Oceanus in Mythology and History

The myths of ancient Greece have provided the world with one of the richest sources of stories and legends in the world; they provided not only a recording of how they believed the world came to be, but provided a moral guide to live one’s life against as well as being a form of entertainment.

In Greek mythology the Olympian gods were widely worshipped, but they were not the first gods to come into existence. The first primal deities, the Protogenoi, gave birth to several deities who came to be known as the Titans. These Titans then fought in the war against the Olympians which saw, for most of them, their eventual imprisonment in the bowls of the earth.

One of these Titans was Oceanus, whose name can be translated as ‘River Ocean’. There are two versions of his parentage; Hesiod states that Gaia and Ouranos were his parents but the later Roman author, Hyginus, states that they were Aither (also spelt Aether) and Gaia.

Oceanus was believed to have been the great river that encircled his mother, the earth. He, like many of the gods in Greek mythology, married his sister Tethys, and together they produced many children. These included the elegant Oceanids, nymphs of the sea and the many river-gods of the earth (called the Potoami). Like Zeus and Poseidon, he had many affairs which resulted in the birth of the Aurae (nymphs of the breezes), the monkey-thieves Cercopes by the goddess Theia as well as the semi-divine Triptolemos by Gaia. In addition to this, he also raised Hera, the future queen of the gods, from birth until her marriage to Zeus.

Oceanus and Tethys were, as stated earlier, an incestuous couple, a theme which reoccurs in Greek mythology. Due to this, their relationship was used by the Roman poet Catullus. In one of his poems, Gellius is accused of incest with his mother, sister, and aunt and not even Oceanus and Tethys can wash away his crimes. This notion that large bodies of water are unable to wash away the stain of crime is of course a ‘topos’ going back to Greek tragedy but the “individual naming of the two sea-deities seems to make a point-a literary point which is relevant to the invective of the poem. Not even the mythologically incestuous couple Oceanus and Tethys can wash out Gellius' incest, though they are guilty of the offence themselves and might be thought likely to connive at it”.

Although the children that the Titans gave birth to were more influential in Greek and Roman society than that of their parents, the Titans’ myths still had a great significance on ancient society. Their tales were usually seen as explanations of the nature of the world or the origins of the dominant gods. In spite of this, the Titans are interesting characters of ancient Greek mythology.

Bibliography:

Harrison, S. J. (1996) Mythological Incest: Catullus 88, The Classical Quarterly, Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Classical Association.

China's Involvement in Laos during the Vietnam War, 1963-1975

Known as ‘the secret war’ by the Americans, the conflict in Laos during the 1960s and early 1970s was a vital element in Washington’s containment strategy in Southeast Asia in response to communist violations of the Geneva Agreements of 1954 and 1962. Although scholars have studied America’s involvement in Laos, it wasn’t until recently that they have been able to make analysis of China’s involvement. In recent years, scholars have had access to source materials shredding new light of China’s involvement in Laos during the Vietnam War.

In September 1963, there was a secret meeting held between the communist party leaders from China, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), Laos, and Indonesia. The meeting was located at Conghua, near Guangzhou, and was regarding the serious situation created by the Americans in Southeast Asia. Zhou Enlai alleged that the likelihood of direct American interference in Vietnam and Laos was escalating, and that the insurgency in these countries had become a vital front for the struggle against imperialism, feudalism, and capitalism.

Zhou recommended that the leaders devise a three part strategy; “first, expand a united front by winning their people's support; second, build rural revolutionary bases for an armed struggle; and third, enhance the party's strength and leadership. He predicted that as long as the people and leaders had confidence, they could defeat the Americans. Zhou assured the communist leaders present that China would serve as a reliable rear echelon for their revolution and would help them drive the Americans out of Southeast Asia”.

In October 1963, Kaysone Phomviha travelled to Beijing to ask the Chinese for assistance in establishing a revolutionary base for the LPRP. However, Zhou was unsure of the situation in Laos and Kaysone suggested that the Chinese send a mission there to fully understand.

Since the 1930s the North Vietnamese had been a dominant force over the Lao revolutionary movement. “When the Chinese ambassador in Hanoi informed Vietnamese leaders of the new agreement between China and the LPRP, Hanoi's ini-tial response was negative. The DRVs leaders felt that China should con-tinue providing assistance to Laos through Hanoi. Hanoi's leadership, however, agreed to China's direct assistance to the LPRP and its Pathet Lao movement because China was Hanoi's source of substantial assis-tance in the form of arms, ammunition, food, and transportation equip-ment. Negativity by Hanoi's leaders on this issue might compromise their own stated commitment to the national liberation movement in South-east Asia. In their formal reply to Beijing, North Vietnamese leaders praised Beijing's internationalism and generous assistance to their revo-lutionary cause, which they claimed they "should never forget." As for China's aid to Laos, they believed that it would be "equally appreciated and welcomed." Hanoi further stated that China's aid to Laos would be regarded as support to the DRV”. This meant that the Hanoi endorsed the Chinese involvement in Laos.

As the American military became more involved in Southeast Asia, the Chinese adopted a more aggressive strategy in Laos. In the early part of 1964, General Duan and his associates left China and stayed in Laos for five years. The main goals of the Chinese operation in Laos, both military and political, was to “improve the effectiveness of Lao operations, and to determine the types and quantities of Chinese aid”.

The Chinese government did not make military decisions but did follow the military situation in Laos. They were kept informed by the LPLA headquarters and the Vietnamese Advisory Group so that the Chinese could give them advice. Beijing would send them updated intelligence reports every few days and Chinese military officers would often with the LPLA troops to offer assistance and advice.

During the war, the Chinese military supplies totalled 115,000 guns and machine guns, 2,780 artillery pieces, 34 tanks and armoured vehicles, 170 million bullets, 2.67 million shells, 920,000 grenades, 254,000 mines, 2,530 transceivers, 2,654 telephone sets, 773 trucks, 958 tons of explosives, 2.57 million items of military clothing, and 770 tons of food. However, it is uncertain as to whether Laos received them all as the supplies came way via North Vietnam.

Bibliography:

Zhang, Xiaoming (2002) China's Involvement in Laos during the Vietnam War, 1963-1975, The Journal of Military History, Society for Military History.

A Brief History of Egyptian Hieroglyphs

The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs are one of the recognised systems of writing in the world. They are the doorway into ancient Egypt and have come to fascinate us all on their own. For centuries these hieroglyphs were unreadable to us until a French scholar, Pierre-Francois Champollion, made the remarkable discovery of how to decipher them, enabling us to bring the ancient writings back to to life again.

Hieroglyphs were first used to record the Egyptian language at least 5,000 years ago and it is still argued amongst archaeologists whether Egyptian hieroglyphs or the ancient cuneiform script (found in Iraq) are the earliest examples of writing. In recent years, this argument has been swayed to the side of the hieroglyphs, due to new archaeological evidence.

Despite the fact that there were many different dialects up and down the River Nile, the ancient Egyptian language was the only language written in hieroglyphs. It lasted for over 4,000 years and underwent many different changes.

The language, and subsequently the hieroglyphs, is divided into various states – Old Egyptian was spoken before 3,000 BCE and at this time, the hieroglyphs used consist of simple lists and labels. This period lasted for 500 years.

Middle Egyptian (also called Classical Egyptian) was spoken from 2100 BCE for 500 years. From 1600 BCE Late Egyptian replaced the Middle Egyptian, although the previous language was used right up until the Roman period.

Around 650 BCE, Late Egyptian developed into the writing system which is known as demotic, which dervives from the ancient Greek word meaning ‘popular’. After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, Greek became the official language and both demotic and Greek were spoken alongside each other. The final phase of the Egyptian language was Coptic which emerged around 100 CE which simply means ‘Egyptian’.

The languages that were spoken in ancient Egypt are important into understanding the history of the hieroglyphs. The written system was much slower to develop than the oral language. Despite the transition of spoken Old Egyptian to Middle Egyptian, the hieroglyphs continued to be used as the formal language for funerary, monumental and religious inscriptions.

It is the hieroglyphs from the Middle Egyptian language that is mostly studied today. “Among the more striking characteristics of hieroglyphic writing is the separateness or discreteness of its elements. In the first place, the phonetic and ideographic components are usually presented as individual signs; secondly, if the constituent parts of the signs sometimes combine di-verse elements or points of view, they are generally fitted together in an appropriate fashion, even if it does not always respect the nature of whatever is represented”.

During the Archaic Period emblematic writings of names are particularly characteristic of the early First Dynasty. One of the features of hieroglyphs at this time is the first sign of combining phonetic and ideographic composites. In the Old Kingdom, there are many examples of closed composites where “identification of a structure is framed by its walls”.

The hieroglyphs branched out into another form of writing, known as hieratic. This cursive or ‘flowing’ handwriting developed around 2600 BCE and was used as a quicker means of writing when needed as hieroglyphs was too burdensome for everyday use.

This style of writing also changed over the centuries and it is these changes which help scholars estimate when a particular text was written. They were used by a reed pen and ink written mostly on papyrus, but also on pieces of broken pottery. Because hieratic is a simplified version of hieroglyphs, it is quite possible to translate and convert it into its hieroglyphic sense characters.

It was hieratic which later developed into demotic. This type of writing in no way resembles the hieroglyphs and so cannot be used to convert hieroglyphs to study the ancient texts. It replaced hieratic around 650 BCE, and used extensively for business purposes.

It was also used by reed pen, ink and papyrus, but also came to be used on monument inscriptions because very few people at this time could understand hieroglyphs. Consequently, the famous Rosetta Stone was erected in three different languages. Demotic began to be used less and less as the years went on and the last known inscription was carved in 452 CE at Philae.

Hieroglyphs themselves began to die out during the Roman period when the last pharaoh, Queen Cleopatra VII committed suicide. At this time, the hieroglyphs were mainly used by scribes in the temples and did not continue when the Roman Christians closed down the pagan temples. The last dated hieroglyphic inscription was at Philae, dated on 24th August 394 CE.

After this, Coptic was the only means in which to record the oral language of the Egyptians. The skills that were needed to read, write and understand the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were lost until 1822, when Pierre-Francois Champollion unlocked the means to understand them once again.

Bibliography:

Fischer, Henry G. (1977) The Evolution of Composite Hieroglyphs in Ancient Egypt, Metropolitan Museum Hournal, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Welcome to The Archaeology Queen!

Welcome to everyone who has stumbled into The Archaeology Queen....

This is a site dedicated to archaeology, anthropolgy, history, art history, mythology, religion and everything else that has links to the past. It is intended to be a haven of information for all age ranges, for those pursuing a career in history and for those who are just interested in the subject.

Let me introduce myself; my name is Lian Slayford and I am an archaeology student as well as an editor and freelance writer. I am continuing to study at university in order to specialise in religious archaeology; more specifically, symbolism in ancient religions. Think of me as Dan Brown's character, Robert Langdon, in the Da Vinci Code - only blonde, female and a lovely English accent!

Archaeology has always fascinated me since I was a little girl and I have devoured books on mythology and history since then. Because of this, I know (for the most part) nearly all the myths and legends that have emerged from the Classical world. In recent years, however, I have found myself being drawn to the east, to the worlds of ancient China, Korea and Japan (and it's not just because of the gorgeous men!).

I currently live in Birmingham, UK, although I was born and raised in Woking, Surrey. I moved to the West Midlands last year and although I miss having the British Museum on my doorstep, I must admit I do live living in Birmingham. I have 2 dogs - Medea, a pure white Siberian husky girl (who was, yes, named after the Greek Medea - my favourite mythological character) and Thorne, a massive Northern Inuit, who, like most male dogs, is a big wimp!

I intend to post articles relating to the subjects that hold my heart; you will find many articles on the world's different deities, civilizations and specific incidents. You will also find that I will post places of interest to the subject of archaeology and sites where I believe offer interesting, insightful and reliable information.

You can find many of my articles on Helium.com where I am the sub-channel steward for the Asian, African and Middle Eastern History channels, as well as the Asian Languages channel due to my knowledge on these subjects. You can go straight to my profile there by here www.helium.com/users/508025

Well, that's all I think I should state at this moment in time. New articles will be posted regularly and I hope that you, the reader, will enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them.

The Archaeology Queen.
aka Lian.