THE TRUTH - Part 02

THE TRUTH

The Koine language belongs to all the Eastern Mediterranean people and not just modern Greece. Modern Greece took the Koine language, which by rights belongs to all the Eastern Mediterranean people, for itself and now calls it Greek. Just because Greece adopted Koine as the literary language for its modern nation, it does not make it exclusively Greek. Koine evolved as the language of administration and commerce in the entire Eastern Mediterranean and as such belongs to all the people in the Eastern Mediterranean world. If anyone should claim credit for Koine’s effectiveness and long survival it should be the ancient Macedonians who insisted on using it for centuries.

BIG Greek Lie # 3 - “The Ancient ‘Greek gods’ were Greek”

(Some modern Greeks believe that those who spoke Greek and believed in the Greek gods were actually Greek)

We often read in books, see movies and hear stories about the so-called mythical “Greek gods” but have we ever stopped to think what makes these deities Greek? Are they “Greek” because they originated where modern Greece is today? Are they “Greek” in a national sense? Are they Greek because the Ancients that lived in the region where modern Greece is today wrote about them? How are they “Greek”? The word “Greek” before the word “gods” implies that there is a relationship between “Greek” and “gods” which means that in some way these gods belong to Greece or the “Greeks”. Since these “gods” are not associated with other Mediterranean people such as the Macedonians, Paeonians, Illyrians, Thracians, Pelasgians, Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Lycians, Paphlagonians, Cappadocians, Cilicians, Picidians, Pamphylians and others, in a similar manner, who also celebrated and believed in them, then one is led to believe that these gods must be exclusively connected to Greece and the “Greeks”

The question is how?

Among several sources we consulted, Microsoft’s Encarta encyclopedia under the heading “Greek Mythology” had an explanation but this explanation did not enforce the idea that the so-called “Greek gods” were actually “Greek”. According to Encarta, mythology in written form appeared for the first time in the literary works of Hesiod and Homer around the eighth century BC. Homer, as we know, produced the famous works the “Iliad” and “Odyssey” and Hesiod produced the poems “Theogony”. Both authors in their respective works talk about the various tales and legends associated with ancient deities. Hesiod, however, according to Encarta, takes a step further and introduces a larger number of myths that include deities that are not mentioned by Homer. Hesiod, in “Theogony”, who talks about the creation of the world, the birth of the gods as well as their adventures, NEVER ONCE mentions “Greek” or any other name derived from this word! Similarly, Homer in his works the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”, considered to be reliable sources for the so-called “Greek Mythology” and the “Greek gods”, NEVER ONCE mentions the word “Greek” or any other name derived from this word!

So again, how are these so-called “Greek gods” “Greek”? Perhaps the authors who wrote about them were from the region where modern Greece is today? According to Carlos Parada, an internationally recognized researcher and expert on mythology, the following authors have contributed to the so-called “Greek mythology”;

Author

Apolodorus Paucsanias Hyginus Homer Ovid Nonnus Hesiod Diodorus Siculus Virgil Quintus Smynaeus Statius

% Contribution 19 12 12 8 6 5 4.6 4.4 4 3.3 2.6

Lived in / Ethnicity

Alexandria / Unknown * Lydia / Lydian Rome / Unknown (Spanish?) Asia Minor? / Unknown Rome / Roman Egypt / Egyptian Boeotia / Boeotian ** Sicily / Sicilian Mantua Italy / Roman

Rome / Roman

Antonius Liberalis 2 Rome / Roman Valerius Flaccus 2 Rome / Roman Apollonius Rhodius 1.8 Alexandria ? Unknown Dionysius of Halicarnassus 1.5 Caria / Unknown Euripides 1.5 Attica / Athenian ** Plutarch 1.3 Boeotia / Boeotian ** Herodotus 1 Caria / Carian Pindarus (Pindar) 1 Thebes / Boeotian Parhenius of Nicaea 1 Aeschylus 0.5 Aristophanes 0.4 Caimachus 0.4 Cicero 0.3 * Highest probability - Macedonian ** From Ancient City States south of Mount Olympus where Modern Greece is located today.

From the table above, we can see that the vast majority of works about the so-called “Greek mythology” and the “Greek gods” were in fact written by NON-GREEKS or by authors of unknown origin/ethnicity.

If the authors who wrote about them were not “Greek” then perhaps the legends of the so-called “Greek gods” originated somewhere in the lands of modern Greece. Unfortunately that is not true either. According to Herodotus, many of the elements of the so-called “Greek myths” associated with the “Greek gods” were borrowed from foreign religions, mainly from the Pelasgians who in turn borrowed them from the Egyptians. (There are some scientists today who believe the Pelasgians lived in the lower Balkans, including Macedonia and were the ancestors of some of the Slavs.) However let as not just take Herodotus’s word. Let’s examine the mythological deities themselves starting with the supreme god Zeus. According to the Grolier Encyclopedia, Zeus is a celestial deity of Indo-European origin symbolically associated with the sky. Poseidon, the elder brother of Zeus, is also a deity of Indo-European origin. Apollo, on the other hand, is an Asian deity from the Asian shaman cults, imported from Siberia. The following is a list of deities and major mythical figures commonly referred to as “Greek gods” and “Greek mythical figures” who are believed to be of “non-Greek” origin;

Deity/Major Figure Rhigmus Diomedes Phineus Tereus Rhesus Alcon Memnon Alcyoneus Alexipus Clydon Laomedon Mmeneclus Nychius Thalius Andromeda Cepheus Europa Pelops Agenor Belus Midus Opis

Origin Thracian Thracian Thracian Thracian Thracian Thracian Ethiopian Ethiopian Ethiopian Ethiopian Ethiopian Ethiopian Ethiopian Ethiopian Ethiopian Phoenician Phoenician Phrygian Egyptian Egyptian Phrygian Phrygian

Source Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Carlos Parada Aura Phrygian Carlos Parada Proteus Egyptian Carlos Parada Egeria Italian Ovid Hora Roman Ovid Janus Roman Carlos Parada Juturna Roman Carlos Parada Penates Roman Carlos Parada Tantalus Paphlagonia Carlos Parada Orchamus Persia Carlos Parada Pyramus Babylon Carlos Parada Thisbe Babylon Carlos Parada Dido Cartagenan Carlos Parada Nicea Indian Carlos Parada Phoenix Arabian Carlos Parada Hypnos From the Black Carlos Parada Sea region Muses (9) Macedonian Carlos Parada Dionysus Macedonian Grolier Encyclopedia (Brygian) For details on the above, see Donski [3]. From the table above, we can see that a large number of deities and important mythical figures have purposely or unwittingly been misrepresented. Clearly they are not of “Greek origin” And finally, perhaps the so-called “Greek gods” were “Greek” because they were exclusively celebrated by the ancient people who lived south of Mount Olympus where modern Greece is today. That too, I am afraid is not true. The mythical gods, referred to as the “Greek gods”, were common to most ancient Mediterranean nations and cultures. They were as much universal to the ancient world as Christ and Christianity is universal to our modern world.