Calliope articles from July 2008

Calliope archives from July 2008

5 obscure Olympos facts.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... (1) At 9,570 feet, Mytikas, the highest peak of Mount Olympos, tops all other mountains in Greece. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (2) The Olympos National Park was founded in 1938 and includes the highest mountain forest in Europe. ...

Greek names of the ancient deities and their Roman equivalents.(MUSINGS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FIRST TRY IT YOURSELF, THEN ASK FOR GOD'S HELP, FOR GOD AIDS THE PERSON WHO TRIES. --from Hippolytos by the fifth-century B.C. playwright Euripides ZEUS, HERA, APOLLO--you've heard the names many times and...

The end of chaos.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Today we marvel, and sometimes scoff, at the myths told by the ancient Greeks and Romans to explain the world as they saw it. Yet, even with the tremendous amount of information provided by our space explorations and...

Kronos dethroned.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Kronos enjoyed ruling the universe and was determined that his father's curse (see pages 4-5) would never come true. Each time his wife, Rhea, gave birth to a child, Kronos was with her. As soon as the baby was born,...

The giants.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After defeating the Titans, the Olympians rested. During this time, children were born, and the world above and below was at peace. But Gaia had not forgotten the Titans trapped in dark Tartaros and turned to the...

Monstrous Typhon.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gaia mourned the loss of the Giants, but refused to concede defeat. With the aid of Tartaros, she produced an even more fearsome creature--Typhon. His head touched the stars, and his outstretched arms reached across...

Word origins.(FUN WITH WORDS)(magnificent)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... MAGNIFICENT Certainly a word used in connection with the deities of the ancient world, and rightly so, according to those who honored them. It is almost a direct adoption of two Latin words: magnum, meaning "great," and facientes, meaning...

Word stories.(FUN WITH WORDS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Centuries ago, astronomers decided to use the names of the ancient gods to name the planets, as well as other celestial bodies that "inhabit" the sky. Below are a few, many of whom are featured in articles in this issue. Scientists almost...

Tongue challengers!(FUN WITH WORDS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Here are three words that are unique to the English language--yet each traces its roots to Greek and Latin terms. Have fun including them in your vocabulary! Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis This 45-letter word, the...

The divine king.(Zeus)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The all-powerful," "the light," "the heavens"--all three translate the name of Zeus. He lived in a palace high on Mount Olympos, the ruler of gods and humans. His temple at Dodona, in northwestern Greece, was the oldest and most sacred in the...

Children of Olympians.
July 1, 2008... Mighty Zeus fathered many children. On the pages that follow, CALLIOPE introduces you to several who were especially beloved by the ancients. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The last tale tells of one Olympian who had no father, just a...

Word changelings.(ACTIVITY)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... When you take a spelling test or write an essay, you want to erase or change as little as possible. That's the point of this word puzzle. In each of the rows, you get from the top word to the bottom word by changing just one letter at each step...

A bull takes his prize.(Zeus and Europa)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Europa jumped from her bed, her body trembling, her teeth chattering. She looked around her but saw nothing. Had she only dreamed that two women had stood by her bed, each beckoning her to follow? One had seemed very...

Mosaic magic.(ACTIVITY)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The ancient Romans often decorated their walls and floors with colorful mosaics. Many depicted mythical scenes. However, a common one was the "guard dog," protecting those within from evil spirits and the like. With...

The Gods today.(FROM PAST TO PRESENT)(Mercury)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The gods and goddesses of the ancient Greek and Roman world no longer have followers, but they can often be "found" in today's world. Let's take Hermes as an example. Zeus' choice of a messenger to earth was a...

Honor an ancient deity.(CONTEST! NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... THINK of all the deities you have read about in this issue. Choose one. Then, tell us how you would use your deity to name a 21st-century product or what adjective you invented using the name. Also, remember to send us the reason why you chose...

Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses.(BOOKS)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses by Michael Jordan (Checkmark Books, 2004, www.factsonfile.com) includes information on more than 2,500 deities worshiped by cultures, ancient and modern, around the world. Also...

Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary.(BOOKS)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary by Lynn Curlee (Simon & Schuster, 2008, www.SimonSaysKids.com) has as a subtitle "Tales of Strange Beings, Fabulous Creatures, Fearsome Beasts & Hideous Monsters from Ancient Greek Mythology." The...

Tools of the Ancient Romans: A Kid's Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Rome.(BOOKS)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tools of the Ancient Romans: A Kid's Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Rome by Rachel Dickinson (Nomad, 2006, www.nomad-press.com) accompanies 15 great hands-on activities, including making a toga and...

On the net.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For a good introduction to Greek and Roman religions, with links to directly related topics and images, go to: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~carlas/GRRsep9.htm This site has it all--links to the deities, myths,...

Ask Calliope.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [?] What can you tell me about the Rosetta Stone? --Zach, Web post [!] The Rosetta Stone is a tablet of black basalt that was found in 1799 at Rosetta, a town in Egypt. It helped in the deciphering of...

Greek monsters.(From Our Readers)(Poem)
July 1, 2008... Greek monsters Guarding the Underworld with three heads, Only allowing the dead to pass Strong smiths, with only one eye, Named Lightning, Thunder, and Thunderbolt And another monster with snakes for her hair, ...

Babylon.(From Our Readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... In your article "The Wonder of Babylon" in your September 2006 issue, Anthony Hollingsworth wrote about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon on the sun-baked plains for his wife. I like that...

A place of worship.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Throughout human history, people have chosen special sites to honor their deities. The word "temple" is most closely associated with the worship structures favored by the ancient Greeks and Romans. "Temple," however,...

What's the difference?(Greek and Roman temples)
July 1, 2008... The Greeks were a religious people and focused their energy on building temples. These structures, although relatively small, were architectural masterpieces. The Romans concentrated their efforts on construction that served the worldly needs...

Optical illusions.(ACTIVITY)
July 1, 2008... Perhaps the most fascinating characteristic of Greek temple design is its perfect symmetry. The Greeks understood how light plays tricks on the eye. To help you understand this part of Greek design, try the following two experiments. YOU...

Then and now.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THEN: Zephyros, the Greek god of the west wind, whisks the maiden Pysche on a gentle breeze to Eros, the Greek god of love, in this 1887 English sculpture. NOW: Clockwise from the top: A Lincoln Zephyr in 1946;...