Ictinus & Callicrates

Architects, Philosophers (5^th century BC)

Ictinus and Callicrates were the two architects who constructed the Parthenon of the Acropolis of Athens, the most beautiful monument of human civilization. Both were Athenians and were active during the 5^th century BC. The mathematical deciphering of the Parthenon reveals that Ictinus and Callicrates were also philosophers.

Five monuments bare Ictinus’ signature: The Parthenon of the Acropolis of Athens, the Telesterium of Eleusis, the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens and the Odeon of Pericles at the eastern-northern side of the Acropolis. The Telesterium of Eleusis, also called “the secret temple”, was the place where the Eleusinian Mysteries took place and was devoted to goddesses Demeter and Persephone. The temple’s construction was directed by Ictinus, together with several other architects, under the supervision of Pericles. Ictinus worked with other architects for the construction of the Temple of Apollo Epicurius, which is the only Greek temple facing the north. The Temple of Hephaestus, known previously as the Theseion, is the best preserved ancient temple to this day.

Callicrates, apart from the Parthenon, constructed the following monuments: The Temple of Athena Nike (Victory) at the Acropolis of Athens, which is of Ionian rhythm in contrast to the Parthenon, the Temple of Apollo in Delos, the Temple of Artemis in Athens, by the side of the river Ilisus, which was destroyed in 1778 by the Ottomans and the Long Walls, which ran a total of 6 kilometers, connecting Athens to Piraeus. They had 160 meters distance from each other and were 20 meters high. They remained standing for 54 years, until the Spartans occupied Athens following the end of the Peloponnesian War. They were rebuilt by Conon and parts of them are still visible today. In addition, Callicrates repaired the peripheral walls of the Acropolis and improved the fortification.

Ictinus and Callicrates, with the help of Pheidias and the supervision of Pericles, worked together to build the Parthenon. Ictinus designed the architecture and Callicrates supervised its construction. It took nine years for its completion. The Parthenon is not just an architectural wonder. It is an ark of wisdom whose ancientness is lost in the depths of time. On its front section, the equation length = φ×height is always true. This manifests as a spiral with the analogy α/2α+1, known as the golden ratio, which is a sacred number in the Greek arithmosophy. The pillars of the Parthenon are not longitudinal on their axis. Instead, if an imaginary line extended above each pillar, they would all join at a height of 1852 meters, forming a pyramid, whose apex is exactly above the head of the statue of Athena inside the Parthenon. The volume of this imaginary pyramid is half the volume of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Furthermore, the Parthenon has a remarkable antiseismic construction.

The total number of the Parthenon’s pillars (84) multiplied by 2, multiplied by 10 is equal to the lexarithm of the word ΟΙΚΟΣ ΘΕΑΣ ΠΑΡΘΕΝΩΝ (House of Goddess Parthenon) = 1680. The lexarithm of the word Parthenon (ΠΑΡΘΕΝΩΝ) is equal to the lexarithm of ΜΕΣΟΝ Ο ΙΚΤΙΝΟΣ (the connection Ictinus) and ΜΕΛΑΘΡΟΝ Ο ΚΑΛΛΙΚΡΑΤΗΣ (melathron Callicrates) = 1095. The lexarithm of the word The Parthenon (Ο ΠΑΡΘΕΝΩΝ) is equal to ΜΕΣΟΝ Ο ΦΕΙΔΙΑΣ (the connection Pheidias) and ΜΕΣΟΝ Η ΑΞΙΑ ΚΑΛΛΙΚΡΑΤΗΣ (the connection the value Callicrates) = 1165. Finally, Ο ΠΑΡΘΕΝΩΝ (The Parthenon) divided by ΘΑΥΜΑ ΑΘΗΝΑΣ (Miracle of Athena), Η ΔΟΜΗ Ο ΠΑΡΘΕΝΩΝ (The structure the Parthenon) divided by Ο ΦΕΙΔΙΑΣ (Pheidias) and Ο ΠΑΡΘΕΝΩΝ (The Parthenon) divided by ΚΑΛΛΙΚΡΑΤΗΣ (Callicrates) are all equal to 1,618=φ, the golden ratio.

This wisdom was acquired by the two architects – philosophers from the Mystery Schools, of which they were initiates, primarily Ictinus. This is also indicated by the Temple of Apollo Epicurius, which also hides magnificent knowledge on astronomy, knowledge that was taught in the Mysteries. To this day, the decipherment of the Parthenon has given us important information that the Greeks knew the shape and the dimensions of the Earth before the 5^th century BC, including the fact that the pyramids of Egypt are closely linked to the Greek mathematics.

Bibliography

1. Georgakopoulos, Konstantinos. Ancient Greek Scientists. Georgiades: Athens, 1995. Print.
2. “Ictinus”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
3. “Kallikratis”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
4. Manias, Theophanis. The Holy Geometry of the Greeks and the Mathematical Structure of the Greek Language. Pyrinos Kosmos: Athens, 2006. Print.
5. Manias, Theophanis. The Unknown Masterpieces of the Ancient Greeks. Pyrinos Kosmos: Athens, 2006. Print.
6. Ικτίνος και Καλλικράτης: οι αρχιτέκτονες του Παρθενώνα. Pronews. Pronews.gr. December 12, 2014. Web. Retrieved on March 7, 2017.

Dimitri Mitropoulos

Conductor (1896 – 1960)

Dimitri Mitropoulos was one of the greatest conductors in history. He was also a pianist, a composer, pedagogue; an archmusician who served as Music Director of the Philharmonic of New York from 1949 to 1958. He was honoured with the highest distinctions by the Greek state, as well as from some of the most distinguished institutes of music in Europe and the Americas.

In 1915, at the age of 19, he directed for the first time the orchestra of the Odeon of Athens. In 1927, having already achieved widespread fame in Greece, he assumed the direction of the Symphonic Orchestra of the Athens Odeon. He made his debut abroad in 1930 as the conductor, soloist and composer of the Philharmonic of Berlin. He performed in famed cities such as Paris, Rome, Milan, Monte Carlo, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw etc. His fame brought him to the United States, where he assumed the direction of the Orchestra of Minneapolis and Boston and finally the Metropolitan Opera in 1954. Mitropoulos was one of the first who performed in Ancient Greek theatres (Epidaurus, Herodeion).

He directed over 2000 performances in his lifetime and 764 performances in a period of 20 years throughout the world, conducted 50 world premiers and directed 45 of the world’s greatest orchestras such as the Philharmonic of Vienna, the Philharmonic of Berlin and the Orchestra of La Scala in 1952, where he conducted operas such as Alan Berg’s Wozzeck. Furthermore, he introduced the works of Mahler, Schoenberg, Shostakovich and Prokofiev to the American public. He was chiefly admired for the innovation of his performances and his expressionism (he did not use a baton but his hands instead). As a pioneer of the 20^th century music, he developed his own personal technique where he could visualize music, impart his own changes and adapt to the special requirements of each style.

Mitropoulos was known for his extraordinary memory, which he had trained for years. He would rehearse from memory and would remember every single note by heart, always conducting without any sheet music in front of him, not even during the rehearsals. He was one of only few, who could play a concerto in the piano while simultaneously conducting an entire orchestra. His prodigious talent enabled him to write stage music, room music, songs, operas and symphonies.

He died of a heart attack while on the podium, conducting Mahler’s Third Symphony on a rehearsal in La Scala of Milan. By the end of his 37 year career, Mitropoulos had been recognized worldwide as a thaumaturge of music, a conductor of global influence, a unique man gifted by the Muses.

Bibliography

1. Dimitri Mitropoulos. New York Philharmonic. Nyphil.org. Web. Retrieved on March 4, 2017.
2. Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος. Musicale. Musicale.gr. Web. Retrieved on March 4, 2017.
3. Kostios, Apostolos. Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος (1896 -1960). Dimitrimitropoulos.gr. Web. Retrieved on March 5, 2017.

The Berlin Painter

Vase Painter (c.490 BC – c.400 BC)

If hypothetically there was an art exhibition being held in the museum of art in Berlin, Germany, entitled “The Berlin Painter”, most of us would probably think of a famous German painter from the Renaissance who flourished in Berlin by producing phenomenal oil paintings. This, however, is far from the truth. The Berlin Painter is not an Albrecht Durer or a Caspar Friedrich; he was not even German. Instead, he was an ancient Greek vase painter from the time of the Golden Age of Pericles, known conventionally as the Berlin Painter.

The name was given by British classicist and historian Sir John Beazley, who, in 1911, while studying one of his amphorae in the Museum of Berlin, noticed the pattern of stylistic traits of the painter that he had seen in other vases and fragments. The painter, who was conventionally named after the city where his amphora was found, was one of the most prolific and influential vase painters of antiquity, who flourished in Athens. He had the habit of not signing his name on his works and as a result, nothing is known about him, besides his collection of 330 surviving vases and their fragments found throughout the whole Mediterranean, from Southern Italy and Etruria to Libya, Rhodes and Crimea.

The Berlin Painter is considered worldwide as the most gifted and charismatic pottery artist of the ancient world, the man who perfected and disseminated the red-figure vase painting in Southern Europe. The one responsible for depicting representations of the Divine in a manner completely different from his predecessors; his figures were portrayed with elegancy, detail, great symmetry and extraordinary realism, with themes borrowed primarily from mythology. Youth and spring are common depictions. According to Beazley, there is nothing lacking and nothing in hyperbole; all in moderation (μέτρον ἄριστον). Some scholars even believe that he was also the ceramicist who built the pottery.

Among the Berlin Painter’s most famous paintings, which we all have admired, are Dionysos holding a kantharos, Hermes, the Satyr and the hind, which is the vase found in the Museum of Berlin, the Discus Thrower, Ganymedes with cockerel and hoop, found in the Louvre Museum, Europe and the Bull (Zeus), Apollo and the winged tripod, Achilles and Penthesellia, Nike with lyre, the Panathenaic amphora of the running athletes, Perseus and Medusa, The Lioness, Goddess Athena, Zeus holding thunder and many other paintings.

Even though his true name remains a mystery, after nearly 2500 years of anonymity, the Berlin Painter earned the position in history that he deserved. Today, 30 of his paintings decorate the Greek museums, the remaining 300 scattered throughout the museums of Europe, providing the visitors there with a glimpse of the world 2500 years ago through a window to the past.

Bibliography

1. The Berlin Painter and His World: Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century B.C.’ opens March 4. Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton.edu. Web. September 28, 2016. Retrieved on February 28, 2017.
2. Ποιος ήταν ο ζωγράφος του Βερολίνου; Archaeology Newsroom. Archaiologia.gr. Web. Retrieved on March 1, 2017.

Methodios Anthrakites

Philosopher, Scholar, Mathematician, Physicist, Priest, Teacher of the Greek Nation (1660 – 1736)

The Enlightenment began in Greece almost 3 centuries after sprouting in Western Europe. It was the result of Greek merchants, philologists and priests, who had been educated in the big European capitals and who had been influenced by the Muses. These men comprised the Teachers of the Greek nation, and were responsible for the awakening of the Greeks after 400 years of Ottoman rule. Methodios Anthrakites was the very first Teacher of the Greek Nation, who struggled for the revival of Greek thought and the re-introduction of philosophy and mathematics in Greece. He was met with vehement opposition from the Church, despite being an eminent theologist and priest himself.

He was educated in the Gioumeios School in Ioannina, where he studied grammar, physics and metaphysics. He then travelled to Venice, where he studied mathematics, geometry, trigonometry, geography, physics, astronomy and engineering. After 10 years of stay in Venice, Anthrakites, now a homo universalis returned to his subjugated country in an effort to start a second Renaissance by disseminating the knowledge he had acquired all these years and to revive the Greek nation. He assumed the direction of the School of Castoria, taught in the School of Siatista, the Gioumeios School and the School of Hegoumenos Epiphanos.

Anthrakites’ contribution to the Greek Enlightenment is enormous and unique. According to Constantine Coumas, “he was the first to bring the geometric sciences from Italy, capable of lighting the light of Logos and stimulating the innate philomathy of man”. He was the first Greek to introduce mathematics in the Greek schools during the Ottoman rule. In addition to having translated numerous works of European mathematicians to Greek, Anthrakites composed original mathematical treatises. He wrote the monumental The Way of Mathematics (Ὁδὸς Μαθηματική), which contained works from Euclid’s Elements, Theodosius’ Sphaerics, theoretical and practical geometry, trigonometry, stereometry, works of Proclus as well as works on astronomy, physics and geography. With this book he taught mathematics to all of Greece. His aim was to present the history of mathematics from the time of Homer until Pappus of Alexandria so that to stimulate the Greek youth’s interest in the sciences and have the Greeks reclaim the global lead in mathematics that they had in antiquity. This is the reason why the book does not mention the mathematicians of the Renaissance, but instead focuses on the achievements of all Ancient Greek philosophers: Thales, Anaxagoras, Pythagoras, Democritus, Hippocrates, Euclid, Ptolemy, Archimedes, Diophantus, Plato, Aristotle etc.

Major contributions of Anthrakites were in the field of philosophy, logic and pedagogy. He wrote Introduction to Logic and Lesser Logic, two books on the logic of Plato and Aristotle with which he rejected the religious dogmatism and revived the Greek spirit to its wholesomeness. He developed his own philosophical-theological system, primarily influenced from Aristotle, Plato, Descartes and Malebranche, which he taught from his books Spiritual Visitation, Christian Theories and Spiritual Advices and Treatise on Nature and Graces and had widespread appeal throughout Europe.

Methodios Anthrakites became the prodrome of the Greek Enlightenment, one of the greatest Teachers of the Greek Nation and one of the chief representatives of the spiritual revival of Hellenism. Not only did he implement philosophy and mathematics in the Greek schools, but he also implemented new methods of didascaly. His eminence attracted hundreds of students from whole Greece, who came to Castoria to listen to him. Many of his students, most notably Eugenios Vulgaris, Vasilopoulos Balanos and Anastasios Vasilopoulos, became great spiritual leaders of the Greek Enlightenment and successors of his work. For his services to Greece, he was persecuted by the Orthodox Church of Greece, his books were burned in public view and was ultimately nullified by the obscurantists of religion. He died in utter poverty hiding away in a basement, almost 80 years before the awakening of the Greek Nation.

Bibliography

1. Pan, Sarantos. Ὁ διωγμὸς τοῦ Μεθοδίου Ἀνθρακίτη ἀπὸ τοὺς σκοταδιστὲς τοῦ Φαναριοῦ. Δαυλός. Issue 169, January 1996. pages 10179 – 10188. Print.
2. Tsigoni, A. Μεθόδιος Ανθρακίτης, ένας πρόδρομος του Νεοελληνικού Διαφωτισμού. Μαθηματική Επιθεώρηση. Issue 59. January-June 2003. pages 95 – 105. Print.

Alexander Papadiamantis

Novelist, Poet (1851 – 1911)

He is one of Greece’s most highly respected and commemorated novelists of the modern era. He has been characterized as the “top of the tops” by Constantine Cavafy and as the “Saint of Greek letters” unanimously by the Greek literary world. Nobel-prize laureate Odysseus Elytis’ words “Commemorate Dionysius Solomos, commemorate Alexandros Papandiamantis” reflect the prestige of Alexander Papadiamantis, the “pure child of the Orthodox Church” as he called himself, and his massive influence on the Greek letters of the 19^th and 20^th century.

Alexander Papadiamantis was born in the island of Skiathos. He studied philology in the University of Athens, but did not complete his studies. Nevertheless, he was a highly spiritual figure with profound knowledge on the Ancient Greek writers and philosophers. He spent a big part of his life as monk in Mount Athos, had a small circle of friends and was a very religious and conservative man. He made his editorial debut in 1879 as a novelist, a translator and a journalist.

He wrote multiple novels and poems, starting with The Emigrant and The Merchant of the Nations. These followed with The Boundless Garden, Around the Lagoon, Christos Milionis and Love in the Snow. One of his most successful serial novels became The Gypsy Girl, a story centered on a gypsy girl and her love with Machtus, a gypsy man, set during the final days of the Byzantine Empire, as well as her conflict with Georgios Plethon – Gemistus, the chief representative of the continuation of Hellenism, who culminated the Byzantine world during its last years, playing a central role in the novel’s plot. Papadiamantis’ most widely known novella is The Murderess, a story of an elderly woman who kills young girls out of pity, believing that she will relieve the girls from their sorrow in society. Papadiamantis wrote over 100 short stories or “short masterpieces” as they came to be known. Some of the most notable ones include The Carrion, The Little Star, The Poor Saint, The Housemaid, The Seal’s Dirge, Dream on the Wave and Little House on the Meadow.

Papadiamantis’ works are characterized primarily by love for three things: nature, Christ and the Greek traditions and values. Since his death, they have occupied a special place among the Greek letters for their vivid ethographic character, religiosity, realism and psychography of the characters. Nobel-prize laureate Georgios Seferis considered him as perhaps the most important prose writer of modern Greek literature, together with Yiannis Makriyiannis. His bibliography ultimately influenced the succeeding novelists and poets to a significant degree. Today, his house in Skiathos is a museum.

Bibliography

1. Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης 1851 – 1911. Σαν Σήμερα. Sansimera.gr. Web. Retrieved on February 25, 2017.
2. “Papadiamantis, Alexandros”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
3. The Father of Modern Greek Literature. Ellines.com. Web. Retrieved on February 25, 2017.

Plutarchus

Philosopher, Historian, Writer, Ambassador, Priest (c.46 – 120)

The historian and philosopher Plutarch was one of the greatest spiritual figures and philosophers of post-Classical Greece, characterized as the “eye of all wisdom”. His monumental works on history, philosophy, biographies, religion, natural sciences and pedagogy are part of the Ancient Greek thesaurus and reflect some of the most influential writings ever survived from antiquity.

Plutarch studied philosophy, mathematics and rhetoric in Chaeronea and Athens under the philosopher Ammonius. From a young age, he joined the higher echelons of the Roman elite and occupied important diplomatic positions in Rome. Under Emperor Trajanus’ rule, he was appointed supreme commissioner of the Illyrians and imperial procurator of Achaea by Emperor Hadrian. According to Suidas, Plutarch also served as Trajanus’ teacher. He travelled to several placed in an effort to educate himself, until settling in Rome, where he obtained a dual Greek and Roman citizenship. There, he delivered influential lectures to the Romans on Platonic philosophy, becoming one of the most respected philosophers of the Roman elite. In addition, Plutarch served significant hieratic ranks, most notably as the high hieratic priest of the Oracle of Delphi from 95 until his death in 120. He was responsible for the interpretation of the Oracle’s predictions.

Plutarch founded the Plutarcheian School of philosophy, an unofficial school composed of a circle of students to whom Plutarch taught philosophy, rhetoric and sciences. He was a prolific writer, having written over 200 works as slated in the Catalogue of Lambrias. His works which survive today have been grouped into two major books: Parallel Lives and Moralia. In the first one, Plutarch compares the biographies of historical Greek and Roman figures in pairs of 2. With a total of 23 surviving pairs, Plutarch’s book becomes one of the most valuable sources of study of the lives of Hesiod, Nero, Cicero, Pindar, Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. Plutarch wrote the Parallel Lives in order to display examples of virtuous men.

While Parallel Lives seems to have been more famous throughout the West, Moralia is appreciated more than Parallel Lives. It is a collection of 83 books, some of which survive completely, which have, nevertheless, no particular thematic connection with each other. Their content ranges from philosophical, ethical and religious, to historical, anecdotal and purely scientific. The most notable books included in the collection are On the Education of Children, On the Glory of the Athenians, On Isis and Osiris, On the Ei on Delphi, On the Obsolescence of Oracles, On the Sign of Socrates, On Moral Virtue and On the Malice of Herodotus.

Plutarch was a polymath. As reflected in his books On Isis and Osiris, On the Ei on Delphi and On the Sign of Socrates, he possessed profound knowledge on the issues of the soul. Even though primarily a Platonist, he had vast knowledge on all philosophic schools. He embraced doctrines from various different schools provided that they were in accordance with virtue and ethics. Plutarch lived at a time when Classicism was on its downfall and Christianity began prevailing over the ancient religion. As such, he devoted all of his efforts in restoring the Oracle of Delphi to its former glory.

Important philosophers and reformists such as Calvin, Melanchthon, Amyot, Aldus Manutius, Goethe, Schiller, Benjamin Franklin, Wyttenbach and Frederick the Great were all influenced tremendously by his works and considered him as one of the wisest philosophers of antiquity. Erasmus was one of Plutarch’s greatest admirers, calling his works the holiest writings next to the Holy Scripture while Jean-Jacque Rousseau referred to him as “Teacher”, spending 6 whole years studying his works in Ancient Greek. His works also played a pivotal role in the revival of Classicism during the Renaissance. His pedagogic books were introduced in the educational system and in the military schools of France during the Enlightenment thus becoming the textbook of Napoleon.

In the end, Plutarch is considered one of the Greatest Greeks because through his titanic work, he was educator of children and men throughout the ages, taught philosophy and science to the entire Western world and showed humanity the way to a virtuous life and to the unification with the Divine, at a time when the Ancient Greek spirit was beginning to eclipse.

Bibliography

1. Cartwright, Mark. Plutarch. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient.eu. Web. February 25, 2017. Retrieved on February 17, 2017.
2. “Plutarchus”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.

Andreas Miaoulis

Admiral, Statesman, Hero of the Greek War of Independence (1769 – 1835)

Andreas Vokos Miaoulis was an admiral, statesman and patriot from the island of Hydra and one of the major participants of the Greek War of Independence of 1821. Together with Constantine Kanaris, Laskarina Bouboulina and Antonios Kriezis, he is considered as one of Greece’s most important naval officers of the modern era.

He descended from a wealthy family of ship-owners and was involved with the emporium from a young age. During the Napoleonic Wars, the adventurous Miaoulis increased significantly his wealth by breaking the siege of the Spanish cities by Admiral Lord Nelson and resupplying them. Another one of his accomplishments was the prevention of an Albanian invasion in the island of Hydra.

With the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, Miaoulis signed a document whereupon he devoted all of his ships and fortune to the war and was appointed captain of the Hydrean fleet. His first clash with the Ottoman fleet was in the Battle of Pylos where he led the Greek naval forces victoriously against the enemy ships. He successfully defeated the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Orei and the Battle of Artemisium.

Following the Destruction of Psara, the Egyptian naval forces sailed from Alexandria with 100 ships, 50.000 sailors and 2500 cannons to Kos, where they merged with the Turkish fleet. Under the command of Andreas Miaoulis, the Greek fleet gathered in the Gerontas bay and battled against the enemy forces in one of the longest battles of the Greek War of Independence. In spite of them being vastly outnumbered, the Greeks won by destroying 27 Ottoman – Egyptian ships and causing massive casualties. The Battle of Gerontas rendered Andreas Miaoulis an admiral comparable to the British ones in terms of skill and military capacity. After his victorious battle, Miaoulis sailed to Methone of Messenia and shipwrecked 23 Egyptian ships; he also confronted the Egyptian fleet in Suda. With his fleet, during the second siege of Mesolonghi, he regularly supplied its citizens with food and firearms, until the final days before the sortie, when it was no longer possible. Throughout the war, he was involved with multiple skirmishes against the Ottoman navy.

Miaoulis’ contribution continued even after the end of the Greek War of Independence. He was assigned by John Kapodistrias with combating piracy in the Aegean archipelagos, a task which he completed successfully. A few years before his death, he was appointed chief of the General Directorate of the Greek navy and inspector of the fleet. He died in 1835 and was buried in Piraeus, next to the tomb of Themistocles.

Bibliography

1. Ανδρέας Μιαούλης. Σαν σήμερα. Sansimera.gr Web. Retrieved on February 11, 2017.
2. Giannopoulos, Nikos. Aνδρέας Μιαούλης, ο θρυλικός θαλασσομάχος του ΄21. Διασπούσε τους βρετανικούς αποκλεισμούς, νίκησε επανειλημμένα τους Τούρκους, εξάλειψε τους πειρατές, όμως το τέλος της ζωής του σημαδεύτηκε από μια μελανή σελίδα. ΜΗΧΑΝΗ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥ. Mixanitouxronou.gr. Web. November 29, 2011. Retrieved on February 11, 2017.
3. Kantas, Kostas. Ανδρέας Μιαούλης, ο θρυλικός ναύαρχος του 1821. Βριλησσιώτικα Νέα. Vrilissia.gr. Web. June 20, 2013. Retrieved on February 11, 2017.

Meton of Athens

Astronomer, Mathematician, Engineer (5^th century BC)

Meton was a geometrician, astronomer, engineer and inventor, active during the 5^th century BC in Athens. He is most widely known for discovering the Metonic cycle, a calendar system which was introduced in 432 BC and was used as the lunisolar Attic calendar.

He studied geometry and astronomy from his teacher Phaeinus, who made celestial observations from Mount Lycabettus, where he had established his own observatory. Meton’s most important discovery is the Metonic cycle or “Lunar cycle”, a lunar calendar which is composed of 19 years. Meton calculated that 19 solar years correspond to 6940 days and in turn to 235 lunar months. He also introduced the notion of the embolismic month, the 13^th month that was added in certain years of the cycle. These were based on Meton’s own observations, together with his student’s Euctemon, with whom he examined the positions of the sun. The Metonic cycle was used as the basis of the Greek calendar until its replacement by the Gregorian calendar in 46. To this day, the Metonic cycle is used for the calculation of the Easter Sunday each year because every 19 years the same lunar phases are repeated.

100 years after Meton, Calippus developed the Calippic cycle, which was composed of 76 years with a mean year of 365 days. The world’s oldest astronomical computer, the Antikythera mechanism has both cycles built into it, each with its own set of cogwheels, and was able to perform astronomical calculations based on these two cycles.

Except from the development of the Metonic cycle, Meton built a solar horologeion (clock) which was placed in Pnyx, the same place where his observatory was located, ruins of which can still be seen today. Furthermore, he constructed the hydragogeion (aqueduct) of Colonus, the calendar of Athens, which was a large marble pillar with plaques of orichalcos which showed the months, the years, the holidays and the rise and dawn of the sun and the stars, made important discoveries on the equinoxes and the solstices and wrote several books, all of which were burned during the Middle Ages.

Meton was popular enough during his own lifetime to even make a cameo appearance as a character in Aristophanes’ Birds, where he comes into the stage with his topographic instruments to solve some geometrical problems. Today, a lunar crater is named after him, in his honour.

Bibliography

1. Georgakopoulos, Konstantinos. Ancient Greek Scientists. Georgiades: Athens, 1995. Print.
2. Ο ΜΕΤΩΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΥΚΛΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΑ ΜΑΘΗΜΑΤΙΚΟΥ, ΑΣΤΡΟΝΟΜΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΓΕΩΜΕΤΡΗ ΜΕΤΩΝΑ!!!!. ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΚΙΝΗΣΗ. Apollonios.pblogs.gr. Web. July 2, 2014. Retrieved on February 5, 2017

John Argyropoulos

Philosopher, Scholar (1415 – 1487)

Thinker, philosopher and academic, one of the most outstanding Byzantine Greek humanists who disseminated the works of Plato and Aristotle to the West during the dawning of the Renaissance. With his original works and commentaries on the works of Aristotle and Plato, as well as their translations into Latin, John Argyropoulos exerted a tremendous influence on the Western thought, whereupon he was named one of the greatest humanists of the Renaissance era.

He studied philosophy and theology in the University of Padua and participated in the Council of Florence when he was young. He became one of the many Greek scholars who fled from Constantinople after its fall to the Ottomans in 1453, forcing him refuge to Italy. Argyropoulos settled in Florence, where he was accepted in the Platonic Academy, a university built by Cozimo de Medici, Florence’s hegemon who wanted to disseminate the philosophy of his teacher Georgios Gemistus – Pletho, whom he admired. Cozimo entrusted his son’s education to Argyropoulos, as well as the Academy’s Department of Ancient Greek and Philosophy. Soon, he became one of Italy’s most famous academics, attracting humanists from all over the country to study next to him. Among his most notable students were Angelo Poliziano, John Filelfo, the son of Franciscus Filelfo, Donato Acciaiuoli, Leonardo DaVinci, Johannes Reuchlin and Alamanno Rinuccini.

Argyropoulos taught Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy in an innovative way; his house was always open to his students and humanists who wished to discuss and philosophize with him. For him, there were three major philosophers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. By far the latter was his favourite. He dismissed Zoroaster and confronted Cicero for being an overrated philosopher. With his translations on the works of Aristotle to Latin, the West became acquainted with Aristotle once again, since the Roman era. He published translations, accompanied with his own commentaries on De Anima, De Caelo, De Mundo, Physica, Metaphysica, the Nicomachean Ethics, the Politics and the Organon, Aristotle’s book on logic. Furthermore, he published collections such as De Interpretione, Analytica Posteriora and Expositio Ethicorum Aristotelis. His original treatises include ecclesiastical poems and miscellaneous religious and philosophical treatises.

Argyropoulos worked tirelessly as an apostle of the Greek language and philosophy in 3 different universities throughout his lifetime. A close friend of Basileios Bessarion and a successor to Manuel Chrysoloras’ work, the philosopher became the most famous representative of Aristotelian philosophy in Italy and helped massively to restore the classical studies and connect the humanists with the Greek spirit. He died in Florence at the age of 72, in complete poverty. By the end of his life, he had gained thousands of followers both from inside and outside of Italy, who cultivated the seeds that Argyropoulos had taught them to plant and, with their turn, continued the work of John Argyropoulos and his predecessors, which led to the Renaissance.

Bibliography

1. Condylis, Thanos. Αργυρόπουλος Ιωάννης. Αργολική Αρχειακή Βιβλιοθήκη Ιστορίας και Πολιστισμού. Argolikivivliothiki.gr. Web. July 26, 2011. Retrieved on January 29, 2017.
2. Matula, Jozef. John Argyropoulos and his Importance for the Latin West. Univerzita Palackeho Olomouc. Academy.edu. Web. Retrieved on January 29, 2017.

Galen

Physician, Philosopher, Astronomer, Physicist (129 – 216)

For some, he is the Father of Anatomy, for others he is the Father of Experimental Physiology and for others he is honoured as the Father of General Pathology. Undisputedly, however, Claudius Galen was the greatest physician of antiquity next to Hippocrates himself, as well as his spiritual successor. He was the physician who dominated the whole Oecumen for 1500 years. His massive work of monumental proportions, which has been translated into numerous ancient and modern languages, spans the fields of philosophy, physics, logic, astronomy, music, ethics and most importantly medicine.

Galen was born in Pergamum as the son of Nicon, a geometrist, architect, astronomer, renowned for his prudence. Galen studied philosophy and medicine for many years, first travelling to Smyrna, and then to Corinth, Cilicia, Phoenicia, Palestine, Lemnos, Scyros, Crete and Cyprus until arriving in Alexandria, the most illustrious spiritual center of humanity. There he enriched his knowledge on anatomy. He practiced his knowledge on orthopedics and surgery by treating the athletes and gladiators in Pergamum. When he came to Rome, he rose to fame thanks to his surgical skills and pharmacological knowledge. Galen returned to Pergamum for some time, only to return to Italy after an invitation from Marcus Aurelius. He created one of the most perfect medical systems, which dominated the medical world until the Renaissance.

As the quintessence of the philosopher-doctor, Galen estimated that philosophy was a prerequisite for medicine. His philosophy was that the doctor ought to be a philosopher, because philosophy is the science of truth, and medicine cannot exist without truth. Ethics were another important aspect of the philosopher-doctor, as he was obliged to practice medicine not for the honours, the money or the politics. Moreover, Galen expanded the work of Aristotle and Theophrastus in Logic as well as metaphysics. He was called the “first servant of nature”.

Three basic principles summarize Galen’s medical philosophy, which he himself expressed: First, that it is impossible to understand the nature of the disease without proper knowledge of the function and construction of the human body. Second, that there is no organ in the human body without a purpose. Third, that aging, even though an unstoppable process, it can be delayed.

Galen’s philosophy on biology concerned the existence of 3 classes, which comprised the living bodies: solids, humors and spirits. Wind, water, fire and earth represented the four elements which comprised each category and to each of them befall an equal amount of drastic elements: warmth, cold, wetness and dryness. From their mixture are produced the 4 humors of the human body: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Spirits are 3 types: vital, living and animalistic. From these entities derive 3 forces which govern the living beings: the instincts (ἐπιθυμητική), which reside in the liver, the emotions (θυμοειδής) which reside in the heart and logic (λογική) which is found in the brain. For Galen, the physiological equilibrium of all four humours and the harmonic interplay between the three forces determine the requirements of a healthy life. If this equilibrium is not met, then disease will ensue.

Galen made pioneering discoveries in Anatomy and Physiology. He made important discoveries in myology, first describing the muscles of mastication, the brachium, the muscles of the chest and the hamstring muscles as well as the muscles of the larynx. He described the structure of the heart, discovered the ductus arteriosus and the fact that the arteries begin from the heart. His most groundbreaking discovery, however, came from the study of the circulatory and respiratory systems and was the existence of the capillaries, 1559 years before their “official” discovery by Marcelo Malpighi. First demonstrated that the nerves are controlled by the brain and discerned them between motor and sensory, described nervus vagus, the layers of the eyeball, the chiasma opticum and the physiology of vision. Galen was also a revolutionary surgeon, achieving widespread acclaim for treating patients successfully without pain. He did general surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, pleurectomies, tooth extractions, amputations, gastrorrhaphies and nasal polyp removal.

Furthermore, the great physician made extraordinary contributions in General and Special Pathology. In his books he describes with complete accuracy pleuritis, tuberculosis, pneumonia, lung cancer and lung abscess, liver diseases, diabetes, appendicitis, icterus, colics, neural paralysis, epilepsy, filariasis, gangrene, lithiasis and erysipelas. He had profound knowledge on the circulatory system, as well as on heredity, contagiousness, psoriasis, toxins, immunity and chronic diseases. He distinguished pathognomic signs from non-pathognomic. Other fields of medicine which Galen expanded were embryology, obstetrics and gynaecology, urology, andrology, orthopaedics, dermatology, tropical medicine and infectious diseases, pharmacology, homeopathy, clinical nutrition and hygiene.

Galen was said to be guided by Asclepius in his dreams. He had enormous respect for Hippocrates, whom he referred to as “Divine” and “Hegemon of all the good arts”. Nevertheless, his great admiration towards him was not based on dogmatism as the well-known phrase says “Hippocrates says yes, Galen says no.” Galen’s works, which consisted of 125 medical and 115 non-medical – philosophical or mathematicoastronomical ones, were the mainstay resources for learning medicine in the Western world until the Renaissance or early 19^th century. During all these 1500 years, all medical treatises that were written were repetitive rehashes either of Hippocrates or Galen.

Bibliography

1. “Galenos”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
2. Tziropoulou – Eustathiou, Anna. O en te leksei Logos. Georgiades: Athens, 2009. Print.