Hades abducting Persephone, a mural from the Macedonian royal tomb at Vergina, mid 4th century BC

Ήφαιστος – Hephaestus

Symbols: Hammer & Anvil, ax, Fire
Trees & Plants: Margarita. Stones: Emerald, Lazouri, Pearl
Trees & Plants: Rose, Lily, Anemone, Milia, Myrtle. Secondary: Aloe, fern, heather, benzoin, myrrh, Quince, Sandalwood, Angelica, Pear, Astir, Afroxylia (elder), Violet.

The route of the Argeads fromArgos,PeloponnesetoMacedonia

  The enormous peristyle, which formed four great porticoes around the courtyard, consisted of 60Doric columns. In the round chamber which Heuzey named the ‘tholos’ to the east of the propylon, a dedicatory was found. The 5 rooms on the south side had mosaic floors, one of which – executed in pebbles – survives in excellent condition. You can see one the Greek key pattern surrounding the mosaic floor. Finally, the most important archaeological found that combine Greek key/meander and vergina sun/star is the Ivory Shield that was found in pieces in Philip´s tomb at Vergina archaeological site. The arduous process of restoration took several years – it is indeed a unique masterpiece of the 4th century B.C. You can see clearly these pan–Hellenic symbols in the picture at the beginning of the article.References 1- Times of Remedies and Moon Phases by C. M. Boger, page 1322- Sally Hutchison Ceely-Geometric Style in Art, Wisconsin Academy oj Sciences, Arts and Leiters,Vol. 71, Part 2, 1983, page 3 3- .The Way of the Labyrinth by Helen Curry, pages 21-23 5- “Vergina Sun” or the “Rays of the Sun God” ?

“Hellenism, the historical course of 4000 years, created huge multinational empires (multinationals, but never multicultural, as stated by the great Greek Byzantinist Helen Glykatzi-Ahrweiler), vast kingdoms, had trade relations with dozens of peoples and countries, but often suffered barbarian invasions and peoples conquered wholly or partly by foreign armies and displaced parts of the eternal Greek territories.

The result of all these historical developments, during the Byzantine time some Greek populations to speak differnt other languages, as some Asia Minor (Turkish-speaking Greeks) to speak Latin, (Vlach-speaking Greeks), to speak slavic (Slav-speaking Greeks) to speak Albanic(arvanitofonoi Greeks), or italian (the Grekanoi of Magna Grecia in southern Italy).

The Persians referred to the Macedonians as “Yaunã Takabara” (“Greeks with hats that look like shields”).

Therefore, the fact that some segments of the population of Macedonia had formerly the sole language of a body slavogenes idiom, not a capable and sufficient criterion for the attempted in the past and attempted today by foreign centers placing them outside the Greek nation … “

Languages
Ancient Macedonian, then Attic Greek, and later Koine Greek
Religion
Greek Polytheism

Ancient Dion was a centre of the worship of Zeus and the most important spiritual sanctuary of the Ancient Macedonians.

 http://ancient-medieval-macedonian-history.blogspot.com/2008/12/vergina-sun-or-rays-of-sun-god.html]6- Vergina Sun, a Pan-Hellenic Symbol [http://ancient-medieval-macedonian-history.blogspot.com/2008/07/vergina-suna-pan-hellenic-symbol.html] 7- Macedonia,

http://ancient-medieval-macedonian-history.blogspot.com/ info@macedonian.com.auAustralian Macedonian Advisory Council

AMAC’s (Australian Macedonian Advisory Council) role is to promote the truth concerning the Macedonian issue in Australian and international fora

PHOENICIAN “ALPHABET”:  AN HISTORICAL DECEPTION 

Overwhelming evidence that one of the most important discoveries in the history of civilization is Greek ,a deception that usurps and distorts Greek History and Civilization. It is of utmost importance that the truth be restored not only for modern Greece, but also for thewhole of humanity.The deception that alphabetical script was discovered by the Phoenicians is a long-lived one.For the past 14 years [the Greek scholarly magazine] Davlos has published numerous articleson this problem. This prompted K. Katis to ask that we submit a relevant article for hismainstream daily so that this important issue would become known to a wider audience.

This article summarizes the strong evidence against the “Phoenician Deception,” and proves that the greatest discovery in the history of civilization is Greek. We believe it necessary to republish this article in [this issue of] Davlos exactly as it appeared in the daily.

A SCIENTIFIC MONSTROSITY.

According to linguistic theory, an “alphabet” is defined as “the sum of symbols following a specific sequence and order used to ascribe the essential utterances of a language, under thecondition that each utterance represents only one symbol and vice-versa”. Consequently, in alphabetical script (as an example, in the writings of the people of Europe, America,Australian, as well as the other parts of the world) each letter represents one essential sound.This is not true for the imperfect alphabets expressed through syllables where each symbolrepresents a syllable (with two or more voiced sounds). For example, in Greek Linear A andB, there is a symbol that represents the syllable ko (k + o), a symbol that represents the syllable po (p + o), etc. In Phoenician writing (which has only consonants and no vowels), this situation is even worse, as far as we can tell from the small amount of existing samples.

In Phoenician, each symbol is not equivalent to one specific syllable, but to a variety of syllables, and thus the reader can use his imagination when attempting to decipher the sounds. For example, there are consonants which can be read as either ba, bou, be, bi, bo, etc. Others  is not an alphabet, it is a less advanced form of writingthat can be read as gou, ga, ge, go, and so on. Consequently, Phoenician script does not constitute an alphabet, and is not even an advanced form of syllabic script nearing the perfection of the equivalent Greek syllabic writings. It is truly amazing to think that, in the academic world of the past 150 years, the almost contradictory term of “Phoenician alphabet” has been established, which, in reality refers to a type of writing that has nothing to do with an alphabet. It is even more unbelievable to think that the scientific dogma that Greek came from Phoenician has been enforced. Not only the Phoenician is not an alphabet, it is a less advanced form of writing than Greek Linear A and B.

So, professor G. Babiniotis’ statement that “Phoenician writing is something like a syllabic alphabet” must be rejected and replaced with the correct characterization of Phoenician as a “purely concise syllable system of writing,” as stated by the former president of the Greek Society of Philologists, Pan. Georgountzos (see “The Alphabet: A Greek Discovery” 

House in Ancient Greece

– The hall (Mastihari Kos)

House in Ancient Greece – The room of the men, the “andron”(Mastihari Kos)

GREEKNESS OF THE ALPHABET

a) Archaeological Evidence The theory that the alphabet is a Phoenician discovery has been maintained through the argument, among other things, that certain symbols of Phoenician writing are similar to the letters of the alphabet. For example, the Phoenician alef is the reverse or sideways Greek “A.” This argument was a strong one until about 100 years ago, when linguists and historians still maintained that the Greeks did not know how to write before 800 B. C.! Around 1900 A.D., however, Arthur Evans excavated the Greek Minoan Crete and discovered the Greek Linear writings, whose symbols corresponded to 17 of the 24 letters of the Greek Alphabet. Given that (A), the most ancient evidence of the Greek scripts (Linear A and Linear B) that were later discovered in Pylos, Mycenae, Menidi and Thebes — but also in more northern areas up to the Danube river as well — were dated to before 1500 B.C. And (B), that the Phoenicians and their writings appear in history no earlier than 1300 BC, Evans was the first person to express doubts about the theory that the Greeks received their script from the Phoenicians. He put forward the scientific suspicion that it was probably the other way round. The doubts pertaining as to who was first — the Phoenicians or the Greeks — in discovering writing, became a certainty when French professor, Paul Fore, an internationally acclaimed specialist on Prehistoric Archaeology, published a report in Nestor (an American Archaeological Journal of the University of Indiana — 16th year, 1989, page 2288). In this report, he submits and deciphers plates with Greek Linear writing found at the cyclopean wall of Pilikates, in Ithaca, dated, through the use of modern scientific methods, back to 2700 B.C., The language of these plates was Greek, and the decoding by professor Fore resulted in the following syllabic text, expressed phonetically: A]RE-DA-TI. DA-MI-U-A-.A-TE-NA-KA-NA-RE (ija)-TE. The phonetic equivalent of this is translated, always according to the professor, as: “Ιδού τι εγώ η Αρεδάτις δίδω εις την ανασσαν, την θεάν Ρέαν: 100 αίγας, 10 πρόβατα, 3 χοίρους” [Here is what I, Aredatis, gives to the queen- goddess Rea, 100 goats, 10 sheep, 3 pigs]. (See, “Davlos” magazine, issue 107, November 1990, page 6103). Thus, Fore proved that the Greeks were writing and speaking Greek at least 1400 years before the appearance of the Phoenicians and their script in history. But, the archaeological excavations in Greece during the last 15 years have given us many more great surprises: The Greeks were writing using not only Linear A and B, but also a type of writing identical to that of the alphabet since at least 6000 B.C. In fact, at Dispilio, in the lake of Kastoria, in northern Greece, professor G. Houmouziadis discovered a plate with writing very similar to that of the alphabet, which was dated, using radioactive Carbon- 14 and visual photothermal methodology, back to 5250 B.C. (see Davlos, issue 147). Three years later, N. Samson, a curator of the Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities Department, discovered shards of vases (“ostraka”) with letters identical to the present Greek alphabet while excavating at the “Cyclop’s Cave,” on the deserted island of Yioura, near the inhabited island of Alonnissos, in the Northern Sporades island complex. These vases were dated to5,500 to 6,000 B.C. with the same methods (see “Davlos,” issue 185, May 1997). The same archaeologist, while performing excavations on the island of Milos, discovered vessels of the proto-cycladic period (mid-3rd millennium B.C.) with letters identical to the Greek letters:

“X,” “N,” “M,” “K,” “Ξ” [ksi],”Π” [p], “Ο,” & “Ε.” (See N. Samson’s interview in Davlos,issue 204, December 1998, page 12749.)

It is apparent that these archaeological discoveries have given a “comical’ character to the so-called “Phoenician Theory” on the discovery of writing. In addition, these archaeological discoveries have revolutionized chronological dating of Greek history as it is taught today, as well as the world history of civilization itself. (See also the book by Con. Koutrouvelli, “Re- establishing the Chronology of Prehistoric Times based primarily on astronomical information from Ancient Writers,” Davlos Publishing, 1999.)

b) The somewhat mathematical proof

While the house-of-cards which provided “proof”‘ of the so-called “Phoenician alphabet” was being torn down by archaeological discoveries, another overwhelming piece of evidence surfaced. This evidence was offered to us by the 20-year long discreet and timid research of the Greek Language and Writing by a great researcher, Elias Tsatsomoiros. Unfortunately E.Tsatsomoiros passed away on December 19th 1991, after having, however, completed his revolutionary work, History of the Genesis of the Greek Language-from the hunter-gatherer to the time of Zeus-the Deciphering of the Greek Alphabet. The undersigned [writer of this article] had the honor of publishing and editing this work (Davlos Publishing, 1991), but also the honor of having worked closely with the researcher for more than a decade. We had long discussions on the numerous problems arising from the research, and we had published a series of articles in Davlos magazine. This memorable researcher proved in a remarkable way that every letter of the Greek alphabet contained a consistent code meaning, which is literally introduced either exactly or metaphorically within the general meaning of the Greek word it belongs to, as a partial meaning. Consequently, every (ancient) Greek word is basically an acronym (similar to D(imosia) E (picheirisi) H(lektrismou) [=ΔΕΗ in Greek, or as U(nited) N(ations), in English], where every letter provides a significant or less significant notional element, and then, they all together provide the logical definition of the meaning expressed bythe word. The “significant difference” of each word’s meaning is usually provided by the firstletter. Obviously, there is not enough space in this article to present the code meaning of the letters of the Greek alphabet as a whole, as they are analyzed in this revolutionary volume of research in the field of human speech. As an example, I will choose only one of the 24 letters of our alphabet, “Ypsilon” = “Y” or, small case, “u” (pronounced, long-e “eepsilon,” the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet, and familiar to us as “Y” in the so-called “Latin” alphabet– which is nothing more than a variationof the Greek “Chalcidean” alphabet). Ypsilon, therefore, as its shape indicates, has the code meaning of “a cavity” οr, if reversed, of a “convexity.” This meaning is introduced into the words containing this letter, and sometimes, by extension into the meaning of liquids (which, through their natural flow end up filling the “cavity”). I will quickly mention some of the names of vessels and liquids (such as the amphiconical κ-Υ-πελλο which is dated back to 2700 B.C. and is displayed at the Heraklion Museum). One may add to the words mentioned there, many others, such as kot-Y-li, go-Y-ttos, tr-Y-blion, p-Y-xis, amphore-Y-s, b-Y-tion, l-Y-chnos, procho-Y-s, ske-Y-os, etc, all having the meaning of a curvedobject. Also, some other words such as k-Y-hsis (rounding of the stomach ofan eng-Y-os [pregnant] woman); k-Y-ma (curving on the surface of the ocean); cr-Y-pti (curving of the ground); the preposition [h-Y-po] Y-po (meaning under a certain level); h-Y-per (preposition meaning above acertain level); Y-psos =height; and all of the hundreds of words that have h-Y-po or h-Y-per as a prefix, as well as thousands of others. This discovery, which unfortunately has been officially ignored, is a continuation of the forgotten Platonic approach to the problem of language (see Plato’sCratylus ).

This theory:

1. Completely rejects the theorem that the Greek language came from another language (the so-called“Indo-European”!!!), since it is proven to be the only non-conventional language of the world. In other words, the only language where a relationship betweenthe “word” (as a form) and the “meaning of the word” is established.

2. Consequently, it is proven that Greek is the first and only created language of the human species which provided the basis for all “conventional” languages, as are all the other languages of the world (where there is no causative relationship between the form and the meaning). These other languages are a corrupt form of Greek.

3. This theory proves, without a doubt, that the alphabet was created by the Greeks so that the 24 or 27 code letters would aid in attributing the meanings of the Greek words (and only of these).

4. Comparatively, this theory shows that the symbols of the Phoenician writings andtheir nouns, e.g., “alef” =ox, “beth” = hut, “gimel = camel, etc., not only do not containcoded meaning, but are also associated or refer to [the] primitive animal conditions[one would expect in a culturally backward society].

THE HERODOTUS EXTRACT

All the Greek writers who mention the alphabet (they called it “grammata”) consider it a very ancient Greek invention (by Prometheus, Palamedes, Linus, etc). The theory of the Phoenician alphabet was always, and is still, based on an exception to this general rule. Thisexception is an excerpt from Herodotus, that he himself presents as his ‘personal opinion’ (“ως εμοι δοκεει” = “as it seems to me”). This opinion was formed based on the sayings of others, as he himself mentions in the previous paragraphs (“αναπυνθανομενος” = taking information from others). Let us have a look at the Herodotus’ excerpt (History, E 58): [58. As far as the Phoenicians, they, who arrived with Cadmus, including the Gefiraioi, had lived in many other places and introduced also arts (new and unknown) to the Greeks; in fact, and also (some) writing, whichhad not been known to the Greeks before that, as I think, first this writing which was used by all the Phoenicians. With the passing of time, however, the Phoenicians changed this type of writing along with their language.]

The most important thing about this excerpt is that in the critical phrase “… ama tin foni metevallon kai ton rhithmon ton grammaton,” it is disclosed that the Phoenicians-Gefiraioi that went to Viotia with Cadmus brought some form of writing with them. But, as the Phoenicians “changed their language” (they learned Greek, in other words), they also changed their writing (they started writing, therefore, with the existing ancient Greek writing that already existed in Viotia). Although this statement was made by Herodotus, the translators, subsequently, provided the translation [meaning] that the local Greek Viotes and not the Phoenician emigrants changed their language and writing and adopted the Phoenician! This generally incoherent reference to the alphabet, as it has been saved, has been obviously altered and meddled with, who knows by whom and when. Let us look at the suspicious continuation of the text, as it has arrived to us:

Around them (the Phoenicians) lived at that place during that year (year of Cadmus) Ionian Greeks, who received through contact or through teachings by the Phoenicians their writings, changing their own writing which they used little. When using this writing and since this writing had been introduced to Greece by Phoenicians, they called it Phoenician.

Ionian Greeks living around the Phoenicians received the Phoenician writing and, using a few of its letters, since they had altered them and since it was just, they called it Phoenician-to pay tribute to the people who brought it to Greece, is a striking contradiction. Consequently, one can assume that this is a forged paragraph, hypothetically explanatory, which aims to reduce the previous statement “…as they changed their language, they changed their writing,” to an unimportant statement. This is how the “Phoenician Theory” was substantiated and is maintained as an obvious forgery.

IN ADDITION

The “Phoenician Theory” was established in Europe during a time, when, as the renowned British classical scholar, S. G. Rembroke (The Legacy of Greece, Oxford University Press, 1984) wrote, “The Phoenicians were given an intermediary role “that is not based on any historical information”. A role, in other words, of the transporter of wisdom and civilization from the “chosen” people of Israel to the “uncivilized” nations, and specifically the Greeks. This, of course, could be forgiven, since this was established around the end of the Medieval Ages, when religious fanaticism and backwardness had reached such a point that the daughter of Agamemnon, Iphigenia, is presented as the daughter of Iephtha; Deukalion is presented as

Noah; Appis is a consul of Joseph; Apollo, Priam, Tiresias, and Orpheus are corrupted personae of Moses; the story of the Argonauts is the crossing of the Israelites from Egypt to Palestine, and other similar distortions. The above are noted by Rembroke.

And we conclude: At the time, Hellenism was in comatose spiritual condition regarding national and historical awareness, and therefore totally unable to defend its history and civilization, and for this reason could not react and did not react. Today, it is with ourtolerance that our language is deemed “Indo-European,” and our writing “Phoenician,” our Athena and our Socrates are presented as “Blacks,” and our civilization as “African.” What spiritual situation are we in now? [i.e., What’s our excuse this time?]

 Notes: On page 13745 of this article, is a picture of a piece of shard [pottery] dated to 6,000 B.C., found on the islet of Youra of the North Sporades island complex with Greek alphabetical writings. One can see the letters “A,” “Y,” & “D” [alpha, eepsilon, and delta ], almost identical to the Greek letters of the classical alphabets. This finding proves that the Greek alphabet is older than the Greek Linear writings. This finding also completely and definitely disproves the false theory that the Greeks got their alphabet from the Phoenicians, who made their historical appearance around 1300 B.C., in other words about 4,500 to 5,000 years after the creation of this plaque at Youra. On page 13747 are shown letter-symbols from the Proto-cycladic vessels of Milos (mid-third millennium B.C.). One can distinguish the [letter] “X” [chi] to the left and the [letter] “N” to the right. These letters are written just as the letters of the Greek alphabet are written today.

Sun of Vergina – A Greek symbol

Το Αστέρι της Βεργίνας – Ένα Πανελλήνιο Σύμβολο

The Sun of Vergina is a symbol that was widely used by Ancient Greeks. It became famous due to the Macedonians who were using it as Symbol of the Argead Dynasty.

-The Royal house of Macedon:

The typical Sun of Vergina is a 16-pointed Sun. It can also be found in other styles: 12-pointed or 8-pointed. What was the meaning of this symbol?? –In the typical 16-pointed Sun , the 4 rays represent the 4 elements: Earth-Ocean-Fire-Air. The other 12 rays represent the 12 Gods of Olympus.You can see the explanation in the following animation :

–In every form, the Sun of Vergina symbolized Virginity:

Goddess Athena was a Virgin, so this Sun was associated with her. We can also find this symbol associated with Apollo. –All the versions (16,12 and 8-pointed Sun) are associated with another famous Greek symbol, the “Delphian Epsilon”, symbol of Apollo:

The Sun of Vergina became common art design in coins, craters, wall-drawings etc LONG BEFORE the Macedonian royal house (the Argead Dynasty) used it. After the unification of the Greek (Hellenic) nation under the leadership of Alexander the Great, the Sun of Vergina became the symbol of the Hellenic Ethnogenesis.

In the following replies, you will be able to see some pieces of Ancient Greek art containing the Sun of Vergina, BEFORE THE RISE OF THE GREEK KINGDOM OF MACEDONIA. These sun symbols are found in various Greek places, apart from Macedonia. Moreover, there will be a small historical flashback, in order to see the evolution of this symbol throught the ages :

2000 BC:

This is the time where ancient Greeks first started using the Sun symbol. It was not standardized yet, it was a early form of the Sun of Vergina:

780BC:

The Sun of Vergina has been standardized. The following art work shows the destruction of Troy. We can clearly see the Sun symbol in the warrior’s hump. It was found in Mykonos island :

The following images are just a small sample, showing the wide usage of the Sun of Vergina in Greek Art:

Spartan Hoplite – 780 BC:

Spartan Amphoreus –

This vase can now be found in the Louvre Museum, Paris. 6th Century BC:

Exekias was a famous vase-painter and potter of ancient Athens. The scene on this page, from an amphora of the third quarter of the 6th century BC (now at the National Museum of Athens), is one of his most famous works. It is considered one of the finest surviving examples of ‘Black Figure’ vase painting.

Achilles and Ajax, two major Greek heroes of Homer’s Iliad are depicted here relaxing over a game of dice during a lull in the fighting. Achilles has just won; he has just thrown a ‘four’ while Ajax has to accept a ‘three’:

Third Quarter of the 6th century BC:

The cloaks of both these Homeric figures are studded with numerous 8-ray Sunbursts.

The return of Hephestus– 560 BC:

Athena and Hermes– 540 BC

Heracles and Lernaia Hydra- 525 BC:

Odyseus blinds the Cyclop, Magna Grecia- 520 BC:

Greek Amphoreus, Magna Grecia– 500 BC

Heracles- Olympia- 500 BC:

Goddess Athena– 5th century BC:

Hades-the Greek underworld– 5th century BC:

An Athenian citizen-soldier of about 450 BC. He is wearing a linen cuirass (body armour), a style which had largely replaced cuirasses made of bronze by about the middle of the 6th century BC:

The shoulder pieces of his cuirass are decorated with 8-ray Sunbursts. The grotesque face of the Gorgon Medusa, a very common Greek symbol and one of the attributes of the goddess Athena, hangs on his chest.

Heracles and Athena, 480 BC:

Another Attic vase (dated c. 480 BC), shows a warrior wearing an ΅Attic’ helmet and carrying a large, decorated shield. A sixteen-ray sunburst adorns the shoulder piece that is visible:

– c. 480 BC:

Inside the temple of Nemesis in Thamnous– 436 BC:

Ancient Greek hoplites, Museum of Napoli, 400 BC:

The Legent of godess Dimitra-400BC:

Canos Vase –400 BC:

400 BC:

Greek Hoplite vs Persian Soldier, 4th century BC:

Greek Hoplite vs Persian Soldier, 4th century BC:

The Greek hero Perseus:

Fourth century BC

Three youths in battles one of whom carries a shield emblazoned with the Sunburst:

An epaulette depicting a sunburst.

At least two of the hoplites competing in the armed foot-race from a Greek amphora of the 4th century BC (below), carry shields featuring a solar episema. Athletic contests were held in honour of the gods at Greek festivals. The armed foot-race was a very popular event, so much so, that 25 shields were on hand at Olympia for the use of the contestants. A Panathenaic amphora by Nikomachos from the same period (not shown) likewise depicts three nude warriors racing, two of whom carry shields emblazoned with Sunbursts.

Nudity in battle, as depicted on this late classical Athenian wine-jug (below), was an artistic convention designed to distinguish Greek from barbarian. Greek warriors never actually fought without body armour; nor did they hunt in this way as the famous painting by Gnosis of Alexander hunting would have us believe. A Greek hoplite is here engaged in battle against three Persians (not all of whom are visible). This scene reflects the growing confidence felt by Greeks in the wake of their defeat of Persia in the early 5th century and XenophonΆs successful Persian venture in the early 4th century BC. The Greek hoplite proudly carries a shield adorned with the evidently quite common Sunburst episema:

An Attic red figure krater now in the Antikenmuseum (in Basle, Switzerland; not shown) depicts a scene from the Amazonomachy, the mythical battle between Theseus and his Athenians against the invading Amazons. Significantly, one of the Athenian warriors engaged in the melee, who is also fighting in ?heroic nudity?, holds a shield with a 16-ray Sunburst. The ‘Polygnotos’ stamnos (445-430 BC; below) dealing with the same theme, shows Theseus himself carrying a shield decorated with a Sunburst. [A combat scene from an amphora painted by the so-called Suessula Painter (c. 400 BC; not shown) likewise depicts a Greek soldier carrying a shield decorated with a somewhat faded yet still discernible Sunburst].

An early krater from Magna Graecia from the last quarter of the fifth century BC painted by the so-called Sisyphus Painter incorporates a number of different scenes. Horse riders are apparently engaged in a race in the top-most scene. Women are shown playing musical instruments in the middle, while the bottom scene has the legendary battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths as its theme. One of the Lapith warriors is carrying a large shield with a distinct 16-ray Sunburst episema:

The bust of Xanthippus, who led the Athenians to victory over the Persians at Mycale (479 BC), reveals that the brow-piece of his helmet was adorned with a 16-ray Sunburst.

Xanthippus was the father of Pericles, the great Athenian statesman of the ‘Golden Age’ of Athens:

This reproduction of a scene from a 4th century BC vase found at Ruvo, presents the familiar tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece. Jason is about to spear the dragon guarding the prized fleece. Herakles makes an appearance and swings his trademark club while Medea stands nearby and is in the process of lulling the dragon to sleep with her sorcery. One of JasonΆs companions (bottom right ) carries a shield with an 8-ray Sunburst:

This mixing bowl by the so-called Nazzano painter (c. 400 BC), depicts a scene from the sack of Troy by the Greeks. Neoptolemos is shown brandishing the child Astyanax by the leg (centre of scene) while Aphrodite intercedes to protect Helen from the wrath of her husband Menelaos, king of Sparta (bottom left of scene). The helmets of both Neoptolemos and Menelaos are adorned, like that of Xanthippus, with Sunbursts. The Trojan king Priam lies on the ground (bottom right) at the feet of a Greek soldier who is raising his sword threateningly at him. The soldier’s shield, once again, displays the familiar shape of the Sunburst:

A sixty-four ray variant of the Sunburst appears on a shield of a Greek soldier engaged in combat against a Persian cavalryman (below). The scene is from an Attic red-figure vase.

It is evident that the Sunburst was indeed a common Greek episema. As Greeks, the ancient Macedonians were later to adopt this emblem onto the shields of the Macedonian army and, with AlexanderΆs conquests, take it to the edge of the known world.

In the Temples of Attica From the late 17th century AD, and in particular the 18th century, classical Greek civilization began to attract the ever-growing interest, curiosity and imagination of western Europeans. One manifestation of this was the numerous “journeys of discovery” undertaken by various scholars to the soil of “rediscovered Hellas” itself, which was then still part of the Ottoman Empire. Two such individuals were the young architects James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, who in 1751 arrived in Attica and immediately set about accurately recording the architectural details of surviving buildings of classical Athens and its surroundings. The four volume “Antiquities of Athens”, published in 1762, is the product of their research. The diagrams on this and the following page are taken from reproductions by Stuart and Revett, and other antiquaries, of solar emblems found in the coffers (sunken ornamental ceiling panels) of various classical Greek temples of Attica.

From the Hephaistion (also known as the Theseion), coffers from the wing of the pronaos of the temple, 449 BC:

Coffers from the Ionian stoa of the Propylaea (entrance to the Acropolis) the Sunburst also appeared in the coffers of the Parthenon itself, 437 BC;:

The emblem as it appears in the coffers of the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous, 436 BC:

From the coffers of the Propylaea at Eleusis (2nd century BC), itself a fairly close replica of the Athenian Propylaea on the Acropolis:

The similarity of these Attican solar emblems with the Sunburst of the Macedonian royal dynasty is astonishing to say the least. It is important to remember that most of the Attican emblems recorded by the 18th century antiquaries pre-date ancient Macedonia’s ascendancy by at least a century. It is quite clear, given its appearance on some of the best known temples of classical Greece, that the peculiarity of this symbolic representation of the sun, is indeed a Panhellenic phenomenon.

Goddess Athena figure 4th century BC:

Athenian Hoplite, 4th century BC

:

Greek hoplite, 4th century BC:

This excellent site gives even more information about this very theme:http://www.300spartanwarriors.com/im…ONTID_CLAN.pdf

Athena and Hercules, 4th centuryBC:

Greek coins: Goddess Athena,4th century BC– Louvre Museum:

Phrixus and Elli– 4th century BC:

One side of a coin from the Ionian island of Kerkyra has a floral motif arranged as a Sunburst. The word KOPKYPAI(Kerkyra) can be read on the periphery:

Helios, the sun god of the ancient Greeks, was usually represented riding a chariot which was drawn by four, often winged, horses. His chariot rose daily into the heavens from the east and after blazing across the sky plunged into the western sea, thus bringing on the night. The sun’s brilliant light emanated from the fiery crown that adorned HeliosΆs head. The sun god made the fruits of the earth ripen – fertility being a common and obvious symbological association of the sun. When swearing an oath Greeks would often call upon Helios as a witness, as they believed he ‘saw and heard everything’. Although originally distinct deities, Helios was confused, as early as the 5th century BC, with Apollo (originally the god of music, the arts, archery, healing and prophecy – and later of light), so that Apollo frequently took on the function of the sun god himself. The epithets Phoebus ‘the brilliant’, Xanthos ‘the fair’ and Chrysokomes ‘of the golden locks’ used to describe Apollo, point to this solar connection. The liveliest cult of Helios in the ancient Greek world existed on the island of Rhodes. Each year during the Halieia festival which was celebrated with much splendour and with athletic contests, the Rhodians threw a team of four horses into the sea as a sacrifice to him.

In honour of what was effectively their national deity and to commemorate their heroic defence against Demetrius PoliorcetesΆs army, the people of Rhodes commissioned the celebrated sculptor Chares of Lindos to create a huge statue of Helios. This statue, which is known to us as the ‘Colossus of Rhodes’, was one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was completed in 292 BC, 12 years after work began on it. It stood at the entrance of RhodesΆs harbour and was over 35 metres tall. Helios was represented with a crown of sun-rays, a spear in his left hand and a flaming torch held aloft in his right.. Descriptions of this ancient statue inspired the design of FranceΆs gift to the people of the USA in 1884 – the Statue of Liberty – as the inscription at the base of this New York landmark acknowledges. Less than a century after its completion (in 224 BC), an earthquake destroyed the statue and it was never again erected. The metal was finally sold for scrap in 653 AD. The rays emanating from the sun god’s head, as they must have appeared on the Rhodian statue’s crown, and as we know them to actually be depicted on surviving works of art, reinforce the conviction that the inspiration for the Sunburst derives from the traditional representation of the Greek sun god Helios. It is not difficult to see that stylized rays emanating from a fiery core is in fact a shorthand reference to this solar deity rather than to a star. Perhaps the most compelling evidence linking the Sunburst used by the ancient Macedonians (and the ancient Greeks in general) with the sun god is this representation of Helios from the

Temple of Athena

at Troy. The shape of the rays around Helios’s head and the very way they are configured is remarkably similar to the Sunburst and strongly points to a close relationship between the two.   Helios(God of Sun)- Temple of Athena , Troy:

Propylaia of Elefsina: 360 BC:

The tradition passed from ancient Greek to Byzantine period. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, Athena was the virgin Godess. When Christianity “arrived” in Greece, Greeks replaced Athena with the Madonna(the mother of Jesus Christ). So , all the temples of Athena became churches of Madonna (including the Parthenon) and all the symbols that had connection with Athena, became Madonna’s symbols. So did the Sun of Vergina: It became the symbol of Madonna! The Byzantine Artists were calling the Sun of Vergina as“Aeiparthenon”, that means “For ever Virgin”. A typical image of Madonna includes 3 Suns of Vergina (Aeiparthena). These 3 suns, as Byzantinologists say, symbolize the fact that Mary remained a virgin before the conception, during the gestation and after the birth of Jesus Christ. The following images show the usage of the Vergina Sun in the Byzantine Empire:

This is the Panagia from the Monastery of Panagia Soumela in the Pontus:

Read more http://history-of-macedonia.com/2008/04/10/sun-of-vergina-a-greek-symbol/