Argonauts Club

by exploring the vibrant world of ancient Greece! This selection of books from the Hellenic Museum shop is perfect for historians-in-training 🤓🧐📚

What is your favourite book about ancient Greece, and what are you reading this ? ✨

Something magical has bloomed outside the Hellenic Museum. Can you guess what this might be? You'll have to visit to find out!

T-minus 5 weeks until next school holidays 🕺🎉 Not that we're counting – we're just SO excited to share our next series of kids' workshops! 🤭

Over two weekends in July we'll be getting hands on with history, from adventurous tales of ancient seafarers to the lively traditions of Greek theatre and puppetry. Let's cut and paste, craft and colour, make and play – and discover the amazing world of ancient Greece along the way. 🏺✨

Bookings are available now, so you can get a jump on your holiday plans. Visit the link to learn more and book: hellenic.org.au/whats-on

Ahoy, Argonauts! Do you know any ancient riddles?

According to legend, the great poet Homer once visited the island of Ios. As evening approached, he met some fishermen, and asked how their day had gone. They responded:

“What we caught, we threw away. What we didn’t catch, we kept.”
(“ἅσσ’ ἔλομεν λιπόμεσθ’ ἅσσ’ οὐχ ἕλομεν φερόμεσθα.”)

It is said that Homer refused to leave the island of Ios until he figured out this riddle, but never could!

Do you know what the answer could be? Can you figure out what Greece’s greatest poet never could? Let us know in the comments, and keep an eye out for the solution soon!

Until next time, λεῖος πλόος! — Jason

📸 Mosaic featuring octopus, crayfish and fish from Pompeii c. 100 BCE, Naples National Archaeological Museum via Wikimedia Commons

Ahoy Argonauts!
One of the most famous paintings in the word stars our mythical interest of the month: the ancient Greek godess of love and beauty: Aphrodite. The Roman's called her Venus. Discover Sandro Botticelli's world famous tempera painting called 'The Birth of Venus' (created during the Renaissance period, in the 1480's) in this video below.

The meaning of The Birth of Venus [3D] - By Botticelli | Uffizi Gallery in Florence "The Birth of Venus" is one of Botticelli's greatest creations. It represents a universal ideal of female beauty and has been reproduced countless times thro...

BEAUTY AND THE DUCK
The godess Aphrodite is associated with roses, sparrows, shells, red apples, swans and ....ducks!
It seems a little strange, but ducks are also the symbol of this ancient Greek godess of love and beauty! Aphrodite was borne of sea foam, and tended to be associated with birds that liked water. In ancient art, Aphrodite is often depicted riding on the backs of swans, geese or ducks. In the vase below, Aphrodite is present in the form of a duck as a boy and girl fall in love. You can see this vase, and Aphrodite's duck, for your self at the Hellenic Museum.

Ahoy Argonauts!
Make sure to check out this month's Argo News. It's all about love, beauty and power - as we meet the goddess Aphrodite and discover her ways - both kind and cruel! Check out our feature activity and get stealthy hunting around Melbourne to spot Aphrodite's symbols. Love is everywhere, you just have to look!

Argo News #39 Ahoy, Argonauts – and Happy New Year! In this month's Argo News, we're kicking off 2023 by meeting the delightful Aphrodite, goddess of love. Let's take a look at how important she was in both love and war, and discover some of the ways we can spot her presence right here in Melbourne!

THE GODDESS OF LOVE:
Many of us know of Aphrodite - the ancient Greek goddess of love. Today, one of the most famous ancient Greek statues - the Aphrodite of Milos- is seen by thousands of people in the Louvre Museum (Paris), where the statue is held. But, not many remember that the original goddess of love appeared in Mesopotamia. This goddess was called Ishtar and was worshipped as the goddess of love, fertility and war. Aphrodite is thought to be another version of this early goddess. Through centuries of trade and travel, beliefs in different gods and goddesses spread across the Mediterranean.

PIRATES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN:
Who says pirates only sail among beautiful Caribbean islands with palm trees, and have parrots on their shoulders?
Across the ancient Mediterranean Sea, Greek, Roman and Egyptian pirates terrorised rich ships with great cargoes of oil, jewellery and wine.

In ancient Egypt, pirates were known to sail up the River Nile in search of their next vessel to plunder. From about 12,000 BCE a violent group of piratical warriors called the Sea Peoples, attacked Egypt, in an effort to conquer its rich lands. In fact the Sea Peoples successfully raided the Mediterranean for over 100 years. Many Pharaohs fought them: including Ramses II, his son Merenptah and Ramses III. While the pirates put up a tough fight, Ramses III defeated them in battle and they disappeared. Ramses III wasted a lot of money on armies and weapons to stop the dreaded pirates. After spending so much wealth, Ramses III couldn't even pay tomb builders to finish constructing a tomb in the village of Set Maat.

HADES: THE UNSEEN LORD
Hades was the Greek god of the underworld. Known as 'the unseen one' he was a mysterious and powerful deity.
Hades famously wore his helm (helmet) of invisibility to remain mysterious and dark. Hades kidnapped Persephone (the daughter of Zeus and Demeter) for a wife. Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, was so sad about this that she prevented the crops from growing and brought in winter weather. However, when Persephone left Hades to visit her, spring would return to the Earth.

THE DEEDS OF ZEUS: Striking Asclepius.
Asclepius was the ancient Greek god of medicine. Accoring to myth, Asclepius was was taught about the uses of medical plants and remedies by Chiron, the wise centaur (half man half horse creature). Some legends tell us that is was a snake that told Asclepius about the healing arts by wispering in his ear. Asclepius' powers of healing were so strong that it was said he could raise the dead. Zeus was angered that Asclepius' powers interfeared in the division between the mortal world and that of the gods. To stop Asclepius from sharing his divine knowlege with humans Zeus struck him with a lightning bolt. According to the ancients, after his death, Zeus commemorated Asclepius by placing his image in the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus - the serpent bearer.

THE DEEDS OF ZEUS - Prometheus and Pandora
According to Greek myth, Zeus was angered by Prometheus (a Titan), for stealing fire from the gods and gifting it to humans. To punish Prometheus, Zeus ordered him to be tied to a rock and for an eagle to peck at his liver. To punish the humans, Zeus created the first woman, called Pandora, and gifted her a box that he said should not be opened. Pandora could not resist opening the box. Once the lid was off, out poured all the ills of the world like grief and disease. But hope was luckily left inside.