<i></i> <i></i> <i></i> -14<p>Ancient Greece was a fascinating ancient civilization that lasted through the Archaic period to the end of the antiquity era. This makes it one of the oldest civilizations recorded, with a massive span from 12th century BC to 600 AD.</p> <p>Greek culture had a massive impact on how the world is today. Greek culture was carried forth into the world via the Roman Empire, which introduced it to the Mediterranean Basin after which Greek culture found its way into Europe. Remnants of Greek culture can be seen even today in modern art, philosophy, and politics. It is for this reason that classical Greece is considered to be the building block of Western culture and civilization.</p> <p>The Ancient Greeks played several roles. They were philosophers and the fathers of democratic rule; a civilized people lost in the pursuit of the truth and nothing else. While all of this holds, true, Greek culture also had some truly bizarre things about it. From the preferences of its men to the obsession with nudity, everyday life was exciting, albeit, a little less glamorous than it was portrayed to the outside world.</p> <p>Dubbed the cradle of slavery, nudity, and democracy, here are 14 interesting facts about the fascinating civilization of ancient Greece.</p> <h2>Ancient Greeks used to go to the gym naked</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine.png"/>kostasxan.blogspot.gr <p>You heard us right! The ancient Greeks went to the gym naked; in fact, the word gymnasium actually means naked exercise. Gymnasiums worked as a center of learning for young men. This included physical education, exercise and gymnastics.</p> <h2>Greeks and the brazen bull</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-1.png"/>Imgur <p>The greeks invented the brazen bull which was a very famous form of execution. In this ritual, a bull was made entirely of the metal bronze. The bull was hollow and had a door in one of its sides. While the purpose of the invention of this torture device was truly horrific, the methods used were quite ingenious. The life-sized bull had an acoustic apparatus that could convert the screams of its victims into the sound of a bull.</p> <p>The punishment worked as follows: The condemned were locked away inside this torture chamber and a fire was lit underneath the bull. Because it was made of metal, the bull would rise to staggeringly high temperatures, meaning that the person inside roasted to death. As fate would have it, the man who invented this sadistic form of death was actually the first one who was condemned to it. He truly did get a taste of his own medicine, right.</p> <h2>Greeks obsession with male genitalia</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-4.jpeg"/>Wikimedia <p>The Greeks were famous for introducing naked statues, most of which are still preserves throughout the world. In the Greek world, smaller male genitalia were deemed more desirable. If you pay close attention to Greek art, Michelangelo’s famous David is somewhat under equipped. This is not a coincidence, as throughout Greece, being large down there was considered ungainly. Other desirable features included a wide chest and white skin.</p> <h2>Throwing an apple was considered a proposal</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-2.png"/>Wikimedia <p>When someone wanted to declare their love and devotion to you, they would do so by throwing an apple at you. While it may seem funny to you now, however it is true. Throwing an apple at a woman meant expressing your love, and if the woman caught the apple, she was ready to marry you!</p> <p>Just like most Greek rituals, this custom has its roots in an ancient Greek myth. According to mythology, the Goddess of conflicts, Eris, Was angry at not being invited to a wedding, so she threw an apple at the party with the words, “to the most beautiful one’ carved onto the apple, to stir up some trouble. The three leading Goddesses, Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera began fighting with each other over whom the apple was meant for. In the end, the Prince of Troy was brought in to settle the matter, but Aphrodite, who led him to settle the matter in her favor, bribed him.</p> <p>Ever since then, the apple became sacred to the Goddess, and the proposal ritual began.</p> <h2>Your Doctor would take a taste of your ear wax</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-3.png"/>Wikimedia <p>Whenever you visited a doctor in ancient Greece, you could rest assured that he would be taking a taste of your earwax. Consuming body fluids was how most doctors in Greece reached their diagnosis. He would taste how your earwax taste and then proceed to give you medical tests based on his observations.</p> <p>Other bodily fluids were not free from inspection either. The doctor might lick your vomit to see how sweet it was or check the consistency of your phlegm. Hippocrates started all of this. He believed that the human body was a collection of fluids, each of which was supposed to taste a certain way. If any one of these fluids did not taste right that meant something was off.</p> <p>This led to Greek doctors being taught what every bodily fluid should taste like. According to medicinal rules laid out by Hippocrates, urine was supposed to taste similar to fig juice! Thank God for modern medicine!</p> <h2>People wiped themselves with boulders</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-4.png"/>Wikimedia <p>Toilet paper or newspapers did not make their way into Europe until the late 16th century. This presented a problem as to what people should wipe them with. While some Greeks would clean themselves with a sponge attached to a stick, not everyone was blessed enough to afford one. The Greeks turned too pebbled to wipe themselves with. They would take rocks, grate them until they became pebbles, and use them for ablution purposes. Particularly vengeful people would get the names of their enemies etched onto pieces of pottery and then use it to wipe themselves! The problem of hemorrhoids ran rampant in ancient Greece.</p> <h2>The original Santa Claus</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-5.png"/>Maxpixel <p>While most people don’t know about this, the original Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, was Greek! His death on December 343 is now the day on which the feast of Nicholas in celebrated. His reputation for generosity knew no bounds, hence the tradition of Santa Claus giving gifts. Moreover, he was also secretive about helping people and did so in acts like putting money in the shoes that people left out for him. Nowadays we just hang up our stockings!</p> <h2>Their love for architecture</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-6.png"/>Flickr <p>When fighting for their independence from the Turks, the Greeks were succeeding in establishing a stronghold, which led the Turks panicking. Because they were running very low on ammunition, the Turks started to smash the marble columns, which were prevalent throughout Greece, to smithereens. They wanted to get the lead from inside the columns so it could be used as bullets. On seeing their beautiful Parthenon desecrated, the Greeks sent ammunition to the Greeks if they promised not to touch their columns.</p> <h2>No women allowed</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-7.png"/>Wikimedia <p>Not only women but also female animals were not allowed to set foot in the monasteries of Mount Athos. While not an actual law, it is a monastic principle and is thus, respected even now. Even beardless youths are prohibited from entering any of the 20 sacred monasteries!</p> <h2>The island where people forget to die</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-8.png"/>Wikimedia <p>Situated due north of the Aegean Sea is an isle called the Island of Ikaria, dubbed the island of longevity. It is rumored that on this island, people ‘forget’ to die. Ikaria is actually one of the world’s five blue zones, places where the highest number of individuals can be found to live well over a hundred years old. Other locations include the Nycoya Peninsula, Loma Linda, California, and Japan.</p> <p>On this supposedly magical island, people sleep late into the night and wake up well into the morning while also indulging in frequent naps. They think the time is irrelevant to their life and refuse to wear watches. People residing on this island ate lentils, vegetables, and goat’s milk. That makes for a true Mediterranean diet.</p> <p>While forgetting to die seems dramatic, the inhabitants of this island do in fact live well over a century. In fact, most of these people are extremely healthy and work in the fields till their over ninety!</p> <h2>Sneezing for birth control</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-5.jpeg"/>Tumblr <p>The Greeks were not particularly stringent on women rights. The famous Greek physician, Soranus, was of the school of thought that if a woman got pregnant, it was her own fault. After all, it was not like the man involved could do anything to prevent the situation, right? Soranus suggested that instead of contraceptives, women should just squat and sneeze after copulation, followed by a good old rinse.</p> <p>Obviously, it did not work out that way, so Soranus had to come up with another strategy. He suggested that women rub honey or cedar resin on their genitals before engaging in sexual activity. The only reason that would work is that no one would engage if the situation were that disturbing!</p> <h2>Valid grounds for divorce</h2> <p>Pixabay</p> <p>The life-threatening disease of leprosy was contained within Greece, in the leper colony of Spinalonga, which was a tiny island near Crete. This island was established in 1903 and closed off in the late 1950s. Even though a cure was eventually found out in the 1950s, leprosy remained a grounds for divorce in Greece up until 1983.</p> <h2>Bottling the sweat of athletes</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-17ham-appdata-local-microsoft-windows-ine-6.jpeg"/>Wikimedia <p>As already discussed, Greek athletes performed naked, their rippling bodies slathered with an abundance of glistening olive oil. Considered to be superior on account of their strength, the strength they produced during competitions was said to have healing powers.</p> <p>Slaves loitered around gymnasiums, watching the athletes exhibit their athletic prowess. Once the events would come to a close, the slaves would rush to scrape the sweat right off of the athlete’s body. This sweat oily concoction was then dubbed “gloios.” This gloios was then bottled and sold as an ointment to those who were not as strong as the superior athletes were. It was said to calm and relieve aches and pains when rubbed over the torso or limbs.</p> <i></i>