About Eleanor Kuhns

Librarian and Writer Published A Simple Murder, May 2012

Artemis

As I’ve discussed in earlier posts, Artemis is one of the Gods who, it is believed, was a goddess in Bronze Age Crete and was adopted by the mainland Greeks. She remained virtually unchanged, unlike Hera who diminished from a goddess in her own right to the jealous wife of Zeus in Classical Greece.

Artemis was a virgin goddess and a goddess of the hunt, of vegetation, and of birth. Women in labor prayed to her.

In the myths of Classical Greece, Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo. (Daughter of Leto by Zeus.) And since those myths all seemed to be dark and full of cruelty, Artemis too could be cruel. She turned a young hunter, Acteon, who accidentally saw her bathing, into a stag and his own hunting dogs took him down.

In my Ancient Crete mystery series, Martis, my protagonist, is a follower of Artemis.

Coming April 24, 2024

As a devotee of Artemis, Martis plans to remain a virgin her whole life.

As part of my research, I hope to visit Ephesus where the ruins of a temple to Artemis still stand. Enormous in scale, the temple boasted a double row of columns that became a model for other Greek temples. Besides honoring Artemis, the temple also served as a place of sanctuary. Recent excavations have shown the stalls, where refuge seekers slept.

Historical note: Cleopatra’s sister Arsinoe was double-crossed and murdered on the temple steps before she could reach the safety of the temple.

Currently Reading

Drowning with others is one of the four novels (so far) produced by the combined talents of Keir Graff and Linda Joffe Hull.

I met Keir at the San Diego Bouchercon when we were on a panel together. I frequently read the books produced by my fellow panelists. (One way to find new authors, right?)

Andi and Ian Copeland are the perfect couple. Except for one short breakup, they’ve been together since they were teenagers. Now their daughter Cassidy is attending the elite prep school, Glenlake, the sameone attended by her parents.

Then a car with human remains is pulled from the lake and the mysterious disappearance of a writer in residence, Dallas Walker went years ago, suddenly blows up into a homicide investigation. Both Andi and Ian knew Dallas and both had reasons to want him dead.

Cassidy, now taking a journalism class, begins to find evidence her parents knew Walker better than they claim. Were one, or both, of her parents involved in his murder?

In Ian’s and Andy’s journal entries, all secrets are laid bare. Gradually the facts of Walker’s disappearance become clear.

But there are still more secrets. The ending is a shocker with a twist I did not see coming. Recommended.

Ancient medicine

We know the Ancient Greeks had medicine. Examples of the diseases that afflict us now, such as cancer and TB, and diseases we have managed to conquer such as smallpox, are found in their writings.

What do we know of medicine in Bronze Age Crete? Not very much. We know they used herbal remedies. An examination of Egyptian dynasties contemporary with Crete suggest other possible medical treatments. Papyri and scenes inscribed on walls depict medical instruments. The purpose of some of them, however, are still a mystery. Instruments from later dynasties have been found as well.

Papyri, and clay tablets from Mesopotamia, show that a huge feature in medicine was divine intervention. Prayer and animal sacrifice, which we know were also employed in Bronze Age Crete, were important features. Amulets, to keep demons and bad outcomes at bay, were commonly used. Astral medicine, i.e. using the stars to predict the best time for the best outcomes, was also very important. The zodiacal calendar was used to predict the most propitious times for medical treatments.

I want to add that seers were used to predict the best times for all important activities. The flights of birds was one method. The sacrifice of a sheep and the reading of the organs was another.

Our current medical system certainly has flaws. I am very glad, though, that a surgery appointment does not depend on how a flock of birds fly through the sky!

Currently Reading

This week I read a very interesting nonfiction discussion of pretty much everything relating to textiles and a woman’s fashion in a particular place and time.

Kate Strasdin came into possession of a dress diary, a book filled with swatches of the fabrics that made up Anne Sykes, and some of her friends, during the middle of the nineteenth century.

Since her family, and the family of her husband Adam Sykes, were involved in Britain’s textile industry, Anne had access to all the newest cottons, silk from the East, and, later in the century, the newest in the aniline dyes.

Using the fabrics a a springboard, Strasdin references cultural consequences such the enslaved peoples in the United States who picked the cotton that kept the British factories humming.

When Adam Sykes relocates to China, Strasdin discusses silk and, at the same time, the differences in culture, the Opium War, and more.

Colored photographs of the fabric swatches illuminate the text and there is a QR code at the back that brings the reader to more examples.

Fascinating!British History

St. Valentine

Regular Readers of this blog know how much I enjoy history. I love blogging about odd things I’ve discovered in my research. But today, I decided to offer a little bit of information about Valentine’s Day.

As you might expect, St. Valentine is the patron saint of lovers. Also of beekeepers, which I guess makes a certain amount of sense. But he is also the patron saint of epileptics.

St. Valentine’s history is a bit of a mystery. By some accounts, he was a Roman priest and physician who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Christians Other narratives identify him as a Bishop in Italy. He was also martyred. Since martyrdom is included in both stories, it is possible they refer to one person.

Other legends around St. Valentine. In one, he signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended. Like most saints, miracles were ascribed to him and in the former tale he heals the jailer’s daughter from blindness. Another common legend states that he defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war.

St Valentine was removed from the book of saints in 1969 since the details of his life could not be confirmed.

Nonetheless, Valentine’s Day has been celebrated since the fourteenth century.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

Currently Reading

After enjoying the Michael Curravan series so much, I chose an earlier Karen Odden book to read.

Lady Elizabeth Frasier is returning home from a humiliating third season in London when the train derails. She pulls her unconscious mother from the wreck. They are treated by a railway surgeon, Paul Wilcox. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection although Society would never accept a marriage between an Earl’s daughter and a doctor.

While waiting in the hotel for her mother to recover, Elizabeth assists Wilcox and they become friends. She is shocked to learn the train accident was probably not an accident. Further investigation reveals Elizabeth’s family owns shares in the railroad and the profits directly affect her dowry.

Odden is a good writer and her mysteries are layered. My only criticism is that the ending (no spoilers here) was too rapid and seemed artificial.

Curetes (Kouretes)

One of the challenges of writing historical fiction, especially historical fiction that takes place as long ago as Bronze Age Crete, is the difficulty of sorting through the various myths – and the various iterations of the myths. I’ve already discussed the conflation of Zeus and Dionysus in that they share an origin story. When the tribes of mainland Greece swept over Crete after the Santorini volcanic eruption, they adopted much of the Cretan culture. Then they adapted what they’d taken to suit themselves.

Since we are familiar with the Classical Greek myths, so familiar in some case we have internalized them, we think of them as the ‘correct’ stories. Dionysus’s origin story, which became Zeus’s, is one such.

The outlines of Zeus’s story are this. Since it was predicted that one of Cronus’ children would kill him and take his position, he swallowed all of his children as soon as they were born. To protect Zeus, his mother Rhea wrapped a stone in a swaddling cloth (which Cronus swallowed) and the baby was hidden in a cave in Mt. Ida.

In the Cretan myth, it is Dionysus that is hidden in the cave. Each was described as suckled by either a nanny goat or a sow. To hide the baby’s cries, Kouretes made noise.

Who are the Kouretes? If you google the name, they are described as crested, armored warriors who clash their shields together so Cronus can’t hear the baby crying.

But this is not the whole story. According to an earlier myth, the Curetes were the first inhabitants of the Greek island of Crete. They were mythical creatures, specifically legendary benign deities who lived prior to the Minoans. According to an early Greek myth, the Kouretes were not born. They sprang out of the earth of Crete when the infant Zeus wept and his tears fell on the ground.

In this version, they made a hanging cradle for Zeus so he was not of the Earth, the sky, or the sea. He was therefore well protected from Cronus.

Because these are myths, and all things are possible, the Kouretes are supposed to have invented hunting, the first bow, dance, and even the Olympic Games.

Currently Reading

Under the Veiled Moon is the second in Karen Odden’s Michael Corravan series.

Corravan is called to the banks of the Thames because of a serious accident involving the Princess Alice and a barge. Although this at first appears to be an accident, it becomes apparent that this was probably sabotage. The investigation leads Corravan into the Irish gangs in Whitechapel and the anti-Irish sentiment in Britain.

At the same time, his adopted family, the Doyles, is experiencing some problems of their own. Colin, the remaining son, has gotten involved with a criminal gang and is out all hours. Corravan tries to convince Colin to leave the gang but he won’t.

The mystery is multi-layered and the issues with the Doyles add emotional depth. Highly recommended.

I read a lot of nonfiction but do not include those titles here since they are usually for research. However, I read Oath and Honor by Liz Cheney.

Whatever you think of her politics, and I disagree with most of her policies, this was a fascinating book. The record of the January 6 commission was especially riveting. It did leave me with some questions – she did support Trump during his first term – but on the whole, a window into an important historical event.

The Minoans and Human Sacrifice

For a long time, the image of Bronze Age Crete was of a pastoral and peaceful society. Since theories about the culture were developed from excavations, as well as the archaeologists’ own opinions, the truth about the details of this civilization has been difficult to ascertain.

Several years ago, an excavation revealed what appeared to be the sacrifice of a young man. His body was placed on a platform and an older man, theorized to be a priest, stood next to it with a bowl in one hand and a knife in the other. The remains of a woman were found a few steps behind the priest.

Since they were killed during an earthquake, when the building in which they stood fell down around them, it is thought the human sacrifice was designed to stop the earthquake and/or propitiate the God sending the earthquake.

Human sacrifice was not uncommon in the past. It was a serious event, designed to placate a God and prevent terrible occurrences such as famine, disease, and yes, earthquakes. A human life was the most valuable gift that could be given.

The Aztecs worshipped a violent God and sacrificed hundreds, possibly thousands, of captives to him. Joseph Campbell discusses the practice in Europe of ritually sacrificing the king so that his life could nourish the soil. Recently, more evidence of human sacrifice on Crete from the Mycenaean period (approx 1280 B.C.E.) came to light in Chania, Crete (old name Kydonia.)

Dr. Vlazaki disclosed the information during a lecture titled “Chania during Minoan Times”. Bones of many animals, ibexes, young pigs, sheep, goats and cattle were discovered. Among them was found a young girl’s skull, broken into fragments exactly like the animal skulls. Dr. Vlazaki indicated that the find should not be considered strange since Greek mythology describes many examples of sacrifices of virgins during periods of great disasters.

Since this latest find was dated to the Mycenaean period, after the Minoans, it seems that human sacrifice was being practiced hundreds of years after the Minoan culture had been conquered by the Mycenaeans. Put together with the previously discovered example of human sacrifice, the case for this practice by the Bronze Age Cretans seems strong.

Currently Reading

Barbara Hambly has been one of my favorite writers for years. She is such a good writer. I read her Science Fiction/Fantasy novels, following her through the Dog Wizard fantasy and James Asher vampire novels to the Benjamin January mystery series.

The Nubian’s Curse is number 20.

The arrival of a woman January knew in Paris to New Orleans raises memories of a suspicious death in a haunted house. Was it really haunted and was the death from a malevolent ghost – or was it murder?

Now the murder of the man on scene in Paris, who arranged to marry the wealthy heiress left orphaned, raises more questions. Ben is asked to investigate.

As usual, the society in New Orleans – the Quadroon Balls, the custom of keeping a placee, a free woman of color who is mistress to a wealthy white man, the casual racism and the slavery, are front and center in these amazing mysteries. Highly recommended.

It is not necessary to read these in order but I would.