00:01Even though many people feared witches,
00:05actual witch trials in ancient Greece were rare.
00:11Fear sometimes made people hesitate to accuse others.
00:16Still, there were cases.
00:20One of the most famous involved a woman named Theoris of Lemnos.
00:27She lived on the island of Lemnos,
00:30located in the Aegean Sea between Mount Athos and the Hellespont.
00:36Lemnos was a large island covering about 47 square miles.
00:42Theoris was accused of practicing necromancy,
00:45magic meant to communicate with the dead.
00:50The famous Greek speaker Demosthenes publicly denounced her.
00:56She was put on trial in Athens and eventually burned for witchcraft.
01:02The island of Lemnos had long been surrounded by strange legends.
01:07It was considered sacred to Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and metalworking.
01:13According to myth, Hephaestus was thrown out of Mount Olympus by Zeus and fell to Earth,
01:20landing on Lemnos.
01:22Ancient stories claimed that the fiery workshops of Hephaestus were hidden on that island.
01:28Later legends moved those workshops to volcanic regions such as Sicily and the Lippery Islands.
01:36Over time, the worship of Hephaestus changed.
01:40Some people began connecting him with darker and more secret religious practices.
01:46Part of the reason may have been his connection with destructive fire.
01:50Another reason was his appearance.
01:54Hephaestus was often described as dark, grim, and physically unattractive.
02:02The Roman god Vulcan was later identified with him.
02:06Vulcan represented violent, destructive fire.
02:10The terrifying power of flames.
02:14This was very different from the peaceful fire of the household hearth,
02:18which was protected by the gentle goddess Vesta.
02:23Because of the story of Hephaestus falling from heaven.
02:28Some people later compared him to the biblical story of Lucifer, the fallen angel.
02:35In the New Testament, Jesus says he saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
02:42In the book of Isaiah, Lucifer is described as a shining figure
02:47who fell from heaven to the earth.
02:51The English poet John Milton later wrote about this fall in his famous poem, Paradise Lost.
02:58He described a figure called Musibir.
03:02Another name for Vulcan.
03:05Falling from heaven.
03:08He crashed onto the island of Lemnos.
03:11He was like a falling star.
03:13Like a falling star.
03:35Like a falling star.
03:37Was I trying to ignore that?
03:37He was a Werner, man!
03:37I thought you said I could die many years ago.
03:37He 𝘵 IC kamera.
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