The Titan Gods of Orchomenos

Arnhem (nl) 2015 –1 Hellas in the bronze age. © Joost Blasweiler student Leiden University - joostblasweiler@planet.nl The Titan Gods of Orchomenos An exploration by means of myths, sites, mountains and lakes A view from the mountain Ktipas to the lakes of Paralimini and Iliki. Perhaps these lakes were connected by canals with the lake and marshy lands of Orchomenos (Kopais basin) in the ancient times. All pictures in the article by author July 2015. The kingdom of Orchomenos was located in the northern part of Boeotia. To reconstruct her history of the bronze ages one has to rely on myths and archaeological results found in these areas. The kingdom has also been mentioned by some scholars of the classical times.1 Near the modern city Orchomenos was a large tholos-tomb excavated, like one known from the Mycenaean culture in the Argolis. Other important remains of the Mycenaean and the pre- Mycenaean ages were also found, like numerous fragments of painted stucco, probably made by Mycenaean craftsmen. They once covered the walls of a palace.2 1 Homer, Iliad I. 381-382, Strabo IX.2.40; Pausanias IX.17.2; Diodorus IV.18.7. 2 Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 127. The remains of a Mycenaean palace have been found in the low-lying area at the eastern foot of Mt. Akontion in the early 1970s, just west of the church of the Panaghia Skripou. 1 The tholos tomb Orchomenos, July 2015. A single specimen of a jar inscribed with Minoan characters was also found in Orchomenos.3 Thebes appeared to be a neighbouring kingdom, which was once perhaps a partner to drain the marshy lands of the Kopais basin.4 But it is more likely that Thebes was a rival. It demolished in later times around 1200 BC Orchomenos. This destruction has been attributed to Heracles (Dod.Sic.,4.18.7)“…but in Boeotia he did just the opposite and damming the stream which flowed near the Minyan city of Orchomenos he turned the country into a lake and caused the ruin of that whole region. But what he did in Thessaly was to confer a benefit upon the Greeks, whereas in Boeotia he was exacting punishment from those who dwelt in Minyan territory, because they had enslaved the Thebans …”. In Thebes and Delphi Mycenaean artifacts have been found, as well. In 1930 Nilsson stated that the large palace, which was erected in the small island of Gla in the lake of Kopais was the most conspicuous architectural monument that the Mycenaean age left in Boeotia. Christofilis Maggidis was able to excavated this site again in 2010–2012, most of all by geophysical survey. Although the authorities in Athens abruptly decided to suspended the excavation in 2012, Maggidis could manage a great progress in the findings at the large site of Gla.5 City walls of Gla July 2015. 3 Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 128. 4 Prof. Christofilis Maggidis 2014, Rediscovering a Giant , popular Archaeology, Vol 16, has suggested this hypothesis. Ibidem, the informative article is to find via http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/fall-09012014/article/rediscovering-a-giant. 5 2 SE entrance of Gla, in the excavation of 2010-12 there appeared to be six gates, July 2015.. New map of the Gla site, © Christofilis Maggidis 2014, Rediscovering a Giant , popular Archaeology, Vol. 16. 3 Formerly one thought that the site was for the greater part not habited, but this appeared incorrect, which the new map of the site from Maggidis makes very clear. Many buildings with different functions were found, including several large, well built complexes, extensive residential buildings, circular structures (silo?), a cistern, sally ports, staircases , retaining walls and terraces. Maggidis stated in his article that “Gla may not have been merely a fort maintaining the drainage works and managing agricultural production. Apparently a whole city is located within the walls.” Only one seal was found at the site and no texts, therefore it is not know which ancient city Gla stands for. A.W. Gomme concluded in 1913 from an legend that the ancient city was either Plegyha or Gyrthon.6 According to Nilsson, Gla was probably a Turkish name for the citadel, 7 he remarked that some scholars have supposed that the city Gla was the old Arne, but this is highly doubtful. This statement seems to be confirmed by the “catalogue of ships” of the Iliad: Arne is separately mentioned in the ships of the Boeotia crew, while the ships from Orchomenos are mentioned in the realm of the Minyas.8 I think that Gla had been part to the realm of Minyas, i.e. had belonged to the kingdom of Orchomenos, and at least after the draining of the lake and the swamps of Kopais. View to the west from the Mount Akondio located above the tholos-grave of Orchemenos July 2015. 6 He concluded this from an legend in which the Plyghians attacked Thebe. The ancient name of Gla in Essays and Studies to W. Ridgeway, 1913 page 116. 7 Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 128, he referred to A.W. Person 1930, Schrift und Sprache in Alt-Kreta, 29 n.2., 8 Homer Iliad around 8ooBC, 2.494-759 –translation Samuel Butler: Peneleos, Leitus, Arcesilaus, Prothoenor, and Clonius were captains of the Boeotians. These were they that dwelt in Hyria and rocky Aulis, and who held Schoenus, Scolus, and the highlands of Eteonus, with Thespeia, Graia, and the fair city of Mycalessus. They also held Harma, Eilesium, and Erythrae; and they had Eleon, Hyle, and Peteon; Ocalea and the strong fortress of Medeon; Copae, Eutresis, and Thisbe the haunt of doves; Coronea, and the pastures of Haliartus; Plataea and Glisas; the fortress of Thebes the less; holy Onchestus with its famous grove of Neptune; Arne rich in vineyards; Midea, sacred Nisa, and Anthedon upon the sea. From these there came fifty ships, and in each there were a hundred and twenty young men of the Boeotians. Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Mars, led the people that dwelt in Aspledon and Orchomenus the realm of Minyas. Astyoche a noble maiden bore them in the house of Actor son of Azeus; for she had gone with Mars secretly into an upper chamber, and he had lain with her. With these there came thirty ships. 4 Maggidis has suggested another option for the ancient city of Gla: “Is it possible that the palatial authorities of Orchemenos moved their palace and settlement to the most strategically important and highly defensible location available after the draining of the marshland of Kopais in the 13th century BC, while using the original site of Orchomenos mainly as a burial place?“ 9 This is an intriguing hypothesis, which is not yet confirmed by any artifacts or texts. A continuation of the excavation of Gla would be very useful to come to conclusions of its origins. Ancient cities The island Gla in the drained lake of Orchemenos, © Christofilis Maggidis 2014, Rediscovering a Giant , popular Archaeology 9 Christofilis Maggidis 2014, Rediscovering a Giant , popular Archaeology, Vol 16. 5 Recently, in 2013, the Mycenaean drainage of north Kopais is throughout described. 10 One stated that the geographical division of the Boeotian plain into two parts surrounded by mountains massifs reflects also the political reality of Boeotia: the kingdoms of Orchomenos and Thebe. In the northern part, which included the Kephisos valley and the Kopais basin, Orchemenos was the major center surrounded by a network of smaller satellite-settlements; in the southern part the extensive fertile plain of Thebes, the plains of Asopos, Tanagra and the coast of the Euboean Gulf, Thebes was dominant, being supported by analogous regional settlement pattern. The old Mycenaean citadel of Thebe, known as Kadmeia, was full of sacred associations. 11 Two great openair sanctuaries of Demeter and Dionysos dominated the site. The northern retaining wall of the levee to block the Melas river (Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, 13, 2013). In the closing years of the 14th century BC (LH IIIA2) the large-scale engineering project of gigantic proportions to drain the lake and the marshland of Kopais was realized. The writers of the article stated (2013:11) that to build and maintain the drainage system makes clear that” there must have been a particularly strong and centralize authority in the region. Should we consider Orchomenos as that central power mobilizing human resources, means and material for the design, the construction and logistics of such a prestigious work ? Or are we facing a case of cooperation between two powers of the time, including the other powerful administration centre in the region, Thebes ? For the time being, the former hypothesis seems more possible“. 10 Kountouri, E., N. Petrochilos, N. Liaros, V. Oikonomou, D. Koutsoyiannis, N. Mamassis, N. Zarkadoulas, A. Vött, H. Hadler, P. Henning, and T. Willershäuser, The Mycenaean drainage works of north Kopais, Greece: a new project incorporating surface surveys, geophysical research and excavation, Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, 13 (3), 710–718, 2013. The Boeotian Kephisos river is discharged at the SE edge of the Kopias basin. Having no outlet to the sea, its water formed the lake Kopias. This body of water evaporated or drained through several sinkholes in the eastern part of the basin. This hydro-system also includes the Melas river, which is supplied by the springs of mount Akontion. 11 R.Castleden 2005, Mycenaeans, 179-180. 6 In ancient texts the prosperity of the kingdom of Orchomenos is often described as a result of the drainage of the lake and the swamps of Kopais and this is in contrast with the texts about Thebes, which do not mention this relation. Emeri Farinetti stated that: “ Ancient Orchomenos was located at a very nice spot, on a rock spur defended by the river, in the middle of a small area. The polis was in a strategic position to control incoming routes to Boeotia from Lokris Opuntian (through the area of ancient Hyettos and the mountains behind Topolia/Kastro, as well as through the opening between Prophitis Ilias and 12 Chlomon mountain to the N of Orchomenos) and from Phokis through the Kephisos valley”. The marshy character of the Melas basin is described by Plutarch. This area of Tsamali should be the swamp known as Pelekeia. There was probably a communication route within the basin that crossed it from Pyrgos to Orchomenos, though the basin was often entirely swamp. The roads coming from the west avoided the swamp going to Orchomenos or to Copais along the north. In summer the arm of the lake created a swamp collecting the water from the Kephisos and Melas. The Akontion is a long narrow ridge. (Emeri Farinetti 2009, Boeotian landscapes, II3.4, 109). Map Orchomenos ca. 1815 AD William Leake (1777-1860). Martin Nilsson remarked in 1930 that in old Boeotia lived many tribes: the Minyans, the Phlegyans, the Teminkes, the Aones, the Graikoi, the Gephyraioi and the Hyantes. According to Nilsson the Minyans, who belong to Boeotia and Thessaly as well, are related with the royal family of Orchemenos. Martin Nilsson stated that: “ Perhaps we have here a picture of the continual attempted invasions by Greek tribes coming down from the north to invade Greece. One of these tribes, The Minyans, took over the Mycenaean civilization during its late period..”.13 Herodotus mentioned that “the Minyans of Orchomenus” lived in Ionia among the many peoples of whom 12 Emeri Farinetti 2009,Boeotian landscapes. A GIS-based study for the reconstruction and interpretation of the archaeological datasets of ancient Boeotia, Dissertation– Archaealogical faculity Leiden, appendix 1.4 page 3. 13 Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 151. 7 the Ionians were composed in Asia Minor of the 1st mill.14 Nilsson described that it is likely that the Minyans were Ionians i.e. spoke an Ionian tongue.15 He has argued that almost certainly Minyans have lived in Thessaly and at the island Euboea, as well.16 In the eldest part of the myth of the Golden Fleece Athamas the king of Orchomenos has been mentioned. King Athamas also preserved in myths around the lake of Kopais. He is said to have found the town of Acraephia at the east side of the lake,17 and here, says Pausanias, there was also a field of Athamas, as one proceeded on the direct road to the lake. Quite a number of his sons are mentioned as eponymous heroes and founders of various Boeotian towns an localities. Martin Nilsson stated ”that consequently the statements that Athamas was a son of Minyas, that he was the king of Orchomenos and lived there, are not unfounded. He is of old connected with the plain around the lake of Kopais and with mount Laphystion; that’s is, with the district of Orchemenos”. In the myth of Athamas he first married Nephele, it is said by the will of the goddess Hera. Nilsson pointed to the curious fact that the first women of Athamas was actually the Cloud Nephele. From Hesiod it is known that the mother of Nephele was Tethys, who was the Titan goddess of the sources of fresh water, which nourished the earth.18 According to the myth Athamas19 and Nephele got a son Phrixus and a daughter Helle. After some time Athamas married Ino,20 a daughter of Cadmus, the king of Thebes. Apparently Nephele was cast out by Athamas. Nevertheless Ino, the sister of Semelê, was jealous of her stepchildren, perhaps because of the fact that her own sons would not become king after Athamas, as Phrixus was the heir. The myth tells us that queen Ino persuade many famers wives to roast the wheat before planting. Therefore the earth did not yield the early crops. King Athamas sent an envoy to the 14 Herodotus, Historiën, i .146. Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 155. 16 Ibidem. 17 Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 136. 18 Tethys : Hesiod, Theogony 337 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.). She was the wife of Okeanos, the earthencircling, fresh-water stream, and the mother of the Potamoi (Rivers), Okeanides (Springs, Streams & Fountains) and Nephelai (Clouds). Tethys was imagined feeding her children's streams by drawing water from Okeanos through subterranean aquifiers. Her name was derived from the Greek word têthê, "the nurse" or "grandmother." 19 There are several texts remained with variants in the narrative. 20 Her sister was SE′MELE (Semelê), which was also a daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, at Thebes, and accordingly a sister of Ino, Agave, Autonoë, and Polydorus. She was beloved by Zeus (Hom. Il. xiv. 323, Hymn. in Bacch. 6, 57 ; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. ii. 40), and Hera, stimulated by jealousy, appeared to her in the form of her aged nurse Beroë, and induced her to pray Zeus to visit her in the same splendor and majesty with which he appeared to Hera. Zeus, who had promised that he would grant her every request, did as she desired. He appeared to her as the god of thunder, and Semelê was consumed by the fire of lightning. In probably elder myth version king Athamas had four older sons than Phrixus (Victor John Matthews 1965, The early History of the Myth of the Argonauts (dis.), 161). 15 8 oracle of Delphi to inquire how to end the famine. The oracle advised to sacrifice Phrixus to Zeus21 in order to end the dearth. According to Jan Bremmer the message from Delphi presupposes that the king had committed a grave fault against the gods, which had to be punished.22 Nephele decided voluntary that she had to be offered to Zeus as well. They are however variants of the myth in which Phrixus also offered himself voluntarily. In a later myth variant is told that Athamas, together with members of the royal family and priests, walked to the mountain Laphystion near his capital. And that everything was prepared for the sacrifice to Zeus. One has strewed barleycorn on the head of Phrixus, one cut off a hair lock to consecrate him to death, and the king stands ready with a sacrifice knife. When suddenly a flying ram with a golden shining fleece appeared and demanded Phrixus and Helle to sit on his back. According to Hesiod and Ovidius.23 Nephele herself had arranged this ram or according to other poets she had asked the help of Hermes. The myth described the escape of the royal children from the sacrifice to Zeus, the weather god of Laphystion. Inside the Tholos-tomb Orchomenos July 2015. 21 Often in classical texts is mentioned that Ino persuaded the envoy to change the advice of oracle, so that Phrixus had to be offered. 22 Jan N. Bremmer 2007, The myth of the Golden Fleece, Journal Ancient Near Eastern Religions Vol. 6, page 6. 23 Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragment 38 (from Erastothenes, Catast. 19. 124) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :"The Ram [Krios]. This it was that transported Phrixos and Helle. It was immortal and was given them by their mother Nephele (Cloud), and had a golden fleece, as Hesiod and Pherekydes say." Ovid, Fasti 3. 853 ff (trans.Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.): "The seeds were burnt by the wicked stepmother's [Ino's] trick and no customary grain had sprouted. A messenger visits the oracle to fetch Delphi's sure help for the barren earth. Corrupt like the seed, he reports the oracle seeks the deaths of Helle and young Phrixus. People, time and Ino compelled a stubborn king to endure the unspeakable orders. Phrixus and his sister, headbands scarfing their brows, stand at the altars and wail their joint fate. Their mother [Nephele the cloud nymphe] sees them as she hangs upon the air, and hammers her naked breast in shock. She dives into the Dracon-born city [Thebes], enveloped in clouds, and snatches her children away. She provides a Ram shimmering with gold for their escape: it carries the two across the wide seas." Info from website The Theoi Project : Greek Mythology was created and is edited by Aaron J. Atsma, Auckland, New Zealand. 9 2. The myth of Athamas in relation with archaeological results and historical considerations. I think that quite some relations seem to appear between these myth narratives and the archeological results (and historical considerations) from the sites of Orchomenos, Gla, Thebes, Delphi and the drainage of the Lake of Kopais. a. The beginning of the myth points to the “marriage” of the king of Orchomenos and the goddess of the clouds (“the mother”), who was a daughter of the Titan goddess (“the grandmother”) of the sources of fresh water, which nourished the earth. It is known that this myth part was the eldest part of the myth of the Golden Fleece and these had at least originated from the Mycenaean time period.24 Therefore it is likely that the myth originated from a time period before the drainage of the Lake of Kopais had started or it described this time period. It was the tradition that in that time period the will of the gods inspired the deeds of the king of Orchomenos i.e. the will of the gods has to be followed and the gods actually arranged the activities and in particular the important enterprises of the kingdom. The marriage between the Cloud goddess Nephele and Athamas pointed perhaps to a harmonious relation with the deities of the rain and the sources of fresh water in the kingdom. A relation which seemed to be arranged by Hera, the wife of Zeus, who was a titan deity, as well. b. This harmonious relation seems to be disturbed by the marriage of Athamas with a daughter of Cadmus, the king of Thebes. It is known that Cadmus was the ethological founder of Thebes, the neighbouring and mighty kingdom in South Boeotia.25 One can wonder why the two kingdoms in this myth part have been closely connected. Perhaps it gives some room for the hypothesis of Christofilis Maggidis in 2014 that Thebe and Orchomenos were perhaps partners for the drainage of the lake Kopais. One can suppose that a daughter of the king of Thebes in such a marriage would not easily acted against the will of her father, so her hostile acts against the children of the goddess Nephele are remarkable. Anyway the myth seems to point that goddess of the clouds was cast out by the king of Orchomenos. I think that it is possible that the drainage of the lake and swamps of Kopais had seriously limited the evaporating of water in the kingdom and that clouds of rain were diminished of even had been disappeared temporally. The land around the formerly lake could have dried out for some years, till new vegetation on the new reclaimed land was able to 24 25 Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology ,27. Also Homer mentioned once that Cadmus was the father of Ino. Nilsson 1930/1972:123. 10 achieve a new ecological balance in the kingdom. This phenomenon is known by reclamation of lakes. The reclamation area of the lake and marshy lands of Kopais seems large enough to display this phenomenon.26 However it is not known how fast the drainage was arranged and we have no texts which confirm dry-out effects by the reclamation of the Lake of Kopais in the ancient times. The message from Delphi presupposes that the king had committed a grave fault against the gods, which had to be punished. It seems that Athamas had not only offended the deity of clouds, but also had insulted her mother Tethys, who was the Titan goddess of the sources of fresh water which nourished the earth. He had even outraged the mighty Hera, the daughter of Kronos and Rhea, who were ancient gods as well. Hera was the goddess of women and marriage. According to the Homeric poems (Il. xiv. 201, &c.), she was brought up by Oceanus and Tethys, as Zeus had usurped the throne of Cronos; and afterwards she became the wife of Zeus, without the knowledge of her parents.27 It is likely that Hera wanted to protect Nephele, the daughter of Tethys . Tthe new marriage of Athamas with a daughter of the king of Thebes is described as a great disaster for the kingdom of Orchomenos. In another myth version Athamas and Ino are punished, especially by Hera, who was angry because Athamas had rejected Nephele and because Ino had developed bad plans to the son of Nephele. And Hera was furious that Dionysos, child of Zeus and Semele, a sister of Ino, was concealed and raised up in the palace of Athamas. Athamas became so insane by Hera, that he beat his son Learchus death. The Dionysos-child saved Ino and her youngest son Melicertes by blinding Athamas. But they were so frightened, that they sprung from the rocks into the sea. Zeus transformed them in sea gods, because Ino had nursed Dionysos.28 Herodotus himself discusses the perpetual sin placed upon Athamas and his descendents, because of the plotting of his son’s death with his new wife Ino. However, Herodotus tells us that Cytissorus was the one who saved Phrixus from sacrifice, and not a flying ram as in the myth. Herodotus 26 The reclamation of the Northeast Polder (1942) in the Netherlands caused many years dry-out effects on the neighboring mainland, therefore the following polders in the Zuider Zee were constructed with lakes between the new polders and the mainland. The Northeast Polder has a surface of 460 km2. 27 The Theoi Project : Greek Mythology was created and is edited by Aaron J. Atsma, Auckland, New Zealand. Website copyright © 2000–2011 Aaron Atsma. 28 In an variant part Athamas fled charged by blood-guilt, he settled himself in Phthiōs, married Themisto, who gave him four children, and he founded the city Halus. Dr. J.G. Schlimmer and Dr. Z.C. De Boer 1910, Woordenboek Griekse en Romeinse Oudheid, 97. 11 (Histories VII-197) shows in his narrative how king Xerxes is informed by a local legend about the Laphystian Zeus: “The story is that Athamas, the son of Aeolus, plotted with Ino the death of Phrixus ; subsequently the Achaeans in obedience to an oracle laid a penalty upon the descendants of Phrixus and his son Cytissorus: this was that the eldest son of the family should be forbidden to enter the Council Chamber- or People’s House, as the Achaeans call it – and that they themselves should keep watch to see that the ban was upheld. If one of them does enter the Chamber, he can never get out again except to be offered as a sacrifice”. “The reason why the descendants of Cytissorus and Phrixus are forced to endure this treatment is that when the Achaeans were about to kill Aeolus’ son Athamas as a sin-offering, or scapegoat, on behalf of the their country, Cytissorus came from Aea in Colchis and rescued him, thus calling down the wrath of God upon his descendants”. 29 Delphi: the place where probably a sanctuary of Gaia has been found, July 2015. c. King Athamas sent an envoy to the oracle of Delphi, which is situated not far from Orchomenos. Delphi has rich remains from the Mycenaean age. The French excavators concluded that a female deity, perhaps a mother earth goddess, appeared at Delphi some time after the Neolithic period. Afterwards the place was dedicated to Athena and Apollo.30 Already in the classical times one did know that Apollo was not the founder of the oracle. Aischylos wrote that the oracle was dedicated 29 Aubrey de Sélincourt 1972, Herodotus The Histories, 510. 30 Martin P. Nilsson 1949, The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and its Survival in the Greek Religion, 467-478. 12 to Earth goddess Gaia and later to her daughter Themis. Themis was identified especially in the role of the oracular voice of earth. Afterwards the oracle was given to her sister Phoibe , and finally to Appolo. Pausinias stated that Gaia and Poseidon were the first owners of the oracle. Inside the temenos of the Apollon a sanctuary of Gaia was found and inside the most sacral part of the Apollo temple an altar of Poseidon.31 Therefore it is likely that the king of Orchomenos got an advice of the oracle, which was dedicated to an earth goddess: Gaia or Themis. Zeus, who was needed to end the famine, was the son of Rhea, who also was a daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and according to Hesiod Rhea was the sister of Oceanus. The 13th century BC fort at Krisa near Delphi may have been a dependency of Orchomenos designed to define its western frontier.32 GAIA (or Gaea) 33 was the primeval divinity) of earth, one of the primal elements who first emerged at the dawn of creation, along with air, sea and sky. She was the great mother of all : the heavenly gods were descended from her union with Ouranos (the sky), the sea-gods from her union with Pontos (the sea), the Gigantes from her mating with Tartaros (the hell-pit) and mortal creatures were sprung or born from her earthy flesh. In myth Gaia appears as the prime opponent of the heavenly gods. First she rebelled against her husband Ouranos who had imprisoned her sons in her womb. Then later, when her son Kronos defied her by imprisoning these same sons, she assisted Zeus in his overthrow of the Titan. Finally she came into conflict with Zeus, angered with him for the binding of her Titan-sons in the pit of Tartaros. In her opposition she first produced the tribe of Gigantes and later the monster Typhoeus to dethrone him, but both failed in both attempts. In the ancient Greek cosmology earth was conceived as a flat disk encircled by the river Okeanos, and topped above by the solid dome of heaven and below by the great pit of Tartaros. She herself supported the sea and mountain upon her breast. On seals of Crete the Mother goddess stand on the top of the mountain and is worshipped by a youngling. Volkert Haas described the ‘mountain mother:34”The belief of the great mountain queen was known in the Near East, as well in the Mediterranean and in areas of Eurasia. The mistress of the mountain is just a form of the Mother goddess, who is manifesting herself in the throne realm of a mountain. The location of the mountain top as a throne for the goddess is of a latter development. First the mountain, the throne and the goddess were united in one. At the mountain the Stormgod connect himself from the sky with the earth mother. The mountain itself or the goddess sitting on the mountain forms the earth mother, who is receiving the rain god’. 31 Marilena Karabatea, Das Archäologische Museum von Delphi, 16. Rodeny Casteleden 2005, Mycenaens, 62. 33 The Theoi Project website: Greek Mythology was created and is edited by Aaron J. Atsma, Auckland. 34 Volkert Haas 1982, Hethitische Berggötter, 94-95. 32 13 d. The flying Ram with a golden shining fleece , who saved Phrixus and Helle, seems to be Krios. Krios was one of the elder Titan gods. He was a son of Ouranos (the Sky) and Gaia (the Earth).35 Nephele herself or Hermes arranged the escape for the sacrifice to Zeus. The use of ram offers and the use of fleeces in the cult in Hellas is of ancient times, and especially in the offering to Zeus.36 35 The Theoi Project website: Greek Mythology was created and is edited by Aaron J. Atsma, Auckland, New Zealand: Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragment 38 (from Erastothenes, Catast. 19. 124) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) : "The Ram [Krios]. This it was that transported Phrixos and Helle. It was immortal and was given them by their mother Nephele (Cloud), and had a golden fleece, as Hesiod and Pherekydes say." Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 80 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "Athamas, lord of Boiotia, sired by Nephele a son Phrixos (Phrixus) and a daughter Helle. Then he took a second wife, Ino, by whom he had Learkhos (Learchus) and Melikertes (Melicertes). Now Ino, as a plot against the children of Nephele . . . persuaded the messengers to report that the oracle prophesied an end to the dearth if Phrixos were to be sacrificed to Zeus. When Athamas heard this and was pressured by the joint efforts of the inhabitants, he had Phrixos placed on the altar. But Nephele seized both him and her daughter, and gave them a golden-fleeced ram which she had received from Hermes, by which they were borne through the sky over and across the land and the sea." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 1 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "Athamas, son of Aeolus, had by his wife Nebula [Nephele], a son Phrixus and a daughter Helle . . . and by Ino, daughter of Cadmus, two sons, Learchus and Melicertes." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 2 :"Ino, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, wishing to kill Phrixus and Helle, Nebula's [Nephele's] children, formed a plan with the women of the entire tribe, and conspired to parch the seed grain to make it unfertile, so that, when the sterility and scarcity of grain resulted, the whole state should perish, some by starvation, others by sickness. With regard to this situation Athamas sent a servant to Delphi, but Ino instructed him to bring back a false reply that the pestilence would end if he sacrificed Phrixus to Jove [Zeus]. When Athamas refused to do this, Phrixus voluntarily and readily promised that he alone would free the state from its distress. Accordingly he ws led to the altar, wearing fillets of sacrifice, but he servant, out of pity for the youth, revealed Ino’s plans to Athamas." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 3 : "While Phrixus and Helle under madness sent by Liber [Dionysos] were wandering in a forest, Nebula [Nephele] their mother is said to have come there bringing a gilded ram, offspring of Neptune [Poseidon] and Theophane. She bade her children to mount it, and journey to Colchis to King Aeetes, son of Sol [Helios], and there sacrifice the ram to Mars [Ares]. This they were said to have done, but when they had mounted, and the ram had carried them over the sea, Helle fell from the ram; from this sea was called Hellespont. Phrixus, however, was carried to Colchis, where, as his mother had bidden, he sacrificed the ram, and placed its gilded fleece in the temple of Mars [Ares]--the very fleece which, guarded by a dragon, it is said Jason, son of Aeson and Alcimede, came to secure." Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 20 : "Constellation Aries (the Ram). This is thought to be the ram which carried Phrixus and Helle through the Hellespont. Hesiod and Pherecydes say that it had a fleece of gold; about his we shall speak at greater length elsewhere. Many have said that Helle fell into the Hellespont . . . Phrixus, on coming safely to Aeetes, sacrificed the ram to Jove [Zeus], and hung the fleece up in the temple. The image of the ram itself, put among the constellations by Nubes [Nephele], marks the time of year when grain is sown, because Ino earlier sowed it parched--the chief reason for the flight . . . Stirred by this report [i.e. the false accusation that Phrixus attempted to violate his wife], Cretheus, as was fitting for one who deeply loved his wife and was king, persuaded Athamas to put Phrixus to death. However, Nubes [Nephele] intervened, and rescuing Phrixus and Helle his sister, put them on the ram, and bade them flee as far as they could through the Hellespont. Helle fell off and paid the debt to nature, and the Hellespont was nemd from her name. Phrixus came to the Colchians, and, as we have said, hung up the fleece of the slain ram in a temple." Ovid, Metamorphoses 11. 195 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :"The side of Helle Nepheleis' [the daughter of Nephele] narrow strait." Ovid, Fasti 3. 853 ff (trans.Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "The seeds were burnt by the wicked stepmother's [Ino's] trick and no customary grain had sprouted. A messenger visits the oracle to fetch Delphi's sure help for the barren earth. Corrupt like the seed, he reports the oracle seeks the deaths of Helle and young Phrixus. People, time and Ino compelled a stubborn king to endure the unspeakable orders. Phrixus and his sister, headbands scarfing their brows, stand at the altars and wail their joint fate. Their mother [Nephele the cloud nymphe] sees them as she hangs upon the air, and hammers her naked breast in shock. She dives into the Dracon-born city [Thebes], enveloped in clouds, and snatches her children away. She provides a Ram shimmering with gold for their escape: it carries the two across the wide seas." Ovid, Heroides 19. 123 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :"With what great waves the shores [of the Hellespontos] are beaten, and what dark clouds envelop and hide the day! It may be the loving mother [Nephele the cloud] of Helle has come to the sea, and is lamenting in downpouring tears the drowning of her child--or is the step-dame [Ino], turned to a goddess of the waters [Leukothea, Leucothea], vexing the sea that is called by her stepchild's hated name?" Nonnus, Dionysiaca 9. 303 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :"The bed of his [Athamas'] first wife Nephele had given him two children." Nonnus, Dionysiaca 10. 67 ff :"[Ino fleeing from Athamas, who had been driven mad by Hera, cries out:] ‘I know where this disaster came from, rolling upon your mother: I know! It is Nephele sends the Erinyes after me, that I may die in this sea where maiden Helle fell. I have heard that Phrixos was carried through the air to the Kolkhian (Colchian) country, guiding aloft the Ram who took him off, and he still lives in a distant land. O that my son Melikertes too might escape to another country, and travel the high path of the Krios Khrysopokos (Gold-fleece Ram)!’" 36 Jane Ellen Harrison wrote in some parts of her book ‘Prolegomena to the study of Greek Religion’ (1922, 23-25) about the cult of the fleece. According to Harrison, Hesychius wrote” they use the expression “the fleece of Zeus” when the victim has been scarified 14 Hermes was a son of Zeus and Maia, the daughter of Atlas. Zeus made him his own herald, and also of the gods of the lower world. Hermes was considered as the inventor of sacrifices, and hence he not only acts the part of a herald at sacrifices (Aristoph. Pax, 433), but is also the protector of sacrificial animals, and was believed in particular to increase the fertility of sheep.37 Another important function of Hermes was to conduct the shades of the dead from the upper into the Netherworld. Therefore it seems that Zeus himself or more likely Hera was active in this escape as well. It is remarkable that after the sacral ram had achieved his intervention, he was offered to Zeus in Colchis. In some myth variants Krios went after this sacrifice to the constellation of Ares (to the sky), and his golden shinning fleece became a talisman for kings and the welfare of the kingdom. Apparently the sacrifice was necessary to satisfy Zeus, who was needed to get enough rain again in the Kingdom of Orchomenos. Perhaps one was also afraid to offend Zeus. One can see that the myths of Athamas and Phrixus in Boeotia express that Athamas the king of Orchemenos had committed a grave fault against several mighty Titan gods. The insulting act is accomplished with the support of Cadmus the king of Thebe. The acts of Ino, a princess of Thebe, against Nephele (“the –adoptive- grandchild of Hera”) and the hiding of Selene at the court of Athamas made the offense immense. One can see a great cooperation between many Titan deities to punish the king of Orchomenos and to save the children of the goddess of the Clouds. The myths and legends of Athamas could have had a relation with the drainage of the lake of Kopais. It is conceivable that the reclamation of the lake and marshy lands of Kopais had seriously limited the evaporating of water in the kingdom and that therefore the clouds of rain were diminished of even had been disappeared temporally. There are no text known, which would indicated that this was actual by the drainage of the lake of Kopais. The myth express the friendly relations between the royal families of Orchomenos and Thebes, although this alliance had a disastrous impact in the relation with the deities of the kingdom, and therefore to the welfare of people of the kingdom. So a temporally cooperation of Orchemenos and Thebe is described in the myth. It seems that Zeus with his power to provide enough rain had ended the famine of the people. The myths explained why the cooperation of Zeus could have been arranged, despite the great faults of Athamas and Ino against the gods. They had protect and nursed his child Dionysos. It is to Zeus, and those who were being purified stood on it with their left foot”. Some say it means a great and perfect fleece. But Polemon says it is the fleece of the victim scarified to Zeus. Suidas expressly states that “they sacrifice to Meilichios and to Zeus Ktesios and that they keep the fleeces of these (victims) and call them “Dian”. 37 The Theoi Project website: Greek Mythology: Hom. Hymn. in Merc. 567, &c., Il. xiv. 490, xvi. 180, &c; Hes. Theog. 444 . 15 also interesting that Phrixus in the myth was flying to Colchis. To king Aeetes, the son of Helios, the sungod. So to Aea, the end of the world, where the river Ôkeanos streams (the grandgrandfather of Phrixus). In Aea in Colchis Helios starts his journey through the sky with his fourin-hand every morning to the “other end of the world”, the other Aea. In Colchis married Phrixus a daughter of Aeetes, which means that he married a grandchild of Helios The myth of the Argonauts shows a close relation between the kingdom of Orchomenos and South Thessaly. In the myth texts the brother of Athamas appeared to be king of Iolcus in Thessalia , his son Aison would succeed him, but Aison was deposed by treason of his half-brother Pelias. Martin Nilsson has extensive argued that the people of the Minyans had lived in the southern part of Thessalia and northern part of Boeotia.38 The myth of the Argonauts confirms that the royal families of these lands were very close related. In Iolcus (modern Volos area) many Mycenaean artifacts and buildings have been excavated. In particular in Dimini 10 km from Volos and in the Old Volo city part itself .39 3. The Mountain Laphystion in Boeotia. Mount Akondio, 502 m mount Mavrovouni, 544 m. The myth is telling that Phrixus would be offered to Zeus at the mount Laphystion. One can wonder where this mountain, who is dedicated to Zeus Laphystion was situated. It is known that weather gods, like Zeus, prefer high impressive mountains. Was for instance the mountain Akontium (Akodino modern name) just above the tholos-tomb and the palace of Orchemenos the place of sacrifice? When we continue a walk to the west along this mountain ridge, then the attractive mountain of Mavrovouni arise in the north. However these and other mountains in de the direct surrounding of Orchomenos are not high and not very impressive. The highest mountain in 38 Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 139-155. T. and R. Avila 1983, “Das Kuppelgrab von Volos-Kapakli,” PZ 58(1983) 15-60. Vassiliki Adrimi-Sismani, Maria Filomena Guerra and Philippe Walter 2009, The Mycenaean tomb of Kazanaki (Volos) and the myth of the Golden Fleece, archeosciences.revues, 59. 39 16 the neighbourhoud is Mount Chlomon, however a day walk from Orchomenos to the northeast. And Chlomon is still only 1079 m high and not very impressive in his feature. It is perhaps more important that one cannot see Mount Chlomon from the lower city of Orchomenos. Mount Chlomon, 1079 m, near Kirtoni about 35 km from Orchemenos, July 2015. This reminds me to the statement of the scholar W.G. Lambert, who remarked that:”It important to note, first that ancient languages often do not distinguish between hill and mountain; secondly, that we should not be influenced by modern geographical knowledge with its specification of heights of mountains in meters above sea level. The ancients were influence by what trucks their senses. Mount Zion is a hill by our standards, but that did not prevent its being religiously very important”.40 Therefore I think we have to look most for all to an impressive hill or mountain, visible from the city or from the tholos-tomb of Orchomenos, when we want to find the mount Laphystion. Actually the words of Pausanias41 made it easy to find back the mount Laphystion, which is not mentioned anymore on modern maps. Het stated that the mountain and the temenos of Zeus Laphystion were just 20 states from Koroneia, which is situated south from Orchomenos. 40 W. G. Lambert, 183, The god Ashur, Iraq 45, 82-86. 41 Pausinias book 9.34.5 The distance from Coroneia to Mount Laphystius and the precinct of Laphystian Zeus is about twenty stades. The image is of stone. They say that when Athamas was about to sacrifice here Phrixus and Helle, a ram with his fleece of gold was sent by Zeus to the children, and that on the back of this ram they made good their escape. Higher up is a Heracles surnamed Charops (With bright eyes). Here, say the Boeotians, Heracles ascended with the hound of Hades. On the way down from Mount Laphystius to the sanctuary of Itonian Athena is the river Phalarus, which runs into the Cephisian lake. 17 The mountain appeared to be Granitsa, the top of the mount Mt. Profitis Ilias. The top is of reddish stone with a summit like a crater and warm springs at its north-east foot.42 Nilsson described the parallel of the cult of Zeus Laphystion in Thessalia:” On the top of Mount Pelion there was a sanctuary of Zeus Acraeus to which a procession went in the severest heat of the summer, about the time of the rising of Sirius; the men were girt with sheep fleeces. This Zeus is the cloud-gatherer and rain-giver, and the procession is in accord with quite a number of similar customs the aim of which was rain-magic. That the fleece served as a means for weather-magic is proved by various known facts. Hence we are able to understand the curious fact that the Cloud, Nephele, is said to be the wife of Athamas. She is the longed for rain-cloud which in another instance of weather-magic, people saw rising from the well of Hagno on Mount Lykaion in Arcadia. The historical sacrifice took place at Halus in southern Thessaly in the cult of Zeus Laphystion”.43 42 A.B. Cook 2010 Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, Volume 2, Part 2, 899 he refers to the study of C. Bursian 1862, Geographie von Griechenland, Leizig, 1862, I. 235. 43 Martin P. Nilsson 1930/1972, The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology, 134-135. 18 Mt. Laphystion, modern name the top Granitsa of the Mt. Profitis Ilias . Koroneia. View from the road near Lafisti to the mount Profitis Ilias, July 2015. 19 H. Bulle 1907 - Blick von Mauerhöhe in Tholosrund Richtung Eingang der Grabkammer, hinten Kirche und Kloster Skripoú. Pausinias and the mythical history of Orchomenos: 44 [9.34.6] Over against Mount Laphystius is Orchomenus, as famous a city as any in Greece. Once raised to the greatest heights of prosperity, it too was fated to fall almost as low as Mycenae and Delos. Its ancient history is confined to the following traditions. They say that Andreus, son of the river Peneius, was the first to settle here, and after him the land Andreis was named. [9.34.7] When Athamas joined him, he assigned to him, of his own land, the territory round Mount Laphystius with what are now the territories of Coroneia and Haliartus. Athamas, thinking that none of his male children were left, adopted Haliartus and Coronus, the sons of Thersander, the son of Sisyphus, his brother. For he himself had put to death Learchus and Melicertes; Leucon had fallen sick and died; while as for Phrixus, Athamas did not know if he survived or had descendants surviving. [9.34.8] When later Phrixus himself, according to some, or Presbon, according to others, returned from Colchis – Presbon was a son of Phrixus by the daughter of Aeetes – the sons of Thersander agreed that the house of Athamas belonged to Athamas and his descendants, while they themselves became founders of Haliartus and Coroneia, for Athamas gave them a part of his land. 44 The Theoi Project website: Text Library; Pausinias. 20 4. Lakes and seas Perhaps Orchemenos was connected via the lakes with the sea. One can wonder if one could sail from the Lake and marshy lands of Kopais to the sea, in particular after the drainage of the marshy lands of Kopais. It seems possible that canals have connected the lakes. However the indications are sparse and it is not confirmed by ancient texts. It is known that Aulis was the harbor of Boeotia on its western coast and Orchomenos is mentioned in the “Catalogue of ships” in the war on Troy. However like the citadel of Mycenae, who was situated more than 40 km from the sea, there was not a need that the capital of kingdom could be reached by boats. Although the journey by boat would have been comfortable and attractive for the trade, raids and the transport of booty to the treasury of the king. To arrange the connection it would have been necessary to make canals between the lakes of Kopais, Iliki and Paralimni. It is quite possible that the lake of Paralimni had still an open connection with the sea. Today a modern canal exists between the lakes of Iliki and Paralimni. = Canals in the ancient ? 21 The Skroponeri bay at the northern Evoikos Golf, July 2015. Lake of Paralimni, view to the east July 2015 22 Lake of Iliki, July 2015. The canal between Iliki Lake and Lake of Paralimni, July 2015. 23 According to Martin Nilsson the Kingdom of Orchomenos had many overseas trade connections. The second part of the Golden myth of Jason and the Argonauts, gives us a historical narrative from the kingdom of Orchomenos. Martin Nilsson45 tells us:“that the Pylians were closely connected in mythology with southern Thessaly and Orchomenos in Boeotia. These two districts, which have conspicuous Mycenaean remains, are again closely connected in myths and cults, especially those of Athamas. Thessaly and Orchomenos are shown in the Catalogue of Ships. Mathews pointed to the evidence of the Homeric poems. Achilles was a Thessalian, and Neleus , who founded the great Mycenaean dynasty at Pylos, was a Minyan46. He stated: “More significantly, Thessalia sent nine contingents to Troy, totaling 280 ships, out of a force of 1186 vessels. 47 This suggests that Thessaly was quite capable of sending out a naval expedition in the generation before the Trojan War. Nilsson pointed also to the story that a Pylian queen was daughter of the king of Orchomenos, which reflects the connection of the Minyans with the dominion of Pylos. Nilsson stated, that as Pylos was closely connected on one hand with Thessaly and on the other hand with the Minyans, the connection of the Minyans with Thessaly cannot have been late inventions. He remarked that Aulis was the harbor of Boeotia on its western coast, no other being available. Both Aulis and Iolcus are situated on the seaboard, covered by the Minyan name.48 The trade and sea power leads according to Nilsson to an understanding of the connections of the Minyans with the western coast of the Peloponnese, he supposed that Pylos served as an intermediate station for the Minyan trade. He pointed that Orchomenos is not much more distant of the Corinthian gulf than from the Epirus. The Minyans may have taken the road past by Delphi and Crisa to the harbor of Cirrha. Not only the oracle of Delphi but also the wealth of the temple are mentioned in Homer, and Delphi was already a cult place in Mycenaean age. Nilsson remarked that great sea expeditions have started from Minyan harbors, which were the most lively in Hellas in the late Mycenaean age. For this reason the myth of the Iliad told that the expedition, which set out for Troy gathered in the harbor of Aulis, but according to a still older tradition the king of Mycenae was made its commander-in-chief. 45 Martin P. Nilsson 1933, Homer & Mycenae,117. Matthews 1965, Matthews Victor John 1965, The early History of the Myth of the Argonauts (dis.), 154 (Odyss.XI, 254) 47 Iliad II, 681-759. 46 48 Nilsson 1972, 146. 24 Another expedition, bound up with Minyan myths, acquired a fame of its own, the expedition which fetched the golden fleece from Colchis. It started from Iolcus, the Minyan centre on the Gulf of Volvo49. Early raids of the Hellenes. Archaeologists are normally intensively looking for traces of trade50, however one can establish that activities of the Hellenes in the late Bronze ages were often raids, in which they kidnapped men and especially women51. Archeological artifacts do not show these activities, without texts we would probably not have known anything about that kind of ‘trade’ of the Hellenes and other cultures. The myths of Hellas described often the kidnapping of women and gain robbing. These were objects for selling, playing and an upgrade to their status and they were even as objects to quarrel. The myths do not describe trade, the myths tells us about kidnapping, to gain power, silver and status. Even the Iliad had as an issue number one the kidnapping of Hellene of Sparta by Paris of Troy 52. The Iliad tells about a daughter of Chryses as a booty of king Agamemnon and about the immense grief of Achilles, when Agamemnon forced him to give up his dear booty Briseïs. Hittite texts tell us that many Anatolians women and craftsmen were shipped to Hellas, probably the most as slaves. In a letter to the king of Ahhiyawa the king of Hatti has asked to give him back 7000 civilian captives/fugitives and to put on trial the leaders of the raids. The king suggested that his “men” can decide by their selves “And if ….. says: I crossed over as fugitive, let him stay there. But if he says: He forced me, then let him come back to me” (the Tawagala letter lines 15 – 17). It is assumed that the main object of the men of Ahhiyawa was not colonization, but to gain access to resources like slaves, horses and metals of western Anatolia53. 49 Nilsson 1972, 150 Much trade was gift exchange between kings in the Near East in the late Bronze Age . It is interesting that at Colchis a group of burials was excavated with 8th century Greek objects like the statue of a charioteer and nude female figures. However it is not known how these objects were brought to Colchis. 50 51 It is possible that warriors from Hellas became mercenary already in the Minoan time period (Wright 2008 , 243). Nilsson (1933, Homer and Mycenae, 252 and 1972 Mycenaean Origin Greek Mythology 73) stated that Helen was a pre-Greek vegetation goddess, who was venerated especially at Sparta . A Minoan sacred myth told of the rape of a vegetation goddess by the god of the wealth. Helen was always a goddess at Sparta. One temple of Helen in Sparta was built on a Mycenaean site at Therapnae, the Meelaeion, the other was not far from the Plantanistas. Herodotus criticized Homer because he did not mention another narrative in which Helen did not arrive Troy, but stayed in Alexandria, during the Trojan War (Histories 2.116) 53 Trevor Bryce 1989, The Nature of Mycenaean Involvement in Western Anatolia, Historia Bd.38, 13. 52 25 Milete/Millawanda provided an ideal base for the Men of Ahhiyawa for these targets, since its location near the mouth of the Meander river provided ready access along the Meander valley to the inland states of western Anatolia, and it was situated nearby Lukka54 and the Arzawa lands. It is interesting that Herodotus reported that the hostilities between Greeks (Achaioi) and nonGreeks originated according to learned Persians by the capture of (royal) women55. The Phoenicians were starting the abduction of women from Argos. Later Greeks, presumable Cretans, abducted the daughter of the king of Phoenicia. The Persians stated that the Greeks sailed in a longship to Aea in Colchis, to the Phasis River, and once they had completed the business that had brought them there, they abducted the king’s daughter Medea. The king of Colchis sent a herald to Greece to ask for compensation for the abduction and to demand his daughter back, but the Greeks replied:“ You have never compensated us for your abduction of the Argive princess Io, so we will not make amends to you either”. A generation later, the Persians say: “Alexander the son of Priam heard of this and decided to steal himself a wife from Greece56”. Also the Myth of Jason and the Argonauts tells us about the men of Limnos, who had taken captive many women of Thracia, it appears that earning some money by trade was not the only motive to go on board to foreign shores.57 Rodney Castleden stated that only certain Minoan and Mycenaean centers had large quantities of orientalia and occidentalia, probably by exchanges of royal gifts. The trading must have been carefully organized follows specific directional lines, with specific points of entry. The patterns are suggesting, according to Castleden, that centers developed specific trading relations with distant producers: Mycenae with Egypt, Tiryns with Cyprus, Thebes with Assyria, Kommos with Italy.58 Did Iolcus in Thessaly have such relation with Troy or a kingdom at the Black Sea? 54 In Book VI of the Iliad (144-211), the Lycian Glaukos tells us that the Greek Bellerophon came to Lycia from Argos. He was given the Lycian king’s daughter in marriage, along with half his kingdom, after he had defeated the enemies of Lycia. 55 Robin Waterfield 2008, Herodotus The Histories, 3 (I-1/2). When we take this story literally, than the Persians or the Greeks saw the king of Colchis apparently close connected with the Phoenicians. The abduction of Medea from Colchis, was a generation before the war against Troy ! 57 The island Limnos lies near the entrance of the Hellespont. The Odysseys myth tells us about Eumaios at Ithaca, his nurse was a kidnapped Phoenician woman, who had been sold to the his father. 58 Rodney Castleden2005, Mycenaeans, 196 56 26 The pictures are made in the archaeological museum of Volos, July 2015 by author. In 1905 K. Kourouniotis excavated a tomb of the old Mycenaean time period (Old Mycenaean SH I—II) in “Kazanaki” Old Volo. Probably it was a tomb for women of the local upper class (at least 20 skeletons had found), since no weapons were found, while many golden pieces of jewelry were dug up, along artifacts, jewelry from ivory, iron, sheet gold, pearls and some ceramic shreds. Examination of the manufacturing skills and the alloy selection, it was proven that the gold of the jewelry could been originate from Colchis. However this does not prove that direct connections existed between Iolcus and Colchis; Troy could for instance have had a transit function with Thessaly or the jewelry was robbed or exchanged with people of other lands. 550 m northwest of the tomb many coffins had already found.These coffins dated from the Mycenaean time period and from older time periods. These are situated at the Palia, a city part of Volos, from which is said that it could have been Iolcus of the myth of the Argonauts. T. and R. Avila 1983, “Das Kuppelgrab von Volos-Kapakli,” PZ 58(1983) 15-60. Vassiliki Adrimi-Sismani, Maria Filomena Guerra and Philippe Walter 2009, The Mycenaean tomb of Kazanaki (Volos) and the myth of the Golden Fleece, archeosciences.revues, 59. Museum of Volos, July 2015- boat ceramic. Below jewelry from the tomb in Old Volo. 27 The replica of the boat of Argonautes in the harbor of Volos, July 2015. Pallas Athena placed in the prow a piece of wood of the holy oracle oak of Zeus from Dodona. 28 By the sea and the Argonauts one meets Poseidon, the god of the sea . 59This titan god was a younger brother of Zeus. It is said that he became the god of the sea, because his help to beat Titan gods. He was a son of Cronos and Rhea .He was therefore also a brother of Hades, Hera, Hestia and Demeter, and it was determined by fate that he should rule over the sea.60 According to others, he was concealed by Rhea after his birth, among a flock of lambs, and his mother pretended to have given birth to a young horse, which she gave to Cronos to devour. A well in the neighbourhood of Mantineia, where this is said to have happened, was believed, from this circumstance, to have derived the name of the "Lamb's Well," or Arne. (Paus. viii. 8. § 2.) According to Tzetzes (ad Lycoph. 644) the nurse of Poseidon bore the name of Arne; when Cronos searched after his son, Arne is said to have declared that she knew not where he was, and from her the town of Arne was believed to have received its name. The palace of Poseidon was in the depth of the sea near Aegae in Euboea (xiii. 21; Od. v. 381), where he kept his horses with brazen hoofs and golden manes. Being the ruler of the sea, he is described as be able to gather clouds and calling forth storms, but at the same he has it in his power to grant a successful voyage and save those who are in danger, and all other marine divinities are subject to him. As the sea surrounds and holds the earth, he himself is described as the god who holds the earth, and who has it in his power to shake the earth. Hesiod wrote in his Theogony ( 441- 445) : “She (Hekate) is good to stand by horsemen, also good for those who work the rude grey sea, and those who pray to Hekate and to the god who shakes the earth with crashes (Poseidon !?), get great hauls from her “. It seems that Hesiod is pointing to a clear connection of Hekate and Poseidon and that both had to be appeased to enable a safe passage through the sea. Poseidon is also earth deity who lived deep inside the earth and who was close connected with Demeter. Nilsson pointed out that the Greeks and in particular the Peloponnesians were conscious of the fact that rivers disappeared into the earth and re-emerged again after a long way under the ground. 61 59 It is interesting that some female counterparts to male gods are written on the Linear B tablets from Pylos: Divia = the female Zeus and Posidaeia = the female Poseidon (Thomas G. Palaima 2004, Appendix One: Linear B Sources, Anthology of Classical Myth, 443.) 60 61 Hom. Il. xiv. 156, xv. 187, &c.; Hes. Theog, 456. Information and text parts from Theo Project website. Martin P. Nilsson 1906, Griechische Feste Von Religiöser Bedeutung, 65 - 66. 29 The river which travels under the ground is linked to a god who navigates through the earth is like the god who is navigating under the earth. Earthquakes created through the force of water and rivers below the ground were known. According to Nilsson it is possible that in this way the Watergod became a god of the earthquake. The Poseidon cult was well known in Boeotia, the Peloponnesus, the islands of the Aegean and in several poleis along the west coast of Asia Minor. A view to the Skroponeri bay at the northern Evoikos Golf, near mount Ptoon, July 2015. 30 Appendix: At the western edge of the drained lake of Kopais is where Akrefino situated. Nearby this village are an old fortress and a sanctuary dedicated to Apollo, both are from 7th century BC. About 2 km east from Akrefino one can see the Iliki lake, July 2015. The cult of Apollo has intensively existed in Boeotia. The Apollo temple was dominating in Delphi, the oracle was dedicated to him. Pausanias and others wrote about Thebe, "On the right of the [Elektran] gate [of Thebes, Boiotia] is a hill sacred to Apollon. Both the hill and the god are called Ismenios, as the river Ismenos flows by the place”(Description of Greece 9. 10.2-5). In Tygira 5 km NE from Orchomenos was also an Apollo oracle. Near Akrefino sanctuary and more to the east on Mt. Ptoon was an Apollo Temple built. Apollo sanctuary about 3 km east of Akrefino. 31 The Apollo sanctuary Akrefino. 32 After Akrefino to the east, the mountains Tsekourili and Marmeiko are blocking the lakes; view from the Skroponeri Bay, the Northen Evoikos Gulf. View to the Mt. Marmeiko from the Skroponeri bay, at the left (and below) the Mt. Ptoon on which a temple is dedicated to Apollo. 33 Lake Iliki , view to the west. One can see how flat the ground is between the Lake Paralimni and the Iliki Lake. 34