Social networks and mythology

 

In the Broadband Society of Dr. Fondevila social networks are necessary to disseminate the various areas of knowledge. And classicism and mythology must not be an exception. Some authors blame the vagueness of search engines and the difficulty of finding sources on this matter, since logically there are numerous sources.

In fact, training and information on the part of users to be able to use suitable search criteria is recommended. Likewise, it is considered that scientific knowledge is increasingly pouring into the Internet, given that the majority of indexed scientific journals have an online version, and the paper version is diminishing, as a result of production and distribution costs, affected by the increase in the price of paper. This implies open solutions (open source magazines), others mixed and others paid. In the latter, the most you can read without having to pay are the abstracts.

In this audiovisual and technological context, it is necessary to know how to distinguish between true quality journals and possible fake journals. Google Scholar tends to be a good ally on this path, prioritizing JCR and Scopus journals.

An intrinsic advantage of the Internet is the ability of readers to become producers of contents, what is called a prosumer. However, Nielsen's theory points out that there is a scant one percent of content creators, nine percent of content creators or commentators, and 90 percent of readers, passively. Therefore, analogue coordinates have moved to the digital environment. It will be necessary to adapt to it and ensure that the mythology flows through social networks naturally and effectively. A modest blog like ours tries to collaborate.

Greeks in Spain

 

The classic Greeks determine the roots of the Catalan and Spanish culture and contents of Broadband Society. The first introduction belongs to the Phocaenses. These were Greek merchant sailors who came from the Ionian city of Phocea (in present-day Turkey).

They want to get closer to the metal trade and following the route of the Western Mediterranean islands. Moreover, they founded Massalia (nowadays, Marseille), in the southern coast of France. This constituted the starting point for the establishment of colonies on the Spanish Mediterranean coast from the 8th and 7th centuries BC. C.

About Greek settlements in Spain, if we take in consideration the majority of the Greek colonies, there are no archaeological remains. They were the Iberian or Phoenician enclaves used by the Greeks to spend the night and trade with the natives, and they ended up giving their own Greek names.

Furthermore, the Greek foundation is proven in the colonies of Rhode (Rosas) and Emporion (Ampurias). Nevertheless, Hemeroskopeion and Alonis on the Alicante coast and Mainake in Malaga lack archaeological confirmation. In despite of it, the Greek influence was deep in the Mediterranean Iberian populations. They spread their alphabet, their ceramic productions, their handicraft industry, their religion and their art.

About Emporion, it was founded by settlers from the city of Massalia in 600 BC. C. It quickly became a prosperous colony, head of exchanges with the interior. In this placement, the Greeks brought wine, perfumes, luxury ceramics or oil. They exported esparto, grass, linen metals, salt.

Which was the place chosen by the founders of Ampurias? A small island very close to the coast. This is attached to the mainland and occupied by the small town of San Martín de Ampurias. The Greeks called it "Palaia Polis" (old city). Its inhabitants spread to the mainland, to the "Neapolis", where the ruins of the Greek city are nice.

The Neapolis had a fairly regular urban layout. The enclosure was defended by a wall.  The coexistence began with misgivings, but they ended up mixing in a single city. The Neapolis was articulated with four rectilinear streets that converged on the agora, at the corners of the agora, a fairly common feature in Greek urban planning. In addition, they marked the ordering of the remaining streets. The agora, as the Greeks called the main square, was regular and arcaded.

The two most important architectural ensembles, the Asklepeion and Serapis temples, are to the south, where the gate and the best-preserved remains of the wall are also located. In the temple of Asklepeion the sacred enclosure or "témenos" is a rectangle delimited by the city wall on two of its sides and by a thick stone wall on the other two. A staircase gave access to the sanctuary, in which a large podium stood in the foreground. There are few vestiges of two small aedicules in which the god Asklepios and perhaps Hygieia were worshiped. Asklepios was the Greek god of health, son of Apollo, and Hygieia, is the female personification of health.

Serapis is the Egyptian god identified with Hades-Pluto by the Greeks and who was made the supreme deity in Alexandria. The temple rises on a podium which is climbed by two side stairs. The Temenos is very spacious and is surrounded by an impressive colonnade.

Technology in the classic Greece

In this blog we are explaining how the classical culture was introducing technology to improve. In the current Broadband Society and cloud journalism, Internet is the great articulator. Information and knowledge guide production, as evidenced by large databases and industry 4.0.

In ancient Greece technology was developed throughout the 5th century BC. It extended until the Roman period. It even lasted a few more years. The inventions of the classical Greeks are many: screw, torsional catapult, gear, rotating mills, water body, shaft press, water clock, bronze casting techniques, steam to operate some experimental machines and toys, for example.

Peculiarly, some of the inventions saw the light towards the end of the Greek era, in order to improve weapons and war tactics. In the case of the water mill, he obtained a wholesale operation on the part of the Romans. The Greeks looked in topography and mathematics. Names like Archimedes and Herod of Alexandria reflect this.

Why did the Greeks fail to develop their technology? Well, because of the despised condition of those who did this job. In fact, manual work was underestimated. In this way, a scientific application could reduce social status. It can disincentive technological innovation. A peculiar situation To see the prestigious impact of technology, I recommend attending the DMTforum-XXVI Cable and Broadband Catalonia Congress (CNMC, ​​19 May). Come in!

Classic culture and technology: a nice couple!

When the expression "classical culture" is mentioned, one associates it with issues far away in time. Keep in mind that technology starts in parallel to human evolution. Thus, the Greeks developed skills in commerce and shipyards, and surpassed the Persians largely thanks to the naval power, forged in technology. The manual work depended on the slaves, the workers of the time that guaranteed productivity over possible new sources of energy. In fact, Greek and Roman education did not focus on manufacturing or physical work.

The technology sought to save on efforts, although the technological advances of the Greeks did not fully agree with theoretical knowledge. Heró de Alexandria (creator of the dioptra, a topography instrument), Ctesias, Ptolemy, Tales of Miletus (and their navigation triangulation systems) and the well-known Archimedes (inventor of the hydraulic spindle) investigated the principles of technology. Devices such as fire pumps, handles, levers, pulleys, toothed wheels, siphons, turbines or valves. The first map of the world corresponds to Anaximander.

In the case of the Romans, they applied the technology in organization and construction, creating systems of public works. The introduction of cement and the beginning of the arch allowed the Romans to build more than 70,000 km. of roads A well-enclosed Roman Empire, with the addition of aqueducts, sewers and bridges. The public toilets and the circuses gave a playful nature. The water mill and hydraulic wheels with upper and lower thrust allowed grinding, sawing and cutting marble. In the warlike area, the creation of the javelin and the catapult placed the Romans in a stage of advantage in the struggles.

In the case of the Romans, they applied the technology in organization and construction, creating systems of public works. The introduction of cement and the beginning of the arch allowed the Romans to build more than 70,000 km. of roads A well-enclosed Roman Empire, with the addition of aqueducts, sewers and bridges. The public toilets and the circuses gave a playful nature. The water mill and hydraulic wheels with upper and lower thrust allowed grinding, sawing and cutting marble. In the warlike area, the creation of the javelin and the catapult placed the Romans in a stage of advantage in the struggles.

Another perspective on the relationship between technology and classical culture, jumping into the 21st century, comes from the Internet spreading. In the classic environment we find the roots of the Broadband Society, the scientific theory coined by Dr. Joan Francesc Fondevila Gascón, international leader in communication and telecommunications and author of the scientific blog Telecomunicaciones y Periodismo, also leader in his field.

Access to texts and documentation is simpler thanks to the international broadband networks. How they evolve and how they can disseminate content is a fundamental aspect for students of the classical world. That is why it is highly recommended to attend the XXVI Cable and Broadband Catalonia Congress (2022). Classic culture and technology: a nice couple!

Sicily and the classics

For those of us who love the classical world, being able to visit the island of Sicily is a privilege. For starters, this is the largest island in the Mediterranean. The proximity of Naples and its charm, three kilometers from the Strait of Messina, the influx of the Apennines and the oregon and the splashes of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Ionian Sea enveloped Sicily with a special snowflake.

Sicily has not always been called Sicily. The Latins called it Trinacria, that is, triangular. Where does the name of Sicily come from? Well, eureka, comes from the Greeks, who called it Sikelia because the original tribe were the satellites. Sicily is like a galaxy with numerous planets in the form of polyteinic islands, such as agates, Eolias, Pelágiques, Ustica and Pantelleria.

Peculiarly, despite being an island, Sicily is the largest region in Italy. 25,711 square kilometers are not insignificant, precisely! In addition, it is the second most densely populated island in the Mare Nostrum, behind Malta (geographically within the archipelago of Sicily and politically united in 1798). Five million Sicilians are many! The capital, Palermo, is the fifth most populous in Italy; Catania is the tenth. A clear similarity with Catalonia: in Sicily, Italian and Sicilian are spoken.

The impact of the classics is very clear in Sicily, as in the Roman Villa of the Casale. Much later, Sicily acted as an independent or immixed kingdom in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and then belonged to the Spanish monarchy. The resignation of Philip V as a result of the Treaty of Utrecht closed this phase. Because the landowners and the landowners dominated the island, the Mafia arose in the eighteenth century, an organization of peasants who rebelled clandestinely against landowners. Curious island evolution, like technological evolution, analyzed by XXVI Cable and Broadband Catalonia Congress (CECABLE, 2022). Come in!

Molt bon any!

Des d'aquest blog us desitgem un molt bon any 2019, ple d’alegries i de lectures sobre els clàssics grecs i llatins, sobre la nostra base cultural. Molt bon any!