{"id":210,"date":"2016-08-20T20:16:57","date_gmt":"2016-08-20T20:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/?page_id=210"},"modified":"2024-03-26T16:27:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T16:27:44","slug":"introduction-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Sailing an ancient sea<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In <i>Samothra<\/i><i>ce Mariner<\/i>, a study of ritual and mobility in the ancient world, we are building bridges between:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>academic and scientific research, integrating theory and method from anthropology, geography, Classics, religion and ancient history<\/li>\n<li>pedagogical needs, supporting instructors in primary and secondary education<\/li>\n<li>gaming applications with broad potential for public education in the most informal of settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These three approaches\u2013 research, pedagogy, and popular culture \u2013 are united through shared reliance on a unique database built on ancient sources. The core of the database comes from inscriptions, a form of historical data least accessible to the non-specialist.\u00a0 These inscriptions have provided the geospatial and chronological parameters for a QGIS platform; to this we bring data from ancient history, poets, geographers and politicians, giving access to ancient voices located in the geospaces they occupied.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">Our interest at all three levels is <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">maritime mobility: how did ancient travelers move safe<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">ly through seas as full of risk<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\"> as profit?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">Highly developed s<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">ailing s<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">kills <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">were<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\"> one route<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">; social contracts, often guaranteed by the gods, were another. These <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">contracts<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">, part of the Greek institution of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"SpellingError SCX193785252\">proxenia<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">,<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">bound the parties to non-aggression, information sharing, and <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">mutual <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">support<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\"> in ports of cal<\/span><\/span>l. <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/introduction-2\/how-it-worked\/\">See &#8220;how it worked.&#8221;<\/a> \u00a0<span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">The<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">y<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\"> are recorded on <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\">inscriptions which<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\"> provide dates, places, and the names of<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX193785252\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX193785252\"> otherwise anonymous individuals charged with ensuring their city\u2019s good behavior toward travelers and merchants from other cities around the Mediterranean world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Starting with Samothrace<\/i><i>\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our project began with an investigation of the mystery cult of the Great Gods of Samothrace, a cult which was unique in promising safety in sea travel as the reward to its initiates. <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/introduction-2\/how-it-worked\/\">See more information on Samothrace.<\/a>\u00a0 <span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">We are expanding our focus in two ways, positioning the<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"SpellingError SCX163931886\">Samothrac<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"SpellingError SCX163931886\">ian<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\"> promis<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">e in the larger Mediterranean world of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"SpellingError SCX163931886\">proxenia<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">, and incorporating the legend of the Argonauts<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">. <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">The <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"SpellingError SCX163931886\">Samothracian<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\"> network of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"SpellingError SCX163931886\">proxe<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"SpellingError SCX163931886\">nia<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\"> supports extensive analysis of the social networks created among its participants: these let us model how the information flows and social contracts from that site would have worked<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">.<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">In an ancient world full of ritual responses to maritime risk, Samothrace became the most famous and most prestigious of the rites to ensure safe travel<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">: the addition <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">of the other <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">networks <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">will provide a more nuanced analysis not only of the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"SpellingError SCX163931886\">Samothracian<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\"> sea these contracts created, but of the wider <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX163931886\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX163931886\">world in which Samothrace took pride of place in its maritime effectiveness.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Adding the Argonauts: from research to pedagogy and gaming<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The inscriptions from Samothrace let us model how nearly anonymous ancient people interacted under the protection of those gods. We can hypothesize likely itineraries based on node centrality, but we lack any indication of actual routes taken.\u00a0 The myth of Jason and the Argonauts is the oldest Greek epic of long distance voyaging. Its sailors took care to get Samothracian initiation enroute:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u2026..In the evening, at the suggestion of Orpheus, they brought their ship to Samothrace,<br \/>the island of Elektra, daughter of Atlas.\u00a0 He wished them to undergo<br \/>holy initiations, to learn the rites that may not be uttered<br \/>in order to sail with greater safety over the chilling sea.<br \/>Of these I will speak no further; but I bid farewell to the island and the daimones who dwell within her,<br \/>to whom belong the mysteries, which it is not lawful to speak to the uninitiated\u2019<br \/>Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica I: 916-921:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"TextRun SCX70794525\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX70794525\">Unlike our epigraphic records, the epic positions the Argonauts\u2019 initiation in an <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX70794525\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX70794525\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.argonauts-book.com\/maps.html\">itinerary<\/a> which<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCX70794525\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCX70794525\"> reached from the Black Sea to Italy and south to Libya<\/span><\/span>. It also provides accounts of how the Samothracian gods intervened to help these sailors.\u00a0 Cybele helps the Argonauts when they are stuck in port at Cyzicus, with no wind to help them (Apollonius of Rhodes <em>Argonautica<\/em> 1.1104-1152); the Dioskouroi, in the midst of a storm at sea, experience the miraculous appearance of two stars over their heads \u2013 the iconography for their identification with St. Elmo\u2019s fire\u00a0 (Diodorus Siculus 4.43.1-2).\u00a0 The lessons learned from the epigraphic record, however, encourage us to look more broadly into the <em>Argonautica<\/em> for traces of the practical human actions which would have assured safe sailing.<\/p>\n<p>Toward that end, we have collected the geospatial data for each of the Argonauts \u2013 not only the route they sailed, but the town of every sailor\u2019s origin and experience. Each man, a hero in his own right, brought his own family history as well as his city\u2019s associations with him onboard. These provided the potential for cooperation in port, as is demonstrated by Jason\u2019s eagerness to share each crewmember\u2019s genealogy with his dinner host Lycus in the land of the Mariandyni (Apollonius of Rhodes <em>Argonautica<\/em> 2.762-3).\u00a0 The integration of the <em>Argonautica <\/em>into the scholarly analysis of networks opens a new frontier in integrating mythical and epigraphic information \u2013 an innovation with tremendous potential to bridge the qualitative and quantitative in our ancient sources. The epic is also, however, among the most visible in popular culture, inspiring movies in 1963 and 2010, a mini-series in 2000, and a series of games in the last decade. This has encouraged us to develop an exploration of the Argonautica aimed at the needs of primary and secondary school educators, on the one hand, and a game which will appeal to the broadest, most informal kind of public education.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_795\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/the-game\/play-the-game\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-282\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-795\" class=\"wp-image-795 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/files\/2019\/12\/Samothrace_view_1-e1575324140826-1024x640.png\" alt=\"Mariner: Sailing an Ancient Sea\" width=\"590\" height=\"369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/files\/2019\/12\/Samothrace_view_1-e1575324140826-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/files\/2019\/12\/Samothrace_view_1-e1575324140826-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/files\/2019\/12\/Samothrace_view_1-e1575324140826-768x480.png 768w, https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/files\/2019\/12\/Samothrace_view_1-e1575324140826.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-795\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the Game: <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/the-game\/play-the-game\/\">Sailing with the Gods<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong><i>Moving to Casual Educational Gaming<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Samothrace Mariner <\/em>continues to work on the development of gaming applications to address pedagogical needs, to support instructors in primary and secondary education. The project began to develop separate casual educational games, now including <em>Kottabos VR, the Royal Game of Ur, <\/em>and <em>Petteia, <\/em>as minigames. These were originally developed to be components within the <em>Sailing with the Gods <\/em>game.<\/p>\n<p><em>Samothrace Mariner <\/em>is now focused on developing, in partnership with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kennesaw.edu\/ccse\/academics\/software-engineering-and-game-development\/index.php\">Kennesaw State University<\/a>, these games as freestanding casual educational games for independent release. The games are being developed to release freely through the Steam gaming site for use in classrooms and independently.<\/p>\n<p>The above three games are all being redeveloped from minigames created by Kennesaw State game design students for <em>Sailing with the Gods. <\/em>You can find information on the students and their work on <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/introduction-2\/credits\/\">the Credits page<\/a>. Find out more about these games on <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/casual-educational-gaming\/\">the Educational Gaming page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sailing an ancient sea In Samothrace Mariner, a study of ritual and mobility in the ancient world, we are building bridges between: academic and scientific research, integrating theory and method from anthropology, geography, Classics, religion and ancient history pedagogical needs, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3111,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-210","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1315,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/210\/revisions\/1315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/samothraciannetworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}