Greek goddess Demeter. Skyphos, 5 th  century BCE. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo: George E. Koronaios. Wikipedia Commons.   Demeter searching for Persephone   Demeter, sister of Zeus and one of the most powerful of the gods, lost her daughter Persephone. While searching for her, she took the form of an old homeless woman in the polis of Eleusis near Athens. Queen Metaneira invited Demeter to the palace. The two of them agreed Demeter would take care of Metaneira’s baby boy Demophoon. Demeter fell in love with the baby and tried to make Demophoon immortal. She fed him not milk or human food but ambrosia, food of the gods. In addition, she treated Demophoon with blazing fire without harming him. However, Metaneira secretly watched her baby in the fire and screamed, thus ending Demeter’s metamorphosis of the human baby into an immortal being. Angry Demeter said to Metaneira: “Men are too foolish to predict the good or evil that will affect them in the ...

  Seagrass meadows, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. NOAA. Public Domain.   Seagrass and fish farms   The Institute of Marine Conservation  Archipelagos , a Greek non-profit scientific organization, is sounding the alarm about the state of the marine environment in Greece, especially now that Greece has been under extreme pressure to pay off its ill-gotten debt. The warning is primarily about the fate of Poseidonia sea grass / meadows and fish farms, the latter destroying the sea grass and poisoning the broader marine environment.   In a recent report, the Institute summarized the ecological importance of the grass of Poseidon, saying:   “In our [Mediterranean] sea there are areas with poseidonia meadows, a priceless treasure on a global scale. Poseidon’s grass is the familiar seaweed, which is not a seaweed….  Poseidon’s grass is found only in the Mediterranean Sea and covers less than 0.2% of the global seabed. One hectare of this ancient plan...