Category: Familiarization

Today we’ll tell you a story that will interest you greatly, since it deals with the continent we live on, Europe. Do you happen to know who Europe was??? Europe, dear friends, was a pretty Phoenician princess, daughter of Agenor and Telephasa. She was playing with her friends one day and Zeus saw her. He was so struck by her beauty that he decided to take her for himself, given the fact that he was a god who loved women. He turned himself into a beautiful white bull and swam to the shore of Asia where Europe and her friends were. When the girls saw him they all fell for him, but he bent in front of Europe and she climbed on his back. He then started swimming very fast and he took her from Phoenicia to Crete, to the same cave where he was born. This is where he disclosed his real identity to her.

Zeus’s love for Europe was so big that he gave her three presents: Talos (the bronze giant), Laelaps – a hunting dog, and the magic javelin that always hit the focused target. However, Zeus lost interest after a while and he married Europe to Asterion, the king of stars. (Men!!!!)

The story of Zeus and Europe has inspired many artists {*painting by: Tiziano (1477-1576)} through time.

Even the 2 euro coin now has an image of Europe’s abduction from Zeus as a bull.

One more thing about the etymology of the word Europe: one theory suggests that it comes from the word “Ευρυ” in Greek which means “broad” and “οπ”/οπτ” meaning “eye”, therefore Europe means “wide gazing”, someone who sees things in perspective.

Now you know!

Did you know the expression “Ariadne’s clue” ?

Well, Ariadne was King Minos`of  Crete daughter  who fell in love with   Theseus the son of the king of Athens,  Aegeas. Prince Theseus went to Crete to kill the Minotaur who had killed lots of Athens’ finest young men and women. This happened as a penalty from Crete to Athens after the Athenians had lost a war. According to this penalty, Athenians had to send every nine years 14 of their finest young people (seven boys and seven girls) to Crete to be eaten by the Minotaur. Many had tried to kill the monster, but in vain because he was hiding in the Labyrinth and there was no way out of  it. Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of string, he tied one end at the entrance and took it with him. So, after killing the Minotaur he was able to find his way out and  save himself  and the other young people. He left the expression “Ariadne’s clue” for us to use when…we have no clue!!

Some years ago, while playing “Trivial Pursuit” with friends, we came across a question: Who was the first robot in human history? We missed that question because we didn’t think of Talos! So, our story today is about him.

TALOS was a man of brass made by Hephaestus. He was given to King Minos and his duty was to patrol   the island of Crete three times a day. Whenever strangers approached, he made himself red-hot in fire and killed them when they landed. He had only one vein, which ran from the head to the ankles and was closed with a nail. When the Argonauts tried to approach Crete he threw stones at them but Medea, by her magic powers took the nail out of his vein and caused him to bleed to death.

Like all myths, the myth of Talos symbolizes a real event, which is the development of metallurgy in the pre-historic-Minoan years. People then had reached such a high level that they had created in their minds a metal hero who protected them.

Don’t we do the same these days?

Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology

Today we are going to tell you about the myth of Athena and how she became the patron goddess of Athens. Both she and Poseidon wanted to be the protector god of the city, so the king of Athens Kekrops decided to offer it to whoever gave the city the most useful gift. Poseidon hit a rock with his trident and, AMAZING ….a water fountain sprang from it! Only that …the water was from the sea, salty, therefore quite useless. With his second stroke, he offered a beautiful horse! Next was Athena` s turn: she offers them an olive tree, a much more useful gift, so it is decided to dedicate the city to her.  The Parthenon was dedicated and named after her and the most important celebration of Athens was the Panathenea , which was held every four years. During this celebration the finest young women of the city marched from Elefsina to the Acropolis of Athens, carrying a veil that they had woven during those years to wrap around the huge gold and ivory statue of the saint.

We can now understand better why we see so many olive trees in Greece, can`t we? Olive trees have always been considered blessed since they provide wood, oil, olives, even stones or pits were used for heating during hard times. Speaking of which, do you know where to find the biggest selection of olives in Athens? At the central market near Omonia (Athena’s street, by the way) where you will be able to choose the kind you prefer, if you can make up your mind, which we can never do. Armodiou is the name of the street and you can’t miss it. The nutritional value of olive oil and olives is countless, but this can be the subject of another article.