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Athens News Agency: News in English, 97-01-14

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.forthnet.gr/ape>


NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 14/01/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

  • Simitis rejects `climate of tension` emanating from Ankara
  • Aristotle's Lyceum said to have been found
  • Greek dig pinpoints cave of Euripides
  • State, Dept. official in Athens to discuss Cyprus
  • Thessaloniki stock market expansion discussed

    NEWS IN DETAIL

    Prime Minister Costas Simitis said yesterday that Athens would not allow itself to be dragged into a climate of threats as Ankara desired, adding that Greece remained a force of peace in the region.

    "Greece will not allow itself to be dragged into a climate of threats, as Ankara desires...We apply our policy with coolheadedness and take all necessary initiatives for peace and stability in the region. Greece is and will remain a force of peace," Mr. S imitis told reporters after a meeting with Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos to focus on preparations for the visit of Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides on Friday.

    The meeting was held amidst continued Turkish threats of military strikes against Cyprus, after the island republic announced in the first week of the year a purchase agreement for the advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles S-300. During Mr. Clerides' visit the two sides will jointly examine developments in the Cyprus problem and "review scenarios and positions", Mr. Simitis said.

    Aristotle's Lyceum said to have been found

    Three days after archaeologists claimed they had finally found the cave where Euripides retreated to write his classic tragedies, construction works for a modern art museum unearthed a large ancient complex yesterday, complete with a central yard and a wrestling arena approximately 600 metres from Parliament - which, according to initial assessments may be the famed Lyceum where Aristotle is believed to have taught.

    Archaeologists have been trying to locate the lost Lyceum of Athens - considered one of the three greatest academies of philosophy of ancient Greece - for the past 150 years. The other two renowned such ancient Athenian schools were the academy of Plato and the academy of Kynosargous.

    Excavations in the central Athens area started last May and were completed a few days ago. A study by the archaeologist conducting the excavations has not yet been published, which according to the necessary procedures, will have to be first presented t o the Central Archaeological Council.

    However, historical sources have not completely agreed on the location of the lyceum, since some arguments place the lyceum in the wider region of Syntagma Square (in front of Parliament) or the national garden.

    Greek dig pinpoints cave of Euripides

    Three days ago archaeologists announced that they have found the cave retreat of the ancient Athenian tragic poet Euripides, at the Peristeria site on the island of Salamis, off Attica's coast.

    A thin clay pot partly intact, with the first six letters of the name 'Euripides' inscribed on its external surface was found last Friday at Peristeria bay on the southern coast of Salamis by a 15-member team headed by Yiannis Lolos, an assistant profess or of prehistoric archaeology at Ioannina University.

    According to Prof. Lolos, the find points to the cave retreat of Euripides (485/480-406 B.C.)

    The partly intact pot is an excellent specimen of delicate Attic pottery, bearing an admirable engraved decoration on its bottom section, while the dramatist's name, which is inscribed on the external surface, is partly visible. All the finds have been taken to the Piraeus Museum, where they are being preserved.

    Historical evidence has long indicated that Euripides, the latest of three great Athenian dramatists, sought solitude to work in a cave on the island of Salamis.

    "The pot with Euripides's name is a unique find which adds to our knowledge of intellectual life in the fifth century BC," Mr. Lolos said.

    Among the works of the reclusive Euripides are Medea, Hecuba and the Trojan Women.

    Euripides was considered eccentric for his love of solitude at a time when company was greatly valued. Ancient biographers described him as stern, strict and unsmiling.

    He was parodied in Aristophanes' comedy, The Frogs, and was criticised by contemporaries for his innovations in tragedy.

    Disappointed, he left Athens for the court of King Archaelaus in Macedonia, where he wrote one of his most often-performed plays - the Bacchae.

    The culture ministry said the hardest evidence tying Euripides to the cave was the clay pot inscribed with the first six letters of his name.

    The pot dates to 440-430 BC and graphologists say the inscription was applied later, around the second century BC, most probably as a votive offer by an admirer of the writer.

    State Dept. official in Athens to discuss Cyprus issue

    The director of the US State Department's southern European bureau, Carey Cavanaugh, on the second leg of his tour of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, will hold talks here today with Greek government officials on US proposals for adoption of measures to reduce tension in Cyprus, particularly on the issue of the moratorium on military overflights of the divided island.

    Informed sources said that Athens will receive the US official's proposals with "an open mind", without, however, binding itself on any decision, as Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides is expected in Athens on Friday in order for the Cypriot and Greek go vernments to examine their positions and to coordinate their actions.

    In a related development, according to an ANA dispatch from Nicosia, Mr. Cavanaugh told the press after meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash last night that he was satisfied because, as he said, "there was support and agreement on military dialogue and particularly on the issue of terms of engagement and of unmanning."

    He also said that there would be meetings within the week to discuss implementation of these measures.

    In Washington, US State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said that "both President Clerides and Mr. Denktash agreed to give their full support to immediate implementation of the package of measures proposed by the United Nations."

    Army assistance in flooded areas

    Army rescue units were trying yesterday to remove scores of cars and trucks carried away by the flash floods in and around Corinth, some of which were swept into the sea as the death toll from Sunday's flash floods rose to six.

    The Public Power Corp.(DEH) did not yet restore electricity to the whole city of Corinth for fear of electrocutions, since dozens of power lines have collapsed, a DEH spokesman said.

    The worst-hit was the prefecture of Fthiotida, where five river bridges collapsed after being engulfed by the waters of the swollen Sperhios River.

    Interior Undersecretary Lambros Papadimas told ANA that Fthiotida had literally been cut in two as a result of the collapse or serious damage to the five bridges connecting the prefecture.

    He said dozens of villages on one side of Fthiotida had been cut off, while the national road network in the prefecture could not be used due to severe damage.

    Mr. Papadimas said the armed forces were assisting, with marines and a batallion of engineers trying to build a floating bridge to enable communication with the villages which have been cut off.

    State Dept. comments on Pangalos visit to Belgrade

    The Clinton administration expressed its gratitude yesterday for Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos' weekend mission to Belgrade, which aimed to resolve the protracted political crisis in the Yugoslav capital.

    "We are grateful for Foreign Minister Pangalos' actions over the weekend, which help a lot, and are in line with the will of the OSCE and the international community. We are grateful for the effective way in which he represented all of us," State Depart ement spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

    Replying to a question by ANA, he added that Athens had previously informed Washington of its intentions regarding the mission, and there was also a briefing after Mr. Pangalos' return to Athens.

    Bourse discusses Thessaloniki stock market expansion

    Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) President Manolis Xanthakis yesterday announced the conversion of paper shares on the bourse into electronic securities will be completed by the end of the year.

    Mr. Xanthakis attended the first 1997 board meeting of the Stock Exchange Centre of Thessaloniki.

    It was stressed during the meeting that the Thessaloniki bourse aims at increasing the Stock Exchange's daily volume of transactions, which has stabilised at 7 per cent currently. Informational seminars will be organised to attain this target.

    Greek products go on show in Nicosia

    "Greece and Cyprus even closer" is the motto this year for the exhibition of Greek products to be held in Nicosia January 15-19.

    Organised by Helexpo-TIF, this year's fair will be attended by Macedonia- Thrace Minister Philipos Petsalnikos and National Economy Undersecretary Alekos Baltas.

    Some 30 firms from Thessaloniki and other parts of Greece will be participating in the trade fair and representatives are expected to hold a series of meetings with Cypriot entrepreneurs in the hope of joint ventures as well as exploiting Cyprus's good relation with the Arab world and Greece's proximity to the emerging markets of the Balkans, eastern Europe and the Black Sea region.

    WEATHER

    Cloudy skies with scattered rainfall in eastern and southern Greece and snowfall in the mountainous regions. Moderate to strong northernly winds. Athens will be cloudy and rainy with temperatures ranging from 7-12C. Same for Thessaloniki with temperatures between 4-8C.

    FOREIGN EXCHANGE

    (closing rates - buying) US dlr. 246.095 Pound sterling 413.267 Cyprus pd 519.808 French franc 46.124 Swiss franc 178.748 German mark 155.645 Italian lira (100) 16.005 Yen (100) 211.157 Canadian dlr. 182.528 Australian dlr. 192.170 Irish Punt 406.621 Belgian franc 7.546 Finnish mark 52.266 Dutch guilder 138.597 Danish kr. 40.970 Swedish kr. 35.712 Norwegian kr. 38.777 Austrian sh. 22.090 Spanish peseta 1.864 Portuguese escudo 1.562

    (C.E.)


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