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Newsletter 24
September 2003
Mark Your Calendar
Prometheas’ Kafenio at St. Catherine’s on Sept 26
Prometheas
kicks-off the new season with an evening of fun at St. Catherine’s Greek
Orthrodox Church, Arlington, VA on Sept 26th.
Join us for an evening of fun and entertainment.
Greek music by Achilleas and Company. For more details see the link http://www.prometheas.org/current.htm
Glykeria in town on October 3rd
Glykeria
is scheduled to be in the DC on October 3rd.
She will sign at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Arlington VA.
For more info, call Asteria Productions (703-208-1923)
Misc Items of Interest
Olympics Athens 2004
The
Legacy of the Athens
Olympics
The Ministry of
Culture, which supervises Olympic preparations, published in August an
assessment of the long-term consequences for Athens of hosting the 2004
Olympics.
On the opportunity
for "the aesthetic reshaping of Athens," the study notes that the
Greek government has allocated 180 million euros ($200 million) to numerous
projects, including a plan for the removal of commercial signs from buildings in
the capital, with 1500 such signs now gone. The plan also foresees the
unification of the city's archaeological sites in an open-air park complete with
facilities for cultural activities. It also includes major improvements to
provide family attractions in the coastal zone of the capital.
More than 90
percent of the sports facilities needed for the Olympics has now been completed,
with special attention given to the Olympic Rowing Center in the Marathon area,
which eliminated an old and disused polluting airport and has been constructed
with respect for the neighboring wetlands.
Improvements in the
public transport system include a new tramway running from the center of Athens
along the coastline to the new Olympic installation at the old Hellenikon
airport. The Athens Metro, the most modern in the world, will have three new
extensions of ten kilometers, adding a 200,000 passenger capacity. It will also
be linked to the suburban rail line giving access to and from the new Athens
airport. New highways will also link Athens with four major cities hosting the
Olympic soccer competition throughout Greece (Thessaloniki, Volos, Patras, and
Heraklion).
Special attention
is also given to Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games, with 100
million euros allocated for the unification of the archaeological site, the
renovation of the existing museum, and the creation of a new museum for the
Olympic Games.
The Olympic
Village, 23 kilometers north of the city, will have 2,500 houses, accommodating
16,000 athletes and officials. Constructed of environmentally-friendly and
energy-efficient materials, the houses will be available for workers' residences
when the Games are over.
The review also
describes the accompanying Cultural Olympiad as a "major pillar" of
the 2004 Games, with 100 high-level events in Greece and abroad at a cost of 120
million euros. Some 4,000 athletes with disabilities are also expected to take
part in the Paralympic Games, two weeks after the close of the Games. An
Olympics educational program, with 2,000 new teachers on board, is under way at
5,000 schools in Greece.
On the economic
impact of the Athens Olympics, the review foresees a 1.3 percent increase of GDP
in 2004 and some 30,000 new jobs a year. They are also expected to lead to a 5
percent increase in tourist arrivals.
New
Olympic Medals
The General
Assembly of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved new designs for
the Olympic medals for both the 2004 and future Olympiads.
These designs include distinctly Hellenistic elements, such as:
·
New image of Nike (the Greek goddess of victory; not the shoe
company!!) based on the 10-foot high statue created by the ancient sculptor
Paionios in 421 BC and housed in the Temple if Zeus in ancient Olympia
·
Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens where the first modern Olympics
were held in 1896
For the 2004
Olympics, the medals in the obverse side will show the “eternal flame” to be
lit at ancient Olympia, lyrics from the “Olympic Ode” of Pindar and the
official emblem of the Athens Games.
§
For continuing coverage of the 2004 Athens Olympics, go to www.athens2004.com.
Source:
Embassy of Greece
Noteworthy Books
Alexander
the Great's Art of Strategy: The Timeless Lessons of History's Greatest Empire
Builder
-- by Partha Bose
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Indian-born
strategy adviser Bose sees Alexander the Great as a paragon of strategy and
leadership for contemporary businesspersons. And apparently, he's not alone: Baz
Luhrman, Norman Schwarzkopf, Oliver Stone and Ted Turner all agree the ruler was
onto something. Bose here takes readers through the major events of Alexander's
life, inserting observations and lessons relevant to business. The history
sections-covering Alexander's birth and early education under Aristotle's
tutelage to his death and the dissolution of his vast empire-are engaging,
though far from comprehensive. While Bose doesn't purport to be a historian, he
is a partner and chief marketing officer of an international management
consultancy. Despite that, he does a poor job of pulling lessons from the empire
builder's biography. For example, "The Art of Deceptive Strategy"
describes how Alexander conquered a supposedly invincible band of Indian
warriors in 328 B.C. by creating a phantom threat. Bose then describes how, in
the 1980s, Ralston Purina created a phantom threat in the pet food industry. The
parallel is obvious, but defeating an enemy is hardly the same as creating a
market. Moreover, in his enthusiasm, Bose seems at times to be recommending
Alexander's most brutal tactics as business strategies. The results can be
unintentionally humorous. In a chapter on leadership styles, the historical
tidbit "when [Alexander's] closest friend, Hephaistion, died of a fever in
Ecbatana, Alexander had the physician treating him crucified" is followed
immediately by "Alexander's trusting leadership style evoked fierce loyalty
from those around him." Illus.
The chief marketing officer of an international consulting firm reveals how the
strategy secrets of Alexander the Great can help you gain the competitive edge
in today's tough business world.
He was the last military leader to successfully conquer Afghanistan-nearly 2,500
years ago. He built cities and cultures that still exist today. Perhaps the
greatest military strategist, tactician, and ruler in history, Alexander the
Great has been an enduring influence on world business and military...
Copyright
2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Of
Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order
--by Robert Kagan
Editorial Reviews
From its opening-line salvo—"It is time to stop pretending that Europeans
and Americans share a common view of the world, or even that they occupy the
same world"—Of Paradise and Power
announces a new phase in the relationship between the United States and Europe.
Robert Kagan begins this illuminating essay by laying out the general
differences as he sees them: the U.S. is quicker to use military force, less
patient with diplomacy, and more willing to coerce (or bribe) other nations in
order to get a desired result. Europe, on the other hand, places greater
emphasis on diplomacy, takes a much longer view of history and problem solving,
and has greater faith in international law and cooperation. Kagan does not view
these differences as the result of innate national character, but as a
time-honored historical reality--the U.S. is merely behaving like the powerful
nation it is, just as the great European nations once did when they ruled the
world. Now, Europe must act multilaterally because it has no choice. The
"UN Security Council is a substitute for the power they lack," he
writes.
Kagan also
emphasizes the inherent ironies present in the relationship. European nations
have enjoyed an "American security guarantee" for nearly 60 years,
allowing them to cut back on defense spending while criticizing the U.S. for not
doing the same. Yet Europe relies upon the U.S. for protection. This has led
America and Europe to view the same threats much differently, as evidenced by
the split over how to deal with Iraq and Saddam Hussein. Kagan points out that
some European leaders are more afraid of how the U.S. will wield its power in
the Middle East than they are of the thought of Hussein or other "rogue
state" leaders acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
Kagan’s
brevity is as impressive as it is appreciated; most writers would have required
thrice as many pages to get to their point. At any length, the book is nothing
short of brilliant. This is essential reading for those seeking to understand
the post-Cold War world.--ShawnCarkonen
The
Struggle for Europe: The Turbulent History of a Divided Continent 1945-2002
by
William I. Hitchcock
(Hardcover - January 2003)
EditorialReviews
From Publishers Weekly
Hitchcock, a
professor at Wellesley College, is an unabashed admirer of Europe, which he
views as the global center of peace, democracy and prosperity. Yet anyone who
surveyed the continent in the decades before 1950 would have remarked on
precisely the opposite features: a Europe torn apart by two massive wars and
economic depression, and notable for the prevalence of dictatorships.
Hitchcock's problem, then, is how to explain Europe's phoenix-like rise, the
radical break in its history around the mid-century mark.
At the outset, he
provides four answers that guide his historical survey. In the face of the
Communist threat, Western Europe joined with the United States and benefited
from U.S. military and economic support. Europe had a "good Cold War,"
he writes. Moreover, because WWII had been so destructive, when Europeans
rebuilt, they were able to employ the most modern technologies and free markets.
Finally, Europeans were committed to democracy and chose the path of peaceful
reform rather than violent revolution. The reasoning here is circular: Europe is
democratic because its people have chosen democracy. But while the logic may be
faulty, Hitchcock (France Restored: Cold War Diplomacy) does provide a clear
exposition of postwar developments-the rise of the welfare state; the slow,
steady march toward the European Union; Cold War conflicts over Poland, Berlin
and so on. Readers hungering for sustained discussion of the dramatic social and
cultural transformations of the postwar period will not be satiated; others
might find this sober and comprehensive political history of Europe's glory
years instructive. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Here's
Uncle Zeus, Aunt Hera, the Twins ...
July 12, 2003
By BENJAMIN WEISER
It was about 20 years ago when Jon O. Newman, a federal
appeals court judge in Manhattan, walked up to a staff member in the New York
Public Library and asked, "Do you have a book anywhere in this library that
has a complete genealogical chart of Greek mythology?" They didn't.
"O.K., second question,"
Judge Newman said. "If there were such a book, would you buy it?"
"We'd have to," the librarian replied.
It was what the judge had wanted to hear. For years, his father, Harold Newman,
had pursued a hobby - an elaborate genealogy project - trying to link all
characters from Greek mythology in a single family tree. Judge Newman wanted to
finish it.
Now, the Newmans' work has been published by the University of North Carolina
Press as "A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology: Comprising 3,673 Named
Figures of Greek Mythology, All Related to Each Other Within a Single Family of
20 Generations."
If the title seems daunting, the project was, well, herculean. The research,
begun by Harold Newman in 1964, took almost 40 years.
Harold Newman did not live to see it published; he died in 1993 at the age of
93. Jon Newman, now 71, said in a recent interview in his chambers that he was
able to complete the work with the assistance of a classics scholar and several
graduate students. Even with all the help, he said, "I still had no idea it
would take so long." The book is laid out over 72 segments that connect
horizontally and a 93-page index that allows readers to find, as the judge
writes, "the entire cast of Greek mythology - Titans, gods and goddesses,
kings, heroes, mortals, giants, monsters, centaurs, horses, rivers, winds,
stars, and personifications of abstract conceptions."
Zeus's progeny appear on many
pages. "He has liaisons with girls all over the chart," the judge
noted. His lovers included his wife, Hera (producing Ares, the god of war);
Mnemosyne, the symbol of memory (producing the nine muses); and Leda (producing
Helen of Troy).
Judge Newman, who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit, with chambers in Manhattan and Hartford, is not a classics scholar, nor
does he profess to have any more interest in mythological figures than the
average person. He says he was far more interested in the detective work
involved.
It seems fitting that the mapping of the family links between the Greek gods and
heroes would be a father-son project. Harold Newman had practiced law and then
began writing books on decorative arts, including a definitive guide to ceramic
tea warmers. He also tinkered with genealogies, tracing his own family tree.
Harold Newman's interest in mythology was casual, his son said, until he started
inserting mythological figures into a family tree format. Then, his son said,
"it just got out of hand."
Harold had drawn his Grecian family tree on large pieces of cardboard. In 1980,
Judge Newman used a computer software program to present the chart in printable
form, but discovered that it was incomplete and had "mistakes."
"As my wife keeps saying to me, `What do you mean mistakes? These people
aren't real."
To get the facts down, the judge leaned on Apollodorus, a writer from the second
century B.C. who collected myths and legends.
"His whole book is just a collection of `Who begat whom' and `Who married
whom' " he said. "I'd read through that, and pick up any names in that
book that were not yet on my chart."
Pausanias, who wrote a kind of Baedeker for ancient Greece around the second
century A.D., was also useful, Judge Newman says. "He'd say, `I was in this
town, and the local figure is so and so, and they tell the story that he married
so and so, and the children were so and so.' I would go through that, and pick
up a lot of names."
Given the heavy demands of his day job, Judge Newman had to squeeze in Greek
time on Sundays, at night and in the hours before rosy-fingered dawn made her
appearance.
The judge eventually sent the work to a university press. It was reviewed by an
outside scholar, who found it interesting, but not publishable because it lacked
authoritative citations.
The scholar, Maria-Viktoria Abricka, who had taught mythology at the University
of North Carolina and reads Greek and Latin, agreed to help. She says she joined
the project because she felt that such a book, with citations, would offer
"a way of tracking the actual stories from the ancient sources themselves,
instead of the bland summaries that you get in handbooks or dictionaries of
myth."
"There was nothing like it before," Dr. Abricka said.
Assisted by a team of graduate students, she delved into the ancient writings
and gave the judge some new connections and their sources.
Judge Newman found the material valuable. "I started consulting original
texts," he said, "and finding relationships that weren't even in some
of the secondary sources."
His goal was to identify and cite the oldest authoritative source for each
relationship. But because many such works have been lost to history, Dr. Abricka
said, "we were dealing with fragments, and putting them together, and
seeing what we could come up with."
One question was where to begin. "There are different theories of the
beginning," Judge Newman said. He chose the version of the Greek poet
Hesiod. "He says it started with Chaos," the judge said. "Chaos
is really not a person. It's more a concept." But he had to start
somewhere.
Another challenge was the blurry line between myth and reality. Early Greek
kings, for example, often claimed to be descendants of the gods. The judge
included such personages only where "a recognized ancient source"
reported them as the offspring of mythical figures.
Different figures also had the same name. The judge found at least four women
named Antigone. In such cases, he would try to determine whether they were
different versions of the same person, or different people with different
parents. As he notes in the introduction, "There was no registry of births
and marriages on Mt. Olympus, or at Athens or Troy."
If there was any parallel to judging, he says, it was here: it was like deciding
paternity suits.
In the chart and the index, the judge used Roman type to signify male figures,
and italic for female. But some mythological figures did not fit easily into the
scheme.
Caenis, for one, was a famous beauty who was raped by Poseidon while walking on
the seashore. Poseidon then agreed to her request that he make her into a man,
so she would never be a rape victim again. She was transformed into the warrior
Caeneus. In the book, Judge Newman lists the figure in both italics and Roman
type: Caenis/Caeneus.
The judge's daughter, Leigh Newman, 46, a trusts and estates lawyer in Hartford,
said her father's desire to have accurate citations and a system for presenting
them reflected "something that one does in writing legal opinions or legal
briefs all the time - citing to authority."
And Judge Guido Calabresi, a fellow member of the appeals court, says he is not
surprised that his colleague would tackle such an ambitious project. He calls
Judge Newman "a brilliant legal scholar" who is "unusual, because
at the same time, he can see the forest and the trees."
One person who is grateful the Newmans stuck with the project is Elizabeth L.
Diefendorf, chief librarian of the general research division of the New York
Public Library (who was not present when Judge Newman visited years ago). She
said she had already added "A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology"
to the collection.
"I showed it to my colleagues - and I do have some very learned colleagues
here - and their faces just lit up," she said.
Judge Newman thinks the $75 oversized book could find an audience with another
group: crossword puzzle fans. "I think hardly a week goes by they don't
have a clue that has to do with Greek mythology," he said.
Will Shortz, the puzzle editor of The New York Times, confirmed the judge's
suspicion. Mythological figures appear frequently in the paper's puzzles, he
said, especially short names with lots of vowels, like Erato, the muse of lyric
poetry. "They help set up the juicy long entries," he said.
"Mythology is part of our common culture," he said, "It's
something I expect New York Times solvers to know."
Ms. Newman, the judge's daughter, is a serious crossword puzzle aficionado
herself. Yet she admits to knowing little about mythology. So will she use her
father's book as a reference tool?
No. If a Greek god appears in a clue, she will try to fill in other answers
until the mystery solves itself.
"Good solvers," she said, "don't use solving aides."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/12/nyregion/12GREE.html?ex=1059049729&ei=1&en=a75a48e5ac526dd1
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