Archaeologists have discovered the place where Aeneas is believed to have first set foot in Italy. It is the closest point on the Italian peninsula to Albania and, until efforts by the coastguard some years ago, was the destination of choice for Albanians fleeing poverty for the glamour and prosperity of their wealthy neighbour. But suddenly, the little town of Castro in the province of Lecce has something much more exciting to shout about. Archaeologists at the University of Lecce have discovered that the modern town, with its 15th-century walls, sits on the ruins of the port that was the first landfall in Italy made by the semi-mythical wandererof the ancient world, Aeneas.
According to Virgil's epic, he fled Troy as the Greeks destroyed it and made his laborious way westwards finally to found a "new Troy", the imperial city of Rome.Aeneas was first described as coming to Italy by the poet Stesichorus, writing around 600 BC. But it is the Roman poet Virgil, who died at sea in 19 BC aged 51 before he could complete his masterpiece, who defined him and his voyage for posterity. In the Aeneid, Virgil provided the rapidly rising Roman state with its own national epic in a deliberate effort to out-Homer Homer and the Greek culture of which his poems were a foundation.Like the Illiad and the Odyssey, the background of the Aeneid is Troy and the 10-year war that culminated in itsdestruction. Like Odysseus, the poem's hero, Aeneas, the product of a fling between a noble of Troy and the goddess Aphrodite, wanders at length across the oceans with his devoted followers, seeking with increasing desperation the new Troy the gods have promised him. Is it Thrace? Might it be the island of Delos, home to the oracle of Apollo? Clearly not: in both cases the auguries are bad. For a long time he cherishes the idea that Crete is the place. But when he arrives there a pestilence is raging:
Apollo drew his bow and fired arrow after arrow into the deadly pythondragon guarding the sacred ground of Ge, the goddess of the earth. With his victory, Apollo gained the right to call the slopes of Delphi his earthly sanctuary. It is a beautiful myth. Out of it grew the story of the Oracle of Delphi, a soothsayer who inhaled the breath of Apollo. The Pythia, the priestess who sat on a tripod inhaling fumes from the bowels of the earth, went into trances and muttered incomprehensible phrases, ...Legend of Perseus
By
Farid Alakbarli
Legends about the Amazons - a
warlike tribe of women warriors - have existed in various cultures throughout
the world. Not many people realize, however, that Amazons are closely associated
with Azerbaijan. Yes, ancient Greeks believed that Caucasian Albania was the
native land of the Amazons. Perhaps, much of what has been written about Amazons
is only a legend; however, it is true that many Albanian women really did serve
in the armies of Caucasian Albania wh...Ancient Greek Religion, Gods, & Oracles
At first the life of man on earth was happier
than it is now, and then miseries and discontents gradually crept in. Prometheus
and Epimetheus created men only, not women.
When Zeus was angry with mankind, he devised
the worst punishment he could think of, and invented Woman. Hephaestus, the
smith of the gods, was instructed to form her from the earth and make her
irresistibly beautiful. Each of the gods gave her his own special gift of skill,
and from this she was called Pandora, ...Ancient Greek Gods
...In the
beginning, Hesiod says, there was Chaos, vast and dark. Then appeared Gaea,
the dep-breasted earth, and finally Eros, ' the love which softens hearts ',
whose fructifying influence would thenceforth preside over the formation of
beings anthings. . From Chaos were born Erebus and Night who, uniting, gave
birth in their turn to Ether and Hemera, the day. On her part Gaea first
bore Uranus, the sky crowned with stars, ' whom she made her equal in
...Evidence of pre-Zeus deity found
Submitted by Da Verminator: Before Zeus hurled his first thunderbolt from Olympus, the pre-Greek people occupying the land presumably paid homage and offered sacrifices to their own gods and goddesses, whose nature and identities are unknown to scholars today. But archaeologists say they have now found the ashes, bones and other evidence of animal sacrifices to some pre-Zeus deity on the summit of Mount Lykaion, in the region of Greece known as Arcadia. The remains were uncovered last summer at ...The Flight of Icarus
In
Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus. He was imprisoned, with his
father, in a tower on Crete, by the king, Minos. Daedalus contrived to make his
escape from his prison, but could not leave the island by sea, as the king kept
strict watch on all the vessels, and permitted none to sail without being
carefully searched. "Minos may control the land and sea," said Daedalus, "but
not the regions of the air. I will try that way." So he set to work to f...
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Archaeologists have discovered the place where Aeneas is believed to have first set foot in Italy. It is the closest point on the Italian peninsula to Albania and, until efforts by the coastguard some years ago, was the destination of choice for Albanians fleeing poverty for the glamour and prosperity of their wealthy neighbour. But suddenly, the little town of Castro in the province of Lecce has something much more exciting to shout about. Archaeologists at the University of Lecce have discovered that the modern town, with its 15th-century walls, sits on the ruins of the port that was the first landfall in Italy made by the semi-mythical wandererof the ancient world, Aeneas. 
View: Full Article | Source: The Independent 
Scienctists turns to Greek mythology
Legend of Perseus
Oriclae of Delphi
Legend of Hercules
Amazons - The Mythical Race of Warrior Women
Ancient Greek Religion, Gods, & Oracles
Pandoras Box
Ancient Greek Gods
Evidence of pre-Zeus deity found
The Flight of Icarus
