(A pyramid near Nifida)
A cold wind and more than a week of
leaden grey clouds has made it clear: winter is on its way. The last tourists
have all left the island shivering. Some weather prophets predict that the
inclement weather forewarns the coldest winter ever in Greece; but that is what
they say each year.
The sun took some effort to blow away all those clouds, but
she finally managed. Now the sky and the sea are again competing for the best
colour blue and the dominating green colour on the land begins to cede more and
more to the yellows and the reds: fancy autumn has arrived and when you look
out over the sunny landscape you will notice more than one plume of smoke
reaching for heaven. That means that people are cleaning their fields and
preparing for the olive harvest.
The Greeks were not the inventor of
the telephone – an apparatus that nowadays for some people seems to be the extension of
an arm – but they had in ancient times other smart ways to communicate. For
instance the message of the victory over the Persians at the battle at Marathon
in 490 BC was brought to Athens by the running courier Philippides who ran so fast that he dropped death after reporting the message. In
his honour the marathon runs were created, a sporting events that is nowadays
especially popular.
Somewhat less known, was the system that was used many centuries earlier during the Trojan war (12th
or 13th century BC), as described by Homer, Aeschylus and Vergil. In
a few hours the Greek victory was reported to the city of Mycene, some 600
kilometres away, using fire signals, a system called fryktories. I can imagine that the Lesvorians
had plenty to say about what was going on in Troy: the fire signals line began
right opposite Lesvos, starting at the top of the mount Ida (the Kaz Dagi in
Turkey) and the signals carried along to mountaintops on Lemnos, Athos,
Makistos (now Kandilion on Evvia) towards the mainland and to the mythical city
of Mycene (that used to be a little down from Corinth). I am not sure if they
were then using the ingenious system of the two towers with five torches, which enabled them to write the whole alphabet.
But it is a fact that fire signals
have been used for centuries. The fryktories were the precursors of the lighthouses. They were not only used to help
ship navigation but also as a warning system against enemies. The Greek islands
especially were for centuries threatened by pirates and on the neighbouring
island of Chios there remain plenty of old watchtowers. They must also have been on Lesvos
and probably you can find some remnants of such towers in various places.
When last week we were driving
around a little and at Nifidia beach, we took an unkown path which seemed to go
towards the very end of the Gulf of Kalloni. On a mountaintop I thought I saw a
pyramid. It was no optical illusion because when the road reached the coast
again there was the very same construction: a six sided massive tower. Further
on there were even more. When we looked around we also discovered three other
pyramid-like buildings on the other side of the water. What were they? Were
they some kind of platform on which to light a fire? The flat top however was
not spacious enough for any firewood. And I can imagine that, on a windy day
making atop a fire, may cause the surroundings to go up in flames.
Were these constructions part of a
warning system against – for example – pirates? This seems to me a bit odd because from the rest of the island
you could hardly see them. Or was it a system of beacons for the ships to pass
safely through the opening of the Gulf of Kalloni? While most of these towers
stood at the seaside, one of them was a bit higher, pressed against a rocky
hill, another one stood high on a mountaintop, and one on the other side of the
Gulf overlooked the water from high on a ridge. If this was a beacon system for
the seafarers it must have been a very clever system for them to safely reach a
harbour.
A few local fishermen have confirmed
that it was a beacon system. It was very old, so old that the towers are now restored
with plenty of cement. Whatever they are, and from whatever period, I am sure
that these outstanding pyramids of Lesvos – spread out in the rough landscape
of red stones – were a kind a communication system.
During the summer there was some
annoyance about the lasers that were nightly sent into the air by the discotheque OXI. I am
wondering what is the point of these lights: are the lasers meant to be a
beacon in the night for clubbers? It might be an idea to, instead of using
these sky piercing polluters, to build some of these pyramid towers along the
roads going to the OXI. That would be less of a nuisance and also a nice
tribute to history.
The plumes of smoke you can now see
everywhere in the Lesvorian landscape, can be interpreted as the message 'here
is work going on', but of course they are not meant as fire signals. Or maybe
there are farmers, who by the means of a smoke column, warn their wives back
home that they are soon coming home, so the food must be on the table. This
could be the case, because a modern mobile phone does not work in all places on
the island, so you have to be inventive. Now just consider what amazing things
the ancient Greeks did!
(with thanks to Mary Staples)
© Smitaki 2014
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