(piano music)
Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go!
This story has many legs but I’m focusing on one for the sake of this episode . In Ancient Greek mythology, Αιγέας (Aegeas) was an Athenian King and father of the hero Theseus. During one of the games organised in Athens where all member states could take part, the champion and son of King Minos of Crete was murdered. That started a war between Athens and Crete that only the oracle Πυθία (Pythia) was able to resolve. She predicted that the only way for the war to end was for King Aegeas to accept whatever demands King Minos had. And what demands they were! Every year, 7 boys and 7 girls of the most noble families would be send off to Crete to enter the Minotaur’s labyrinth. If they failed to kill the beast or get out, the Minotaur would eat them alive. After many years of lost youth, Theseus decided to take part. The boats sailing to Crete had black sails, to mourn the agreement, and Aegeas asked his son to switch the sails to white ones, if he was on board a winning ship on the way back. Theseus did kill the beast and got out of the labyrinth but forgot to switch the sails so, when his father saw black sails returning, he threw himself into the sea and drowned. Athenians named that part of the sea after their king. ΑΙΓΕΑΣ/AEGEAN SEA
Instagram @yourgreeksunday ,
Blue Sky @yourgreeksunday.bsky.social
email yourgreeksunday@gmail.com
