Publications / Abstracts of Publications

 ABSTRACTS OF ALL PUBLICATIONS

Papers in International journal (refereed)

SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abstracts of Publications

1. "Empirical effective temperatures of B and early A stars". Monthly Notices R.A.S. (1980) 192, 745. 1980MNRAS.192..745K
Empirical effective temperatures of 112 B and early A type stars have been derived by comparing observed and computed fluxes in a wide and appropriate wavelength range. Space observations in the ultraviolet have been combined with ground-based observations, and the temperatures are derived by fitting computed fluxes to the observed fluxes in the visible and ultraviolet spectral range. Effective temperatures found here are in good agreement with those derived by previous workers.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1980MNRAS.192..745K
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2. "Empirical effective temperatures of late O, B, A and early F stars". Monthly Notices R.A.S. (1985), 214, 327. 1985MNRAS.214..327T

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3. "Observed radii and structural parameters of star clusters in the SMC III". Astronomy and Astrophysics Suppl. Series (1986), 65, 207. 1986A&AS...65..207K

The tidal radii, concentration parameters and masses of 24 star clusters in the SMC have been derived by means of star counts. In this investigation the seven most distant clusters (with projected distances from the rotation centre similar to the halo radius) are included as well and their masses were found to be about one hundred times lower than those of the halo clusters of our own Galaxy.

Full text: http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1986A%26AS...65..207K  

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A large number of SMC globular clusters of all evolutionary ages have been examined on 1.2-m UK Schmidt Telescope photographic plates of the same colour but different exposure times in order to derive their density profiles by means of star counts. Five clusters out of 32 were found to show differences in the slope of their radial density profiles. The observed differences in the radial density distributions give strong evidence for differences in the radial distribution of stars with various masses, the so-called "segregation effect".
Full text:

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1987MNRAS.227..257K -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. "The far UV spectrum of the Be star 88 Herculis". Astronomy and Astrophysics Suppl. Series (1988) 72, 497. 1988A&AS...72..497D

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1988A%26AS...72..497D 

12. "The UV spectrum of the Binary system TY Pyx". Astrophysics and Space Science (1993), 200, 47-65. & 1997jena.confE.120D

13. A presocratic cosmological proposal. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. Vol. 2, No. 2, June 1999, pp. 125-130. E. Danezis, E. Theodossiou and Th. Grammenos 1999JAHH....2..125D

Alcman is known as one of the greatest lyric poets of the ancient world. However, the publication of the Oxyrhynchus papyrus No. 2390 in 1957 caused a great deal of excitement. This papyrus, from the second century AD, contains parts of a comment written in prose, which implies that in one of his poems Alcman deals with a kind of a god-created cosmogony. That cosmogonical view, formulated by Alcman in the middle of the seventh century BC, describes much older considerations that resemble certain modern cosmological conjectures. In terms of the latter, the observable universe emerged out of a point singularity interior to a white hole which, due to the time symmetry of Einstein's field equations, can be considered as a time-reversed black hole.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1997jena.confE.325D 

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14. From Pythagoreans to Kepler: The dispute between the geocentric and the heliocentric system. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (JAH2) Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2002, pp. 89-98. E. Theodossiou, E. Danezis, V.N. Manimanis and E.-M. Kalyva

Some ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers questioned the geocentric system and proposed instead a heliocentric system. The main proponents of this view -which was seen a heretical at the time- are believed to have been the Pythagorean Philolaos, Heraclides, Hicetas and Ecphantos, but mainly Aristarchus of Samos, who placed the Sun in the position of the ‘central fire' of the Pythagoreans. The geocentric system, reworked by Ptolemy, was the dominant one for centuries, and it was only during the 16th century that the Polish monk-astronomer, Copernicus, revisited the ancient Greek Heliocentric views and became the new champion of the theory that we all accept today.

http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/jah2/past5.shtml 

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15. The Russians Calendars after the Christianization of the country. Journal of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions, Vol. 21, Nο. 1-3, June 2002, pp. 149-153. E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis and E. Danezis.

The Russians became acquainted with the Christian religion in 860 A.D. In the middle of the 10th Century, Princess Olga of Kiev visited Constantinople and was baptized under the name Elene. Later, when her grandson Vladimir became a Christian, all the Russians became Christians too. Moreover, ythe Russians adopted the Cyrillic alphabet and the Julian Calendar. In 1918 the government replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian one. Even today it retains the old Julian calendar. An important but short-lived change in the history of the Russian calendar took place in the year 1929. Then the seven-day week was abolished being substituted with five-day intervals. This attempt was unsuccessful and finally the Soviet government restored the use of the initial Gregorian calendar and the ancient seven-day week.

Full text: http://images.astronet.ru/pubd/2008/09/28/0001230700/149-153.pdf  

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16. The Calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church. Journal of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions, Vol. 21, Nο. 1-3, June 2002, pp. 145-148. M. Dimitrijevic and E. Theodossiou.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tandf/gaat/2002/00000021/f0030001/art00022
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10556790215577
In April of 1923, an Orthodox Church Council was held in Constantinoupolis. In this Panorthodox Council a proposal concerning the reform of the calendar, elaborated by the Serbian astronomer Milutin Milankovic in collaboration with professor Maksim Trpkovic. The final result was a more exact calendar than the Gregorian one; that is the most exact calendar ever seen in our world.

The rule was that: instead of three days in 4 centuries one should omit 7 days in 9 centuries or 0.0077 days per year. This means that only 2 years out of 9 ending the centuries, would be leap years. The rule is that the centurial years whose ordinal number ends with two zeros are leap years only provided that the number of centuries they belong to, divided by 9, yields the remainder 2 or 6. For instance the year 2000, ending the 20th century, is a leap year since 20 divided by 9 equals to 2 plus the remainder 2. Milankovic's proposal implies a much smaller difference, with respect to the true tropical year, than Gregorian calendar. Further improvements concerning the approaching to the duration of the tropical year are not necessary since that duration itself undergoes changes over longer periods.

Full text: http://images.astronet.ru/pubd/2008/09/28/0001230709/145-147.pdf 

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17. The fall of a meteorite at Aegos Potami in 467 BC. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (JAH2) Vol. 5, No. 2, Number 10, December 2002, pp. 135-140. E. Theodossiou, P. Niarchos, V.N. Manimanis and W. Orchiston.

http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/4968/1/4968_Theodossiou_et_al...2002.pdf 

Cosmic catastrophes have been associated from time to time with the fall of celestial objects to Earth. From the writings of ancient Greek authors we know that during the second year of the 78th Olympiad, that is the year corresponding to 467/466 BC, a very large meteorite fell at Aegos Potami, in the Gallipoli Peninsula (Eastern Thrace). This event was predicted by Anaxagoras, and the meteorite was worshipped by the Cherronesites until at least the first Century AD. The fall of the Aegos Potami Meteorite was not associated with any cosmic catastrophe, but it was believed to have foretold the terminal defeat of the Athenians by the Spartans in 405 BC near Aegos Potami, which brought to an end the Peloponnesian War in favor of Sparta.

In addition, according to the Latin author Pliny the Elder, during the first century AD the inhabitants of Avydus in Asia Minor worshipped another meteorite that was displayed in the city's sports center. The fall of this meteorite is also said to have been by Anaxagoras.

abstract: http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/jah2/past5.shtml 

Full text  (at the end)

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18. A new model for the structure of the DACs regions in the Oe and Be stellar atmospheres. Astrophysics and Space Science Vol. 284, No. 4, 2003, pp. 1119-1142. E. Danezis, D. Nikolaidis, V. Lyratzi, M. Stathopoulou, E. Theodossiou, A. Kosionidis, C. Drakopoulos, G. Christou and P. Koutsouris.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/l84702243222h04j/ 

As it is already known, the spectra of many Oe and Be stars present Discrete Absorption Components (DACs) which, because of their profiles' width as well as the values of the expansion / contraction velocities, they create a complicated profile of the main spectral lines. This fact is interpreted by the existence of two or more independent layers of matter, in the region where the main spectral lines are formed. Such a structure is responsible for the formation of a series of satellite components (DACs) for each main spectral line. In this paper we present a first approximation to a mathematical model reproducing the complex profile of the spectral lines of Oe and Be stars that present DACs. This model presupposes that the regions, where these spectral lines are formed, are not continuous but consist of a number of independent absorbing density layers of matter, followed by an emission region and an external general absorption region. When we fit the spectral lines that present DACs, with this model, we can calculate the values of the apparent rotation and expansion / contraction velocities of the regions where the DACs are formed.

Full text: http://www.springerlink.com/content/l84702243222h04j/  

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19. The first tower clock in Athens. Horological Journal, Vol. 145, Νο. 8, August 2003, p. 288-292. E. Theodossiou, S. Azzopardi and V.N. Manimanis.

Throughout the 17th century, a century that witnessed a revolution in Natural Sciences and the introduction of technology, new concepts contributed to the development of a new natural philosophy. The Universe was then thought to be a well-wound clock, a concept that respectively fed the growth of a technology that led to the development of the mechanical clock. This new mechanism was capable of counting the hours on a continuous basis, independently from celestial motion. European cities, one by one, were equipped with large mechanical clocks placed prominently in towers where everyone could see. Athens in turn, though still under the Ottoman Empire in 1814, acquired its first mechanical clock donated by Lord Elgin.

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20. The Christian chronologies of the Creation and the view of modern Astrophysics. Journal of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions, Vol. 23, Nο. 1, February 2004, pp. 75-80. E. Theodossiou.

How many different chronologies have been proposed for the beginning of the Creation? It is, of course, well known that the Jewish chronology starts from 7 October (1 Tishri) 3761 BC, however this starting point apparently satisfied neither the various scholars, nor the Christian savants and astronomers. As a result, from time to time miscellaneous dates were being proposed, from the Jewish historian Josephus (1st Century AD) up to the French humanist Joseph Scaliger (1484-1558) and the famous Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611-87). Not only the scholars of these eras, but also the Christian Churches defined through Ecumenical Council decisions the beginning of the Creation.

In this study we present the proposed dates, while we note that especially the date proposed by James Ussher (1581-1656), Archbishop of Armagh (Northern Ireland), i.e. the year 4004 BC and not the centurial year 4000 BC, is due to the historians' belief that Herod died in 4 BC. Thus, Ussher added these 4 years to the year 4000 BC in order to have a more accurate chronology in respect to the Birth of Christ, a birth placed by him, as well as by many chronicle writers of the era, in 4 BC.

Full text: http://images.astronet.ru/pubd/2008/09/28/0001230791/75-80.pdf  

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21. The different meanings of the term Ouranos and the importance of Aether in Aristotle's works On the Heaven and On the Cosmos. Journal of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions Vol. 23, Nο. 1, February 2004, pp. 81-84. E. Theodossiou.

Aristotle in his work ‘On the Heavens' gives the three meanings of the term ‘ouranos'. According to the great philosopher, ouranos is:

•a) the outer sphere in his geocentric model,

•b) is the body, which occupies the next place to the outermost circumference of the world and

•c) ouranos is the universe as a whole.

The whole of the heavens, the whole cosmos, is spherical, and moves continuously, and Aristotle uses the term cosmos as a synonym for ouranos. This sense is quite common from Plato onwards (On the Cosmos B, 391b 10).

Additionally, we describe the meaning of the term ‘aether', since 'aether', the fifth element (quintessence) is very important now in cosmological research.

Full text: http://images.astronet.ru/pubd/2008/09/28/0001230792/81-84.pdf 

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22. Theophilos Kairis: The Creator and Iniator of Theosebism in Greece. Journal of the European Legacy, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 783-797, 2004. E. Theodossiou, Th. Grammenos and V.N. Manimanis.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1084877042000311626 

The views of Enlightenment in the European countries are in general well known, while the attempts of introducing Enlightenment to countries in the periphery of Europe, like Greece, are not known in the same degree.

How did the scientific revolution migrate to the occupied by the Ottoman Empire Greek speaking regions? How did the Greeks accept the truly revolutionary ideas of the French Revolution and liberalism? What were the reactions of the conservative Greek Orthodox Church and who sacrificed their lives in the cause of their ideas?

Theophilos Kairis (1784-1853), a scholar, philosopher, and priest, has been the tragic victim of clerical bigotry. The creator of Theosebism in Greece had the tragic end reserved by fate for those who, being pioneers, have tried to introduce to Greece the liberal ideas of Western Europe and the Enlightenment.

Full text: http://www.arts.yorku.ca/hist/tgallant/documents/theodossiuetaltheophiloskarios.pdf  

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23. Reforma calendaruli iulian la sinodul de la Constantinopol din 1923. Jurnale Νova Reprezentare a Lumii Vol. 5, 2005, pp. 81-86. Dimitrijevic and E. Theodossiou.

Milutin Milanković proposed the calendar reform. He elaborated a new intercalation rule, that secular years are leap years only provided that the number of centuries they belong to, divided by 9 yields the remainder 2 or 6. In such a way he obtained the calendar more precise than Gregorian one but identical with them up to 2800. Namely the years 2100, 2200, 2300, 2500, 2600 and 2700 are ordinary according to both calendars. The years 2000 and 2400 are leap ones according to Gregorian calendar since 20 and 24 can be divided by four without rest and according to Milanković's New Rectified Julian one because when 20 is divided with 9 the remainder is 2 and for 24 the remainder is 6. The year 2800 is leap one according to Gregorian calendar since 28 can be divided with 4 without rest but according to New Rectified Julian is an ordinary one since 28:9 is 3 and the remainder is 1. One should take into account that than New Rectified Julian calendar of Orthodox Church will be in better agreement with nature than Gregorian calendar. The disagreement of one day between New Rectified Julian calendar and the tropical year will accumulate after almost 30 000 years!

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24. Un-tangible World and Modern Physics. European Journal of Science and Theology. Vol. 1. No. 4, December 2005, pp. 11-17. E. Danezis, E. Theodossiou, Y. Gonidakis and M.S. Dimitrijevic.

The problem of the co-existence with the so-called «tangible world» of a non-tangible one, inconceivable to human senses, was a point of disagreement and dispute between theology, philosophy and exact sciences.

Here is discussed the evolution of this view from presocratic philosophers to modern physics. Arguments that are important for theologians in order to follow the achievments of modern Science are also given. This is particularly important for Antiretic-Objectionable Theology making an effort to confute the metaphysical views of the Christian Theology through ideas mainly based on the findings of Exact Sciences.

Full text: http://www.ejst.tuiasi.ro/Files/04/11-17Dimitrijevic_et_al.pdf  

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25. Nicephoros Gregoras-The greatest Byzantine astronomer. Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions, Vol. 25, No. 1, February 2006, pp. 105-118. E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis, M.S. Dimitrijevic, M. and E. Danezis

Nichephoros Gregoras (1295-1360) is considered along with his teacher, Theodoros Metochites, one of the most significant scolars and the greatest astronomer of Byzantium. Gregoras was the first to propose, in 1324, a correction to the calculation of the Easter and to the Julian Calendar similar to the one adopted later, in 1582, by the Pope Gregory XIII. This proposition and, more obviously, his dispute with St. Gregorios Palamas, created problems in the relations of Gregoras with the Church, leading to the desecration of his corpse by the fanatic crowd.

Full text: http://images.astronet.ru/pubd/2008/09/29/0001230906/105-118.pdf  

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26. The greatest Byzantine astronomer Nicephoros Gregoras and the Serbs-Haјbeђи Визаңтијски астроңом Ниђифор Григoра и Срби. Journal of Classical Studies "Matica Srpska", Vol. 8, 2006, pp. 149-168. E. Theodossiou and M.S. Dimitrijevic.

In the wider Greek area no eminent astronomers appeared after the great Claudius Ptolemy (2nd Century A.D.). For 10 centuries after Ptolemy we can distinguish only one: Nicephoros Gregoras (1295-1360 A.D.). The monk Nicephoros Gregoras is considered along with his teacher, Theodoros Metochites, one of the most significant scholarly figures of Byzantium. His literary work is especially important, while Byzantine astronomy owes to him indisputable progress. Gregoras was the first propose, in 1324, a correction to the calculation of Easter and the reform of the Julian Calendar similar to one adopted later, in 1582, by the pope Gregory XIII. His famous book "Byzantine History" is an important source for the researchers on medieval Serbia. He was also in a diplomatic mission on the court of Sebian king Stefan Decanski.

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27. The unknown Roman calendars of Ancient Macedonia. Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions Vol. 25, No. 4, August 2006, pp. 347-354. E. Theodossiou and P. Mantarakis.

As a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian calendar became the most widely propagated among all the luni-solar greek calendars. However, despite its spread, two similar calendrical systems were developed and used inside Macedonia itself during the Roman occupation of Greece. The older one used the so called ''macedonian year''. This system started in 148 B.C. to underline the importance of the victory of the Roman Consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus against Philippus Andriscus, king of Macedonia.

The newer calendrical system used the ''respectable year'' bearing its name from Octavius Augustus; its starting point was the date of the catalytic victory of Octavius over Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra at Aktium (31 B.C.). In any case the Macedonian calendar outside Macedonia, survived among the calendrical systems of several asian and egyptian cities for centuries after Alexander the Great.

Full text: http://images.astronet.ru/pubd/2008/09/29/0001230944/347-354.pdf  

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28. "A new model for the structure of the DACs and SACs regions in the Oe and Be stellar atmospheres". PASJ: Publ. Astron. Soc. Japan 59, 827-834, 2007 August 25.

In this paper we present a new mathematical model for the density regions where a specific spectral line and its SACs/DACs are created in the Oe and Be stellar atmospheres. In the calculations of final spectral line function we consider that the main reasons of the line broadening are the rotations of the density regions creating the spectral line and its SACs/DACs, as well as the random motions of the ions. This line function is able to reproduce the spectral feature and it enables us to calculate some important physical parameters, such as the rotational, the radial and the random velocities, the Full Width at Half Maximum, the Gaussian deviation, the optical depth, the column density and the absorbed or emitted energy. Additionally, we can calculate the percentage of the contribution of the rotational velocity and the ions' random motions of the SACs/DACs regions to the line broadening. Finally, we present two tests and three short applications of the proposed model.

Full text: http://web.cc.uoa.gr/fasma/teamwork/Intro/2007_PASJ_59_827.pdf  

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29. Cosmological Questions in the Homilies on Hexameron of Saint Basil the Great- Κocмoлщка питања ў беседама на шестодңев Bасилија Bелиқог, Journal Cbecke Vol. 83, Κнижевност-Уметност-Култура, Maрт 2007, 58-62

One of the most important works of Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea and Saint of the Eastern and Western Christian Church (330-379 A.D.), consists of his nine Homilies on the Hexameron, where, using the scientific knowledge of his time, accompanied by a brilliant theological justification, he tries to prove the truth of cosmological events, described in the biblical book of Genesis. In the present paper, cosmological ideas during the time of Saint Basil were analyzed on the basis of "Hexameron". Particularly were considered the questions: (a) What existed before the Creation of the perceivable Universe? (b) Time before the Creation of the World. (c) Time as the measure of aging. (d) The achronal Creation. (e) The multiple Universe (f) The Universe with a beginning.

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30. Demetrios Eginitis: Restorer of the Athens Observatory, Journal of History of Astronomy and Heritage (JAH2) Vol. 10, No. 2, 2007, pp. 123-132

Demetrios Eginitis (1862-1934), one of the most eminent modern Greek astronomers, directed the National Observatory of Athens for 44 years (1890-1933). He was the fourth director since its founding, and was responsible for the restoration and modernization of the Observatory, which was in a state of inactivity after the death of Julius Schmidt in 1884. Eginitis ordered the purchase of modern instruments, educated the personnel, enriched the library with necessary and up-to-date books and arranged for new buildings to be built to house new telescopes and accommodate the personnel. Moreover, he divided the National Observatory of Athens into three separate Departments: the Astronomical, the Meteorological and the Geodynamic.

Demetrios Eginitis' contribution to Greek society went beyond his astronomical accomplishments. He was instrumental in the adoption of the Eastern European time zone for local time in Greece, and he succeeded in changing the official calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian. Having served twice as Minister of Education, he created many schools, founded the Academy of Athens and the Experimental School of the University of Athens. Eginitis was fluent in French, German and English, and therefore was the official representative of his country in numerous international conferences and councils.

http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/jah2/past10.shtml  

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Rigas Velestinlis (Velestino 1757-Belgrade 1798) was a herald and martyr of freedom, but also one of the forerunners of the modern Greek enlightenment movement. He did not have a chance to become a military commander of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) that liberated Greece from the Turks, or to teach in one of the Schools of the occupied nation. Nevertheless, with his restless intellectual researches, his books and publications, and his ideology, he managed to participate in the intellectual awakening of his enslaved nation, channelling through his works the novel ideas of the European enlightenment together with revolutionary messages.
When the French Revolution was followed by the victorious marches of Napoleon's army, triggering throughout Europe uprisings against age-old authoritarian regimes, Rigas became the political ideologue who attempted to transform theory into act, not only for Greeks but also for the other peoples of the Balkan Peninsula. His vision was a revolution of great proportions, an uprising of all enslaved nations against the Ottoman yoke, which would lead to the establishment of a democratic commonwealth in the whole Balkan and Near-East area.
Rigas Velestinlis is today better known to the Greek people than all the other scholars of the Greek enlightenment, due to his revolutionary "Thourios", a hymn or song glorifying the values of freedom and free thought that are common to all humanity. Rigas, an ideological visionary patriot, a romantic poet faithful to his ideas up to the end, stands as one of the greatest political figures in the Balkan area of the late 18th Century. He was the political guide and the person who articulated the desire of the enslaved people for freedom. In this article, his life and work are presented and analysed.

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32. "Hydor" from ancient Greek Cosmogonies to Modern Astrophysics. Transdisciplinarity in Science and Religion Journal Vol. 1, 2007, pp. 117-128.

Calm or rapid, still or running, water is considered the ‘blood' of Earth, which through the network of the rivers runs in its veins offering life. It is the most precious liquid of our planet, indispensable and beneficial to humans, animals and plants alike. Water is the primary substance of the human organism, as well as the basis of the ancient Greek myths of cosmogony, one of the dominant ‘elements' of the world, necessary for the creation and the continuation of life. It is colorless, odorless and tasteless, yet valuable and irreplaceable. Nevertheless, till today, natural sciences have not managed to reveal all of its secrets. Water, has always been at the centre of scientific, mythological, religious and philosophical inquiries of humanity.

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33. Milutin Milankovic and the Reform of the Julian Calendar in 1923. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (JAH2) Vol. 11, No. 1, 2008, pp. 50-54

At the Orthodox Church Ecumenical congress in 1923 in Constantinople one of the important questions was the Julian calendar reform. In the delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church was the greatest Serbian astronomer Milutin Milanković, who had an important role in the work on this question and whose proposition for calendar reform was adopted. We present and discuss here the facts on the Ecumenical Congress work on the Julian calendar reform, giving also basic facts on Milutin Milanković and his work.

http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/jah2/past11.shtml 

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Aim: To show the modern astrophysical concepts of an infinite universe along with the accompanying possibility of multiple, coincident universes were first introduced by the Greek philosopher Anaximander (6th century BC).
Method: An investigation of ancient Greek writings is undertaken to demonstrate that Anaximander introduced the apeiron (the boundless) as the beginning of everything (the first principle). According to his theory, the apeiron is undefined and ever moving. It gives birth to the contradictory terms of warm and cold, and of moist and dry, and their perpetual strife. Man is able to comprehend the result of this eternal process from the vast plurality of things and the infinite number of Universes. The cosmological aspect in Anaximander's theory is beautiful; innumerable worlds are born from the apeiron and absorbed by it, once they are destroyed. Thus, the apeiron is related to the eternal, cosmological process.
Conclusions: The cosmological problem of the vastness of the Universe or of the inummerality of Universes is an elementary philosophical problem, while the Theory of Big Bang bounded with the notion of time-space, is a starting point for understanding the models that describe our Universe.

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35. The Heliocentric system from the Orphic Hymns and the Pythagoreans to emperor Julian, Bulgarian Astronomical Journal Vol. 11, 2008.

http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n11/13_Theodos.pdf
http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n11/index.html
 

Ever since early antiquity, philosophers and astronomers had been preoccupied with the question concerning which of the heavenly bodies occupied the center of the known world. The geocentric system, in accordance with its egocentric formulation, placed our small planet in the center of the world, a notion that seemed to fit the egocentric minds of the wise. Enjoying the favor of the majority of the philosophers and astronomers, it dominated for centuries.

However, there were also opposite views in favor of the heliocentric theory. Indeed, even before Aristarchus the Samian, seeds of the heliocentric theory can be traced back to the Orphic Hymns and in the teachings of Anaximander and the Pythagoreans. Later on Aristarchus the Samian founded the heliocentric theory, which unfortunately did not prevail, unlike its geocentric adversary which gained wide recognition, initially due to the weight of Aristotle's views, and later on due to those of the great astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century A.D.).

Yet the heliocentric system had not been entirely forsaken. During the 4th century A.D., emperor Julian -also called "the Apostate"-, the last emperor of the first byzantine dynasty, became a fervent supporter. Julian held the Earth as a planet which, like all other planets, went around the sun in a circular orbit. Thus, Aristarchus' theory had not been forgotten during the first centuries A.D., but even enjoyed advocacy.

Full text: http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n11/index.html 

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36. Study and Orientations of the Mt. Oche "Dragon House" in Euboea, Greece. Journal of History of Astronomy and Heritage (JAH2) 12, No. 2, 2009, 151-156

In the Oche Mountain and in other places of southern Euboea, 23 mysterious megalithic buildings are preserved in good condition. They are known as "Drakospita" (=Dragon houses) and their builders, their technique and their purpose are unknown. We postulate that they, and especially the best-preserved one (that of Oche) were holy buildings dedicated to the worship of Teleia Hera (the "Perfect Hera"), the protector of marriage (a goddess corresponding to the Roman Juno). According to the local tradition, these structures were built by dragons and here resided the king of the Cyclops. The reason is simple: only giants, dragons or Cyclops were capable of transporting the huge rocks used for its construction. We think that the true constructors were the Dryopes, an ancient prehellenic tribe worshipping the goddess Hera. If the Drakospita were dedicated to Hera, this leads us to certain connotations. We must not forget that, according to Greek mythology, Hera was the symbolic personification of the celestial / atmospheric disturbances. This view connects Hera with the celestial phenomena, contradicting the other view, which considers the goddess to be the protector of marriage and Earth. In accordance with the first view, we present arguments that at least the Drakospito of Oche was not only a place of Hera's worship, but in addition an ancient megalithic prehellenic observatory of the celestial phenomena.

http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/jah2/past12.shtml 

Full text (at the end) 

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37. Pорекло хелиоцентричног система. Phlogiston-The journal of the Serbian Society for the History of Science Vol. 16, pp. 83-105(Serbian version) and Origins of the Heliocentric System. Phlogiston-The journal of the Serbian Society for the History of Science Vol. 16, pp. 107-125 (English version), 2008

The evolution of the heliocentric theory in the Antiquity has been analyzed, from the first seeds in Orphic Hymns to the emperor Julian, also called "the Apostate" in the 4th century A.D. In particular were analyzed Orphic Hymns, views of Pythagoreans, the heliocentric ideas of Philolaus of Croton, Icetas, Ecphantus, Heraclides of Pontos, Anaximander, Seleucus of Seleucia, Aristarchus of Samos and Emperor Julian.

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The notion of the infinite, with the modern meaning of the term, was first introduced by the Greek philosopher Anaximander (6th Century BC).

Anaximander introduced the apeiron (the boundless) as the beginning of everything (the first principle). According to his theory, the apeiron is undefined and ever moving. It gives birth to the contradictory terms of warm and cold, and of moist and dry, and their perpetual strife. Man is able to comprehend the result of this eternal process from the vast plurality of things and the infinite number of Universes. The cosmological aspect in Anaximander's theory is beautiful; innumerable worlds are born from the apeiron and absorbed by it, once they are destroyed. Thus, the apeiron is related to the eternal, through out time, cosmological procedure. The cosmological problem of the vastness of the Universe or of the innumerability of Universes is an elementary philosophical problem, while the Theory of Big Bang bounded with the notion of time-space, is a starting point for understanding the models that describe our Universe.

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39. The Cosmology of the Gnostics and the Orthodox Church. Journal Transdisciplinarity in Science and Religion Vol. 2, 2009

http://www.scribd.com/doc/21755414/4/The-Cosmology-of-the-Gnostics-and-the-Orthodox-Church 

An interesting scientific subject in the debate between Science, Theology and Church is the cosmology of the Gnostics. Especially, this is quite interesting in the field of the Orthodox world since the heretical philosophy of the Gnostics grew up in the Eastern Church. The majority of the Gnostics believed that in parallel with the simple preaching of Jesus Christ, there was another one complicated and mystic. This sophisticated teaching - according to them - was the true one of the Orthodox dogma and belonged only to the Apostles and to some distinguished masters of the Christianity. The Gnostics were condemned as heretical, but now it is quite interesting to look for the cosmological meanings of their peculiar teachings.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/21755414/Transdisciplinarity-in-Science-and-Religion-No-5-2009 

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40. Orthodox Church and Astronomy in Common Fight against Astrological Superstition. Journal Transdisciplinarity in Science and Religion, Vol. 2, 2009

In the fight against superstition and credulity, the Orthodox Church and the science of Astronomy have acommon adversary, namely astrology. In this common task, the Orthodox Church and Astronomy are partners which could help each other educate the people and suppress superstition. In this contribution, we will summarize arguments from the Bible and from Orthodoxy against astrology, which, together with scientific arguments, provide a better possibility for the perpetual common fight of religion and science against superstition. Consequently, the Holy Bible and the Orthodox Church may be important partners to astronometrs and astronometrs might help the Church diminish the influence of astrology.

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/21755414/Transdisciplinarity-in-Science-and-Religion-No-5-2009

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41. The Heliocentric system from the first seeds in Orphic Hymns and the Pythagoreans to the Emperor Julian. Xелиоцентрични Πoгет..., Eфстратије Tеодосиу, Aри Δаканалис, Μилан C. Δимитријевић, Πетрос Μантаракис (Serbian version). Journal of Classical Studies ‘Matica Srpska' Vol. 11, 2009, pp. 155-174.

43. The cosmology of Democritus, Bulgarian Astronomical Journal Vol. 13, 2010. E. Danezis, E. Theodossiou, M.S. Dimitrijevic, A. Dacanalis, and Ch. Catsavrias, 2010.
http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n13/11_EDanezis.pdf

Although today everyone considers Democritus, along with Leucippos, as the fathers of the Atomic Theory. However, not many know that the two atomic philosophers are the forefathers of a cosmological proposition, which has not been analyzed in depth, as it should, nor it has been considered from the point of view of the modern scientific knowledge, as it happened in the case of their views about atoms.In this paper, we try to concisely comment and study these cosmological views, under the light of the observations and comments stated earlier
This cosmological proposition is similar to the Infation Cosmology (A. Guth) and forecasts of the existence of many Cosmoses, like blobs (Blobs Universe), that construct the whole Universe. Every one of these cosmoses arises from a white hole and evolves gradually to a black hole.
This means that the Cosmological model of Democritus and Leucippos is in accordance with the most modern ideas about the creation of the Universe.

Full text: http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n13/index.html  

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44. The Large Built Water Clock of Amphiaraeion. MAA. E. Theodossiou, M. Katsiotis, V.N. Manimanis, P. Mantarakis, 2010.
http://www.rhodes.aegean.gr/maa_journal/Theodosiou%2010_1.pdf

A very well preserved ancient water-clock was discovered during excavations at the Amphiaraeion, in Oropos, Greece. The Amphiaraeion, sanctuary of the mythical oracle and deified healer Amphiaraus, was active from the pre-classic period until the replacement of the ancient religion by Christianity in the 5th Century A.D.. The foretelling was being done through dreams sent by the god to the believers sleeping in a special gallery. In these dreams the god was suggesting to them the therapy for their illness or the solution to their problems. The healed would then throw coins in a spring of the sanctuary. In such a place the measurement of time, both day and night, was a necessity. Therefore, time was kept with both a conical sundial and a water-clock in the shape of a fountain, which according to the archaeologists, dates to the 4th Century B.C.

45. The inconvenient relation between religion and science: the prevalence of the heliocentric theory, European Journal of Science and Theology, September 2010, Vol. 6, No.3, 47-56, E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis and M.S. Dimitrijevic.
The relation between religion and Science is discussed in this article on the example of attitude of Western Churches towards heliocentric theory. Also reasons of such attitude of the Church were considered.
In order to consider this relation, we will first note that in the case of a religious dogma, faith must be absolute. Dogma as a theory can be proved only through itself and its power is the absence of doubt. On the contrary, in the case of science, according to the philosophical view of Descartes, doubt should be present in any problem arising in order to avoid possible errors and prejudices; through doubt we can be led to the discovery of an indisputable truth.
The military and political power of the Holy See hindered for a long time the development of knowledge and hence Science. Giordano Bruno was accused and judged because, among other, he was teaching the infinite worlds of Metrodorus of Chios and of Epicurus (4th century BC). Similarly, Galileo stood trial on suspicion of heresy and he was condemned into house arrest because the heliocentric system he was supporting was at odds with the Old Testament, according to which Joshua ordered the Sun to stop - and not the Earth - during the Gibeon Battle of Israelites against Canaanites.
The heliocentric theory was not favored by the Western Church because it did not comply with the ‘positions' of the Bible and the ancient Greek geocentric theory. When science contributed to the fall of the anthropocentric myth, first by showing that the Earth, the abode of man, is not at the center of the Universe and next by showing that even human itself is a product of evolution, then its separation from the Western Church was definite. Therefore, a kind of war was waged against the heliocentrists, not just because the system they supported was at odds with what the Scriptures said, but also because the geocentric theory, which supported an absolutely motionless Earth, was in agreement with the celestial mechanics of the ‘divine scientist' Aristotle. Since Aristotle had deeply influenced the mediaeval Catholic theology, the rejection of the geocentric theory would diminish the authority of the great philosopher and consequently the theology of the Church. It thus became clear that the support of the geocentric theory was essentially an issue of Church authority.

Full text: http://www.ejst.tuiasi.ro/Files/23/47-56Theodossiou%20et%20al.pdf  

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46. From the Infinity (Apeiron) of Anaximander in Ancient Greece to the theory of Infinite Universes in Modern Cosmology, Journal Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions Vol. 27, Issue 1, 2010/11.
http://www.aaptr.com/upload/AAPTR/pdf/153_167_Theodossiou.pdf

The notion of the infinite, with the modern meaning of the term, was first introduced by the Greek philosopher Anaximander (6th Century BC).
Anaximander introduced the apeiron (the boundless) as the beginning of everything (the first principle). According to his theory, the apeiron is undefined and ever moving. It gives birth to the contradictory terms of warm and cold, and of moist and dry, and their perpetual strife. Man is able to comprehend the result of this eternal process from the vast plurality of things and the infinite number of Universes.
The cosmological aspect in Anaximander's theory is beautiful; innumerable worlds are born from the apeiron and absorbed by it, once they are destroyed. Thus, the apeiron is related to the eternal, through out time, cosmological procedure.
The cosmological problem of the vastness of the Universe or of the innumerability of Universes is an elementary philosophical problem, while the Theory of Big Bang bounded with the notion of time-space, is a starting point for understanding the models that describe our Universe.

47. The theory of Pantachekineton of Benjamin Lesvios. Journal Phlogiston-The journal of the Serbian Society for the History of Science, paper accepted September 2010.
Benjamin Lesbios or Benjamin of Lesbos was a scholar monk of Greek enlightenment, who lived in the age of A. Korais, Th. Kairis and E. Voulgaris. Clearly influanced by the spirit of Western European enlightenment, Benjamin was accused by Orthodox Church officials for teaching the new natural world knowledge. He was an important philosophical mind of Greek enlightenment and he introduced the Pantachekineton, a pioneering unifying natural theory.

48. Astronomy and constellations in Iliad and Odyssey. E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis, P. Mantarakis, and M.S. Dimitrijevic.  Journal of History of Astronomy and Heritage JAH2, vol. 14 (1). March 2011.
http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n16/ETheodos.pdf
http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n16/index.html
The Iliad and the Odyssey, in addition to their supreme status as cornerstones of world literature, they are a rich source of information about the scientific and technological knowledge of ancient Greeks in both pre-Homeric and Homeric times. The two Homeric epic poems, dated in the 8th century BC, include, inter alia, a wealth of astronomical elements, informing about the Earth, the Sky, the stars and constellations such as Ursa Major, Boötes, Orion, Sirius, the Pleiades and the Hyades. They also offer a more erudite image of Homer, which reflects the cosmological views of his period. The model of the Universe that is presented is continuous and has three levels: the lower level corresponds to the underworld, the middle one to the Earth and the upper one to the sky.

49. The contribution of Byzantium to the Natural Sciences - Byzantine astronomers and scientists. E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis, and M.S. Dimitrijevic. Vol. 6 (4), December 2010.
Byzantine philosophy, whose main characteristic was its theological orientation, continued the tradition of ancient Greek philosophy by preserving a lot of information about it and many ancient philosophical texts, which in addition were commented upon and explained.
Byzantine Christian theology cannot be considered a science, as the logical method was questioned or even abandoned. Only during the last period of the Byzantine Empire attempts were made to introduce the dialectic method to theological inquiry, but this was rather the result of influences from the Western scholasticism. On the other hand, in Byzantium there was no lack of original ideas, contributions in mathematical and astronomical methods, or practical applications of scientific knowledge to the daily life in the empire.

50. Gaia, Ouranos, Helios and Selene: The three principal celestial bodies and the sky in Ancient Greek Cosmogony. E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis, M.S. Dimitrijevic and P. Mantarakis. Bulgarian Astronomical Journal vol. 16, 2011.
Since the remotest antiquity human beings worshipped the divine couple of goddess Gaia (Gaea, Earth) and god Ouranos (Uranus, Sky), the primal pair. Hesiod's "Theogony" starts with Gaia and concludes with the polytheistic reign of the Olympians. The genesis of the elements of nature and the genesis of gods behaving like humans proceed in parallel: "in the beginning the gods and Gaia were born" (Theog., v. 105). Gaia's mate, Ouranos, surrounds her and fertilizes her.
In juxtaposition with Gaia, who is the deification of our planet, Mother Earth is the deification of the ground, the products of which give humans their living, and which gives the space where they are born, they live and they die.
Beyond the cosmic duo of deities Ouranos and Gaia / Mother Earth, humans worshipped the light-giver and life-giver Helios (Sun), the source of every life form on Earth. For all people, in all regions of the Earth, the Sun, Sky and Earth are the eternal witnesses of human acts and the natural avengers of the violations of the laws. From the age of the emergence of Greek philosophy comes the theory that the solar rays that fell on the wet Mother Earth created the first living creatures, while mythographers consider as progenitors of all things the Sun and Mother Earth in the place of Ouranos and Gaia.
The Moon gave primal units for the measurement of time: the definition of the lunar (synodic) month and of the week; its role is therefore crucial in the invention of the first calendars, which formed the original substrate for organized religion in all ancient nations.

Full text: http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n16/index.html  

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51. Sirius in ancient Greek and Roman literature: From the Orphic Argonautics to the Astronomical Tables of Georgios Chrysococca. E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis, M.S. Dimitrijevic and P. Mantarakis. Submitted October 2010.
The brightest star of the night sky, visible from all Greece, especially during clear winter nights is Sirius, Alpha Canis Majoris (α CMa). Due to its intense light, Sirius had one of the dominant positions in mythology, legends and traditions of most ancient people. Greeks were not an exception: The original Greek name ‘Seirios', which became international through Latin literature, means in ancient Greek sparking, shining, fiery or burning. In this review article the references of the many ancient classic authors and poets, Greeks and Romans, who wrote about Sirius are examined and the problem of its ‘red' color arising from these references is discussed.

52. Six calendar systems in the European history from 18th to 20th Century. E. Theodossiou, Manimanis and M. Dimitrijević. Bulgarian Astronomical Journal vol. 16, 2011.
In the history of calendrical reforms the Julian calendar that prevailed for at least 16 centuries was gradually replaced by the Gregorian one, from 1582 onwards. The Gregorian calendar was necessary, because it corrected the Julian one and returned the vernal equinox in its true astronomical date; however, it did not change the months, or the days of the week (their number and names): it just changed the way of calculation of the leap years. After these two calendars, five other calendrical systems were introduced in Europe, none of which prevailed beyond its limited (in time and place) political environment. In this work the following such unsuccessful calendars are reviewed: The French Revolutionary Calendar, the Theosebic calendar invented by Th. Kairis, the Revolutionary Calendar of the Soviet Union (or ‘Bolshevik calendar'), the fascist calendar in Italy and the calendar of the Metaxas dictatorship in Greece before World War II. Essentially, with the exception of the French Revolutionary Calendar (Le Calendrier Républicain), which is well-known and studied in the international bibliography, our effort is centred at the other 4 calendrical systems, which are much less known, especially the three of them: the Theosebic calendar, the fascist calendar in Italy and the calendar of the Metaxas dictatorship.

53. The cosmological theories of the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers and their philosophical views for Environment. E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis and M. Dimitrijević. Facta Universatis, Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History, vol. 10, No 1, 2011, pp. 89-99.
http://facta.junis.ni.ac.rs/pas/pas2011/pas2011-09.pdf

The views of the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosophers from Ionia opened new paths for the study of nature using human logic. Starting from the worship of the Earth as a goddess, they proceeded to examine its position in the Cosmos, proposing a spherical shape for our planet. They pioneered the unifying approach for the physical world, assuming one element as the basis for everything in the Universe - this was water for Thales, infinity for Anaximander, air for Anaximenes, fire for Heraclitus. The genesis and the decay of worlds succeed one another eternally. Anaximenes believed, like Anaximander, that our world was not the only one that existed. Heraclitus believed that, of the vast richness of the natural creation with its unpredictable changes, nothing remains stable and motionless. There is not constancy, but only an eternal flow, a perpetual motion. This is exactly what we accept today in quantum physics; the apparent stability and immobility is an illusion of our limited senses. According to Heraclitus, matter is constantly transformed. All the natural philosophers of Ionia distanced God the Creator from nature and history, keeping always a respect for the beliefs of their fellow people; most probably they, too, kept a form of God in an area of their minds, in his spiritual and moral dimension.

54. From presocratic philosophical monism to religious-scientific dualism and from dualism to monism of the Theory Of Everything. Journal DIA-LOGOS, (Epeteris of philosophical research), accepted February 2011, Vo. 1, No 1, Papazeses Publ., 2011.

Monism is regarded as the philosophical system, which considers that the creation of the Cosmos comes from the one and only one ‘principle'. Therefore this philosophical term directs our thought to the ‘first principle' of the presocratic natural philosophers.
Dualism, on the contrary, considers that the Cosmos has come about from two -basically opposite- and contradicting each other substances. Dualism as a theory has played an important role in the History of Religions, as well as of Science (Wave-particle duality). It seems though that after the development of Quantum-Mechanics and the efforts of its unification with the General Theory of Gravitation, there is an intense endeavor of physicists towards an one-way direction, a Theory Of Everything (TOE). This theory will express with certainty the trend of Contemporary Physics towards a monistic inageneral consideration of the Cosmos.

55. Cosmologies of Alcman, Leucippus and Democritus and some similarities with moidern scientific concepts. E. Danezis, E. Theodossiou, M.S. Dimitrijevic and A. Dacanalis, Journal of Classical Studies ‘Matica Srpska' Vol. 12, 2010, pp. 63-75.
The cosmological views of Presocratic Greek philosophers and thinkers, Leucippus and Democritus, which have similarities with some cosmological standpoints expressed in the lyrical works of the poet Alcman who lived in Sparta during 27th Olympiad (672-668 BC), have been discussed and analysed as well as the similarities of their views with some modern cosmological ideas.

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56. The contribution of Byzantine priests in astronomy and cosmology: I. The Church Fathers: The Three Bishops St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. John Chrysostom. E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis and M.S. Dimitrijevic. EJST, vo. 7, No. 2, June 2011.

http://www.ejst.tuiasi.ro/Files/29/25-45Manimanis%20et%20al.pdf 

On the opposite side of Emperor Julian and of the scholars who practiced astrology during the early Byzantine period, a number of Church Fathers ("Doctors of the Church") and bishops flourished and left a legacy in philosophy and science without belonging to a school, or representing one.
Some of these Church scholars were educated in the neo-Platonic school of Athens and they essentially formulated the Christian dogma, representing Christianity, since the Christian philosophy of that age was shaped on the basis of neo-Platonic and Aristotelian influences.
The main representatives of this current of thought in the early Byzantine period are above all others the three Church Fathers from Cappadocia: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. John Chrysostom.
These three were followed by the eminent bishops St. Gregory of Nyssa, Epiphanius of Cyprus, Asterius of Amasseia, Cyril I of Alexandria, Synesius (who can be said to represent the school of Alexandria), Caesarius, Nemesius of Emessa (Syria) and finally the monk Dionysius Exiguus, who compiled Easter Canons.
This first paper on the Church Fathers and bishops deals with the cosmology of the three great Cappadocian Fathers, the "Three Prelates" as they are known in Greece; in a following paper we will examine the work of other eminent bishops and their contribution in the natural sciences.

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58. Astrology in the early Byzantine Empire and the anti-astrology stance of the Church Fathers. Efstratios Theodossiou, Vassilios N. Manimanis and Milan S. Dimitrijevic. EJST, vol. 8, No. 2, June 2012, 25-45.

The peoples of the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD were very superstitious. Sorcery and astrology were widespread in the early Byzantine period. Astrologers, guided by Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos [1], were compiling horoscopes and dream-books, while a common literature were the seismologia, selenodromia and vrontologia, with which people tried to predict the future.
Astrology was so widespread in the empire that parents were consulting its ‘results' for both the future of the newborn children and the arrangement of the appropriate dates for their business; even hunters were based on astrological predictions to decide on which day they would apply a particular way of hunting. It was natural that in this environment many astrologers were famous and they flourished especially in the court of the Emperor Julian (361-363). The Fathers of the Church, however, were clearly against astrology and they were condemning those who wanted to learn about the future events from astrology and other occult practices and pseudo-sciences.

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59. Are the Pyramids of Greece Ancient Meridian Observatories? E. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis, M.S. Dimitrijevic and M. Katsiotis. Bulgarian Astronomical Journal, vol. 16, 2011.

http://www.astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n19/ETheodosiou.pdf

Pyramids, ‘Dragon Houses' (‘Drakospita') and megalithic structures in general create always a special interest. We postulate that, as happens with the Drakospita of Euboea, the pyramid-like structures of Argolis (Eastern Peloponnese) were probably constructed by the Dryops, since it is known that, in addition to Euboea and some Cyclades islands, this prehellenic people had also settled in Argolis, where they founded the city of Asine.
We also propose that the pyramids of Argolis and in particular the pyramid of Hellinikon village were very likely, besides being a burial monument or guard house, might be served also for astronomical observations.

60. The Geographers of the Early Byzantine Period. V.N. Manimanis, E. Theodossiou, M.S. Dimitrijevic. European Journal of Science and Theology, EJST, paper accepted, 2011.

During the early Byzantine period the knowledge of geography was considered necessary for locating the Holy Land and for setting the boundaries of the dioceses. Thus, starting with the work of the ancient cartographer and geographer Marinus of Tyre (ca. 60/70 - 130 AD), and with the renowned Geography (also known as Geographia, Cosmographia, or Geographike Hyphegesis) [1] of the classical astronomer, mathematician and geographer Claudius Prolemy, the Byzantine scholars wrote their own treatises on the subject.
Essentially, only monks in the monasteries were studying geography; the perception of the Earth by Byzantine geographers -especially by Cosmas Indicopleustes- was to a large extent imaginary and influenced by the Scriptures and religious ideas, while the geographical works were limited to lists of names and city guides for school use, as well as travel narrations and descriptions, a fact that clearly delineates the difference between the ancient Greek geography and geography as it was understood in Byzantium.

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61. The contribution of byzantine men of the church in science: cosmas indicopleustes (6th century).V.N. Manimanis, E. Theodossiou, M.S. Dimitrijevic. European Journal of Science and Theology, EJST, paper accepted, 2012.

The first Christian centuries in the Byzantine Empire, from the 3rd one to the 6th one, comprise a period in which the Christian religion had to consolidate its place as the dominant religion. Therefore, everything that seemed to contradict the Scriptures had to be adapted to them by any means. For this reason, since geography did not agree in several instances with the holy texts, and because the Scriptures could not be in error, the geography of the times had to be harmonized with the holy texts of the new religion. This task was undertaken by the 6th century Nestorian Christian monk Cosmas the ‘Indicopleustes'. Cosmas wrote the Christian Topography, a work through which he attempted to create a new system of geography or a representation of the World that would fit to the

62. The era Of Aries and Kriophoros Statues. E. Theodossiou, P. Mantarakis and M.S. Dimitrijevic, Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions issue 4, vol. 27, Cambridge Scientific Publicers,December 2012.

We discuss the possibility that the great number of ancient Greek statues of Kriophoros (= ‘ram-bearer') before 1 BC is due to the precession of the equinoxes, resulting in the constellation of Aries marking the point of vernal equinox rather than Pisces. We will discuss here the possibility of the influence of astronomical knowledge on the significant number of Kriophoros (‘ram-bearer') statues in Ancient Greece. Namely, in that period (approximately 2000-1 BC), due to the precession of the Earth's axis, the point of vernal equinox, marking the beginning of spring and new life, was in the constellation of Aries (the Ram), and not the Pisces.
In the first part of the paper we will review shortly the Ancient Greek knowledge of constellations and the Earth's orbital precession, and then we will discuss the possibility of the influence of this knowledge on the number of Kriophoros statues.

63. From the Cosmogonical Chaos of Ancient Greek Philosophical Thought to the Chaos Theory of Modern Physic. E. Theodossiou, K. Kalahanis, V.N. Manimanis and M.S. Dimitrijevic submitted paper to Facta Universatis, Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History, vol. 10, no. 2, 2012, pp. 211-221.

In ancient Greek civilization where the first philosophers attempted to explain the creation of the Universe, the hymns of mysticist Orpheus proved to be of significant value, by introducing the term ‘Chaos'. According to Orpheus, Chaos condenses into the giant Cosmic Egg, whose rupture results in the creation of Phanes and Ouranos and of all gods who symbolize the creation the Universe.
Later, Greek philosophers supported the view that chaos describes the unformed and infinite void, form which the Universe is created. So, this void in ancient Greek thought is not just an abstract term, but a kind of empty space with cosmogonical characteristics. In modern physics, the term ‘chaotic' describes systems whose parameters are consisted of many hidden laws, which are difficult to be described and can be changed any time.

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Στην εργασία αυτή περιγράφεται ένα φωτοηλεκτρικό φασματοφωτόμετρο διπλής δέσμης (photoelectric spectrum scanner) που κατασκευάστηκε στο Πανεπιστήμιο του Eδιμβούργου για το 1,2 μ. τηλεσκόπιο Kρυονερίου Kορινθίας. Στο φασματοφωτόμετρο αυτό χρησιμοποιείται ένα μικρό ποσοστό της ακτινοβολίας του αστεριού, για την αντιμετώπιση των τυχαίων ατμοσφαιρικών διαταραχών και των σφαλμάτων οδήγησης του τηλεσκοπίου, ως σήμα αναφοράς. Tο φασματοφωτόμετρο αυτό είναι αυτόματο, οδηγείται από έναν υπολογιστή και είναι κατάλληλο για την παρατήρηση φασμάτων αμυδρών αστέρων.

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2. The distribution of Bright stars in the SMC clusters. IAU Symposium No. 116, 26-31 May 1985. Editors, C. de Loore, A. Willis, P.G. Laskarides 1986. Kluwer academic publishers group. E. Kontizas, E. Theodossiou and M. Kontizas.

Star countscan be used to investigate radial distibution of stars of different mass. Relaxation through stellar encounters is a mechanism that does make a distriction between stellar masses, so systems that have undergone such relaxation should show differences in distibution between stars ofhigh and low mass. That does not happenh for systems that have undergone an initial vilolet relaxation since this type of relaxation treats all masses equally.

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3. The UV spectrum of the RS CVn Binary System SZ Psc. Lecture Notes in Physics 397, Editors: P.B. Byrne, D.J. Mullan. Surface Inhomogeneities on Late-Type stars. Proceedings, Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland. 1990, Springer-Verlag, 24-27, July 1990. E. Danezis, E. Antonopoulou, M. Mathioudakis and E. Theodossiou.

SZ Psc is a typical RS CVn Binary System which shows all the main characteristics of the group (e.g. CaII & K emission wave-like variations outside eclipses). It also shows a very unsual, variable behaviour of the Hα line (Bopp 1981) and large period variations (dr/dt = 6 ±0.5 10-8 days/day; Jahate et al. 1976). In this paper we discuss two IUE spectra of SZ Psc to have a better understanding of the system. Similar work has been done for some others RS CVn Binary Systems like UX Ari (Simon and Linsky 1980), HR 1099, II Peg, AR Lac (Byrne et al. 1982), λ And (Baliunas et al. 1984), σ Gem (Ayres et al. 1984).

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992LNP...397..273D

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4. Photoelectric Photometry Equipment's Calibration at the Kryonerion Astronomical Station. Memoirs of the National Observatory of Athens. Series I, No. 37, 1998, L. Hric, P.G. Niarchos, K. Pertik, E. Theodossiou.

The present study aims to increase the efficiency of the photoelectric photometry at the Kryonerion Astronomical Station of the National Observatory of Athens, Greece. At first are given the PP equipment of the Τelescope (1.2 m Cassegrain reflector) and the process of calibration, that is the new gain. Then, the atmospheric extinction and transformation coeficients to the standard UBV system are given. Finally, we presented our future plans. This means that we plan to use at Kryonerion Station a new photometer with pulse counting electronics and connect it with a computer.

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5. Μεθοδολογική προσέγγιση της Πανεπιστημιακής προπτυχιακής εκπαίδευσης στην Aστροφυσική. Mία πρόταση δομής ενός προγράμματος προπτυχιακών πανεπιστημιακών σπουδών στην Aστροφυσική. Astronomy 2000+ Greek Prospers for the 21st Century, Πεντέλη, 12-13 Nοεμβρίου 1998.

Mία συνολική πρότασή μας που αφορά την αναβάθμιση των σπουδών στην Αστροφυσική στο Τμήμα Φυσικής, στο Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών. Στην πρότασή μας αυτή θεωρήσαμε αναγκαίο να αναφερθούμε σε μια σειρά δομικών προβλημάτων τα οποία κρατούν δέσμια την εκπαιδευτική και παιδαγωγική διαδικασία, τα οποία μπορούμε να απαλείψουμ, να βελτιώσουμε και να τα προσαρμόσουμε στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία.

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The presence of Discrete Absorption Components (DACs) or Satellite Absorption Components (SACs) is a very common phenomenon in the atmospheres of hot emission stars citep{dan03,lyr04} and result to the complex line profiles of these stars. The shapes of these lines are interpreted by the existence of two or more independent layers of matter nearby a star. These structures are responsible for the formation of a series of satellite components for each spectral line.Here we will present a model reproducing the complex profile of the spectral lines of Oe and Be stars with DACs and SACs [citep{dan03,lyr04}]. In general, this model has a line function for the complex structure of the spectral lines with DACs or SACs and include a function L that considers the kinematic (geometry) of an independent region. In the calculation of the function L we have considered the rotational velocities of the independent regions, as well as the random velocities within them. This means that the new function of L is a synthesis of the rotational distribution and a physical Gaussian. Finally, we calculate the optical depth (xi ) and the column density (d) of each independent density region.

Full text: http://sait.oat.ts.astro.it/MSAIS/7/PDF/107.pdf

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7. A new approach for the structure of Ηα regions in 120 Be-type stars. Memorie della Societa Italiana Vol. 7, 114. Memorie della Supplementi. SAIt 2005. E. Lyratzi, Ε. Danezis, ..., E. Theodossiou.

The spectra of most Oe and Be stars present Discrete or Satellite Absorption Components (DACs or SACs respectively) which result to complex structure of line profiles of these stars. The DACs are spectral lines of the same ion and the same wavelength as a main spectral line, shifted at different Delta lambda , as they are created from different density regions, which rotate and move radially with different velocities. However, if the regions, which give rise to such lines rotate with large velocities and move radially with small velocities, the produced lines are much broadened and little shifted. As a result they are blended among themselves as well as with the main spectral line and thus they are not discrete. In such a case the name Discrete Absorption Component is inappropriate and we use only the name SACs (Satellite Absorption Components). In this paper we present a statistical study of the Halpha line profiles of 120 Be-type stars using the model proposed by [citet{dan03,lyr04}]. This model proposes that the density layers which produce the Halpha line lie in different regions in the stellar atmosphere. In the Be-type stellar atmospheres, there are two regions that can produce the Halpha satellite components. The first one lies in the chromosphere and the second one in the cool extended envelope. We concluded that the chromospheric components are best reproduced by the proposed Rotation distribution. The absorption components which are created in the cool extended envelope are best reproduced by a Gaussian distribution. The emission components, if they exist, they are best reproduced by a Voigt distribution. By fitting the Halpha line profiles with the line function of the proposed model we are able to calculate: a) For the chromospheric absorption components we calculated the rotational and radial velocities as well as the optical depth. b) For the emission and absorption components which are created in the cool extended envelope we calculated the radial velocities, the FWHM and the optical depth. Finally, we present the relation between these parameters with the spectral subtype and the luminosity class.

Full text: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2005MSAIS...7..114L

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One of the most important works of Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea and Saint of the Eastern and Western Christian Church (330-379 A.D.), consists of his nine Speeches on the Hexameron, where, using the scientific knowledge of his time, accompanied by a brilliant theological justification, he tries to prove the truth of cosmological events, described in the biblical book of Genesis. Considering the Speeches of Saint Basil from the point of view of the history of science, this work is one of the most important sources of knowledge concerning the dominant astronomical, and general scientific, views of that epoch.

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10. Haјbeђи Визаңтијски астроңом Ниђифор Григoра и Срби. Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade-Πyбл. Aстр. Друш. Pyђeр Бошковиђ, No. 8, pp. 247-256, Нови Сад, 2006. Ε. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis, M.S. Dimitrijevic and E. Danezis.

Nichephoros Gregoras (1295-1360) is considered one of the most significant scolars and the greatest astronomer of Byzantium. Gregoras was the first to propose, in 1324, a correction to the calculation of the Easter and to the Julian Calendar similar to the one adopted later, in 1582, by the Pope Gregory XIII.

This proposition and, more obviously, his dispute with St. Gregorios Palamas, created problems in the relations of Gregoras with the Church, leading to the desecration of his corpse by the fanatic crowd. He was many times an ambassador in the court of the king of Serbia, especially king Stefan Decanski, and his writing on solar eclipses exist in ancient Serbian ecclesiastical texts.

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11. Κocмoлoгиjа y "беседама на шестодңев" Bасилија Bелиқог y yтищaj oбoг делa koд Србa. Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade-Πyбл. Aстр. Друш. "Pyђeр Бошковиђ" Бр. 7, pp. 453-460, Нови Сад, 2006. E. Danezis, E. Theodossiou and M.S. Dimitrijevic.

One of the most important works of Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea and Saint of the Eastern and Western Christian Church (330-379 A.D.), consists of his nine Homilies on the Hexameron, where, using the scientific knowledge of his time, accompanied by a brilliant theological justification, he tries to prove the truth of cosmological events, described in the biblical book of Genesis. In the present paper, cosmological ideas during the time of Saint Basil were analyzed on the basis of "Hexameron". Particularly were considered the questions: (a) What existed before the Creation of the perceivable Universe? (b) Time before the Creation of the World. (c) Time as the measure of aging. (d) The achronal Creation. (e) The multiple Universe (f) The Universe with a beginning.

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12. Κocмoлщка питања ў беседама на шестодңев Bасилија Bелиқог. Aнтиқа и Cабремени Cвет (in Serbian) = Cosmological Questions in the Homilies on Hexameron of Saint Basil the Great. Antiquity and Modern World (in English). Serbian Society of Ancient Studies, UDC 52, Scientific Publications of the Serbian Society for Ancient Studies. Vol. 1. pp. 80-88, Београд 2007. E. Danezis, E. Theodossiou and M.S. Dimitrijevic.

Actually, in order to reconcile the astronomical views of their age with the cosmogony described in the Book of Genesis the wise Fathers wrote treatises On the Six-day Creation (Peri Hexahemerou or On Hexameron) that became staple texts of the spiritual production of the 4th century. As Th. Nikolaidis writes, "The most important texts were the "Homilies to the Six-day Creation" by St. Basil the Great and those by his brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa, treatises that exerted an especially strong influence, not only in the East but also in the West."

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The views of the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosophers from Ionia opened new paths for the study of nature by using human logic. Starting from the worship of the Earth as a goddess, they proceeded to examine its position in the Cosmos (Universe), proposing a spherical shape for our planet. They pioneered the unifying approach for the physical world, assuming one element as the basis for everything in the Universe (this was the water for Thales, the air for Anaximenes, the infinity for Anaximander, the fire for Heraclitus) The genesis and the decay of worlds succeed one another eternally. Anaximenes believed, like Anaximander, that our world was not the only one that existed. Heraclitus believed that, of the vast richness of the natural creation with its unpredictable changes, nothing remains stable, motionless and granted. There is not constancy, but only an eternal flow, a perpetual motion. This is exactly what we accept today for the world of quantum physics; the apparent stability and immobility is an illusion and is due to our limited senses. According to Heraclitus, matter is constantly transformed. All the natural philosophers of Ionia distanced God the Creator from nature and history, keeping always a respect for the beliefs of their fellow people; most probably they, too, kept a form of God in an area of their minds, in his spiritual and moral dimension.

Full text: http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2010MSAIS..15..204T

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14. Science-philosophy relation and the prevalence of the heliocentric theory. Ε. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis and E. Danezis. Memorie della Societa Italiana, Vol. 75, 286. Memorie della Supplementi. SAIt 2008.

A new physics appeared in the West in the 17 th century under the Cartesian philosophical canopy, the spirit of which had deep influence on savants of that period. This new physics, as defined by Galileo and Kepler, was not searching for purpose, but it was seeking for causes.The relation between philosophy and science has passed from many phases in history and still is an interesting topic. The value of falsifiability (or refutability) in science was stressed by Karl R. Popper. Here, as a paradigm, the juxtaposition of the Earth-centred view of the universe and prevalence of the heliocentric theory is examined.

Full text: http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2010MSAIS..15..187T

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This study is concerned with the relation of celestial mythology and time. How old are the names of the ancient constellations, especially the zodiacal ones? How accurate is the relation between the zodiacal quartets and time? Many astronomers have published ideas on this topic, from Geminus of Rhodes (Elementa Astronomiae, 77 B.C.) to Alexander Gurshtein (1993-2004).
Here we try to discover a relation between the ancient statues of Greek gods and the constellations or the so-called astronomical eras. Our conjecture and novel thought is that the Moschophoros (=‘calf-bearer') in the Museum of the Acropolis of Athens signifies the ‘era of Taurus', during which the constellation Taurus occupied the point of the vernal equinox (), while the stone Kriophoros (=‘ram-bearer') from the temple of Apollo in Kourio (Cyprus) signifies the ‘era of Aries'. Finally, the Ichthys (= fish) in the Catacombs and on the floor of Kalymnos Cathedral signifies Jesus Christ as well as the ‘era of Pisces'
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17. Rigas Velestinlis and Astronomy in his ‘Anthology of Physics'. Ε. Theodossiou, V.N. Manimanis, M.S. Dimitrijevic and E. Danezis. Exploring the Solar System, Bucharest, Romania, 2008, American Institute of Physics, AIP, vol. 1043, pp. 74-75.

Rigas Velestinlis (Velestino 1757 - Belgrade 1798) was a herald and martyr of freedom, but also one of the forerunners of the modern Greek enlightenment movement. He did not have a chance to become a military commander of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) that liberated Greece from the Turks, or to teach in one of the Schools of the occupied nation. Nevertheless, with his restless intellectual quests, his books and publications, and his ideology, he managed to participate in the intellectual awakening of his enslaved nation, channelling through his works the novel ideas of the European enlightenment together with revolutionary messages. When the French Revolution was followed by the victorious marches of the Napoleonic army, triggering throughout Europe uprisings against age-old authoritarian regimes, Rigas broadened the frame of the struggles for liberation and became the political catechist who endeavoured to transform theory into act, not only for Greeks but also for the other peoples of the Balkan Peninsula.

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18. The Astronomical Clock of Prague and the astronomical legacy of Antiquity. European ideas, Scientific Publications of the Serbian Society for Ancient Studies. Vol. 3, pp. 374-391, Beograd 2009. E. Theodossiou, Sp. Azzopardi, M.S. Dimitrijevic and V.N. Manimanis (In English and Serbian).

An astronomical monument in the old town hall square, in the historical centre of Prague, consists one of the most significant sights of the city. It dates before the era of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, who lived in Prague during the later part of the 16th century, and it shows three independent motions in accordance with the old geocentric system.
Here, the Prague's Astronomical Clock is described and its history reviewed.

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The relation between religion and Science is discussed in this article on the example of attitude of Western Churches towards heliocentric theory. Also reasons of such attitude of the Church were considered.
In order to consider this relation, we will first note that in the case of a religious dogma, faith must be absolute. Dogma as a theory can be proved only through itself and its power is the absence of doubt. On the contrary, in the case of science, according to the philosophical view of Descartes, doubt should be present in any problem arising in order to avoid possible errors and prejudices; through doubt we can be led to the discovery of an indisputable truth.
The military and political power of the Holy See hindered for a long time the development of knowledge and hence Science. Giordano Bruno was accused and judged because, among other, he was teaching the infinite worlds of Metrodorus of Chios and of Epicurus (4th century BC). Similarly, Galileo stood trial on suspicion of heresy and he was condemned into house arrest because the heliocentric system he was supporting was at odds with the Old Testament, according to which Joshua ordered the Sun to stop - and not the Earth - during the Gibeon Battle of Israelites against Canaanites.

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Benjamin Lesbios or Benjamin of Lesbos was a scholar monk of Greek enlightenment. Clearly influanced by the spirit of Western European enlightenment, Benjamin was accused by Orthodox Church officials for teaching the new natural world knowledge. He was an important philosophical mind and introduced the Pantachekineton, a pioneering unifying natural theory.

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25. Ефстратије Т. Теодосију, Васијије Н. Маниманис, Милан С. Димитријевић and Πетрос Μантаракис, Sirius in Ancient Greek and Roman Literature, Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade-Πyбл. Aстр. Друш. "Pyђeр Бошковиђ" vol. 10, pp. 605-628, 2011.

Најсјајнија звезда ноћног неба је Сиријус, Alpha Canis Majoris (α CMa). Због своје интензивне светлости, имао је једну од доминантних позиција у митологији, легендама и традицији. У овом раду су размотрена дела старих класичних аутора и песника, Грка и Римљана, који су помињали Сиријус, а дискутован је и проблем његове "црвене" боје који произилази из ових списа

The brightest star of the night sky, visible from all Greece, especially during clear winter nights is Sirius, Alpha Canis Majoris (α CMa). Due to its intense light, Sirius had one of the dominant positions in mythology, legends and traditions of most ancient people. Greeks were not an exception: The original Greek name ‘Seirios' meant sparking, shining, fiery or burning. In this review article the references of the many ancient classic authors and poets, Greeks and Romans, who wrote about Sirius are examined and the problem of its ‘red' color arising from these references is discussed.

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One of the most significant Greek lyrical poets of antiquity, who molded, during the mid-7th century, "chorical" poetry in Sparta into a particular literary style, was Alcman, son of either Damas or Titarus, who, due to his unparallel skill, ranked first in the "Canon" of Alexandria.
The name ‘Alcman' is derived from an adaptation into the Doric dialect of the Ionian name Alcmaeon, and is not to be confused with Alcmaeon of the Pythagoreans (c. 500 B.C.), son of Peiritho of Croton, the Greek colony in South Italy. Professor A. D. Skiadas (1981) mentions that, according to the Suidae Lexicon (Alcman entry), the poet lived during the 27th Olympiad (672-668 B.C.), when Ardys was governor of Lydia, whereas the ecclesiastic scholar Eusebius places the poet's prime in 659 B.C. In another fragment which comes from the Oxyrynchus 2390 papyrus, it can be found that Alcman mentions the name of ‘Leotychides', which was a king of Sparta. From the above, Alcman can be placed during the late half of the 7th century B.C. According to the Suidae Lexicon (A. P. 7, 709, Alexander the Aetolian entry), Alcman was of Greek Ionian descent, (Sardis in Lydia), and from there went over to Sparta. This view occurs again in an annotation retrieved from the Oxyrynchus Papyrus 29 [P. Oxy. XXIX fr.1, col III, 30 κ.ε. (=10 (α), 30 κ. ε. P.)] in which it is mentioned that: "... The Lakedaemonians then appointed Alcman, who was of Lydian descent, as a teacher (pedagogue), to their daughters and teenage sons...". This view however, may not stand, for another comment, which is found in the Oxyrynchus 2389 papyrus [P. Oxy. fr.9 col.1 (=13(a) P.) στ. 11 κ.ε.)] mentions that the great poet's ancestry is not indeed Lydian: "... It is evident that Aristotle and the others were mistaken to think that he (Alcman) appeared as if he was of Lydian descent...". In reference to the dispute over the birthplace of Alcman, Antipatros of Thessalonica (Suidae, A. P. 7, 18, 5) notes that it was common practice among several cities of antiquity to pretend to the nativity of great poets: "... There is a dispute between the two continents (cities-regions) about whether or not he (Alcman) was of Lydian or Lakedaemonian descent. Several (cities), are thought of as the birthplace of the attendants of poetry...".

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27. Ефстратије Т. Теодосију, Васијије Н. Маниманис, Милан С. Димитријевић, The cosmological Theories of the Pre-Socratic Greek Philosophers and their Philosophical views fot Enviroment, Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade-Πyбл. Aстр. Друш. "Pyђeр Бошковиђ" vol. 10, pp. 639-651, 2011.

In this paper the views related to nature, Mother-Earth and the natural environment in the ancient Greek world are discussed, from the Оrphic Hymns and the Homeric world, through the works of Hesiod and Sophocles, and the theories and works of the pre-Socratic philosophers, the Ionian School, Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, Empedocles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Neo-Platonists, with a particular emphasis on Plotinus. The common elements in the teaching of the pre-Socratic Ionian philosophers and of the latter ancient Greek natural philosophers were the observation of living environment and nature, the corresponding relations, changes and cyclic periodic variations. We note the attempts of Anaximander to formulate the need for the conservation of a dynamical equilibrium in nature and in ecosystems; also, his views on evolution of the leaving creatures and the humans.

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28. Ефстратије Т. Теодосију, Васијије Н. Маниманис, Милан С. Димитријевић, The contributions of Byzantium to the Natural Sciences-Byzantine Astronomers and Scientists, Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade-Πyбл. Aстр. Друш. "Pyђeр Бошковиђ" vol. 10, pp. 693-706, 2011.

In this paper, the Natural sciences in Byzantium and the contribution of distinguished scholars are considered. Since they usually were monks, famous schools were in monasteries, and works of antiquity were preserved in monastic libraries, the importance of the Church in Byzantium for Natural sciences is analyzed and demonstrated.

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In the history of calendrical reforms the Julian calendar that prevailed for at least 16 centuries was gradually replaced by the Gregorian one, from 1582 onwards. The Gregorian calendar was necessary, because it corrected the Julian one and returned the vernal equinox in its true astronomical date; however, it did not change the months, or the days of the week (their number and names): it just changed the way of calculation of the leap years. After these two calendars, some other calendrical systems were introduced in Europe, none of which prevailed beyond its limited (in time and place) political environment. In this work the following such unsuccessful calendars are reviewed: The French Revolutionary Calendar, the Theosebic calendar invented by Th. Kairis, the Revolutionary Calendar of the Soviet Union (or "Bolshevic calendar"), the fascist calendar in Italy and the calendar of the Metaxas dictatorship in Greece.

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International Bulletins (British Sundial Society, North American Sundial Society, La Busca: Revista de la Societat Catalana de Gnomonica)

Abstracts of Publications 

1. The Japanese sundial of Ancient Epidaurus. Bulletin of the British Sundial Society BSSB Volume 14 (ii), June 2002, pp. 67-69

A sundial is an istrument used outdoors to show the time (hour) of the day by means of a shadow cast by the Sun. This instrument shows the true solarv time. The hour lines are usually drawn on a horizontal or vertical plane and the shadow is cast by a style (athin piece of metal) fixed to thenhorizontal or vertical surface. A Japanese horizontal sundial, decorated with Japanese ideograms, is placed since 1998 in the famous town of Ancient Epidaurus (Palaia Epidaurus), in Peloponnese, as a gift of ten-year friendship, from 1988 to 1998, between Epidaurus and the Japanese town of Nishiki.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/34139071/The-Bulletin 

2. The horizontal Sundial of Athens. BSSB Volume 14 (iii), September 2002, pp. 126-128

In Athens of the 5th Century BC, lived the great astronomer and geometrician Meton, who carried out his observations using his heliotropium, a kind of improved sundial. He might have placed many sundials in Athens, as well as carved calendars used for daily purposes. In Athens, we also find the magnificent monument of Andronicos Kyrrheste, a hydraulic clock, decorated with eight sundials, carved on the sides of the octagonal construction, and an archaic water clock, preserved in the Museum of the Ancient Roman Agora (old Market). Nevertheless, we find no horizontal sundial of that period; the only sundial of Athens dates from the middle 19th Century and it is placed at the entrance of the National Garden. It was initially made as an ornament for the Palace of Othon, the first king of modern Greece, and then relocated to its current position.

3. The Ancient Clepsydra of Athens. BSSB Volume 14 (iv), December 2002, pp. 162-166

A sundial as such has the serious disadvantage of not being able to work on cloudy, rainy days nor at night. This was the main reason why the ancient civilizations also used another physical phenomenon to measure time-intervals: the continuous flow of water. The first mechanical way of measuring time was the water clock. The water clock or clepsydra was crude device for measuring time at night. So its structure was quite simple: a vessel from which water escaped through a small hole, in or near the bottom, at a steady pace and in which the falling of water marked the passage of time. The surface of the water in the calibrated vessel told the time. Clepsydrae or water clocks were the only mechanical instruments for recording the passage of time in Antiquity.

4. The sundials at the Skalnate Pleso Observatory, in Poprad (Slovak Repuplic) and in Otzenhausen (Germany). BSSB Vol. 15 (i), March 2003, pp. 35-37.

Three vertical sundials of distinct appearance in Central Europe, all at latitudes between 49° and 50° N, are presented. The first is on the wall of the Observatory building of Skalnaté Pleso, at an altitude of 1778 m on the High Tatras Mountains of the Slovak Republic. The second is on a church in the city of Poprad, also in the northern Slovak Republic. The third vertical sundial is in the area of Otzenhausen, Germany.

5. L' Antica Clepsidra d Atenes - La Antigua Clepsidra de Atenas. Revista de la Societat Catalana de Gnomonica. Num. 45. Gener - abril del 2003. p. 1-8.

L' Antica Clepsidra d Atenes (Catalan): Aquest article, que ens han tramjes els autors, fou publicat per primera vegada en el Bulletin de desembre del 2002 de la British Sundial Society; avui el presentem alos nostres lectors per fer-los saber que era la Clepsidra d' Atenes I explicar una interessant aplicacio de les clepsidres a l' antiga Grecia que, mes tard, passa a Roma. La Antigua Clepsidra de Atenas (Spanish): Este articulo, que nos han remitido sus autores, fue publicado por primera vez en el Bulletin de diciembre del 2002 de la British Sundial Society; hoy lo presentamosa nuestros lectores para dar a conocer una interesante aplication de las clepsidras en la antigua Greciay, podteriormente, en Roma. Artículo en el que los autores hablan de estos relojes de agua que se utilizaban en Grecia; hacen un poco de historia desde que los utilizaban en Egipto, y también en la India, y finalmente se refieren a su utilización en los juzgados de Atenas para medir la duración de las intervenciones de los abogados, que estaba regulada y, evidentemente, tenía que ser igual para los defensores y para los acusadores. Terminan refiriéndose a la gran clepsidra de la Torre de los Vientos y de su ubicación. Se acompañan fotografías de la clepsidra que se conserva en el Museo de la Antigua Ágora Romana de Atenas y una vista en representación moderna del Tholos, el Parlamento y el Templo de Vulcano de la mencionada ciudad de Atenas.

6. The sundials at Novodevithiy Convent in Moscow. BSSB Vol. 15 (ii), June 2003, pp. 71-73.

The European Astronomy Conference (JENAM 2000), held in Moscow in early June 2000, gave us the opportunity to visit the historical capital of Russia. The local organising committee successfully arranged for several guided visits to interesting places. Besides the Kremlin, the Red Square and the Gagarin's Square, we visited the historical monastery of Novodevitchiy Convent with an exquisite vertical sundial, which we describe in relation with the historical and architectural context of the city in which it is placed.

7. The ancient Athenian sculptured calendar. BSSB Vol. 15 (iii), September 2003, pp. 100-103.

A small Byzantine temple of the 8th century, St. Eleftherios, is located to the south of the temple of the Annunciation of Virgin Mary, the today Cathedral of Athens and initially it served itself as the Cathedral of the city. This quite small but excellent church, probably a gift of Byzantine Empress Irene the Athenian to its native city, was built by re-using building material from ancient Athenian monuments. On the west side of this small church, above the main entrance, there is immured a frieze of marble with a symbolic depiction of the formal festivals of Attica. This frieze is the only sculptured illustrated calendar that is preserved from the ancient Athens and indeed from the ancient Greece in general.

8. The vertical sundial of Hossios Loukas Convent. BSSB Vol. 15 (iv), December 2003.

The most important monument of the middle-Byzantine period in Greece is the Convent of Hossios Loukas the Steiriotis, built in the middle-10th century AD on the western slopes of the mount Helicon. Its construction began during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Romanos II (959-963), while the Byzantine emperor Vasileios II (976-1025) completed it. During the Frankish occupation of Central Greece it passed into the possession of a catholic monastic order, and subsequently suffered from the destructive malice and plundering of Catalan and Turkish conquerors. It was in this Convent on the 27th of March where the Bishop of Salona Isaias (Isaiah) blessed the armaments used in the uprising of the area of Roumeli against the Turks. The Catholikon of the Convent is a unique extant specimen of Byzantine architecture, the "Parthenon" of the Byzantine period in Greece as it is called, and it served as the fore type for the building of other churches such as the Catholikon of the Convent in Daphni and, later on, for the Russian church in Athens. It is truly astonishing that the temple is adorned with a vertical sundial. It is one of the possibly less than ten extant sundials from the Byzantine period in Greece.

9. Two sundials in South East Attica. BSSB Vol. 16 (ii), June 2004, pp. 49-52.

During an excursion in Attica we found two modern sundials. So, in another visit in that places we studied these two modern sundials, which are located on the eastern shore of Attica, in Central Greece. In our paper are presented the sundial of Kaki Thalassa and the sundial of Lavrio. The first is a donation to St. Pantelehemon's small country church overlooking the Aegean Sea at the beach of Kaki Thalassa, while the other is located at the centre of the main square in the city of Lavrio.

One of the important monuments of the middle Byzantine period in Thessaly is the Convent of St. Lavrentios, built in the middle of 14th century AD on the eastern slopes of Mount Pelion. Its construction began during the reign of the Byzantine emperor of Trapezous Alexios III Comnenos (1349-1390) by the monk Lanrentios from Athos. The Catholikon of the Convent is adored with an excellent piece of a white marble vertical sundial showing eleven hours. It is one of the very few - possibly less than ten - existing sundials on Byzantine churches in Greece.

El Fòrum romà d' Atenes(Catalan): Situada a l'est de l' antiga Àgora grega d' Atenes, hi ha l'Àgora romana (fòrum o plaça del mercat) que, en realitat, té poca relació amb els romans, més enllà del fet que pren aquest nom per haver estat creada durant l' època romana (segel I dC) amb l'objecte de servir a la creixent població d' Atenes. Podia funcionar independentment i l'entrada era per la banda del carrer que avui s'anomena carrer d' Aeolou (carrer d' Èol).
El seu disseny era molt simple: un ampli espai rodejat per una columnata rectangular amb les botigues arrenglerades al darrete. Tot el complex mesurava exteriorment 111 m per 98 m, mentre que l' espai central, en el temps dels romans, feia 82 per 57 m. Entre els romans, els edificis més coneguts del fòrum eren l' Agoranomeion de les autoritats del mercat, el Pòrtic i la Porta d' Athena Archegetis (leader). Però, el més important i famós edifici de l' interior del fòrum es la torre de la clépsidra, el rellotge hidràulic d' Andrònic Kýrrhestos (figura 1 i pàgines 18 i 19), més coneguda com a Torre dels Vents ( "Aèrides", per als moderns atenencs) a causa de les figures personificades dels vuit principals vents (que bufen de les vuit principals direction) i dels seus noms, que decoren la part alta de cada costat.
El Fórum romano de Atenas (Spanish): Situada al este de la antigua Ágora griega de Atenas, está el Ágora romana (fórum o plazza del mercado) que, en realida, tiene poca relactión con los romanos, más allá del hecho de que toma este nombre por haber sido creada durante la época romana (siglo I dc) con el objeto de servir a la creciente problación de Atenas. Podía funcionar independientemente y la entrada estaba por el lado de la calle que hoy se llama calle de Aeolou (calle de Eolo).
Su dieño era muy simple : un amplio espacio rodeado por una columnata rectangula con las tiendas alineadas detrás. Todo el complejo media exterormente 111 m por 98 m, mintras que el espacio central, en la época de los romanos, media 82 por 57 m. Entre los romanos, los edificios más conocidos del fórum eran el Agoranomeion de las autoridades del mercado, el Pórtico y la Puerta de Athena Archegetis (leader). Pero, el más importante y famoso edificio del interiod del fórum es la torre de la clepsidra, el reloj hidráulico de Andrónico Kýrrhestos (figura 1 y páginas 18 y 19), más conocida como Torre de los Vientos (« Aérides », para los modernos atenienses) a causa de la representación personificada de los ocho principales vientos (que soplan de las ocho principales direcciones) y de sus nombres, que decoran la parte alta de cada costado.

12. The Quadruplex Sundial of Tinos. The Compedium, Journal of the North American Sundial Society. NASS Vol. 13, No 2, June 2006,

An ancient sundial of considerable complexity was discovered in the 1903 excavations of the altar of Poseidon on the island of Tinos. It is a quadruplex sundial made in the 1st Century B.C. by the famous astronomer, engineer and architect Andronikos Kyrrhestos or Kyrrhestis of Macedonia. The complex structure consists of four different sundials: the first one is a hemispherical sundial that showed the hours of daylight, the dates of the equinoxes, the starting point of winter and summer - by observing the rising and setting of the Pleiades cluster - and the heliacal appearance of Sirius (αCMa). The second one is spheroidal in shape, was oriented towards the North, and displayed the hours of daylight, and the dates of the equinoxes and solstices. Additionally, there are two more sundials: these are vertical and located on the eastern and western sides of the marble construct.

13. The Roman sundial at Dion, the famous ancient Macedonian sanctuary. BSSB Vol. 18 (iv), December 2006

During a summer excursion in Pieria we discovered an interesting conical Roman sundial in the Archaeological Museum of Dion. It is an ancient sundial found in the ruins of the archaeological site of Dion, the sacred city of ancient Macedonians, 17 kilometers south of Katerini, the capital of Pieria prefecture in Macedonia. Dion, near Mt. Olympus - home of the immortal gods -, is the place where relics of ancient Macedonia can be seen. This sundial is of the hemicyclium (conical type) or ‘roofed sundial' as Mrs. Gibbs call it. This type of sundial was very famous in Ancient Greece because is invented by the famous Babylonian astronomer Berossus, who lived and worked from 356 to 326 BC on the Greek island of Kos.

14. The Tower of the Winds in Athens-The water-clock and its eight vertical sundials. The Compendium, NASS Vol. 13, No. 4, December 2006, pp. 4-8.

http://www.ta-dip.de/fileadmin/user_upload/bilder3/nass134_Tower_of_Winds.pdf
http://www.ta-dip.de/sonnenuhren/sonnenuhren-aus-nah-und-fern/sonnenuhren-aus-griechenland.html

The Tower of the Winds, still standing in the Roman Forum (Agora) of Athens, is an small octagonal marble tower built circa 50 B.C. by Andronicus Kyrrhestos. On the upper part of its sides there are carved lines, which indicated the hours of the day using the shadow of iron rods. Moreover, inside the tower there was a water clock to show the time when there was no sunlight. Today, along with the lines of the 8 sundials, the tower hosts remains of the water clock and its reservoir.

15. The vertical sundial of the church of the Dormition of the Virgin at Agia Trias in the Argive plain. BSSB Vol. 19 (i), March 2007, pp. 12-14.

A significant, well preserved vertical sundial of Medieval Byzantine Greece can be found today at Argolis in the village of Agia Trias. Agia Trias is the name used today for a large village in the Argive plain in Peloponnese, which was, in past times, known as Merbakas. It is the seat of the municipality of Midea and rests very near to the famous ancient city of Mycenae and between Argos and Nauplion. another two other historical ancient cities. Agia Trias, Argos and Nauplion form an equilateral triangle, with Agia Trias on its northern apex. In this village, our interest is focused on the well-known Byzantine church of the Dormition of the Virgin (Church of the Koimesis), which was built in the 13th century. The church of the Dormition of the Virgin is a domed cross-in-square church of the composite four-column type, with a narthex and porches, which is the main characteristic of the Medieval Byzantine churches of Argolis. The wall masonry is pseudoisodomic in the lower section and ‘cloisonné' in the upper part. The façades are decorated with a wide variety of brick ornaments. The historical church was built on a stone crepis and dates to the end of the 12th century or early 13th century. The churches' interior is decorated with Byzantine murals and its main characteristic element is its ceramic meander shaped decor.

16. The vertical sundial of Panaghia Vlajherna Convent in Kyllene, Peloponnese. BSSB 19 (ii), pp. 84-85. June 2007.

Kyllene is a port and summer seashore resort in Helis or Eleia (Western Peloponnese), located at 37º 57´ N, 21º 08´ E. Among its sightseeing highlights are the remnants of the Glarenza castle by the sea, the lighthouse on the Kafkalida islet and the Byzantine monastery of Panaghia Vlaherna (the Virgin Mary of Vlaherna), the latter being decorated with an exquisite vertical sundial.

This historical Byzantine Convent (nunnery) is located in the Kato Panaghia settlement, 2.5 Km SE from Kyllene's centre and port.

17. The vertical sundial of the church of Panaghia Scripou. The Compendium, NASS Vol. 14, No. 3, September 2007.

 http://proceedings.aip.org/resource/2/apcpcs/848/1/934_1?isAuthorized=no

It is almost certainly the oldest (and arguably the most beautiful) Byzantine sundial in the whole Greece, being contemporary to the church (874 A.D.).

As part of our ongoing project to correctly identify and describe all the Byzantine sundials in Greece, the vertical marble sundial in the main church of the "Koimesis tis Theotokou" (Dormition of the Virgin) or "Panaghia Scripou" monastery, in Orchomenos, Boeotia, central Greece, is presented.

Full text: http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?

18. The vertical sundial of the Leimonos Monastery. The Compendium, NASS (U.S.A) Vol. 16, No. 1, pp.30-33, March 2009.

The Leimonos Monastery is a men's convent located in the centre of Lesvos island, in the Eastern Aegean Sea, at geographical coordinates 39º 15´ 5´´ N , 26º 10´ 10´´ E. It is decorated with a quite simple vertical sundial dating from the beginning of the previous century. We report its existence because it is probably the unique sundial in Lesvos and one of the few vertical sundials, less than twelve, mounted on Orthodox churches of the post-Byzantine period in the whole Greece.

19. The only ‘mass dial' in Greece. BSSB Vol. 21 (i), March 2010, E. Theodossiou and V. N. Manimanis

The Byzantine church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in the village Chonikas, in the Argolis Prefecture of Peloponnese, at geographical coordinates 37º 40´ 16´´ N , 22º 46´ 24´´ E, is decorated with a vertical sundial. This is the only ‘mass dial' we could identify in the whole country. The church was built in the 12th century, while the sundial was carved probably in early 17th century. Additionally, in the same part of the wall there are inscriptions mentioning two total solar eclipses, in 1661 and in 1760.

21. Four sundials in schools of Volos, Alonnisos and Stefanoviki, D. Blatsis, E. Theodossiou & V.N. Manimanis. British Sundial Society Bulletin 23 (i), 32-34, March 2011.

Ancient sundials were an attempt for the measurement of the true solar time; they had many different forms and were beautifully made. They have been found in various locations in Athens, Philippoi, Rome and several other cities and regions of the ancient world (Gibbs, 1976). Modern sundials can show the solar time with one-minute precision. The main sundial types are the vertical, the horizontal and the equatorial ones. In the present paper we will briefly mention the structure and the operation of a horizontal sundial and expose our experience from the construction of four such sundials.
The main parts of a horizontal sundial are the hour plate, the gnomon and the corrections. The hour plate is usually made of white marble, upon which the hour lines are carved; in addition, lines for semi-hours, quarters of an hour or even 5-min lines can be carved. Gnomon is usually made of metal; it forms with the horizontal plane an angle (φ) equal to the latitude of the location where the sundial will be placed. The corrections that depend on the date are given in the form of a diagram or of a table, into which the ‘Equation of time' corrections and those due to the longitude of the place are presented. These corrections convert the true solar time of the place to the corresponding civil time. The orientation of the horizontal sundial is such that the gnomon's tip points towards the North Celestial Pole. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

22. Two sundials in Drama, a city in northern Greece. The Compendium, Journal of the North American Sundial Society NASS vol 19, No 2, 14-18, March 2012. E. Theodossiou, V. N. Manimanis and P. Mantarakis.

Two sundials, a Byzantine and a modern one, are presented, which are located in the city of Drama, in northern Greece. The former is on exhibit at the city's Archaeological Museum, and the latter is located in the city's municipal garden. A marble sculpture of a sand clock (hourglass or sandglass) is also described in this study.

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23. Two sundials in the village Nichephoros, a village in northern Greece. The Compendium, Journal of the North American Sundial Society NASS accepted 2011. K. Kordosis,E. Theodossiou, A. Dacananis and Peter Z. Mantarakis.

Sundials were the first instruments constructed by the ancient Greek astronomers for the measurement of time. The ancient sundial described in this work is a marble one of the conical type; it is now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens (index catalog number 3158). Characteristic parameters of this sundial, such as the angle formed between the cone's axis and the generatrix, the geographical latitude of operation and the gnomon's length, are calculated from measurements of its geometrical dimensions.

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I. Papers published-selected texts

No. 36: STUDY AND ORIENTATION OF THE OCHE "DRAGON HOUSE"  IN EUBOEA, GREECE

E. Theodossiou1, V.N. Manimanis1, M. Katsiotis2, D. Papanikolaou3
1Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, Faculty of Physics, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopoli Zographou,
Athens 157 84, Greece
2National Technical University of Athens, Polytechniopoli Zographou, Athens, Greece
3Department of Dynamic, Tectonic & Applied Geology, Faculty of Geology & Geoenvironment, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
E-mail: etheodos@phys.uoa.gr

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Abstract: In southern Euboea, central Greece, there are 23 megalithic buildings, known as "Drakospita" (= Dragon houses); their builders and purpose are unknown. We postulate that they were dedicated to worship, constructed by the Dryopes, an ancient prehellenic tribe worshipping goddess Hera. On 2002 March 22 and 2004 July 4 we visited the best preserved of all Drakospita on top of Mt. Oche, measured its dimensions and calculated its orientation. A Sirius-rise orientation corresponding to circa 1100 B.C., not at odds with a previous archaeological dating based on artefacts found inside the structure, indicates a religious / astronomical purpose for the building. In fact, it could be argued that at least the famous Drakospito of Oche was not mainly a place of worship, but also an ancient megalithic observatory of the celestial phenomena.

Key words: Dragon-House, Drakospito, Mt. Oche, Euboea, Dryopes
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1 INTRODUCTION
The Dryopes were Prehellenes, an ancient tribe inhabiting Greece before the Greeks. Since their name is Indo-European, Dryopes are thought to belong to the Indo-European part of the prehellenic racial substrate. Initially, they occupied the area between the mountains Oete and Parnassus, a dry land called Dryopis. They are thought to be related to Leleges, and they had been characterized as a tribe of bandits. The settlements of Leleges and Dryopes lasted until the end of the Neolithic Period, when the first Greek tribes started to appear.
According to the Greek mythology, the Dryopes, who developed a civilization circa 1600 B.C., were driven away from their areas by Hercules and the Malians, who seized their fortified city on Mt. Parnassus (Herodotus: 8, 43); at Trachina, Deianeira helped Hercules by fighting on his side against the Dryopes and during the battle she was wounded at the chest. Then the Dryopes occupied Epirus, where an area was also named Dryopis. But they were driven away from there, as well, by the Dorians of Olympus and Ossa. Consequently, they immigrated to southern Greece, circa 1200 B.C., colonizing Euboea and the Cyclades. Today, near the centre of the island of Kythnos there is the town of Dryopis, thought to be founded and named by the ancient Dryopes. Indeed, Dryopes from Euboea, during the period of the movements of the Greek tribes, colonized Kythnos, which took the name Dryopis as a whole (Herodotus: 8, 46), while subsequently it assumed its present name after the leader of Dryopes.
Those of the Dryopes who fled to Peloponnese took refuge as supplicants to the king Eurystheus, who, as an adversary of Hercules, granted them the city of Asine in Argolis, while Dryopes also founded Nemea by themselves. The testimony of Pausanias (Messeniaka II, Book IV, xxxiv, 9) informs us that this immigration took place during the third generation, when their king was Phylas. But they were expelled from there, too, as allies of the Spartans, who allowed them to settle in a city of Messenia, which was named also Asine by the Dryopes.
The Dryopes were considering Dryops as their mythical original ancestor and first king on Oete, honoured as the son of Apollo and Zeus, daughter of Lycaon. The Dryopes had established a sanctuary with a statue of him in Asine of Argolis, and every other year they celebrated a mystic festival in his name, while in parallel they were honouring his daughter, the nymph Dryope, one of the Hamadryades. According to a myth mentioned by Nicandros, the god Apollo fell in love with Dryope and appeared to her in the form of a turtle while she was playing with the Hamadryades. When Dryope took the turtle in her hands, Apollo transformed himself into a snake; so the Hamadryades were scared and run away, leaving the god alone with Dryope. After a while, Dryope was married with Andraemon, son of Oxylos, however the child she had, Amphissos, was with Apollo. After the birth of Amphissos, she was kidnapped by the Hamadryades and became a nymph.

2 THE DRAKOSPITA
The Dryopes, as was already mentioned, settled in the island of Euboea circa 1200 B.C., in the SE part of the island, mainly in Styra and Karystos. Styra is a small town situated approximately 30 km to the NW of Karystos and 90 km to the SE of Chalkis, the capital of Euboea. The city of Karystos is built on the innermost point of a bay in the southern part of Euboea, under the Oche Mountain. According to the Greek mythology, it bears the name of Karystos, son of the Centaur Chiron, while its first inhabitants are thought to be Kares and Leleges, assimilated later by the Dryopes. Oche itself, the tallest mountain of the southern part of the island, reaches an altitude of 1398 m with its tallest peak, Prophet Elias; to the SE it falls to Cape Mandeli, the southernmost point of Euboea, while to the NE it ends at Cape Kaphereus, also known as Cavo d' Oro.
On the Oche Mountain there is a megalithic building preserved in good condition, known as "Drakospito", i.e. House of the Dragon. In general, in Euboea, "Drakospita" or "Dragà" is the local name of 23 or 24 such stone buildings, or remnants of them. According to the local tradition, these structures have been built by dragons and here resided the king of the Cyclops. The reason is simple: only giants, dragons or Cyclops were capable of transporting these huge rocks (Politis, 1904: I, 220-222).
The etymology of the words gegenes (aboriginal) and gigas (giant) has to do with the notion of being born by the mother Earth. We know of the Cyclopean Walls of Tiryns, which, according to the tradition were built by the Cyclops as a favour to Proitos, the brother of Akrisios.
It may be noticed that at least the entrance of the Dragon House of Oche resembles the dolmen of the Atlantic shore. The circular dolmen with corridor in Bretagne and Poitou date from the end of the 5th millennium B.C. (such as the "Table of the Merchants" at Locmarie), or the beginning of the 4th.
Today, the 23 or 24 Drakospita (26 according to some researchers) stand as a testimony of a distinct cultural phase of the Euboean history. The oldest modern reference on these buildings appears on 1797 October 21 by the British geographer and geologist John Hawkins (1758-1841), who was the first researcher that discovered the drakospito on Oche, and believed that it was an ancient temple. Then followed by H.N. Ulrichs (1842) and several subsequent researchers, both Greek and foreigners, as G. Welcher (1850), L. Ross (1851), M.J. Girard (1851), G. Bursian (1855), Th. G. Papamanolis (1954), N.K. Moutsopoulos (1960, 1978-80, 1992), N. Voutyropoulos (2003) and others.
Three Drakospita near Styra, known as Pálle-Lákka Dragò, are especially imposing, but the most impressive one is the Drakospito of Oche. None of the rest presents the perfectness of its construction.
Some archaeologists date its construction at circa 1000 B.C. by correlating it with the other megalithic monuments of Greece, such as those of Tyrins and Mycenae, while others date it in the fourth century B.C. Some, as H.N. Ulrichs (1842), consider the Drakospita as sanctuaries of Teleia Hera (The perfect Hera), the "legal" wife of Zeus and thus protector of marriage due to her holy union with the Father of Gods, while others, as C. Bursian (1855), believe that they were places of worship of Hercules. Both these views connect Drakospita with worship, assigning to them a well-defined religious importance.
The temple theory is also supported by Theodor Wiegand (1896: 11-17), "who was the first to point out that the Dragon-House of Mt. Oche was by no means Mycenaean -despite the similarity between its roof construction and the corbelling systems used at Mycenae and Tyrins" (as cited by Carpenter & Boyd, 1977:1).
Franklin P. Johnson (1925) was the first to postulate a karian derivation by noting the features shared by the so-called Dragon-Houses of Euboea and certain even less well-known structures in Karia (Asia Minor). J. Carpenter & Boyd (1977) also favor a religious usage.
In 1959 Professor Nikolaos K. Moutsopoulos of the Aristotelian University of Thessalonica's School of Architecture made a static study of the Oche's Drakospito and 11 other such buildings, and excavated the surrounding space (1960 and 1978-80). Inside the building on Oche he discovered numerous vessels (pots), while at the outside he located an apothetes, i.e. a subterranean construction inside which some utensils and animal bones were found (probably relics of ritual sacrifices), as well as vessel pieces and inscriptions dating from the preclassic to the Hellenistic period; on one of the vessel pieces is carved an unknown kind of writing. Today these are being kept in the small archaeological museum of Karystos, as mentioned already. The study of the building, together with certain architectural details, persuaded prof. Moutsopoulos that this megalithic monument was a temple of the Dryopes built at some time before 700 B.C., a temple where sacrifices were taking place at least since the archaic (preclassic) period. However, Moutsopoulos (1992) dates the vessels found during the Oche Drakospito excavation in the early Hellenistic Period, that is 3rd or 2nd century B.C. The same dating is proposed by Carpenter & Boyd (1977). This cannot of course exclude a much older construction age for the building itself.
Carpenter & Boyd (1977) report the existence of an edifice on the western interior wall of the structure, which they considered a probable evidence for sacrificing, together with a 50-cm diameter roof opening, a kind of primitive chimney for the smoke from the sacrifices. They also argue in favor of the existence of an alter in front of the edifice of the Oche Drakospito.
Ulrichs (1842) and Bursian (1855) independently report a square table-like plate inside the building, probably for placing the offerings. Prof. Moutsopoulos mentions however that during the 1960 excavations neither the edifice nor the square table-like plate was found. Our team also did not notice anything like an edifice on the western interior wall.
Most researchers who studied the Oche Drakospito focus either on the religious character of the building (sanctuary/temple of the Perfect Hera or Heracles), or on its archaeological or architectural significance. Carpenter & Boyd note (1977:1) as archaeologists that, if the Drakospito is regarded as a temple, then the placement of the entrance at the long side and the confinement of sacrifices inside it do not agree with the Greek way of temple construction and usage, respectively; therefore, they conclude that most probably it was a sanctuary of Leleges or Karian slaves.
It should be noted that no other place of Greece has Drakospita, except SE Euboea, if we exclude some markedly smaller similar constructions in Mane (southern Peloponnese) or, according to the archaeologists Carpenter & Boyd (1977) another one on Mt. Hymettos in Attica. However, the geologist of our team asserts that the Hymettos construction can in no way be associated with the Drakospito of Oche.
In the Greek folklore, the drákoi (plural of drákos, the common Greek form of the word dragon) are large legendary monsters with the general form of a serpent, usually winged and gifted with supernatural power. Such mythical monsters are to be found, with some variations, in all the mythologies or folklore of the world. However, in Greek the word drákoi means also humanoid creatures of larger-than-normal height, with muscular power exceeding the human measures. These creatures are thought to live inside caves on the mountains. Probably the legends about the humanoid drákoi are the succession of the Greek myths about Giants, Titans, Cyclops and Centaurs (Politis, 1904, II, 994-995). Out of these dragon legends much topographic nomenclature was created, and is used up to this day: Drakotrypa (Dragon Hole), Drakospelia (Dragon Cave), Drakovouni (Dragon Mountain), Drakolimne (Dragon Lake), etc.

3 OUR STUDY OF THE OCHE DRAKOSPITO AND ITS ORIENTATION
We visited the Oche Drakospito at both the time of the vernal equinox (2004 March 22) and around the time of the summer solstice (2006 July 4). We noticed the presence of ancient quarries on the slope of the mountain, the source of the well-known marbles that secured wealth to the ancient Karystos, the third largest city of ancient Euboea. In Kylindroi, in the vicinity of Karystos, one can see imposing marble columns from that period. At the Styra area there is an equally impressive ancient quarry near Ai-Nikolas, and two others in the area of Kapsala (a village 2 km to the south of Styra). The southern Euboea area was known in antiquity for its quarries, mentioned by Strabo (X 16).
So, although the Drakospita themselves are not made of marble, some researchers hypothesized that they were the residences of the quarry workers, who were working in the respective areas. Maybe the smaller ones could have been erected, or simply used, by such people, but this hypothesis sounds improbable for the largest one at least, that of Oche, because of its position exactly at the top of the mountain, a totally impractical, hard-to-reach and cold place.
In the small archaeological museum of Karystos (inside the Yokaleio Cultural Foundation) there are a couple of findings from the Drakospita of Karystos and Styra. We visited Platanistos, the first and largest of the so-called villages of Cavo d' Oro. According to both history and tradition, Platanistos (21 km road distance from Karystos) is considered an ancient Dryopic town. It resembles an ancient village, with its many sparsely populated neighbourhoods and the simple stonewalls of its buildings. Downhill from Platanistos, towards its seashore of Potami, in Helleniko, there are the relics of an ancient settlement of the eighth century B.C. related to Poseidon (the Greek equivalent of Neptune).
The Oche Drakospito lies at an altitude of 1386 m (4547 feet), on the tiny plateau formed between the twin peaks of the mountain. The access is rather difficult and requires some mountaineering ability, but not special climbing skills.
The GPS geographical coordinates of the building site are: latitude 38°.03´.06´´ North and longitude 24°.27´.10´´ East. The area of the peaks is bare and precipitous. The ancient building is an approximate rectangular parallelogram made of large blocks of rock, weighing up to 10 tons each, and their careful fitting and the overall quality of the construction is impressive. We measured carefully all main building dimensions. The largest block is 4.0 × 2.0 × 0.4 m long. The blocks of rock seem to have been extracted from the same area. Geologically, they are amphibolites, rocks composed of silicate minerals. From the inside we could testify to the excellent state of conservation. Indeed, the strength of the construction and the feeling of safety offered by this megalithic monument prompted the people to think of it as the creation of supernaturally strong beings, dragons or Cyclops. The lowest blocks are fitted to the natural rock substrate, while the fitness has been secured, where needed, with the insertion of smaller stones. No trace of any kind of connecting material, such as mud, was discerned.
The entrance of the Drakospito is made of three slate blocks (a trilith) forming a Π shape, a common eminent feature of all "Dragon Houses". (Intriguingly, the 3 structures in Pálle-Lákka Dragò form a Π shape as viewed from above.) The top block measures 1.2 m × 2.3 m × 0.2 m and sits at a height of 2 m. The thickness of the walls is everywhere larger than or equal to 1.40 m (for comparison, one member of the Pálle-Lákka Dragò triad has average wall thickness of 1.17 m, another one 1.05 m). The interior is one room 9.80 m long and 4.90 m wide (Pálle-Lákka Dragò member 1: 10.85 m to 3.80 m to 9.90 m to 4.05 m. Member 2: all walls approximately 4 m long), i.e. a 2:1 analogy, forming a space of about 48 m2. The height of the walls is 3.45 m and that of the building approximately 4.5 m. The only wall with windows is the southern one, where two small windows exist, approximately 40 cm wide, one to each side of the door opening, letting a small amount of light to enter the building, as is the case in most temples and churches in order to create a proper atmosphere.
The construction method of the whole building appears to have solved serious static problems. The construction of the roof follows the ecphoric method on all four sides, and not only on two sides, as is the case with the Mycenae megalithic monuments.
In order to construct a roof with this method or system, one needs both accurate calculations and good craftsmen: a large first slate is placed on the top of the wall, protruding a little towards the interior of the room. Upon this slate, a second one is placed, which protrudes towards the interior a little more over the first, then a third slate protruding over the second, etc., until the uppermost slate supported by the one wall meets the uppermost slate supported by the opposite wall, thus closing the roof. The static study must be accurate, because if the weights of the slates are not calculated correctly, the barycenter of the whole pile will exceed the edge of the supporting wall, and the roof will collapse. The unknown constructors of the ancient building, thinking cleverly, not only made very thick walls, but also used large rocks placed upon the first slates from the outside, on the part standing on the thick wall, as counterweights. Also, the slates are not horizontal, but slightly inclined, for the draining of rainwater.
The lengths of the exterior walls are: 12.70 m (north), 7.70 m (east), 12.60 m (south) and 7.75 m (west). The structure and texture of the walls is such that the accuracy of the measurements can be no better than approximately 5 cm. The structure should be further studied in respect to its mathematical analogies, since the ratio of length to width (1.64) is very close to the "golden rule" or "divine analogy" of Φ ≈ 1.618:1, a ratio that appears during the classic period mainly at a vertical plane, to increase the aesthetic appeal to an external viewer.
What could be the meaning of the "golden analogy" at a horizontal plane, i.e. facing the sky?
During the 2006 July 4 expedition, measurements of the angle between the northern wall and the Sun's azimuth at sunset (corresponding to zero degrees astronomical altitude) were obtained. The sunset is clearly visible from the northern side of the building at around the time of the summer solstice and clearly visible from the southern side at the time of the vernal equinox. Due again to the structure and texture of the walls, the accuracy of these measurements could be no better than approximately 5 arc minutes. The azimuth of the northern wall, facing towards the East, was calculated to be 113°.25´. The azimuth of the southern wall was calculated from the moonrise azimuth at 113°.09´, a difference of just 16 arc minutes. Trigonometric calculations based on the measured lengths of the walls yielded an angle for the NW corner of the building equal to 94°.27´; that of the SW corner 85°.17´; the angle of the SE corner 95°.29´ and of the NE corner 84°.47´. The length of the exterior SE-NW diagonal is 14.25 m.
The habit of giving an astronomical alignment to religious buildings is common in Greece, both in ancient and mediaeval times, with the sunrise and sunset at certain dates being especially favoured, as reported by Pantazis et al. (2004:79). Having excluded the sunrise and sunset at solstices and equinoxes, an obvious first choice was to check for possible astronomical alignments among the brightest stars, and especially Sirius, since the orientation towards the southeast was compelling. Indeed, by using two separate astronomical planetarium programs, Redshift 5.1 and Cartes du Ciel 2.75, we discovered a rise of Sirius orientation of the southern wall for 1060 ± 30 B.C. and of the northern wall for 1150 ± 30 B.C, the average for both walls being 1090 B.C. (the uncertainties correspond to the 5´ error mentioned above). The dating of the construction of the building at that time is not at odds with previous archaeological datings, of which probably the most important is the one based on the artefacts found inside the structure, which according to Moutsopoulos (1960) date from the eighth century B.C..

4 POSSIBLE USES OF THE OCHE DRAKOSPITO
A more mundane explanation for the Drakospito of Oche is that, being a fourth century B.C. building, it was probably a watch-tower and residence of the observer, who from that height was observing the Aegean Sea and was notifying with fire / smoke signals the administration of the respective city about what he was seeing. However, such a wider-than-tall building seems improbable to us to have been built as a watch-tower. More probable is the hypothesis of the Hera temple and at the same time of a "watch-tower of the skies", an ancient astronomical observatory. The religious-monument view was supported, besides Moutsopoulos, by A. Baumeister, J. Girard (1851) and C. Bursian (1855).
We know that many megalithic monuments in Europe had been constructed for exactly this purpose. Moreover, if the Drakospito was dedicated to goddess Hera, which is most probable, this leads to certain connotations: The continuous quarrels of the goddess with Zeus according to Greek mythology, gave rise to the view that Hera was the symbolic personification of the celestial / atmospheric disturbances. This view connects Hera with the celestial phenomena, contradicting the better-known view, which considers the goddess to be the protector of marriage and Earth. In accordance with the first view, since Hera had to do with the celestial phenomena, we hypothesize that the so-called Drakospito of Oche was not only a place of worship, but in addition it was a prehellenic observatory of the stars and of the celestial phenomena. Consequently, we propose to the archaeologists and historians to research carefully with their special knowledge this possibility.
Another line of argument comes from etymology. The name Drakospito could very well be paretymology from the ancient Greek verb δέρκομαι, which means to see clearly, to watch, to observe. Indeed, the tenses of the verb are: δέρκομαι, εδρακόμην, δρέξομαι, έδρακον, δέδορκα, εδεδόρκην. We see that the root of the past tense (drak-) gives us the word dragon (δράκων), which in Greek means "the one who observes"! Dragon is the creature with excellent vision... Therefore, the name Drakospito is a paretymology, and a substantial use of these megalithic monuments, as suggested by the ancient Greek meaning of the verb δέρκομαι, was that of an observatory: Either watch-towers (observing the Aegean Sea), or astronomical observatories of the celestial phenomena and the heavenly bodies. This seems especially true for the largest and best preserved structure, the Drakospito of Oche.

5 CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, arguments have been presented in favour of a religious and/or astronomical function of the Oche Drakospito. No one knows for sure the answers about Drakospita, since no information is available about the building activities of Dryopes. Whatever may the correct answers be, the scattering and the variety of these megalithic monuments are indications of a certain continuity in the construction of cyclopean buildings. The use of monoliths and the exquisite manner of fitting the rectangularized slates together are a true architectural challenge. On the other side, it is impressive that in Argolis, another place of settlement by the Dryopes, there are preserved in various stages of ruin large geometrical constructions, known as Greek pyramids. Perhaps these Argolic pyramids have also been erected by the Dryopes. And we must not forget that the Pyramids, in addition to their use as burial monuments, can be regarded as original meridian observatories.
In any case, the Dragon houses, the pyramids and the rest megalithic constructions, remnants of a history that is slowly getting lost in the depths of the century, exert a special fascination. The uniqueness of the Drakospita forms a challenge to research the rest two dozen buildings, in order to ascertain whether their construction obeys to some astronomical orientation or mathematical rules. From houses of dragons and giants, palaces for the kings of the Cyclops, temples of the Perfect Hera or Hercules, megalithic observatories or dwellings of the ancient quarrymen of the famous green marble of Styra, they were abandoned or became -the small ones- sheep-folds and residences of shepherds in the last centuries. Our hypothesis for the probable astronomical usage of at least one member of the group -the marvellous Dragon house of the Oche mountain-, could give from now on a new momentum to research, besides the interest the Drakospita present from an archaeological and architectural point of view.

6 REFERENCES
Baumeister, A., 1864, Topographische Skizze der Insel Euboia, Lübeck. Beaumeister??
Bursian, C., 1855, "Die dryopische Bauweise in Bautrümmern Euboea's", Archaeologische Zeitung, vol. 13, cols. 129-142.
Carpenter, J. and Boyd, D., 1977, "Dragon-Houses: Euboia, Attica, Karia", American Journal of Archaeology, 81, nο. 2, 179-215.
Diaries of Hawkins' servant James Thoburn (unpublished, but in the Cornish Public Records Office, Truro, as part of the Hawkins family archive). [Hawkins kept a journal, but many of his papers were destroyed by one of his descendants in the early 1900s].
Girard, J., 1851, "Mémoire sur l' île d' Eubée", Archives des missions scientifiques et littéraires, vol. 2, 708-14, 724-25, plate after p. 730. Paris, 1852 ???
Herodotus, The History, 8, 43 and 8, 46 (translat. by David Grene, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985).
Johnson, F. P., 1925 October-December, "The Dragon-Houses of Southern Euboea", American Journal of Archaeology, 29, no. 4, 398-412.
Moutsopoulos, N.K., "The Oche Drakospito", To Vouno, no. 217 (1960), 147-169 [in Greek]
Moutsopoulos, N.K., "The Drakospita of SE Euboea - Contribution to their architecture, classification and morphology studies", Epistemoniki Epetirida Polytechnikis Scholis, Tmima Architectonon, vol. viii (Thessalonica, 1978-80), 263-278 [in Greek].
Moutsopoulos, N.K., 1992 March, "The Drakospita", Archaeologia, vol. 42, Athens, 47-54 [in Greek].
Pantazis, G., Sinachopoulos, D., Lambrou, E., Korakitis, R., 2004 December, Astrogeodetic "Study of Orientations of Ancient and Byzantine Monuments: Methodology and First Results", Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, vol. 7 (2), 74-80.
Papamanolis, Th. G., 1954, Karystos, Athens, 136 [in Greek]
Pausanias, Messeniaka II, Book IV, xxxiv, 9 (in: Pausanias' Guide to Ancient Greece, translat. by Christian Habicht, Berkeley Univ. Press, 1985).
Politis, N.G., 1904, Paradoseis: Meletai peri tou viou kai tis glossis tou ellinikou laou (Traditions). Vol. I, 220-222 and vol. II, 994-995. In the Series of the "Bibliothiki Marasli", Ed. D. Sakellariou, Athens.
Ross, L., 1851, Wanderungen in Griechenland (Griechischen Königsreisen), vol. 2, 28-31 (Halle).
Strabo: The Geography of Strabo by Jones, Horace L., ed. and transl., 8 vols, containing Books 1-17. Harvard University Press & Heinemann, 1917-32 (X, 16)
Ulrichs, H.N., 1842, "Intorno il tempio di Giunone sul monte Ocha vicino a Carystos", Annali dell' Istituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica, XIV, 5-11.
Voutyropoulos, N., 2003 November 27, Dragon Houses: Megalithic Buildings in Euboea, Georama Magazine, http://www.georama.gr/eng/history/index.html (Ancient Greece, Dragon Houses).
Welcker, F.G., 1850, "Der kleine Tempel auf der Spitze des Bergs Ocha in Euböa", Kleine Schriften, vol. 3, 376-92, 553 (Bonn).
Wiegand, Th., 1896, "Der angebliche Urtempel auf der Ocha, Ath. Mitt. [Mitteilungen des deutschen archäologischen Instituts (Athenische Abteilung), Atena]: 21 (XXI), 11-17, pls.2-3.

FIGURES
Figure 1: Photograph of the Oche Drakospito from the SW shortly before sunset on 4 July 2004.
Figure 2: Diagram of the Oche Drakospito and its orientation.
Figure 3: A simple map of the area

Short CVs of the authors
Dr. Efstratios Theodossiou is an astronomer, and an associate Professor of History and Philosophy of Astronomy at the University of Athens. His scientific interests include observational astronomy and astrophysics, satellite spectrophotometry of Be stars and history and philosophy of astronomy. He has published more than 150 scientific papers in international refereed journals and proceedings of astronomical conferences, 300 articles in Greek newspapers and journals and fourteen books on history and philosophy of astronomy and physics. He is member of the IAU Commission 41.

Dr. Vassilios N. Manimanis is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Athens. His scientific interests include observational astronomy and astrophysics, photometry of cataclysmic variable stars, history and philosophy of astronomy and sciences, popularization of astronomy and bioastronomy. He has published 17 research papers in international refereed journals and many articles in popular magazines.

Markos Katsiotis is an architect. He works as a head person at the planning department - General Directorate of Technical Services of the National Technical University of Athens. He is an expert in accessibility for disabled people and is a member of ministerial committees in accessibility of public spaces, buildings and transport systems. His interests include restoration of listed buildings. He has published many articles in Greek journals.

Dr Dimitrios Papanikolaou is Professor of Dynamic and Tectonic Geology at the University of Athens. His scientific interests include structural geology and tectonics, geodynamics, marine geology and the study of natural disasters. He is teaching and has published a book on "Geology of Greece" and more than 230 scientific papers in international journals and proceedings of conferences. He has been very active in UNESCO/IGCP (International Geological Correlation Program), scientific editor in several international journals and visiting professor in France (Reims) and USA (MIT, Boston).

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