Greek fire

Examples of Greek fire in the following topics:

• The Theme System

  • The themes (themata in Greek)  were the main administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire.
  • The Arabs were finally repulsed through the use of Greek fire, flaming projectiles that could burn while floating on water and thus could be used for naval warfare.
  • Greek fire was a closely guarded state secret, a secret that has since been lost.
  • The composition of Greek fire remains a matter of speculation and debate, with proposals including combinations of pine resin, naphtha, quicklime, sulfur, or niter.
  • Image from an illuminated manuscript (the Skylitzes manuscript) showing the Byzantine Navy's use of Greek fire against the fleet of the rebel Thomas the Slav, c. 12th century CE.

• Early Models of the Atom

  • The earliest significant ideas to survive are from the ancient Greeks in the fifth century BC, especially from the philosophers Leucippus and Democritus.
  • We now know that atoms themselves can be subdivided, but their identity is destroyed in the process, so the Greeks were correct in a respect.
  • The Greeks also felt that atoms were in constant motion, another correct notion.
  • The famous proposal that the basic elements were earth, air, fire, and water was brilliant but incorrect.
  • Describe postulates of Dalton's atomic theory and the atomic theories of ancient Greek philosophers

• Vase Painting in the Orientalizing Period

  • During the Orientalizing Period, Greek art evolved to feature a blend of Near Eastern and Egyptian stylistic conventions.
  • Motifs, creatures, and styles were borrowed from others cultures by the Greeks transformed into a unique Greek-Eastern mix of style and motifs.
  • Black figure pottery was carefully constructed and fired three different times to produce the unique red and black colors on each vase.
  • The full effect of this style of painting would not have been seen until after the vase emerged from its firings in the kiln.
  • The Proto-Attic style marked the first depictions of discernibly Greek religious and mythological themes in vase painting.

• Etruscan Sculpture

  • The period and style of art is named for its Greek counterpart.
  • Instead, many surviving examples of Etruscan sculpture are in terra cotta, or earthenware clay that has been fired in a kiln.
  • The figure of Apulu has several Greek characteristics.
  • The face is similar to the faces of Archaic Greek kouroi figures.
  • Unlike Archaic Greek statues and kouroi, the figure of Apulu is full of movement and presents the viewer with an entirely different aesthetic from the Greek style.

• Etruscan Ceramics

  • After it is fired, its surface becomes black and glossy.
  • Between the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, the Greek colonies to the south of Etruria began importing impasto vessels, a testament to their intercultural popularity.
  • It was created from a fine clay fired to produce a glossy black surface and burnished to shine.
  • It was strongly influenced by Greek vase painting and followed the main trends in style over the period.
  • Besides being producers in their own right, the Etruscans were the main export market for Greek pottery outside Greece.

• The Truman Doctrine

  • Truman made the plea amid the crisis of the Greek Civil War (1946–49).
  • In February 1947, Britain formally requested for the United States to take over its role in supporting the Greeks and their government.
  • The Greek Civil War was fought in Greece from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek government army (backed by the United Kingdom and the United States), and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE, the military branch of the Greek Communist Party (KKE), backed by Yugoslavia and Albania as well as by Bulgaria).
  • At this point, the British realized that the Greek leftists were being directly funded by Josip Broz Tito in neighboring Yugoslavia; the Greek communists received little help directly from the Soviet Union, while Yugoslavia provided support and sanctuary.
  • The medical metaphor extended beyond the immediate aims of the Truman Doctrine in that the imagery combined with fire and flood imagery evocative of disaster provided the United States with an easy transition to direct military confrontation in later years with communist forces in Korea and Vietnam.

• Offerings

  • In individual pre-Christian ethnic religions, terms translated as "sacrifice" include the Indic yajna, the Greek thusia, the Germanic blōtan, the Semitic qorban/qurban, etc.
  • In the Hindu Yagya tradition, offerings of ghee (clarified butter), grains, spices, and wood placed into a fire are made along with the chanting of sacred mantras .

• Classical Greek Philosophy

  • The three most famous Classical Greek philosophers are Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
  • Socrates, born in Athens in the 5th century BCE, marks a watershed in ancient Greek philosophy.
  • The people watch shadows projected on the wall from the fire burning behind them, and the people begin to name and describe the shadows, which are the closest images they have to reality.
  • Roman copy in marble of a Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by Lysippus, c. 330 BCE.

• Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines

  • In Rome, the Pantheon, originally built by Agrippa but destroyed by fire in 80, was rebuilt under Hadrian in the domed form it retains to this day.
  • Also, all Roman emperors before Hadrian, except for Nero (also a great admirer of Greek culture), were clean shaven.
  • Their beards, however, were not worn out of an appreciation for Greek culture but because the beard had, thanks to Hadrian, become fashionable.
  • Hadrian wrote poetry in both Latin and Greek; one of the few surviving examples is a Latin poem he reportedly composed on his deathbed .
  • Some of his Greek productions found their way into the Palatine Anthology.

• Temple Architecture and the Greek Orders