THE ARGON FIELD IN ARCADIA, THE SINKHOLE OF NESTANI VILLAGE, GOD POSEIDON AND THE SUBMARINE DINI SPRINGS IN THE ARGOLIC GULF (PELOPONNISOS, GREECE). A GEOMYTHOLOGICAL APPROACH OF THE POSEIDON'S BIRTH.

The Argon Field (= πεδίο = pedion, in greek) is a small plain in the north part of the much larger Tripolis plain of Central Peloponnisos (Greece). It extends west of Mountain Artemision, which is dedicated to Goddess Artemis (Diana), between Sagas village and that of Nestani, at the province of Manti nia The whole area of Mantinia is well-known since the prehistoric times and, as it is reported by Pausanias, it is mentioned in Greek Mythology. Pausanias (Arcadica, § 7-8) mentions - among others - the following: The word "argon" means "slow cultivation", so that "Argon field" means a field of slow cultivation because of occasional flooding during wintertime, caused by water coming from the surrounding mountains and the karstjc springs flowing from the margins, consisting mainly of multjfokted cretaceous limestones (Ptndos geotectonic unit) The Argon field would have probably turned into a lake, if the water had not been drained through a ground rift. In this case, the rift is apparently the cave - sinkhole of Nestani, which is located at the lowest topographic point of the whole field. After a few days (based on modern tracing experiments) the water reappears from this sinkhole in a submarine system of karstic springs in the Argoltc gulf, that in ancient times were known as Dini, located near Kiveri village. The modern name of the springs is Mikros Anavalos or Aghios Georgios Springs. The subsurface hydraulic communication between the Nestani Sinkhole and Dini springs was known to ancient greeks. According to Greek Mythology when Goddess Rhea, one of the mythical Titans, gave birth to the Greek god Poseidon, she left him near a sheepfold next to a spring, which is known since then as Ama Spring (sheep = αρνί = arni, in greek). Rhea didn't present the baby, Poseidon, to his father, Cronus, who was another mythical Titan, as she was afraid of him. At that time, Cronus was the head of the Titans, but fearing for a revolt of his children, he was eating them straight after their birth. That is why Rhea told him that she hadn't given birth to a child, but to a colt (small horse) instead (horse = ίτπτος = hippos, in greek). In this way, Poseidon survived and became one of the most important legendary Gods of the greeks later. A locality is known next to Dini submarine system of kastric springs at the Argolic Gulf, named Genesion or Genethlion (= birthplace), which is considered to be Poseidon's birthplace. Here, in this place, the ancient inhabitants of Argos used to sacrifice horses, whereas not far away from Nestani, at the small village of Milia, the ruins of a small temple dedicated to Hippios (Horsey) Poseidon have been excavated during the last decades. Poseidon is depicted in many pictures, statues, mosaics etc. In a mosaic, Poseidon comes out from the water on a chariot pulled by four horses. A main question is how Poseidon arrived from a mountainous area to the Argolic Gulf. A geomythological interpretation is that a god such as Poseidon, who was responsible for whatever happened in the water (sea, lakes, ground water etc.) and the earth interior (crust, lithosphère), could not follow a mountainous path, for instance the path over mountain Artemision. On the contrary, for such a god it would be much easier to follow the subsurface water-way through the sinkhole of Nestani village, that is the pathway connected to a subterraneous water flow, which reappears to the surface from the bottom of the sea and in this case to the surface of the Argolic Gulf, through Dini spring. In the case of this myth the hydrogeological conditions of the area are directly connected to the mythological action. This is one more evidence that Poseidon is not a God imported from another culture, but a native one

The geotectonic evolution of Olympus Mt and its mythological analogue

Ο Όλυμπος, το υψηλότερο όρος της Ελληνικής Χερσονήσου (2918 μ.) είναι ένας από τους πιο γνωστούς τόπους στο σύγχρονο κόσμο, επειδή εδώ οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες είχαν τοποθετήσει την κατοικία των θεών τους, από τότε που ο Δίας έγινε η κυρίαρχη προσωπικότητα της αρχαιοελληνικής θρησκείας. Στην εργασία αυτή θα αναφερθούμε σε μια αναφορά της Ελληνικής μυθολογίας που παρουσιάζει μεγάλες ομοιότητες με την γεωτεκτονική εξέλιξη του Ολύμπου. Σύμφωνα με τον Απολλόδωρο, η Ιφιμέδεια, που ήταν παντρεμένη με τον Αλωέα, απέκτησε με τον Ποσειδώνα δύο γιους, τον Ώτο και τον Εφιάλτη, που τους ανέθρεψε ο Αλωεύς, γι’ αυτό και πήραν το όνομα «Αλωάδες». Οι δύο αυτοί γιοι του Ποσειδώνα είχαν τάσεις γιγαντισμού, με αποτέλεσμα όταν έγιναν εννέα ετών να έχουν αποκτήσει εννέα πήχες πλάτος και εννέα οργιές ύψος ( 16 μ.). Συνειδητοποιώντας τις διαστάσεις και τις δυνάμεις τους, αποφάσισαν να ανέβουν στον Όλυμπο, να διώξουν τον Δία και τους άλλους θεούς, και να γίνουν κυρίαρχοι του κόσμου. Για να ανέβουν στον Όλυμπο αποφάσισαν να κατασκευάσουν μια κλίμακα, τοποθετώντας το Πήλιο πάνω στην Όσσα και αυτήν πάνω στον Όλυμπο, ενώ παράλληλα άρχισαν να μετατρέπουν τμήματα της ξηράς σε θάλασσα κ.λπ. Η περιγραφή αυτή του Απολλόδωρου συμπίπτει με την γεωλογική και τεκτονική δομή και εξέλιξη του Ολύμπου που, ως γνωστό, αποτελεί ένα τεκτονικό παράθυρο, αφού λόγω αναθόλωσης, έχουν διαβρωθεί οι ενότητες της Όσσας και του Πηλίου που είχαν επωθηθεί. Όλες αυτές οι διεργασίες όμως είναι πολύ παλαιότερες από την εμφάνιση του ανθρώπινου γένους και συνεπώς ο άνθρωπος δεν μπορεί να υπήρξε μάρτυρας αυτών. Άρα πρόκειται για απλή σύμπτωση. Είναι όμως;Mt Olympus is the highest mountain of Greece (2918 m.) and one of the most important and well known locations of the modern world. This is related to its great cultural significance, since the ancient Greeks considered this mountain as the habitat of their Gods, ever since Zeus became the dominant figure of the ancient Greek religion and consequently the protagonist of the cultural regime. Before the generation of Zeus, Olympus was inhabited by the generation of Cronus. In this paper we shall refer to a lesser known mythological reference which, in our opinion, presents similarities to the geotectonic evolution of the wider area of Olympus. According to Apollodorus and other great authors, the God Poseidon and Iphimedia had twin sons, the Aloades, namely Otus and Ephialtes, who showed a tendency to gigantism. When they reached the age of nine, they were about 16 m. tall and 4.5 m. wide. Having then realized their powers, because of their gigantic proportions, they decided to climb Olympus and fight the Gods, exile Zeus and the others, and wed two Goddesses. Otus was to marry Hera and Ephialtes Artemis. But they did not know how to climb such a high mountain, so they decided to construct a “ladder”, by putting mount Ossa on top of mount Olympus and mount Pelion on top of Ossa. This description coincides with the geological and tectonic evolution of the wider Olympus area. But, these complex tectonic processes were completed about 8 – 10 m.a., i.e. millions of years before the appearance of humans, therefore it is impossible that these morphotectonic processes were witnessed by man, so the similarities between the myth of Aloades and the tectonic evolution of the area must be purely coincidental. But are they, or is there more here

ORACLES ON FAULTS: A PROBABLE LOCATION OF A “LOST” ORACLE OF APOLLO NEAR OROVIAI (NORTHERN EUBOEA ISLAND, GREECE) VIEWED IN ITS GEOLOGICAL AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL CONTEXT

At a newly discovered archaeological site at Aghios Taxiarches in Northern Euboea, two votive inscribed stelae were found in 2001 together with hellenistic pottery next to ancient wall ruins on a steep and high rocky slope. Based on the inscriptions and the geographical location of the site we propose the hypothesis that this is quite probably the spot where the oracle of “Apollo Selinountios” (mentioned by Strabo) would stand in antiquity. The wall ruins of the site are found on a very steep bedrock escarpment of an active fault zone, next to a hanging valley, a high waterfall and a cave. The geomorphological and geological environment of the site is linked directly to the regional geodynamical context of Central Greece, a region of tectonic turmoil throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene, characterised by distinct landscapes produced by the activity of active fault zones, intense seismicity, and in part, volcanism and hydrothermal activity. The geomorphological and geological similarities of the Ag. Taxiarches site with those of the oracle at Delphi, seem to provide further support to the hypothesis that the former site can well be that of an ancient oracle, given the recently established connections between the geological environment at Delphi and Apollo’s oracle there. Definitive verification of our hypothesis can only be obtained by further, detailed archaeological study, whereas geological/geomorphological, geochemical, and geochronological studies would be necessary to clarify the connection that the cave lying next to the wall remains may had with the site’s function