A giant classical Greek statue prop on a stadium stage during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Mediterranean Games in Taranto, Italy 🇮🇹 One of the most striking images of the opening ceremony of the Mediterranean Games in Taranto was the monumental figure inspired by Taras, the mythical founder... and eponymous hero of the ancient city. Presented almost as a colossal living statue, the figure offered a spectacular reference to the Greek origins of Taranto and to a mythology that has remained embedded in the city’s identity for more than two millennia. According to ancient tradition, Taras was a son of Poseidon and the nymph Satyria. The hero was closely associated with the foundation of the settlement that bore his name, ancient Taras, Τάρας, although Greek historical tradition attributes the actual colonial foundation of the city, around the late 8th century BC, to Spartan settlers known as the Partheniae under their leader Phalanthus. Taranto therefore preserved two intertwined foundation traditions, the mythical story of Taras and the historical memory of its Spartan origins. Taras became particularly recognizable through one of the most enduring symbols of the ancient city, the dolphin rider. Ancient Tarentine coins repeatedly depict a youthful figure riding a dolphin, an image associated with Taras and the protection of his divine father Poseidon. The motif became so deeply connected with Taranto that a dolphin rider remains part of the modern city’s coat of arms. Through its coinage, the image circulated throughout the Mediterranean world and became an unmistakable emblem of one of Magna Graecia’s most powerful Greek cities. The appearance of the colossal Taras at the ceremony therefore carried considerable historical symbolism. Behind the modern Italian city stands the ancient Greek polis of Taras, founded by settlers from Sparta and transformed into a major political, economic and cultural centre of Magna Graecia. By bringing its mythical founder dramatically back to life, the ceremony connected the contemporary Mediterranean Games with the ancient Mediterranean world from which so much of Taranto’s identity emerged. 🎥© greekgetaway #archaeohistoriesshow more

Archaeo - Histories

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