Snapshot of Greece
Location: Southeast Europe
Area: 50,949 sq miles
Population: 10,767, 827 (2012 est.)
Capital: Athens Population: 750,000 (2012 est.); Greater
Athens 3.25 million (2012 est.)
European Union Member since 1981.
Government: Republic
Language: Greek (Ellenika). Most people connected with
tourism and those of a younger generation will speak some
English, French, German or Italian.
Religion: 98% Greek Orthodox, with Muslim, Roman
Catholic and Jewish minorities.
Ethnicity: Greek 98%, other 2%
Overview
Greece was the birthplace of European civilisation. The period
from 700BC saw the rise of the great city states of Athens,
Corinth and Sparta, frequently engaged in long struggles for
supremacy, and uniting only when faced with the common
threat of invasion by the Persian Empire. The zenith was
reached in the fifth century BC when Athens became the
cultural and artistic centre of the Mediterranean, producing
magnificent works of architecture, sculpture, drama and
literature.
There are few places that evoke such a heady sense of cultural
romance as Greece. The cradle of Western thought, literature,
art, architecture and democracy gave birth to such treasures
as Homer’s The Iliad, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the
teachings of Plato and Socrates, the Parthenon, the Delphic
Oracle and the Olympics. Reminders of the country’s glory
are all over Greece - from Athens’ Parthenon and Delphi’s
Temple of Apollo, to the ruins on Crete of the Minóan city of
Knossós, a civilisation reaching even further back into history.
Scattered throughout the calm blue waters of the Aegean
are Greece’s 1,400 islands, the largest of which is Crete,
each with its own special story. The serenity of islands like
Skópelos contrasts with the hedonistic party islands such
as Mykonos and Páros where the worship of Dionysus, the
god of revelry, continues to the beat of garage and house
music. Athens’s previous glory in sports was restored when
the Olympic Games returned home in 2004.
Since Greece won her independence in 1830 from the Turkish
Ottoman Empire, there have been problems in the relationship
between the two neighbours. Achieving a political settlement
in Cyprus remains a key concern of Greece’s foreign policy.
The situation seems to have improved following the accession
of Greek-controlled Cyprus to the EU in 2004. Greece has
now explicitly backed Turkey’s own EU application.
The Acropolis - Athens
CITY
Athens
Rhodes
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History
During the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC) the powerful Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean maritime civilisations flourished.
According to Homer, this was a time of violence and wars
based on trade rivalries, although it is thought that Minoan
culture was generally peaceful and harmonious. By the 11th
century BC the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures had collapsed
due to changing patterns of trade and a Dorian invasion from
the north, and a ‘dark age’ ensued.
By 800 BC Greece was undergoing a cultural and military
revival, with the evolution of city-states, the most powerful of
which were Athens and Sparta. Greater Greece was created,
with southern Italy as an important component. This period
was followed by an era of great prosperity known as the classical (or golden) age. During this time, Pericles commissioned
the Parthenon, Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King, Socrates
taught young Athenians the rigours of logic, and a tradition
of democracy (literally, ‘control by the people’) was ushered
in. The classical age came to an end with the Peloponnesian
Wars (431-404 AD) in which the militaristic Spartans defeated
the Athenians.
While embroiled in the Peloponnesian Wars, the Spartans
failed to notice the expansion of Philip of Macedon’s kingdom in the north, which enabled him to easily conquer the
war-weary city-states. Philip’s ambitions were surpassed by
his son Alexander the Great, who marched into Asia Minor,
Egypt (where he was proclaimed pharaoh and founded the
city of Alexandria), Persia and parts of what are now Afghanistan and India. The reign of the Macedonian empire, which
lasted in the form of three dynasties after Alexander’s death
at the age of 33, is known as the Hellenistic period, due to
the merging of Greek ideas and culture with the other proud
cultures of antiquity, creating a new cosmopolitan tradition.
From 205 BC there were Roman incursions into Greece,
and by 146 BC Greece and Macedonia had become Roman
provinces. After the subdivision of the Roman Empire into
Eastern and Western empires in 395 AD, Greece became part
of the illustrious Byzantine Empire. By the 12th century, the
Crusades were in full flight and Byzantine power was much
reduced by invading hordes of Venetians, Catalans, Genoese,
Franks and Normans.
In 1453 the Ottoman Turks captured the Byzantine capital,
Constantinople, and by 1500 almost all of Greece had also
fallen under Turkish control. The lands of present-day Greece
became a rural backwater, with many merchants, intellectuals
and artists exiled in central Europe. It was traditional village
life and Orthodox religion that held together the notion of Hellenism. A cultural revival in the late 18th century precipitated
the War of Independence (1821-29), during which aristocratic
young philhellenes such as Byron, Shelley and Goethe supported the Greeks in their battle against the Ottoman Turks.
The independence movement lacked unity, however, and in
1827 Russia, France and Britain decided to intervene. After
independence, the European powers decided Greece should
become a monarchy, with a non-Greek ruler to frustrate Greek
power struggles, and installed Otto of Bavaria as king in 1833.
The monarchy, with an assortment of kings at the helm, held
on despite popular opposition until well into the 20th century,
although George I established a new constitution in 1864
that returned democracy and pushed the king into a largely
ceremonial role.
During WWI, Greek troops fought on the Allied side and occupied Thrace. After the war, Prime Minister Venizelos sent
forces to ‘liberate’ the Turkish territory of Smyrna (present-day
Izmir), which had a large Greek population. The army was
repulsed by Atatürk’s troops and many Greek residents were
slaughtered. This led to a brutal population exchange between
the two countries in 1923, the resultant population increase
(1,300,000 Christian refugees) straining Greece’s already
weak economy. Shanty towns spilled from urban centres,
unions were formed among the urban refugee population and
by 1936 the Communist Party had widespread popular support.
In 1936 General Metaxas was appointed as prime minister
by the king and quickly established a fascist dictatorship.
Although Metaxas had created a Greek version of the Third
Reich, he was opposed to German or Italian domination and
refused to allow Italian troops to traverse Greece in 1940.
Despite Allied help, Greece fell to Germany in 1941, leading
to carnage and mass starvation. Resistance movements sprang
up and polarised into royalist and communist factions, and a
bloody civil war resulted, lasting until 1949, when the royalists claimed victory. During the civil war, America, inspired
by the Truman Doctrine, gave large sums of money to the
anticommunist government and implemented the Certificate
of Political Reliability, which remained valid until 1962. This
document declared that the wearer did not hold left-wing
sympathies; without it Greeks could not vote and found it
almost impossible to get work.
Fearing a resurgence of the left, a group of army colonels
staged a coup d’etat in 1967, said by Andreas Papandreou to
be ‘the first successful CIA military putsch on the European
continent’. The junta distinguished itself by inflicting appalling brutality, repression and political incompetence upon the
people. In 1974 the colonels attempted to assassinate Cyprus’
leader, Archbishop Makarios, leading to Turkey’s invasion and
occupation of Northern Cyprus. This is still a volatile issue
for the Greeks, and tensions with Turkey are easily inflamed.
In 1981 Greece entered the European Community (now the
EU), and Andreas Papandreou’s socialist party (PASOK) won
elections. PASOK promised removal of US air bases and withdrawal from NATO, but these promises were never fulfilled.
Women’s issues fared better, with the abolition of the dowry
system and legalisation of abortion. In the end, scandals got
the better of Papandreou and his government was replaced
by an unlikely coalition of conservatives and communists in
1989. Elections in 1990 brought the conservatives to power
with a majority of only two seats and, intent on redressing
the country’s economic problems, the government imposed
unpopular and severe austerity measures. A general election
in 1993 returned the ageing, ailing Papandreou and PASOK
to power.
With the largest public debt and one of the largest budget
deficits in the EU, since 2009 Greece has been at the epicenter
of global finance’s attention. Today, being part of the EU, and
of the Eurozone in particular, is proving more crucial for the
future of the country than ever before. The good news is that,
in May 2010, Eurozone countries agreed on a multi-billiondollar aid package to help Greece fight its crippling debt and
deficit burden.
Realizing that the fates of Greece and the rest of the Eurozone
countries are closely intertwined, this much-needed support
has also seen an EU task force arrive in Athens, with the aim
of helping Greece overhaul its tax system, reduce its bloated
public sector bureaucracy, and adhere to the austerity conditions of its bailout deal.
The Northern Peloponnese
The Northern Peloponnese — with Olympia, Mycenae, and
Nafplion among its jewels — is blessed with rugged natural
beauty and the intriguing remains of great kingdoms and
empires of past eras. Separated from the north by a narrow
isthmus, the Northern Peloponnese comprises the Argive
peninsula, jutting into the Aegean, and runs westward past the
isthmus and along the Gulf of Corinth to the Adriatic coast.
Athens
Raise your eyes nearly anywhere in Athens and you’re likely
to be stopped in your tracks by the sight of the Acropolis,
where Pericles rose to the heights of power and creative
achievement, with the construction of the Parthenon and Propylaea. After a time-trip to the golden age of Greece, explore
modern Athens’s patchwork of neighborhoods to get a sense
of the history of this gregarious city, its people, and what
lies beyond the ubiquitous modern concrete facades. Take in
a twilight view from Athenians’ favorite “violet-crowned”
aerie, Mt. Lycabettus, and drink in the twinkling lights of
the metropolis that is home to more than 4 million souls, still
growing and still counting.
You don’t have to look far in Athens to encounter perfection.
Towering above all — both physically and spiritually — is
the Acropolis, the ancient city of upper Athens and the stonied
remains of one of the greatest civilizations the West has ever
produced. Sooner or later, you will climb the hill to witness,
close-up, monuments of beauty and grace that have not been
surpassed in 2 millennia. Nowhere, in fact, has ancient allure
been more elegantly expressed than in the six caryatids that
support the porch of the Erechtheion. No matter that these
maidens are copies (the originals are in the Acropolis’s museum). When the setting sun bathes them in rosy hues, these
great sculptures of the 5th century BC fire the imagination.
The few friezes that remain in situ at the Parthenon, the loftiest point of the Acropolis, are enough to evoke the splendor
with which this masterpiece of Doric architecture was once
adorned.
The ancient temples of Athens no longer serve their
original purpose, but the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a
theater built into a hillside, still welcomes audiences to
performances for part of the year. And at the National
Archaeological Museum, a 3,500-year-old funeral mask
Practically a stone’s throw is but one of the treasures reflecting centuries of arfrom the Corinth Canal tistic achievement. Pay a visit to the Hephaistion, the
spread the vestiges of the well-preserved Doric temple that graces the Agora, the
ancient city of Corinth, marketplace and hub of everyday life in ancient Athens.
and just south of that is the
superbly preserved 4thcentury BC Theater at Epidauros. You can appreciate
its perfect acoustics during
the annual summer drama
festival. Olympia hosted the
games that originated here in
776 BC, and this sanctuary
of Zeus and once-thriving
city has lost none of its appeal; art lovers flock to the
archaeological museum to marvel at the Hermes of Praxiteles.
The Cyclades Islands
The Cycldes Islands compose a quintessential, pristine Mediterranean archipelago, with ancient sites, droves of vineyards
and olive trees, and stark whitewashed cubist houses, all
seemingly crystallized in a backdrop of lapis lazuli. The six
major stars in this island constellation in the central Aegean
Sea — Andros, Tinos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, and Santorini
— are well visited but still lure with a magnificent fusion of
sunlight, stone, and sparkling aqua sea. They also promise
culture and flaunt hedonism: ancient sites, Byzantine castles
and museums, lively nightlife, shops, restaurants, and beaches
simple and sophisticated.
Origins of Greek Mythology
Greek Traditions & Customs
Greek Myths are all that’s left of the ancient Greek religion.
About 1200 b.c.e., the residents of, what we would call,
Greece and Asia Minor shared a common belief in a group
of deities that came to be known as The Olympians.
Greece is a country of strong traditions. Despite (or maybe
thanks to) its turbulent history marked by numerous foreign
occupations, the sense of ‘Greekness’ is strongly embedded
in the minds and habits of the Greek people, and customs
and traditions are strongly alive in the daily lives of people.
You might find this hard to believe when you observe young
Athenians whose idea of a good night out is a pizza dinner
followed by dancing and drinking cocktails in trendy seaside
nightclubs that have little to do with traditional Greece, but
that’s only the surface. They too will dance to the captivating rhythms of the typical Greek music, know the lyrics of
traditional songs (and sing along!) and observe all national
customs and traditions just like their parents, grandparents
and generations before them did.
The distillation of the various regional beliefs into a coherent central religion was probably not as tidy and uniform
as we would prefer, but it’s fair say that the stories of the
Olympians survived because they had the largest number
of followers and, most importantly, The Olympians did not
forbid or punish the pursuit of knowledge. Beauty, poetry
and creative activities are the blessings of The Immortals
and are a vital part of the Greek tradition.
The Olympians are descended from the primal, self created gods, begining with Kaos. The Olympians are ruled by
Zeus. He is the strongest and, as you will see, without him,
the other Olympians would still be held captive inside their
devious father, Kronos. The Olympians are only a small
part of the family of Immortals that rule the earth and sky.
The various rivers, mountains and forces of nature are the
‘bodies’ of the Immortals and proper respect must always be
shown if you wish to have peace at home and safe passage
when you travel.
The ancient texts we call Greek Myths are mostly from
the period known as Classical Greece, circa 500 b.c.e. The
stories behind the myths are from a much earlier time but
written versions don’t exist before Classical times.
The oldest myths can be traced to three main sources:
Homer, Hesiod and The Homeric Hymns, circa 800 b.c.e.
That means that by the time they were written down, these
works had survived 400 years of additions, subtractions and
mutations to finally become the versions we now call ‘authentic’. The Greek Myths are our window into the distant
past, a view of a world that existed not only in the mind of
the Greek poets but in the hearts of the humble and long
suffering natives of ancient Greece.
Where to begin... The names are NOT hard to pronounce,
don’t let them scare you. The Greeks don’t use C’s... they use
K’s instead. For example, Aphrodite is known
as Our Lady of Kypros
because the island we
call Cyprus is sacred
to her. Also, Herakles
(HERA klees) is the famous Greek hero who is
often confused with the
Roman hero, Hercules
(HER ku lees).... it’s
important to make the
distinctions.
The white trees: the fact that the trunks of the trees are often
painted white (limewash) in Crete and Greece is primarily to
fight the ants. And besides it looks nice, too!
The rosary or worry beads: the rosary that most of the Greek
men are holding in their hands, sitting outside the kafeneion
(cafe in Greece), has no religious meaning, but is only a way
of killing time. Try and buy one, it’s actually much more difficult to swing it than it looks like.
The iron bars: the iron bars sticking out from the roof are
exclusively there for the purpose of a later extension of the
house. They have NOTHING to do with exemptions from
taxpaying, as long as the house isn’t yet finished. (It’s a good
story though)!
Eating and waiting alone at a taverna in Greece: a single
person sitting at a taverna, can wait quite a long time for the
waiter to show up. In Greece it’s very unlikely that anybody
eats alone. He/she must be waiting for someone. For the
waiter it will be very impolite and bumptious, to ask for the
order before all the guests have arrived. This has changed in
the major tourist places, and especially for tourists, but you
can run into this phenomenon in villages of Crete and Greece.
The Greek men in the kafenio (cafe): you might get the
impression that Greek men always sit on cafes and drink.
They do often go to a kafenion, but not always, and rarely
for a very long time. Most of them stay there for a
short time, just enough to hear what have happened
and also to make an appointment with for example
the local electrician or the local bricklayer. Of course,
Greek women can go to the kafenion as well, but most
of them don’t want to, and besides they hear all the
gossip from the husband when he comes home. For
about 20 years ago, you would always find at least
two kafenions in a village, no matter how small it
was, but with different colors. The colors indicated
the political party of the owner of the kafenion. This
way you avoided political quarrels. Rather practical!
SNAPSHOT OF GREEK GODS & GODDESSES
APHRODITE (Roman - Venus)
Gorgeous, perfect, eternal young woman with a
beautiful body. Symbol: Her girdle - has magical
powers to compel love. Strengths: potent sexual
attractiveness, dazzling beauty. Weaknesses: A bit
stuck on herself, but with a perfect face and body, who
can blame her? The golden goddess of Love; born of
the blood of Uranus (the Heavens) and the foam of the
sea. Afrodite rises from the foam of the waves of the
sea, enchanting anyone who sees her and inciting
feelings of love and lust wherever she goes. She is
contender in the story of the Golden Apples, when Paris
chooses her as the fairest of the 3 goddesses (the others
were Hera and Athena) Aphrodite decides to “reward”
him for giving her the Golden Apple by giving him the
love of Helen of Troy, something of a mixed blessing
that led to the Trojan War.
ATHENA (Roman- Minerva)
Wears a helmet and holds a shield. Daughter of Zeus and
Metis; virgin goddess of intellect and invention. Symbol:
Owl, signifying watchfulness and wisdom; aegis (small
shield) showing the snaky head of Medusa. Strengths:
Rational, intelligent, powerful defender in war but also a
peacemaker, Weaknesses: reason rules her; she is not
usually emotional or compassionate but she does have
her favorites, like Odysseus. One of her titles is “Greyeyed”. Her gift to the Greeks was the useful olive tree.
The underside of the tree’s leaf is gray and when the wind
lifts the leaves, it shows Athena’s many “eyes”.
APOLLO (Roman- Apollo)
The son of Zeus and Leto; the brother of Artemis. A
young man with curly golden hair. Symbol: The Sun,
lyre, bow, and the chariot he drives across the sky daily.
Strengths: Creative, handsome, supportive of all the
arts of civilization. Weaknesses: Apollo is all too
happy to enjoy the charms of nymphs, and the
occasional youth. He also had time for fun with his
bow, music and racing his chariot across the sky
DEMETER (Roman- Ceres)
Pleasant-looking mature woman, generally with a veil
over her head though her face is visible. Symbol: An ear
of wheat and the Horn of Plenty. Strengths: Controls
fertility of the earth as goddess of Agriculture; gives life
after death to those who learn her Mysteries. Weaknesses:
Not one to cross lightly. After the kidnapping of her
daughter Persephone, Demeter blights the earth and won’t
let plants grow. Zeus gave Hades permission to “marry”
Persephone but whoops! Didn’t mention it to her mother.
The goddess of the Harvest; daughter of Kronos and Rhea.
Persephone’s mother knew how to get attention after her
daughter was kidnapped - as Greek Goddess of
Agriculture, she just stopped the plants from growing.
ARES (Roman- Mars)
Greek god of War. His parents Zeus and Hera, were
not too fond of this irritable god of mayhem. Symbol:
The spear. He is associated with vultures and dogs.
Strengths: Decisive, determined, and fearless.
Weaknesses: Impulsive, bloodthirsty, and raring for a
fight regardless of the consequences.
DIONYSUS (Roman - Bacchus)
Usually depicted as a dark haired, bearded young man.
Symbols: grapes, wine cups, and wineskins. Strengths:
He is the creator of wine. He shakes things up when it
gets dull. Weaknesses: God of intoxication and
drunkenness, states he pursues frequently. Greek god of
wine, a son of Zeus.
ARTEMIS (Roman - Diana)
usually, an eternal young woman, beautiful and
vigorous, wearing a short costume which leaves her
legs free. At Ephesus, Artemis wears a controversial
costume which may represent many breasts, fruits,
honeycombs, or parts of sacrificed animals. Symbol:
Her bow, which she uses to hunt, and her hounds.
Strengths: physically strong, able to defend herself,
guardian of women in childbirth and of wildlife in
general. Weaknesses: Dislikes men, who she
sometimes orders torn apart if they see her bathing.
Opposes marriage and the subsequent loss of freedom
it entails for women. A freedom-loving woman who
likes to roam the forests with her female companions.
Does not like city life, the original Wild Child.
KRONOS (Roman Saturn)
Father of Zeus. Vigorous male, tall, powerful, or an old
bearded man. Symbol: no distinct symbol; Strengths:
Determined, rebellious. Weaknesses: jealous of his own
children, violent. Was the son of Uranus and Gaia, goddess
of the earth. Uranus was jealous of his own offspring and
Kronus eventually had to kill his own father. He became
afraid that his own children would seize power and he
consumed each child as soon as Rhea gave birth to them.
She was upset and finally substituted a rock wrapped in a
blanket for her newborn baby son, Zeus, and took him to
Crete to be raised there in safely. Zeus ultimately defeated
and castrated Kronus and forced him to regurgitate Rhea’s
other children.
EROS (Roman - Cupid)
Small winged boy and shown as a beautifully-formed,
full-grown man. Symbol: Quiver and arrows. Sometimes
shown riding a dolphin. Strengths Beautiful, inspiring.
Weaknesses: Capricious, humans see his arrows as
striking somewhat randomly. Eros, son of Aphrodite uses
arrows of gold and lead, he would wound the hearts of
mortals and Immortals alike.
HADES (Roman- Pluto)
Son of Kronos and Rhea. Lord of the Underworld -vicious
kidnapper or victim of a little misunderstanding. Symbol;
Scepter or horn of plenty. Strengths: Rich with the wealth
of the earth, especially precious metals. Persistent and
determined. Weaknesses: Passionate over Persephone,
daughter of Demeter, whom Zeus promised to Hades as
his bride. Zeus forgot to mention that to either Demeter
or Persephone! His name meant “invisible” or “unseen”.
HERA (Roman Juno)
Daughter of Kronos and Rhea; wife to Zeus; A beautiful
young woman, said to be the most beautiful of all
goddesses, even beating out Aphrodite. Symbol: Peacock.
Strengths: Determined defender of the sanctity of
marriage and monogamy. Weaknesses: Determined
defender of the sanctity of marriage and monogamy - but
married Zeus. Hera is said to restore her virginity each
year by bathing in Kanathos, a sacred spring.
HERMES (Roman Mercury)
Son of Zeus and Maia. A handsome young man with a
winged hat, winged sandals, and a golden staff twined with
serpents. Symbol: His staff - symbol used by doctors.
Strengths: Clever, bold, determined, athletic, a powerful
magician. Weaknesses: No major ones unless you count
seldom staying still for long. .
POSEIDON (Roman- Neptune) bearded, older man
pictured with seashells and other sealife. Symbol: Three
pronged trident. Lord of the Sea; son of Kronos and Rhea.
He enjoys an unusual career path for a god, combining
power over the sea with the power to create earthquakes,
and then spends his free time making horses. Strengths:
A creative god, designing all the creatures of the sea.
Weaknesses: Warlike, moody and unpredictable. He is
credited with the creation of the Zebra, believed to be one
of his early experiments in equine engineering.
HERAKLES (Roman Hercules)
The ultimate hero; son of Zeus and Alkmene. Handsome,
well-built, vigorous young man. Symbol: Wooden club.
Strengths: Brave, strong, determined. Weaknesses:
Lustful and gluttonous. Hercules was sent on labors by
the Oracle of Delphi to expiate his guilt over killing his
wife and children in a fit of madness sent by the goddess
Hera. His name means “Glory of Hera” though Hera is
his implacable enemy. Semi-divine hero with many loves
and labors.
NIKE (Roman- Victoria)
Greek goddess of victory. Strengths- very fast runner,
swift flyer, able charioteer. Weaknesses- inconsistent
in doling out victory. Symbol: wings; often depicted with
a wreath of victory or a staff. Despite being half-Titan
by her father Pallas, Nike fought against the Titans on
the side of the Olympians.
PAN (Roman Faunus)
Horned, furry, half-man, half-goat, a bit on the short side.
Symbol: His horns. His “pan-pipe”, Strengths: Lusty,
able musician. Weaknesses: Lusty, likes noise and loud
music. Can incite “panic”, a mindless fear of rage. Not
averse to tearing people apart on occasion. Goat-god of
the Grecian wilderness.; he prances through the fertile
countryside in the company of Nymphs playing his
seven-reed pipe in wild abandon. His name means “All”.
PERSEPHONE (Roman- Proserpine)
A beautiful young maiden, just on the edge of
womanhood. Symbol: The pomegranate. The narcissus,
which Hades planted in a meadow to entice her to pluck
it; pulling on the flower opened up the Underworld and
Hades sprang out, carrying her off. Strengths: Loving
and lovely. Weaknesses: Beauty so ravishing it attracts
Hades’ unwanted attention.
RHEA (Roman- Ops)
Beautiful, motherly woman. Symbol: May be shown
holding a wrapped stone which she pretended was the
baby Zeus to spare him from his father’s wrath.(Kronos).
Sometimes she is seated on a throne in a chariot.
Strengths: A fertile mother goddess; crafty; daring.
Weaknesses: Put up with Kronus eating her children
for far too long.
ZEUS (Roman Jupiter)
King of the Gods, ruler of Mount Olympus. Symbol:
thunderbolt. Strengths: Powerful, fiery, bright, and
tireless. Weaknesses: His intense fire can burn. Symbol:
Rayed headdress, his chariot pulled by the four horses,
the whip he drives them with, and a globe.