Aethiopis To Post Homerica: An Unforgotten Iliadic Cycle

So important were Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey to the ancient Greeks that they made every effort to have these epics written down to keep for all posterity. The morals and principles of what Greek society held as important and pertinent were to be found in the verses of these epic tales. Bravery and courage, daring and the quest, the answers to the problems that arise in life and how to deal with them, how to defy the gods and fate and attain glory in this existence all the while performing tasks with a sense of the self can be understood by following the examples and inspiration from the heroes and champions in these tales. The Greeks didn’t create an organized religion or compile books to guide one to the realm of divinity as the Egyptians, Indians, Persians and Hebrews did but rather thought of the human being as the center of the universe. It is therefore the human being who must take notice of his life and surroundings and deal with that which fate deals to him, as our stay here is but a game for those nasty gods who mask the reality of fate. If they indeed exist - for not all Greek philosophers cared or sent time thinking about religion or the gods - they were not beneficial to man but needed to be treated as some kind of genie or entity that could be nice but most of the time were not. Therefore, oh humans, go out and seek glory and encourage the bards to sing of your deeds before death overtakes you. This is the only way in which you can attain immortality.

Homer’s Iliad is an epic replete with detailed encounters between heroes and champions, and ends with the death of Hector, the Trojan warrior. Achilles slays him and ties his naked body to the back of his war chariot and drags him round the city walls, to the shock of the people of the beleaguered city. Princess Cassandra sees visions of defeat but none will believe her. Now however that the great Hector is dead the echoes of doom are heard and the possibility of Troy being destroyed by the invading Greek army as in Cassandra’s visions and dreams becomes a real possibility. At the same time, Achilles turns over the body of his enemy for a proper funeral. A warrior can be cruel but there is honor among warriors who consider their foes equals, military elan an ancient and important facet of war in the ancient world.

Here, the cycle of Aethiopis takes over and continues the epic story. Cassandra and Priam pray to the gods to help them and their prayers are answered, as an army of Amazons lead by the queen Penthesilea and a great force from Aethiopia commanded by the great king Memnon make their way to deliver their Trojan allies. They themselves have their own reasons to come to Troy: Penthesilea, daughter of the god of war Ares, accidentally killed her sister Hypolita while hunting, mistaking her for a deer. She is remorseful and goes to Troy to seek her destiny, on some level perhaps hoping to die herself. She killed so many in battle in her day yet the thought of killing her own sister causes her much despair. Maybe the notion of karmic retribution was investing her mind. Memnon is the son of Eos, god of the dawn, armed with weapons and armor forged by Hephaistos, god of metal working. Glory must be sought and destiny followed, fearlessly, and so he commands a large army and travels to relieve the hapless city.

Aethiopis, supposedly written by Arctinus of Miletus in the 8th or 7th century BC, is an interesting tale in that it is the cycle which tells of the final destruction of Troy and the death of Achilles and Ajax, yet was omitted from the corpus of the Iliad proper. The battle between Achilles and his comrades against the forces of Memnon and Penthesilea stand out as one of the great battles of the entire Trojan war, with Achilles praising both Penthesilea and Memnon as the greatest warriors he had ever to fight, both of whom he slays in hand to hand combat. He honors and salutes the African Memnon and falls in love with the dead Amazon Penthesilea, and his forces rout the enemy and Troy is rendered helpless. Victory for the Greeks is assured. Why this tale was left out of the official Iliad however, is a mystery.

It seems that the tale was targeted by those who wished to establish Greek values and principles, and was forgotten on purpose. In fact, only a few verses of Aethiopis survived. The tale was continually told and retold as oral literature, and the subjects of the story became inspiration for art on a thousand vases and for sculpted friezes adorning the sides of Parthenons and palaces. Yet for centuries, no written documents were produced or, at least if they were written, survived. It wasn’t until one Quintus of Smyrna, in the 4th century CE, many centuries after Arctinus when the Greek classical world had fallen and a new power, Rome, commanded the Mediterranean, was the cycle officially compiled as The Fall Of Troy or the PostHomerica. Quintus wrote the whole story down, in two books, perhaps from the oral tradition or perhaps from some lost written documents which we no longer possess. He wrote and included not only the gory details of battle and the one on one challenges between bigger than life heroes, but also detailed the human emotions and the passions of the event. Penthesilea’s loss of her sister is described, and we get a sense of the mental and emotional anguish she was going through at the time, which she resolves by taking up the sword to challenge the greatest of champions, Achilles. The mighty hero’s male sexist ego and psyche is also examined as it is a well known aspect of this tale that after slaying Penthesilea, he falls in love with her astounding beauty, albeit her lifeless corpse, to the astonishment of his comrades. He thinks about how his life could have been if he and Penthesilea could live as ordinary human beings, marry and raise a family together. While dreaming and thinking as he fondles her lifeless body, his comrade Thersites comes along to awaken this ancient Don Quijote from his dream state, and begins to gouge out the Amazon’s eyes. Achilles kills him with one sweep of his sword, warning the others to not venture near her. What he could not posses in life he must have in death. Such is the deep introspect that Quintus begs his readers to ponder, delving deep into the psyche of the patriarchal Greek mindset of the day. In the duel between Achilles and Memnon, the gods turn the two foes into giants so all can see, acknowledging the immense importance and significance of the fight. This honoring of a non Greek, African king goes against the accepted notion of how Greeks thought of all foreigners as vavaros or barbarians. Ancient Hellenic society thought poorly of women and foreigners, yet this tale honors those women and foreigners who were virtuous and principled, and would dare to seek their destiny as individuals. Thus the Greek belief that the human was the center of the Cosmos is what is important here. A human being is more important than a women or an African, or a Greek for that matter.

Quintus of Smyrna was clearly an important author among ancient writers, perhaps not widely known but unique and important indeed. Quintus was an author in the tradition of the ancient bards such as Homer who caused us to think and explore our deepest inner feelings and emotions, a true artist indeed, a spokesperson for our hearts and souls voicing those thoughts we may fear to voice ourselves. He would be imitated by writers in the future who came after him, those genius writers who feared not to venture into the darker sides of humanity, such as Edgar Allen Poe, Eugene O’Neil or Charles Baudelaire. Quintus wrote in the ancient epic, bardic style, yet included psychological and emotional study within his verses for all to ponder. In discovering Quintus of Smyrna I believe that we have uncovered the likes of a literary genius who has remained virtually unknown by both literary scholars the general public for centuries. Photo: The Challenge The Amazons Challenge Achilles and Ajax An ~Echoes of Antiquity~ production www.echoesofantiquity.net

A Moment, Captured In Stone

There it is, etched in stone, pure beauty

What a gem, a piece of  classic workmanship and design

Who could possess such dexterity so as to create

And imbue the stone agate with a soul

They say the gods breathed life into man

But alas, humanity has surpassed them!

For the gods knew not how to give life to stone and rock

Only man can do this, shaping a being with his own hands

Depicting who and what he will, whether deity or mortal

Olympus, art thou angry? It is better that ye cry

You play with the lives of men as in a game

Encouraging war and deception, armies pillaging, burning

Leaving famine and pestilence in their wake

All, for the pleasure of the gods

Yes, Men and Women are thy playthings, oh Zeus

The Fates decree their future to be unfolded 

In their personal quest for understanding

They meet upon some battlefield and perform 

Willingly, they offer their lives for the promise of glory

To satisfy the blood lust of the gods of Olympus

The clashing of muscled heroes, wielding weapons of bronze

In close proximity do they slash and parry

Until one meets their fate, a piercing blade cutting flesh

And the hero falls to the ground, shrieking

Cursing his fate, there he lies lifeless, moaning 

Sinewy arms are outstretched, mighty limbs curved 

In every pose and position bodies and corpses, cover the field

Weapons thrown about here and there, carelessly 

Food for the vultures, a spectacle of death

The final repose of a once living being

Who died bravely, willingly

Forfeiting his life upon the field

Providing a stage for yet another encounter

As if the battle fought were in heaven itself

The clang of swords upon shield and helmet 

Can be heard from a distance

An armored champion, confident of his manufactured protection 

With huge round shield and glistening helm

Fights off the aggressive, muscled hero with flowing hair

Half naked, clothed but in a girdle, his body like that of a god

Yet he pushes forward, seeking to slay his armored adversary

Neither can prevail, neither knows who will walk away 

From the dance of death upon that field

Two mighty champions duel for eternal glory

A guarantee of remembrance, perhaps

Hoping to inspire the verses of some bard 

Who would compose for them, of them, a masterpiece

Of literature and song, to be recited for centuries thereafter

The well muscled hero leaps now, carefully aiming his blow 

Strategically and with determination he leaps!

With one lightening strike like the sting of a giant bee

Or that of a great dragonfly

He plunges his sword deep into the vulnerable neck 

Of his otherwise armored opponent, once invincible 

As it were thought of him, until this very decisive moment

Blood spurts red like a fountain from the deep gash

Inflicted by the terrible sword, stinging pain consumes the victim 

He knows that his end is near, that victory has eluded him

Soon he too, will be in eternal repose upon that field of battle

One of hundreds who make their last appearance 

On that fateful theater stage of the gods

Sprawled there, on that once peaceful meadow

Now stained red with the blood of the fallen

Magnificent in death as he was in life

As the gods atop Olympus marvel at his beauty

The gemstone that recounts the tale of that fateful day 

Lay hidden for millennia, silent and alone 

It’s story and tale wrapped in deep sleep in the hollow of the Earth 

Until one day it could remain silent no more

Long enough, the bards who sang this tale

Have remained unheard, their song barely a whisper

The heroes who heeded the command of the gods 

On that fateful day long ago, in an age and era past 

Willingly going forth to conquer or to die

Rising again to remind the world of their glorious deeds 

What? Wait for a bard to recount my tale?

They too, do succumb to death, as warriors do 

However with a harp in their hand rather than 

Sword, spear or the battle axe 

Never did the bard know the sting of the blade 

As it pierces flesh or cuts through bone

Nor do they know the weight of a heavy shield upon the arm 

They who clothe themselves in fine linens and robes

Armor is not of their wardrobe, no helmets do they don

Tellers of tales recite their verses and sing their songs

Their hair well groomed and curled, their faces powdered

Then stand they for applause, receiving praise from the nobles

'Tis we, the warriors who must endure all manner of hardship

And sacrifice our being to die on the field

'Tis they the bards who sing our song 

And it is they who grant us immortality

As we guarantee them fame for centuries to come

With our exploits and daring deeds

Such is the way of the world and of time itself 

Your glory shall never fade, oh champion of Pylos!

This is the promise of the Cosmos, the promise of the heavens

That you would forfeit your life for the pleasure of the gods

That you would live as immortals for all eternity...

And grant a humble teller of tales a means to eke out

A humble means to make a living, and feed himself yet another day

Artist's rendition of the Pylos agate, named for the place where this gemstone was found in a grave site in 2015. The piece depicts possibly an incident from the Trojan War. It was created by Minoans in the Mycenaean era approximately 1450 BC, predating the later Hellenic classical era circa 500 BC, known for perfection in sculpture and fine carving technique. The style and fine craftsmanship of this work sheds new light on ancient Greek art. Encrusted in earth and rust, archeologists patiently cleaned and chipped away until they were able to view the detailed work within. The piece is quite small, but 1.3 inches in length. The minute detail and fine craftsmanship is truly amazing. 

The Hero Hounds Of Paradise

Happy is the one who leads the life of a dog, for the dog has ten attributes for which a true believer should endeavor to possess... 

Ali Ibn Abu Talib

Dogs have been both loved and hated by human beings. It is known that civilization could not have come about without the friendship  of and eventual domestication of the canine. Nomadic peoples in the most ancient, Paleolithic era developed a relationship of codependency with the ancestors of the household pet. It was a match made in the heavens, as natural as humans and honey bees coexisting, as the canine wolf and man knew each other and became intimate friends. The nomadic hunter gatherers were accompanied by their dog wherever they went, who in turn would act as a retriever of prey by day and a faithful guardian by night. Just as the wandering nomads developed a pact between man and beast for reasons of survival, so did nomad and settlement dweller, thanks to the dog. When the early nomadic hunter gatherers came upon a small settlement of a people who built small communities and were discovering the beginnings of agriculture, the dog played a role in their alliance. People who lived in settled communities who developed primitive farming had no love for nomadic peoples, yet the settled people knew that these nomads had something to offer that was priceless. They noticed that the dog who accompanied the nomads was a night watchman, and also was very good at keeping rodents and vermin at bay; agriculturalists stocked up on their crops, but had no effective means of protecting the storehouses that held grains and other produce from the annoying and destructive night visitors. A bargain was made, exchanging the dog for food and supplies brought about by the settled people. Soon other nomadic people would settle down too, seeing and understanding the benefits of village life, and civilization as we know it, the building of larger communities which would become the world's first cities, states and empires. Our civilized history began the day the dog became a household pet.

Ironically, as cities were built and the finesse of life became the norm for city dwellers, the cat began to replace the dog in the household and the great feud between these two animals, vying for the attention of the human master, began. The expression 'fighting like cats and dogs' became synonymous to explain the norm for two legendary enemies who seemingly must fight each other for all eternity, almost as if destined. As humans developed palaces and structures of beauty and design, armies, police forces and the occupation of night watchmen, the need for the dog and his services diminished. Dogs barked and had to be cared for, they required attention and caring, while cats are independent minded, quiet and can get by while alone. This legendary animosity between cats and dogs can be traced back to the time when city dwellers replaced those first noble animals with a new species of guardian. 

Some of the great ancient civilizations of the past did not forget the importance of the role the dog played in bringing about civilization. In the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest known written story, dogs wearing collar and leash accompany the goddess Inanna wherever she travels. When she goes down into the underworld, her husband and lover Dumuzi keeps a pack as part of his royal retinue. In the court of the mighty Assyrian kings such as Ashurbanipal, dogs are depicted in bas reliefs accompanying the kings as they are hunting or going off to war. Sculpted figures of dogs were buried under houses to protect the dwellers from evil or from intruders. In ancient Egypt Anubis was the dog headed deity who guided the souls of the deceased to the afterlife. At death, a person's heart was placed on the scales of justice. That person would either attain to the heavenly realms accompanied by Anubis or be devoured by the terrible demon Ammit and enter a state of non existence, depending on the weight of the heart of the person being examined. Anubis also was the honorary guardian and protector of the tombs and burial sites, a central and important theme in ancient Egyptian religion as evidenced by the building of the famous pyramids at Giza and elsewhere. In the great Indian epic Mahabharata King Yudisthira refuses to go to the nirvana state of paradise when his dog is refused entry, preferring to remain on Earth or willing even to go to Hell if he cannot be with his noble companion for all eternity. The dog is permitted to enter, and the king is told by the keeper of the heavenly gate that this was but a test to see if the king truly had a pure and caring heart. To the king's surprise, the dog reincarnated into his true self, the god Vishnu the Preserver. In this story, the dog is actually likened unto a major deity of the Hindu pantheon.

The qualities of the dog are numerous and have been used to define what a good, moral and noble person should aspire to. This was clearly illustrated in Homer's epic Odyssey. In this epic tale of the wanderings of Odysseus, known by his later Latin name Ulysses, the hero returns home after a life of journeys and seeking adventure. Upon his return to his home on the island of Ithaca he disguises himself as a miserable beggar, so as to not inform anyone of his identity, save for his son. There are suitors seeking the hand of his wife Penelope in the belief that Odysseus was away so long, so he must be either dead or refused to return home. As he enters the dressed in rags none recognize him, and consider him a stranger passing by to whom they offer some hospitality. However his dog Argos, forlorn and saddened over the years from missing his beloved master with whom he used to hunt and accompany everywhere, was now unkempt and dirty from years of neglect, jumped up and greeted him wagging his tail and wimping with joy. Odysseus is however indifferent as he cannot reveal his true identity and ignores Argos though all the while trying to hold back tears. Argos is distraught and confused. Unable to contain his grief, the dog crawls into a corner and eventually dies of a broken heart. There is no finer example of the qualities of man's best friend such as this description which Homer wrote down in his epic tale. Argos never forgot his master and was there for him, waiting patiently all these long years for his return. When his dedication was ignored and his love not reciprocated, he chose not to live at all. For Argos, life was devoid of all meaning for as a dog he was by nature destined to love, obey and serve.

Odysseus learns too that life is short and in some ways, we are cheated by the shortness of our years. All of us have dreams to realize and goals to achieve, many of these given vent by our desire for immortality, to be remembered and our deeds recalled long after we are gone. In the pursuit of our goals there is always a price. We hurt others even if this is not our intention. We sometimes push those we love aside as we grow and seek our destiny because we struggle to understand just what our priorities are. Odysseus the human being was following his calling and personal ego, while Argos the dog represents what we could be if we were as dignified as this noble beast. In fact, Argos outdoes Odysseus in this regard, though the hero mourns his passing with tears just as Argos mourned the loss of his master's love with his own preference for death, the only reality that would take away the pain and disappointment he experienced without ever really knowing or understanding why.

This is a classical Greek story, from Homer's Odyssey. It was for this work along with the Iliad that the ancient Greeks would create their alphabet, borrowing letters from the Phonecians and forming their own so as to preserve those stories they held as being of high moral value in their language. The heroes of the Iliad are considered noble, the Odysseus and the Odyssey is noble and thus Argos is noble as well. The influence of Greek art, thought and culture on the ancient Mediterranean was enormous, as we know. The stories they preserved were widely popular in ancient times, especially in the Levant region of the Middle East. Greek was the language of education and of intellectuals in the Roman era, such was their contributions to Roman culture and civilization having exerted much influence on the early formative years of Christianity. The disciples of Jesus, for example, were known by their Greek names and a number of them likely knew Greek, as evidenced by Paul's letters to such peoples as the Corinthians, Thessalonians and Philipians. The very first Bible was written down in Greek and many of the terms that came to be identified with Christianity; Katholikos, Orthodox, dogma, canon, Gospel, Evangelion, Pancrater, theology, doxology, epiphany etc...are Greek as well. It is very likely that stories and tales were passed on, told and retold in the Greek language in the Levant. Some of the stories may have had their roots in ancient, older tales or were inspired by the characters and subjects in these older stories.

A great number of stories came about during the formative years of early Christian churches. The era of late antiquity particularly from approximately the 2nd to the 7th century CE is credited with the coming about of many tales and legends pertaining to miracles that had to do with Christ, his immediate family and associates, the disciples or those who would become martyrs or saints due to these miraculous events. Some of these stories have survived, others have been lost or have have been discovered and adapted in other somewhat unlikely places, such as in the Islamic narrative. Before we meet our next hero canine however, I think a little historical background is in order.

During those formative years of Christianity, there were indeed many versions of the Christ story. Only four out of many dozens of Gospels were included in the formal book which became the Bible, after the Council of Nicaea, ordered by emperor Constantine in the 4th century, defined what Christianity was and who a Christian would be. The founding of a state religion for the Roman empire came about during the long and costly wars Rome fought against the Persians - rulers of an empire that stretched from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq into the deserts of western China...actually had a state religion, Zoroastrianism, guided and prevailed over by an organized clergy of priests known as the Magi. The appeal of Persian religious ideologies, Mithraism being one such religion that was gaining popularity among the Roman masses, threatened Roman unity. Constantine imitated the Persians and proclaimed a state religion for his empire to counter what he considered to be a threat. In the meantime, the wars between Persia and Rome continued as borders changed in the Fertile Crescent region and the local inhabitants suffered the pillaging, burning, rape and wholesale destruction caused by both armies. Along with this destruction and strife came religious intolerance, a factor unheard of in pagan ancient Roman society and in the previous centuries of what used to be tolerant Persian rule. All other versions and thought pertaining to this now sacred and holy, state sponsored religions in Rome and Persia were considered heretical and their adherents could be oppressed and persecuted. The Magi of the Zoroastrian holy council saw to it that the likes of heretics like Mani, who preached an all inclusive religion that had it's basis in Gnostici and Zoroastrian ideals, would not be allowed to undermine the consciences of Persian citizens.

Rome followed suit. One of those early Christian sects were the Arrians. Arrius of Alexandria in Egypt taught that rather than having been born a God, Jesus became a God. It was through his example of patience and learning that men also could achieve proximity to divinity. This was totally against the decisions accepted by either Constantinople or Antioch, another loose federation of Syriac churches who disagreed with the central church on some dogmatic issues but even more so regarding political structure and hierarchy. These churches remained defiant, particularly against the use of the Greek language for liturgy, since these congregations spoke, wrote and preferred to study in the language of Jesus and the disciples themselves, Syro-Aramaic. While the state church was accepting or negating dogma, teachings and stories to create their catechism (another Greek term) the independent churches of the Middle East and further afield retained many tales and legends for their own use and the education of their congregations. Thus the Copts of Egypt, the Abyssinians, the Armenians, the Maronites of Syria among many others all continued to teach as they wished, utilizing ancient tales that became obsolete in the central church. This can explain some discrepancies, such as why the Coptic church of Egypt considers Pontius Pilate a saint or why the Maronite Church, at the time centered in Syria, refused to recite the Niceaean or Apostle's Creed, and would refrain from doing so for another 600 years, until that church decided to throw in it's lot with the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Crusades; a totally political minded rather than a religious move so as to gain protection and independence from Muslim suzerainty and intolerance.

Forced to retreat from the zeal of the newly created church of Rome, the oppressed followers of Arrius of Alexandria and those Jewish mystics known as the Ebionites moved away from the urban centers of the Mediterranean and the troubled, war wracked regions of Mesopotamia and Syria to the far fringes of the Roman empire. This was a dangerous time to be a heretic in the name of Christianity. Just as Christians were hunted down and crucified or killed by animals for entertainment in the Roman game, pagan sites including libraries were burned, statuary was being destroyed, and scholars such as the great Hypatia of Alexandria were being arrested, tortured and brutally killed in the name of Christ, vengeance for his spilled, precious blood. A number of Maronite monks were massacred in Syria for refusing to acknowledge the religious supremacy of the church of the state, though they acknowledged most of the teachings held as authentic Christianity by that state church. It is no wonder that the Arrians, who defined Jesus very differently than the Roman state church did, would migrate to a safer place. Many of them found refuge in then then pagan land of Arabia which had a connection with and to the legacy of Abraham but did not demand allegiance to a state religion that would persecute others for their beliefs. As long as a group did not threaten the economics and trade of the Arab tribes, with their power centered in the trading town of Mecca, they had nothing to worry about. Certainly, they felt safer in this pagan land than they did in the the cities of the Fertile Crescent, North Africa or other regions where their numbers could bring on the wrath of a watchful church, a willing arm of the power seeking Roman emperors. The power of the Meccan families, headed by the Quraish clan, would not be challenged until the 7th century, when one of their own named Mohammed would proclaim the ideology of Abraham and it's belief in one deity over all. Banishing idolatry meant banishing revenues for the Meccans who, like the Romans and the Persians before them, became intolerant and would seek to banish and persecute those who called for the rise of Abrahamism in Arabia. But this is another saga, the rise of a new religion that one day would become known to the world as Islam.

Due to this migration of numerous Arrians it is most probable that these were the type of Christians Mohammed interacted with, and he personally knew a number of them. His first wife Khadija, the rich  older widow who chose to marry him when she was some 20 years his senior, had a cousin who was one such priest. It is said that after Mohammed received his revelation after sitting and meditating for months in a cave, an eastern Christian practice, Khadijah told him to visit her cousin Warrak, an old priest, and explain his experiences. Warrak was most likely an Arrian or Ebionite priest, who after hearing his account of the cave experience blessed Mohammed, bade him to follow his revelation and preach that which was revealed. The Quran has many stories within from the Torah and the Gospels. Pertaining to the latter book, known as the Injil, we find that some of these same stories in the Quran differ somewhat from the Christian New Testament version, and some Christian critics of the Quran and Islam claim that Mohammed 'altered the stories on purpose' in order to rewrite them in the new Quran and bring them into a new religion. However, Mohammed was, even by Muslim accounts, illiterate as he lived in an oral storytelling society. This may be why he praised the Ahl i Kitab, or People of the Book as they are called in the Quran; the Jews, Christians and Sabians, because their holy men and women knew the art of writing and preserving their thoughts in scrolls. Such a compilation would not happen for the Quran for an untold number of years. No, Mohammed didn't purposely rewrite the Christian tales but the people who eventually compiled and formed what became the Quran included within it stories from the communities whom they knew and interacted with. Indeed, many of those same Arrians and Ebionites may have converted to rhe new faith of Islam, thus maintaining their arguments with the state church of the Roman empire, challenging that church's stance. Upon converting, these people brought their versions of many ancient tales with them, and a number of these can be read in the verses of the Quran. If we take these ancient compiled books and scriptures and we analyze them we see that they are indeed a vast collection of alternative information that can help us piece together a picture of the past through the understanding of lost narratives, as compiled by scribes and scholars who did the work of those kings and emperors who demanded that something be set in stone...as it was done literally in more ancient days. None could argue with that which was thus officially set by ancient kings like Hammurabi, sculpted as he was receiving the laws that would govern mankind with the approval of the heavens. In the same manner, that which was set in writing became the whole truth, the entire truth and nothing but the truth, and the word was sanctioned by God.

From Quran, Surah 18 'Kahf': Or dost thou reflect that the Companions of the Cave and of the Inscription were wonders among Our Sign? Behold, the youths betook themselves to the Cave: they said, "Our Lord! bestow on us Mercy from Thyself, and dispose of our affair for us in the right way!" Then We draw a veil over their ears, for a number of years, in the Cave, so that they heard not. Then We roused them, in order to test which of the two parties was best at calculating the term of years they had tarried! We relate to thee their story in truth: they were youths who believed in their Lord, and We advanced them in guidance:We gave strength to their hearts: Behold, they stood up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth: never shall we call upon any god other than Him: if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity!

The Quran describes the Sleepers and Qitmir in detail: 
Thou wouldst have deemed them awake, whilst they were asleep, and We turned them on their right and on their left sides: their dog stretching forth his two fore-legs on the threshold: if thou hadst come up on to them, thou wouldst have certainly turned back from them in flight, and wouldst certainly have been filled with terror of them.

There once lived seven good, young men. They believed in God and harmed no one, always smiling to passersby and helping those less fortunate. In those days in the Roman empire it was unlawful to claim to believe in one god as such people were immediately arrested, tortured and killed. One night the group was caught by a detachment of civil guards in the act of praying, a crime at the time. The group ran for their lives and were chased through the streets of the town and into the mountains by the Roman soldiers who were ordered to arrest such people by order of emperor Decius himself, an intolerant persecutor of those who called themselves Christians.
They ran and ran, hiding here and there behind any rock they could but the Roman soldiers were persistent, so they continued to run and hide. When they were all out of breath and could not run any more there appeared seemingly out of nowhere a large dog, who attacked the Roman guards with such aggression and ferocity, biting with his teeth and attacking with his mighty paws that they took flight and ran away. The dog looked at the seven young men and began to move toward the hills, looking back as if beckoning to follow. The group decided to follow the dog and he lead them to a cave. They entered and the dog spoke to them, telling them his name was Qitmir and they should not worry as they were all under the protection of their Lord. Exhausted after a day of running from the Roman soldiers, they all would lie down and fell fast asleep. All the while Qitmir lay down at the opening of the cave and slept as well, though whenever anyone or any thing happened to come near he would be aroused and bark and growl, his loud voice and large, ferocious appearance frightening both man and beast. The seven companions fell into a deep, well needed sleep.

One day the seven companions woke up, and Qitmir did as well. They all fell in love with this dog and thanked God for sending this savior to their rescue. They were indeed rather hungry, but as they were afraid to go into the town they decided that one should go and be very careful. The eldest decided to go. He took a coin they had with them and was told to buy some bread with this. The eldest covered his head with a shawl and went into the town, walking very carefully through the market place and taking care not to be noticed for fear of being arrested. He went to the nearest baker and bought eight loaves of bread, one for each of the seven comrades and one for Qitmir. Seeking to get out of town as fast as possible, the eldest handed his coin to the baker, thanked him politely and wished him a nice day, then took off in rather a hurry. The baker thought his customer's actions a bit strange. He looked at the coin and saw that it was an old coin, which was worthless, as the emperor pictured on it was long dead, for many centuries in fact. Thinking he was cheated by this clever customer the baker called for the civil guards, complaining he had been robbed. Sensing the danger, the eldest of the sleepers ran to get away, but the guards caught up with him and placed him under arrest. They brought him to the local governor and the baker demanded justice.

"Where did you get this coin from" asked the governor. "Do you think you can fool people and rob them by using old coins that are completely worthless. You are a thief and must be punished accordingly. However, your case will be tried and judged in accordance with the laws of our God!"

The eldest sleeper looked around the great room of the palace and saw symbols that were not pagan, but symbols he recognized as emblems of his persecuted faith, including a fresco which pictured Mary holding the baby Jesus. He asked the governor to please explain this seemingly out of place situation. The governor was himself more than a little intrigued, thinking the man was perhaps somewhat mad.

Then the governor reprimanded the companion, and asked him again sternly, a question:
"I ask the questions here!
Why did you use a coin three hundred years old to cheat this hard working baker? Explain yourself! You pass a worthless coin minted by a pagan emperor, an oppressor of the servants of the Lord, no less. Decius, a pagan monster in his time! How dare you?"

The eldest sleeper, more than a bit confused now with mention of all that which he recognized so well, asked the governor what year it was. The governor was surprised, indeed shocked by the question but when he replied, the eldest sleeper expressed astonishment:
"Your greatness, forgive me, but I and my fellows must have been sleeping in a cave on the mountain for what must be over three hundred years. This is true and I can prove it to you".

The eldest companion then proceeded to recount the events as they experienced them, how Qitmir came along as if sent by God to save them from impending doom and how they all fell asleep. When they awoke they thought they had slept but a little. The entire court room fell silent, some just looking on with their mouths wide open.

The governor ordered his guard to make ready. He the governor, the guard and some priests, bishops and monks would examine the cave and these supposed sleepers to see if the man was telling the truth. When the eldest sleeper arrived with the group, Qitmir growled as he always did when someone or something approached the cave, but the eldest sleeper told him it was alright and that he could calm down. The sleepers and Qitmir were brought out to meet the governor and his entourage. The bishops and the priests questioned the group and at last concluded that a miracle indeed did occur here. The companions of the cave were honored for the miracle they indeed were. Indeed they had slept for three centuries and the faith they adhered to, at that time persecuted, was now the accepted religion of the land. All present knelt and gave thanks to God for the miracle. The governor invited them to come back to the town but one wise old monk who was among the entourage suggested to the governor hold off and wait a while, as people may not be ready to accept this event. People, being fallible beings might try and use these seven devotees and their dog to make money by showing them off, or perhaps some thieves might want to hold them as hostages for ransom. The governor agreed with the wise monk and left the companions with ample food and drink, telling them he would be back in a few days to take them to the palace where they could live happily for the rest of their lives and teach at the monastery. 

The old monk was right though, as he knew human greed had no bounds. Already some court ministers were scheming as to how they could exploit this miracle and turn it into a show that would make them quite a bit of money. They tried to gain the backing of some corrupt bishops, who suggested that pilgrims would come from all over the empire to see and actually speak to these living relics from an age of past oppression, and in doing so spend their money in their town. That night the old monk slipped out of the monastery and went to the cave, telling the seven companions that they should pray for guidance and protection from the greed of men. The monk gave his blessings, leaving them and Qitmir in the cave as they all recited their prayers together as they always did.

The Quran continues and tells about the proposed building of a proud monument at the site, just as the wise monk predicted:

Thus did We make their case known to the people, that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour of Judgment. Behold, they dispute among themselves as to their affair. Some said, "Construct a building over them": Their Lord knows best about them: those who prevailed over their affair said, "Let us surely build a place of worship over them."

The next day the governor, his cabinet and bishops, accompanied by his guards and hundreds of people from the city arrived at the cave. Trumpets blared, drums sounded and cymbals crashed as banners fluttered in the wind. Monks and priests chanted their hymns as bishops and priests recited passages from the Gospels. Yet no one came out of the cave to see what the commotion was about. Even Qitmir, known to growl and bark upon the arrival of any poor unfortunate who would hapless stumble upon the cave, was silent. Together the governor, the bishop and the monk all went into the cave. There at the opening of the cave was Qitmir, lying as though still guarding the entrance but motionless. Inside the seven sleepers were also motionless, their bodies frozen in a position of prostration. They had died while in the act of prayer in adoration of their Lord, and in these positions did their souls leave their bodies, the Seven Sleepers and their loyal dog, Qitmir.

The governor ordered the cave to be sealed and consecrated as a holy site and noted as the place of a miracle, but no great temple was built atop the mountain. Rather, it was all kept very simple without any ostentatious design at all. Inside, the earthly forms of the seven devoted companions and their dog were entombed and granted the status of saints and martyrs.

Again in the Quran the Seven Sleepers were honored for their devotion and interestingly enough, so was Qitmir:

Some say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them; others say they were five, the dog being the sixth- doubtfully guessing at the unknown; yet others say they were seven, the dog being the eighth. Say thou: My Lord knoweth best their number; It is but few that know their real case. Enter not, therefore, into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is clear, nor consult any of them about the affair of the Sleepers.

Clearly, it can be argued that Qitmir was not considered to be merely a loyal dog doing his duty but was one of the Sleepers themselves. As this was already an old legend at the time it was included in the corpus of the Quran, and like many ancient tales there are numerous versions and the tellings do vary. The verse however makes it clear that arguing about details should not occur, and some respect should be shown towards the Companions and to the noble Qitmir as well. Whether or not the Quran is taken literally by Muslims, the verse in the book state clearly the God of Abraham has ordained that the deeds of the noble dog be honored with a special place along with his human servants in this book.

It does strike us as a bit strange that the Quran, believed by devout Muslims to be the veritable word of God, honors the acts and noble demeanor of Qitmir the dog, an example of all dogs, while the decisions and findings of Islamic scholars over the centuries has been predominantly negative about dogs in general, calling them unclean and foul beasts who, if they should inhabit a house, angels will never enter. If a black dog passes in front of a believer reciting his prayers, then the prayers are negated. The saliva of a dog is considered unclean and renders one's clothes impure. There is even a legal claim from the religious code of Sharia based on a Hadith tradition that permits the periodic killing of dogs. These and other ridiculous claims are not found in the Quran but in the Hadith collections, those supposed sayings, practices and quips that were based on what a 7th century man supposedly did, namely Mohammed, formalized and set down centuries after Mohammed lived and died. His cousin and son in law Ali ibn Abu Talib, whose life inspired the rise of Shi'ism as a religion and is known as a chivalrous example of a noble being himself to both Muslim and non Muslim writers and historians listed the ten attributes of a dog which, if any believer would endeavor to include in their own life, would become the best example of a human being. Ali mentions the dutifulness and forbearance of the dog, the love the animal displays toward it's master, the willingness to risk all for what is right and what is true, sleeping little and remaining ever watchful and loving. The dog, Ali goes on to mention, holds no malice towards it's master even if that master is cruel and mistreats the animal or sometimes beats it. After such a display of hurt and cruelty the dog still comes back in a spirit of trust and forbearance, wagging it's tail and returning love and devotion. Yet in the Islamic social example even with such teachings, which are continually conveniently ignored by the power seeking ulema, or clergy, we are drawn back to those earliest of days when nomads and town dwellers differed on how they would view and understand dogs. Islam came from the desert, yet due to becoming a political force that was manifested in an imperialist empire, the one time semi nomadic heirs of desert Abrahamism settled down and founded great cities, for which the dog became a creature with whom human beings had to contest with for food and space. Thus the dog became a symbol of evil in the Arab world and eventually, due to the findings of scholars, the ulema, whose word is seemingly taken over the very words expressed within the Quran, in much of the Muslim world as well. Four elements of Muslim society- women, slaves, minorities and dogs... were granted rights and freedoms under early Islam, with many notable examples. These entities slowly lost their rights after Allah granted the Arabs the gift of success and mastery over an empire that stretched from Spain in the west to the wall of China in the east, an empire larger than the Roman and Persian empires in their respective zeniths of power, combined. Women lost their rights, the slave trade increased, with Africans particularly seen as inferior, religious minorities were taxed and oppressed, and dogs killed in state ordered pogroms that occurred every so many years so as to cleanse cities of these supposedly impure beings. This is still a regular occurrence in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a Shi'a nation which claims to draw inspiration from the same Ali Ibn Abu Talib who praised the noble qualities of the dog, but regularly kills dogs by rounding them up and injecting the poor animals with acid. 

In closing, I would include another verse from Surah Kahf that finalizes the story of the Seven Sleepers and Qitmir the dog, and all those who would live a life imbued with faith, showing compassion and mercy towards all creatures, describing their eternal abode in Paradise as written in the very Quran itself:

For them will be Gardens of Eternity; beneath them rivers will flow; they will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and they will wear green garments of fine silk and heavy brocade: They will recline therein on raised thrones. How good the recompense! How beautiful a couch to recline on!

Peace unto the Seven Companions of the Cave, and unto thee oh Qitmir, most noble of dogs, thou most dignified of creatures who ever walked upon the Earth. 

The Greek Artistic Legacy: Humanity At The Core Of The Cosmos

Hellenism thought of Man as being at the very center of the universe. "Man is the measure of all things of what is and what is not" said Protagoras. The Earth was subject to the will and desire of Mankind, and every effort to control or shape it was to be utilized by Man to bring it under his control and create the world he dreamed of and envisioned, for the benefit of all. Indeed, Greek civilization was unique in it's time as every aspect of being and existing as a human being was questioned and interpreted based on the notion that the world existed for homo sapiens alone to shape as seen fit. The gods of Olympus were super humans, in a sense, for they had human qualities as well as all the human deficiencies of character. They could be benevolent or greedy, showering humanity with compassion or displaying the utmost form of cruelty. The gods could engage in intrigue and conniving that would startle the most devious politician, or take pity on one of their beloved half mortal heroes and save them from a horrible fate. They were gods to be sure, and could perform miracles as any deity might, but their qualities were human and not god like at all. Thus, Greek religion was human centered and Man based. A study of the Greek myths demonstrates the struggle between men and gods- we are subject to their wrath but we don't have to think of them as wonderful and all loving as Rama, Baal Hadad, Elohe or Ahura Mazda was perceived. No, the gods are there for us to invoke when we need them, but by and large they play with the lives of men and cannot be trusted. Here lie the seeds of doubt, agnosticism and atheism, as witnessed in the words of Epicurus, who asks:"are the gods...willing to prevent evil but are not able? Then they are not omnipotent. Are they able but not willing? Then they are malevolent. Both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Neither able nor willing? Why then, call them gods at all?"

As Voltaire pointed out, it seems that a society must have something otherworldly to believe in. If they don't have something, he wrote, they will invent something, a moral compass in the form of some being or beings who watches over the community and sits on a sky throne, just in case humanity cannot come up with answers to those unanswerable questions. Descartes openly acknowledged the debt to ancient Greek thought in that the human being, not god, made the difference for his own fate in and among his own community and society. "I think, therefore I am" closed the door on religious based thought and rekindled the light of ancient Greece once again, the mind and seeking of the stimulated individual. With the rise of these 17th and 18th century Age of Enlightenment philosophers and their interest in exploring the ancient Athenian concept of democracy and the Roman republic, they created an era when the art and architecture based on ancient themes set the cornerstone for our own, modern era, linking us all back in time to that brilliant Hellenic civilization of the Mediterranean 2500 plus years ago, the civilization that depended and governed with the human mind rather than the collected fantasies of human imagination. Indeed, imagination played an important role in Greece, in fact in the arts and literature it flourished. But as later secular society would separate church and state, Greek society separated reality from fiction in practical life, yet also interestingly blended the two, in a manner that was both subject to and dominated by human beings. It was the world of humanity that was the center of the cosmos, the fount of creation through the life of the mind, which gave rise to an artistic imagination unparalleled in the history of the ancient world. 

Art and literature are imagination though, and Greek art reflected the belief that the human being was at the very center of the cosmos. Whether portraying gods, men or women, as well as animals, birds and indeed all manner of real and legendary creatures, ancient Greek sculptors honored the living form as no other society did. Facial features and expressions, musculature, hair and even the inner light that shines through the eyes in living beings was captured by these artists through their genius ability to sculpt or paint. A perfect being was created in every statue or on every wall frieze, a look to which the members of Greek society were expected to endeavor to become; walking, beautiful, living gods and goddesses to inspire the community to reach the ultimate in physical perfection. This statuary of course lacked moving life, as the statue lacked a soul. But it was the society that gazed on these works of art every day that was encouraged through this art to imitate those figures, and live as they would if the statuary did indeed breathe. Thus the society brought their imagination to life, and set the standards of art for future generations while becoming living gods themselves. The stories and the mythologies were recited and sung, and artists competed with one another to beautify the buildings and architecture of Greek cities with living stone. 

Vases and krater, or wine mixing vessels, were decorated with scenes from hundreds of myths and legends, the very stuff of religion if religion indeed existed in Greece. It is from the art of ancient Greece that we can visualize how the Greeks saw their heroes, gods indeed the world of their imagination. While there was the Delphic oracle and other temple rites for those who sought an answer to the mysteries of dreams and natural phenomena, and a cure for diseases and for looking into the future, the basis for the Greek moral and spiritual sense was found in the myths painted on common household wares. The acts of the gods, the wars against Titans, Gorgons and Amazons, or defense against foreign invasions such as the Persians were all given their due on the side of beautifully molded vases and bowls. The Trojan war and the stories of events from the Iliad were especially popular subjects for art. The great painter Exekias was famous for his amphora vase paintings. His portrayal of Achilles and Ajax playing a board game, the two companions in deep concentration as they seek to win the contest, their feet not simply flat upon the ground but raised in anxiety and anticipation of a victory, makes the painting interesting for the viewer to gaze upon. Though lacking the sense of dimension, Exekias imbues his characters with life by utilizing a sense of action. The facial expressions of the two combatants participating in the famous Achilles and Penthesilea duel is especially interesting, as their eyes are locked upon each other, Achilles clearly having the upper hand as he bears down on the Amazon queen, his spear stabbing her in the neck as blood spurts forth from the wound. Though the painting style is flat, the action of the combat is real and alive, portraying the demise of a respected but much feared warrior queen. 

Sculpture could portray anything, but it was always created with the sense of living divinity, every creation a homage to the living form. Greek sculpture, imitated by the Romans and Renaissance Italians, then the French and other later West European artists down to Rodin and Brancusi, set the standard for sculpture across the globe and influenced art traditions in far away countries and cultures. A new style of sculpture arose in northern India after the invasions of Alexander the Great, imbuing the life of the already great Indian sculpture tradition with a sense of actual living beings, evident in a number of Buddhas and busts of kings that were built along the Silk Road in Central Asia. It was the purpose and duty of the artist in ancient Greece to give life to ever present stone and rock, those elements which the mainland and isles of Greece were a feature and characteristic, the same rocky soil which denied them access to good, fertile farm land. It was for this reason, the lack of arable soil and the inability of Greek city states to feed themselves, that far off places such as Sicily and Southern Italy were colonized. The rich volcanic soil of the southern Italian peninsula fed the city states, and in the colonial cities founded by Greek colonists such as Neapolis, Syracuse and Akragas, new styles of Greek art and architecture emerged with distinct features, though unmistakably Hellenic. This art would influence the Etruscans and be copied by the Latin tribes to the north, Roman art being a direct offshoot of the Hellenic tradition, to make beauty manifest in our world.

Every depiction in sculpture is that of a hero though the subject may be a villain, giant, beast or horrible creature. Even in the chaotic depictions of warfare and conflict in such friezes as the Gigantomachy, telling of the war between the gods and the giants, each figure is given life and breath, so that the scene being depicted comes alive for the viewer. After so many centuries, the sculptures and friezes that adorn the sides of buildings and staircases still to this day tell their tale vividly, as if that ancient cosmic struggle continues for all time and we can see it, hear it and know it. This was the genius of those ancient Greek artists, their ability to give life to stone which depicted the acts of Man as no different from the actions of the gods in the heavens, our destiny being a continuous struggle to create order from chaos.

Every character depicted was unique and individual, as varied in features, personality and types as human beings in the reality of the flesh are. An alternate dimension, in a sense another world, was to be found in Greek cities. This was a world of human like figures created by hands skilled in the portrayal of human passion and pathos, a world that reminded each and every member of society that it was they who were the epicenter of the universe, the very core of the cosmos. Thus the otherworldly was here and now, created by mankind for the purpose of mankind. 

With the advent of the Italian Renaissance, so named for the return of and towrads classical ideas in art that reflected the glory of ancient Greece, artists imitated the ancient Roman and Greek styles of art and architecture, breathing life into sculpture and paintings that seemed to come alive. The sense of dimension, somewhat lacking in ancient Greek painting, was the new norm now after artists studied vase and amphora paintings of the ancient masters and learned how they attempted to deal with creating a vision of movement and action. Michelangelo sculpted masterpieces. His David states clearly that the high art of his day was indebted to ancient Greece. Though art portrayed predominantly religious Christian connections and characters, the human form reached an apogee of perfection in art during the Renaissance. David is as perfect as any Greek god or hero could ever be, confident and handsome beyond measure. Perhaps his most passionate work is the Pieta, depicting Mary holding Jesus in her lap, an incident from the Christian passion story. Mary's expression of sadness and disbelief could be any mother's expression in the loss of a son who met his demise long before he should have. Michelangelo captures a mother's love amid pain and loss in this masterpiece, a student of an ancient art form that has never been surpassed.

As a youngster I visited the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing Queens with my family. There were pavilions from many countries represented, with art, music, food and items from each nation's culture. The Vatican pavilion had, on display, Michelangelo's Pieta. You entered a large, dark room and stood on a moving sidewalk, which carried you slowly across the room as you gazed upon the masterpiece, illuminated with a solitary blueish light. Perhaps no other sculpture captures the reality of the sadness of being human as the Pieta does. The softness of the carved, polished stone seems to breathe with a realism that is otherworldly, a mystical expression the reality of life through the reality of death. The artists of the Renaissance gave new life to Christian religious art by looking back in time to the genius of the pagan ancient Greeks. The religion that stamped out the old pagan religions of Europe was stimulated and revived by the very genius art traditions of ancient Hellas. 

Indeed, this legacy has been passed on to the artists of future civilizations and cultures, into our own time. Any living thing can be treated as a hero by the artist because it is alive. It is not merely mortal, but is also a god because that very living thing whether human, animal, plant or mythological creature from the inner depths of the human imagination, resides at the very core of the cosmos, and is indeed the epicenter of that vast, spacious realm.