A new study published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization presents an alternative explanation for how city-states emerged in ancient Greece. Instead of being solely the result of war, geography, or internal politics, the study argues that the true driver of those societies was trade. More specifically, the advantage each city had in […]
Ancient Greece
Posted inAncient Greece
Secrets of Athenian Warship Names Uncovered: A Psychological Strategy?
A recent study published in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology analyzed 279 trireme names recorded in 4th-century BCE inscriptions and concluded that the ancient Athenians carefully selected names for their warships as a psychological tool to unite and inspire crews and strengthen their morale and performance in battle. Triremes were fast and deadly ships powered […]
Posted inAncient Greece
The Minoan Moulds of Palaikastro, used to manufacture the first portable eclipse calculator 3,800 years ago
Near the town of Palaikastro, located at the eastern end of the island of Crete, lies the archaeological site of a city from the Minoan civilization, which flourished on the island during the Bronze Age. Its original name is unknown, and it was abandoned approximately around 1200 BCE. But before that, the site was an […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Antiquity
Interpretatio Graeca, the way the Greeks identified the gods of other religions with their own
It is commonly believed that the Romans copied the Greek pantheon, merely changing the names of the gods. In reality, it wasn’t exactly like that; it was an assimilation that had begun in Etruscan times and later expanded, when Hellenic culture emanating from Magna Graecia permeated life in Rome. That assimilation of divinities had the […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Ancient Rome
What Did Music Sound Like in Ancient Greece and Rome? A Study Uncovers Its Exact Tuning and Intonation with Mathematical Precision
What did the melodies that accompanied rituals, theaters, or banquets in ancient Greece and Rome more than two thousand years ago actually sound like? A mathematical analysis of all the compositions that have survived from Antiquity has allowed researcher Dan C. Baciu, from the Münster University of Applied Sciences, to reconstruct their exact tuning and […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Art
The Mystery of the Parthenon’s Interior Lighting System in Antiquity Revealed
The Parthenon temple on the Acropolis of Athens housed a colossal statue made of gold and ivory, carved by the famous sculptor Phidias in 438 BC. Its view from the entrance of the temple must have been impressive, but this was also enhanced by a carefully designed lighting system and effects that included complex openings […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Culture
Diotima of Mantinea, the Priestess Who Taught Socrates the Philosophy of Love
In his dialogues, Plato mentions an enigmatic figure who stands out both for her wisdom and her gender: a woman named Diotima of Mantinea. She was a priestess who instructed none other than Socrates in the philosophy of love, but did she really exist, or was she a literary device used by Plato to convey […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Science
Gears in the Antikythera Mechanism May Have Caused It to Malfunction
A recent study conducted by researchers at the National University of Mar del Plata (Argentina) has revealed new details about the famous Antikythera Mechanism, considered the world’s oldest computer. This device, discovered in a Greek shipwreck from the 1st century BCE, was used to predict astronomical phenomena such as eclipses and planetary movements. However, the […]
Posted inAncient Greece
The Mysteries of the Pythia, the Great Priestess of the Temple of Apollo Who Embodied the Oracle of Delphi
Sibyl, Phymonoe, Xenoclea, Aristocleia, Perialla, Themistoclea… These names will sound unfamiliar to almost everyone, and it’s no wonder, because although they belong to women of Ancient Greece, they weren’t queens or royal consorts, nor were they goddesses, muses, philosophers, or poets. These were the names of some of the most famous Pythias, that is, the […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Bias of Priene, the most prominent of the Seven Sages, recommended loving friends as if they were enemies and freed women from slavery
In the 6th century BC, at the peak of the Greek Archaic period, Priene was a small Ionian city overlooking the Aegean Sea. Located on the coast of Caria in Anatolia, north of Miletus, Priene was not known for its military power or its conquests, but for being the home of one of the Seven […]
