Is Meteo , a Greek child?

A layer of air called the atmosphere surrounds the earth, which is involved in its movements. Within the atmosphere many natural phenomena occur which are called meteorological phenomena.The name comes from the ancient Greek word meteora, which means anything in the sky. The branch of science that deals with these phenomena is called meteorology.

From the first moment man appeared on earth, he began to receive the effects of weather phenomena in his daily life. A strong storm could cause a flood, destroy crops or drown people. That is why the first gods he worshipped were gods who could control violent weather phenomena.

In ancient times, various peoples attributed the creation of atmospheric-weather phenomena to the gods. Greek mythology is the irrefutable witness according to which in the Greek area the creation of such phenomena was attributed to the gods, with the god Dias (Zeus) being the leading one, of course. Notable from ancient Greek mythology are the expressions “Signs of the Times” and “Alcyonides days”.

“Signs of the times”
The beginning of this phrase as well as its meaning is found in the ancient ‘Diosemias’ (or ‘Diosimeia’=Signs of Zeus), i.e. natural phenomena caused by Zeus.

‘Alcyonides days’
The clear days in mid-winter are called ‘Alcyonides’, after the name of ‘Alcyone’ daughter of Aeolus who ruled the winds.
The legend says that once because Alcyone fell into error, Zeus punished her by turning her into a bird, ‘Alcyon’, and condemned her to lay her eggs in winter instead of spring. But because she laid her eggs on rocks near the sea, or on the banks of rivers, and the winter wind carried them away in the waves, she begged Zeus to forgive her. He took pity on her, and then ordered Aeolus to stop the blowing of the strong winds for about 14 days and to maintain good weather during that time. (Aristophanes, “Vultures” f.1594/ “On the Alcyonides”).

This is how the ancient Greeks explained the existence of these days of ‘good/outdoor weather’ in winter, which Aristotle also described as days of ‘eudaea.

The ‘Alcyonides days’ are placed between 15 December and 15 February each year, with the most frequent being 15-31 December and 16-31 January.

The two above examples, but also the careful observation of natural phenomena by the people in general, formed over time relevant proverbs and traditions, many of which have been preserved through ancient texts (e.g. Hesiodos/ “Works and Days”).

THE BEGINNING OF METEOROLOGICAL SCIENCE

‘The Greeks relieved the natural sciences of mystery and magic and established the logic-centred science of nature as we understand it today’
BERTHELOT

These ancient Greek philosophers, who included in the concept of philosophy the whole of human knowledge, proceeded to a more detailed consideration of atmospheric-meteorological phenomena. Studying these without religious prejudices and manganisms, they began over time to attribute their genesis to natural causes, thus directly contradicting popular and religious tradition. This difference in perceptions between the people and the philosophers is vividly illustrated in Aristophanes’ comedy ‘Nebulas’, in the dialogue between Stripiades and Socrates.

Stripiades echoes the popular beliefs according to which Zeus causes rain, and Socrates, an ardent supporter of the philosophers, tells Stripiades that rain is caused by the nepheles (clouds), and adds: ‘Have you ever seen rain without nepheles?’

The times of Socrates, constitute for the science of Meteorology a period of discredit, since the people mocked those concerned about the “meteors”, and so instead of the word “meteorologist”, the words “meteorolexis” and “meteorophenax” were then created. And it is considered very likely that Aristophanes’ Nepheles were written to satirize those concerned with meteorological phenomena and even Socrates himself.

In this dispute between the people and the philosophers, there were occasions when the people reacted vividly against philosophers whose opinions were contrary to their religious beliefs. One such case is noted in the reign of Pericles, where a law was passed by which all those who taught subjects relating to meteorology were sued and condemned since it implied that they did not believe in the gods. Under this law, Anaxagoras was tried and exiled for claiming that meteors were not divine but natural phenomena. But this reaction was temporary and isolated, since gradually and from the time of the famous astronomer Metonus (5th century BC), a serious tendency to carry out systematic meteorological observations began to emerge, which provided reliable information for drawing conclusions about the climatic conditions in Greece at that time.

According to the testimony of Theophrastus and others, these observations were made by the ancient philosophers in various regions of the country, preferably in high places outside the cities, called observatories.

The main meteorological observatories were those on Mount Lepetymnon in Mithymna and Mount Ides in Troas, which Theophrastus mentions.

The objective purpose of the observations was the compilation of the parapigmata. The parapigma was a kind of astronomical calendar engraved on stone or wooden tablets that noted astronomical and meteorological phenomena for all the days of the month. According to meteorology professor Ilias Mariolopoulos, next to the text that gave the weather forecast there was a hole representing the corresponding day of the month. To mark the day to be studied, a stake was placed in the hole. This is exactly the reason for the name of the calendar parapigma (parapignymi = go in sideways).

Among those who compiled such calendars were, apart from Meton, Democritus, Conon (in Samos), Metrodoros (in Sicily) and Eudoxus of Cnidus.

Excerpts of quotations were extracted by Geminus in his relevant text Introduction to Phenomena where he states that weather forecasts are not unfounded, but accurate climatological conclusions derived from systematic and multi-year meteorological observations carried out by expert observers. Another important text with similar content is Soles’ Diosemias or Phenomena of Aratus. In addition to the weather observations reported in the huts, many other observations were made for the purpose of studying the weather in connection with hygiene and agriculture.

The important period for meteorology begins with Aristoteles (384-322 BC). Aristotle deposed the authority of Meteorology by making it a branch of knowledge independent of Astronomy and by writing the world’s first meteorology textbook, which fortunately survived, and is the Meteorological Manual. In this text, Aristotle included all the knowledge existing at the time, which, after checking and supplementing it with his own observations and theories as well as with observations of his students, he classified it into a system. This work, until the 17th century AD, was the world’s only meteorological manual. For this reason, Aristotle was called the FATHER OF METEOROLOGY. The contribution of the philosophers after Aristotle, though smaller, contributed significantly to the progress of Meteorology. The systematic observation and occupation of a large number of philosophers with atmospheric phenomena bore fruit, for we owe many correct theories of these phenomena to the ancient Greeks.

To them we owe the term Meteorology; they invented the anemometer in its simplest form, the thermoscope, as is evident from detailed descriptions in the works of Heron of Alexandria and Philo of Byzantium. It was from the translation of Heron’s works into Latin and Italian that Galileo, Drepel and Porta inspired the idea of building a new thermoscope, as the German meteorologist Hellman argues.

But the genesis of many meteorological phenomena is also correctly explained by the ancient philosophers, such as the sun being the leading cause of all atmospheric phenomena. Despite the fact that they lacked thermometers and that their observations of the air temperature were somewhat subjective, they nevertheless ascertained the daily and annual variation of the air temperature, the exact time of the temperature extremes during the day and the year, and the variation of temperature with altitude.

The ancient Greeks, as a maritime people, studied the winds more than any other meteorological element or phenomenon. They classified the winds into general and local ones, studied the etesias (meletesia), the sea and apex breezes, the breezes of mountains and valleys, and in general offered such a wealth of knowledge on the element of wind that modern scholars use their conclusions and observations to advantage.

It is astonishing to hear the confession of the German Professor Flohn, that Hippocrates had first observed the existence of gas fronts, and had very correctly explained the weather conditions which they create when reading them from the various regions.

He also formulated correct theories about the formation of clouds, the creation of rain, snow, hail, dew, dew, and dew, and also about various optical phenomena such as the rainbow.

As early as the time of Anaximenes, the phenomenon of rain was attributed by philosophers to the condensation of atmospheric water vapour. Finally, the ancient Greeks were the first to divide the earth into climatic zones and describe the climatic conditions of these zones and their effect on the life of humans, plants and animals.

The first attempt to interpret the various atmospheric phenomena was made in the 5th century BC. The ancient Greek philosophers and astronomers, after systematic observation of weather phenomena, formulated the principles governing them.

They even tried to go as far as statistical weather forecasting, from the recordings of weather phenomena in tents. The greatest efforts were those of Aristotle and Hippocrates. Hippocrates came up with the principle that meteorological phenomena repeat themselves. He observed them systematically throughout the year and became the father of climatology.
But the first attempt to explain the various atmospheric phenomena was made in the 5th century BC. The ancient Greek philosophers and astronomers, after systematic observation of weather phenomena, formulated principles governing them. They even tried to go as far as statistical weather forecasting, keeping data on weather phenomena in a diary known as a ‘parapigma’. Hippocrates arrived at the principle that meteorological phenomena repeat themselves, having observed them systematically throughout the year, and thus became the father of climatology, the science that deals with the history of climate.

Until the invention of the thermometer (1503) and the barometer (1643) no significant progress had been made in the science of meteorology. The use of these instruments was a milestone because for the first time meteorological data were expressed in numerical quantities. This was followed by the invention of other instruments such as rain gauges, hygrometers and anemometers. In addition, the weather observations recorded by the captains of sailing ships, who were now embarking on longer voyages, gave impetus to various investigations in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.