Ancient History Competition 31
Before Manolis went on holidays, he sent me this intriguing quiz
A bird, a wind, a natural phenomenon. These three things gave their names to three Hellenistic rulers. Who were they?
Love of History | Ancient History Competition 31
Dr. Constantina Katsari is a comparative historian that specialises on ancient and modern history. She looks at current events with a critical eye and brings forward direct comparisons with similar historical events.
Bird: Antiochus VIII Grypos
Wind: Antipater Etesias
Natural phaneomenon: Ptolemy Keraunos
Very well done! It is hard to believe someone found the answer so quickly! I thought that we would have had to wait until Manolis came back from his holidays!
(blushing…) just trying to stay fit in history
I would reckon that the question for the bird is a bit tricky.
You see ‘grypos’ in Greek means ‘hook-nosed’ or ‘with aquiline nose’; however, it derives from ‘gryps’, gryphon or griffin, i.e. a mythical creature, not precisely a bird — an eagle/lion hybrid.
Another answer to the quiz may be Antiochos Hierax (Hawk). One could say that he was a pretender; however he signed his coins as basileus (king).
Yianni,
in all fairness, Manolis had Ierax in his mind. However, I accepted Lucas’ answer because grypos also has something to do with the well known mythical bird. In effect, both answers are correct and should be commended!