HELIOS AND SELENE ~ THE GREEK SUN GOD AND MOON GODDESS

In Greek Religion, Selene ( Ancient Greek: Σελήνη, "Moon") is the Goddess of the moon. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the Sun-God Helios, and Eos, Goddess of the dawn.She drives Her moon chariot across the heavens.

In classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo. Selene and Artemis were also associated with Hecate, and all three were regarded as lunar Goddesses, but only Selene was regarded as the personification of the Moon itself.

Selene's most well-known relationship was with a mortal named Endymion, to whom Zeus had granted the choice of when he would die; Endymion chose to fall into an eternal sleep, in order to remain ageless and deathless, even though he would never truly enjoy his immortality. Nevertheless, Selene visited Endymion each night in his place of rest near Mount Latmos.

Helios, ( Ancient and Modern Greek: Ήλιος )Selene's brother, 
 is the Source of one of the most fundamental powers of creation- sunlight. As a result, He is often worshiped as a God of life and creation. Homer describes Helios as a God "who gives joy to mortals".
Helios is married to the Oceanid Perse and their children are Aeëtes, Circe, Perses and Pasiphaë.

He appears as a benevolent God in many important stories of the Greek Religion. As a God who sees everything in His daily travel through the skies, He witnesses Persephone's abduction by Hades and He informs Her distraught mother, Demeter, about what had happened.He also gives Orion his eyesight back. Helios helps Heracles by lending Him His golden bowl, so that the hero could cross the river of Oceanus and take the cattle of Geryon. `During the Gigantomachy, Helios fought bravely along with the other Gods against the Titans.

Helios is usually depicted as a handsome young man crowned with a shining aureole .The image of Helios driving his “golden-yoked” four-horse chariot – sometimes in the company of His sisters – is one of the most recognizable images in all of Greek art. His route brings Helios across the skies each day from the east (Ethiopia) to the west (Hesperides); while at night He does the return journey in leisurely fashion lounging in a golden cup. The God was famously the subject of the Colossus of Rhodes, the giant bronze statue considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Sources : Wikipedia, Greek Gods and Goddesses 

ORPHIC HYMN TO ASCLEPIUS, THE GREEK GOD OF MEDICINE

The following video presents the Orphic Hymn dedicated to Asclepius, the God of Medicine in The Greek Religion. Asclepius is one of the most well-known Greek Gods, a Master Physician whose Sanctuaries were well- known throughout the ancient world for their treatments. Asclepius is a benevolent God, who makes His presence vividly known to those in need. ( For more information about Asclepius, click HERE ). Below the video, the lyrics are available in both English and Ancient Greek. 

Video by : Akiratos

Lyrics in English

 Asclepius Healer of all, Master Physician,   1 

You charm the many pains, misery, and disease of man,

Soothing, Doughty One, come bring back health,

And end my maladies and the strident certainty of death.

Oh life-giving Boy, Averter of ills, Blessed One!   5 

Mighty Honored Son of Phoebos Apollon,

Foe of disease, perfect ally of Hygeia ( Health ), 

Come, Happy One, Savior, lead my life to a fortunate end.

.

Lyrics in Ancient Greek

Ἰητὴρ πάντων Ἀσκληπιέ, δέσποτα Παιάν,   1

θέλγων ἀνθρώπων πολυαλγέα πήματα νούσων,

ἠπιόδωρε, κραταιέ, μόλοις κατάγων ὑγίειαν,

καὶ παύων νούσους χαλεπὰς θανάτοιο τε κῆρας.

αὐξιθαλής κόρε, ἀπαλεξίκακ’, ὀλβιόμοιρε,   5

Φοίβου Ἀπόλλωνος κρατερὸν θάλος ἀγλαότιμον,

ἐχθρὲ νόσων, Ὑγίειαν ἔχων σύλλεκτρον ἀμεμφῆ,

ἐλθέ, μάκαρ, σωτήρ, βιοτῆς τέλος ἐσθλὸν ὀπάζων.

Sources : YouTube, HellenicGods

THE PLAGUE OF ATHENS

The Plague of Athens (Ancient Greek: Λοιμός των Αθηνών/ Loimos tôn Athênôn) was an epidemic that devastated the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece during the 2nd year of the Peloponnesian War (430 BCE), when an Athenian victory still seemed within reach. The plague killed an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 people- 25% of the population-  and is believed to have entered the main city of Athens through Piraeus, the city port and sole source of food and supplies. Much of the eastern Mediterranean also saw an outbreak of the disease, albeit with less impact.The plague had serious effects on Athenian society, resulting in lack of adherence to laws and religious belief. Laws became stricter resulting in the punishment of non-citizens claiming to be Athenian. The plague returned twice more, in 429 BCE and in the winter of 427/426 BCE. Some 30 pathogens have been suggested as causing the plague.

Sparta and its allies, with the exception of Corinth, were almost exclusively land-based powers, able to summon large land armies that were nearly unbeatable. In the face of a combined campaign on land from Sparta and its allies beginning in 431 BCE, the Athenians, under the direction of Pericles, pursued a policy of retreat within the city walls of Athens, relying on Athenian maritime supremacy for supply, while the superior Athenian navy harassed Spartan troop movements. Unfortunately, the strategy also resulted in massive migration from the Attic countryside into an already highly-populated city, generating overpopulation and resource shortage. Due to the close quarters and poor hygiene exhibited at that time, Athens became a breeding ground for disease and many citizens died, including Pericles, his wife, and his sons Paralus and Xanthippus. In the history of epidemics, the 'Plague' of Athens is remarkable for the one-sidedness of the affliction as well as for its influence on the ultimate outcome of the war.

In his History of the Peloponnesian War, the historian Thucydides, who was present and contracted the disease himself and survived, describes the epidemic. He writes of a disease coming from Ethiopia and passing through Egypt and Libya into the Greek world and spreading throughout the wider Mediterranean; a plague so severe and deadly that no one could recall anywhere its like, and physicians ignorant of its nature not only were helpless but themselves died the fastest, having had the most contact with the sick. The sight of the burning funeral pyres of Athens caused the Spartans to withdraw their troops, being unwilling to risk contact with the diseased enemy. Many of Athens' infantry and expert seamen died, as well as their general Pericles. After the death of Pericles, Athens was led by a succession of leaders, whom Thucydides described as incompetent or weak. According to him, Athens finally managed to recover in 415 BCE- in time to mount a major offensive, the disastrous Sicilian Expedition.

Α reconstructed appearance of Myrtis, an 11-year-old girl who died during the plague of Athens and whose skeleton was found in the Kerameikos mass grave, National Archaeological Museum of Athens

The first corroboration of the plague was not revealed until 1994-95, when excavation revealed the first mass grave of plague victims.This grave was found just outside the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos,along with nearly 1,000 tombs, dated between 430 and 426 BCE. Excavations in this grave showed that it may have contained a total of 240 individuals, at least ten of them children. Skeletons in the graves were randomly placed with no layers of soil between them.Upon this discovery, Thucydides' accounts of the event,  as well as analysis of the remains had been used to try and identify the cause of the epidemic.

Excavator Efi Baziotopoulou-Valavani, of the Third Ephoreia (Directorate) of Antiquities, reported that "[t]he mass grave did not have a monumental character. The offerings we found consisted of common, even cheap, burial vessels; black-finished ones, some small red-figured, as well as white lekythoi (oil flasks) of the second half of the 5th century BCE. The bodies were placed in the pit within a day or two. These [factors] point to a mass burial in a state of panic, quite possibly due to a plague."

According to Thucydides, the Plague of Athens, the illness began by showing symptoms in the head as it worked its way through the rest of the body. He also describes in detail the symptoms victims of the plague experienced:

Fever
Redness and inflammation in the eyes
Sore Throats leading to bleeding and bad breath
Sneezing
Loss of voice
Coughing
Vomiting
Pustules and ulcers on the body
Extreme thirst
Insomnia

Diarrhea


Accounts of the Athenian plague graphically describe the social consequences of an epidemic. Thucydides' account clearly details the complete disappearance of social morals during the time of the plague:

'...the catastrophe was so overwhelming that men, not knowing what would happen next to them, became indifferent to every rule of religion or law.'
 
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War

This perceived impact of the Athenian plague on collective social and religious behavior echoes accounts of the medieval pandemic best known as the Black Death, although scholars have disputed its objective veracity in both instances, citing a historical link between epidemic disease and unsubstantiated moral panic.

Thucydides Text

Fear of the law

Thucydides states that people ceased fearing the law since they felt they were already living under a death sentence. Likewise, people started spending money indiscriminately. Many felt they would not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of wise investment, while some of the poor unexpectedly became wealthy by inheriting the property of their relatives. It is also recorded that people refused to behave honorably because most did not expect to live long enough to enjoy a good reputation for it.

Care for the sick and the dead

Another reason for the lack of honorable behavior was the sheer contagiousness of the illness. Those who tended to the ill were most vulnerable to catching the disease. This meant that many people died alone because no one was willing to risk caring for them. The dead were heaped on top of each other, left to rot, or shoved into mass graves. Sometimes those carrying the dead would come across an already burning funeral pyre, dump a new body on it, and walk away. Others appropriated prepared pyres so as to have enough fuel to cremate their own dead. Those lucky enough to survive the plague developed an immunity and so became the main caretakers of those who later fell ill.

 Kerameikos cemetery

Religious strife

The plague also caused religious uncertainty and doubt. Since the disease struck without regard to a person's piety towards the Gods, people felt abandoned by the Gods and there seemed to be no benefit to worshiping Them.The temples themselves were sites of great misery, as refugees from the Athenian countryside had been forced to find accommodation in them. Soon the sacred buildings were filled with the dead and dying. The Athenians pointed to the plague as evidence that the Gods favored Sparta, and this was supported by an oracle that Apollo himself (the God of disease and medicine) would fight for Sparta if they fought with all their might. An earlier oracle had warned that "A Dorian [Spartan] war will come, and bring a pestilence with it".

Thucydides is skeptical of these conclusions and believes that people were simply being superstitious. He relies upon the prevailing medical theory of the day, Hippocratic theory, and strives to gather evidence through direct observation. He notes that carrion-eating birds and animals disappeared as a result, though he leaves it an open question whether they died after eating the corpses or refused to eat them and were driven away:

'All the birds and beasts that prey upon human bodies, either abstained from touching them (though there were many lying unburied), or died after tasting them. In proof of this, it was noticed that birds of this kind actually disappeared; they were not about the bodies, or indeed to be seen at all.'

Aftermath

The plague was an unforeseen event that resulted in one of the largest recorded loss of life in ancient Greece, as well as a breakdown of Athenian society. The balance of power between citizens had changed, due to many of the rich dying and their fortunes being inherited by remaining relatives of the lower class. According to Thucydides, those who had become ill and survived were the most sympathetic to others suffering, believing that they can no longer succumb to any illness; and a number of survivors offered to assist with the remaining sick. The plague had also contributed to Athens' overall loss of power and ability to expand. Many of the remaining Athenians were found to be metics who had forged their documentation or had bribed officials to hide their original status. A number of these people were reduced to slaves once they were caught. This resulted in stricter laws dictating who can become an Athenian citizen, reducing both their number of potential soldiers and amount of political power, but also a decline in treatment and rights for metics in Athens. 

The plague dealt massive damage to Athens two years into the Peloponnesian War, from which it never fully recovered. Their political strength had weakened and morale among their armies as well as the citizens had fallen significantly. Athens would then go on to be defeated by Sparta and fall from being a major superpower in Ancient Greece.

Edited from: Wikipedia 

THE BATLE OF ARACHOVA IN MARCH 1826 ~ THE WAR FOR GREEK INDEPENDENCE

The Battle of Arachova (Greek: Μάχη της Αράχωβας), took place between 18 and 24 November 1826 . It was fought between an Ottoman Empire force under the command of Mustafa Bey and Greek rebels under Georgios Karaiskakis. After receiving intelligence of the Ottoman army's maneuvers, Karaiskakis prepared a surprise attack in vicinity of the village of Arachova, in central Greece. On November 18th, Mustafa Bey's 2,000 Ottoman troops were blockaded in Arachova. An 800-man force that attempted to relieve the defenders three days later failed.

On November 22nd, Mustafa Bey was mortally wounded and Ottoman morale plunged, as cold weather and heavy rainfall plagued the hunger-stricken defenders. At midday on November 24th, the Ottomans made a disastrous attempt at breaking out. Most were killed in the fighting or perished from the cold. The Greek victory at Arachova gained valuable time for the rebels, before the Great Powers came to their assistance a year later.

In February 1821, Filiki Eteria launched the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. By 1826, the First Hellenic Republic had been severely weakened by infighting and Ibrahim's invasion of Mani. Ibrahim's well-trained Egyptian army pillaged much of Morea, turning the tide of the war in the favor of the Ottomans. Following the decisive Ottoman victory at the Third Siege of Missolonghi on the 10th April 1826, fighting was restricted to the Siege of the Acropolis. The Ottomans seemed to have gained the upper hand in Central Greece, with many Greek rebels accepting Grand Vizier Mehmed Reshid Pasha's amnesty in order to take a break from the hardships of the war. Defeatism affected a number of Moreote Christian notables (kodjabashis) who began advocating for peace in return for a limited autonomy such as the one granted by the Ottomans to Wallachia after the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1806.

In October 1826, Greek General Georgios Karaiskakis took a number of fighters who managed to break out from Missolonghi, heading south-east towards Morea. On the 27th of October he arrived at Domvrena, besieging the 300-man Ottoman garrison who had taken refuge in tower houses. On November 14th, Karaiskakis broke off the siege after receiving news that Mustafa Bey's 2,000-man army (including 300 cavalrymen) had begun their descent from Livadeia towards Amfissa, in order to relieve the latter's garrison and protecting the Ottoman gunpowder dump at Atalanti;thus putting the Greek forces in the area in grave danger. On the early morning of November 16th, Karaiskakis reached the Hosios Loukas monastery, spending the rest of the day there. Shortly before the dawn of November 17th, Greek troops set camp at Distomo. On the same day, Mustafa Bey dispersed Greek pickets at Atalanti, later camping at the Agia Ierousalim monastery outside Davleia.

There he questioned the monastery's hegoumenos  ( abbot ) about Karaiskakis' whereabouts and whether he knew of his intention to relieve Amfissa. The abbot lied, claiming that Karaiskakis had yet to leave Domvrena and that he was oblivious to the Ottoman maneuvers. Mustafa Bey believed him, nevertheless ordering his soldiers to keep an eye on the monks and promising to execute them should one of them tried to betray his presence at the monastery. As Mustafa Bey and his lieutenant (kehaya) were discussing their future plans while dining, a monk who was fluent in Turkish overheard their conversation. The monks convened in secret, deciding to dispatch one of their number to Distomo and inform Karaiskakis of the route the Turks were to take. A young monk named Panfoutios Charitos managed to evade the Turkish sentries, inform Karaiskakis, and, again evading the Turkish guards, return to his bed before the Turks recounted the number of the monks present in the next morning.

Karaiskakis immediately ordered his officers Georgios Hatzipetros, Alexios Grivas and Georgios Vagias to occupy the church of Agios Georgios in Arachova and the surrounding houses. They were to strike the Turks with a force of 500 men, once their enemies emerged from the passes of Mount Parnassus. Small bands were stationed between Arachova and Distomo in order to signal the outbreak of hostilities, at which point the main force would come to their aid. Christodoulos Hatzipetros and his unit of 400 men covered a passage south of Arachova. Karaiskakis' secretary then sent messages to all known guerrilla bands in the surrounding areas, informing them of the impending battle.
At 10:00 on November 18th, Greek lookouts signaled that the Turks were approaching Arachova from the north–east. An advanced column of Turks arrived at the village and was waiting for the rest of the army when Albanian soldiers in Ottoman service noticed that several houses had freshly carved loopholes. Taking cover behind huge rocks standing inside the village they initiated a firefight with the Greeks. This came as a surprise to the majority of the villagers who had remained oblivious of the situation until the last minute; they now fled in panic in fear of future reprisals. The Turks continued to funnel fresh troops into the village, steadily approaching the Greek positions which were the source of continuous volleys of shots. In the meantime, Christodoulos Hatzipetros' troops redeployed to the Kumula hill overlooking the village from the south. Karaiskakis' troops appeared on the outskirts of Arachova around midday, and rebels from the surrounding areas gathered west of the village, thus completely encircling the Turks. Mustafa Bey reacted by sending a detachment of 500 infantrymen to hold Karaiskakis' advance. The rest of the Turkish army occupied a hill overlooking the village, while the detachment barricaded themselves inside the nearby houses.

Upon descending the Mavra Litharia hillock, the Greeks under Karaiskakis were engaged by the Turkish detachment that had stayed behind in the village. A quarter of an hour later the Turks had successfully repelled the attack from the hillock, moreover the Greek right flank broke ranks and fled. The situation was reversed when a unit of Souliotes under Georgios Tzavelas mounted a second offensive, killing a Turkish officer and rallying deserters to return to the battlefield. Morale in the Turkish right flank plunged, those who managed to escape were intercepted west of the village and annihilated. Yet, the Ottoman center and left flank held fast and Karaiskakis sought other ways to break the stalemate. 300 Greeks under Giotis Danglis passed west of the Zervospilies hill, taking a hill which overlooked the one the main Turkish force had occupied. This came as a complete surprise to Mustafa Bey, who led a Turkish counter attack, sword in hand. Being favored by the terrain, the Greeks crushed three waves of attackers within half an hour. In the meantime Karaiskakis overcame the resistance that faced him, joining his comrades in arms at the Agios Georgios church. The Turkish camp was surrounded and besieged just as night fell and hostilities were suspended.
On November 19th, the two sides exchanged fire, causing only minor damage to each other's barricades. The rest of the day was uneventful. In the early hours of  November 20th, the Greeks received 450 men in reinforcements, and most of them were sent on guard duty to the roads leading to Arachova. On November 21st, 800 soldiers under Abdullah Agha appeared outside Davleia where they broke into two forces. The smaller marched down to the Agia Ierousalim monastery while the larger headed towards Zemeno. Zemeno was to be the point where Abdullah Agha would strike the Greek rear, enabling Mustafa Bey to break out of the encirclement. The first formation was to act as a distraction.

Mustafa Bey's troops hurriedly attacked Zemeno before Abdullah Agha's arrival and were pushed back. In the meantime, Abdullah Agha's vanguard was ambushed at a narrow passage leading to Zemeno. 30 Turks were killed and many were wounded before a disorganized retreat was conducted; the rebels captured 80 animals packed with supplies. The situation in the Turkish camp was desperate, as cold weather and heavy rainfall plagued the hunger-stricken defenders. His soldiers pressured Mustafa Bey into negotiations. Karaiskakis demanded that the Turks hand over all their weapons and money, give the kehaya's and Mustafa Bey's brother as hostages, and abandon Livadeia and Amfissa, promising safe passage in return. The terms were rejected, by a messenger who exclaimed "War!" three times. In the morning of  November 22nd, Karaiskakis ordered salvos to be fired on the Turkish camp from all sides.

Mustafa Bey, who had emerged from his tent to encourage his troops, was mortally wounded in the forehead. On the following day the kehaya assumed command, as a snowstorm swept through the area. Once Mustafa Bey's condition became known to his officers, the Albanian officers threatened to lay down arms unless the terms of the Greeks were satisfied. On the midday of  November 24th, 700 Ottomans charged at a small picket guarding the road towards the Agia Ierousalim monastery. At the same time, Abdullah Aga ordered the retreat of his forces. Although the initial breakout was successful, the Greeks regrouped, splitting the Turks in half. The 500 Turks who still held the camp were surrounded and slain, as were most of those who broke out. The soldiers who encountered the kehaya ignored his pleas for mercy as they did not speak Turkish, and killed him.

Out of the initial force of 2,000 men, only 300 Turks survived the onslaught, escaping with the help of a Greek turncoat named Zeligiannaios; most of them perished in the snowstorm. The Greeks took 50 prisoners, most of whom also died from the effects of hypothermia. Greek losses amounted to 12 killed and 20 injured. The Greeks also captured all the pack animals that were still alive, 23 flags and large amounts of weaponry and ammunition. Karaiskakis ordered the construction of a pyramid of 300 severed heads, in accordance with the Ottoman tradition. A stone was placed in front of the pyramid bearing the inscription "Tropaion of Greek victory over the barbarians" while the heads of Mustafa Bey and the kehaya were placed on its sides. The severed ears of the slain Ottomans were cured and shipped to the Greek capital of Nafplio, mimicking another Ottoman practice of celebrating significant victories. The victory was widely celebrated in the liberated areas of Greece and became the subject of a folk song that was recorded in Karaiskakis' journals.

After his victory at Arachova, Karaiskakis sought to disrupt Mehmed Reshid Pasha's supply lines between Thessaly and Attica. On December 5th 1826, his troops destroyed a large Turkish supply convoy at Tourkochori in the vicinity of Atalanti. In the meantime, the Ottomans continued to transfer troops towards south Central Greece, aiming at breaking the Greek siege of Amfissa the reinforcing the Ottoman force blockading Acropolis. The victory at Arachova won Greece valuable time before the persistence of the Greek revolutionaries and the war crimes of their adversaries, led the Great Powers to sign the 1827 Treaty of London which resulted in their intervention into the war on Greek side; decisively turning the tide of the War against the Ottomans.

Source :Wikipedia

CARNEADES OF CYRENE

Carneades, (214–129/ BCE) was an Academic skeptic born in Cyrene. By the year 159 BCE, he had started to refute all previous dogmatic doctrines, especially Stoicism, and even the Epicureans whom previous skeptics had spared. As head of the Academy, he was one of three philosophers sent to Rome in 155 BCE, where his lectures on the uncertainty of justice caused consternation among leading politicians. He left no writings and many of his opinions are known only via his successor Clitomachus. He seems to have doubted the ability not just of the senses but of reason too in acquiring truth. His skepticism was, however, moderated by the belief that we can, nevertheless, ascertain probabilities of truth, to enable us to live and act correctly.
Carneades, the son of Epicomus or Philocomiis, was born at Cyrene, North Africa in 214/213 BCE. He migrated early to Athens, and attended the lectures of the Stoics, and learned their logic from Diogenes. He studied the works of Chrysippus, and exerted his energy of a very acute and original mind in their refutation.

He attached himself to the Academy, which had suffered from the attacks of the Stoics; and on the death of Hegesinus, he was chosen to preside at the meetings of Academy, and was the fourth in succession from Arcesilaus. His great eloquence and skill in argument revived the glories of his school; and, defending himself in the negative vacancy of asserting nothing (not even that nothing can be asserted), carried on a vigorous war against every position that had been maintained by other sects.

In the year 155 BCE, when he was 58 years old, he was chosen with Diogenes the Stoic and Critolaus the Peripatetic to go as an ambassador to Rome, in order to deprecate the fine of 500 talents which had been imposed on the Athenians for the destruction of Oropus. During his stay at Rome, he attracted great attention due to his eloquent speeches on philosophical subjects, and it was here that, in the presence of Cato the Elder, he delivered his several orations on Justice. The first oration was in commendation of the virtue of Roman justice, and the next day the second was delivered, in which all the arguments he'd made on the first were refuted, as he persuasively attempted to prove that justice was inevitably problematic, and not a given when it came to virtue, but merely a compact device deemed necessary for the maintenance of a well-ordered society. Recognizing the potential danger of the argument, Cato was shocked at this and he moved the Roman Senate to send the philosopher home to his school, and prevent exposure of Roman youth to the threat of re-examining all Roman doctrines. After this, Carneades lived 27 years in Athens.

Carneades was succeeded (137/136 BCE) by Polemarchus of Nicomedia, but he died 131/130 BCE and was succeeded by Crates of Tarsus. Carneades died at the advanced age of 85 (although Cicero says 90), in 129/128 BCE. After the death of Crates of Tarsus in 127/126 BCE Clitomachus became head of the Academy.

Carneades is described as a man of unwearied industry. He was so engrossed in his studies, that he let his hair and nails grow to an immoderate length, and was so absent at his own table (for he would never dine out), that his servant and concubine, Melissa, was constantly obliged to feed him. Latin writer and author Valerius Maximus, to whom we owe the last anecdote, tells us that Carneades, before discussing with Chrysippus, was wont to purge himself with hellebore, to have a sharper mind. In his old age, he suffered from cataract in his eyes, which he bore with great impatience, and was so little resigned to the decay of nature, that he used to ask angrily, if this was the way in which nature undid what she had done, and sometimes expressed a wish to poison himself.
Carneades is known as an Academic skeptic. Academic skeptics (so called because this was the type of skepticism taught in Plato's Academy in Athens) hold that all knowledge is impossible, except for the knowledge that all other knowledge is impossible.

Carneades left no writings, and all that is known of his lectures is derived from his intimate friend and pupil, Clitomachus; but so true was he to his own principles of withholding assent, that Clitomachus confesses he never could ascertain what his master really thought on any subject. In ethics, which more particularly were the subject of his long and laborious study, he seems to have denied the conformity of the moral ideas with nature. This he particularly insisted on in the second oration on Justice, in which he manifestly wished to convey his own notions on the subject; and he there maintains that ideas of justice are not derived from nature, but that they are purely artificial for purposes of expediency.

All this, however, was nothing but the special application of his general theory, that people did not possess, and never could possess, any criterion of truth.

Carneades argued that, if there were a criterion, it must exist either in reason (logos), or sensation (aisthêsis), or conception (phantasia). But then reason itself depends on conception, and this again on sensation; and we have no means of judging whether our sensations are true or false, whether they correspond to the objects that produce them, or carry wrong impressions to the mind, producing false conceptions and ideas, and leading reason also into error. Therefore, sensation, conception, and reason, are alike disqualified for being the criterion of truth.

But after all, people must live and act, and must have some rule of practical life; therefore, although it is impossible to pronounce anything as absolutely true, we may yet establish probabilities of various degrees. For, although we cannot say that any given conception or sensation is in itself true, yet some sensations appear to us more true than others, and we must be guided by that which seems the most true. Again, sensations are not single, but generally combined with others, which either confirm or contradict them; and the greater this combination the greater is the probability of that being true which the rest combine to confirm; and the case in which the greatest number of conceptions, each in themselves apparently most true, should combine to affirm that which also in itself appears most true, would present to Carneades the highest probability, and his nearest approach to truth.

Source: Wikipedia

THE BATTLE AT THE GRAVIA INN ~ HOW 120 GREEKS DEFEATED 10,000 TURKS

The Battle at the Gravia Inn (Greek: Μάχη στο Χάνι της Γραβιάς) took place in May 8th, 1821 and was fought between Greek revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence. The Greek leader, Odysseas Androutsos, with a group of 120 men repelled an Ottoman army numbering 10,000 men and artillery, under the command of Omer Vrioni,an Albanian pasha.

Omer Vrioni planned to attack the Peloponnese with his army. He had already defeated the Greek Revolutionaries at the Battle of Alamana and executed their leader, Athanasios Diakos, one of the most emblematic figures of the Greek War for Independence. In May 1821, Vrioni set off from his base at Trikala, with his 10,000 men supported by artillery, thinking that crushing the Greek Revolution would be easy- yet, he was wrong.

Odysseas Androutsos, one of the most famous Greek commanders, realized that stopping the advance of the ottoman army into the Peloponnese was of crucial importance for the success of the Greek Revolution. On May 3rd, 1821, he arrived at Gravia with about 120 men, fully determined to resist. Together with 120 men,Androutsos barricaded himself in an old inn near the centre of the road,waiting for Vrioni and his men to arrive. 

The other two Greek captains who had come with Androutsos, Panourgias and Duovounitis, took their men and assumed higher position on the sides of the road. They did this because they assumed that Androutsos' stand at the inn would end up a disaster, like Alamana, and being on higher ground would allow them to retreat. 

When Vrioni arrived, he dispersed his men through the hills and surrounded the inn. He sent a Dervish to negotiate with Androutsos and persuade him to surrender- yet, this did not end well. Androutsos refused to surrender, foul language was exchanged between the two sides, the dervish was shot dead at the door of the inn, and Vrioni ordered the attack of his army against the Greeks. 

Immediately a detachment of Albanian soldiers charged the building and they were met by a barrage of gunfire. The albanians were forced to retreat under heavy fire and suffered many casualties from the concealed Greeks. The ottomans tried to attack 2 more times, yet their efforts had the same grim outcome- coming face to face with relentless gunfire and fierce resistance, they were forced to retreat.

Seeing his supposedly invulnerable army suffering heavy losses by a handful of Greek Rebels, enraged Vrioni - 300 of his soldiers were dead and 800 were wounded within only a couple of hours of fighting. He decided to blow up the inn and ordered the cannons to be brought. However, Androutsos had guessed his intentions. Late that night, he and his men managed to leave the inn and escape through the Ottoman enemy lines undetected. The Greeks had lost only 6 men in the Battle. 

The Battle at the Gravia Inn is considered extremely important to the outcome of the Greek Revolution. Vrioni, arrogant after his victories was violently shocked into uncertainty. He decided to retreat to the island of Euboea, just off the coast of Attica, where he would later join forces with Kioshe Mehmet. By forcing Vrioni to retreat, Androutsos allowed the Greeks in the Peloponnese to have more time to consolidate their gains as well as to capture the Ottoman capital of the Peloponnese, Tripoli.

Source: Wikipedia

1821 ~ THE BEGINNING OF THE GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

On the 17th March 1821, war was declared on the Turks by the Maniots at Areopoli, in the Peloponnese capital of Mani.

An army of 2,000 Maniots under the command of Petros Mavromichalis, which included Theodoros Kolokotronis, his nephew Nikitaras and Papaflessas, advanced on the Messenian town of Kalamata, which had an Ottoman garrison and they captured the city on March 23.

The Peloponnese, with its long tradition of resistance to the Ottomans, was to be the heartland of the revolt. In the early months of 1821, with the absence of the Turkish governor Mora valesi Hursid Pasha and many of his troops, the situation was favourable for the Greeks to rise against Ottoman occupation.

Theodoros Kolokotronis, a renowned Greek klepht who had served in the British army in the Ionian Islands during the Napoleonic Wars, returned on January 6, 1821, and went to the Mani Peninsula. The Turks found out about Kolokotronis’ arrival, and demanded his surrender from the local bey, Petros Mavromichalis, also known as Petrobey. Mavromichalis refused, saying he was just an old man.

The crucial meeting was held at Vostitsa (modern Aigion), where chieftains and prelates from all over the Peloponnese assembled on January 26. There the klepht captains declared their readiness for the uprising, while most of the civil leaders presented themselves skeptical, and demanded guarantees about a Russian intervention.

Nevertheless, as news came of Ypsilantis’ march into the Danubian Principalities, the atmosphere in the Peloponnese was tense, and by mid-March, sporadic incidents against Muslims occurred, heralding the start of the uprising. The traditional legend that the Revolution was declared on March 25 in the Monastery of Agia Lavra by the Archbishop of Patras Germanos is a later invention.

The date has been established as the official anniversary of the Revolution, and is celebrated as a national day in Greece.

Source: Greek City Times 

THE GREEK REVOLUTION AGAINST THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE ~ THE GREAT GREEK FIGHTERS

The Greek War of Independence of 1821 is the stuff of legend, as the outnumbered, poorly armed Greeks fought against an entire empire with a standing army, which had conquered a big part of Europe and Asia Minor.

Enslaved for almost four centuries, Greeks finally said “no more” and launched an attack against the all-powerful Ottoman Empire. “Freedom or Death” was their motto and, indeed, many gave their lives to liberate Greece and establish the modern Greek state.

The heroes were many, but some of their leaders stood out for conspicuous bravery, contributing greatly to the noble cause and Greece’s eventual victory.

Theodoros Kolokotronis

(April 3, 1770 – Feb. 4, 1843). Kolokotronis is the  iconic leader of the Greek revolution (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. Theodoros was born at Ramavouni in Messenia into a family of rebels and grew up in Arcadia in the central Peloponnese.The Kolokotronis clan was powerful and respected in Arcadia.This family had been in a constant state of war with the Ottomans since the 16th century, engaging in various acts of resistance. From 1762 to 1806, fully 70 members of the wider Kolokotronis family were killed by the conquerors.

Kolokotronis’ greatest military success was the defeat of the Ottoman army under Mahmud Dramali Pasha at the Battle of Dervenakia in 1822. In 1825, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in the Peloponnese. 
After the war, Kolokotronis became a supporter of Greece’s first governor, Ioannis Kapodistrias, and a proponent of an alliance with Russia.

When Kapodistrias was assassinated by a clan of Mani landowners on Oct. 8, 1831, Kolokotronis created his own administration in support of Prince Otto of Bavaria as king of Greece. However, he later opposed Otto, and on June 7, 1834, he was charged with treason and sentenced to death. He was ultimately pardoned in 1835. Kolokotronis died in 1843 in Athens.

Georgios Karaiskakis

Georgios Iskos, (Jan. 23, 1780 or Jan. 23, 1782 - April 23, 1827) the fighter later known by the surname Karaiskakis was a famous Greek kleftis, armatolos and military commander.

He was born in a monastery near the village of Mavrommati in the Agrafa mountains. At the age of 15, he formed his first band of kleftes. He was agile, cunning, brave and reckless – and rose quickly through the ranks, eventually becoming a lieutenant of the Katsantonis crew.

He was killed in action on his Greek name day, April 23, 1827, fatally wounded by a bullet in a battle in Faliro, with some historians claiming that he was killed by a British bullet for political reasons.

General Yannis Makriyannis

(1797–1864) Born Ioannis Triantaphyllou, he got his nickname from his tall figure (literally “Long John” in English). He was a Greek merchant, military officer, politician and author, best known today for his memoirs.

He joined the Greek uprising after being initiated into the 'Filiki Eteria' secret society and was arrested after he was sent to the Peloponnese in March 1821, to observe developments there. He was arrested by the Turks and tortured after his mission became known.

During the war, he reached the rank of General and led his men to notable victories. After Greek Independence was gained, he had a tumultuous public career, playing a prominent part in granting the first Constitution to the Kingdom of Greece. He was later sentenced to death but was pardoned.

Aside from being an invaluable source of historical and cultural information on the period, Makriyannis’ memoirs have also been called a “monument of Modern Greek literature,” as they are written in pure Demotic Greek. Indeed, its literary quality led Nobel laureate Giorgos Seferis to call Makriyannis one of the greatest masters of Modern Greek prose.

Athanasios Diakos

(1788 – April 24, 1821) Diakos was a Greek military commander, considered one of the greatest miitary heroes of Greece. Born Athanasios Nikolaos Massavetas in Phocis, in the village of Ano Mousounitsa, he was the grandson of a local klefti.

He was drawn to religion from an early age and was sent away by his parents to the Monastery of St. John The Baptist for his education. He became a monk at the age of seventeen and, due to his devotion to faith and good temperament, was ordained a Greek Orthodox deacon not long afterward.

Local legend has it that while at the monastery, an Ottoman pasha paid a visit with his troops and was impressed by Diakos’ good looks. The young man took offense to the Turk’s remarks (and subsequent proposal) and killed the Turkish official. Diakos was forced to flee into the nearby mountains and become a klefti. Soon afterward, he adopted the pseudonym “Diakos” (Deacon). He fought in several battles and his bravery was praised.

Diakos was captured by the Ottomans and was sentenced to death because he had killed numerous Turks. His brutal execution by impalement also made him a martyr for the Great Cause.

Papaflessas

(1788–1825) Born Georgios Dimitrios Flessas, Papaflessas was a Greek patriot, a priest and a government official from the ancient Flessas family.

A member of the 'Filiki Eteria' secret society, he took the nickname Papaflessas, literally meaning Priest Flessas. He was one of 28 children -and rumor has it that he was a womanizer like his father had been. He was ordained to the highest position of priesthood, Archimandrites, in 1819.

In 1823, Papaflessas was named Minister of Internal Affairs and Chief of Police by the government of Prince Alexandros Mavrocordatos under the name Gregorios Dikaios, the name he had when he was in Filiki Eteria. He instituted many reforms, established the mail system and built schools in various towns. He created the title of Inspector General for schools and was the first one to establish a “political convictions certificate” to be given to the friends of the government. He also took part in many battles against the Turks.

Papaflessas sided with the government when civil war erupted in 1824. He took part in the campaign in Messenia and the rest of the Peloponnese to suppress the rebels against the government. During the civil war, he was initially on Theodoros Kolokotronis’ side, but later switched due to his personal ambitions.

Papaflessas was killed during the Battle of Maniaki on May 20, 1825, fighting against the forces of Ibrahim Pasha.

Constantine Kanaris

(1793 or 1795 – Sept. 2, 1877) Kanaris was a Greek Prime Minister and admiral after he fought bravely in the Greek War of Independence.

Kanaris was born and grew up on the island of Psara, close to the island of Chios in the Aegean. He gained his reputation on the night of June 6/June 7, 1822 in the Battle of Chios, when the Greek naval forces under his command destroyed the flagship of Turkish admiral Nasuhzade Ali Pasha (or Kara-Ali Pasha) in revenge for the Chios Massacre.

The admiral was holding a celebration aboard his ship. But meanwhile, Kanaris and his men managed to place a fire ship next to it. When the flagship’s powder store caught fire, all the men aboard were instantly killed. The Ottomans lost 2,000 men, including naval officers and common sailors, as well as Kara-Ali himself. Kanaris led further successful attacks against the Turkish fleet in Tenedos in November 1822 and on Samos in August 1824.

Kanaris was one of the few freedom fighters who had won the trust of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Head of State of independent Greece. Kanaris served as minister in various governments and then as Prime Minister in the provisional government, from March 11-April 11, 1844. He served a second term (Oct. 27, 1848 – Dec. 24, 1849) and as a Navy Minister in Mavrokordatos’ 1854 cabinet.

Manto Mavrogenous

(1796 – 1848) This great lady was a heroine of the Greek War of Independence, a wealthy woman who decided to spend her entire fortune for the Hellenic cause. Under her encouragement, her European friends contributed money and guns to the revolution.

Strangely, her contribution to the Greek revolution and her bravery are mostly praised by foreign historians, while Greeks underplayed the importance of her role.

Mavrogenous was born in Trieste, then part of the Austrian Empire, now part of Italy. She was the daughter of merchant and Filiki Eteria member Nikolaos Mavrogenis and Zacharati Chatzi Bati. She was well-educated, multi-lingual and
influenced by the Age of Enlightenment.

In 1809, she moved to Paros with her family, where she learned from her father that Filiki Eteria was preparing what would become known as the Greek Revolution. When the uprising started, she moved to Mykonos, the island of her family’s origin, and invited the leaders of Mykonos to join the revolution.

Mavrogenous left her family and moved to Nafplio in 1823, in order to be in the heart of the struggle. When the war ended, Ioannis Kapodistrias awarded her the rank of Lieutenant General and granted her a dwelling in Nafplio.

Andreas Miaoulis

(20 May 1768 – 24 June 1835) Miaoulis was an admiral and politician who commanded Greek naval forces during the War of Independence.

Miaoulis was born in Euboea to an Arvanite family and settled on the island of Hydra. A corn merchant ship captain, he amassed great wealth and was chosen to lead the islands’ naval forces when they rose against the Sultan. Between May 1825 and January 1826, Miaoulis led the Greeks to victory in skirmishes off Modon, Cape Matapan, Suda and Cape Papas.

Miaoulis died on June 24, 1835, in Athens. He was buried in Piraeus near the tomb of Themistocles, founder of the ancient Athenian Navy.

Odysseas Androutsos

(1788–1825) Androutsos was born in Ithaca in 1788; however, his family was from the village of Livanates in Phthiotis prefecture. His father was Andreas Androutsos, a klepht, and his mother was from Preveza.

After losing his father, Androutsos joined the Turkish army of Ali Pasha and became an officer; however, in 1818 he joined the Filiki Eteria, which was already plotting the liberation of Greece

In May 1821, Omer Vryonis, the commander of the Ottoman army, advanced with 8,000 men, after crushing the resistance of the Greeks at the river of Alamana and killing Athanasios Diakos. The Ottomans then headed south into the Peloponnese to crush the Greek uprising.

Androutsos, with a band of about 100 men, took up a defensive position at an inn near Gravia, supported by Panourgias, Diovouniotis and their men. Vryonis attacked the inn but was repulsed with heavy casualties (over 400 dead). Finally, he was forced to ask for reinforcements and artillery but the Greeks managed to slip out before the reinforcements arrived. Androutsos only lost two men in the battle and earned the title of Commander in Chief of the Greek forces in Roumeli.

Androutsos’ glory did not last long. In the following year, 1822, he was accused by political opponent Ioannis Kolettis of being in contact with the Turks and was stripped of his command. Finally, in 1825, the revolutionary government placed him under arrest in a cave at the Acropolis of Athens. The new commander, Yiannis Gouras, who once was Androutsos’ second in command, had him executed on June 5, 1825.

Laskarina Bouboulina

(11 May 1771 – 22 May 1825) Bouboulina was a Greek naval commander, a true heroine of the War of Independence. She was born in a prison in Constantinople, but her origins were from the Arvanite community of the island of Hydra. She was the daughter of a captain from Hydra. Boubloulina married twice, first to Dimitrios Yiannouzas and later to the wealthy ship owner and captain Dimitrios Bouboulis, taking his surname.

Bouboulina allegedly joined the Filiki Etairia. She bought arms and ammunition at her own expense and brought them secretly to Spetses in her ships, to fight “for my nation.” She also organized her own armed troops, composed of men from Spetses. She used most of her fortune to provide food and ammunition for the sailors and soldiers under her command.

On March 13, 1821 Bouboulina raised her own Greek flag raised on the mast of her ship, based on the flag of the Comnenus dynasty of Byzantine emperors. Bouboulina sailed with eight ships to Nafplio and began a naval blockade. Later she took part in the naval blockade and capture of Monemvasia and Pylos.

Bouboulina arrived at Tripolis in time to witness its fall on Sept. 11, 1821 and to meet general Theodoros Kolokotronis. Two of their children, Eleni Boubouli and Panos Kolokotronis, later married. During the ensuing defeat of the Ottoman garrison, Bouboulina saved and freed most of the female members of the Sultan’s household.

Source: Greek Reporter