Joking apart this is where I come from and she has her origins here too. Aphrodite's Birthplace, the Goddess of Love who is said to have come out of the foam of the sea on this idyllic coastline of the island of Cyprus.
Just a few words about the island as it is SO small it is quite understandable that you may not know a lot about it. After all the entire island fits into one of the smaller states in India and its population is wait for it - under one million - not even the number of a good Delhi suburb.
So what is so special about this little place found in the eastern mediterranean ?
Well is has a history that goes back just under 10,000 years, and evidence of its richness is found all over the island with ancient paleolithic sites, beautiful frescoes, Crusader castles and wonderful churches. Cyprus got its name from the fact that it has always had large cooper deposits which is one of the reasons it was an attractive and lucrative trading post. It was rich and it was desired and that is one reason why over the years it was invaded and taken over by many conquerors like the Romans, Greeks, Franks, Turks and the British. Its varied history makes it culturally and linguistically fascinating and to this day it is a thriving and industrious nation with rapid development and a highly educated population. It is an independent, sovereign state though it was invaded by Turkey in 1974 and some of its land is still under the occupying Turkish army.Negotiations to solve the Cyprus problem have been ongoing for years. Obviously this is a potted version of its long and busy history.There is a famous street in Delhi named after Cyprus's first president after Independence in 1960 called Archbishop Makarios Marg. I would have loved a house in that street but my lakh rupees were sadly not enough !
Back to the Goddess of Love now and you may be interested to know that one genealogy gives her parents as Zeus, King of the Gods, and Dione, an early earth/mother goddess. More commonly, she was believed to be born of the foam in the sea which bubbled around the severed member of Ouranos when Kronos slew him.More like blood and guts if you ask me rather than foam but legends are made of frothy things. She was quite a woman and she is said is said to have married Hephaestus, the lame smith-god. The suggestion was that in the true Indian style it was an arranged marriage. Dont know if it was a fiery marriage or one made in heaven but rumour had it she had lots and lots of lovers, (Adonis was just one of the better known ones,) which adds a little spice to the island's history that is for sure. They also say that her child was Eros, a Cupid-like figure.
The bay with its beautiful white cliffs
A lovely couple enjoying the view
Adonises in abundance only these two came from Geneva.
My own Adonis looking for his muse.
It is worth a visit if only for the promise of eternal beauty and youth that you get if you bathe in the waters there and that is much cheaper than any botox or liposuction treatment these days !
When I lived in Delhi years ago as a college student, I found the practice of naming streets after international figures very nice. At the time I didn't know who Gemal Abdel Nasser or who Archbishop Makarios was, but when I was older I appreciated the old post-independence spirit of internationalism that created those streets. I think Nehru, the first Prime Minister, wanted modern Indians to be aware of and to pay homage to great non-Indians so that we could find inspiration from the lives of both Indians and non-Indians, from the whole world if needed. And although I don't think his dream has been realized, it was still a nice gesture.
ReplyDeleteSharmishtha
I could not agree more with the sentiment. I have spent my whole holiday reading about a very specific period of my history when Makarios was President and I was a little girl growing up on the island. My little island is similarly dotted with busts and street names of persons who played a role whether nationally or internationally in our lives. They often act as a trigger for more investigation and analysis.
ReplyDeleteDelighted you knew of him !! MM