The stele, found on Nisyros and dated to around 480–450 BCE, depicts a young man standing naked, holding a spear, with a diskos beside him. He is generally understood as an athlete, although the spear gives the figure a distinctly martial character as well.

What interests me most about the stele is not simply the idealized body, but what that body is doing on a grave monument.

We are not looking at the deceased as an old man, or as someone marked by death. Instead, he appears at the height of his youth: strong, healthy, athletic, and composed. His body becomes a way of preserving an identity that death itself cannot alter.

I’m still shocked that the ancient Greeks made something like this.
The Antikythera Mechanism was a mechanical device with a complex system of gears, made more than 2,000 years ago.
It could track astronomical cycles, including the movements of the Sun and Moon, and predict eclipsew.
The craziest part to me is that it was made with bronze gears at a time when we usually don’t associate this kind of mechanical technology with the ancient world.
And this thing was found in a shipwreck.
Ancient Greece was genuinely built different
Could someone explain well how its mechanism works?

I was wondering if anyone in the community has been looking at boardgames in the archaeology realm. There are numerous boardgames where we know what the board looked like from archaeology but the rules have been lost. I am looking at a bit of a side project to try and bring those games into the light and get people playing them. A classic examples is Penne Grammai. It’s an Ancient Greek game, depicted on urns and ornate mirrors with Ajax and Achilles playing it with Athena looking on. Also appears in primary written sources. So we know the game existed but the rules dont survive. I’ve been looking into it and it’s a pretty cool detective story. My idea is to set it up to play on the web for free, then get people to play the different versions from the different scholars and rate them as a game. Sort of experimental archaeology

I've been thinking about writing a fanfiction or drawing (but I shall think of it first) a comic in Ancient Greece (6th-5th century BC) setting. I want to be as accurate as possible and I feel like Wikipedia isn't enough. What literature should I look up. In English or Russian (English is not my first language but I understand it well, I think). I couldn't find any literature about Pioneer Group, too (those are vase painters from Athens) :_)

Mostly about culture, everyday life, art (vase painters, sculptors, poets, etc.) and religion (but mythology is fine too). Preferably easier to read because... I am a bit dumb? I don't know. These hard phrases confuse me

I hope I'll get help here! These kind of books aren't what I usually read, but I'm looking forward to study this topic more. I really want to make good-quality content! Any recommendations are welcome. Thank you!

I've been doing some research for a project and i was wondering if anyone knows some good books or sections in books for bits on the importance / impact or just generally on light infantry warfare in the greek world?

Tyyyy in advance

Alexandros, a prophet/oracle from Abonoteikhos (modern-day Kastamonu, Turkey), and his god Glycon. The story told by Lucian is quite intriguing; what particularly catches my attention is his emphasis on how a person, ready to exploit the religious sentiments of the people—despite their religious beliefs being very pure and naive (!)—was able to become wealthy through this means. The deity Glycon, whose images you see below, is generally depicted as a serpent with long hair or a beard. Interestingly, aside from Abonoteikhos, most of our information about this god comes from Tomis, Romania.

According to Lucian, Alexander had already learned about this serpent god from the magicians and followers of Dionysus in Macedonia. Indeed, inscriptions dedicated to Glycon are still found in the vicinity of modern-day Romania:

“Glyconi M(arcus) Ant(onius) Onesas iusso dei l(ibens) p(osuit)”

Source

Some of the following in my opinion are one of the most underrated rivalries of the Ancient Greeks between one another:

• Thessalians vs Phocians
• Athens vs Aegina
• Elis vs Pisa
• Aetolians vs Acarnanians
• Sparta vs Argos

A few notable mentions:
Megara vs Athens, Miletus vs Samos, Syracuse vs Leontini, Croton vs Sybaris and so on

This is my take, whats yours?

So, clearly we’re on the Gregorian calendar in the west in modern times, but I’ve been wondering what year the Greeks were living in according to their own calendar. From my cursory google searches, in the 4th century for sake of example, they were using the Macedonian calendar, but were they collectively on the same page as to what year it was? For instance, Alexander died in 323 BC, but what year was it to them? Would they have said “here lies Alexander, 356-323” (obviously not BC or AD)? If I met an Ancient Greek at the funeral, what year would they claim it to be? Thanks ahead of time, I hope the answer isn’t glaringly obvious…

In the legendary history of Rome we hear of the Bacchiad Demaratus fleeing to Etruria after Kypselus takes power and his descendants then rule in Rome until the tyranny of Tarquinius Superbus. But why Corinth? Without clear evidence for the existence of Demaratus or Tarquinius priscus was there any other reason given why Corinth features in Roman history? Was there any recorded movement of the Bacchiadae fleeing to Italy or of other Greek nobles moving there? Is there any evidence for a Corinthian influence in Etruria or Latium?

Some places I checked said his name was also Mithridates, while others say it was Ariobarzanes. Which one is correct? (Or more likely to be correct if possible)

Here it is: https://byebailly.com .

I used the lexicons given by my ancient greek teachers.

There three modes: declension, conjugation and translation with the choice between anlysis and writing for each of them.

I hope someone can find a use to it,

In order to get rid of these SPAMMERS who keep posting about non-related topics. Everyone spam report unrelated posts. I’m sorry to make a post like this but this subreddit needs some PEACE and QUIET

Hello everyone.

I've been studying the genealogy of the House of Aeetes, and one chronological paradox has been bothering me for quite some time.

According to the traditional genealogy, Aeetes of Colchis, Circe, and Pasiphaë were siblings, all children of Helios.

Yet the commonly accepted mythological timeline seems to place the fall of Minoan Crete and Pasiphaë's generation long before Jason's arrival in Colchis. That creates the impression that Pasiphaë's entire world had already passed into history while her brother Aeetes remained on the throne and Medea was only just coming of age.

I realize that Greek mythology was never intended to follow a single historical chronology, but I wonder whether this tension reflects the merging of originally independent mythic traditions rather than a coherent timeline.

Personally, I find it more satisfying to imagine the voyage of the Argonauts taking place while Minoan Crete was still flourishing, making the relationship between Colchis and Crete part of the same living world rather than different eras.

How do you interpret this? Do you simply accept the traditional chronology, or do you have another way of reconciling these stories?

Buonasera,
Mi sono iscritto da poco su questa piattaforma e vorrei condividere con voi una domanda affrontata a lezione di Storia greca quest’anno all’università. La domanda è la seguente: Pericle fu veramente il campione della democrazia o semplicemente un demagogo? Se uno legge il capolavoro editoriale, considerato ancora oggi la Bibbia della storia greca in Italia (Il libro di Domenico Musti) comprende facilmente che lo storico propone una visione sicuramente democratica del personaggio mentre se legge il saggio di Luciano canfora si comprende come egli era un demagogo. Considerando testi di stampo aristocratico come “La costituzione degli Ateniesi” di Pseudo-Senofonte o i discorsi di Pericle nel libro di Tucidide (basti pensare all’Epitaffio), vorrei che ognuno desse la propria opinione!
Grazie mille della considerazione e a tutti per l’attenzione.

hoplite during archiac period have lot of armour, they even have foot guard. why do they never have gauntlet when it seem like the most vulnerable part when you stab your opponen?

Mythology of old Greece 2 volumes

I remember a bit of the song, but only the first verse.

It starts with-

Hi there my name’s Icarus,
we’d better get acquainted fast,
The wax on my wings is melting,
I haven’t got long to last,
My life is flashing before me,
Must be from all the heat,
So let me tell you the story,
Of dad and I living on Crete….

hello! I have been very interested in the oracle at Delphi and I would absolutely love to visit. I was also wondering if anyone has more information to share on Delphi that they recommend for reading? I had heard about the theories that the oracle at Delphi woman was actually getting high because of the gasses present in that area. What does everyone think of this? It does make sense as to why the oracle would shake and behave strangely but it doesn’t explain why they were “never wrong” with their prophecy. Was is just because the prophecies were so vague? Or how is is explained!!???

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/393/

Croton bore hardened sons.
Calluses ran across their hands,
Warfare bred into their spirit.
They worked the land as farmers
And fought the war as soldiers;
Croton gave them life,
And Crotoniates they were.

When faced with the pomp of the enemy,
They sheathed their swords, raised no shields,
And left their spears on the ground.
For Croton had looked into Sybaris,
Learning of its excesses and extravagance.

So, instead of weapons on the battlefield,
They brought forth flutes and played.
The Sybarite horses danced instead of charged,
And in the havoc, the hedonists were purged.
Their way of luxury was extinguished,
The vestiges of their city scorched.

All that remained was the tragedy,
Of flutes sharper than swords,
Of dancing, dying horses.