Mathematical Biology on the Mediterranean Conference,
3rd edition, FORTH, Crete, 2022
Crete in a nutshell
Crete is the southernmost island of the Greek world
A map of modern Crete
A map of Heraklion old town
The Liontaria square, centre of Heraklion, with the Venetian Morosini fountain
Heraklion and FORTH
Mythology: Crete as first host to our modern idea of Europe
Newborn Zeus was put by his mother Rhea, to take him away from his father Cronos, on the Ida (modern Psiloritis) mount, where it was protected by the Kouretes and fed by the goat AmaltheaLater, as Zeus had become the master of all gods, Europe, a Phaenician princess, was abducted by him under the form of a white bull on a beach by Tyre and transported on his back by sea to Crete, which was inspiration to countless artists: see here a modern version by Valentin Serov and another one by Félix Vallotton
Under the evergreen plane tree of Gortys, they united, and Europe became mother to Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthus
Minos eventually remained the sole master of Crete and gave his name to the brilliant Minoan civilisation
Protohistory: Minoan Crete
In Minoan times, Crete was home to a flourishing civilisation of the vine and olive tree, producing delicate handicraft, in which women had an eminent position, that peacefully exchanged products of the land and handicraft with other contemporary civilisations of the Eastern Mediterranean
The archeological sites of the palaces: Knossos, Malia, Phaistos, Zakros, towns and ports: Gournia, Agia Triada, Amnisos, Mochlos, Itanos, Kommos still testify for its splendour: see here the taurokathapsia, or bull-leaping, a ceremonial sport practiced by the Minoan youth, girls and boys alike
At the same time, the Minoan civilisation thrived in the island of Santorini (Thera), in particular in the site of Akrotiri: see here one of the wall frescoes of saffron gatherers
History: Mycenaean, Greek and Roman antiquity
The Mycenaean (later Dorian) conquest, pacific or not, put an end to the brilliant and original Minoan civilisation, still conserving some of its prosperity.In the Trojan war, in Mycenaean times, Crete was said by Homer to be the island of hundred cities, that, according to him, provided Agamemnon with 80 vessels.
Crete in classical Greece and later in Roman times is famous to lawyers by the law tables of Gortys, dating back to the Vth century B.C.
Following the scission between the Western and Eastern parts of the Roman empire, Crete became naturally a part of the Byzantine empire.
Crete, a name synonym of freedom and armed resistance to invasion
In the Middle Ages and modern era, Byzantines were followed by Arabs, then Byzantines conquered again Crete from the Arabs, later it was occupied by the Venetians, and eventually by the Ottoman TurksResistance of the Cretans against the Venetians, then against the Turks, was almost permanent.
In the XIXth century, Crete freed itself from the Ottoman yoke and definitively attached itself to Greece in the XXth century
German occupation (the German fortress Crete, ``die Festung Kreta'', 1941-1945) led to generalised resistance against it in Crete and still leaves a vivid memory in the population