Sacred Earth   The Greeks thought the Earth was the oldest of the gods. Demeter, sister of Zeus, was the closest of the Olympian deities that resembled Gaia (Earth). Every fall the Athenians sponsored the Eleusinian Mysteries in Eleusis, a small polis near Athens. Greeks from all over the Greek world participated in the Eleusinian celebration of Demeter, goddess of wheat and agriculture. Those who entered the place of worship took an oath not to reveal the secrets of the mysteries. None did.   However, what has come down to us is that Demeter-Earth blessed the wheat seeds in the ground for a prosperous harvest. The Greeks were convinced that the land and the natural world were sacred and indispensable for civilization.   The Greeks were not alone in worshipping the natural world. Other civilizations like the Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Persian and the Chinese considered the natural world and the Earth sacred.   Clash of civilizations   The blow against this view of life came from the

President John Kennedy   I have been in the United States since the Kennedy administration. Not that I followed the personal behavior or policies of Kennedy. I was then starting college and my English was elementary. But I was shocked and terrified by his brutal murder. I kept saying to myself this must have been a terrible accident. To this day, I don’t understand why that handsome and rich and visionary politician was gunned down like an escaped criminal.   President Jimmy Carter   My interest in other presidents became more serious, starting with Jimmy Carter when I joined the US EPA in 1979. Carter reviewed agriculture and, probably, he might have favored a sustainable version of family farming. He was amenable to change, like preparing the country to face global warming.    President Ronald Reagan   Roland Reagan heightened my concerns because his political appointees at EPA violated the law, offended decency, and harmed the health of Americans and damaged the integrity and health

 The battle of Salamis of 480 BCE and the Greek Revolution of 1821 had this in common: In Salamis, Greeks defeated the invading Persians of Xerxes and, in 1821, the descendands of the ancient Greeks defeated Ottoman Turks and won political independence. Both battles were struggles between liberty and despotism. Freedom won and the Greeks had a chance to invent science and create the civilization that made us who we are. The link to the video is here:  https://youtu.be/ 9UPLACBSJYA   

  Protesting austerity in Athens, 2010, left, and 2011, right: in front of the Greek parliament at the center of Athens. Photo: Wikipedia. Alexandros Hahalis   Alexandros Hahalis is a distinguished musician, music composer, and poet. He read some of my articles and, immediately, invited me to participate in a celebration he organized for honoring the 2,500 anniversary of the battle of Salamis of 480 BCE. The virus plague, however, wrecked the celebration.    Alexandros and I spent several hours talking to each other through the computer. He talked about himself and about Greece. This is a man thoroughly immersed in Greek mythology, history, and politics. I listened to him patiently because of his wisdom and thirst for knowledge.   He studied music at New York University and classical composition at the Aaron Copland School of Music. He has been excelling in  composing  and directing music all over the world.    After living in New York for nineteen years, he returned to Greece in 2003,

Παιάν Αισχύλου νῦν  υπέρ πάντων αγών, Σαλαμίνα (Φωτογραφία Εὐάγγελος Βαλλιανᾶτος) Πρόλογος   O   Αύγουστος-Σεπτέμβριος του 2020 ήταν η επέτειος των 2.500 χρόνων της μάχης της Σαλαμίνας. Οι Έλληνες πολέμησαν και νίκησαν τον περσικόν στρατό του Ξέρξη το 480 Π.Χ. Η αποφασιστική ναυτική μάχη πραγματοποιήθηκε στα νερά μεταξύ του μικρού νησιού της Σαλαμίνας και της ακτής της Αθηναϊκής Αττικής στα τέλη Σεπτεμβρίου του 480 Π.Χ.   Ο θυμός του Ξέρξη   Ο περσικός βασιλιάς Ξέρξης ήταν ο γιος του Δαρείου που το 490 Π.Χ. επιτέθηκε της Ελλάδος και ηττήθηκε. Ο Ξέρξης ξεκίνησε τη δεύτερη εισβολή της Ελλάδος για να εκδικηθεί την ταπεινωτική ήττα του πατέρα του.    Τα ελληνικά κράτη της Ιωνίας (στην Μικρά Ασία και γείτονες της Περσίας) ζήτησαν και έλαβαν στρατιωτική βοήθεια από την Αθήνα. Επιπλέον, η Αθήνα εισέβαλε την Περσία και έκαψε την Σάρδεις, μια επαρχιακή πρωτεύουσα.   Σε τέσσερα χρόνια ο Ξέρξης ετοίμασε ένα τεράστιο στρατό και στόλο για πόλεμο εναντίον της Αθήνας και Ελλάδος.   Ο Ξέρξης ήταν ένας