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| Pandora |
Pandora: The first woman, a sentence to mankind:
When Prometheus stole fire from the heavens and gave it back to men, angry Zeus was determined to punish mankind for receiving this stolen gift. And his punishment had to be a beautiful and enchanting one, but so deceitful that men would welcome it as gift. It was a woman, the first woman.
According to the myth, Zeus commanded Hephaestus to create Pandora, a beautiful but wicked woman whose children would torment the race of men. After Hephaestus molded her from clay and fire, Athena clothed her in a silver gown and every Olympian god offered her a unique gift. Athena taught her needle craft and weaving, Aphrodite shed grace upon her head but Hermes gift was different… Hermes gave her cunningness and treachery. He gave her the power of speech: putting in her "lies and crafty words" He was also the one who named her “Pandora”, the all-gifted.
He then sent her to Epimetheus to be his wife. Prometheus, his bother warned him not to accept any gifts from Zeus, but he ignored the warnings. Zeus also offered Pandora a sealed box and he demanded she did not open it for any reason. Of course Pandora could not overcome her curiosity to find out what lies inside the box. Not after Zeus’s “warning”… When she opened the box, toil, sickness and diseases and myriad other pains were spread across the earth and the sea. Pandora closed the box in-time only to keep one thing contained, hope.
Last-gasp Olympiakos leave Montpellier in need of a miracle:
Olympiakos defended for 70 minutes at Karaiskaki Stadium in Piraeus but walked away with a valuable 3-1 win over Montpellier in the Champions League, thanks to goals from Paulo Machado, Leonardo Greco and Costas Mitroglou.
The Greek champions play their two remaining games away to Schalke and then at home to Arsenal in Group B, with a shot at qualification to the knock out stages.
Greco set up the opening goal in the 4th minute, expertly cutting through the French defence to find Djamel Abdoun in the penalty area. The Algerian struck the left post with his shot but Paulo Machado was on hand to chip past goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourden.
Then, inexplicably, the Greeks sat back, handing Montpellier winger Younes Belhanda an invitation wreak havoc for most of the match.
The 22-year-old Moroccan finally got the equaliser in the 66th minute, converting a penalty kick.
Croatian referee Marijo Strahonja awarded the spot kick after Soulaymane Camara fell to ground after jostling in the penalty area with Dimitris Siovas.
"I wasn't close to the incident, but it didn't look like a penalty," Olympiakos defender Giannis Maniatis said. "It made us play more stubbornly and improve our game."
He was right: Olympiakos sprung to life after appearing hapless for much of the game.
The French failed to dispose of a corner from Jose Holebas in the 80th minute, and Greco blasted the ball through a crowded penalty area past Jourden to make it 2-1.
Holebas laid on another two minutes later, his cross met by Mitroglou who had played as a stranded striker all evening before showing little hesitation when his chance came - 3-1 Olympiakos.
"We were not afraid and players stayed strong," said Olympiakos manager Leonardo Jardim, insisting his players had stuck to their game plan and soaked up pressure from Montpellier after taking the lead.
"We interrupted their game... I Think the victory was absolutely fair. We have six points left for the taking and we will fight for them."
Montpellier pulled off a stunning French league win last season, but have not carried their success over to Europe, finishing the night without a Champions League win in four matches.
"To be realistic, it would take a miracle to get third place in the group," said Montpellier coach Rene Girard. "We collapsed in the last ten minutes. It's happened to us before but I can't explain it."
Greece is a rich country with high human development index (0.947) but within the European Union countries have a more low, so it did not enter the eurozone in 1999 if not in 2002. Greece's economic growth was truncated during a long, hard postwar civil war and dictatorship.Traditionally, agriculture has been one of the main sectors of Greece, more than the population occupying the contribution to the economy. Agriculture accounts for 3% of GDP and is home to 12% of the workforce, industry 20% of GDP and 22% of workers, and services for 77% of GDP and 66% of the workforce.Agriculture has undergone a profound conversion from small farms and little production for the market to competitive agriculture in Europe with medium-sized farms and the benefits of the green revolution. However, this sector is conditioned by an unfavorable physical environment due to the mountainous nature of much of the country. The most productive regions in the north, Macedonia and Thessaly. The main crops wheat and corn, which account for almost half of the production, and industrial crops such as snuff, cotton and sugar beet, and the Mediterranean polyculture of fruits and vegetables along with olives and vines, present in the Peloponnese. This feeds an important agricultural industry, which is outside the production region around Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki and Volos.For the mountainous nature of the country's forestry is more important than in most European countries, and livestock has good and abundant grass. The 40% of the territory is grassland. Predominantly sheep and goats, more adapted to the Mediterranean grass, but also cattle, specializing in milk, swine and avian modern.Despite the distinctly Greek marine fisheries is reduced to a nearby fishing grounds and traditional arts.Mining is scarce, although varied: lignite, bauxite, iron, magnesium, marble, some oil, salt, chromium, silver, zinc, gold and lead. Just can feed the needs of the country's industry.
The structural formation of Greece reveals a young relief, formed in the Alpine orogeny, and abundance of limestone karst and subsequent relief. The general set descends from west to east, where the structures are immersed in the sea, leaving only the peaks emerged, forming the countless islands. The proximity to faults that separate the plates African, Eurasian and Arabian makes the region prone to earthquakes and volcanoes. The folded and fractured system, framed by faults is very complex. Fault lines into the sea, and the high block and sunken island status are responsible for much of the country. This fragmentation occurs in multiple directions, however, highlights a dominant structural direction from northwest to southeast, which is marked by mountains Olympus, Pindus and its extension in the Peloponnese.Regarding the geological substrate can differentiate two blocks, each consisting of metamorphic rocks northeastern, old and stiff, fractured by the Alpine orogeny and wherein lies the Rhodope massif, the region of Thrace and Macedonia. This set is completed with some metamorphic southern islands. The rest of the country is mostly limestone fold assembly. He is responsible for the numerous coves along the coast Hellenic cliff and character of much of the coastline.The character cut from the coast, and the many islands that individualize infinite sets in the interior gives a stamp eminently marine Greece. All within the Mediterranean Sea, we can distinguish four seas, the Ionian, the Aegean, Thrace and Crete.The main gulfs in Greece are: the Gulf of Thessaloniki, the Corinthian Gulf, the Gulf of Patras, the Strymonas Gulf, the Gulf of Volos, and the Gulf of Evia
The climate is typically Mediterranean Greek. The Mediterranean climate dominates throughout the country, although Macedonia and Thessaly plains have clear certain continental. However, due to the mountainous climate there is a clear asymmetry between the windward slopes (west) and leeward (east) of the prevailing winds. Furthermore, the constant presence of the sea softens seasonal temperature extremes.
The action centers are affecting Greece, the polar front brings cold air masses from the Mediterranean and humid and the European continent. The Azores High, which comes in the summer, and brings masses of warm, moist air, and the Siberian anticyclone, which comes in winter and cold air masses channels and dry.
The summers are long and warm, but not excessive, thanks to the action of sea breezes and fresh winds from the interior, which blow in summer. Winters are short and not too cold, thanks to the moderating action of the sea. Frosts are few, and average rainfall. The average seasons, spring and autumn are rainy and warm, but its features are very irregular. In autumn cold drops are frequent episodes of torrential rains and flash which are produced by the temperature difference between the sea, very hot, and the arrival of the first polar air masses in height.
Average temperatures range from 7 ° C in the coldest month (January) and 27 ° C for the hottest month (July) in Athens. In the islands these values are moderate, with examples such as Crete, with 10 º C in January and 25 ° C in July, and are extreme in the continental interior with values as Thessaloniki (Macedonia), with 2 ° C in January and 23 º C in July.
Rainfall is low, despite the presence marina. In Athens barely reach the 330 mm per year, in Crete reach the 560 mm and 375 mm to Thessaloniki. Something greater precipitation in the mountains, and in the eastern facade, where over 1,000 mm. Very few of these rainfall as snow, even in the mountains.
Vegetation is typical of Mediterranean forest Greece, which dominates the oak, oak and chestnut. The abundance of limestone are frequent causes of Cliserie investments, and appears above the oak oak. Above find conifers, beech, and alpine meadow. However, the natural vegetation can only find in the most inaccessible mountains, like Mount Olympus, Pindus, and certain points of Arcadia and Peloponnese. The Greek space suffers organized anthropic pressure for thousands of years, and that has determined, largely, the distribution of natural species. Many are degraded areas to deforestation, in which species predominate subserial of garrigue, Mediterranean maquis and steppe. In these areas abound thorny and aromatic species typical of Mediterranean forest, as the kermes, thyme, lavender and rosemary. Greece has not reached operating methods of the Mediterranean forest and the meadow, so characteristic in other Mediterranean regions.
Around the rivers appears abundance gallery forest of poplars, cottonwoods, elms, and other riparian species, typical of the Mediterranean.
Athens:
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| Acropolis of Athens |
Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC in later centuries on the rest of the then known European continent. Today a cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2008, Athens was ranked the world's 32nd richest city by purchasing powerand the 25th most expensive in a UBS study.
The city of Athens has a population of 655,780,(796,442 back in 2004)within its administrative limits and a land area of 39 km2 (15 sq mi). The urban area of Athens (Greater Athens and Greater Piraeus) extends beyond the administrative municipal city limits, with a population of 3,074,160 (in 2011), over an area of 412 km2 (159 sq mi). According to Eurostat, the Athens Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) is the 7th most populous LUZ in the European Union (the 4th most populous capital city of the EU) with a population of 4,013,368 (in 2004). Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland.
The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a key landmark of early Western civilization. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of Ottoman monuments. The Greek influence of the city is greatly noted through the stellar artwork of the Greek workers of the city of the city-state of Athens.
Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery. Landmarks of the modern era, dating back to the establishment of Athens as the capital of the independent Greek state in 1833, include the Hellenic Parliament (19th century) and the Athens Trilogy consisting of the National Library of Greece, the Athens University and the Academy of Athens. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. Athens is home to the National Archeological Museum, featuring the world's largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, as well as the new Acropolis Museum.
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| Achilles |
Achilles:
In Greek mythology, Achilles (Ancient Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς, Akhilleus) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.
Later legends (beginning with a poem by Statius in the 1st century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. As he died because of a small wound on his heel, the term Achilles' heel has come to mean one's point of weakness.
Achilles' name can be analyzed as a combination of ἄχος (akhos) "grief" and λαός (Laos) "a people, tribe, nation, etc." In other words, Achilles is an embodiment of the grief of the people, grief being a theme raised numerous times in the Iliad (frequently by Achilles). Achilles' role as the hero of grief forms an ironic juxtaposition with the conventional view of Achilles as the hero of kleos (glory, usually glory in war).
Laos has been construed by Gregory Nagy, following Leonard Palmer, to mean a corps of soldiers, a muster. With this derivation, the name would have a double meaning in the poem: When the hero is functioning rightly, his men bring grief to the enemy, but when wrongly, his men get the grief of war. The poem is in part about the misdirection of anger on the part of leadership.
The name Achilleus was a common and attested name among the Greeks soon after the 7th century BC. It was also turned into the female form Ἀχιλλεία (Achilleía) attested in Attica in the 4th century BC (IG II² 1617) and, in the form Achillia, on a stele in Halicarnassus as the name of a female gladiator fighting an "Amazon". Roman gladiatorial games often referenced classical mythology, and this seems to reference Achilles' fight with Penthesilea but gives it an extra twist of Achilles being "played" by a woman.
