Florence and Greek Mythology

Our journey spanned over 2500 years! I felt that man has remembered history of 2500 years and has faint memory of what happened before that and we call it myth. It appears today's heroes become legends as time passes and then myths.Though I used to think that this watershed of 2500 years is because of availability of records and artifacts but this trip changed my notion. I perceive that hundred quarter centuries in future Gandhi and Einstein would be mythical figures.

What binds Europe into one is Greek mythology and then Bible as most of the stories seem to stem from there. If we have to unify whole world, we would need the go to proto-Greek era where we may find commonalities with other civilizations including our own Hindu mythology.

A Glimpse into Greek Mythology

Like all mythologies Greek mythology explains the creation of Universe. First their was the Void, nothing. So the Void is actually not nothing but the first Something that is called as the Chaos. From the Chaos came the 'Bottomless pit' or the immeasurable space called as the Abyss (may be referring to the profound gulf of Hell), referred to as Tartarus. From Chaos also came the Darkness (Erebus) and Night (Nyx) and the tangible Earth (Gaia or Gaea). The Earth is then the mother of all. Her Roman equivalent is Terra or Terra Mater (Mother Earth). She gave birth to the Sky (Uranus). With the Sky, the Earth gave birth to the Titans, the Giants and the Sea (Pontus). What comes as a surprise to our way of thinking is that Night and Darkness gave birth to Heaven (Aether) and Day (Hemera).

Moros (Doom, Destiny), Ker (Destruction, Death), Thanatos (peaceful Death), Hypnos (Sleep), the Oneiroi(Dreams), Momus (Blame), Oizys (Pain, Distress), the Hesperides (Golden light of sunset and nymphs of evening), the Moirai (Fates), the Keres (Spirits of death), Nemesis (Indignation, Retribution),  Apate (Deceit), Philotes (Friendship), Geras (Old Age), and Eris (Strife) are all children of Night.

These are all considered primordial Deities in Greek mythology. Descendants of primordial deities are the second generation of divine beings called the Titans. They were giant deities of incredible strength, who ruled during the legendary Golden Age, and also comprised the first pantheon of Greek deities. They are based on Mount Othrys, a mountain in central Greece. The Titans included first twelve children of Earth and Sky (Gaia & Uranus) and their children. Uranus or Ouranos is the only Greek deity after which a planet has been named that is the 7th planet from the Sun.

Most notable of the Titans are Cronus and Rhea. Saturn is the roman equivalent of Cronus and is the given name to the 6th planet from Sun. Cronus and Rhea are son and daughter of Earth and Uranus, who is the ruler of the universe. Cronus is the youngest of the first generation of Titans. He overthrows his father Uranus with the help of his mother Earth and castrates him. He throws his testicles into the sea that produce white foam from which takes birth the goddess Aphrodite. 

Titans & Olympians

Cronus or Saturn takes his sister Rhea as his queen and rules during the Golden Age and is considered the Patron of Harvest. However, there is a prophecy that as Cronus overthrew his father Uranus, he would be overthrown by his own sons. So Cronus devours his first five children as they are given birth by his wife Rhea. When Rhea gives birth to his sixth child Zeus, she hides him and gives Cronus a stone wrapped in towel called Omphalos, which Cronus devours. When Zeus grows up he frees all his siblings from within Cronus and overthrows him. Zeus is the equivalent of Jupiter (5th planet), Indra or Thor. Zeus is the King of Gods of Mount Olympus. An equivalent of Indra ruling Swarg. Thursday is named after Thor and that has a parallel in Brihaspati. Zeus along with other brother and sisters overthrew the Titans in a battle called Titanomachy and starts the third generation of the greek deities the Olympians. Mount Olympus is the highest mountain of Greece considered the abode of the twelve olympians. Hera was the sister and queen of Zeus.

Zeus is the father figure in greek mythology and is the father of many heroes and Gods. After defeating Titans,  Zeus shares the booty with his brothers. While Zeus gets the Sky and Air, Poseidon gets Water and Hades gets the underworld or the world of Dead. Zeus punishes the Titans and traps them in Tartarus. One of the Titans, Atlas, is given the punishment of holding up the sky. The ancient Earth can not be shared, but she doesn't like the way Zeus treats the Titans, so as to take revenge she gives birth to  the monsters Typhon and Echidna (fathered by Tartarus), however they are controlled by Zeus. After the Olympians there are other generations of greek deities.

The Trip

I have mentioned about Greek mythology so that it can be referred to if required.

We had seen U.K., France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Eleven days of touring had satiated our appetite for seeing new places and we were contented and tired. We were entering Italy, we were told that it would be hot unlike all previous places that were pleasant. We were repeatedly cautioned to take care of our money and passports as Italy is said to be a country with high chances of these being snatched or pick-pocketed. Due to these factors, most of the passengers in our bus, of the total 49, were stressed out. Some started to voice, "I want to go home!" However, with its wonderful treat of history and marvelous art that we had hitherto only heard of, we were back on our feet in no time and started to enjoy again.

Florence, is a medieval town, that seems to have stopped its clocks 300 years ago. Like many other European cities it has a wonderful and unique church, that is the emblem of the city and the constant companions the bell tower and the baptistery. Arno river meanders and hosts the city in its lap. The classical view is seen from the Michelangelo square, even the old bridge that has interesting history can be savored from here.

Florence, as seen from Michelangelo Square

Orange coloured dome of the 'Duomo' stands out! However, what I found most remarkable was that the city hosted two of the greatest artists Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci at the same time. Many shops in the town are called 'David' after the world famous statue sculpted by Michelangelo, that stood in the Piazza della Signoria for long but has been moved to the museum now.This is the square in front of the town hall of the city that has been the hub of political activity for centuries. I used to wonder that what is so unique about the statue of David except that David didn't bother about clothes. 

The united kingdom of Israel was ruled by Saul from 1050 to 1012 BC. When the kingdom was attacked by the giant Goliath, a philistine, Saul sent David to fight. David, who was young and of ordinary built, used to play harp in his court but agreed to put up the fight. This statue depicts his composure and stance at this moment, when he has accepted the challenge and is about to go for the fight. He struck the forehead of Goliath with a stone and killed him and became the eternal example of victory of an underdog.

DaviD

Subsequently David became the King of Israel. David is believed to be ancestor of Jesus Christ. David was succeeded by King Solomon, who was the last king of United Israel from 970 to 931 BC. During his reign kingdom of Judah was created. While Saul and David are Biblical characters, Solomon is considered a definite historical entity, finding place of importance in all three Abrahamical religions, thus creating a watershed between myth and history.

On the right of the David's statue is an open air sculpture gallery called Loggia dei Lanzi, what a visual treat it is! To the uninitiated, it just appears as a collection of statues but in reality each one is a masterpiece created by a genius reflecting a story that changed the history or is of paramount importance in the mythology. At the entrance are placed Lions called Medici Lions with a sphere under the paw, named after the house of Medici. The Medici family were initially bankers but gradually became the largest bank of Europe in 15th century and then the hereditary Dukes of Florence and expanding to become the grand dukes of whole Tuscany region with Florence as Capital. Three popes came from their family. They were very strong but not very popular rulers, therefore they used great artists of their time to depict their power, by portraying various heroes of past. There was another banker named Piti, who built a Piti Palace, later acquired by the Medici family. There seemed to be a race to collect great artworks and these palaces became storehouses for these and now museums.

Loggia dei Lanzi

Another wonderful figure is that of Hercules killing the centaur Nessus. Hercules or Heracles is the son of  Zeus  and a mortal Alcmene, but named after Hera, the wife of Zeus in greek mythology, iconic for his strength.  It is said that he was driven mad by the queen of Gods, Hera and he killed his son, daughter and wife and then for penance he had to carry out twelve tasks known as twelve labours in the Bible. While legends of Hercules are found all over Europe, this sculpture is a great narrative.

Hercules killing the Centaur 'Nessus'

The centaur (half human, half horse) Nessus carried the wife of Hercules across the river, he tries to force himself on her and in the revenge Hercules kills him. Though Hercules, the hero, kills lot of characters in mythology, but it is the venomous blood of Nessus that finally kills Hercules and then he is welcomed as a God by Zeus and assigned as Gatekeeper of Olympus.

The most remarkable statue in this open theater of myth and history is the Cellini's bronze statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa. Perseus was son of Zeus and another mortal Danae, and was the great grandfather of Hercules (maternal). Medusa, who had snakes as her hair, after she was cursed by Goddess Athena for being raped by Poseidon in her temple, could turn anyone into stone with her gaze. Perseus kills her by looking at her reflection in his shield.

Perseus holding the head of Medusa

It is said that Medici's intent of installing Perseus' statue  was to tell people that those who didn't fall in line would be treated like Medusa as he was like Perseus.

As one walks away from the Piazza, one passes through the narrow streets reminding one of Walled City of Delhi. We reached the old bridge over the river Arno. There is a unique feature of the shops on the bridge, there are only Jewelry shops and there is a story behind that. There used to be mostly meat shops on the bridge many centuries ago, as the butchers could discard the remains of the dead animals in the river easily. Then one of the Medici rulers got married to a princess, who had been brought up in very rich environs. She refused to live in the Velachhio palace as there was no garden or lake in the centre of the town, so a palace was bought for her across the river. For the ease of commuting for the Duke from the central town hall to the palace a corridor was built above the buildings leading to the bridge and then above the shops on the bridge upto the new palace. However, when the princess did not like the foul odour of meat and carcasses and so an order was passed that there could only be Jewelry shops on the bridge and it has stayed so.

Bridge on river Arno

After visiting  the bridge we went to the church of Holy Cross, where is buried another genius of Florence, Galileo Galilei, who had to face life-long house arrest for defending his theory that Sun was the center of the planet system (heliocentrism) and not the earth (geocentrism) as it was against what was taught in the religion.

Holy Cross Basilica of Florence

We noticed a huge scaffolding in front of this church. It was in preparation for the annual football match for supremacy in Tuscany region. It is said to be one bloody match.

I realized that while in Hindu mythology, there are stories of attempts to defile the chastity of women, but they are mostly by disguising as husband or a lover, like Indra's various ventures but in Greek and Roman mythology and so in early history, rape, is a recurring theme. There are many statues and paintings on them as many times that has changed the course of the history.

Medici's were fond of art and were privileged to have artists like Michelangelo during their time. Three popes came from the Medici family, Pope Clement VII got Michelangelo to paint The last Judgement in Sistine chapel.

Church of St Mary of Flowers or 'The Duomo' - The Florence cathedral

The Baptistery in front of the Cathedral