Themistocles: The Movie Update

Hello, Faithful and Patient Readers!

My Themistocles novel is still on the way, and I've been getting good advice on what the novel needs to make it great (one day I WILL put a snippet up on this blog for people to read). In the mean time,  if you're hankering for some Themistocles news right here and now, then I have something fun for you!

Check out IGN's article on 300: Rise of an Empire!

The Battle of Salamis?

Themistocles (played by Sullivan Stapleton) is the star of the film, and according to director Noam Murro, he's "...a battle-scarred...warrior, [and] at the same time he's a politician. He's not the king. He has to rule in a democracy. It's a different complexity of character." 

Themistocles is indeed a complex character, and certainly not your "typical" hero. In fact, what fascinates me about Themistocles is that he'd lie, cheat, steal, beg, borrow and fight to get what he wanted. So it will be interesting to see how he is portrayed in Rise of an Empire.

Looking forward to the sequel to 300? Let me know in the comments below! :D

A New Point of View.

Gaah! Has it really been a month since I last posted here? Where does the time go??

At any rate...

Greetings, Patient Reader!

If you're reading this then you're incredibly wonderful and I love you for sticking with me through thick and thin. This Themistocles novel hasn't been easy. (It's been in progress since 2005--that's over seven years now!!!) When you take on someone larger-than-life like Themistocles however, you feel rather obligated to get things right. The man was in many ways the Ancient Greek equivalent of Winston Churchill (well, except Churchill didn't go over to the enemy's side after the war was over), and tackling his life story can be rather intimidating.  Luckily I've had support along the way, and hope that someday I can announce right here that the novel is finished and ready to turn into an agent.

At any rate, after talking to various people about how to tackle such a charismatic person, it was suggested to me that perhaps it might be easier to explain Themistocles through the eyes of someone who knew him. Someone who could appreciate his greatness but also see his faults. And so--without giving too much away--I've decided to try a new POV, and so far have had some success. Not only is this new POV more balanced, but it gives me a chance to explain the customs and beliefs of the Ancient Greeks without clubbing the reader over the head with too much exposition.

Of course, it's still not that easy. Motivation and urgency are the things that keep readers happy, and I want to make sure that my new character has both, because that way a lot of other factors fall into place, making my job as a writer easier.

So wish me luck, Awesomely Patient & Supportive Readers! I'm going to try a new direction with my novel, and hopefully it will pay off, or at the very least educate me on the best way to write a story. :p

Why, Themistocles. Why???

Ah, character motivation. That thing that keeps a novel going. That element that keeps the reader turning the pages of your book long after their bedtime. The proverbial glue that holds a story together. You don't have much of a story without a well-motivated character...and therein lies my challenge. I know what my main character does. I don't know WHY.

If you've read Herodotus (or Plutarch) then you're fairly familiar with Themistocles, the architect of Ancient Athens' wildly successful navy. He is a controversial character in many ways, most especially because of the way in which he got things done. That is what makes him so interesting. He'd lie, cheat, steal, beg, borrow and charm if it meant getting what he wanted. The thing I don't clearly understand is WHY. What drove him to be that way? Why did he believe a navy was more important to Athenian power than an army? Why did he choose to go over to the Persians after being chased out of Greece? So many questions and no answers.

Now, the interesting thing is as a historical fiction writer I have the opportunity to fill in the blanks. Alas, I've yet to come up with a motivation that drives Themistocles from one event to the next. I'm tethered by real history, and am having a hard time fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. So MANY interesting things happen during Themistocles' life (the birth of democracy, the Persian wars, etc.) and I want him to be a part of it all. But finding reasons for him to do so are proving difficult. Even when I come up with a good reason for him to WANT to be a part of something, I'm having a hard time coming up with reasons for other characters to want to include (or exclude) him.

Any fellow writers out there who have a similar experience? Any suggestions?

Ancient Musings: Out With the Old, In With the New.

Happy New Year, Gentle Readers!

Themistocles welcomes you to 2013!

2013 is finally here, so without further ado it's time  to make some awesome writing resolutions!

1) Finish Themistocles' Story
Yes, after seven years of trying to get it right, I've decided to just get it done. The truth is, this is my first novel and it's more important to write it than to try to get it perfect the first time. That's been hard for me to accept, but I think once I do, the writing process will get easier for me. And hey, maybe it will be better than I think! ^_^

2) Write More Blogs
There are times when this poor blog has been utterly neglected. Mostly because it's been such a struggle getting my story on track. But I realize that just by writing more blogs I can feel more in tune with both my story and the writing community at large.

3) Comment More on Other Blogs
 I tend to visit people's blogs but don't always comment. I need to let fellow writers know they have my support!

4) Broaden My Reading Horizons
I've been so immersed in reading history books that I rarely read fiction anymore. If I'm going to write a (historical) fiction book, I need to read more fiction!

5) Broaden My Writing Horizons
I should try poetry, short stories and write more articles in order to try out different styles and see what works for me. Should be fun!

What are your writing resolutions, Readers? Let me know in the comments section below! ^_^

Themistocles & Ostracism

Kalispera, Patient Readers!

After a long absence I'm back, and as usual I assure you I am still writing about Themistocles and his amazing life. In fact, I'm happy to report that I am currently reading a book that may speed the process along, since it's helping me to better understand the events that took place in Themistocles' lifetime.

The book is called Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy: The Politics of Expulsion in Ancient Greece. In it, author Sara Forsdyke attempts to explain the peculiar institution known as ostracism, which was created to stop the never ending cycle of violence that plagued the polis (city-state) of Athens. For over a hundred years, Archaic Athens was constantly torn apart by civil strife between the warring factions of Athens' nobility. This resulted in either murder or entire families being permanently banished from the city, which led to more murder and exile in retaliation. Even with reforms introduced by Draco (a rather severe lawmaker), Solon (a much nicer lawmaker), and Pisistratus (an affable tyrant), the bickering continued. Finally around 508 BCE, a gentleman named Cleisthenes introduced a set of revolutionary reforms that transferred power from the war-loving nobles to the slightly less war-loving people of Athens. One of these reforms was the power to let the majority decide who should go and who should stay, as opposed to the wealthy minority. This was known as ostracism.

Ostracism comes from the word ostracon, or "potsherd." This is because whenever the people of Athens voted to banish someone from their city, they would cast "ballots" made from broken pieces of pottery with the names of potential candidates scratched on them. If these candidates received at least 6,000 votes against them, they were then asked to leave the city for ten years. After this they could return home and become a citizen again, and in the meantime were allowed to keep their property and any income they accumulated from it.  These generous terms were incentive for the ostracized to return peacefully and leave their grudges behind them.

 It was a clever system that broke the cycle of intra-elite conflict in Athens, but unfortunately it was also easily abused. Anyone able to turn a crowd against a particular individual -- whether they were a threat to the polis or not -- could use ostracism to their advantage. In fact, Themistocles is credited with a string of ostracisms between 490-480 BCE.  Among those cast out of Athens during this time were Aristides (one of the generals at the battle of Plataea), Xanthippus (father of Pericles and one of the generals at the battle of Mycale) Megacles (a relative of Cleisthenes) and Hipparchus (a relative of Pisistratus). Ironically, Themistocles would get a taste of his own medicine around 470 BCE, when the people of Athens grew tired of their clever but boastful leader and sent him packing.

We know the story of Themistocles' ostracism is true, because we have a mountain of physical evidence left behind by the Ancient Athenians to prove it. As you can see from the pictures above and below, archeologists have discovered a myriad of potsherds with the name Themistocles son of Neocles written on them. What's interesting is that many of these ostraca are suspiciously intact, almost as if they were manufactured and then handed out. It wouldn't be surprising to learn that Themistocles had a rather wealthy enemy, one who, perhaps in revenge for once being banished himself, may have ordered up a large number of potsherds to use against Themistocles in the future. It's also possible that Themistocles was suggested for ostracism more than once over the years, which would explain why so many ostraca with his name on it survive. Whatever the case, it's clear that many considered him a danger to the polis.

But WHY did they consider him dangerous? He was the hero of Salamis after all, as well as the architect of Athens' powerful (and victorious) navy. Why would the people he saved from an invading Persian army want him banished? According to Herodotus, it was because they were simply tired of Themistocles boasting about his military accomplishments. This is certainly a possibility, but Sara Forsdyke offers up evidence that indicates it may have been more than just a few obnoxious boasts that got him into trouble:


"Themistocles ostracism...is explained by the literary sources as a result of [his] excessive power and honor. At least one voter, furthermore, seems to have been referring to Themistocles' prestige when he wrote on his ballet, 'This potsherd is for Themistocles, of the deme Phrearrhius, on account of his honor.' Another voter, however [wrote] on his ballot, 'Themistocles, son of Neocles, asshole...' Yet another voter accused Themistocles of being a pollution in the land."

 The latter quote about Themistocles "being a pollution to the land" is especially interesting. Why would somebody think him a "pollution"? Could it be that he was acting outside of social norms in his private life? Or were people blaming him for some catastrophic event? Say...the destruction of Athens by the Persians?

For me, the latter idea makes a lot of sense. In 480 BCE, Themistocles decreed that the people should abandon the city and head for their ships in order to escape the invading Persian forces. The populace was reluctant to leave their homes undefended, but he reminded them of an oracle which hinted that "wooden walls" would be their salvation against the Persians. He suggested that their newly-formed navy was what the oracle was referring to, and that they could evacuate the city with these ships, as well as confront the Persians with them. Sure enough, the oracle about wooden walls proved to be true. Not only were the people of Athens able to escape the marauding Persians, but a ship battle took place between the Greeks and the Persians in the windy straights of Salamis that summer, with the Athenians and their allies achieving a stunning victory over the larger Persian navy. This victory changed the tide of the war in the Greeks' favor, and allowed the Athenians to safely return home. Alas, when the Athenians sailed back into the port of Piraeus, they were horrified by what they saw. Houses were looted. Temples had been burned to the ground. Public buildings were destroyed. And those left behind had either been killed or captured.  The sweet taste of victory turned bitter in their mouths as the Athenians saw their city reduced to ashes. It was gone. All gone. And so, it may be that they blamed their misfortune on the man who suggested they abandon the city to the Persians: Themistocles, son of Neocles.

But if that's the case, why would the Athenians wait ten whole years before throwing him out of Athens? The answer isn't clear, but we do know that less than a year after the battle of Salamis Themistocles was already demoted from his position as Generalissimo of the Greeks, because he is conspicuously absent from the decisive Greek victories at the battles of Pleatea and Myclae. Nor is he mentioned as being a part of the founding of the Delian League in 478, a coalition of Greek city-states that was meant to act as a shield against the Persian empire.  The most reasonable explanation for his absence (to me at least) is that perhaps he was ostracized earlier than was initially believed, say closer to 479 or 478 BCE.

Though scholars and history lovers may initially balk at this theory, it certainly makes it easier to explain why Themistocles was not part of several major events in the 470s. Thus I hope you don't mind if I change things around a bit in my Themistocles novel. I think an earlier ostracism will not only make writing my novel a lot easier, but who knows? Perhaps it will make it more interesting, too. ^_^

*Note: Of course I am aware of the various stories about Themistocles that are said to have taken place after the battle of Salamis. We hear of him shaking down allies for money, stalling the Spartans while Athens rebuilt its walls (Sparta was suspicious of Athens' new authority among the Greeks), fortifying the port of Piraeus, attending the Olympic games, and building a small shrine in his own honor. He was certainly busy, but it doesn't really explain why he wasn't a part of several significant events. Thus it seems easier to say these reported activities happened while he was ostracized. And once again, I AM writing historical fiction. So I hope it's OK to move things around!

Checking In!

Kalispera, Gentle Readers!

I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that yes, I'm still working on my novel(s) about Ancient Greece. Unfortunately I'm struggling with my Themistocles novel yet again, so there  hasn't been much to report.  :(

The good news is that gives me an excuse to go back and work another project of mine, which is about King Cleomenes I of Sparta. In it a man named Othryades (named after the soldier who stood his ground against the Argives at Thyrea ) tries to find out what really happened to the Agiad king after his apparent "suicide." The list of subjects is fairly long, as Cleomenes made a LOT of enemies in his lifetime due to his controversial policies at home and abroad. Most of the suspects however aren't foreigners. They're Spartans, and highly influential ones at that.  That makes Othryades' job harder and a lot more dangerous. What really happened to Cleomenes? You'll just have to read it to find out!

At any rate, thanks for your patience. Some of you have been following me for years and are probably doubtful any of these stories will ever be published/completed. But I assure you, I'm going to continue working hard and hopefully finish my novels soon!

The Language of Leonidas Lives On

Back in 2009 I blogged that there are parts of Greece that still speak an ancient dialect (Ancient Greek Still Spoken in the Peloponnese!?). This Greek dialect is known as Tsakonian, and can trace it's heritage back almost 3000 years. In fact, Tsakonian is the direct descendant of the ancient Doric used by the Spartans!

Recently I came across a fantastic-looking documentary on how people in the Eastern Peloponnese (Southern Greece) are trying to preserve this historic tongue. Called A Groussa Namou (Our Language), it shows how the native Tsakonians are starting to lose their unique form of speech and what they're doing to preserve it. Here is a description from the website:

In the Eastern Peloponnese, in a remote region in the shadow of Mt Parnon, live the Tsakonians, a stubborn group of native Greeks. For 3,000 years now, they have been speaking an ancient dialect, the only surviving representative of the Doric language. They never abandoned it, not even when the Attic-based Koiné (from which Modern Greek derives) became the first common dialect of all Greeks and the lingua franca of the entire Mediterranean. Having survived for a great many centuries, the Tsakonian dialect entered a period of neglect in the 1960s, and may currently be approaching its end...This movie is about the loss of identity: what it means to know that your language will have vanished in a hundred years’ time.


If you have a love for history and languages, check out this Youtube clip and listen to what the Spartans may have actually sounded like! Or if you're so inclined, you can instantly download the documentary and watch it by going to their website.

Kratos vs. Leonidas: This. Is. SPARTA!!!

If you've read my blog long enough, you've probably figured out that I'm a huge video game fan. And since I also LOVE Ancient Greek history, it stands to reason that I enjoy Sony Santa Monica's God of War series, starring everybody's favorite angry Spartan, Kratos. But is Kratos an accurate depiction of a real Spartan warrior?  Let's compare a picture of him to a statue of a real-life Spartan with a graphic I made and find out!

What do you guys think? :)

Artemisia's Part in 300 Movie

Yay! More 300: Battle of Artemisium news! Recently IGN talked to  Eva Green about her role as Queen Artemisia. It's a brief interview, but it gives a bit of insight into the queen of Halicarnassus and her part in the movie:

Queen Artemisia

The Battle of Artemisium: The Movie!

After a loong period of silence, there's finally some more information on the sequel to the movie 300, which is apparently now being called 300: The Battle of Artemisia. The bad news? Er, the title should be called The Battle of Artemisium. (Strike one for marketing and/or IMDB.) The goods news? Apparently the focus is not on Xerxes (as the original title Xerxes suggests) but on none other than our hero of Salamis --and Artemisium, of course-- Themistocles! If you're not familiar with the battle itself, here's a quick run-down:

In 480BCE the Persian Empire, under the leadership of their king Xerxes, invaded Greece under the guise of avenging the Persian loss at the Battle of Marathon ten years previous (in which the Athenians and their Plataean allies stopped an earlier invading force). Out of over 1000 of the Ancient Greek city-states, only about 30 agreed to try and stop the Persians. The leaders of this small resistence were the Spartans under King Leonidas (known for their military state) and the Athenians under Themistocles (known for having the largest naval fleet amongst the allies).

The first serious attempt to stop the Persians was made south of Thessaly, where the Greeks coordinated a land and naval defense against the invaders. The narrow pass at Thermopylae was held by the disciplined Spartans while the Straights of Artemisium nearby were occupied by the equally disciplined Athenian navy. The battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium took place simultaneously over the course of three days sometime in late August, and though the Spartans were finally defeated and the Athenians forced to retreat, they both managed to inflict serious damage on the enemy. The allies re-grouped on the island of Salamis just off the Attican coast, and it was there that they managed a stunning naval victory over the Persians, thus literally turning the tide of war in their favor.

Of course the movie is meant to be over-the-top and will have very little basis in historical fact, but it's still exciting to see this little-known battle get the attention it deserves. It's also wonderful to read that not only will Themistocles be featured prominently in the movie (played by Sullivan Stapleton), but other notable figures like Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus will be in the movie as well (played by Eva Green). I suspect Artemisia will be the wily seductress in the movie, which is a bit eye-rolling, but as long as she still comes across as strong and independent (which is far more true to her historical self)then I'm just happy she's there. Also, for those who are curious, Rodrigo Santoro will indeed be revising his role as King Xerxes.

The movie is set for 2013, and I for one am stoked!

Themistocles: Fact Over Fiction.

Kalimera!

Once again sorry for neglecting my poor little blog, but I promise you I haven't given up on the fight to tell a really cool story starring Themistocles. I'm just SUPER PICKY about how I want it to go. Without a proper theme/plot/motivation, the story won't make sense. So I want to make sure I'm 100% on board with any ideas that I come up with before piecing the story together. (I'm also going to go back and look at older chapters and stuff with fresh eyes. Perhaps I have more plot/theme/motivation for Themistocles than I think!)

Still, all this struggling makes me wonder if it wouldn't be easier to just write a modern biography on Themistocles. With over 100 books on Ancient Greece and Persia, I certainly have a good starting point! Of course, I'm not a historian, but it would be fun to try. Yet then my imagination would be shackled to cold, hard facts, and when it comes to Themistocles, they are very few facts out there. Maybe it's safer to go with my imagination--which if I can manage to finally dedicate myself to one overall theme for my book will serve as a way to get Themistocles' name out there. And better yet, I'd be in a good company!

Speaking of which, for those who are interested in reading about Themistocles right now, I highly recommend Gary Corby's Ionia Sanction and Scott Oden's upcoming Serpent of Hellas! I also highly recommend their other books on Ancient Greece, especially Memnon, Men of Bronze and The Pericles Commission. Lovers of Ancient Greece won't be disappointed!

Happy New Year!

OK, so I'm a month late on wishing everyone a great 2012. Sorry about that! >_<; But I've been stuck while writing my novel again, and there hasn't been much to update on that front. However, an idea hit me not too long ago that might actually get me writing again. You see, I've been struggling to clearly define how Themistocles fits into the birth of democracy in Athens (yes, that's democracy with a small d). The explanation is of course that he knows its founder, Cleisthenes. Now, for some reason I imagine Cleisthenes as a bit crazy in my story. Why? Because it strikes me as odd that someone from a noble family who COULD have been tyrant if he really wanted to decided to give power to the people instead.

To be fair, perhaps Cleisthenes did it because he was just a really cool guy, but the idea of him being an insane genius a la Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory is much more interesting and adds a sense of drama. Why is he helping the lower classes? What does he really want? And do the ends justify the means? These are all questions Themistocles will have to ask himself as the story progresses and he finds himself unable to completely trust his mentor and ally. (His confrontation with Cleisthenes will ultimately shape how he fights the Persians later on.)

Thoughts?

At any rate, if there's still anyone left reading this blog, thank you for your patience. This novel needs to be written (more people must know about Themistocles). I just hope I'm up to the task!

NaNoWriMo 2011.

This year for NaNoWriMo I decided that instead of starting a new novel, I would make an extra effort to work on the one I already have starring Themistocles. It's been harder than I ever anticipated to write a book, but I refuse to give up on my hero of Salamis. His story is just too interesting. Thus for the next 30 days I'm going work hard to create something that I can turn into an editor/agent. That's the best thing I can do for my writing this November!

The good news is that slowly things are starting to fall into place. By tightening up the timeline and allowing myself to be creative with certain events in Herodotus it's become less of a struggle to try and fit everything in, which means I can concentrate on fleshing out my characters. After all, what attracted me to this subject in the first place was not the events themselves but the people involved in them. Everyone from Themistocles to Leonidas to Artemisia strikes me as fascinating, and the chance to write about them is pretty exciting! Hopefully people will like how I present them...

So...what are you doing for NaNoWriMo this year?

Three Act Structure.

Over two thousand years ago Aristotle made an observation that still holds true today: drama (story) has three acts: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when you're so close to your own story. But by re-visiting this basic principle (straight out of Ancient Greece, no less!) my story is once again moving forward. It stalls and re-starts, stalls and re-starts, but slowly and surely a more solid structure is beginning to take place in my mind. Let's hope this trend continues!

BTW, here are some possible future blog topics:

A blog concerning the new movie "Immortals"
Book review for Games & Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece
Book review for Solon The Thinker
Book review for Archaic and Classical Greek Art
Book review for Public Records Archives Classical Greece
Book review for The Glory of Hera
Book review for The Archeology of Athens

Themistocles coming to a theater near you!

Last year I reported that Frank Miller (author of the comic 300) was doing a prequel to the story of Thermopylae known as Xerxes. This year more information is starting to hit the media about the project, namely that there will be a movie based on the new comic called 300: The Battle of Artemisium, and that the comic (and hopefully movie) will co-star...Themistocles!

300: Battle of Artemisium

Personally I couldn't be more stoked about this. Sure, the 300 series is horribly inaccurate, and of course I don't blame people for being angry by the over-the-top portrayal of both sides, but hopefully this new project will get people interested in real history.

What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Interested? Do share!

The Ancient Ecclesia: What's Old is New Again.

Has Greek history come full circle?

Today while reading about the protests in Greece (in which demonstrators have been gathering outside Athens' parliment building to protest austerity measures meant to stave off Greek insolvency), I came across this:

Every night [in Syntagma Square], the "people's assembly" gathers and decides, by a show of hands, what will be discussed. A volunteer and rotating "coordinating committee" then gives anybody who wants to speak a slip of paper with a number on it. Speakers speak for two minutes in the order numbers are drawn. The assembled then vote, with results quickly put up on a website.

What's startling about these organized meetings in Syntagma Square is that this is almost exactly what the Athenians used to do 2,500 years ago. Back then the men of the city (no women, slaves or non-citizens were allowed) would gather every week in an open space to discuss anything that affected their polis. The rotating "coordinating commitee" of today was then known as the Boule, a group of 500 citizens who set the agenda for the public assembly. The gathering place for this assembly--then known as the Ecclesia--was held on the Pynx, a rocky outcrop below the Acropolis. As with the protestors in Athens today, anybody in the Ecclesia could speak their mind on any topic, though instead of being given a number they would be given a wreath known as the Speaker's Wreath. After the speeches were finished, each item on the agenda would be voted on by a show of hands and the results posted in some sort of public forum (or at least the results were heard about from people hanging about around the market place).

Have the protestors in Syntagma Square taken a page from their ancestor's political playbook? It sure looks like it, and the ancient Ecclesia is not the only thing that they've taken their cues from. According to the same article, a group known as the "300" is collecting signatures to hold a referendum on the 110 billion euro bailout that saved Greece from bankruptcy last year in exchange for austerity. The "300" of course are named after the legendary Spartans who held their own against the massive Persian army at the battle of Thermopylae.

Although it's hard to say where Greece will go in the future, it's clear that modern Greeks are being influenced by their ancient past. I just hope that whatever happens in Greece, the result is a peaceful resolution that will be fair to everyone.

Themistocles & Aeschylus

Did Themistocles (mastermind of the Ancient Athenian navy) and Aeschylus (playwright extraordinaire) know each other? The answer is a probable...yes!

Aeschylus was born around 525 BCE, while Themistocles was born between 525 and 520 BCE. They both fought at Marathon, both fought at Salamis (in fact Themistocles was the architect of this famous battle) and both achieved ever-lasting fame in their lifetimes. But is there any evidence that they knew each other personally? And if so, were they friends?

The odds of them having crossed paths is more than likely considering they were in the same battles and probably ran with similar crowds. Yet there's scance evidence of direct contact...except for a small (if suspiciously belated) clue. According to the 21 Letters of Themistocles, one of his friends was named Aeschylus! Here is the letter as translated by Patricia A. Rosenmeyer:

To Aeschylus

After leaving Athens and arriving in Delphi, I decided that, if the Athenians allowed it, I would settle down to live there. On the way I bumped into some friends of mine from Argos: Nicias and Meleager, as well as Eucrates, who had recently spent time in Athens. They stood around asking me questions, and when they learned about my ostracism, they immediately grew angry and blamed the Athenians in particular. When they realized I was planning on settling in Delphi, they stopped accusing the Athenians and began reporoaching me, saying they would be insulted if I didn't accept them as suitable people to share my bad luck. They also pointed out that my father Neocles had lived for a long time in Argos, and that I shouldn't dishonor the memory of his love for Argos and his Argive friends. They also went so far as to praise the Athenians for making me pay an approriate penalty. Finally they urged me to honor them with more than just an accidental encounter, and not to insult the good luck of our meeting up. Then again they pointed to the example of Neocles, saying how appropriate it would be for me to live in the same city and home as my father once had. So, Aeschylus, they convinced me and took me to Argos. Now that I've stopped fleeing and landed in Argos, I'm suffering greatly because I won't agree to rule the Argives. They want to force me to rule, and claim that I'm acting unjustly towards them if I don't assume power. But I'm perfectly happy not being considered to be a great man, and not just because I've already been hurt, by that reputation, but also because it's enough for me to have benefited from those things when I had to.

It is also supposed by some that Aeschylus' The Persians and its mention of Salamis was the playwright's way of reminding the Athenians that they owened Themistocles a debt. (Though according to some sources, Themistocles already financed a play called The Phoenissae,which also happens to celebrate the Battle of Salamis and in fact predates The Persians. )

In any case, Aeschylus and Themistocles were certainly aware of each other, and the playwright is going to be a part of my novel for sure!

Ancient Greek Recipes!

The Complete Greek Cookbook by Theresa Karas Yianilos is one of those charming little cookbooks you can only find these days in used bookstores. Published in MCMLXX according to the front page (1970), The Best From 3000 Years of Greek Cooking is an easy and enjoyable read. The recipes contained within really do cover the span of 3000 years of brilliant Greek cooking, and each recipe is presented with both its history and a surprisingly easy-to-follow list of instructions (though ingredients like camel may be hard to find these days).

Below are a few ancient recipes taken from the book that not only sound delicious, but are full of interesting facts!

Archaic Bread

The earliest kind of Greek bread was a simple, flat, hard crusted hearth bread, coarse and heavy because the barley flour used in it had a low gluten content. This ancient recipe, described tby Athenaeus in a third century book on cookery is still followed in the Near East.

2 cups warm water or scalded milk cooled to lukewarm
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons barley meal
6 cups flour, barley or stone ground whole wheat

Mix all ingredients except flour into a 2 quart jar. Place jar in a pan of hot water and let stand in a warm place free of drafts until fermentation begins--aproximately twelve hours or more. Replace hot water every 4 hours. Mix in 2 cups of the flour. Set aside once again in a warm place. Replace hot water in pan. A sponge should be formed in 4 to 6 hours. Put 4 cups flour in a bowl, make a well, and add sponge. Kneed well, lightly dusting your hands with flour until dough is smooth. Shape and put into oiled loaf pan. Cover with damp towel and place in a draft-free place to rise for 4 to 6 hours. It will not rise as high as modern breads. Bake in preheated over at 375 F. for 10 minutes. Reduct to 350 F. 50 minutes.

Boned Oysters

This recipe comes from Chares of Mytilene, Lesbos, an historian of the 3rd Century.

"Use only the large Asiatic oysters caught in the Indian Ocearn, Black Sea, or the Persian and Arabian gulfs. Use the delicious white meat only. Discard the round white bone sometimes discovered inside theshell--or give it to some Persian. They seem to prefer these bones to gold; they call them 'pearls'."

1 dozen oysters, fresh or frozen
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oil
salt and pepper to taste

Drain liquid from jar. Roll in flour. Heat it until hot in a large frying pan. Fry oysters on medium-high heat for 5 minutes turning over once. Sprinkle with seasonings and serve.

Athenian Cheese Cake

Thousand of years ago, the respected Greek poet and gourmet, Archestratus wrote "Forget all other dessert, there is only one: the Athenian cheese cake with Attica honey from Hymettus."

Filling:
4 eggs, separated
12/ cup honey or sugar
1 lemon, juice and rind
1/2 cup flour
1 pond pot cheese, either small curd cottage, hoop mezithra or cream
1 cup sour cream or yogurt
Crust:
1 cup crumbs from zwiback rusks, cookies or graham crackers
1/4 cup ground walnuts or almonds
2 tablespons oil or butter

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff (with a sprinkle of salt). In a blender blend yolks, honey, lemon juice, rind, floud and cheese for a few seconds. Fold batter into egg whites using spatula. Fold in sour cream. In a separate bowl mix crumbs and nuts together. Grease the bottom and sides of a large cake pan or spring-form cake pan. Spread crumbs over bottom and sides. Pour mixture in cake pan and bake at 325 F. for 45 minutes. Chill in cake pan 6 hours before cutting and serving.

Spiced Wine Hippocrates

This is a prescirption concoted by the great physician Hippocrates who lived in the fifth century BC. He even invented a bag in which to filter his wine!

Serves 6

1 quart wine, red or white
1 cup honey
3 cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon orange peel

Mix all ingredients and heat slowly over low heat. Strain into decanter or cup.

Roast Camel Aristotle

In ancient Greece camel was served to royalty. Aristophanes mentions camel meat in his writings, and Aristotle praises it as being tasty.

Allow 1 pound meat per person: hump, stomach, or feet
Marinade:
1 cup olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon oregano
cumin and coriander

Mix marinade ina bowl. Marinade camel for four hours turning meat over if skewered.
Spoon sauce over meat if left whole. Bake for 2 to 3 hours at 325 F. or allow 30 minutes per pound.


The Complete Greek Cookbook contains 300 delicious recipes that with time and patience can be mastered by anyone. It's a great introduction to Greek cooking and full of awesome historical facts that will not only appease your inner chef, but your inner historican as well. :)

More Awesome Books on Greece!

I apologize for not updating more regularly, Gentle Readers. Sometimes I go through peaks and valleys with my writing, and lately I'm not sure where my enthusiasm ran off to. As always when this happens, I try to look for something that will inspire me. And so I headed to a nearby used bookstore for ideas, and look what I found!




One is a Greek cookbook that contains both ancient and modern Greek meals (I've already highlighted all sorts of interesting recipes), and the other is a book exploring how certain tales out of Greek mythology may have reflected the turbulant real-life relations between family members in ancient times.

I'm also looking forward to getting this book in the mail:

The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization

It's written by Jim Lacey, a military historian and a combat veteran. I'm hoping his research will help me understand the layout of Marathon better and what it was actually like to fight there. (The Battle of Marathon is the opening chapter of my story, and despite having other books on the subject it's been a real struggle for me to write about.)

More thoughts and updates coming soon!

Themistocles in Love (Part 2).

As I stated in my previous blog, moving Themistocles' love interest to the front and center of my novel has done wonders for my plot. Archippe gives my hero a reason for doing everything from attacking Aegina to fighting off Persia. Marrying her is the goal to which Themistocles aspires, and he'll do anything and everything to obtain that goal. But who was Archippe, really?



Archippe: What's in a Name?

According to Plutarch, Archippe was the daughter of Lysander of Alopece and the mother of at least three of Themistocles' living sons. We know very little about her, but we can deduce from both her deme (Alopece was the headquarters of the rich and influential Alcmaeonidae) and her name (Archippe means something like "horse master" or "dominant mare")that she was part of a wealthy family. We also know that she was Themistocles' first wife, because the statesmen was reported to have married another woman later in his life by whom he had several daughters. What happened to Archippe remains a mystery; other than her deme, father's name and her role as Themistocles wife, very little is known about her.

Having a character with unclear origins can be both a blessing and a curse. It's hard to historically tie someone like Archippe into the larger scheme of things because so little is known about her. The good news is that because so little is known about her, I can make up whatever I want! Thus I decided to connect Archippe to a minor branch of the Eteoboutadai clan, which is a great way to introduce her not only as an important person in Themistocles' life, but also as an important person in Athens.

The Eteoboutadai


The Eteoboutadai were one of the oldest and most prestigious families in Ancient Athens. Named after the hero Boutes (brother of Athens' first king Erechtheus), the Eteoboutadai were decedents of Bronze Age royalty and were in charge of the cult of Poseidon-Erechtheus and Athena-Polias. According to Pausanias, one wall of the Erechtheion even had portraits of the family on it. In short, this was one of if not the most important clans in all of Athens.

Alas, the chances of Archippe actually being associated with the family are slim. Her deme of Alopace was associated with the Antiochides (at least post-democratic reform) and the Eteoboutadai were associated with other areas in and around Athens. Still, because Alopece was an aristocratic deme and Archippe clearly of a good family, it is possible that Archippe was related to the Eteoboutadai through the course of various marriages.

The Girl from Alopece

Whoever Archippe was, she was important enough to have her name remembered by historians, which was a rare thing for Ancient Athenian women. How she felt about Themistocles is unknown, but her being the mother of possibly five of Themistocles' many children points to a healthy love life, at least at some point during their marriage. Personally I'd like to think that they loved each other, but I assure you that in my story Themistocles is going to have to work hard to get the girl! ;)