PANDORA: THE NEWEST GODS' INVENTION! by: Mayra Medeiros

It has been announced today that the Olympian gods invented a new device called “Woman 1.0 – Pandora” that could possibly change the structure of the mortal world as we know it. Fear not, beloved readers, our staff did an in-depth analysis to find out what lead to this intriguing new creation.

It all started when Zeus asked Prometheus, a descended of the Titans, to decide who deserved the better part of the sacrificed animals. Prometheus, as Zeus, has a tricky nature, so he tried to deceive the gods by giving them nothing but bones with an appealing package, favouring men. Zeus, infuriated by such act, decided to get back on him, beginning a series of creative inventions to sustain such dissension.

Zeus cut off the access to supplies, such as wheat and fire. Men had to hide wheat seeds deep in the ground, so they could grow protected from Zeus. That fact marks the beginning of labour, an act never before done in the history. And since men need to cook meal in order to ingest it, Prometheus stole a little seed of fire and gave it to them. When Zeus saw the fog coming out of people’s house, he got furious and decided to punish mankind. He gathered some of the gods he trusted mostly, all very competent at what they do, to create this new device, affectionately called Pandora. This is how the team was divided: Hephaestus created Pandora’s shape from clay, Athena was responsible for her craftiness, Hermes taught her how to be deceitful and stubborn and Aphrodite gave the final touches, adding femininity.

Pandora has a beautiful appearance, but is said to be deceiving and a liar that could possibly destroy a man’s life when not satisfied. Despite Pandora’s obscure characteristics, what the gods created is a creature that is the opposite of men, which means that Eros can act and make them be attracted to one another. Furthermore, the invention of women means that men can now extent their life through children, which indicates the beginning of a linear time: people now are faded to be born, to grow, reproduce and then die. Before this invention, men were born from Gaea already as grown-ups and after thousands of years they would just disappear.

The device, a prototype that still is in testing phase – was send to Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother. He is the first man to test the product and soon will be reviewing his opinion here at Greeks n’ Geeks. Stay tuned. 

Science Assassination: WHO KILLED ARCHIMEDES? by: Mariana Lima

This week, we were all surprised by the unexpected death of Archimedes. All Greece mourns the early departure of one of the greatest mathematicians of our time and, all the Greeks are charging further investigations.

Let’s remember something about our genius. Archimedes was born in Syracuse, a Greek seaport in Sicily. Son of the astronomer Phidias, Archimedes studied at Euclid’s school in Alexandria, which was one of the biggest Egyptian cities.

Nowadays, Archimedes did important discoveries and we believe that it will be very useful for the hole world. His integral calculus and his studies of the areas and volumes of curved solid figures and the areas of plane figures are big discoveries of the modern science. According with the people who work with him, Archimedes is workaholic and get so absorbed in his work that sometimes he forgets to eat.

In spite of his many inventions, he considered his theoretical work as his main triumph. The word “Eureka” was invented by Archimedes during his inventions of measuring the volume of an object with an irregular shape. Today all the Greeks say “Eureka” when they have some good idea.

According to one of the investigators, Archimedes was researching a new mathematical diagram, when a Roman soldier ordered him to meet General Marcus (who was engaged in the siege of Syracuse). It was normal Archimedes be interrupted during his researches, but he almost never responded to the requests because of his concentration. And, as expected, Archimedes declined saying that he had to finish his diagram. A rumor says that the Roman soldier was furious and started to shout with Archimedes and then, killed him. General Marcus was arrested in this morning to give a testimonial for the investigations and now is waiting the police find his soldier.

Greeks n’ Geeks will continue to follow the research and come back at any time with greater information about this tragedy.

Tricky Choices: What should a man do when facing his greatest opportunity? by: Atila Morais

Many men nowadays are soldiers. They’re all part of an army, which is highly trained to defend Greece and it’s people. They are told to follow orders, but if they saw a chance of winning, would they disobey their leaders and take the shot?

We believe that many of us would do this. Hecate is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy. She is the only child of the Titanes Perses and Asteria from whom she received her power over heaven, earth, and sea. She’s Always pictured holding two torches, and that’s why we associate her with crossroads and entrance-ways. We also believe that when we are introduced to different options, Hecate is trying to talk to us.

Hecate’s crossroads are usually unbalanced. If you choose an option, you’ll surely be unable to pick any other option later. Let’s take the war as an example:
If you kill their leader, they won’t know what to do or where to go, and then you’ll easily win the war. 

Obviously, their leader will be strongly protected, but let’s imagine that he is left alone because other people needed the guards. If a soldier manages to get close to the leader, he will then be faced by one of Hecates crossroads. He will have the chance to kill the leader, and then, easily win the war. But picking this choice will leave him in danger, not only because the enemy soldiers will all focus on him, but also because when war is over, the surviving enemies will hunt him and his family.

His other choice will be of only following this leader, and to make a strategic plan to take him down with the help of others. But this way, he may not defeat the leader. Hecate’s crossroads are temptive and sometimes even deceiving, as it doesn’t show what is really going to happen.

Olympus News: Culinary Event at Mount Olympus. by: Livia Salazar

For Greeks, food and eating is not only necessary to satisfy physical needs but it was also a social event! 
Next week, on the 27th of September, there will be a culinary event at Mount Olympus. The event will start with a competition and then there will be a social dining for everyone. The Symposium, as it is known, is a banquet and gathering of drinkers and it will be divided in two parts: the first dedicated to food, generally rather simple, and a second part dedicated to drinking.

Anyone can participate and if you have a culinary talent you can take part in the competition. Each person will have thirty minutes to prepare any typical Greek dish and the best will win a prize. The jurors will be: Helen of Troy, Zeus, Hercules, Ariadne, Theseus and Achilles.

Before the competition starts, jurors, competitors and viewers will have the opportunity to try the typical Spartan soup called black soup or black broth which is a staple soup made of boiled pigs' legs, blood, salt and vinegar. According to the legend, a man from Sybaris infamous for its luxury and gluttony, after tasting the Spartans' black soup remarked with disgust, "Now I know why the Spartans do not fear death". That’s why this soap had been chosen to start the competition. 

At the first part of the Symposium, people will be able to eat not only what competitors prepared but also dishes made by expert chefs. Although the second part is just about drinking, wine will be served in the first part of the Symposium consumed with the food, and the beverages will be accompanied by snacks such as chestnuts, beans, toasted wheat, or honey cakes; all intended to absorb alcohol and extend the drinking spree.

The second part will be inaugurated with the drinks in honour of Dionysus and it will be followed by conversation and also there will be table games. We are all going to play our typical game called kottabos.

As Plutarch, a Greek historian had said, “We do not sit at the table to eat… but to eat together” and this is the main reason of our culinary event. We want to prepare a pleasant and entertaining night of laugh, fun and delicious food to our brave and wise nation!

Greek Economy: How does it work? by: Jessica Almeida

The ancient Greece has a deep dynamic economy, which is in touch with agriculture, seabourne trade and handcrafts. These kind of business are the main economic activities of Its cities-states(which are cities within other cities,however ,they are independent from the place where they were in- for example having their own Act.)

Grapes, olives and cereals are the main agricultural products here, what enables the wine and olive production in the region. The cattle farming is not a well-developped activitiy, on account of the many mountain areas which are characteristic of the region, but goats and sheeps are raised.

Greece is also know for using slavery as a kind of labour, which is the base of our economy. The majority of the slaves are prisoners captured during the war, who are sold as a good to families and rural producers. Slavery has a huge importance for us because these captured people are the responsable for doing the hard works in our society. Our Greek philosopher Plato say that rejecting the work is natural to well-bred people. That exemplifies the Greek 's thought about this subject.

The handcrafts is also an important activitiy here! The people who work with that are part of a group of free workforce , which produces furnitures, weapons and amphorae (where wine and olives are kept).

The seaborne trade is easily developped on account of the many islands in region and, by the sea, Greece gets in touch with Its colonies in Minor Asia, Egypt and other cities by the coast of the Black Sea. This kind of economic relationship are extremely important to supply major Greek's necessities!

Most Powerful Figure of the Year Elected: Pallas Athena! by: Mayra Medeiros

The Greeks n’Geeks team is thrilled to announce the most powerful persona of the year: Pallas Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. Conceived by Zeus and Metis – the goddess of crafty thoughts – Pallas Athena was in the womb of her mother when Zeus, warned by his mother Gaea that if Metis ever had a second son this child would dethrone him, swallowed Metis. Nine months later, the father of Gods and men had the most horrifying headache of his (immortal) life. Out of his forehead, fully armed, came Pallas Athena.

Zeus trusts his daughter to take care of his shield and even his devastating weapon, the thunderbolt. Furthermore, he does not hesitate to declare Athena as his favourite child. We cannot blame him, who would not be proud of a very intelligent and talented young lady? After all, Athena is a very crafty goddess. She created the trumpet, the flute, horse bridle and the chariot. That is why she is also considered the goddess of inspiration, civilization, courage, law and justice, strategic warfare, strategy, arts, mathematics – basically all things related to the intellect.

She is the protector of the city of Athens and people throughout the Greek world worship her and look for her counselling and inspirational courage during times of need. Also some heroes, such as Hercules, Jason and Perseus, were helped by our powerful goddess. And even though she is known for being invincible at wars, she rather avoid going to battle as often as possible, which means that she is always using her wittiness to look for peaceful alternatives to solve a problem.

All this time defending her beloved city and helping heroes in their journeys left Athena no time to take care of her heart. Yes, in an exclusive interview to our newspaper, Athena revealed that she is single, and still a virgin! Gods of the Olympus and handsome mortals, do not allow yourselves to be intimidated by this flashing-eyed goddess. It is time to make a move. May Aphrodite help you!

New Hades Record: Boulder Roll Up! by: Lucas Monaco

Today, we were faced with a huge news! Sisyphus, the old king of Corinth, will break his own record for boulder roll up. He has been rolling since century 6 b.C. after having cheated death twice.

Aegina was kidnapped by a huge eagle. Aegina is the Aesopus' daughter. Aesopus is the god-river. Sisyphus saw the kidnapping and past some days was sought for Aesopus, with who he made a deal. Aesopus asked for information about Aegina's kidnap. Sisyphus said Aesopus where he could find his daughter.In exchange, Aesopus gave birth to a font that was named as Pirene in Corinth.

The eagle, the most famous symbol of Zeus, were soonly found out being the god. Thanks to that, Zeus got berzerk and sent Thanatos to get Sisyphus and send him to the depths of Tartarus, chained forever. But Sisyphus were smarter than death and cheated it for the first time. Sisyphus told Thanatos that it was beatiful and gave it a "gift": a ring that in fact were a trap. For years and years, no one died, infuriating Hades and Ares.

The gods of war and underworld needed people to die: One in many wars around Greece and other to have souls in it's realm. So both of them found out where Thanatos were and set it free, so he could kill all people and things that needed to be dead. While that, Sisyphus run away and lived longer.

The years passed and Death came to Sisyphus, but he had pitched a plan: Told his wife not to bury him. When he reached Hades, he told the goddess Persephone, that found his soul ashore the River Styx, how disrespectful was his wife. So she sent him back to torment her and to have his body buried, but he ran away again, cheating Death for the second time.

Years passes and he dies. Now, after two millennia, he reached the mark of millionth time rolling up a huge marble rock on a hill, that every time rolls down again, forcing him to roll it up all the way again.