Antiquities Returned to Greece from NYC ... But I'm Not Among Them

 

The most interesting antiquity to me is to the far left front

Saturday—Jeff

 

I’m talking about the return yesterday of thirty antiquities at a presentation in the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney’s office celebrating the success of a joint operation among the DA’s office, US Homeland Security, and Greece’s Ministry of Culture.  The details are reported at length in Greece’s Protothema newspaper. I’m reproducing below a translation of the article to spare all of you from racing off to Google translate and crashing the site.  And yes, bringing this exercise in cultural diplomacy to the attention of some folks on the other side of the Pond would be greatly appreciated.

 

The antiquities cover a wide chronological range from prehistoric to Byzantine times – They were handed over to the Greek authorities by the head of the relevant antiquities unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

 

On their way back to Greece they will take with them 30 antiquities seized by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and handed over to the Greek authorities on Friday, December 15, 2023 by the head of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, Matthew Bogdanos, Deputy Prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

The pilfered antiquities on display

According to an announcement by the Ministry of Culture, the antiquities that are repatriated cover a wide chronological range from prehistoric to Byzantine times and are representative examples of sculpture, metalwork and ceramics.

The objects come from seizures in warehouses of British antiquarian Robin Symes and in the gallery of Michael Ward in New York.

 

Which items stand out?

An intact marble Cycladic figurine of the "Spedou" type and three surviving fragments are considered separate.

Cycladic marble figurine of the "Spedos" type 2700-2300 BC

Also stand out are two heads and a trunk of the "Spedou" type (2700- 2300 BC), a clay cup of the Kamaraicou style and a bronze bull figurine of Minoan times (1900-1500 BC), a pitcher and a breast of Mycenaean times (1300-1150 BC), a aryballos in the form of a male helmeted head made of faience, two aryballos, one in the form of a seated female figure and the other in the form of a hare from Archaic times (6th century BC) , a red-figure skyphos of classical times (5th century BC), a calyx of the "Western Slope" category and a bucket of Hellenistic times (4th-3rd century BC), seven bronze helmets (6th-4th/3rd century BC), including one Corinthian, five Attic and one Chalkidic, 2 bronze and 2 iron Hellenistic anatomical breastplates, one Hellenistic/Roman bronze horse harness, two Roman Venus marble statues.

 

Attic Helmet 4th-3rd c. e.g.

Among the repatriated antiquities are also a silver icon with a representation of the Virgin Mary from Byzantine times and a silver plate with plant, animal and geometric decoration.

The handover of the antiquities took place in a special ceremony held at the offices of the Prosecutor's Office, in the presence of the Secretary General of Culture Georgios Didaskalos, the Consul General of Greece in New York Konstantinos Konstantinou and executives of the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Properties.

 

Chamber Cup 1900-1500 BCCorinthian helmet 6th - 5th c. e.g

The fight against the illegal trafficking of cultural goods requires strong partnerships.

The Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni made the following statement "The fight against the illegal trafficking of cultural goods requires strong partnerships and a lot of work. The head of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit Matthew Bogdanos and his colleagues, the officers of the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the archaeologists of the relevant Directorate of Documentation and Cultural Protection Goods of the Ministry of Culture have these characteristics and their continuous successes prove it abundantly. The repatriation of the 30 antiquities from New York follows the return of the 55 antiquities in 2022 and the 29 antiquities in the spring of 2023 that were recovered with the cooperation of the same protagonists, who now form a strong team".

The return of the antiquities was achieved after the actions of the prosecutor's office of Manhattan. The investigations proved their illegal movement from Greece. Also, Homeland Security Investigation and the relevant Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Property participated in the investigations, which provided archaeological documentation for several of them.

 

Chamber Cup 1900-1500 BC

"It is a close-knit group that works with determination, dedication and method, without timetables and similar restrictions, with the sole aim of combating illegal trafficking" as stated by Matthew Bogdanos, who also highlighted the outstanding contribution of Homeland Security Investigation special agents. The Secretary General of Culture expressed the importance of the cooperation and Greece's deep gratitude to the Manhattan Prosecutor's Office and the Homeland Security Investigation and stated the will of the Ministry of Culture to continue the close cooperation that has yielded excellent results to date.

 

"Spedos" type marble trunk 2700-2300 BC.

Marble torso of Aphrodite 1st-2nd c. e.g

Bronze figurine of a bull 16th - 15th c. e.g.

Silver icon with a representation of the Virgin Mary

-- Jeff

 

 

When Will We Ever Learn?

Jeff––Saturday

After a week in Dallas, sharing a spectacular Bouchercon experience with so many old friends and new, I returned to New York and began to catch up on the news in Greece.  What immediately caught my attention was a feature story in the newspaper Protothema reporting on events seemingly lifted straight from the pages of my latest novel, The Mykonos Mob.   

The lead to that article—titled the “Godfathers War with 5+1 Executions”—reads,  “How the financial crisis became the cause for the Mafia to spread its tentacles to smuggling, cocaine, prostitution, and Mykonos circles—How Kalishnikovs changed the map.”

That is all I shall say about that here. 

photo by Dimitris Popotas

 No, not (so much) out of concern for my personal safety but because of an article I later read in a different Greek newspaper, Kathimerini.  The author, Nikos Konstandaras is the newspaper’s managing editor, and he writes about how the electoral losses of Greece’s Nazi party, Golden Dawn, and its leaders facing criminal trials, should not lead one to “believe that our society has been freed of the danger of bigotry and violence.”

Though he writes about what Greece faces, much of what Mr. Konstandaras describes is chillingly relevant to the rest of Western civilization.  Here are his words, under the title, “The tide of anger”:

The greatest defeats don’t always come in the greatest battle; they may come gradually, with successive, small defeats, until suddenly the whole battlefield is under the enemy’s boot. In our country, the battlefield is the space of civilized political exchange, of democracy; its enemies are those who see this rivalry as a demand to destroy the enemy.

Close to 200 years after the start of the Greek War of Independence and we have still not harnessed our national energy to the service of the greatest national priority – survival and prosperity.

If the times were not so dangerous, with our region and the world in a state of flux, if Greece had no hopes of succeeding, these thoughts would have no meaning: On the one hand, they would be hyperbole and misplaced (after all, despite endless divisions Greece has come so far); on the other, if the war was already lost there would be no reason to hope that a change of mentality would be of any benefit. And yet, we continue to undermine ourselves. There are capable people in many parties but they are overshadowed by the loudmouths.

In the streets, on the airwaves and in social networks, threats and violence (verbal and physical) set the tone.

Most citizens hope for stability, for cooperation and progress. Our public debate, though, aims not at solutions but at eliminating or humiliating our rivals. Of course, we ought to be concerned about migration, about Turkey, about erratic America and sleepwalking Europe, about the exodus of our youth and our demographic decline. But we also ought to hope that with the crisis ending, we have the resources to improve our lot.

However, when the main parties reproduce the vocabulary and behaviors of the past, they themselves crush the space between them – and anyone who advocates consensus and cooperation.

When the sole target is political domination, then the most extreme citizens take things to extremes, believing that they have the right to replace political and judicial power; that only they can express what the nation ought to want.

Whether through “anarchists” who beat up a student or through “fascists” who knife an immigrant, the tide of anger reaches everywhere. The only possible solution would be from above – from responsible political leaders setting a good example, placing the interests of the nation above their own.

Well, said.  Now what?

—Jeff

It's Time to Save Mykonos.

Jeff—Saturday

I was inspired to write a piece on Mykonos this week based upon an article I’d read in the Greek online newspaper, Protothema, offering a disturbing assessment of the state of our island (For those interested in reading the article, if it doesn’t automatically translate into English, you can get its essence through Google Translate). As I started to write my post, I experienced a sense of déjà vu, and so, I dropped “Mykonos” and “crime” into my browser and voilà, up popped a post I’d written three years ago almost to the day. Titled “Mykonos Shame On You.”

I couldn’t believe it.  The points I’d covered back then within the power and authority of the municipality to address had not only festered or worsened, but in neglect had attracted a host of additional opportunistic, insidious infections.

The only genuine improvement to what I’d described back then was that the island no longer faced drought, something I think all would agree was attributable to divine intervention raining down on the island, not political will.

Come to think of it, from the way things are going over here, divine intervention may be its only salvation.

In my original piece I wrote, “The new mayor does not take office until September [2014], so none of what I’m about to say is directed at him, except of course to point out what I trust he already knows: Mykonos is in desperate need of order.”

Three years have passed, and as I said at the time to the newly elected Mayor when handing him a copy of my then new novel, “Mykonos After Midnight,” fictionalizing where I thought the island was headed, “If this book comes true, it’s on your watch. So take care.”

Three years have passed…on his watch.

In the interest of full disclosure, it’s well known that I’m a close friend of the candidate that the Mayor defeated for office.  But I’m also a close friend of Mykonians of all political persuasions who feel defeated by the current state and direction of their island. In that, Mykonians are not alone, for international party hotspots, such as Spain’s Ibiza and Mallorca, face similar threats, yet they are taking action to contest their fates, and not just sitting idly by in the cannibals’ pot enjoying all the dancing around them as the heat cooks them up for dinner.

Here’s what I wrote three years ago. Kick it up a quantum level or so for a better idea of the tack Mykonos is on, and with no course correction in sight, I fear for its future. 

As I said then, and repeat now, Mykonos is in desperate need of order.

A half-dozen years ago, one of the fictional characters in my debut novel, Murder in Mykonos, said, “I’m like a Mykonian: I’m used to living in a bordello—filled with police.”

Just the other day I heard a Mykonian say, “Mykonos is a brothel run by police.”

I guess you could call that evolution.

Frankly, I’m not sure who’s running it now.  Certainly not its elected officials.  The new mayor does not take office until September, so none of what I’m about to say is directed at him, except of course to point out what I trust he already knows: Mykonos is in desperate need of order.

Those with influence build as they wish wherever they want—beaches and building codes be damned; all drive and park with reckless disregard for each other and pedestrians; garbage and construction materials are dumped with impunity wherever convenient; noise regulations are disregarded if it stands to make the right folks money; and municipal licensing and tax laws selectively ignored or unenforced.

And why, pray tell, is all this done?

For the benefit of the tourists is the answer, or rather the benefit of those who profit off their presence—for one could hardly say the lack of pedestrian walkways, taxis, and public bus transportation benefits tourists.

Yet, it’s incontrovertible that tourists love it here.  At least a certain kind of tourist does. Why wouldn’t they?  Amid its beautiful beaches, heavenly weather, and pristine sea they can behave in a manner utterly unthinkable back home, for Mykonos has evolved into a place where rules are not enforced nor statistics made public that might shock some into clearer thinking on the downsides of unfettered personal freedom amid a place literally immersed in natural (and artificial) intoxicants.

It’s a three-month open party. One that Mykonians once treated as a harmless tourist tsunami—sweeping in each June and receding by September—providing what they needed to keep their treasured island alive for the balance of the year. But the tsunami now carries away far more than it contributes, draining away the very spirit and identity of the island.

It is a place for profiteers unconcerned with the long-term health of the island. The businessman who avoids paying the fees and taxes he legitimately owes is not a colorful character beating the system, he’s a villain wrecking the future of every Mykonian child in the island’s underfunded schools, damaging the year-round quality of life for every Mykonian who must suffer with bad roads, understaffed public health facilities, and garbage polluting every vista, every nostril, every day. 

And it is a place where thousands of fish are about to die as one of its two municipal reservoirs runs dry because of poor municipal planning. There is an old adage that “a fish stinks from the head down.” In this case I think there are thousands of heads to blame.

Welcome to September, Mr. Mayor, we’re all rooting for you.

***

—Jeff