Hello, everyone! With winter's arrival, I wanted to delve into how this season unfolded in ancient Greece. There's a common misconception that ancient Greece enjoyed a perpetually warm climate. This misunderstanding stems from a couple of reasons. Firstly, today, Greece is renowned as a summer destination, leading to the assumption that its weather remains summer-like throughout the year. Secondly, ancient Greek art often depicts people-particularly men-clad in minimal clothing, contributing to the belief in a consistently warm climate. However, these artistic portrayals don't always mirror reality, as few artworks showcase the winter attire of ancient Greeks. In truth, as mentioned in the video 'What Did the Ancient Greeks Eat?', Greece has many different microclimates. Rural mainland Greece, in particular, experiences notably cold winters, with its mountains often blanketed in snow during both the season of winter and spring.
In this video, I've chosen to explore this topic from a different perspective. Instead of a typical weather discussion, I've taken inspiration from the renowned ancient Greek poet, Hesiod. His work, 'Works and Days,' not only delves into myths and legends but also offers valuable insights for farming in rural Greece, including a vivid description of winter. So, for this video, I'll be narrating this specific passage.
Notes:
1) Boreas is the god of the north wind.
2) The 'Boneless one' seems to be reffering to an octopus, since the word ανόστεος which is used is what the Lacaedomonians (Spartans) called the octopus in their language.
3) Pandion was a legendary king of Athens whose daughter, according to Greek mythology, trasnformed into a swallow.
Music kindly provided by:
Stefanos Krasopoulis/Στέφανος Κρασοπούλης: ‪@stefanoskrasopoulis‬
A big thank you to my patreons:
Robert G Ferrick
Danielle Allen
#ancientgreece #winter #historicaladventure