Segesta

Segesta (or Egesta), located in the north-west corner of Sicily, was an important trading town from the 7th century BCE onwards. Situated on the strategically advantageous slopes of Mt. Barbaro, yet still close enough to the coast to support a trading port, Segesta established itself as the most important regional town of the Elymi people. Flourishing in the 5th century BCE, Segesta continued to hold important status as a trading centre into Hellenistic and Roman times. Today, the site has two of the best-preserved Classical monuments anywhere and they are impressive testimony of Segesta's one-time prosperity - a 5th century BCE Doric temple which, at least externally, is reasonably intact and an equally well-preserved 3rd-2nd century BCE theatre which provides its audience with a stunning view towards the nearby Gulf of Castellamare.

In Mythology

One of the symbols often associated with Segesta is a dog, which is seen, for example, on 4th century BCE coins. The animal may refer to the founding myth that describes a dog as the personification of the river god Crimisus. It was he who fell in love with a local nymph (Egesta), and their resulting offspring, Egesto, was credited with being the founder of the city. In the Roman mythology which sought to link Segesta with her ancient Roman origins, the Trojan hero Aeneas stopped off on Sicily during his long wanderings from Troy to his final destination Italy and the founding of Rome. Aeneas, then, according to Virgil, founds Acesta (later to become Segesta). Aeneas escaping Troy is portrayed on bronze coins from Segesta minted during the reign of Augustus.

In yet another version of the mythical events surrounding the founding of the city, the principal character is one Aegesto (or Aceste), who was born in Sicily to a Trojan mother. Aegesto returned to Troy when he was an adult, but following the sacking of the city in the Trojan War, he and a group of survivors returned to Sicily. First establishing themselves at Erice, Aegesto later relocated, setting up a new city at Segesta.

Perseus

Perseus is one of the greatest and oldest pan-Hellenic heroes of Greek mythology. Perseus famously killed the dreaded Medusa, a Gorgon with snakes as hair and whose stare turned men to stone. Perseus also carried out the daring rescue of Princess Andromeda from a monstrous sea creature sent by the god Poseidon to terrorize the kingdom of Ethiopia.

The Son of Zeus

Perseus is perhaps the oldest of the Greek heroes with depictions of his beheading of the Gorgon Medusa being amongst the earliest scenes from mythology appearing in art. Even in mythology, he is believed to have lived three generations before that other great hero Hercules, who was himself one generation before the Trojan War. Perseus' mortal father was Danaos and his mother was Danae, the daughter of Akrisios (or Acrisius), the king of Argos. However, Perseus, as with other Greek heroes, was believed to have had divine parentage, something which helped to explain how they could achieve such fantastic feats of derring-do, providing a link between men and gods and fullfilling their function as role models. In Perseus' case, Zeus was thought to be his real father after the king of the gods himself had slept with Danae when she had been imprisoned by her father. Akrisios had locked up his daughter in an underground prison made of bronze after an oracle had declared that his future grandson would kill him. Of course, this was no barrier to Zeus who entered the cell as a shower of gold rain. Naturally, when the child was born, Akrisios was unwilling to believe Danae's far-fetched story of the golden rain. Suspicious and still mindful of the oracle, he sealed up the mother and child in a wooden chest and had them thrown into the sea. Zeus did not abandon his filial duties, though, and a quiet word with Poseidon ensured sufficiently calm seas, so that the chest washed up safely on the shores of the Aegean island of Seriphos and was found by Diktys, a fisherman who took them in and cared for the castaways.

Hecate

Hecate (Hekate) is a goddess of Greek mythology capable of both good and evil. She was associated with witchcraft, magic, the Moon, doorways, and creatures of the night like hell-hounds and ghosts. Hecate often carries a torch in her connection with the night. She has three faces for her role as the goddess of boundaries and the guardian of crossroads.

Hecate's Family Relations

According to Hesiod in his Theogony, Hecate is the daughter of Perses and Asteria, making her the granddaughter of the Titans Phoebe and Coeus. Euripides, on the other hand, mentions her mother is Leto. Other writers claim her as the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, Aristaion or Night. The goddess was frequently associated with Demeter and even assimilated to her in some cults.

Saturnalia

The Saturnalia was an enduring Roman festival dedicated to the agricultural god Saturn which was held between the 17th and 23rd of December each year during the winter solstice. Originating from archaic agricultural rituals the Roman festivities came to include a general round of gift-giving, merrymaking, and role-reversals so that it became one of the most popular celebrations in the calendar and certainly the jolliest. The similarities of some of its features and the timing - pushed later into December over time - suggest a strong influence on the Christian celebration of Christmas.

Saturn

The focus of the Saturnalia and the god who gave his name to the festival was Saturn (or Saturnus), who is something of a mysterious figure in Roman religion. Depictions of the god in surviving art have him wearing a veil and brandishing either a sickle or a pruning knife suggesting a close relation with agriculture and especially seed-growing or seed-corn. With links to indigenous Italian deities and perhaps, too, a version of the Greek god Kronos, he was regarded as a primordial deity who had taught humanity important agricultural skills. He was thought to have ruled when the world enjoyed a Golden Age of prosperity and happiness, hence the general frivolity of his festival.

Paros

Paros is an island in the Cyclades group in the central Aegean. It is the third largest island of the Cyclades and its position on important sea routes between mainland Greece and the coast of Asia Minor made it an important centre from the early Bronze Age through to Roman times. The island was also famous for the high quality of its marble which became a popular material for sculptors and architects throughout antiquity.

Bronze Age Paros

First inhabited from c. 3200 BCE (or perhaps even earlier), important settlements from the Early Cycladic Period include those at Drios, Avyssos, Galana, Gremna, Kampos, and Plastiras. The relatively high level of culture in the early Bronze Age is attested by the wealth of decorated pottery finds and in Cycladic sculpture which produced elegant marble figures rendered in a minimalistic style.

At the island's capital Parikia (Paroikia) on the west coast the first indications of settlement date to the early 2nd millennium BCE and the area was continuously occupied through Minoan and Mycenaean times and settled by colonists from Attica c. 1000 BCE being occupied until around 700 BCE. On the north coast at Naoussa there was a major Mycenaean settlement which prospered in the 13th century BCE but was destroyed in c. 1200 BCE. Nevertheless, the site was reoccupied from the 10th century BCE and once again enjoyed a period of prosperity from the 9th to the mid-7th century BCE. Koukounaries on the east coast was also an important Mycenaean centre in the 13th and 12th centuries BCE and continued into the mid-7th century BCE. It was here at Koukounaries that the oldest temple on the island was built, the temple to Athena dating to c. 700 BCE and which survived into Classical times.

Carthaginian Art

The art of the Carthaginians was an eclectic mix of influences and styles, which included Egyptian motifs, Greek fashion, Phoenician gods, and Etruscan patterns. Precious metals, ivory, glass, terracotta, and stone were transformed into highly decorative objects ranging from everyday utensils to purely ornamental pieces. Just as the Carthaginians imported and exported all manner of trade goods, so too their art reflected their vast network of contacts across the ancient Mediterranean but they would eventually produce their own distinctive art which uniquely blended elements from other cultures. The distinctive qualities of Punic art can be best seen in their stelae, jewellery, sculpture, and masks.

Surviving examples of Carthaginian art are sadly few in comparison to contemporary cultures, and they are further limited in scope by the fact that the majority of artefacts come from a burial context and so are predominantly small in scale and of a religious nature. Secular art and objects produced exclusively for their aesthetic value are rare indeed. Nevertheless, enough examples survive of jewellery, figurines, ceramics, and stonework to hint that the Carthaginians were not as artistically impoverished as earlier historians saw fit to claim.

Influences

Carthage was founded in the 9th century BCE by colonists from the Phoenician city of Tyre. This fact and the city's continued close ties with the mother country meant that art was heavily influenced by that of Phoenicia, at least in its formative years. Just as Phoenicia was itself a melting pot of diverse cultures, its wealth based as it was on maritime trade, so too Carthage would become a cosmopolitan city with visitors, residents, and artists from across the ancient Mediterranean. Egyptian art was particularly influential and many motifs are seen in Carthaginian art such as the goat with head looking backwards beneath a sacred tree or rigid standing female figures. Near Eastern art was another strong influence, seen especially in figurines of the god Melqart/Baal. The influence of Etruscan artists is seen especially in Carthaginian pottery decoration from the 4th century BCE.

Above all, though, Carthage's art took inspiration from the Greek world from the 5th century BCE onwards. Not only were the Carthaginians appreciative collectors of Greek art, taking fine art as booty from their campaigns in Sicily, but they also produced imitative art. There was a large Greek community at Carthage, and many of these must have worked as skilled craftsmen in the workshops of the city. In turn, they would have taught local artists or the next generation. We know of at least one artist whose father was a Greek immigrant but who signed his work as 'Boethus the Carthaginian' and who became so appreciated that his work was dedicated at Olympia.

There is a general problem of identifying the exact origin of many art pieces which is exacerbated by the Punic habit of copying foreign motifs and styles. Traditionally, historians had favoured the view that, at least in general, finer pieces were imported and more rustic art was locally made. This unflattering view is steadily being revised following the discovery of large workshop areas in the city suggesting a healthy export trade and by new archaeological discoveries so that the position that all of the fine art was imported is becoming increasingly untenable.

Ancient Greek Medicine

In Ancient Greek Medicine illness was initially regarded as a divine punishment and healing as, quite literally, a gift from the gods. However, by the 5th century BCE, there were attempts to identify the material causes for illnesses rather than spiritual ones and this led to a move away from superstition towards scientific enquiry, although, in reality, the two would never be wholly separated. Greek medical practitioners, then, began to take a greater interest in the body itself and to explore the connection between cause and effect, the relation of symptoms to the illness itself and the success or failure of various treatments.

Greek Views on Health

Greek medicine was not a uniform body of knowledge and practice but rather a diverse collection of methods and beliefs which depended on such general factors as geography and time period and more specific factors such as local traditions and a patient's gender and social class. Nevertheless, common threads running through Greek medical thought included a preoccupation with the positive and negative effects of diet and a belief that the patient could actually do something about their complaint, in contrast to a more fatalistic and spiritual mindset of earlier times.

However, the distinction between the spiritual and physical worlds are often blurred in Greek medicine, for example, the god Asclepius was considered a dispenser of healing but also a highly skilled practical doctor. The god was called upon by patients at his various sanctuaries (notably Epidaurus) to give the patient advice through dreams which the site practitioners could then act upon. Grateful patients at the site often left monuments which reveal some of the problems that needed to be treated, they include blindness, worms, lameness, snakebites and aphasia. As Epidaurus illustrates, there could, then, be both a divine and a physical cause or remedy for illnesses.

Lifestyle and such factors as heat, cold and trauma were discovered to be important factors in people's health and they could alleviate or worsen the symptoms of an illness or the illness itself. It was also recognised that a person's physical constitution could also affect the severity of, or susceptibility to, an illness. There was also a growing belief that a better understanding of the causes of an illness' symptoms could help in the fight against the illness itself. With a greater knowledge of the body there also came a belief that the balance of the various fluids (humours) within it could be a factor in causing illness. So too, the observation of symptoms and their variations became a preoccupation of the Greek doctor.