National Greek Tourism Org.
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History - Sailing in Greece
When you think of Greece you think of the sea and the islands. The bowl of
the Aegean Sea is dotted with islands, hundreds of islands with
comparatively small distances between them, so that navigation is a matter
of looking for the next island and heading in that direction. In this way
it is possible to island-hop from one side of the Aegean to the other. Add
to this seascape a regular summer wind blowing steadily from a northerly
direction and you have the ideal climate for the evolution of sailing
craft and associated skills. For this reason the development of sailing
craft occurred relatively early on in this part of the world and until the
introduction of petrol and diesel motors, sail was the principal method of
moving people and goods. In this setting it would be surprising if the
indigenous folklore and mythology were not concerned with the sea and
ships. Homer wrote the first great epic of sailors and shipwrecks in the
Odyssey. The saga of Jason and the Argonauts in pursuit of the Golden
Fleece added another classic to bedtime reading. In this atmosphere of
sailing craft and adventure it is surprising that there are so few records
of sailing for pleasure. Pausanias records that in Ermioni during the
festival of Dionysus ‘they hold a musical contest in his honour and offer
prizes for a diving competition and boat race.’ There is some difficulty
with the translation of the word for boat race and it may mean a swimming
race, so even this brief mention of boating for pleasure is suspect. Not
until the Roman occupation of Greece do we find a concrete reference to
sailing for pleasure in the poems of Catullus. Catullus is little known
today, but in his time he instigated something of a revolution in poetic
style. A contemporary of Cicero, he moved in high government circles and
is believed to have entertained Caesar several times. In addition to his
literary credits, Catullus had a small sailing boat constructed for his
own pleasure, and in this craft he achieved some notable passages. After
visiting his brother in the Troad he sailed across the Aegean and up the
Adriatic to the river Po. He sailed up the Po as far as he could and then
hauled the boat out and transported it overland to Lake Garda. Catullus
retired to a villa on the shores of Lake Garda, spending his last years
writing poetry and sailing with friends around the lake. Not until the
19th and 20th centuries do we know that pleasure craft again sailed around
the Greek islands, although during the interim there must have been such
craft around. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries gentlemen on their
yachts cruised around the Mediterranean, often combining their sailing
with shooting expeditions or amateur archaeology. In those days a yacht
meant a small ship by today's standards. Some of them still survive -
marvellous creations of the boatbuilder's art which would cost a small
fortune to duplicate today and must cost the same to maintain. Some are
available for charter, but not by the impecunious. Until thirty years ago
Greece was relatively unknown to the cruising yachtsman. A few yachts
cruised around the islands simply for the fun of it and a few took charter
parties around the islands. To read an account of sailing in Greek waters
written then is much like reading an account today of sailing in the
Pacific - it all seemed a long way away and somehow exotic. Today, the
improved design of small yachts has made the long passages possible and it
is now commonplace to see yachtsmen in all manner and size of craft
sailing in Greece.
Most people, like myself, arrive in Greece without the benefit of a classical education. We may have heard of Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Pausanias, Livy, Pliny and Catullus and we may even have read some of their works, but we do not know them in the way that schoolboys of old did. The glories of Greece, the might of Rome, the splendour of Byzantium, the atrocities of the Saracens and Turks, the romantic passions of Byron and other Philhellenes we may know of only superficially. In Greece my outstanding difficulty was to put the places inhabited by the ancients, the monuments, castles and forts, into some sort of historical order. The following brief history will sort out some of that chaos, but for more detail and for scholarly wrangling over precise dates and alternative explanations the reader must turn elsewhere.
Pre-Cycladic times
Little is known of early Neolithic life in the Aegean. A number of Aegean islands were inhabited, and people must somehow have travelled between them to get there in the first place. Milos was of considerable importance because of the obsidian (volcanic glass) found there which was used to make knives, razors, spears and so on.
Cycladic civilisation
By about 4000BC Neolithic colonists were living on Crete and the Cyclades. It flourished mostly as a farming and fishing community, and artwork in stone, clay, obsidian and later metal has been discovered. The civilisation produced a distinctive form of geometric sculpture which has been found on the Greek mainland and in Asia Minor as well as in graves in the Cyclades. Some of the statuettes are of harp players and the civilisation has been nicknamed 'harpist' after these. From widespread distribution of the geometric statuettes it is believed that sailing craft regularly plied across the Aegean and even as far as France and Spain.
Minoan civilisation (2000 BC-1450 BC)
Around 2000 BC new peoples bringing with them the advances of the Bronze Age filtered into the Aegean from the Balkans and Turkey. They brought not only the art of working in bronze, but also the Mesopotamian pottery wheel and the eastern Mother Goddess. The Minoan empire based on Crete and Thira expanded and flourished until it was the dominant civilisation in the eastern Mediterranean. It was a remarkably advanced and peaceful culture. Knossos on Crete was not a fort but a palace which was both beautiful and functional; the Minoan art form worked into frescoes, pottery, and jewellery was both intricate and graceful and compares with any modern pottery and jewellery; and the Minoan fleet traded all round the Mediterranean and established order and peace under the aegis of the Mother Goddess. The civilisation ended abruptly, probably with the cataclysmic eruption of Thira round 1450 BC - one of the biggest eruptions known to have occurred on the Earth. The tidal waves, earthquakes and ash destroyed the Minoan civilisation overnight.
Mycenaeans, Dorians and Phoenicians (1500 BC-1100 BC)
With the demise of the Minoans, the Mycenaeans based at Mycenae on the Peloponnisos became the power to be reckoned with in the Aegean. These are the Achaeans of Homeric fame and were dominant from 1300BC-1100BC. The Mycenaeans were supplanted by the Dorians who invaded from the north and brought with them the Iron Age. For some two centuries between 1100BC and 900BC Greece lay in the grip of an era which is known now as the Greek ‘Dark Age’. In this period writing and painting disappeared. The Dorians settled around the eastern Sporades and Dodecanese, while the Phoenicians from the southern shores of the Mediterranean took control of the sea-routes. By 800BC a distinct language was emerging from the chaos of the ‘Dark Age’.
Greek civilisation (800 BC-27 BC)
What we know as the Classical and Hellenic periods began about 800 BC and lasted until the Romans arrived. This era saw the birth of the city-state (polis) and for this period there was never a united Greece, more a collection of city-states - some of which were more powerful and existed in alliance with others. Colonies were established all around the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Homer, Sappho, Alcaeus, and Archilochus belong to the early Greek period. Around 500BC the first threat to the Greeks came from the east when the Persians invaded and captured Naxos. Nine years later they were back and the famous battles of Marathon and Salamis were fought. The latter destroyed the Persian fleet and removed the Persian threat. Athens, the most powerful city-state, formed the Delian league based around the island of Delos to which all other city-states contributed and so Athens, through the league, controlled Greece. At various times some of the city-states fell out with Athens, but not until the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) was Athens really threatened. Sparta was the eventual winner, though its influence was not as great as Athens' had been. The islands on the eastern seaboard, Rhodes, Kos, Khios and Lésvos, became powers unto themselves. In 330BC, Philip II of Macedon conquered most of Greece and later his remarkable son, Alexander the Great, completed the job. Greece continued to prosper, but the country was gradually coming under Roman domination.
The Romans (27 BC – AD 330)
By 27 BC Greece was part of the Roman Empire. For nearly four centuries Rome controlled Greece, but for the most part had little cultural influence on it. Greek remained the official language and most cities were allowed to remain autonomous. Little by little Christianity filtered into Greece and merged with the ancient rituals and beliefs. The greatest change came with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity and the beginning of the Byzantine period.
Byzantium (330-1204)
The foundation of Constantinople and the rise of Christianity marks the rise of the first Christian Empire. In 6AD numerous tribes from the north, the Slavs, Avars, Huns and Bulgars, raided Greece, although the forces of Byzantium afforded protection to many cities. Nonetheless many islands were depopulated and towns contracted in size. Later the Saracens were active in the Aegean and some islands were to become completely deserted. The Saracens completely occupied Crete for some time (810-961). The Emperor Nicephorus regained control of some of the islands, but the power of the Byzantine Empire was waning. The churches, particularly the mosaics and frescoes within, are the most enduring monument of Byzantium.
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General
Most people, like myself, arrive in Greece without the benefit of a classical education. We may have heard of Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Pausanias, Livy, Pliny and Catullus and we may even have read some of their works, but we do not know them in the way that schoolboys of old did. The glories of Greece, the might of Rome, the splendour of Byzantium, the atrocities of the Saracens and Turks, the romantic passions of Byron and other Philhellenes we may know of only superficially. In Greece my outstanding difficulty was to put the places inhabited by the ancients, the monuments, castles and forts, into some sort of historical order. The following brief history will sort out some of that chaos, but for more detail and for scholarly wrangling over precise dates and alternative explanations the reader must turn elsewhere.
Pre-Cycladic times
Little is known of early Neolithic life in the Aegean. A number of Aegean islands were inhabited, and people must somehow have travelled between them to get there in the first place. Milos was of considerable importance because of the obsidian (volcanic glass) found there which was used to make knives, razors, spears and so on.
Cycladic civilisation
By about 4000BC Neolithic colonists were living on Crete and the Cyclades. It flourished mostly as a farming and fishing community, and artwork in stone, clay, obsidian and later metal has been discovered. The civilisation produced a distinctive form of geometric sculpture which has been found on the Greek mainland and in Asia Minor as well as in graves in the Cyclades. Some of the statuettes are of harp players and the civilisation has been nicknamed 'harpist' after these. From widespread distribution of the geometric statuettes it is believed that sailing craft regularly plied across the Aegean and even as far as France and Spain.
Minoan civilisation (2000 BC-1450 BC)
Around 2000 BC new peoples bringing with them the advances of the Bronze Age filtered into the Aegean from the Balkans and Turkey. They brought not only the art of working in bronze, but also the Mesopotamian pottery wheel and the eastern Mother Goddess. The Minoan empire based on Crete and Thira expanded and flourished until it was the dominant civilisation in the eastern Mediterranean. It was a remarkably advanced and peaceful culture. Knossos on Crete was not a fort but a palace which was both beautiful and functional; the Minoan art form worked into frescoes, pottery, and jewellery was both intricate and graceful and compares with any modern pottery and jewellery; and the Minoan fleet traded all round the Mediterranean and established order and peace under the aegis of the Mother Goddess. The civilisation ended abruptly, probably with the cataclysmic eruption of Thira round 1450 BC - one of the biggest eruptions known to have occurred on the Earth. The tidal waves, earthquakes and ash destroyed the Minoan civilisation overnight.
Mycenaeans, Dorians and Phoenicians (1500 BC-1100 BC)
With the demise of the Minoans, the Mycenaeans based at Mycenae on the Peloponnisos became the power to be reckoned with in the Aegean. These are the Achaeans of Homeric fame and were dominant from 1300BC-1100BC. The Mycenaeans were supplanted by the Dorians who invaded from the north and brought with them the Iron Age. For some two centuries between 1100BC and 900BC Greece lay in the grip of an era which is known now as the Greek ‘Dark Age’. In this period writing and painting disappeared. The Dorians settled around the eastern Sporades and Dodecanese, while the Phoenicians from the southern shores of the Mediterranean took control of the sea-routes. By 800BC a distinct language was emerging from the chaos of the ‘Dark Age’.
Greek civilisation (800 BC-27 BC)
What we know as the Classical and Hellenic periods began about 800 BC and lasted until the Romans arrived. This era saw the birth of the city-state (polis) and for this period there was never a united Greece, more a collection of city-states - some of which were more powerful and existed in alliance with others. Colonies were established all around the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Homer, Sappho, Alcaeus, and Archilochus belong to the early Greek period. Around 500BC the first threat to the Greeks came from the east when the Persians invaded and captured Naxos. Nine years later they were back and the famous battles of Marathon and Salamis were fought. The latter destroyed the Persian fleet and removed the Persian threat. Athens, the most powerful city-state, formed the Delian league based around the island of Delos to which all other city-states contributed and so Athens, through the league, controlled Greece. At various times some of the city-states fell out with Athens, but not until the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) was Athens really threatened. Sparta was the eventual winner, though its influence was not as great as Athens' had been. The islands on the eastern seaboard, Rhodes, Kos, Khios and Lésvos, became powers unto themselves. In 330BC, Philip II of Macedon conquered most of Greece and later his remarkable son, Alexander the Great, completed the job. Greece continued to prosper, but the country was gradually coming under Roman domination.
The Romans (27 BC – AD 330)
By 27 BC Greece was part of the Roman Empire. For nearly four centuries Rome controlled Greece, but for the most part had little cultural influence on it. Greek remained the official language and most cities were allowed to remain autonomous. Little by little Christianity filtered into Greece and merged with the ancient rituals and beliefs. The greatest change came with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity and the beginning of the Byzantine period.
Byzantium (330-1204)
The foundation of Constantinople and the rise of Christianity marks the rise of the first Christian Empire. In 6AD numerous tribes from the north, the Slavs, Avars, Huns and Bulgars, raided Greece, although the forces of Byzantium afforded protection to many cities. Nonetheless many islands were depopulated and towns contracted in size. Later the Saracens were active in the Aegean and some islands were to become completely deserted. The Saracens completely occupied Crete for some time (810-961). The Emperor Nicephorus regained control of some of the islands, but the power of the Byzantine Empire was waning. The churches, particularly the mosaics and frescoes within, are the most enduring monument of Byzantium.
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