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Articles

• Laoupi, Amanda

Pivotal figure of Sirius' myth among the inhabitants of Late Bronze Age Greece (ca. 1600 -1100B.C.) is Aristaios (<aristos = the most excellent or useful, or astraios= the starry one), protector ofshepherds and hunters, teacher of cheese-making and the art of hunting, of oil-making and bee-keeping,honey & honey-mead, god of medicinal herbs and the cooling Etesian winds of mid-summer.The aim of this paper is to detect: a) the inventors of Sirius ' astromyth within the boundaries of prehistoricGreek maritime Civilization (the Pelasgian substratum), b) the geographical distribution ofthis myth via its main divine figure (colonization of Western Mediterranean & the prehistoric trade ofsilphium with the North African Coast, Kadmos & cultural relationships with Eastern Mediterranean,connection with Thessaly, Northern Greece, Arcadia SrArgos, Attica, Minoan Crete &Cyclades, N.WGreece), c)the elements of Sirius ' cult worshipped by the insular population of the Aegean (peak sanctuaries,priesthood of the winds), d) the historical pathway of this astromyth and its survival to thelater periods ofCycladic history (Keian coins, Keian traditions, modern Keian names & localities ) ,e) the migration of its symbols (the hunting lion, the motif of the dogs, deities with fertilizing and creativeproperties) and f) the environmental setting which gave birth to this astromyth (disturbance ofwind patterns, teleconnections with Indian monsoons & ΝΑΟ, climatic oscillations, pestilence inEastern Mediterranean).

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

Peak Sanctuaries, Wind Patterns, Keos, Pestilence in LBA Mediterranean, Astromythology, Astrometeorology, Island Archaeology