Ancient Greece is rightfully considered the cradle of Western civilization. It was here that the most ancient educational institutions for different ages were founded. But the greatest achievement of the Greeks, namely the inhabitants of Athens, is the invention of democracy, which, over the centuries, has become the basis for governance in most civilized countries of the world.
But the huge time layer between the era of antiquity and our time erased some memories and facts about that world, leaving many unsolved mysteries. The records of ancient historians are lost or destroyed, and the facts are surrounded by speculation and myths. In this article we will tell about the most fascinating secrets of Ancient Greece, which remained unsolved to this day.
Here are 10 secrets of ancient Greece, which are still not solved:
1
Secrets of the Eleusinian Sacraments
One of the most fascinating secrets of ancient Greece affects a certain organization, whose name is a synonym for the word "secret", and its activity has formed the concept of mystery as such.
Eleusinian mysteries or mysteries - a religious cult associated with several ceremonies, the details of which are hidden by fog today. Interestingly, this term means both the organization itself and the religious rituals conducted by its participants.
The main reason for the lack of information about the cult of the Mysteries was that they were originally characterized as the greatest secrets. This is somewhat comparable to the signed document on non-disclosure of information in our time. Only today, disclosure of secrets threatens with dismissal and fines, and in antiquity a similar offense was punishable by death.
A huge number of people who consider themselves pioneers in this area, only confuse the situation. Today it seems that the mystery of the Eleusinian Mysteries will not be solved, and our descendants will be content with crumbs, in the form of stories about the cult of Demeter and Persephone.
2
Thespis's life path
Athens residents of the VI century BC e. called Thespis playwright, who is believed to have first played another person in the performance, which allows him to be called the first actor in the world. Moreover, he himself was the author of "plays" and an innovator in many areas of drama. Thespis was so significant that over time the word "thespian" became an epithet attributed to a particular cohort of actors.
However, despite the worldwide fame, the life of the playwright and even his works are shrouded in mystery. Was his name Thespis really? Was he from Athens? And most importantly, did it really exist, because today we do not know a single work of this poet and actor.
Historians have found that all references to Thespis, including the works of Horace, date back to a much later era than the times of the mysterious playwright. This led to the opinion that Thespis is a character in myths, like, say, Achilles or Patroclus. Perhaps he became a kind of symbol of a new era in Greek dramaturgy, which passed from exclusively choral performance to the use of actors.
By the way, on our site thebiggest.ru you can find out that the Greek capital of Athens is one of the oldest cities in Europe that exist today.
3
Parthenon architecture and art
One of the most iconic architectural monuments of ancient Greece, according to the editors of thebiggest.ru, is the Parthenon. Its safety over 2500 years is all the more surprising when you consider how little time was spent on the construction of the Parthenon.
It is believed that the construction was carried out without drawing up a detailed scheme. In general, many secrets and rumors hover around all stages of the construction of this historical monument. There is also no clear explanation of the purpose of some parts of the building.
Historians still argue about the purpose of the bas-relief frieze, as well as the significance of its figures, among which there are many people and animals. According to one version, people painted on the bas-relief are the builders of the Parthenon. Also, the architectural complex includes two interior chambers. The purpose of the smaller room remains a mystery.
4
Authors of two constitutions for Athens
The Athenian constitution is not one, but two sets of laws written by different people. The authorship of the first Athenian politics (that was the name of the document) belonged to Xenophon, and the second was written by Aristotle. It is noteworthy that the involvement of both authors in the writing of the constitution is still disputed.
Historians initially believed that the first polity was written by Xenophon, however, later the version came into force that he could not work on the code of laws, since at the time the work was published, he had not yet reached adulthood. Today, in almost any textbook, the author of the first constitution indicates Pseudo-Xenophon, but the real name of the person who worked on politics was not found out.
As for the second document, many historians agreed - Aristotle was its author. However, later the difference in the power of writing the constitution and other works of the author was noticed. True, supporters of Aristotle’s authorship claim that the works themselves are different from politics, so you should not be surprised at the difference in styles.
5
The works of Pythagoras
We all know that the Pythagorean pants are equal on all sides. The famous Greek mathematician was given such proverbs thanks to his theorem that the square of the hypotenuse of a triangle is the sum of the squares of the legs. Perhaps this theorem, which was named after the author, is best known for all students. But even such an exact science as mathematics hides many secrets, including the life path and authorship of one of its most famous representatives.
The mystery of Pythagoras is connected with his place of work. The school of philosophy, where the great Greek pored over his writings, was a closed institution. The authorship of many works written within the walls of the school was hidden from the public, so it is not clear which of the works belongs to Pythagoras, and which to his associates. And it is also claimed that the famous Pythagorean theorem was discovered before him by mathematicians from Babylon.
6
Destruction of the statue of Zeus
The statue of Zeus was rightfully included in the list of the old Seven Wonders of the World, which were built in antiquity and received recognition in the same period. Saying "old", we mean that today they can not be seen, since all of them, except the pyramid of Cheops, were destroyed. The author of the statue of Zeus is considered to be Phidias, one of the most famous sculptors of ancient Greece. And the history of the destruction of the historical monument is still shrouded in mystery.
The statue was installed at Olympia in a temple that honored the cult of the chief of the Greek gods. The fire that destroyed the temple building also did not spare the monument. However, according to some historians, one of the Wonders of the World was moved from the temple long before the fire. It is assumed that the creation of Phidias was delivered to Constantinople, where it ... was destroyed by fire.
By the way, on our site thebiggest.ru there is an interesting article about the great architectural monuments that suffered from fires.
7
Lost Aristotle's treatise on comedy theory
One of Aristotle’s most famous works is Poetics, a treatise on drama theory. True, only the first part is included in this treatise, since the second was hopelessly lost. It is believed that she was completely devoted to the theory of comedy, complementing the first "tragic" part of the treatise.
But supporters of the theory of the existence of the second part of “Poetics” have opponents who point out the insufficiency of facts. The Koalenovsky treatise speaks in favor of the former, where there are transparent indirect references to the work of Aristotle. Secrets always generate a lot of rumors and speculation, the comedic part of the treatise was no exception. She is even mentioned in “The Name of the Rose”, the famous novel by Umberto Eco, which developed a part of the plot in the direction of finding the manuscript.
8
The labyrinth that became the inspiration for the myth of the Minotaur
If you think that the myth of the Knossos labyrinth originated from scratch, then this is not so. According to the myth, the Minotaur was enclosed inside the labyrinth specially built by Daedalus for King Minos. This creature had the body of a man with the head of a bull, and ate people. Later, the fictional labyrinth turned out to be real, its prototype was the palace at Knossos, whose complex system resembled in some way the intricate passages of the mythical dwelling of the Minotaur.
Interestingly, the Knossos Palace itself was considered a fiction until a certain time, until it was found during archaeological excavations. However, its definition as a prototype of the Labyrinth is only one of the versions. Adhering to a different version, historians argue that the Knossos labyrinth could be located near the modern Cretan city of Gortin. According to these scientists, a quarry 30 kilometers from Knossos is the place where the Minotaur is confined.
9
The mystery of Plato's trilogy
We all heard about the lost island-state, which was called Atlantis. The author of this theory was Plato, who expressed his point of view in two dialogues. But if the first dialogue "Timaeus" was completed, and also affected the teachings of physics and biology, the author devoted exclusively to Atlantis "Critius" could not be completed.
According to the author, the inhabitants of the continent set themselves the goal of capturing the Athenian state, however, their attempts crashed on the waters of the Atlantic, which swallowed the island. It is noteworthy that the philosopher planned the third part of the dialogue, but did not even complete the second dialogue of the proposed trilogy.
The third part of the works of Plato was to be called "Germocrat", but we could not find information about the beginning of their writing. Historians still wonder why the famous thinker did not complete work on the trilogy. It turns out that the mystery is not only the very existence of Atlantis, but also the story of the island. The author simply stopped writing dialogue, leaving no clues to posterity why he could do this.
10
Homer's poems
Homer is considered the author of the oldest monument of European literature, the poem "Iliad", as well as its continuation of the "Odyssey", which makes him the first author of the Old World, known to historians. However, too little is known about the poet’s life itself, which gives rise to many guesses, including the sole authorship of the above creations.
According to some writers, between the Iliad and the Odyssey there are many stylistic differences, which suggests the participation of two different poets in their writing.
But, even recognizing the possibility of writing both poems by Homer, many scholars agree that one should not give authorship only to him. As proof, they cite the argument that poems were not written down, but passed on by word of mouth, with the obligatory addition of storytellers.
Finally
So came to an end our small list of secrets of ancient Greece, which are still unsolved. The editors of our site ask you to write in the comments your opinion on some of the mysteries presented here. And if you can complement our article with other secrets, then we (and, hopefully, our readers) will be happy to see them.