, statuettes and many bronze tripods and artifacts. (Source: odysseus.culture.gr, visitgreece.gr)

Bronze figurine of Zeus Ceraunaeus from the Sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona, 470-460 BC, National Archaeological Museum. The thunderbolt is a symbol of the presence and authority of the omnipotent god, who seeks to impose the divine order in the world (left), Bronze eagle standing on a lotus blossom, once mounted on the scepter of Zeus, height 10 cm, Dodona, 6th–5th century BC, National Archaeological Museum. According to mythology, Zeus was often depicted with the eagle as a sign of his presence and influence over people and the world. The eagle stands on a lotus blossom, which can be interpreted as a symbol of abundance and divine protection (right).

Bronze figurine of a hoplite or hoplitodromos in stride, possibly part of the decoration of a bronze cauldron, 530–510 BC, Dodona, Sanctuary of Zeus and Dione, Archaeological Museum of Ioannina (left), Horseman–Dioskouros from Dodona, ca 570 BC, a work of Corinthian inspiration from a workshop established in northwestern Greece, Athens, National Archaeological Museum, Karapanos Collection (right)

Leonard Gaultier, “Dodona”, 1615 (left), “ Juppiter Dodonaeus”, 1675, Historia Deorum Fatidicorum (right)

The following are some oracular tablets (lamellae) from Dodona displayed in a past Acropolis Museum exhibition, shedding light on people's questions and timeless human concerns.

Question concerning family issues, household, safety and health:

“How can I be relieved of this black magic quickly, before my wife deserts me?” (upper left), “Gods, it’s Myrta speaking to you, that lost her husband and I ask: will my children be united together? Will I remarry?” (upper right), “Zeus Naios and Dione, its Kleoniki asking you: should I go with another man in order to have children? To which Gods should I appeal?” (lower)

“Zeus Naios and Dione, Theon ask you: when will my daughter Thaleia marry a good man and when will she bear children?” (upper left), “Zeus Dodona and Dione, Kalliroe ask: will my brother and I manage to keep our inheritance so that I can provide a dowry for my daughter Andromache?” (upper right), "Will I be happy if I marry the daughter of Filonedes, the sister of Pamphiles?” (middle), “Zeus Naios and Dione, it’s Myrta speaking to you and I want to know if I will become a widow” (lower)

“Zeus Naios and Dione, did my eyes take sick because I neglected you?” (upper), “I am Kittos, slave of Dionysios and I ask: will he set me free as he promised?” (lower left), “Zeus Naios and Dione, is this deep winter caused by a transgression by one among us?” (lower right)

Question concerning financial issues and business:

“What is better for me, to immediately pay my debts or leave it for later?” (left), “Gods, it is Amphitimides asking you: will I get the money that Demetrios owes me?” (right)

 “Was it Pistos that stole the wool from the bed mattress?” (upper), “Did Kyniras steal the money Mnisistratos had hidden in the attic beam?” (middle), “Zeus Dodona, Kleokritos and Amphimedon ask you: did Sindos steal the flowers?” (lower)

“Zeus Naios and Dione I ask you: would it be in my best interests to migrate to Chalkis?” (upper left), “Will I, the ship and my cargo be safe on the voyage I am making to Carthage?” (upper right), “Zeus Naios and Dione, it’s Theokleides speaking: will I gain money if I go to Pharos?” (middle), “Zeus  Naios and Dione, its Alkinoos asking you: will Nikeas be well enough to fit out his workshop?” (lower)

Read also:

The Cultural Route of the Ancient Theatres of Epirus

Archaic Period – Society – Apollonian Oracles and Archaic Period – Society – Oracular Methods 

I.A.

The post Ancient Voices on Lead: the Tablets of the Dodona Oracle and the Timeless Search for Answers to Human Concerns appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

In the framework of the initiative “Exhibits of the Month”, the National Archaeological Museum presents in 2025 the cycle “Priests, Rituals, and Magic in Antiquity”. Twelve “biographies” of objects from the permanent exhibitions of the Museum’s Collections, one on the 25^th of each month, are presented to the Museum’s online followers and invite them to come and see these objects up close in the Museum. This month, a votive relief from the Oracle of Trophonios in Livadia is being presented.

Hercyna, daughter of Trophonios, was the Naiad-nymph of the small river of the same name that still flows through the city of Livadia. Her name means "Guard Dog" or "She who Wards Off". She was probably identified with the goddess Hekate for both were childhood companions of the goddess Persephone and chthonic deities associated with dogs. She is mentioned as a divinity of the lower world and a secondary deity of the chthonic oracle of Trophonios.  (Source: theoi.com , Photos: dimoslevadeon.gr)

Near the bed of the Hercyna River in Livadia, Boeotia (central Greece), a votive relief made of limestone was found in 1931. It is a tribute to the god-seer Trophonios (Trophonius), whose oracle was located in a cave near the river. The relief is particularly elongated with a narrow frame, roughly worked, perhaps to conventionally indicate the space of the cave in which the multifaceted representation is placed, on the theme of the initiation of a believer.

Votive relief, 0.33m x 0.93m, Sculpture Collection, 350-325 BC, Livadia, Boeotia,  Room 25, Hellenic National Archaeological Museum (Aristophanes’ Nephelae, verses 506-508: …descending within, as if into the cave of Trophonios…)

Twelve divine and four human figures are represented, the latter on a much smaller scale. From left to right, Cybele is depicted first, seated on a throne, with a lion, her sacred animal and symbol, next to her. The second, standing female figure holds a key, a distinctive symbol of the priestesses. Next to her is the initiate, with his head and face covered with a veil, dressed in a long chiton and a short one over. The young Dionysos follows, holding a kantharos (drinking-cup) in his right hand and a thyrsοs in his left (a pinecone tipped staff, crowned with ivy and vine leaves at the top, a symbol of the god Dionysοs). Next to him is the goat-legged and horned god Pan. Hecate follows, holding torches in her hands. In the center of the relief, Trophonios is depicted with a horn in his left hand, flanked by snakes that rise from the ground. On the right side of the scene, a table of offerings with delicacies on it, popana (cakes related with religious ceremonies and chthonic worship) and plakountes (a type of sweet made from honey or cheese, offered to gods and heroes, and playing a primary role in the ritual of sacrifices). Behind the table, three beardless young men with helmets and shields. At the right end of the scene, two men with chlamydes (men’s cloaks) and helmets on a conical form (pilos), the Dioskouri. In front of the latter, on a much smaller scale, four worshippers are depicted, probably the family of the donor/ initiate. (Source: National Archaeological Museum)

Detail from a Corinthian black-figure krater from the 6th century BC. Two men, believed to represent Trophonius and Agamedes, trapped by their heads, appear to be locked in some sort of treasury. A woman approaches to offer food. Paris, Louvre Museum.

There are two mythical versions of Trophonios (his name means "Nourisher of the Mind"). In the earliest, he and his brother Agamedes were the architects of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. In the second, they built the treasury of Hyrieus in Tanagra, Boeotia and secretly stole from it. When Hyrieus set a trap, Agamedes was caught. To save his brother from the torture, but also to prevent the identity of the thieves from being revealed, Trophonios beheaded him. Fleeing, Trophonios mysteriously disappeared into a trench in Boeotia, where his oracle was later established. Those brave enough to endure the terrifying descent received prophecies there. (Source: National Archaeological Museum)

Depiction of Trophonios in Historia Decorum Fatidicorum, Geneva, 1675. According to Pausanias, the oracle’s discovery came after a drought when Boeotian envoys, directed by the Pythia in Delphi, found the oracle with the help of a bee swarm, led by Saon from Akraifnius. Trophonius initiated him and the oracle became established. According to the ritual, honey-cakes were brought by suppliants to the oracle to placate the sacred serpents (Source: theoi.com) (left), Kabiric skyphos with a scene related to initiation. The initiate approaches from the right, with his head and face covered, end of 5^th c BC, Vase collection, National Archaeological Museum (right)

Livadia. Niches for the placement of offerings, carved into the rock of the medieval fortress, in the area of the sacred temple of Trophonios. (Photo: Photos: Foundation of the Hellenic World)

References to the oracle of Trophonios and the form of his worship are mentioned in several passages of ancient Greek literature, from the 5^th century BC to the 2^nd century AD ( Aristophanes’ Nephelae, verse 506: "First give me a honey-cake, for to descend down there sets me all a-tremble; it looks like the cave of Trophonios."). The most complete description of the oracle and its ritual belongs to the writer Pausanias (2^nd c AD), who not only visited it, but also received an oracle himself. (Source: National Archaeological Museum)

William Gell, The cave of Trophonios, c.1801-1813, © The Trustees of the British Museum

Simone Pomardi, Grotta di Trofonio/Antre de Trophonius,1820, Viaggio nella Grecia fatto da Simone Pomardi negli anni 1804, 1805 e 1806. Rome, Vicenzo Poggioli, 1820

Livadia. The southeastern section of the foundations of the Temple of Zeus Vasileos (King). (Photos: Foundation of the Hellenic World). The remains of the unfinished temple of Zeus are located to the west on the outskirts of the sacred grove of Trophonion, on the top of the hill of Prophet Elias. According to the grandiose plan, the temple was of colossal size (60m x 23m), one of the largest ever built in Greece. Probably, the effort was abandoned in the first quarter of the 2^nd c BC  due to the gradual decline in the power and importance of the Boeotian Koinon, and the lack of money for the construction of such a large building (Source: dimoslevadeon.gr)

Livadia, Spherical stones with personified representations of the Sun and the Moon, 1st c BC – 1st c AD, Archaeological Museum of Chaironeia. (Photos: Foundation of the Hellenic World)

The temple, the holly grove, the oracle of Trophonios, and surrounding buildings were located near the springs of Erkyna (now Krya) in Livadia, extending possibly to the nearby gorge and medieval castle hill. The site has been lost over time, with only epigraphic and philological sources providing insights into its structure and function.

The complex ritual of the Trophonius Oracle. (Photos: Foundation of the Hellenic World). Watch the video:  https://youtu.be/7c_wNTG3o6w

Pausanias notes that many elements of the oracle's complex ritual were still practiced in his time. Seekers first stayed, for a certain number of days, in a house dedicated to the Good Daemon and Good Fortune, where they followed the established rules of purification rituals: bathing in the Erkyna waters, making sacrifices to Trophonios, his children and various gods, and having animal entrails examined for omens. After a final sacrifice in the "pit of Agamedes," they descended into the oracle cave. The descent (katavasis) was a purification ritual. The seekers, guided by two thirteen-year-old boys from the city, bathed, were anointed with oil, and drank from the Lethe and Mnemosyne springs to forget all their worries and later remember their experience. They prayed before the cult statue of Trophonios by the sculptor Praxiteles, resembling Asclepius with a scepter and snakes, and then dressed in a linen tunic, crawled into a narrower, dark, cavernous opening, offering sweets to the god's serpents. No one knows what happened during their underground stay. Afterward, when the oracle-seekers came out, probably unconscious, the priests questioned them about their dramatic experience, interpreting it and allowing them to regain strength before leaving. The seekers recorded their experience on tablets left in the sanctuary. (Source: dimoslevadeon.gr, Foundation of the Hellenic World)

Romeyn de Hooghe, The temple, the holly grove, oracle of Trophonios, 1687, Rijksmuseum

Livadia is the capital city of Boeotia, situated at an altitude of 160 meters and 130 km from Athens. It lies at the foot of Mount Helicon, with the small River Erkynas flowing through it. The presence of nature in the city is striking. Dominating the skyline is the Medieval Castle, perched on Prophet Elias hill, which offers a breathtaking view of the surrounding green landscape. The area of Krya, where the gorge through which the Erkynas River flows ends, is a special place— a natural park with dense vegetation and small waterfalls. Additionally, within the gorge is the Ancient Theater of Livadia, known for its excellent acoustics, which hosts many events during the Trophonia Festival in the summer. Several archaeological sites from different periods provide visitors the opportunity to explore the city's rich history.

Read also: Archaic Period - Society - Apollonian Oracles and Archaic Period - Society - Oracular Methods (Source: Foundation of the Hellenic World)

Delphi: the navel of the ancient world

I.A.

The post Unveiling the Mysteries of Ancient Greece: The Dream Oracle of Trophonios in Livadia appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

Greece has begun its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council on January 1^st 2025. On December 6, the 79th Plenary Session of the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the Resolution on “Return or Restitution of Cultural Property to the Countries of Origin” spearheaded by Greece, with 146 co-sponsorships. This represents the highest number achieved to date and was the first occasion on which all 27 EU Member States, co-sponsored the resolution. highlighting EU unity on such a sensitive political issue.

“It is of the utmost importance for us all to recognize that the protection of human life will always remain our primary concern, but that respect for a people’s cultural identity is also vital. While human life is of greater importance than objects, it is nevertheless necessary to respect the rules for the protection of cultural property, as it is the collective memory of humanity and symbolizes human life itself,” explained Ambassador Evangelos C. Sekeris, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations addressing the Assembly.

The resolution aims at achieving interstate cooperation in protecting cultural property against illicit trafficking in times of peace and war, as well as establishing a common framework of respect for tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Practically speaking, member states will be required to ensure documented proof of origin and provide certificates for cultural goods traded internationally, including those traded online. 

Throughout the years, the UN and UNESCO in particular have played a pivotal role in combating illicit trafficking and promoting the return of cultural property. This is being done through initiatives such as the 1970 UNESCO Convention (on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property) and partnerships with INTERPOL and other organizations.

Going one step further, the newly adopted Resolution expresses serious concern about cultural property removed before the 1970 Convention and calls for its return.  It also encourages the return and restitution of stolen and illegally possessed cultural property to their historic environment.

This Greek initiative is a remarkable diplomatic success given the fact that Resolutions tabled by only one country are rarely adopted by such a large number of co-sponsors. The cross-regional support of the Resolution, with a wide and diverse group of co-sponsoring member states, illustrates the change in attitude on the issue of the return or restitution of cultural property and the high visibility this has gained in recent years.  It is also a very promising beginning for Greece’s tenure as a non-permanent in the Security Council, starting January 2025. 

Protection of world cultural heritage and the Restitution of the Parthenon Sculptures

Recently, Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni addressed the International Symposium titled "Old and New Threats to Global Cultural Heritage: The Role of Prevention," (16.12.2024) organized by the Ministry of Culture to mark the 70th anniversary of the Hague Convention (1954) and the 25th anniversary of its Second Protocol (1999). The event, hosted at the War Museum of Athens, highlighted the significance of international collaboration in safeguarding cultural heritage from evolving threats.  Minister Mendoni emphasized that cultural heritage protection is a top priority for Greece, both tangible and intangible, regardless of its geographic location or historical depth. She underlined Greece’s successful efforts in repatriating illegally exported artifacts, achieved through a coherent policy and the use of institutional tools. Mendoni reiterated that new and complex threats to heritage transcend borders and often occur even in times of peace, making international cooperation vital for effective prevention.  

A meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (3.12.2025) has reignited discussions in the UK media about the potential return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece. Greek officials emphasize that the Sculptures were taken unlawfully and are integral to Greece’s heritage, pushing for their permanent return.

The sculptures are part of a 2,500-year-old frieze that was taken from the Acropolis in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin and put on display in the British Museum. Athens says they were removed illegally and wants them returned so they can be displayed alongside the rest of the Parthenon Sculptures at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

The British Museum is banned by law from giving the sculptures back to Greece, but extensive talks have been held on a long-term loan arrangement. According to sources quoted by British news publication the Guardian, “It is envisaged that any agreement will be underpinned by a cultural partnership between the two countries, with the sculptures returned to Athens and reunited with other pieces currently on display at the Parthenon galleries of the Acropolis Museum – in exchange for blockbuster art works that will take centre stage in rolling exhibitions in London.”  Public opinion in the UK appears to favor the  return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece, a, with a YouGov poll showing 53% support for their return.

I.L. with information from News and Documentation Bulletin, Department of Analysis and Research, Directorate E2 of International Communication, Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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