Stella Kalogeraki Livres

Myths, history and folklore are the principal testimonies in tracking the olive culture which have been unbreakably linked with human existence in Greece for the past 5000 years. The tree with the blessed fruit is praised for its contribution to our diet, good health, hygiene, beauty, heating, and lighting, and acquires a sacred nature of symbolic and religious proportions. Contemporary medical studies endorse the myths about olive oil proving, that being the principal ingredient of the Mediterranean diet, it provides good health and longevity. In this book you can find ample information about the mythology, history and folklore of the olive tree, fruit and oil. At the same time you will be able to try culinary delights based on olives and olive oil thanks to the traditional recipes contained herein.

The myths of the twelve gods, the lesser gods, the heroes - both panhellenic and local - and the mythical campaigns, as they were recorded by the ancient Greeks and described by their poets, are brought alive in this book and transport the reader into an enchanted fantasy world. Gods ''in the image and likeness'' of man, with weaknesses and passions but at the same time all-powerful, radiant, immortal and ageless. Heroes who are human but have invincible physical strength and are fearless and self-sacrificing. Zoomorphic lesser divinities, one-eyed Cyclops, Centaurs with horses' bodies, hermaphrodite beings and terrible monsters - all these touch the imagination, entertain and educate; they are the very beginnings of European civilization. The richest mythology in the world is recounted in an easily understandable way, and lavishly illustrated with representations both from the art of ancient Greece and from works dating from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and modern times, proving that it has never ceased to be a source of artistic inspiration. Zeus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, Herakles, Theseus, Achilles all quickly passed beyond the borders of Greece to constitute a universal model for strength, wisdom and beauty.

Big bang, bam, boom! The noise must have been deafening. But nobody heard it, because nobody - and nothing - existed then! After that? There was…Chaos. Yes, that was created first of all – Chaos, and in it Eros and Gaia (Earth). This is how Hesiod, a farmer from Boeotia who had the gift of poetry, imagined the creation of the world. But his undisciplined mind was unable to stop there. “So - Chaos was created, Gaia (Earth) and Eros (Love). What about the rest? What about the gods? Who gave birth to the gods?” He thought and thought over again. He really put his mind to it, saying that the story went on…