El Nido del Águila

If you go to Vatican City, there are not all conspiracies, or old specters of past Popes... There are also lots of pieces of art. Some are among the best pieces made for mankind ever. For instance The Laoconte" Made by Agnesandre, Polidor and Athenodor of Rode, it represents the figures of three men, Laoconte and his sons, being eaten by a monster. Their expressions shows us pain, fear, despair... Laoconte was the Supreme Priest of Troy. Master of the Temples, and talker with the Gods. One day, during the War of Troy, he was averted by a Greek Deserter, that Greeks had disappeared from the coast. Apparently they had fled in their vessels, weary of ten years of war, and they had made a big wooden Horse, as an offering to Posidon for a good Trip. But Laoconte distrusted of that, and instead of putting it inside the city, near of Posidon's temple, he advised Priamus to burn the horse "because this is not a gift but a trapp. And even if it were a gift, I fear Greeks even wh...

There are multiple versions of the Troyan War. Multiple interpretations of Illiad. The most accurate tells that Greeks arrived and conquered the coast around Troy, but were incapable of pass the walls (of course, since those walls were being built by Apollo and Posidon, centuries ago). As a result of this tie, the war enlarged it for 10 years. During this combats, Achilles and his men took over an Apollo's sanctuary, and got lots of money, jewels, and golden or silver objects... And also the priestesses. One of this was Brissedis, niece of Priamus, and was the cause of and argument between Achilles, who claimed be the only person that enjoyed the virgin, and Agamenmon, who claim the right to possess Brissedis since he was the King of Kings and The Comander in Chief of the Armie. As a result of the fight, Achilles showed his famous anger, and retired his men from the battlefield. A terrible lost for Greek armie, whose men started to loose ground, and Troyan armie, led by Hector, t...

There was a man, Tantalus, who was favored by the Gods, and tried to deceive they. He gave the order of cooking his own son and serve he to the gods on a dinner. The Gods punished Tantalus by sending him to underworld. There, enchained to a Tree, he suffered eternal thirst and hunger. When he wanted to grab an apple from the tree, branches raised far from his hand. When he wanted to drink some water, the river fled from his mouth. One of his descendants was Atreus, whom fought against his brother, Aegistus, for the throne of Miccenae. And the sons of Atreus were Agamemnon and Menelaus. After the death of Atreus, Agamemnon, the eldest son, inherited the crown and was recognized by the other Greek kings as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Menelaus, was crowned King of Sparta, after his wedding whit Helen, daughter of Tindareus (actually daughter of Zeus and sister of Polux, but that is another story). Agamemnon wanted to unify all Greek tribes in one Kingdom, in order to deploying a g...

You probably remember that yesterday I mentioned the Troyan War, Aeneas' escape. But this war started lots of years ago, and started with a wedding. Tetis was a nymph and was in love whit Peleus. They invited to their wedding all kind of fantastic beings, such as the gods, the rest of the nymphs, Quiro the centaur, and a lot of heroes, such Hercules or some of the Argonauts, everyone... Except Eris, Goddess of discontent, fight and discordant. Searching for vengeance, she threw a golden apple at the very center of the hall where they were celebrating, with the inspiration: TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL. Tetis, obviously, stepped aside. Even being the bride, she was not crazy enough to grabb the apple. But there were other who stepped in. Athena, Afrodita, and Hera. As you could imagine, that was a problem for Zeus. He cannot be the judge, choosing one, and risking him to the wrath of the other two... So he sent Hermes, the messenger of Gods, to find one mortal who played the role of Jud...

You know what? History has a curious way to work. Sometimes, from the biggest catastrophe could give birth the biggest hope. Sometimes, bad men create very good things. All that it takes its an opportunity. Surely you remember "Gens Julia", the family of Marius, Caesar and Augustus, one of the most noble, rich and powerful of Rome, the conquerors of the Republic and the founders of the Empire... But several centuries before Caesar, there was a big city in Anatolian Peninsula named Troy. Actually the 7th city of Troy, chanted by Homer in one of his two great poems "Iliad" (because they also called it "Ilio"). Troy was declared war by Great King Agamemnon of Miccena, after one of its princes Paris, supposedly took Helen, wife of Meleaus, King of Sparta and Brother of the Great King. The resoult of that war (another day we'll talk about Troyan war I promise) was the utterly destruction of the city and the slaughter of all people whitin it... Well, not e...

You know what? Athens, the capital city of Greece, was founded a long time ago (but not in a galaxy far far away) after the gathering of 10 tribes whitin the Attica region. Once they had their city, learned that they needed two things: a name for the city, and a God to be adored. And then, Posidon and Athena presented their applications. Posidon stroke the earth with his Trident, and then created two different elements: an animal, the horse, and also a salt water source. Athena touched the earth, and then she created the Olive. After that, citizens voted. Men gave their votes to Posidon, and women voted for Athena. The result was the victory of the Goddess of wisdom and war, just for one single vote. Posidon (the real badass of the Olimpics, the one who Greeks fear most, because his terrible wraith provoked earthquakes, and storms) angry with Atticans, flooded the entire region, and in order to calm him, citizens of Athens made two decisions. One was to built an incredible temple t...

If you go to "El Museo Nacional del Prado" in Spain, among several of the most important pictures in the history of Mankind, you could see "Baco's triumph" by Diego Velázquez. The picture is also known as "The drunken people". In it, a bunch of men are drinking wine and smiling, surrendering a man who receives a special light. Dressed with a pink mantle, and carrying a laurel crown, he seems to be the leader of the party. The rest of men are old, bearded and ugly, but this young men seems to be perfect, like if he was a God... Well, that is because he is a God. Roman people called him Baco, the Greeks called him Dionisos. Walt Disney's Fantasy shows him as a happy and fat men, alwais enjoying the parties. Dionisos was the God of the festivities, the happiness, the wine. He taught men how to make wine, how to cultive grapes. Greeks thought good wine required to be a little time in earth and little time in barrel... As the own Dionisos was at his f...

Yesterday I wrote about Greek mithology, and how they use it in order to teach. It is wonderful, without a doubt, to think they and we are connected so many millennia later by a bunch of tales. Simple tales, to explain complex issues. For instance, the four seasons. Six months a year we have bad weather (rain, cold, wind, snow...) and the other six, we have good weather (sun and white little clouds, warm and long days). One could think this is because the Earth is closer o further from the Sun, or that depends on where we are (bellow or above Ecuatorial line). I prefer to think is because Demeter is happy or sad, because she has her daughter, Persephone, by her side, or on the contrary, her daughter is playing the role of Hades' wife, and ruling the underworld whit her husband. You know what? After defeat the Titans, and send they back to their invisible prison, Zeus called two of his brothers, Posidon and Hades, and say to them: "It is time we rule the universe. I will be...

Probably the best way to make a child to understand any issue is by telling him o her a tale. But don't get me wrong, it is not an easy thing to tell a good story, because must be understandable enough, but you shouldn't trate a kid as if he was stupid, or probably he will be a stupid men when the time comes... Greeks understood this thing, so their stories were both enlightening and easy enough to be convey among ordinary (which means "not educated", not gross or bad behaviored) people. Their stories were so good, that even today we tell them to our friends, or our siblings, or children, in order to make them understand how the world works. For instance, the origin of the mankind, originally created by Zeus, but only alive after Prometheus stole the sacred fire. After that, the Gods condemned him to stay all eternity chained to a rock in Caucasian mountains, and day after day, a Giant eagle ate his guts, which night after night turned to appear whitin him. Finally ...

These days I am reading several books, for instance "The Ides of March", by Thorton Wilder, which is a lovely epistolary novel, and talks about some Roman characters, such as Julius Cesar. "Divus Iulius", the men of all wemen, the woman of all men. A very clever politician, a master of war, and a great lover, understanding his role in every moment (passionate during his youth, as a Master or Teacher in his old days). He was a great conqueror, and perhaps more important, a great reformer; a men strong enough to change his own word and for that, able to make history. Even Cesar's end was magnificent. During the Senate meeting on 15th March 44 b. C, a group of Senators attacked and stabbed him 23 times, leaving his corpse in the very ground of the Curia, for all to could see it. After his death, chaos. Between 44 and 27 b. C, two civil wars occurred, and finally, the Roman Republic fell, and the Roman Empire arose. And after the murder of César? the battles o...

Ancient Greeks had a tale about Kronos, King of Titans, and Lord of Time. He defeated his father, The Sky, and he thought that one of his children would defeat him when the time comes, so he had decided to eat all of the kids his wife Rhea, Titanide of the Earth, give birth. The last of this children was Zeus, and his mother, tired of the custom of her husband, hid the child and send Kronos a Stone instead. And several years later, Zeus, as cupper of Kronos, gave him a cup of water and salt, provoking Kronos puked the other gods (Posidon, Hades, Demeteris, Hera... And the stone, which felt in the center of Helenican Peninsula, and lots of centuries later, men take it and send it to the Apollo's Temple of Delphi, establishing there "The center of the world" In that temple, sposedly built after Apollo killed the snake that chased he, his sister and his mother, priests gave advice to the pilgrims, no matter they where Kings or peasants. For instance Philippo II King of M...