DECEMBER 2009 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: vema@bigpond.net.au

THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN

VEMAThe oldestcirculating

Greeknewspaper

outsideGreece

A groundbreaking woman in Greek archaeology

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St Nicodemosthe Athonite(1749-1809)200 years since his repose in the Lord

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WINDOWS TO ORTHODOXY

Christmas and Epiphany: Two Feasts, One Mystery?

PAGES 10/38- 11/39

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Vlachohoria:Back

to basics

Tourism is helping to re-vive this mountainous cen-tral Greek group of Vlachvillages near the city ofGrevena

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To all our readers we extend our sincere good wishesfor a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2010

TTHHEE ‘‘PPEEAACCEE’’ AANNDD ‘‘GGOOOODD WWIILLLL’’ OOFF CCHHRRIISSTTMMAASSOUR PRIMATE’S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA2/30 DECEMBER 2009

Half of all parents allow their teens to drink at home!Half of all Australian parents allow their teens to

consume alcohol at home, placing many on a path toproblematic drinking.

A poll has found widespread acceptance amongparents of allowing their teens, as young as 15, todrink alcohol while supervised at home.

Wealthier families were also more likely to allowthe practice, which placed a developing brain at risk,Professor Ian Hickie said.

“It is concerning that one in two adults believes it isacceptable to allow underage drinking,” said ProfHickie, executive director of the Brain and Mind Insti-tute.

“Parents need to understand that early exposure toalcohol can disturb a wide range of key brain func-tions ... potentially causing permanent disruption.”

The MBF Healthwatch survey of 1,200 Australiansfound support for supervised underage drinking in thehome was highest among families earning more than$100,000 - with 63 per cent support.

A majority (53 per cent) of families earning $70,000to $100,000 also agreed with the practice, whileamong those earning less there was 48 per cent sup-port.

Parents in WA, Tasmania and the Northern Territorywere more likely to voice support than those in thenation’s more populous states.

Dr Christine Bennett, chief medical officer of BupaAustralia, said the statistics were “surprising” amidrising community concerns about binge drinking byyounger Australians.

“Evidence suggests that the younger teenagers arewhen alcohol is introduced, the greater the risk oflong-term alcohol related health problems,” Dr Ben-nett said.

“Binge drinking in young people is on the rise andit’s shocking to think that one teenager a week dies ofalcohol abuse.”

Dr Bennett said many parents allowed underagedrinking because they felt it was “harmless” or, atleast, it was a safer introduction to a practice thatteens would otherwise do without supervision.

“Some parents may think this is harmless. Somemay see this approach as a way to teach theirteenage children about socially responsible drinking,”Dr Bennett said.

“But we want parents to understand that early ex-posure may actually be doing their teenagers dam-age.”

AAP

Australia overtakes US to have biggest homes

in the worldNew research shows that Australia has over-

taken the United States to have the largesthomes in the world. While average US homesizes have shrunk for the first time in a decadedue to global recession, the average floorspace of new Australian homes hit a recordhigh of 214.6 square metres in 2008/09 finan-cial year, according to official data.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) datacommissioned by CommSec also showed theaverage floor area of new free-standing hous-es was also at a record high - 245.3sqm. Byconstrast, the average size of new homes start-ed in the US in the September quarter stood at201.5 sqm.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/31

EditorialDECEMBER 2009

By Cathy Alexander

The world can do this.That was the message given at the

opening of the Copenhagen climatesummit.

There have long been doubts aboutthe prospects of a deal to tackle globalwarming at the crucial summit, whichhas drawn more than 15,000 delegatesto the Danish capital.

But the summit's bosses issued a ral-lying cry at the opening, saying an ambi-tious deal could be reached to slash thegreenhouse gas emissions which havebeen blamed for global warming.

"A deal is within reach, together wecan accomplish what must be accom-plished," Danish prime minister LarsLokke Rasmussen said at the officialopening of the UN conference.

"We can change, and we have tochange."

Mr Rasmussen said he was "painfullyaware" of differing views on globalwarming, but called on the more than100 world leaders who will attend thesummit to settle their differences.

Connie Hedegaard, the Danish climateminister who is the head of the summit,said Copenhagen was "the defininggathering of a generation".

"Let's get it done," she repeatedly tolddelegates.

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer had oneword for the 192 countries representedat the summit.

"Deliver," he said.

Mr de Boer capitalised on the theme ofthe summit's opening - children.

He quoted from a six-year-old boynamed Nyi Lay who lost his parents in acyclone, and warned that if such eventswere to be prevented, a deal on climatewas needed.

Nyi Lay was not the only child to fea-ture. The launch began with an alarmingvideo of a young girl having a nightmareabout global warming.

Thousands of delegates and journalistswatched as the girl saw her playgroundturned into a desert wasteland, andscreamed as she battled floods andstorms.

The video was followed by a perform-ance by a choir of teenage girls from

Denmark.The UN's chief expert on the climate

science, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, tack-led the issue of whether climate changewas real.

Emails obtained from a UK universityappear to show researchers trying tohide or suppress evidence the worldwas not warming.

The affair, dubbed Climategate, hasbeen seized upon by climate sceptics tocast doubt on the point of the Copen-hagen summit.

Dr Pachauri said the UN body incharge of climate science, the IPCC,which has concluded that climate changeis real and is highly likely caused by hu-mans, was based on credible science.

The IPCC "has a record of transparentand objective assessment... performedby tens of thousands of dedicated scien-tists from all corners of the globe," hetold the launch.

Dr Pachauri slammed the computerhackers who had carried out "illegal acts"to obtain the emails from the Universityof East Anglia, and praised the researchof those scientists involved in the emails.

Speaking on the need for action on cli-mate change, he said "some naturallyfind it inconvenient to accept its in-evitability".

The conference is being held at theBella Center, south of the city centre.

Some delegates have faced longqueues at the booked-out conference,which is being covered by more than3000 journalists from all over the world.

World leaders have made someprogress towards a deal on globalwarming in recent weeks as the loomingCopenhagen conference prompted themto make pledges about reigning ingreenhouse gas emissions.

But big problems remain over whoshould do more to reduce emissions,and who should pay.

World leaders, including AustralianPrime Minister Kevin Rudd, will attendthe summit on the last day, December18, to try to seal the deal.

A legally-binding treaty to cement thedeal - and to take over from the Kyotoprotocol, which runs out in 2012, is notexpected to be reached at the confer-ence. AAP

The previous column explored the relativist ideals thathave permeated many, if not all, aspects of contempo-rary society. Whilst certainly not an exhaustive study, Iam confident it did, at very least, provide some food forthought. As we approach the great feast of the Nativity,we are called by our Holy Church to consider this defin-ing moment in the history of our salvation and the wholeworld.

The great feast of the Nativity - or Christmas as it iswidely known across the western world - is arguablythe most misunderstood religious festival, and this, be-cause of contemporary society’s leaning towards rela-tivist and consumerist ideals.

For many people, the feast of the Nativity is simply agood opportunity to exchange gifts and enjoy the com-pany of friends. One may ask why this is the case giv-en the significance of the event. The answer is not asimple one but is most certainly linked to our casual (or

relativist) approach to matters concerning the faith.Once our desire to consume is thrown into the equation,the great feast is reduced to Xmas (the very fact Chris-tians tolerate and even use this abbreviation is sympto-matic of the relativism of our contemporary society), theday in which we worship Santa, presents, Xmas lightsand Boxing Day shopping in place of the Incarnate GodWho gave Himself as a gift to the entire creation, mov-ing us from darkness to light.

I am certainly not suggesting a blanket ban on allXmas things because that is simply not reasonable orpossible. What is possible is the re-Christianisation ofall these symbols, but this is only possible if we firstembrace the true spirit of the feast of the Nativity whichin turn is made possible only through embracing thetrue and traditional approach to the feast.

The feast of the Nativity is not just another day to re-member God and fulfill part of one’s annual church at-tendance commitment (relativist approach) or an oppor-tunity to self-righteously spend on our loved ones (con-sumerist approach), while hoping that they also choosewisely fοr us. Rather, it is the celebration of God’s con-descension (συγκατάβασις), of God’s becoming man sothat man can become god through Grace. It is the cele-bration of God’s emptying of Himself (κένωσις) and hu-miliation on behalf of His fallen creation. It is the begin-ning of the holy Twelve-day period which commemo-rates and celebrates God’s self-revelation in the Lord’sbirth, circumcision, baptism and submission to the law.

Let us therefore join the Church in preparing for thefeast through the sacraments, prayer, fasting, spiritualreadings, charitable deeds and meditation on the Wordof God Who chose the stable instead of the HeavenlyThrone.

Like the shepherds and wise men, let us seek to findthe Christ Child, and like the Angels, let us proclaim theSaviour to all, beginning in our own homes, by teachingour children from their youth what the true meaning ofChristmas is. Then, and only then, will the salvific act ofthe Incarnation be for us something more than anotheropportunity to overindulge in the excesses of the all toocommon and popular Xmas parties. Of course the pre-vious statement is a good example of ‘preaching to theconverted’ given that the readers of The Vema wouldalready be trying to do this. Yet let us all, through ouractions and words help those who may not fully under-stand the significance of the celebrations and the Or-thodox way of celebrating this great feast.

I wish everyone a Blessed and Joyous Nativity. Maythe Incarnate Lord grant peace, health and heavenly joyto all people.

To comment, agree, or disagree, visit http://petermav.livejournal.com/

* Peter Mavrommatis is a teacher of Orthodox Studies and PersonalDevelopment at St Spyridon College Senior School Sydney.

By PETERMAVROMMATIS *

The Feast of the NativityRevisiting the true essence of Christmas

'We have to change'

World leaders have gathered in Copenhagen for the UN Summit on Climate Change

The Greek Australian VEMA DECEMBER 20094/32 TO BHMA

ST NICODEMOS THE ATHONITE(1749-1809)

200 years since his repose in the LordBy Dimitri Kepreotes

St Nicodemos the Athonite was born Nicholas Kalli-vourtsis in 1749 on the island of Naxos.

In 1775, aged 26, he entered the holy monastic com-munity of Mount Athos, labouring tirelessly from thatpoint onwards for the salvation of a mostly enslavedChristian population, through the preparation and dis-semination of spiritually edifying works, until his peace-ful repose in the Lord in 1809.

While sharing the same spiritual goal as his contem-porary, the New Martyr St Kosmas Aitolos (1714-1779)1

- who prepared himself on Mt Athos before visiting vil-lage after village, to teach and personally encourageeveryday people to stand firm in their faith amidst theapparent permanence of Moslem rulers at that time -St Nicodemos’ method was different. His approach,even if not explicitly stated, reflected the view that spir-itual books could travel further and faster than anyexponent of them.

And so, either by purposefully selecting manuscriptsfrom various monastic libraries of Mt Athos, or by col-laborating with others2, or adapting older works3, orsimplifying their language4, or embellishing their content,or adding commentaries, he either authored, co-autho-red or edited the following major works:

This list is only representative; it does not include, forexample, several thick volumes of liturgical commen-taries and original compositions of hymns, nor his edi-tions of the works of St Symeon the New Theologian andSt Gregory Palamas for which he toiled immensely, nora substantial range of treatises. And of all these, themajority still need to be translated for benefit of theEnglish-speaking world.

And so one monk of poor means - but of rich faithand great intellectual capacity - became a major con-tributor to the field of Eastern Orthodox education.

Ottoman rule afforded few educational opportunitiesto the Orthodox population. Higher education had to besought abroad. Indeed, the very works prepared by theAthonite had no reasonable chance of being printed onGreek territory5, for which reason the manuscripts weresent to Venice and, to a lesser extent, Vienna.

One might then well ask why St Nicodemos workedso hard, in the midst of much unavoidable theologicalilliteracy, to collate into the Philokalia what could only bedescribed as the most profound theological writings.

Surely a more ‘elementary’ introduction to the faithwould have been more appropriate under the circum-stances! To say this, however, would be to miss thepoint about St Nicodemos’ uncompromising aim of notonly holding high the ideal or model of what the trueperson should be like6, but also of stating how one is toachieve the ultimate, deifying goal of the spiritual strug-gle. This is precisely what the Philokalia presents: thefirm conviction that this ideal and goal are identical forall - for the educated and uneducated alike. For themonastic as much as the layperson.

Together with the other leaders of the Kollyvades7

movement (notably St Makarios of Corinth and St Atha-nasios of Paros), St Nicodemos re-invigorated the dor-mant hesychast tradition of cultivating holy silence andthe experience of God. In so doing, St Nicodemos wasarguably the most prolific and prodigious ecclesiasticalwriter since St Gregory Palamas (d.1359). Within theKollyvades movement, he found himself having to dealin a creative way with the increasing influences of theEnlightenment. Yet the irony here of course is that, whileSt Nicodemos was criticized for allegedly being too con-servative in defending his people against certain ideas

stemming from the Enlightenment, an equal amount ofcriticism was heaped upon him by those who believedthat he borrowed too much from the West! Such are thecontradictions, not of the man himself, but of the super-ficially derived opinions concerning him.

St Nicodemos therefore combined personal asceticendeavour with the deepest concern for the well-beingof others. This dual emphasis is reflected beautifully inhis icon and in the corresponding words depicted clear-ly on both pages of the book he holds open:

St Nicodemos managed, with limited assistance, tohelp uncover and revitalize a part of the EasternChristian life that, for whatever reason, was largely neg-

lected during his time. In so doing, he embodied andepitomized an important Orthodox monastic ideal,namely that the monk and nun must be concerned notonly for their own salvation, but for the salvation of all8.

In closing this brief tribute, it would not be an exag-geration or oversimplification to say that the healthieraspects of Church life enjoyed today (such as the cen-trality of the Eucharist, monastic renewal, the Philokalicspirit and the so-called ‘return to the Fathers’), can betraced in a large geographic and historic circle that com-menced unassumingly on Athos during the 1700s, andthen gained momentum via the staretz 9 and great Rus-sian émigré theologians, before in a sense ‘returning’ toGreece only in the second half of the 20th century.

Yet, the ‘good disease’ has firmly caught on. Only inthe last decade or so, Greece has hosted several majorconferences10 dedicated exclusively to St Nicodemos,something one rarely hears of even for the Cappado-cian Fathers! There has been a blossoming of new edi-tions and noteworthy studies11of his works. St Nico-demos is not only studied, but increasingly loved.

Nicodemos was formally canonised as a Saint of theOrthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate ofConstantinople only in 1955, declaring that his memoryshall be celebrated every year on the anniversary of hisrepose, July 14.

On the eve of his passing into the next life, sensingthe imminent flight of his soul, St Nicodemos asked toreceive Holy Communion from his fellow monks in thekelli of St George, near Karyes. His first biographer,Efthymios, recounts how the monks returned to St Nico-demos shortly after he communed, finding him witharms crossed. They asked, “Teacher, what are youdoing? Resting?”, whereupon he replied:

“I have put Christ in me, how can I not rest?”

1 St Nicodemos was in fact the author of the first account of St KosmasAitolos’ life and martyrdom, contained in the Neon Martyrologion. More-over, it is believed that St Nicodemos, before becoming a monk, was astudent of Chrysanthos, the brother of St Kosmas.2 Such as with Priest-Monk Agapios when editing the Pedalion.3 Two of these (Unseen Warfare and Spiritual Exercises) famously origi-nated in the West, on account of which he was unjustly criticized. 4 There are several cases in which the Saint adapted works already writ-ten in difficult Greek long before him, such as commentaries on thePsalms and the Epistles of St Paul, and reprinted them in more colloquialGreek that the people of his day could understand.5 It is a remarkable twist of history that the first person to have estab-lished a printing press in Constantinople in 1627 was also called Nico-demos (Metaxas)! Unfortunately, however, his initiative could not survivefor more than a few years, let alone long enough to be of use to St Nico-demos. For more background on that press, see W.B. Patterson, KingJames VI and I and the Reunion of Christendom, Cambridge UniversityPress, 1997, pp. 211-2126 This significant observation was made by Fr Makarios of SimonopetraMonastery, Mt Athos, in a personal conversation earlier this year.7 The term Kollyvades was applied in a derogatory way by their oppo-nents, following debates about whether or not Memorial Services shouldbe permissible on Sundays, but extending into an entire range of liturgi-cal issues, the most important of which was the re-instatement of theancient practice of receiving Holy Communion frequently.8 It is said that he once requested a printer to make the letters somewhatlarger so that the elderly too could read them with more ease.9 Particularly Ukrainian-born Elder Paissy Velichkovsky, who we know wasgreatly respected by Nicodemos and who translated the Philokalia intoSlavonic before publishing it in 1793, as well as initiating a Romaniantranslation.10 The proceedings of which have been separately published and amountto hundreds of pages each. The most recent conference was that hostedby the Monastery bearing the Saint’s name, in Pentalofos, N. Greece, be-tween September 3-5, 2009.11 A recent example is the doctoral thesis of Fr George Marnellos, SaintNicodème L’Hagiorite - Maître et Pédagogue de la Nation Grecque etde L’Eglise Orthodoxe submitted to St Sergius Theological Institute, Paris,and published by the Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies, Thessaloniki,2002

• The Philokalia (in 5 volumes), an anthology ofspiritual writings focusing on the Jesus Prayer,which had a major long-term effect on Slavonic,Romanian and Russian-speaking populations,soon after its respective translation into these lan-guages.• The Rudder (Pedalion), the collection of sacredCanons formulated by Ecumenical and RegionalCouncils, as well as individual Fathers.• An enormous Commentary on Psalms• Commentary on the 14 Epistles of St Paul• Commentary on the 7 Catholic Epistles• The correspondence of Barsanuphios and John(835 questions and answers on the spiritual life)• On the Frequent Reception of Holy Communion• A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel (SymvouleftikonEncheiridion, also published in English within theClassics of Western Spirituality series)• Unseen Warfare (Aoratos Polemos)• Spiritual Exercises (Pnevmatika Gymnasmata)• The Lives of Saints (Synaxaristis)• The New Martyrs (Neon Martyrologion)• Confession of Faith (Omologia Pisteos)

May the name of Jesus be the sweet remembrance of your heart

&My concern is to edify my brothers

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 5/33

Our Primate’s ViewDECEMBER 2009

By ARCHBISHOPSTYLIANOSOF AUSTRALIA

The ‘great and paradoxical mystery’ of thedivine Incarnation, which we are called upon tocelebrate each year in Church and at our homeswith gratitude and devotion, on behalf of all hu-mankind, finds us curiously and completely ‘per-plexed’ each year.

If we were not overly concerned about es-tablished public opinion, we could almost say thatit astonishes us!

And it astonishes us to the point of leavingus speechless, and sometimes even in a stateof panic.

Although all Christians know from the out-set, more or less, the central message that willformally be conveyed to us once again in order toconsole our largely stressful daily life, each of usnonetheless struggles to overcome a host of in-ner obstacles which may spoil the joy and op-timism of Christmas.

However, the obstacles being mentionedhere are not the ‘personal sins’ which one couldexpress, with contrition, to a spiritual father inconfession.

They are rather the scandalous socio-po-litical situations which increasingly ‘reduce’ thehorizon of the thinking person. And sometimesthey make the contradictions (between the ‘di-vine promises’ and daily practice) unbearable,at least for those who, in spite of this, still dare todeclare that ‘the Lord God lives’.

So in seeing the ‘impasse’ that our livesface in the present world, we are in danger oflosing our ‘orientation’.

Yet this means that perhaps we have nottaken seriously enough the assurances of ChristHimself concerning the temporary and fleetingnature of this world.

Both of these characteristics of our life inthe world require great caution and spiritual ‘dis-cernment’, so that we do not interpret them erro-neously.

This danger is unfortunately a ‘given’ for allof us, whether we are clergy or lay people, edu-cated or less educated.

Indeed, the danger becomes even greaterbased on the fact that Christ spoke intenselyabout the affliction which all of us will unavoid-ably taste during our life on earth:

“In the world you will have affliction;but be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)

In a past Christmas Message, we had com-mented with compassionate understanding onthe ‘complaint’ of a monk of Mt Athos who camefrom Asia Minor. He had been ‘tormented’ from avery young age, and so he would say with tearsto the pilgrims who came to his Monastery: “Af-fliction cannot be endured, not even by a manwho struggles continually.” Which is why hewould add: “Only the God-Man could over-come the world”!

Yet if we carefully analyze this very human‘complaint’ of the Athonite monk, we can see that,deep down, he was showing neither a pes-simistic nor a fatalistic approach to life.

On the contrary, it was an honest and braveconfession. A dual confession, in fact.

On the one hand, it acknowledged theceaseless struggle that everyone must under-go for as long as they live.

And on the other hand, it expressed theconviction that the world can truly be “overcome”,but only in the name of Christ.

So after our absolute helplessness initially,we see ourselves almost unexpectedly makingthe most astonishing confession with Paul, theApostle to the Nations, who was able to state un-til the end: “I can do all things through Christ whostrengthens me” (Philip. 4:13)!

Therefore with this continually tried andtested and ‘inexhaustible’ courage of the ‘faith-ful servant’, each of us - and all of us together -will once again put aside this year the sorrowsand ‘debris’ which have piled up around andwithin us, so as to enjoy the peace and goodwill of Christmas.

Yet above all, we must never forget thedeep relationship between ‘peace’ and ‘goodwill’, ie. ‘good disposition’.

Without peace there cannot be good will.And without good will between us, we would bewaiting for the fruits of peace in vain.

To God the Word, who became Incarnatefor all people, be honour and worship to all ages.Amen!

[translated by DK]

THE ‘PEACE’ AND ‘GOOD WILL’

OF CHRISTMAS

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA6/34 DECEMBER 2009

Under the aegis of THE GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA and in conjunction with SCOUTS AUSTRALIA

2ND BELMORE GREEK CUB & JOEY SCOUTS

ENROLMENTS for 2010 NOW Parents & children are welcome to

see and learn new things, have lots of fun, make new friends, and be part of a team,

whilst promoting our Greek culture, language and our Greek Orthodox faith

On every Friday evening of school terms 6.00pm

Last meeting for 2009 on Friday 4/12/2009. First meeting for 2010 on Friday 5 /2/2010

at the 2nd Belmore Scout Hall 8 Lark Street, Belmore (near All Saints Greek Orthodox church)

For Information and details contact: Mr George Papadimitriou James, Commissioner for Greek Scouts Phone: 9567 1835 or 9567 2253 - Email: greekscouts@hotmail.com

Archaeoastronomy at the Nicholson The Nicholson Museum at The University

of Sydney was packed to the rafters re-cently for a fascinating presentation onone of the great mysteries of ancient Hel-lenism: the Antikythera Mechanism.

Professor Robert Hannah (Classics, Uni-versity of Otago, New Zealand) delivered agreat illustrated lecture on one of theworld’s earliest computing devices. Prof.Hannah combined history, science andpersonal experience in a fascinating eve-ning. In 1901, a group of sponge fishermen

from Symi recovered pieces of metal andwood from an ancient shipwreck off thecoast of the island of Antikythera (in thestrait between Peloponnesos and Crete. Itwas one of the first marine archaeologicalexcavations. Since then, many scientistshave examined the 82 fragments of theMechanism in an effort to decode its se-crets. What was it for? When was it creat-ed? How was it made? A century later, itstubbornly holds on to some of its secrets.

Going by the lettering on the Mechanism,

it is commonly agreed that it was createdsometime in the first century BC. Consist-ing of 30 interlocking bronze plates andseveral gears encased in wood about thesize of a modern shoebox, it is commonlyagreed that the Mechanism calculated themovement of stars and planets in order todetermine important dates such as Panhel-lenic Games and other religious obser-vances.

A number of aspects of the AntikytheraMechanism fascinate even the non-spe-cialist. How did people more than twothousand years ago make mechanical in-struments of such precision? The bronzeplates and gears were all hand-carved!How did the ancient Hellenic scientistswork out a method of ‘marrying’ three verydifferent calendars: the Egyptian (365 daysper year based on the sun), the Zodiac(based on the moon) and the Star Calendar(based on the movements of the stars andplanets)? How did they develop a systemof such precision that in this one device,three methods of measuring time werecombined into one?

The function was a combined effort ofthe Nicholson Museum and the KytherianWorld Heritage Fund.

This sort of collaboration between Aus-tralian Hellenic community organisationsand university institutions sets a pattern ofcooperation of mutual benefit and is a keyway Australian Hellenism can support andencourage Hellenic studies in Australian in-stitutions.

Expatriate top ballerina and actress

Mao’s Last Dancer captures the intoxi-cating effects of first love and celebrity, thepain of exile, and ultimately the triumph ofindividual endeavor over ideology. Filmedin China, the US and Australia and with abrilliant performance from Chi Cao as LiCunxin, Mao’s Last Dancer is an exhilarat-ing exploration of what it means to be free.The movie, one of the most successfulAustralian films of all time, also co-starsGreek-Australian dancer and actress,Camella Vergotis.

Vergotis attended The Australian BalletSchool graduating with honors in 1998. Af-ter joining The Australian Ballet, Camillaperformed a variety of Principal roles, in-cluding Symphony in C, Serenade in Suite

en Blanc, Lise in La Fille Mal Gardée, Con-stance in The Three Musketeers, Ros inThe Sentimental Bloke, and Princess Florinein The Sleeping Beauty as a guest artist forThe Dancers Company. Her most memo-rable soloist roles include Canary Fairy andAir Fairy in Stanton Welch’s The SleepingBeauty; the peasant pas de deux in TheFlower Festival in Genzano, the YoungDuchess and Cygnet in Graeme Murphy’sSwan Lake, Lucille in Raymonda, theApache pas de deux in Tivoli, as well asroles in Divergence, Rites, La Bayadére,lead cupid in Molto Vivace, Bomb Squad, Inthe Upper Room and Paquita. Camilla iscurrently a soloist with the Hong Kong Bal-let.

Professor Robert Hannah.

The Antikythera Mechanism.

2ND

ENROL NOW FOR 2010

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 7/35

Facts & StatsDECEMBER 2009

ANNOUNCEMENT OF EVENING CLASSES

St Andrew’s Theological College is pleased to announce the introduction of evening course units in theological studiesduring 2010, commencing the week of Monday 22 February 2010. These units are credited towards graduate level pro-grams of the Sydney College of Divinity: the Graduate Certificate in Arts, the Graduate Diploma of Arts and the Masterof Arts (admissions criteria apply)

The schedule of units for Semester 1, 2010, will be:

Mondays: Introduction to Pastoral Theology (Rev. Alan Galt)Tuesdays: Greek 1 (Dr Gregory Fox)Wednesdays: Introduction to the Old Testament (Rev. Dr John El Karaan)Thursdays: Introduction to Orthodox Theology (Dr Philip Kariatlis)

The schedule of units for Semester 2, 2010, will be:

Mondays: Theory and Practice of Pastoral Counselling (Rev. Alan Galt) and Introduction to the New Testament (Dr Margaret Beirne)

Tuesdays: Greek 2 (Dr Gregory Fox)Wednesdays: The Early Church (Dr Ken Parry)Thursdays: Early Christian Patristic Theology (Rev. Dr Doru Costache)

Classes are conducted over a 13-week semester and between 6:00-9:00pm each week. Units are open to qualified menand women irrespective of religious affiliation. They may also be undertaken by university students as electives towardstheir own undergraduate or postgraduate degrees, subject to approval by their Faculty or Department.

Tuition fee per unit: Graduate Students ($920); Undergraduate Students ($820); Auditors ($430). FEE-HELP governmentloan scheme is available, subject to eligibility criteria. Students should enquire with the Registrar about the availabilityof scholarships. Applications for Semester 1, 2010, should be lodged by Friday 12 February 2010. Late applicationsmay be considered subject to the limitations of class sizes.

To apply, please visit http://www.sagotc.edu.au/admissions.html or contact the Registrar by telephone on (02) 9549 3101or registrar@sagotc.edu.au.

St Andrew’sGreek Orthodox Theological College

Greece to restore birthplace of classical theatre

The ruined theatre under the Acropolis where the works of Eu-ripides and other classical playwrights were first performed some2,500 years ago will undergo partial restoration over the next sixyears, Greek officials said.

The E6 million ($A9.77 million) program is set for completion by2015 and will include extensive modern additions to the survivingstone seats of the Theatre of Dionysos.

But it is unlikely that the site will host modern audiences any timesoon. Standing on the southern slopes of the Acropolis Hill, the the-atre was first used in the late 6th century BC. It saw the openingperformances of tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides,as well as Aristophanes’ comedies - considered the precursors ofwestern theatre.

“The Theatre of Dionysos ... is of immense historic significance,as it is here that the masterpieces of ancient drama were first per-formed,” said architect Constantinos Boletis, the project leader.

Theatre first emerged as an art form in late 6th century BCAthens, where playwrights competed for a prize during the annualfestival of Dionysos - the ancient god of theatre and wine in whosecult the art originated.

Originally a terrace where spectators sat on the bare earthabove a circular stage, the Theatre of Dionysos was rebuilt in lime-stone and marble during the 4th century BC and modified in Hel-

lenistic and Roman times. A small section of the stone seating -which could hold up to 15,000 spectators - survives. Restorers willgradually add several tiers, using a combination of new stone andrecovered ancient fragments, while strengthening retaining wallsand other parts of the building.

“The program will have a major impact on the overall aspect ofthe monument,” Boletis told a press conference.

A decades-long project is already under way to conserve and re-store the ancient marble temples on the Acropolis, which includesthe complete disassembly and rebuilding of the 5th century BCTemple of Athena Nike.

The Dionysos project will be funded by a grant from Athens re-gional authorities, in cooperation with the Diazoma non-profit foun-dation for the protection of the estimated 140 ancient theatres andconcert halls that survive throughout Greece.

Following extensive restoration over the past century, some nowhost summer music and theatrical performances.

But there appears little prospect of that happening at the Theatreof Dionysos, despite initial plans after its excavation in the 19thcentury.

“The idea ... was finally abandoned in the mid 1970s,” Boletis said.

AP

Shoppers undeterredby RBA’s

first rate rise

Consumers appear to havebeen undeterred by an Octoberinterest rate rise, spending $19.8billion at the shops that month.

The figure represented a sea-sonally-adjusted 0.3 per cent in-crease on September, accordingto Australian Bureau of Statisticsdata released recently.

The result was in line with econ-omists’ expectations.

Retail spending had been fairlysubdued in the run-up to the Re-serve Bank’s monetary policytightening phase as the impact ofthe federal government’s stimuluspackages wore off.

Consumer spending is expectedto have detracted from economicgrowth when the September quar-ter gross domestic product data isreleased on December 16.

In October the Reserve Bank lift-ed the cash rate by 25 basispoints from a 49-year “emer-gency” low of 3.0 per cent.

The central bank has sinceraised the rate twice by 25 basispoints each time.

Westpac went further than theReserve Bank on Tuesday by in-creasing its standard variablemortgage rate by 45 basis points.

The other major banks have yetto announce their rate decisions.

More than 1,000 drivers caught usingmobiles in one day

More than 1,000 motorists inNSW have been caught using theirmobile phones, in a 24-hour policecrackdown.

As part of Operation Complian-ce Six, 1,059 drivers were caughtusing their mobile phones, while1,350 others were booked forspeeding.

Traffic Services Commander,Assistant Commissioner JohnHartley, said the result was “sha-meful”.

“The state’s road toll stands at429 and, despite all our warnings,it would seem there are motoristsout there intent on acting up be-hind the wheel and risk them-selves becoming the next statis-tic,” Mr Hartley said in a statementrecently.

Most of the mobile phone of-fences were detected in the Syd-ney area, while most speeding of-fences were committed on region-al roads. Mr Hartley stressed itonly takes a momentary lapse ofconcentration to have an accident.

“There is surely no phone callworth losing your life for - if yourphone rings, ignore it or stop yourvehicle in a safe location beforepicking up.”

AAP

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA8/36 DECEMBER 2009

We extend to all of you, our sincere good wishes

for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

(02) 9718 7715

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 9/37DECEMBER 2009

MBF Honours 2009 Ethnic Business Award Finalists

Leading private health in-surer MBF recently helpedcelebrate Australia’s 21styear of the Ethnic BusinessAwards, in honour of mi-grants who have made im-portant and valuable contribu-tions to the Australian econo-my in their respective fields.The gala dinner and awardsceremony was held in Sydneywith Her Excellency Ms Quen-tin Bryce AC, Governor Gen-eral of Australia as the Guestof Honour. As a sponsor ofthe Awards, MBF, part of Bu-pa Australia, proudly present-ed each finalist with a gift torecognise their dedicationand investment of time andresources into Australian so-ciety.

Bupa Australia Chief Finan-cial Officer, Hisham El-Ansary,said he was particularlyproud to recognise and sup-port each finalist given heand his family immigrated toAustralia from Egypt 40 yearsago.

“Having previously under-taken a similar journey, I cantruly appreciate the commit-ment and perseverance eachfinalist has displayed to es-tablish businesses that aresuccessfully contributing tocommunities’ right across thecountry,” El-Ansary said.

“By engraining themselvesinto the country’s local busi-ness scenes, these Finalistshave become a credit to Aus-tralia’s migrant community -and to Australia as a whole.

“I would like to sincerelycongratulate each finalist onthe amazing contributionthey’ve made to Australia’seconomic landscape, and I’mconfident their enterpriseswill continue to thrive well in-to the future,” he said.

The awards exist to recog-nise the determination andcompetitive spirit of Austra-lia’s migrant community byawarding business ownerswho have excelled in eitherthe small or medium-to-largebusiness categories. Finalistswere flown in from all overthe country, representing ho-melands including Lebanon,China, Italy, Mauritius, Ireland,Poland, Croatia, and Egypt.

“It’s an honour to receivethis gift in recognition of thework we have put into devel-oping our successful busi-ness,” said Guiseppe Giugni,who started Fyshwick FreshFood Markets - winner of theSmall Business Award - afterleaving school at the age ofonly 15.

“The Ethnic Business Awar-ds are a natural fit for Bupa

Australia, given our ongoingcommitment to supporting mi-grants and other visitors toAustralia in managing theirhealthcare needs,” El-Ansarysaid. Bupa specialises in pro-viding health cover for ‘in-pats’, ‘ex-pats’, overseas stu-

dents and skilled workers andtheir families entering Aus-tralia on a 457 working visathrough MBF’s sister brand,HBA. Importantly, HBA’s cus-tomer service specialists canadvise businesses - or visaholders - about the Depart-

ment of Immigration and Citi-zenship’s requirement that all457 working visa holdersmaintain an adequate level ofhealth cover for themselvesand their families for the du-ration of their stay in Aus-tralia.

Giant iceberg a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’

sightingA giant iceberg - 19km long - drifting to-

wards Western Australia has been hailedas a once-in-a-lifetime rarity for both itssize and the length of its journey.

The iceberg, known as B17B, is about1,700km from Australia‘s west coast on alengthy and laborious journey fromAntarctica.

It is one of the biggest icebergs everseen in that part of the world and hasamazed scientists for having maintainedits impressive size without breaking apart.

“It’s very rare, uncommon, but not un-usual,” Australian Antarctic Divisionglaciologist Dr Neal Young told AAP.

“Icebergs do come from time to timeand they can be very big, but it can be along time before we spot one - so it’s re-ally a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.”

Originally three-times its current size,the iceberg broke off Antarctica’s Ross IceShelf in 2000 along with a slew of others.

The iceberg has since travelled thou-sands of kilometres and a third of the wayaround Antarctica thanks to ocean cur-rents and winds.

It stayed completely still in one spot forabout five years.

As it makes its way slowly north to-wards Australia, the iceberg is likely tosplit into smaller pieces as it gets closer -if it comes this way at all, Dr Young said.

Dr Young originally spotted the icebergusing satellite images from NASA and theEuropean Space Agency.

The iceberg is 19km by 8km, equatingto an area of 140 square kilometres -roughly double the size of Sydney Har-bour.

AAP

Exhibition on love in antiquity

opens in AthensA major new exhibition in Athens ex-

plores the many facets of love in Greekand Roman antiquity - the sacred, profane,graphic and mundane.

What organisers say is the biggest everdisplay of its kind brings together morethan 270 artifacts from Greece andabroad, dating from the 6th century BC toearly Christian times.

Together with marble sculptural master-pieces from the Louvre in Paris and theCapitoline Museum in Rome, the CycladicArt Museum shows a recreation of an an-cient Roman brothel, a 2,500-year-old lovenote and a curse from a spurned lover.

Museum director Nikos Stampolidis saidthe exhibition aims to provide “a differentreading of the ancient world.”

Eros, from Hesiod’s Theogony to lateantiquity runs until April 5.

AP

Joseph Assaf, Manel & Ali Hammoud (Ella Rouge Beauty, Winner of the Initiative Award Category),Hisham El-Ansary (MBF). (Photo courtesy of Mackintosh photography)

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA

Scripture Teachers 2010

If you have an interest in volunteering for the Church and teaching Scripture in State Schools of New South Wales –

please contact your parish priest.

Our aim is to have a scripture teacher wherever there are three or more Orthodox children in a school. If you cannot commit on a weekly basis then at least offer your services as a relief teacher.

We also need assistant teachers for large classes. See your priest and put your name down for our next ½ day training program.

Sponsored by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

and St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA10/38

Windows to OrthodoxyDECEMBER 2009

Christmas and Epiphany: Two Feasts, One Mystery?

By Guy Freeland *

Before the next issue of Vema hits your local church wewill have celebrated two of the greatest of the TwelveGreat Feasts, Christmas and Epiphany/Theophany. We willalso have celebrated another feast of Our Lord, the Cir-cumcision (which doubles as the feast of Basil the Great)and a cluster of lesser feasts.

We will (hopefully) have enjoyed the family-centred fes-tivities of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, probably bro-ken the bathroom scales and said “good riddance” to, oralternatively shed a nostalgic tear for, the Old Year. Andparish priests will have been out on the road with theirHoly Water bucket tracking down even the least observantof the households in their spiritual care to bring them theBlessing of Jordan.

Just a string of disparate ecclesiastical and secular cel-ebrations, or is there an underlying unity to this extraordi-nary festive season? To uncover the unity beneath theseeming diversity we need to do some digging.

A Little Bit of History

Today, we, not surprisingly, do tend to think of Christmasand Epiphany as commemorations of two completely sep-arate events in the life of Christ, His birth and His baptism.But in the East these two events were originally com-memorated as a single great feast. This was kept on Jan-uary 6 and was understood as the feast of the Manifesta-tion (Epiphany) or Manifestation of God (Theophany); inother words, the festival of the Mystery of the Incarnationof the God-man, Jesus Christ.The Armenians still today combine the two commemora-

tions on January 6, but elsewhere in the East commemo-ration of the Nativity of Christ was transferred to Decem-ber 25.This, in fact, reflects a general liturgical tendency, to

tease apart individual festivals so that better focus can bedirected on their major aspects. Thus the Council ofNicaea (325) ruled that it was no longer permissible forchurches (mainly in Asia Minor) which had been followingthe tradition of celebrating the whole Paschal Mystery ofOur Lord on the day of the Jewish Passover to continue todo so; commemoration of the Resurrection was to be kepton a Sunday. This ensured that key episodes, from theLast Supper to the Resurrection via the Crucifixion, wouldbe commemorated on the days of the week on which theyhad historically occurred.

The celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25had begun in Rome by 336, seemingly before the feast ofEpiphany was kept there on January 6. In the East thecommemoration of the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus,an event which occurred some time after the actual birth,was transferred along with the Nativity to December 25;in fact, the narrative from Matthew provides the Gospelfor Christmas Day itself (2:1-12).

In the West the visit of the Magi, the manifestation ofChrist to the Gentiles, became the focus of Epiphany,while commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord (the fo-cus, of course, of the feast in the East) was observedeight days later, the Octave day. In present Catholic prac-tice, commemoration of the Baptism is normally observedon the Sunday after Epiphany (which itself is normallytransferred to Sunday).

But what of the dates themselves? The popular view isthat January 6 and December 25 were chosen becausethey corresponded to major pagan feasts which theChurch was anxious to replace with Christian festivities.The earliest evidence we have for the celebration of afeast in honour of Our Lord’s baptism, Epiphany, comesfrom early third century Alexandria, where it was ob-served by Gnostics. During the night of 5th/6th January at Alexandria the birth

of the god of time and eternity, Aion, was celebrated. Part

of the ritual involved the drawing of water from the Nile.A pagan belief, that on the night of this festival certainsprings flowed with wine, has also been linked to the factthat another event in the life of Christ was commemorat-ed at Epiphany; the first miracle He performed at Cana in Galilee when He turned water into wine (John 2:1-11).

December 25 was the traditional date for the NorthernHemisphere winter solstice (the shortest day of the year).Already celebrated as the birth of the god Mithras, it wasinstituted as the festival of the Unconquered Sun by theEmperor Aurelian in 274.

It is not difficult to see parallels between these paganfeasts and the Christian festivals. Christ is the Lord of theAges, which typologically links Him with Aion, and the Bap-tism could be said to be typologically linked to the cere-mony of drawing water from the Nile.

Before Aurelian proclaimed the Day of the UnconqueredSun (Dies solis invicti) Christ had already been linked withthe prophecy of Malachi (4:2) and received the title “Sun ofRighteousness”. That the Church might have wished to re-place a feast of Sol Invictus by that of the Sun of Right-eousness, and the birth of Mithras with the birth of Christ,seems plausible.

However, surviving documentation does not support thesubstitution thesis, although there could be little doubt thatreplacement of the pagan festivals by Christian festivalswould have been seen as beneficial. However, the calen-drical placement of such major festivals as Theophanyand the Nativity required concrete Christian argument.

It was widely believed that the conception of Christ, theAnnunciation, and the Crucifixion occurred on the samedate, an early favourite being April 6. Counting ninemonths from April 6 we arrive at January 6 for the Nativ-ity.

However, there was a rival contender for the Annuncia-tion, March 25, which is the conventional date for the(Northern Hemisphere) spring equinox on the Julian calen-dar. Nine months on brings us to December 25, the win-ter solstice. This reasoning coincided with a belief that theconception of John the Forerunner, according to theGospel six months before that of Christ, had occurred atthe autumn equinox. This also gives us December 25 forthe Nativity of Christ.

The Mystery of the Incarnation

If the creation of a distinct feast of the Nativity trans-ferred to December 25 was inevitable, there was never-theless a penalty to be paid. What are in fact different as-pects of one and the same mystery, the Mystery of theManifestation of God (Theophany) on Earth, the putting onflesh and revealing to humanity of the eternal Word of theFather through the power and working of the Holy Spirit,are now distributed between two festivals twelve daysapart.

At Christmas we behold the mysterious birth of Christ inthe privacy of a cave. The image of the helpless newborn

babe emphasises the humanity of Christ and the self-emptying (kenosis) of the Godhead. This is well-expressedin the icon of the Nativity with its homely and pastoralscenes of the midwives preparing to bath the infant, theshepherds with their flocks in the fields and Jesus’ foster-father, Joseph, pensively confronting his doubts.

But that the event is also one of supreme cosmic importis revealed through the symbolic representation of the di-vine light breaking through into the created world, thechoir of adoring angels and the star of Bethlehem markingthe place where the child lay with His mother.

As is stressed in the Western Epiphany tradition, theChrist-child is not only worshipped by Jewish shepherdsbut by the Gentile Magi from the East. Matthew recordsneither the number nor the rank of the Magi. However, atradition takes them to be three kings; earthly kings pay-ing tribute to the King of Heaven and presenting the infantwith gifts of gold (symbolic of kingship), frankincense(symbolic of divinity) and myrrh (symbolic of burial, and aprophetic foreshadowing of Christ’s Passion).

The poor uneducated shepherds and the wealthy lear-ned Magi are representative of the Jews and the Gentiles,and of the poor and rich, ignorant and learned, for Christcame to save all humanity.

Following the pilgrimage of the Magi, all is silence in theGospels save for the one incident when Joseph and Marylose Jesus, aged twelve, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem forPassover, only to find Him disputing with the scholars inthe Temple (Luke 2:41-52).

For thirty years the mystery of the Incarnation lies hid-den from public view, being partially revealed only to avery small number of individuals. But then the prophetJohn is called to prepare the way for the revealing of theMessiah through the baptism of repentance.

Now, amidst the crowds who came to hear John’spreaching and receive baptism, Jesus is proclaimed byJohn and manifested as the eternal Word and Son of God.Having received baptism at the hand of John:

.

Clearly, then, the birth of Jesus, the adoration of the Ma-gi, and the Baptism of Christ are but aspects of the oneMystery of God Incarnate. The whole period from Decem-ber 25 through January 6 should therefore be thought ofas a single festival, analogous to the fifty days of Paschawhich are bounded by Easter Sunday and the Sunday ofPentecost/Trinity, the Eighth Sunday of Pascha.

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” are indeed a continu-ous, fast-free festival which takes us from the Nativity toEpiphany. (This continuous festival is not broken by thefast observed on January 5 as this is strictly the Com-munion fast for the Vigil Liturgy, which should be celebrat-ed late afternoon/early evening.)

Fire and Water

In Orthodoxy, the Epiphany/Theophany is also known as“The Feast of Lights”. At first sight this might seem a littleodd for surely there are better claimants to the title? AtPascha the unwaning light of the Risen Christ pours forthinto the darkened world from the Holy Sepulchre inJerusalem, and, in imitation of the Holy Fire, into our dark-ened parish churches.

At Christmas, “the true light that enlightens every man(John 1:9)” takes on human flesh and dwells amongst us.And isn’t it at the Meeting/Presentation (February 2) thatSimeon prophesies that the divine child is destined to be“a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thypeople Israel (Luke 2:32)”? Moreover it is this feast that is

.. the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit de-scended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and avoice came from heaven “Thou art my beloved Son;with whom I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21b-22 RSV).

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 11/39

Windows to OrthodoxyDECEMBER 2009

Cont. from previous page

as “Candlemas” because in the Western rite candles areblessed and carried in procession; a feast of lights indeed.The meaning of the title becomes clearer, however, when

we recall that Christmas and Epiphany are in reality twoaspects of one and the same mystery and that it is thismystery, the Mystery of the Incarnation, which can truly becalled the Feast of Lights. It is at this festival that the lightof the Godhead comes into the world and the Holy Trinityis manifested through the signs of Our Lord’s baptism.Further, Christ’s baptism is the prototype of our own bap-tismal enlightenment, “enlightenment” being an early namefor baptism.

In the broader understanding, the Presen-tation/Meetingalso belongs within this unitary Mystery since it is the feastthat brings the Christmas-Epiphany season, which com-menced with the first day of the Nativity fast, November15, to its close.But this said, light is in fact very much a theme of the litur-

gy of January 6. At Christ’s baptism the fire of theGodhead descends into the Jordan, thereby driving out thehostile influences that were believed to inhabit the river(personified, in pagan iconographic style, as “Jordan” inicons of the feast), and sanctifies the waters:

The waters saw Thee, O God, the waters saw Thee and were afraid. The Jordan turned back, seeing the fire of theGodhead descending bodily and entering the stream.

(The Great Blessing of the Waters, Mother Mary andArchimandrite Kallistos Ware, The Festal Menaion, Faber &Faber.)

Today we know from science that the universe is com-posed of a vast array of elements. But this does not inval-

idate the matter theory of Antiquity from the perspective ofeveryday experience. According to the Ancient view,everything (except the heavens) around us is made up ofvarying proportions of just four elements: earth, water, airand fire. Because through baptism we participate in thebaptism of Christ, and put on Christ, the elements of whichwe are composed are sanctified.

The rite of the Great Blessing of the Waters originated asthe sanctifying of the water of the font. Epiphany was oneof the five festivals on which baptism was administered (ineven earlier times it was, in normal circumstances, onlycelebrated once, at the Paschal Vigil). So the sanctifiedEpiphany water we sprinkle and drink is Spirit filled bap-tismal water which, by virtue of Our Lord’s baptism, pos-sesses great power for every need, from the driving offof evil spirits to the blessing of houses.

In terms of modern science, water is a very remarkablesubstance. We ourselves are around 65% water and itwas from the seas and other bodies of water that the evo-lution of life was set on its course. The numerical valuesof almost all of its properties are physically and chemical-ly anomalous. Had its properties been even slightly differ-ent then organisms would not exist and the universewould be totally unlike the one we know. Recently my wife and I saw some of the remarkable stro-

matolites found in Western Australia. Stromatolites areformed in water by layers of mats of cyanobacteria andcan take a column-like form, as is the case with those atLake Thetis in the photograph. Some living stromatolites inWA are around 1000 years old but fossilised stromatolitesfound in the Pilbara have been dated to around 3,500 mil-lion years ago, making them amongst the earliest forms oflife known.

Liturgical theology does not depend on science, whetherAncient, Modern or Pseudo. None the less, science canoften deepen our understanding of sacramental signs.That it is through baptismal water that we are reborn,recreated, should come as no surprise to the scientificallyliterate. In His baptism in Jordan Christ sanctified thewaters, indeed all the elements.

* Guy Freeland lectures in Hermeneutics and Liturgical Studies at St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College, Sydney.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA TO BHMA12/40 13/41

ST SPYRIDON COLLEGE

GGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

Memorable Moments 2009

- ,

μ μ μ μ μ

Pierre De Coubertin Award presented at Sports Presentation Evening

Lyndall Jessie, CEO CIS at Sports Presentation Evening with School Captain, and Sports Captains

Year 12 Farewell Doxology New Sports and Performing Arts Centre Foundation Blessing Celebrations

Mad Hatters Morning Tea

Book Week “Mask Parade”

Greek Army Officers V

Visit Preparing for Lent—Olive Picking

For further information regarding ST. SPYRIDON COLLEGE please contact Sophie Balayannis on (02) 9311-3340 or Email: sbalayannis@stspyrido

X N

Snapshots 2009

on.nsw.edu.au

Snapshots 2009

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA14/42 DECEMBER 2009

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese ofAustralia is sceptical about the recent at-tempt to introduce ethics classes in Stateschools. The former NSW Premier Na-than Rees announced a trial of ethicsclasses at four State schools. Theseclasses are intended for children who do

not attend scripture lessons and which itis claimed places them at a disadvan-tage.

The program for the proposed ethicsclasses has been designed by the StJames Ethics Centre. This was originallypart of the St James Anglican Church in

Sydney. The program is general and sec-ular in nature.

Scripture classes are a legislative rightextended to all children with a religiousbelief in New South Wales. Parents orguardians who do not have a religion ordo not wish their child to participate in

scripture are free to withdraw. Normallythey participate in other activities, suchas private study.

The Church is not opposed to instruc-tion in civic ethics as part of the normalschool program. It does object to the factthat ethics is considered equal to reli-gion. In fact, topics on ethics are only avery small part of the formal Orthodoxprogram taught in State schools. It seesthe introduction of these classes as anattempt by the St James Centre to extendits influence. This was made clear to theSt James Ethics Centre in March 2008.

Moreover the Church sees this as partof a backdoor attempt by some to re-duce the influence of religion in Stateschools. Already there are many who donot want any religious influence in Aus-tralian life. For instance the AustralianEducation Union has argued for a returnto secular schooling.

Secularism is not the same as freedomof religion. In one sense it is the oppositeof Christianity. It is an atheistic philoso-phy. There is nothing particularly goodabout secularism per se.

In part the origins of secularism are aprotest against the harsh religiosity ofearlier times as well as a literal relianceon the Bible. In many Protestant andCatholic traditions, Christianity is seenlargely as a set of rules. Today few Aus-tralians hold strong religious beliefs sothese issues are not important to them.Probably they see nothing wrong in clas-ses on ethics. The Orthodox perspectiveon religion is far broader.

Religion is not ethics. It is not about be-ing “good”. It is much more than a way ofbehaving. Unfortunately a decaffeinatedwestern view of religion has also influ-enced Orthodox Christians.

Ethical behaviour is a by-product of aperson’s conscience. It is not their faithor religion.

If you are a Greek Orthodox parentwho believes strongly in the Orthodoxfaith then you have a moral obligation tosupport Scripture teaching in Stateschools. This is the major missionary ac-tivity of our Orthodox Church. You canshow this support by writing a short let-ter to your school principal to thank themfor providing religious instruction to yourchild or to asking them to provide reli-gious instruction where there are threeor more Greek Orthodox children in aschool.

In addition there are other things thatwe can all do to overcome this influence.This will be followed up in a later issueof the Vema.

Dr Jim AthanasouSt Andrew’s Greek Orthodox College

The views expressed are those of the authorand not necessarily those of the Greek OrthodoxArchdiocese of Australia or St Andrew’s Greek Or-thodox Theological College or the Greek-Aus-tralian Vema.

A School of Academic Excellence

‘Enrolling for 2010’

St John’s College is a school with a great tradition and has made an

enormous impact on the Greek Community of Melbourne over the past

29 years. It has a wonderful reputation and its Alumni have attained a

tertiary education at prestigious universities. Our VCE results have been

outstanding due to the commitment of our caring staff and hardworking

students.

The College offers a broad curriculum, which includes a:

• Greek Orthodox programme that focuses on the essence

of being a proactive Christian in today’s society

• strong academic programme

• Greek language and cultural programme

• diverse co-curricular programme

- Clubs: Debating, Art, Computing, Chess, Fitness,

Magazine, Science, Cultural Dance Troupe, Culinary, etc

- Music: Junior, Senior and Byzantine Choirs

- Private Music Tuition: Instrumentals

• regular sporting programme

• structured welfare programme within a House system

that engenders a safe and caring environment

The College has outstanding facilities, refurbished for 2010:

A state of the art gymnasium, basketball courts, football field,

arts centre, food technology, science and computer

laboratories, information centre, etc.

For further information please contact the College.

St. John's

Greek Orthodox College

‘A School of the Greek Orthodox

Archdiocese of Australia’

‘Traditional Values,

Progressive Education’

Ph: (03) 9480 5300

Fax: (03) 9480 4314 www.stjohnspreston.vic.edu.au principal@stjohnspreston.vic.edu.au

21 Railway Place West

Preston, Victoria 3072

ETHICS CLASSES OPPOSED AS OPTION TO SCRIPTURE

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 15/43

HealthDECEMBER 2009

OVARIAN CANCERLast month I wrote about testicular cancer.This month I thought I should discuss ovarian cancer.

What is ovarian cancer?

Cancer which develops in the ovary is called ovariancancer. The ovaries are located on either side of a la-dy’s uterus or womb. The function of the ovary is toproduce eggs and to produce female sex hormones.

Who gets ovarian cancer?

Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer af-fecting women in Australia. About one in seventywomen develop ovarian cancer in Australia.

Ovarian cancer more commonly affects women whohave been through the menopause, but it can affectyounger women too.

What are the risk factors for developingovarian cancer?

Women who have a family history of breast or ovar-

ian cancer are at increased risk of developing ovariancancer.

The risk of ovarian cancer increases with increasedage, with ninety percent of ovarian cancers occurring inwomen over forty five. Women who are infertile have agreater risk of developing ovarian cancer, and womenwho take oestrogen only hormone replacement therapyfor a prolonged period have a greater risk of develop-ing ovarian cancer.

What are the symptoms of ovarian cancer?

Every woman should be aware of the symptoms ofovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer can be difficult to diag-nose, because the symptoms are symptoms that manywomen will have from time to time. These symptomsare often symptoms of less serious health problems.They could be symptoms of common problems such asbloating, increased abdominal girth, abdominal or pelvicpain, change in bowel habit, or increased urinary fre-quency or urgency.

Other symptoms of ovarian cancer may include unex-plained weight loss or weight gain, back pain, indiges-tion, nausea or fatigue, abnormal vaginal bleeding orpain during intercourse.

Now as you can see these are common symptomsthat may apply to many common medical problems oth-er than ovarian cancer.

Therefore women need to be aware of these symp-toms. If they are new, or persist for more than a fewweeks, or are present on most days, then these womenshould discuss these symptoms with their doctor.

How is ovarian cancer diagnosed?

There is no specific test to diagnose ovarian cancer.A number of tests will be undertaken in the patient sus-pected of having ovarian cancer. These tests include ul-

trasounds, X-Rays and blood tests. If these tests sug-gest ovarian cancer, then an operation is usually re-quired to confirm the diagnosis. At the same operation,the cancer will be removed.

What is the CA125 blood test?

This is a blood test which detects a certain type ofprotein called CA125.This protein made by the body inresponse to different conditions can be produced byovarian cancer cells. So, an elevated CA125 does notconfirm a diagnosis of ovarian cancer but makes itmore likely.

A CA125 can be elevated in other conditions whichinclude endometriosis, menstruation, fibroids, benignovarian cysts, pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease,and other non-gynaecological conditions, such as liverdisease and pancreatitis.

A normal CA125 does not necessarily rule out ovari-an cancer. Many women with ovarian cancer may havea normal CA125.

Hence the CA125 test alone is not useful as a screen-ing test for ovarian cancer because it is not sensitive orspecific enough.

There are currently no accepted methods of screen-ing for the early detection of ovarian cancer.

What are the treatments for ovarian cancer?

In most cases, ovarian cancer is treated initially withsurgery to remove the cancer, followed by chemother-apy to kill any remaining cancer cells in the body. Ra-diotherapy is also sometimes used to treat ovarian can-cer.

* The information given in this article is of a general nature and read-ers should seek advice from their own medical practitioner before em-barking on any treatment.

HEALTHNEWSNEWS

WITH DR. THEO PENKLIS *

Aussies smoke less, but drink and eat too muchBy Bonny Symons-Brown

Australians are smoking less, getting fat-ter, drinking at dangerous levels and livingalone in greater numbers.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS)quarterly snapshot of society, suggests thepopulation isn't as physically and emotion-ally well as it could be.

According to the new figures, bingedrinking is still a major community healthproblem. Overall, levels of risky drinkingamong Australians have remained steadyat about 11 to 13 per cent in the three

years to 2007-08, with one in seven menand one in nine women boozing in a dan-gerous manner.

The ABS data revealed men generallyprefer to drink beer, but younger malesfavour spirits and pre-mixed alcoholic bev-erages.

Younger women, too, were more likelyto consume spirits compared with olderfemales, who mostly drink wine.

The nation's other great vice, food, led to37 per cent of all adults being classified asoverweight in 2007-08, and another quar-ter are obese.

While men were statistically heavier thanwomen in these categories, females weremore likely to be morbidly obese thanmales.

Alarmingly, a quarter of all children agedbetween five and 17 were overweight orobese in 2007-08, up four percentagepoints from 1995 levels.

Unsurprisingly, the number of gastric re-duction surgeries has grown as well, up800 per cent over the last decade.

There were 13,600 bariatric procedures,such as gastric banding and other gastricreduction surgeries, in 2008 alone.

ABS spokeswoman Sue Taylor said itwas a mixed report card for Australians'health and wellbeing.

"One of the big concerns coming out ofour health statistics is obesity," she toldAAP.

"We've seen really big increases there,literally and metaphorically, over the last13 years.

"Drinking is just part of Australian culture,and many Australians drink alcohol on aregular basis.

"The encouraging thing is that rates ofrisky drinking drop off amongst womenwhen they're in their peak child-bearingage."

Australians also find themselves livingalone more often.

Two decades ago, only nine per cent ofpeople lived alone, compared with the 12per cent, or two million, who do now.

The ABS expects that figure to grow,with about 16 per cent of Australians esti-mated to be living alone come 2029.

Ms Taylor said there was a downside toliving alone.

"While most people value some time ontheir own, the issue is that people whospend a lot of time alone own may be-come socially isolated," she said.

Sole home occupants are statisticallymore likely than those living with others tohave a mental disorder or experience highlevels of emotional distress.

The outlook isn't totally bleak though. TheAustralian Social Trends data revealssmoking rates are falling.

Young people are kicking or avoiding thehabit, with only 23 per cent of 18-24-year-olds smoking, compared with 36 per centin 1990.

The number of Australian smokers hasdeclined overall by 24 per cent in the sameperiod.

AAP

For the BibliophilesEnrico Dandolo and the Rise

of VeniceBy Thomas F. Madden

Published by John Hopkins UniversityPress, 2007

The histories of Venice, Byzantium, mod-ern day Greece and in particular theGreek Islands, are inextricably inter-twined. Indeed, they are largely inter-twined because of one man, EnricoDandolo. Alongside Marco Polo, DogeEnrico Dandolo is, as this book says, thebest-known Venetian of the MiddleAges. He is remembered in history as acolourful character, a wily, clever, rascal-ly, shrewd and crafty leader who putVenice’s welfare above all else, even

above the common bond of Christianitythat Venice shared with it’s trading ally,Byzantium. He became doge of Venice in1192, when already in his eighties andcompletely blind, and later lead theVenetians on the Fourth Crusade whichduring which they, along with their fellowcrusaders, sacked Constantinople.Dandolo was also largely responsiblefor the birth of Venice’s maritime empirethat would see many of the GreekIslands subjected to Venetian rule.Madden’s scholarly and informed textoffers a detailed view of Dandolo’sincredible life and his impact upon thehistories of Europe, the Mediterraneanand Asia Minor, from a Venetian per-spective.

I.C.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA16/44 DECEMBER 2009

Glimpses of a Symbolic AnthropologyPart Four: The Body of the Incarnate One

Revd Dr Doru Costache *

The intention of this series is to prove from within theecclesial tradition that Orthodoxy has no share in whatsecular people today designate as the Christian aversionto the body. The previous article concluded by indicatingthat the whole point to Christian anthropology, as foundedon solid scriptural grounds, is not in fighting the flesh butin changing one’s lifestyle according to the exigencies ofthe spirit. I will continue by quoting again the biblical pas-sage included at the end of my previous article: ‘I am theliving bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eatsof this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will givefor the life of the world is my flesh’ (John 6:51). I stronglybelieve that the words of the Lord encapsulate the veryessence of our symbolic anthropology as basically consti-tuting an incarnational thinking about humankind. Withinthis context, the body is reinterpreted in a positive way.

In spite of the Neoplatonic-like contemporary interpreta-tions of the quoted passage, claiming that Christ meta-phorically refers to his teaching, our tradition consistentlydiscerns here a eucharistic rendition of the words of theLord. It is perhaps futile to restate in detail that, from theevents depicted in Luke 24:30-1 onwards, the main expe-rience of the Church with the risen Lord of glory remainsthe eucharist. Within the ecclesial synaxis or the liturgicalassembly, God’s people listens to the wisdom from aboveas delivered through scriptural readings and interprets thespirit of that wisdom in light of the eucharistic banquet.Consequently, in our tradition each liturgy (with the excep-tion of the Lenten liturgy of the presanctified gifts) containsthe words of the New Covenant, as uttered by Christ:“Take, eat, this is my body” (Matthew 26:26-8). Likewise, allthe prayers that refer to holy communion - within the litur-gy and the order of preparation for communion - alternatethe phraseology of John 6 and Matthew 26 (with its paral-lels).

The significance of these facts is immense. Within ourtradition, any spiritualist or disembodied, Neoplatonic-likeideals of life have no place. We take very literally the say-ing rendered in John 6:51, understanding that our waydoes not lead us just toward acquiring some lofty informa-tion, whether divine or not. Instead, our way aims at, andleads up to, the utmost participation in the divine life, asuniquely mediated through the body - and indeed the hu-man side - of the only Mediator between God and man (1Timothy 2:5), the Theanthropos, the Godman Christ. Thus,drawing from the foundational event of the mystical sup-per and being aware of the ultimate call to become par-takers of the divine life (see 2 Peter 1:4), we take serious-ly the fact that knowing God is primarily not a matter ofperusing the Scriptures but eminently a participatory ex-perience, a complete act of tasting, hearing, seeing andtouching God (cf. 1 John 1:1-3).

This comprehension is in fact inspired, required and en-forced by the very manner in which God has chosen tocommunicate himself to us: “God spoke of old to our fa-thers through the prophets in many and various ways, butin these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (He-brews 1:1-2). There is a culmination of the whole processof divine revelation to us, represented by the crucial eventof the incarnation of God’s Son.

The event of God’s manifestation “in the flesh” (1 Timo-thy 3:16) indeed constitutes the spinal column of our faith.This is so because the incarnation/enfleshment repre-sents not only God’s ultimate revelation but also the man-ifestation of the ultimate dignity of the human body as asymbolic architecture: it truly is the privileged channel ofdivine revelation. Such understanding is indirectly illustrat-ed by the famous Johannine sentence: “the Logos becameflesh (σὰρξ ἐγένετο) and made his tent with us, and wehave beheld his glory (ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ), asglory of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace andtruth” (John 1:14). Given that we can see God’s glorythrough the body, we can also taste God’s glory throughthe same body of the Incarnate One, offered to us as the

heavenly bread without which there is no life and fullness.Through the incarnation, notes St Gregory Palamas (On

the Divine and Deifying Participation 12), “the glory of di-vinity has become the glory of the body” (δόξα τοῦ σώμα-τος δόξα τῆς θεότητος γίνεται). The incarnation is thereforethe starting point of any Christian idea of the body. In lightof this very fact of the Logos of God taking on our flesh,human body and human life can no longer be seen as “thelower side of our otherworldly and spiritual nature”. WhatGod assumes or appropriates through the incarnation issaved, healed, redeemed and renewed. Defying all spiritu-alist idealisms, the incarnation highlights the intrinsic valueof the body, revealing its majesty or rather its call to ac-quire higher nobility. Far from being taken as “the otherside of human nature”, in the incarnation both the bodyand the matter become icons of a splendour that tran-scends any idealist simplification of reality. The incarnationthus illustrates another kind of “materialism”, pointing to

the flexible nature of matter as reshaped through the ex-perience of holiness and transfiguration.

These are the facts and their ecclesial understanding.Our Orthodox ethos derives from them and should be fur-ther fleshed out through a lifestyle that reiterates theirmain parameters. The glory of the body cannot beachieved and manifested, therefore, by way of easy cos-metic surgery; the change takes longer, pervading our en-tire constitution, and never fades away. The end of thisprocess is already visible in the glorified body of the as-cended Lord, on the faces of his saints, in the eschatolog-ical hallow of the icons and, last but not least, in the eu-charistic body that constitutes the true bread for the life ofthe word.

* Revd Dr Doru Costache lectures in Patristics at St Andrew’sTheological College, Sydney

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The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA18/46

ArchaeologyDECEMBER 2009

Much has changed for women sinceGreek archaeology was in its infancy acentury ago. Late 19th- and early 20th-cen-tury ladies who wished to participate in thenewly established field of archaeology hadto adapt and survive within a male-domi-nated world in which they were seldomgranted equal encouragement or profes-sional opportunities. In pre-WWI Greece,archaeological fieldwork seems to havebeen an endeavor that was consideredentirely inappropriate for “proper” ladies.Nevertheless, many women persisted and- depending on their own personal level ofconviction or willingness to buck the sys-tem - were able to forge their own path orfind a niche from which, albeit still in theshadow of male mentors, they could makesubstantive contributions. Unfortunately,recognition of these determined female ar-chaeologists and their achievements hasbeen slow to surface.

In the 1990s, however, new informationbecame available with the publication of abiography of American archaeologist Har-riet Boyd-Hawes (“Born to Rebel,” 1992), byher daughter Mary Allsebrook. Shortly af-ter, two specialists at the University ofCincinnati and Brown University launched aresearch project that ultimately resulted ina book (“Breaking Ground: PioneeringWomen Archaeologists,” Getzel M. Cohenand Martha Sharp Joukowsky, eds, 2004)and an internet database (“BreakingGround: Women in Old World Archaeolo-gy”) that today represents a vast, invalu-able resource on the subject of women inarchaeology (www.brown.edu).

Less familiar than Heinrich Schliemann orSir Arthur Evans, the name of Harriet Boyd-Hawes is at last gaining its rightful place

among those of already recognized pio-neers of Greek archaeology.

Boyd-Hawes (the latter was her marriedname, added only after her 1906 weddingto British anthropologist and archaeologistCharles Henry Hawes) was a diminutivewoman with a fiery spirit who first cameto Athens and enrolled as a student at theAmerican School of Classical Studies in1896.

The timing of her arrival in Greeceplaced her square in the midst of both ar-chaeological and political developmentsthat would figure prominently on the worldscene and have a great impact on her ownlife. Deeply influenced by Greek culture,both ancient and contemporary, Boyd-Hawe’s interests focused on Crete, wherein the last years of the 19th century Evanswas already sniffing around Knossos andthe Cretans fought victoriously for their in-dependence in the Greco-Turkish War of1897. This outbreak of hostilities preventedEvans from initiating excavations at Knos-

sos until 1900 and led Boyd into a second-ary vocation that she would take up againseveral times over the coming years:wartime nursing. She intrepidly volun-teered to nurse Serbian and Greek sol-diers in Volos and Lamia in 1897, thenAmerican soldiers during the brief Cubanwar of independence (Spanish-AmericanWar) in 1898; and finally Serbians again onCorfu and the small island of Vido in 1917during World War I. That same year Boyd-Hawes traveled to France to set up an aidstation at Grecourt within earshot of thefront. With peace restored on Crete in1900, Boyd, supported by Sophie Schlie-mann and Evans, received permission toconduct two archaeological surveys in1900-01 as well as small-scale excava-tions at Kavousi and Azoria. This was a re-markable achievement in itself, since shehad previously been discouraged by herprofessors in Athens from undertakingfieldwork.

It was suggested instead that she shouldconsider becoming an academic librarian.After many days of prospecting for antiqui-ties on muleback (her daughter writes that“a wooden saddle suited her better than alibrary chair”), Boyd was guided in May,1901 to the Bronze Age site at Gournia bya local informant. Upon seeing the poten-tial richness of the settlement she immedi-ately organized a full-scale excavation.Boyd-Hawes thus became the first womanin Greece to direct a major archaeologicalfield project, which eventually employed100 male laborers and 10 female pottery-washers. She was also the first archaeolo-gist to discover and unveil a complete Mi-noan town. While Evans was occupied inthe palace at Knossos, Boyd-Hawes re-vealed over three seasons (1901, 1903,1904) an extraordinary hill settlement ofEarly, Middle, and Late Bronze Age date (ca.2300-1200 BC) that included a network ofpaved streets and alleys, multistory hous-es, numerous workshops, and high in thetown center a miniature palace reflectiveof larger ones at other Cretan sites.

Appropriately, the female archaeologistwas also the first to discover a Minoanshrine dedicated to the snake-entwinedMother Goddess. In 1902, after concludingher initial work at Gournia, Boyd becamethe first woman invited by the Archaeolog-ical Institute of America to address the or-

ganization’s local societies. During the sub-sequent national tour through 10 differentstates she delivered 10 lectures on her“Cretan Pompeii” in 14 days.

That same year, the Philadelphia PublicLedger reported (March 5, 1902): “A Wo-man has shattered another tradition andsuccessfully entered unaided a field hither-to occupied almost exclusively by men,namely archaeological exploration. Specialskill and training, infinite patience and ex-ecutive ability, much courage, power ofendurance and force of will are requiredfor this work, besides other qualificationssupposedly possessed only by men; yetMiss Harriet A. Boyd, of Smith College -has, furthermore, made discoveries thatwill place her name high among those ofthe distinguished men who have been la-boring in the same field for years - The re-sults of Miss Boyd’s work must be consid-ered as remarkable, not only because oftheir character, but because she achievedthem alone... Miss Boyd’s work is entirelyher own.”

Boyd-Hawes made contributions to ar-chaeology in the classroom as well as thefield. At the time of her excavations atGournia she taught Greek and Greek ar-chaeology at Smith College, then pre-Christian art at Wellesley College in theperiod 1920-36. After her tremendous dis-coveries at Gournia, however, Boyd-Hawes never gained her place in archaeo-logical annals that she deserved.

Anthropologist Brian Fagan wrote someyears ago, “It is difficult to believe that, un-til recently, the discipline of archaeologyhad forgotten one of its most significantdaughters...”

ATHENSPLUS (30/10/2009)

A groundbreaking womanin Greek archaeology

Overlooked in 19th-20th centuries, Harriet Boyd-Hawes is now recognized for her contribution

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Guided to the Bronze Age settlement of Gournia, Harriet Boyd-Hawes immediately saw itspotential.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 19/47DECEMBER 2009

Travel

In the mountainous Grevenaregion, next to the Pindos Na-tional Park in central Greece,there are four Vlachspeaking(see below) villages - known asVlachohoria - at altitudes ofaround 1,200 meters, animalfarming strongholds until theearly 20th century. They are