104-448: Euonymeia ( Greek : Ευωνύμεια , Evonímia ), also known by its medieval name Trachones ( Greek : Τράχωνες ), and by its modern colloquial Ano Kalamaki ( Greek : Άνω Καλαμάκι , Upper Kalamaki), is a historic settlement and currently a residential neighborhood within the suburban town of Alimos in the southern part of the Athens urban area, Greece . The area is an inland part of
208-593: A classical era amphitheater , and Paleochristian and Byzantine temples . Some of the earliest and best preserved specimens of Athenian Geometric pottery have been attributed to the Trachones workshop and are featured in museum collections, including two kraters on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City . At its peak during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, the area
312-559: A siliceous volcanic ash , for the Suez Canal works. When this discovery was followed up in 1870, on the neighbouring Santorini (Thera) , by representatives of the French School at Athens , much pottery of a class now known immediately to precede the typical late Aegean ware, and many stone and metal objects, were found. These were dated by the geologist Ferdinand A. Fouqué, somewhat arbitrarily, to 2000 BC, by consideration of
416-577: A basis for coinages: anthropology , photography , telephony , isomer , biomechanics , cinematography , etc. Together with Latin words , they form the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary ; for example, all words ending in -logy ('discourse'). There are many English words of Greek origin . Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient language most closely related to it may be ancient Macedonian , which, by most accounts,
520-554: A catastrophic event theorized to involve Pelasgian invaders. Excavations at construction sites adjacent to the Kontopigado mound in the 1980s and '90s led to the discovery of an Early Helladic settlement (third millennium BCE), and an overlying Mycenaean complex dated from Late Helladic IIIB to Late Helladic IIIC (ca. 1300 BCE), marking the second period of intense development in Euonymeia. A Mycenaean chamber tomb from
624-580: A continuation of the early Euonymeia settlements. The Deme of Euonymos was designated as one of the 139 Athenian Demes by the Reform of Cleisthenes . Euonymos was an "urban" ( asty ) deme of the Erechtheis tribe, the first in the hierarchy of the Athenian democracy as descending from Erechtheus , the autochthonous founder of Athens. The Deme contributed 10 bouleutai (increased to 12 in 306 BCE) to
728-558: A fairly stable set of consonantal contrasts . The main phonological changes occurred during the Hellenistic and Roman period (see Koine Greek phonology for details): In all its stages, the morphology of Greek shows an extensive set of productive derivational affixes , a limited but productive system of compounding and a rich inflectional system. Although its morphological categories have been fairly stable over time, morphological changes are present throughout, particularly in
832-560: A faster, more convenient cursive writing style with the use of ink and quill . The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each with an uppercase ( majuscule ) and lowercase ( minuscule ) form. The letter sigma has an additional lowercase form (ς) used in the final position of a word: In addition to the letters, the Greek alphabet features a number of diacritical signs : three different accent marks ( acute , grave , and circumflex ), originally denoting different shapes of pitch accent on
936-540: A foreign language. It is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, " Homeric Greek is probably closer to Demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English ". Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable Greek-speaking minority in Albania near
1040-559: A good deal of other evidence available before 1876, which, had it been collated and seriously studied, might have discounted the sensation that the discovery of the citadel graves eventually made. For instance, scholars had noted that tributaries appearing in Egyptian art resembled modern Greeks, but were unable to definitely recognize them as such. Nor did the Aegean objects which were lying obscurely in museums in 1870, or thereabouts, provide
1144-470: A large part of the estate was converted from farm to urban plots, including land for the creation of the Hellenicon Airport . This led to a rapid urbanization following the expanding urban sprawl of the Greek capital, and to the establishment of the current residential community. In 1968 the modern Municipality of Alimos was established, administratively linking the community of Trachones with
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#17327655311241248-626: A main prosecutor in the trial of Socrates . Euonymeia declined in medieval times together with Athens after Christian reforms brought on the Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism . At some point during this time the settlement's name changed to the village of Trachones. Nonetheless, it retained urban settlement throughout the Early Christian and Byzantine eras as testified by the ruins of the Paleochristian Basilica of
1352-669: A sufficient test of the real basis underlying the Hellenic myths of the Argolid , the Troad and Crete , to cause these to be taken seriously. Aegean vases have been exhibited both at Sèvres and Neuchatel since about 1840, the provenance (i.e. source or origin) being in the one case Phylakope in Melos , in the other Cephalonia . Ludwig Ross, the German archaeologist appointed Curator of
1456-793: Is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea . There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete , the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization from the Early Bronze Age. The Cycladic civilization converges with the mainland during the Early Helladic (" Minyan ") period and with Crete in
1560-804: Is also found in Bulgaria near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable Greek diaspora which has notable communities in the United States , Australia , Canada , South Africa , Chile , Brazil , Argentina , Russia , Ukraine , the United Kingdom , and throughout the European Union , especially in Germany . Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout
1664-479: Is an Indo-European language, but also includes a number of borrowings from the languages of the populations that inhabited Greece before the arrival of Proto-Greeks, some documented in Mycenaean texts ; they include a large number of Greek toponyms . The form and meaning of many words have changed. Loanwords (words of foreign origin) have entered the language, mainly from Latin, Venetian , and Turkish . During
1768-466: Is matched only by the now-extinct Anatolian languages . The Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods: In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia : the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the Greek language question was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: Dimotiki ,
1872-519: Is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, Hungary , Romania, and Ukraine. It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The phonology , morphology , syntax , and vocabulary of the language show both conservative and innovative tendencies across the entire attestation of the language from the ancient to
1976-832: Is sometimes called aljamiado , as when Romance languages are written in the Arabic alphabet. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Greek: Transcription of the example text into Latin alphabet : Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Koine Medieval Modern Aegean civilizations Aegean civilization
2080-763: Is still used internationally for the writing of Ancient Greek . In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point (•), known as the ano teleia ( άνω τελεία ). In Greek the comma also functions as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό,τι ( ó,ti , 'whatever') from ότι ( óti , 'that'). Ancient Greek texts often used scriptio continua ('continuous writing'), which means that ancient authors and scribes would write word after word with no spaces or punctuation between words to differentiate or mark boundaries. Boustrophedon , or bi-directional text,
2184-601: Is the seat of the local soccer team, FC Trachones . Greek language Greek ( Modern Greek : Ελληνικά , romanized : Elliniká , [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek : Ἑλληνική , romanized : Hellēnikḗ ) is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece , Cyprus , Italy (in Calabria and Salento ), southern Albania , and other regions of
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#17327655311242288-760: The Archipelago with Crete and Cyprus , the Hellenic peninsula with the Ionian islands , and Western Anatolia . Evidence is still wanting for the Macedonian and Thracian coasts. Offshoots are found in the western Mediterranean area, in Sicily, Italy, Sardinia and Spain, and in the eastern Mediterranean area in Syria and Egypt. Regarding the Cyrenaica , we are still insufficiently informed. The final collapse of
2392-807: The Argive Heraeum and Nauplia in the Argolid, near Thebes and Delphi , and not far from the Thessalian Larissa . During the Acropolis excavations in Athens, which terminated in 1888, many potsherds of the Mycenaean style were found; but Olympia had yielded either none, or such as had not been recognized before being thrown away, and the temple site at Delphi produced nothing distinctively Aegean (in dating). The American explorations of
2496-674: The Balkans , Caucasus , the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor , and the Eastern Mediterranean . It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet , which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary . The alphabet arose from
2600-656: The Balkans , the Aegean EEFs appear to have divided into two wings: one which expanded further north into Europe along the Danube ( Linear Pottery culture ), and another which headed west along the Mediterranean ( Cardial Ware ) into the Iberian Peninsula . Descendants of this latter group eventually migrated into Britain. Previously, these areas were populated by Western Hunter-Gatherer represented by
2704-624: The Byzantine Empire and developed into Medieval Greek . In its modern form , Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . It is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey , and the many other countries of the Greek diaspora . Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are
2808-577: The Cheddar Man . The Chalcolithic (Copper Age) began in Europe around 5500 BC. Chalcolithic Europeans began to erect megaliths in this period. Commerce was practiced to some extent in very early times, as is shown by the distribution of Melian obsidian over all the Aegean area. Cretan vessels appeared to be exported to Melos , Egypt, and the Greek mainland. In particular, Melian vases, eventually, found their way to Crete. After 1600 BC, there
2912-565: The Christian Bible was also originally written in Greek. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world , the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute the objects of study of the discipline of Classics . During antiquity , Greek was by far the most widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world . It eventually became the official language of
3016-495: The Eastern Mediterranean , in what are today Southern Italy , Turkey , Cyprus , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Egypt , and Libya ; in the area of the Black Sea , in what are today Turkey, Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , Russia , Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan ; and, to a lesser extent, in the Western Mediterranean in and around colonies such as Massalia , Monoikos , and Mainake . It
3120-512: The Ethnica ( Greek : Ἐθνικά ), the gazetteer by 6th century CE scholar Stephanus of Byzantium , considered the earliest authoritative work on Mediterranean toponyms . Therein, Stephanus attributes the name to Euonymus of Greek Mythology –son of Gaia with either Uranus or Cephissus . The name itself derives from the Greek root-words eû ( Greek : εὖ ) "good, well", and onoma ( Greek : όνομα ) "name". Alternative interpretations for
3224-663: The Frankish lord of Athens Othon de la Roche , the Orthodox church of the " Presentation of Mary of Trachones" (Greek: Εισοδίων Θεοτόκου Τραχώνων, Isodíon Theotókou Trachónon) was constructed 300 metres (980 ft) West of the Euonymos Theater. This church is currently in operation within the grounds of the Geroulanou Estate , making it one of the oldest continuously operational churches in Athens. After
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3328-679: The Greek Revolution in an 1820 tax record of villages in Attica, while its location, corresponding to the area of Euonymeia, is revealed in 19th century maps, including John Thomson's 1814 map of Attica (therein labeled as Traconi ), and an 1881 map from the German Archeological Institute . During the preceding years, the Trachones Estate, corresponding to a large part of what is now South Athens ,
3432-516: The Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ), but little definitive evidence has been found. In addition, Albanian has also been considered somewhat related to Greek and Armenian, and it has been proposed that they all form a higher-order subgroup along with other extinct languages of the ancient Balkans; this higher-order subgroup is usually termed Palaeo-Balkan , and Greek has a central position in it. Linear B , attested as early as
3536-635: The Middle Minoan period. From c. 1450 BC (Late Helladic, Late Minoan), the Greek Mycenaean civilization spreads to Crete, probably by military conquest. The earlier Aegean farming populations of Neolithic Greece brought agriculture westward into Europe before 5000 BC . Around 5,000 BC, peoples descending from migrant Greek Neolithic populations reached the northern European plain in modern-day France and Germany ; they reached Britain some 1000 years later . Once in
3640-657: The Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin , Cyrillic , Coptic , Gothic , and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer , ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon . Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The New Testament of
3744-492: The nominal and verbal systems. The major change in the nominal morphology since the classical stage was the disuse of the dative case (its functions being largely taken over by the genitive ). The verbal system has lost the infinitive , the synthetically -formed future, and perfect tenses and the optative mood . Many have been replaced by periphrastic ( analytical ) forms. Pronouns show distinctions in person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), number (singular, dual , and plural in
3848-570: The 1960s and work on the Argyroupoli Metro station 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) South of the theater in 2003 uncovered a cemetery at the Hasani site with over 150 graves dating from the 7th to the 4th centuries BCE, and inscriptions identifying it as the cemetery of the Deme of Euonymos. Together, these findings conclusively position the center and extent of the classical Deme of Euonymos as
3952-534: The 500 member-strong Boule , and as such was one of Athens' largest demes. Several Euonymeians were notable public officials in Ancient Athens, such as Hieropoios Eunomos of Euonymon , and high-ranking military figures associated with the Peloponnesian Wars, including Taxiarch Strombichides , Nauarch Diotimos of Euonymon , and Strategoi Autocles and Anytus , the latter also known as
4056-411: The Aegean by the wealth of its remains of all the prehistoric ages— Crete; and so much so that, for the present, we must regard it as the fountainhead of Aegean civilization, and probably for long its political and social centre. The island first attracted the notice of archaeologists by the remarkable archaic Greek bronzes found in a cave on Mount Ida in 1885, as well as by epigraphic monuments such as
4160-547: The Antiquities of Athens at the time of the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece , by his explorations in the Greek islands from 1835 onwards, called attention to certain early intaglios , since known as Inselsteine; but it was not until 1878 that C. T. Newton demonstrated these to be no strayed Phoenician products. In 1866 primitive structures were discovered on the island of Therasia by quarrymen extracting pozzolana,
4264-463: The Argive Heraeum, concluded in 1895, also failed to prove that site to have been important in the prehistoric time, though, as was to be expected from its neighbourhood to Mycenae itself, there were traces of occupation in the later Aegean periods. Prehistoric research had now begun to extend beyond the Greek mainland. Certain central Aegean islands, Antiparos , Ios , Amorgos , Syros and Siphnos , were all found to be singularly rich in evidence of
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4368-461: The English archaeological expeditions, sent subsequently into north-western Anatolia , have never failed to bring back ceramic specimens of Aegean appearance from the valleys of the Rhyndncus, Sangarius and Halys. In Egypt in 1887, Flinders Petrie found painted sherds of Cretan style at Kahun in the Fayum , and farther up the Nile , at Tell el-Amarna , chanced on bits of no fewer than 800 Aegean vases in 1889. There have now been recognized in
4472-486: The Greek alphabet since approximately the 9th century BC. It was created by modifying the Phoenician alphabet , with the innovation of adopting certain letters to represent the vowels. The variant of the alphabet in use today is essentially the late Ionic variant, introduced for writing classical Attic in 403 BC. In classical Greek, as in classical Latin, only upper-case letters existed. The lower-case Greek letters were developed much later by medieval scribes to permit
4576-442: The Greek language was the Cypriot syllabary (also a descendant of Linear A via the intermediate Cypro-Minoan syllabary ), which is closely related to Linear B but uses somewhat different syllabic conventions to represent phoneme sequences. The Cypriot syllabary is attested in Cyprus from the 11th century BC until its gradual abandonment in the late Classical period, in favor of the standard Greek alphabet. Greek has been written in
4680-629: The Greek verb have likewise remained largely the same over the course of the language's history but with significant changes in the number of distinctions within each category and their morphological expression. Greek verbs have synthetic inflectional forms for: Many aspects of the syntax of Greek have remained constant: verbs agree with their subject only, the use of the surviving cases is largely intact (nominative for subjects and predicates, accusative for objects of most verbs and many prepositions, genitive for possessors), articles precede nouns, adpositions are largely prepositional, relative clauses follow
4784-446: The Greek-Albanian border. A significant percentage of Albania's population has knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in the country. Prior to the Greco-Turkish War and the resulting population exchange in 1923 a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in Turkey , though very few remain today. A small Greek-speaking community
4888-427: The Holy Apostles (ca. 7th-9th centuries CE) that can be found 200 metres (660 ft) North of Euonymos Theater in the courtyard of the contemporary Church of the Life-giving Spring of Trachones. During the later Middle Ages, Athens was conquered by the fourth crusade , which established the 13th-century crusader state of the Duchy of Athens . During this time, in defiance of the Roman Catholic allegiance to
4992-402: The Middle-Aegean period. The series of Syran-built graves, containing crouching corpses, is the best and most representative that is known in the Aegean. Melos, long marked as a source of early objects but not systematically excavated until taken in hand by the British School at Athens in 1896, yielded at Phylakope remains of all the Aegean periods, except the Neolithic . A map of Cyprus in
5096-416: The Sicel cemetery near Lentini in 1877, has proved a mine of early remains, among which appear in regular succession Aegean fabrics and motives of decoration from the period of the second stratum at Hissarlik. Sardinia has Aegean sites, for example, at Abini near Teti; and Spain has yielded objects recognized as Aegean from tombs near Cádiz and from Saragossa . One land, however, has eclipsed all others in
5200-552: The West of the Myceneaen site at Kontopigado , on a hill by the Trachones stream on the current Geroulanou Estate . While excavations have not yet been performed, the Geroulanou Estate is presumed to have been the site of the Acropolis of Euonymeia, based on surface finds of 8th - 7th century BCE fortifications . Geometric graves and pottery have been found around the estate providing evidence that unlike in Athens and neighboring communities, Euonymeia, together with Anavyssos further south, were peculiar in practicing cremation as
5304-404: The acute during the late 20th century, and it has only been retained in typography . After the writing reform of 1982, most diacritics are no longer used. Since then, Greek has been written mostly in the simplified monotonic orthography (or monotonic system), which employs only the acute accent and the diaeresis. The traditional system, now called the polytonic orthography (or polytonic system),
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#17327655311245408-402: The ancient language; singular and plural alone in later stages), and gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and decline for case (from six cases in the earliest forms attested to four in the modern language). Nouns, articles, and adjectives show all the distinctions except for a person. Both attributive and predicative adjectives agree with the noun. The inflectional categories of
5512-461: The articles on Crete , Mycenae , Tiryns , Troad , Cyprus , etc., must be consulted. The most representative site explored up to now is Knossos (see Crete ) which has yielded not only the most various but the most continuous evidence from the Neolithic age to the twilight of classical civilization. Next in importance come Hissarlik , Mycenae, Phaestus , Hagia Triada , Tiryns, Phylakope, Palaikastro and Gournia . Mycenae and Tiryns are
5616-425: The central palatial authority in Athens , possibly supplying the sails and ropes for the 50 ships that Athens is said to have contributed to the Trojan war . During the Geometric period of the Hellenic Dark Ages (10th to 8th centuries BCE), the area continued to be inhabited, with notable pottery production from the Trachones workshop . Geometric era finds in Euonymeia concentrate 500 metres (1,600 ft) to
5720-500: The coastal community of Kalamaki 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) to the West, giving rise to the term Ano Kalamaki (upper Kalamaki) to refer to the area of Euonymeia. The neighborhood is approximately bounded by the avenues of Vouliagmenis in the East, Ionias in the North and West, and Alimou in the South, and includes the "Alimos" Metro station. The area is rocky, a feature that gave it its medieval name, Trachones. The main physical features of Euonymeia are several small limestone hills,
5824-449: The collections at Cairo , Florence , London, Paris and Bologna several Egyptian imitations of the Aegean style which can be set off against the many debts which the centres of Aegean culture owed to Egypt. Two Aegean vases were found at Sidon in 1885, and many fragments of Aegean and especially Cypriot pottery have been found during recent excavations of sites in Philistia by the Palestine Fund. Sicily , ever since P. Orsi excavated
5928-435: The community stretches along the path of the Trachones stream, most of which now runs underground. This area features Karaiskakis square and park, which includes the " Klouva " outdoor public basketball court , and the municipal amphitheater, where the major community events take place. Adjacent to the square is a large school complex with two public elementary schools, and the 2nd Lyceum of Alimos public high school. Next to
6032-492: The earlier Theraean and Hissarlik discoveries. Many scholars were struck by potential resemblances between objects described by Homer and Mycenaean artifacts. Schliemann resumed excavations at Hissarlik in 1878, and greatly increased our knowledge of the lower strata, but did not recognize the Aegean remains in his "Lydian" city now known as Late Bronze Age Troy . These were not to be fully revealed until Dr. Wilhelm Dorpfeld, who had become Schliemann's assistant in 1879, resumed
6136-410: The earliest known Deme theaters) with Hymettian Marble from quarries in nearby Mount Hymettus. It had an estimated capacity of 2000–3000 spectators and is unique among ancient theaters found in Greece owing to the rectangular shape of its orchestra . The theatre was destroyed during the Chremonidean War of the 260s BCE and never rebuilt. Two headless statues of Dionysus were found on the site of
6240-444: The famous law of Gortyna (also called Gortyn ). But the first undoubted Aegean remains reported from it were a few objects extracted from Cnossus by Minos Kalokhairinos of Candia in 1878. These were followed by certain discoveries made in the S. plain Messara by F. Halbherr. Unsuccessful attempts at Cnossus were made by both W. J. Stillman and H. Schliemann, and A. J. Evans, coming on the scene in 1893, travelled in succeeding years about
6344-403: The general public. With Schliemann's excavations at Mycenae, interest in prehistoric Greece exploded. It was recognized that the character of both the fabric and the decoration of the Mycenaean objects was not that of any previously known style. A wide range in space was proved by the identification of the Inselsteine and the Ialysus vases with the new style, and a wide range in time by collation of
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#17327655311246448-439: The infinitive entirely (employing a raft of new periphrastic constructions instead) and uses participles more restrictively. The loss of the dative led to a rise of prepositional indirect objects (and the use of the genitive to directly mark these as well). Ancient Greek tended to be verb-final, but neutral word order in the modern language is VSO or SVO. Modern Greek inherits most of its vocabulary from Ancient Greek, which in turn
6552-438: The invasion of Greece by the Ottoman Turks , the area of Trachones was turned into a Chiflik , and administered according to the Ottoman feudal system, with the local population becoming mandatory land peasants ( koligoi ). The church of the Presentation of Mary appears to remain the center of the area's civic life in the following centuries of Ottoman rule . Modern written use of the toponym Trachones appears right before
6656-429: The island picking up trifles of unconsidered evidence, which gradually convinced him that greater things would eventually be found. He obtained enough to enable him to forecast the discovery of written characters, till then not suspected in Aegean civilization. The revolution of 1897–1898 opened the door to wider knowledge, and much exploration has ensued, for which see Crete . Thus the "Aegean Area" has now come to mean
6760-418: The largest of which is Pan's Hill (Lofos Pani), and the Trachones stream that runs from the Western slopes of Hemyttus, through Euonymeia, to the Saronic Gulf at Alimos beach . Mount Hymettus to the East is the dominant backdrop visible from most areas of the neighborhood. Euonymeia is largely a residential area, with small shops and businesses along Ionias and Dodecanesou avenues. The central public space of
6864-414: The late 15th century BC, was the first script used to write Greek. It is basically a syllabary , which was finally deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in the 1950s (its precursor, Linear A , has not been deciphered and most likely encodes a non-Greek language). The language of the Linear B texts, Mycenaean Greek , is the earliest known form of Greek. Another similar system used to write
6968-432: The later Bronze Age (such as is given by J. L. Myres and M. O. Richter in Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum) shows more than 25 settlements in and about the Mesaorea district alone, of which one, that at Enkomi , near the site of Salamis , has yielded the richest Aegean treasure in precious metal found outside Mycenae. E. Chantre in 1894 picked up lustreless ware, like that of Hissariik, in central Phtygia and at Pteria, and
7072-461: The main burial rite during this period. Nonetheless, the 8th-century ceremonial Kraters attributed to the Trachones workshop and used in burial tombs throughout Geometric Greece are considered some of the best examples of Athenian Geometric Pottery that have been discovered to date. In 1914, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City acquired two specimens, which are on display as part of its permanent collection of Greek and Roman Art. The area
7176-407: The major ancient road linking Athens to the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion , and the all-important silver mines at Laurium . Remains of the Urban Way have been unearthed in multiple sites along the modern Vouliagmenis Avenue, positioning this ancient thoroughfare adjacent to the most important installations in Euonymos. The old Mycenaean hydraulic installations 300 metres (980 ft) Northeast of
7280-458: The membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's 24 official languages . Greek is recognized as a minority language in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of Gjirokastër and Sarandë . It is also an official minority language in the regions of Apulia and Calabria in Italy. In the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , Greek
7384-441: The modern period. The division into conventional periods is, as with all such periodizations, relatively arbitrary, especially because, in all periods, Ancient Greek has enjoyed high prestige, and the literate borrowed heavily from it. Across its history, the syllabic structure of Greek has varied little: Greek shows a mixed syllable structure, permitting complex syllabic onsets but very restricted codas. It has only oral vowels and
7488-399: The noun they modify and relative pronouns are clause-initial. However, the morphological changes also have their counterparts in the syntax, and there are also significant differences between the syntax of the ancient and that of the modern form of the language . Ancient Greek made great use of participial constructions and of constructions involving the infinitive, and the modern variety lacks
7592-575: The objects found four years later in a tomb at Menidi in Attica and a rock-cut "bee-hive" grave near the Argive Heraeum. Even Schliemann's initial excavations at Hissarlik in the Troad did not excite surprise. However, the "Burnt City" now known as Troy II, revealed in 1873, with its fortifications and vases, and a hoard of gold, silver, and bronze objects, which the discoverer connected with it, began to arouse curiosity both among scholars and
7696-539: The obsidian-rich islands of the cycladic civilization . The commonality of findings in Agios Kosmas and Euonymeia suggests that the two settlements were functionally linked coastal and inland communities. The earliest signs of prehistoric settlement in Euonymeia were recognized in the 1950s and '60s at the Kontopigado site. During expansion work on the Vouliagmenis Avenue , neolithic era masonry
7800-706: The older periods of Greek, loanwords into Greek acquired Greek inflections, thus leaving only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from Albanian , South Slavic ( Macedonian / Bulgarian ) and Eastern Romance languages ( Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian ). Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English. Example words include: mathematics , physics , astronomy , democracy , philosophy , athletics , theatre, rhetoric , baptism , evangelist , etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as
7904-639: The one he had exposed. From 1886 dates the finding of Mycenaean sepulchres outside the Argolid, from which, and from the continuation of Tsountas's exploration of the buildings and lesser graves at Mycenae, a large treasure, independent of Schliemann's princely gift, has been gathered into the National Museum at Athens. In that year tholos-tombs, most already pillaged but retaining some of their furniture, were excavated at Arkina and Eleusis in Attica, at Dimini near Volos in Thessaly , at Kampos on
8008-448: The origin of the name are that it is a direct reference to the area being "well named" or "of good repute", or that it comes from the spindle tree Euonymus europaeus . The medieval name Trachones derives from the word trachoni ( Greek : τραχώνι ) meaning "rock", derived from the ancient Greek adjective trachys ( Greek : τραχύς ) meaning "coarse". The modern colloquial name Ano Kalamaki (upper Kalamaki) arose in 1968 when Euonymeia
8112-541: The predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary . Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, or possibly earlier. The earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language . Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation
8216-538: The processing of flax into textiles for the production of table wares, and for sails and ropes used on Mycenaean era ships. Altogether the Mycenaean complex at Kontopigado , 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the Mycenaean Palace on the Acropolis of Athens , is one of the largest of its kind found to date. This Bronze Age community and installations at Euonymeia are thought to have had close links to
8320-483: The same Late Helladic era was identified together with funerary pottery in the current Geroulanou estate. In 2006, work on the Alimos Metro station 300 metres (980 ft) South from the mound unearthed a large workshop complex from the same era with installations for ceramic production, including a kiln and potters wheel . This workshop included hydraulic installations with wells and water conduits used in
8424-577: The school complex is the Municipal Indoor Gymnasium of Trachones with a capacity for 350 seated spectators, the home court of the three local Basketball teams Trachones - Dias Union , A.L.F. Alimos , A.O. Kalamaki , and the Trachones Volleyball team. Along the same axis next to the Geroulanou Estate is Trachones Field ( Greek : Γήπεδο Τραχώνων , Gipedo Trachonon), a 457-seat track and field stadium that
8528-531: The sea is proved by the free use of marine motifs in decoration. The most detailed illustrations are to be found on the 'ship fresco' at Akrotiri on the island of Thera (Santorini) preserved by the ash fall from the volcanic eruption which destroyed the town there. Discoveries, later in the 20th century, of sunken trading vessels such as those at Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya off the south coast of Turkey have brought forth an enormous amount of new information about that culture. For details of monumental evidence
8632-419: The settlement. The hills of Euonymeia, together with the adjacent coastal promontory of Agios Kosmas , the ancient Akra Kolias , are the two most important sites of Neolithic and Aegean Bronze Age development in the area of Athens prior to ca. 3000 BCE. Ceramics and obsidian tools found on both sites were identified as originating from the island of Melos , indicating close ties of these settlements with
8736-694: The south Athenian plain , situated between the foothills of Mount Hymettus and the southern coastal zone of Athens on the Saronic Gulf . The land is characterized by limestone hills and streams running from Hymettus toward the coast. The area displays some of the earliest urban settlements in Europe , with archeological sites showing continuous development from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Major archeological finds include Early Helladic fortifications, Mycenaean era workshops and necropolis ,
8840-437: The stressed vowel; the so-called breathing marks ( rough and smooth breathing ), originally used to signal presence or absence of word-initial /h/; and the diaeresis , used to mark the full syllabic value of a vowel that would otherwise be read as part of a diphthong. These marks were introduced during the course of the Hellenistic period. Actual usage of the grave in handwriting saw a rapid decline in favor of uniform usage of
8944-563: The superincumbent eruptive stratum. Meanwhile, in 1868, tombs at Ialysus in Rhodes had yielded to Alfred Biliotti many painted vases of styles which were called later the third and fourth "Mycenaean"; but these, bought by John Ruskin , and presented to the British Museum , excited less attention than they deserved, being supposed to be of some local fabric of uncertain date. Nor was a connection immediately detected between them and
9048-426: The theater show continued use through the classical era. In this period, water flowing through the installations from the Trachones stream and wells were used primarily for agriculture, stockbreeding, and cottage industries. The hill with Geometric-era fortifications on the Geroulanou Estate 300 metres (980 ft) Northwest of the theater is thought to have been the site of the Acropolis of Euonymos. Construction in
9152-549: The theater, and together with the discovery in 2012 of Dionysian depictions on Red-figure pottery from the area, and undated finds from the Kontopigado site of clay figures seemingly representing Maenades , the rabid female companions of Dionysus, suggest a possible early affiliation of Euonymeia with the Cult of Dionysus and Pan . The town was on the Urban Way ( Greek : Αστική Ὁδός , romanized : Astiki Hodós ),
9256-523: The two principal sites on which evidence of a prehistoric civilization was remarked long ago by the ancient Greeks . The curtain-wall and towers of the Mycenaean citadel , its gate with heraldic lions , and the great " Treasury of Atreus " had borne silent witness for ages before Heinrich Schliemann 's time. However, they were regarded as a crude precursor of later Greek culture. It was not until Schliemann's excavations that Mycenaean culture attracted serious scholarly attention. There had been, however,
9360-447: The various stages of the Greek language are often emphasized. Although Greek has undergone morphological and phonological changes comparable to those seen in other languages, never since classical antiquity has its cultural, literary, and orthographic tradition been interrupted to the extent that one can speak of a new language emerging. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than
9464-529: The vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, and Katharevousa , meaning 'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and Ancient Greek developed in the early 19th century that was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, after having incorporated features of Katharevousa and thus giving birth to Standard Modern Greek , used today for all official purposes and in education . The historical unity and continuing identity between
9568-765: The west of Mount Taygetus , and at Maskarata in Cephalonia . The richest grave of all was explored at Vaphio in Laconia in 1889, and yielded, besides many gems and miscellaneous goldsmiths' work, two golden goblets chased with scenes of bull-hunting, and certain broken vases painted in a large bold style which remained an enigma until the excavation of Knossos . In 1890 and 1893, Staes cleared out certain less rich tholos-tombs at Thoricus in Attica ; and other graves, either rock-cut "bee-hives" or chambers, were found at Spata and Aphidna in Attica, in Aegina and Salamis , at
9672-444: The work at Hissarlik in 1892 after Schliemann's death. But by laying bare in 1884 the upper stratum of remains on the rock of Tiryns , Schliemann made a contribution to our knowledge of prehistoric domestic life which was amplified two years later by Christos Tsountas's discovery of the palace at Mycenae. Schliemann's work at Tiryns was not resumed till 1905, when it was proved, as had long been suspected, that an earlier palace underlies
9776-574: Was a distinct dialect of Greek itself. Aside from the Macedonian question, current consensus regards Phrygian as the closest relative of Greek, since they share a number of phonological, morphological and lexical isoglosses , with some being exclusive between them. Scholars have proposed a Graeco-Phrygian subgroup out of which Greek and Phrygian originated. Among living languages, some Indo-Europeanists suggest that Greek may be most closely related to Armenian (see Graeco-Armenian ) or
9880-415: Was administratively linked with the coastal settlement of Kalamaki to the west, creating the contemporary Municipality of Alimos . Systematic archeological excavation of the area has not been conducted, yet numerous construction projects during the intensive urban development of the later half of the twentieth century led to important circumstantial discoveries, which shed light on the historic timeline of
9984-568: Was also used as the official language of government and religion in the Christian Nubian kingdoms , for most of their history. Greek, in its modern form, is the official language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population. It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside Turkish ) and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (alongside English ). Because of
10088-557: Was also used in Ancient Greek. Greek has occasionally been written in the Latin script , especially in areas under Venetian rule or by Greek Catholics . The term Frankolevantinika / Φραγκολεβαντίνικα applies when the Latin script is used to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism (because Frankos / Φράγκος is an older Greek term for West-European dating to when most of (Roman Catholic Christian) West Europe
10192-719: Was commerce with Egypt, and Aegean goods found their way to all coasts of the Mediterranean. No traces of currency have come to light, excluding certain axeheads. These axeheads were too small for practical use. Standard weights have been found, as well as representations of ingots. The Aegean written documents have not yet been proven (by being found outside the area) to be epistolary (letter writing) correspondence with other countries. Representations of ships are not common, but several have been observed on Aegean gems, gem-sealings, frying pans, and vases. These vases feature ships of low free-board, with masts and oars. Familiarity with
10296-498: Was identified around a small hill rising 6 metres (20 ft) above the surrounding ground. In 2012, prehistoric masonry, which has yet to be dated, was recognized on the summit of Pan's Hill ( Greek : Λόφος Πανί , romanized : Lofos Pani ), the highest elevation point in Euonymeia. Several thousand obsidian tool specimens have been collected from both Kontopigado , and Pan's Hill. Findings from this first settlement period come to an abrupt end around 2000 BCE, indicating
10400-529: Was recognized as the site of the ancient Deme of Euonymos ( Greek : Δῆμος Εὐώνυμος ) in 1975 when construction work uncovered a 4th-century BCE theater. An inscription to the god Dionysus identified it as the Euonymos Theater , previously known only from ancient texts as one of the Deme Theaters of Athens. The theater at Euonymos was constructed in the mid 5th century BCE (making it one of
10504-660: Was sold to Mufti Hamza , an 18th-century Muslim religious leader of Athens. Records show that the feudal estate had a small population of landless farmers, and that ownership passed on through the Mufti's progeny. In 1912, the settlement of Trachones was incorporated into the Municipality of Athens , while the land of the estate was sold in 1918 by the Greek State to the Geroulanou family for 680,000 drachma . In 1952,
10608-518: Was the center of the Deme of Euonymos , one of the most populous communities of Ancient Athens . Euonymos had its own acropolis , theater, industrial installations, and religious festivals. Several Euonymeians played a major role in Athenian politics and civic life, most notably in the trial of Socrates and in the expeditions of the Peloponnesian War . The name Euonymeia is documented in
10712-580: Was under the control of the Frankish Empire ). Frankochiotika / Φραγκοχιώτικα (meaning 'Catholic Chiot') alludes to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of Chios . Additionally, the term Greeklish is often used when the Greek language is written in a Latin script in online communications. The Latin script is nowadays used by the Greek-speaking communities of Southern Italy . The Yevanic dialect
10816-673: Was written by Romaniote and Constantinopolitan Karaite Jews using the Hebrew Alphabet . In a tradition, that in modern time, has come to be known as Greek Aljamiado , some Greek Muslims from Crete wrote their Cretan Greek in the Arabic alphabet . The same happened among Epirote Muslims in Ioannina . This also happened among Arabic-speaking Byzantine rite Christians in the Levant ( Lebanon , Palestine, and Syria ). This usage
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