Aegean [antikvár]

The Aegean, sea crossroads of ideas, has always been a source of Intellectual and spiritual creativity. In the millennia since man first made them his home. Its Islands have known both the glory of magnificent civilizations and the dolesome uncertainty of Isolation. Yet at every period In their history, human Imagination, coupled with need, have brought forth works whose beauty and simplicity still have the power to startle today: works with one thing In common: a sense of measure. This centurles-old cultural heritage has left Its mark on the Intellectual and spiritual face of Greece, and played an Important role In shaping the course of Western civilization. We have attempted to condense the timelessness of the Aegean Into this volume. In which you will find some of the most Illustrious names In Greek science and letters. With the help of individuals who have dedicated their lives to the Islands, we have combined the written word - both scientific and poetic - with images. We set out to capture the light and with It to illuminate the special moments in the history of the Aegean: to gaze In turn on slender Ionic columns, the humble architecture of even/day folk, the azure of Byzantine icons, and the courtyards graced with undulating pebble mosaics In black and white: to talk once more of the functionality of traditional Island dwellings, and narrow fields in the protective shadow of cyclopean walls. In an era which has squandered Its Inheritance - the harmonious discourse Petween the islands' physical and built environments, bequeathed by the wisdom and aesthetic sense of generations past - the Ministry of the Aegean has committed itself to promoting our ancient culture, protecting our architectural heritage, and - by turning the Islands into viable cores of development and activity - Improving the quality of local life. Nikos Sifounakis Minister of the Aegean ¦r-r I ¦ ' . I • i'! . ' ¦ 'I I ' I),. î ; . ; I i 1 . ' '! •('. . i ' f . '¦'[ •!a Draft for an introduction to the Aegean World Odysseus Elytis 1. Kouros from Thera. Athens, National Archaeological Museum. 2. The statue of NIkandre. Athens, National Archaeological Museum. Before the ridge of Serifos, as the sun rises, the guns of all the great world theories are silenced. The mind Is surpassed by a few waves and some rocks; absurd perhaps but nevertheless sufficient to lead man to his true dimensions. And what else could be of more use to him In his life? If he likes starting off wrongly, It Is because Ine does not want to listen. For thousands of years now and In man's absence, the Aegean has been saying again and again in the voice of its plashing along an endless length of coast: this Is who are youl And It Is repeated by the shape of the fig leaf against the sky; It Is grasped by the pomegranate that clenches Its fist until it bursts; it Is chanted by the cicadas until they become transparent. Death may seem more or less right, by which I mean more or less an irreparable loss, depending on how you accept It. Force and number have always prevented us from accepting the one true Justice, which Is a "precise moment", or the one true morality, which is but a continual reference to the most simplifying form of our being. It Is impossible for us to calculate the enormous gulf separating a Cycladic figurine from a pebble with the same ease that we can calculate entire aeons of light-years. And it is precisely this that constitutes our Achilles' heel, which Is why we compete with knowledge In desperation. However, the gods' portion. If It exists at all outside religions, is without doubt a form of bounty, A seagull with outstretched wings over a limitless expanse of azure. We pretend to ourselves that we can blot it out, that we have the means. But then what? The day after we are lost forever. It will still go on. Two poles of Ignorance that are not linked but that at any moment could bring light; such a shame! Is It true then that light leaps from the darkest shade of black? Love comes to confirm it in another way. When two naked bodies converse, something from the unpubllcized part of their tale - the unbearable part - is wiped out. The kiss, which has not evolved In the slightest since the dawn of time, happens to be the most novel and unhackneyed thing that we possess. Some tale of love with divine dimensions must surely have preceded the tectonic tremors and the displacement of the waters when the Creek archipelago was created. The Irrationality that we find In myths is sometimes redressed by nature Itself Only then do we reflect that, in spite of everything. It Is we who created them perhaps even against our will. There still remains something for us to discover: this light, these clusters of Islands, what are they? Are we dreaming? 112