Introduction to Lesbos Island

Lesbos is a Greek island, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. From the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Age, there were several prosperous city states. After many transitions between independence, Persian and Greek control, Lesbos often became the victim of its geographical position on the edge of the Greek world. This island was famous for its wine and culture in ancient times. Over the centuries, it has produced many celebrities, especially the poetess Sappho, the politician Pitakos and the philosopher Theophrastos.

In mythology,

According to Greek mythology, the island is the birthplace of the hero Lesbos. The island appeared in the Trojan war stories in Homer's Iliad, especially when Agamemnon provided Achilles and seven other women from Lesbos to persuade the hero to rejoin the conflict. Agamemnon must know the great warrior's admiration for Lesbos women, because Achilles brought a partner in the war, that is, Diomede, the daughter of Folbas. The king also mentioned in passing that Achilles had occupied the island, probably on the way to Troy, when it was part of Priam, the Trojan Empire.

A unique culture has emerged in Lesbos, which combines Greek, Anatolian and indigenous cultural customs.

The island is a stopover point for Odysseus and Telemarcos, the son of the protagonist in Homer's Odyssey, to count votes (actually twice). How did his father successfully fight against love and challenge Faye Wong Lomele, an island country of Lesvos, who was a little rude and never refused, and severely rewarded the losers with death?

Finally, in some records, the leader of the great lyre player orpheus was washed up on the coast of Lesbos after the poor young man was torn to pieces by a group of crazy priestesses. There, the muse buried it and built a temple. Birds will sing in this way to commemorate his amazing lost talent. Orpheus's lyre was also smashed by the priestess, and it is said that it was also washed to the island, where it was found by a fisherman and given to Telpande, a famous musician and poet in the 7th century BC.

Historical overview

Lesbos Island in the Bronze Age

Lesbos Island, located in the northeast of Aegean Sea near the west coast of Turkey, is the third largest island in Greece, with an area of about 1.630 square kilometers (629 square miles). Inhabited since the Neolithic Age, the island flourished in the Bronze Age, but it is only 65,438+00 kilometers (6 miles) from the Turkish coast, which is culturally closer to Anatolia than the Mycenae civilization in the Greek mainland. The most important place of residence in this period was the hot rice along the coast, named after its hot springs. In the late Bronze Age (BC 10 century), a large number of immigrants from the Greek mainland may have come to Lesbos Island, probably Thessaly Island, and since then the Aili dialect has been widely used on the island. There is still a unique culture, which is a mixture of Greek, Anatolian and indigenous cultural customs. Unique elements include the production of gray UCHERO pottery. The prosperity of the island is largely due to the production and export of olives, olive oil and wine, as evidenced by the discovery of lesbian ear bottles in various parts of Greece.

Mitelli, the most important island, is similar in size to Athens in its heyday.

Lesbos, Greece

In ancient times, Pontrid dynasty ruled the island as a tyrant, but according to Aristotle (384-322 BC), they were driven away by a group of nobles. In 630 BC. The island can support a naval force to control Anatolia in the east and Thrace in the north. The main city-states scattered on the island are Antioch, Elessus, Messina, Pyrah, and the most powerful city-state, Mitrini, which is similar in scale to Athens in its heyday. The ruins of fortifications and village watchtowers-perhaps to protect mines-show that military conflicts sometimes occur between cities, while the existence of artificial ports in several towns shows the island's naval and commercial strength. Important religious temples were built in rural Clopet Di (dedicated to Apollo) and Mesa. It is no coincidence that Mitrini has a temple dedicated to Demeter and Angkor, while Dionysus has a refuge in Methymna, perhaps considering that the town is famous for its fine wines. Sibelli, the mother god, is worshipped in several towns, which is another connection with Anatolian culture.

Some Le *** ian cities continued to suffer from internal struggles between tyrants and aristocratic clans. Mytilene intimately owned pittakos (also known as pittacus, about 650-570 BC) as its elected tyrant (Aisymnets) and was considered as one of the seven sages of ancient Greece. According to Aristotle, Pittsburgh is responsible for making new laws, and saints claim that laws are the best protection for a city. One of the most famous laws in Pitakos is that if the criminal party is drunk at the time of committing the crime, the punishment for any crime should be doubled.

Another famous figure in Lesbos is the poetess Sappho (about 620-570 BC), whose skills won her the title of "the tenth muse". In fact, many of Sappho's surviving poems seem to be about the love between women or girls, which led to the word "lesbian" being used to refer to lesbians in the post-classical era. However, the Greeks themselves have never used such terms and meanings, and in any case, lesbians are unique. Even if it is a rare theme island in ancient Greek art, it is far from satisfying the criticism of later thinkers such as Plato (about 428 BC-about 347 BC).

In the middle of 6th century BC, Persians took control of Lesbos Island, but after the Persian war in the early 5th century BC, the island became an independent Greek island again and became a founding member of Tyrol Union. If any Greek country is attacked by Persians again, the alliance is established to help each other, but after Athens, its most powerful member, took over the national treasury of the alliance and forced its members to pay membership fees, the alliance eventually became the Athenian empire (money or ships). Mitrini resisted this in 428 BC, but the island was brutally treated by Athens and turned into a colony or parish (except Messina, who was still loyal). A famous figure on Lesbos Island in the 5th century BC was Helannicus (480-395 BC), a historian in Terrini. He was a prolific editor of mythology, ethnology and local history, but unfortunately, only fragments of his works survived.

In the middle of the 4th century BC, Persia took control of the island again and established tyranny in Terrini, Messina and Sotheby's, Aries. In the next century, due to the arrival of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), the Greek world recovered the island. After the city on the island was ruled by a Macedonian tyrant for a period of time, many Poles developed a form of democracy as Lesbos became a part of Ptolemy, Alexander's once great empire. A famous islander in this period was the philosopher and botanist Ty olaf Stuss (3765438 BC+0-287 BC), who was the heir of Aristotle and the president of Athens College. About 23 1 year BC, Pilars was destroyed by an earthquake.

Roman Lesvos

In 168 BC, the Romans destroyed Antioch and left their mark on the island. In 84 BC, Roman general and politician Lou Kuhles (BC 1 18-57) occupied the whole island. Mitrini was dismissed in 79 BC because the city supported the capital king Mithradates VI (BC 120-63) against Rome. Pompeii the Great (BC 106-48) gave better treatment. He made the island independent again, which may be due to his friendship with Theophanes, a famous historian in Mitrini.

When it attracted many wealthy Roman holidaymakers, it settled as a humble part of the Roman Empire, and then as the center of early Christianity, Lesbos became more prominent. By the Byzantine period, Lesbos had many large Christian cathedrals and two famous Bishop Mitrini and Bishop Timner, including the famous historian and Bishop Zechariah of Mitrini (465 BC). Despite some brief political quarrels, Lesbos remained a quiet corner of the Byzantine Empire until it fell into the hands of the Ottoman Empire in A.D. 1462.

Today, in addition to the foundations of some temples and shrines, aqueducts in the 2nd/3rd century AD near Mitelli, and Roman architectural sites everywhere, such as theatres, cathedrals and private villas. One of the outstanding works of art that survived the island's heyday was the complete statue of Al themis. This statue was made by a Roman sculptor imitating Greek marble in the 3rd century A.D. Now it is located in Istanbul Archaeological Museum.