Educational

The island group of Santorini (Thera) is the most well-known and active volcanic centre of the Hellenic (Greek) Volcanic Arc in the south Aegean Sea. It is a complex stratovolcano with a large caldera created by several large explosive eruptions. The different products of 2 million years of volcanic activity have accumulated around a small non-volcanic basement that once formed a small island similar to the other islands. Most of the volcanic layers are visible in the multi-colored sequences of the impressive steep inner walls of the caldera, striking the visitor who reaches the island by boat.

The Minoan eruption of Thera, (Santorini or Thera eruption), was a major catastrophic volcanic eruption which is estimated to have occurred in the mid second millennium BCE. It was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history. The eruption seems to have inspired certain Greek myths and may have caused turmoil in Egypt. It has also been suggested previously that the effects of this eruption led to a number of the Ten Plagues of Moses in the Holy Bible, chief among them being the so-called “rain of fire”. Additionally, it has been speculated that the destruction of the city at Akrotiri provided the basis for or otherwise inspired Plato's story of Atlantis.

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© 2009 Jordan Kevrekidis

The Tower of the Winds on the Roman Agora
and Lycabettus Hill in the background.
Athens – Greece.

The Tower of the Winds (Aerides) or Horologion (timepiece) of Andronicos is an octagonal tower representing the eight directions of the wind. The structure is 12 m tall with a diameter of about 8 m and was topped in antiquity by a weathervane-like Triton that indicated the wind direction. It stands on a base of three steps and is built of white Pentelic marble. It has a conical roof, a cylindrical annex on the south side, and two Corinthian porches. The frieze depicts the eight wind deities: Boreas (N), Kaikias (NE), Eurus (E), Apeliotes (SE), Notus (S), Livas (SW), Zephyrus (W), and Skiron (NW). There are eight sundials on the external walls and an elaborate waterclock (clepsydra) in the interior, driven by water coming down from the Acropolis. It was supposedly built by the Greek astronomer Andronicus of Cyrrhus (Kyrrhos of Syria or Macedonia) around 50 BC, but according to other sources might have been constructed in the 2nd century BC before the rest of the forum. The monument had been half-buried by the earth accumulated over the centuries. It was excavated between 1837 and 1845 by the Greek Archaeological Society.

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Immigration in Greece has emerged as one of the major social issues with serious political and economic repercussions. The largest group of immigrants residing in Greece comes from ex communist countries.

There are more than 1 million immigrants in Greece (equivalent to 10% of the population) mostly from Albania, followed by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Iraq, Kurdistan, Philippines and many African counties.

Wages in Greece for work in the black market are 3 to 6 times higher than standard wages in their home countries. Yet, they have to live their lives in the insecurity and the constant fear of being deported. Since Greece has declared that is not an immigration country, there is hardly any state infrastructure to help immigrants integrate in the Greek society.

Kevrekidis Photography at deviantART

©2009 Jordan Kevrekidis

The site of ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (5000-3000 BC), and flourished as a major Greek city from the 8th century BC until its destruction by the Romans in 146 BC. Its commanding position on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow strip of land that separates the Peloponnese from northern Greece, was the primary basis of its importance. In Greek mythology, it was in Corinth that Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, abandoned Medea. During the Trojan War Corinthians participated under the leadership of Agamemnon. Being a leading naval power as well as a rich commercial city enabled ancient Corinth to establish colonies in Syracuse on the island of Sicily. Beginning in 582 BC, in the spring of every second year the Isthmian Games were celebrated in honor of the sea god Poseidon. The Corinthians developed the Corinthian order, the third order of the classical architecture after the Ionic and the Doric. The city was a major participant in the Persian Wars, offering forty war ships in the sea Battle of Salamis. After the end of the Peloponnesian War, Corinth and Thebes, which were former allies with Sparta in the Peloponnesian League, had grown dissatisfied with the hegemony of Sparta and started the Corinthian War against it. Corinth was conquered by Philip II of Macedon in 338 BC, but it was named the meeting place of Philip's new Hellenic confederacy. After Philip was assassinated, Alexander the Great immediately came to Corinth to meet with the confederacy, confirm his leadership, and forestall any thoughts of rebellion. At the Isthmian Games of 336 BC, the Greeks chose Alexander the Great to lead them in war against the Persians. Corinth was partially destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC, but in 44 BC it was rebuilt as a Roman city under Julius Caesar. The Apostle Paul visited Corinth in the 50s AD and later wrote two letters to the Christian community at Corinth (the books of Corinthians in the New Testament). Although Paul intended to pass through Corinth a second time before he visited Macedonia, circumstances were such that he first went from Troas to Macedonia before stopping at Corinth for a "second benefit". In 267 AD, the invasion of the Herulians initiated the decline of the city. During Alaric's invasion of Greece in 395–396, he destroyed Corinth and sold many of its citizens into slavery. Nevertheless, Corinth remained inhabited for many centuries through successive invasions, destructions and plagues.

Kevrekidis Photography at deviantART

©2009 Jordan Kevrekidis

Epiphany (alteration of Greek epiphaneia appearance, manifestation, from epiphainein to manifest), or 'The Blessing of the Waters', is held every year on January 6 throughout all of Greece. In this ritual a priests toss a cross in the waters, followed by young men diving into the frigid sea to retrieve the symbol of the Christian faith. The brave swimmer who recovers the cross is thought to be blessed with good luck throughout the year.

Epiphany is celebrated by both the Eastern and Western Churches, but a major difference between them is over precisely which historical events the feast commemorates. For Western Christians the feast primarily commemorates the coming of the Magi, while in the East the feast celebrates the Baptism of Christ in river Jordan. However, in both cases the essence of the feast is the same: the manifestation of Christ to the world (whether as an infant or in the Jordan), and the Mystery of the Incarnation.

For the Orthodox Christians called the Feast of Theophany (Greek: Θεοφάνεια, "God shining forth" or "divine manifestation"), it is one of the Great Feasts of the liturgical year. This term has been used to refer to appearances of the gods in the ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions. Theophanies occur throughout Greek mythology, while the Iliad is our earliest source for descriptions in the Classical tradition.

Kevrekidis Photography at deviantART

©2009 Jordan Kevrekidis