Greece
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Arachidamia of Sparta
The Greeks did not have a good track record on women’s rights in the ancient world. However, there was an anomaly in a strange place. The city-state of Sparta was not generally a tolerant place. Men were expected to give life long service to the military and boys were separated from their families to build esprit de corps. A coming of age ritual was killing a slave and not getting caught. It was a messed up place. (For more on the Spartans, please see these posts: http://www.historynaked.com/leonidas-unlikely-king/ and http://www.historynaked.com/historical-inaccuracies-300/ ) However, women there were given extraordinary rights. This was because the men were off fighting and the women were left…
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Eclipses- Historical Harbingers
If you’ve been anywhere near the news, you would have seen that a solar eclipse happened in the continental United States yesterday. I have to admit it was a pretty amazing experience as I was lucky enough to be in the path of totality. As the sky went dark and the crickets started chirping, I thought about what it must have been like for those in the past. They didn’t have the benefit of NASA and other scientists telling us that this was normal, the Sun would come back and to wear protective glasses. How did people through the ages deal with eclipses? One of the first references we have…
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Ancient Who Dunnit- The Death of Philip II of Macedon
Philip had been the ruler of Macedon for twenty-three years and was currently on wife number seven. He had turned Macedonia into a force to reckoned with by revolutionizing the army into a efficient fighting force. He subdued Greece and conquered the surrounding territories. Now he had a raft of children from his various wives. His son, Alexander, was from wife number four, Olympias, whom he divorced and was Greek to boot. Even though Alexander was older, the oldest son did not always get the throne and Philip and wife seven had a young son named Caranus. In fact, there had been an incident where members of the court expressed…
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Cassandra
Cassandra is a popular figure and made many appearances in Greek plays and poems. Her predicament even inspired a name for a present day problem- the Cassandra Syndrome. So who was this lady whose name inspires even today? Cassandra was born a princess of Troy, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba and the fraternal twin sister of Helenus. She was the most beautiful of their daughters and as such attracted divine attention. Homer tells a tale that she and her brother Helenus spent the night in Apollo’s temple where the temple snakes licked their ears clean so they were able to hear the future. Cassandra was a priestess of Apollo…
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Arrhichion – Olympic victor even in death
He was a champion pankratiast (martial art blending boxing and wrestling) in the ancient Olympic Games. He was the winner of the pankration at the 52nd and 53rd Olympiads. Little did he know that the 54th would be his last. His fatal fight was described by the geographer Pausanias and by Philostratus the Younger. Pausanias states: “For when he was contending for the wild olive with the last remaining competitor, whoever he was, the latter got a grip first, and held Arrhachion, hugging him with his legs, and at the same time he squeezed his neck with his hands. Arrhachion dislocated his opponent’s toe, but expired owing to suffocation; but…
