Geese of Juno

Ancient Rome and the Legend of the Capitoline Geese

https://layers-of-learning.com/the-legend-of-the-capitoline-geese/

This legend, which is at least true in the basic details, took place in 387 BC after Rome became a Republic but before it became an Empire.  We’ll tell the legend of the Capitoline Geese, which you can tell to the kids.  Then we’ll print the story, with four panels which the kids have to put in the proper order.  The kids can then can color and make the legend into a book.

The Legend of the Capitoline Geese

There is a legend that in the year 387 BC the Gauls crossed the Alps and entered the Italian Peninsula.  They came searching for new land for their people and of course the wealth of the fertile north of Italy.  By that year the Roman Republic was well established and the Romans had conquered or made treaties with enough of their neighbors that they were growing powerful.

In this map the red portions are the areas that Rome held at the time of the Gaul invasion in 387 BC. While their actual territory was small they had treaties with many of their neighbors. They also had a fierce reputation for battle. But this was sort of like a small town champion basketball team meeting rivals from the big city. The Romans had no idea what they were going up against. This experience shaped their concept of the wider world and made them realize that if they wanted to be strong and expand their borders they would have to up their game, so to speak.

The Gauls heard about the power and wealth of Rome and so they wanted it for themselves.  The Romans were warned of the advance of these barbarians from the north and went out to do battle.  The Gauls were more terrible than the Romans could have imagined.  Many of them fought naked and their bodies were painted and tattooed with strange designs, their hair and their visages were twisted and cruel.  Their battle cries were horrifying.  Their weapons were wicked and they wielded them with an ease that no Roman could match.  The Roman soldiers, every one, turned tail and ran back through the city gates, leaving the gates wide open in their panic.

This is Brennus. He was the leader of the Gauls who attacked Rome in 387 BC. Image by Med, CC license, Wikimedia.

That would have been the end of Rome then and there except that Gauls were leery that the Romans had left the gate open as a trap.  And so the Gauls waited for three days.  During those three days the citizens of the city were able to flee to other parts and the remaining soldiers were able to entrench themselves on the Capitoline Hill. At length the Gauls decided the Romans really were cowards and they entered the city, sacking, looting, and burning as they went.  But they could not breech the defenses of the Capitoline Hill.

Then one night one of the Gaulish spies said he had found a way.  They could climb up the back of the hill, up a steep cliff by means of handholds.  If they climbed the hill quietly they could gather a strong enough force to battle their way to the gate and let their fellows in. Now the Capitoline Hill was the site of the temple of Juno.  Since geese were sacred to Juno the priests kept a flock of geese on the hill. And even though the siege had been going on for many weeks and the soldiers were on short rations they left the sacred geese alone.

It is lucky that they did for on the night the Gauls decided to scale the back of the Capitoline the sentries had fallen asleep on duty and the dogs were silently snoring.  But the geese heard the invaders as they scaled the hill and they sent up such a cackling and honking and flapping of wings that Captain Marcus Manlius woke abruptly, grabbed up his sword, and rushed out to the parapet, calling his men as he ran.  He was first to the wall, but others soon appeared at his right and at his left. They threw the Gauls back from the cliff. The siege continued on for a few more weeks but the Gauls grew bored and decided to make a treaty. The Romans were able to buy peace at a great cost.  But Rome endured and one day grew to be a great empire.

The Roman leaders negotiated with Brennus for the price Rome would pay for the Gauls to leave. They decided on 1000 pounds of gold, but the Gauls used cheater weights that were heavier than standard. When the Romans complained, Brennus said ” Vae Victus”, Woe to the vanquished, and threw his sword onto the scale as well.

The sacred geese of Juno were honored every year after in a processional through the city commemorating their defense of the city of Rome.

• The city of Rome was built on seven hills.  The Capitoline Hill was where the rich people lived and where the public buildings like temples and the senate chambers were located.  It was no mistake that that is the part of the city that the Roman soldiers were ordered to protect.  During the siege the ordinary citizens lost everything.  When it was all over and they came back home the senate carried on like nothing had happened, taxing the people as before. This was obviously a great hardship and many now destitute citizens ended up in debtors prison or begging in the streets.  Marcus Manilus, who had gained notoriety for his defense of the city, spoke up condemning the actions of the senate.  They had him killed as a traitor for stating his opinion, but he did start a movement of reforms that gave more power to the common people.  Discuss this attitude of the rich senators toward the rest of the people.  Is this typical among all governments or unique to Rome?  How can the common people defend themselves from their own government?
• The resounding military victory of the Gauls embarrassed Rome and made them realize that they had better get their army updated.  It is from this point that the Romans abandoned the ancient Greek methods of fighting and developed the highly trained legions that would rule the greater part of the known world in a few centuries.  Think of more modern examples (from the last hundred years) of armies realizing they had to innovate with new strategies or technologies.  What innovations do you think might be necessary for defeating the enemies of today?
• The Capitoline Hill was the seat of government in Rome and is where we get the words capital, which means the city that hosts the government in a country, and capitol, which means the building that the government meets in. An enormous amount of our language and culture can be traced back to Rome.  Rome was so powerful and so stable and long lasting that even 1600 years after its fall in the west we still feel the effects.  Make a list of other government or cultural concepts you know of that we have from Rome.
• This activity has kids put the story in order.  This is a good time to practice story order and to talk about how stories have beginnings, middles, and ends.

Croesus Tests The Oracles and Gives Presents

At the end of this time the grief of Croesus was interrupted by intelligence from abroad. He learnt that Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, had destroyed the empire of Astyages, the son of Cyaxares; and that the Persians were becoming daily more powerful. This led him to consider with himself whether it were possible to check the growing power of that people before it came to a head. With this design he resolved to make an instant trial of the several oracles of Greece, and one of them in Libya. So, he sent his messengers in different directions, some to Delphi, some to Abae in Phocis, and some to Dodona; others to the oracle of Amphiaraus; others to that of Trophonius; others, again, to Branchidae in Milesia. These were the Greek oracles which he consulted. To Libya he sent another embassy, to consult the oracle of Ammon. These messengers were sent to test the knowledge of the oracles, that if they were found really to return true answers, he might send a second time, and inquire if he ought to attack the Persians.

This beginning section introduces Croesus learning new information that Cyrus had destroyed the empire of Astyages and the Persian Empire was gaining more and more power. As a result of this knowledge, he began to question whether he would be able to take on the growing empire. He decided to consult numerous oracles by dispatching messengers to the oracle of Abae, Dodana, Amphiaraus, Trophonius, Branchidae and Ammon. The reason for sending to many ambassadors to so many oracle sites was to test them. If the oracles gave true responses back to Croesus, then he would inquire their knowledge for a second time regarding whether or not to attack the Persian Empire.


The messengers who were dispatched to make the trial of the oracles were given the following instructions: they were to keep count of the days from the time of their leaving Sardis, and, reckoning from that date, on the hundredth day they were to consult the oracles, and to inquire of them what Croesus the son of Alyattes, king of Lydia, was doing at the moment. The answers given them were to be taken down in writing, and brought back to him. None of the replies remain on record except that of the oracle at Delphi. There, the moment that the Lydians entered the sanctuary, and before they put their questions, the Pythoness this answered them in hexameter verse:

Those delegates who were sent to the numerous different oracles were instructed to keep count of the days since their departure from Sardis, and on the hundredth day, they were to ask the oracle the question that was instructed: what was Croesus was doing at the exact moment? The answers of each oracle were recorded and brought back to Croesus for evaluation. However, none of the replies made it back to him, except for the oracle at Delphi. 

I can count the sands, and I can measure the ocean;

I have ears for the silent, and I know what the dumb man meaneth;

Lo! on my sense there striketh the smell of a shell covered tortoise,

Boiling now on a fire, with the flesh of a lamb, in a cauldron-

Brass is the vessel below, and brass the cover above it.

This is the answer the Oracle at Delphi gave to Croesus' messenger regarding the King's actions at that moment. This statement proclaims that she can do what normal individuals cannot accomplish; she knows what others cannot fathom ("I can count the sands" and "I can measure the ocean"). This statements also reflect the divine power that they received from the Gods ("I have ears for the silent" and I know what the dumb meaneth"). This oracle states that she has a sense of a shell-covered tortoise boiling over a fire, with the flesh of a lamb. The oracle even describes the type of metal used, brass. 

These words the Lydians wrote down at the mouth of the Pythoness as she prophesied, and then set off on their return to Sardis. When all the messengers had come back with the answers which they had received, Croesus undid the rolls, and read what was written in each. Only one approved itself to him, that of the Delphic oracles. 

This he had no sooner heard than he instantly made an act of adoration, and accepted it as true declaring that the Delphic was really the only oracular shrine, the only one that had discovered in what way he was in fact employed. For on the departure of his messengers he had set himself to think what was the most impossible for any one to conceive of his doing, and then, waiting till the day agreed on came, he acted as he had determined. He took a tortoise and a lamb, and cutting them into pieces with his own hands, boiled them together in a brazen cauldron, covered over with a lid which was also of brass.

The Lydians recorded the response directly from the oracle and the scrolls on which they were written was taken to Croesus (back in Sardis). Croesus read it and immediately accepted it at truth; it had approved itself to him. He instantly made an act of adoration and declared the oracle at Delphi the only authentic and sincere oracle. It was the only one that discovered what he was in fact, doing, at the time. Before the messengers departed, he had thought of the most unimaginable and mind-boggling act that no one would guess him to do. He waited for the right do to come then he took action. He cut up a tortoise and lamb using his own hands, boiled them in a brass cauldron and covered it with a brass lid. This action was so strange that no one would have ventured to guess anything like it. However, because of the supreme power of the oracle, the Pythoness was able to answer the question with great accuracy. 

Such then was the answer returned to Croesus from Delphi. What the answer was which the Lydians who went to the shrine of Amphiarans and performed the customary rites obtained of the oracle there, I have it not in my power to mention, for there is no record of it. All that is known is that Croesus believed himself to have found there also an oracle which spoke the truth.

After this Croesus, having resolved to propitiate the Delphic God with a magnificent sacrifice, offered up three thousand of every kind of sacrificial beast, and besides made a huge pile, and placed it upon couches coated with silver and with gold, and golden goblets, and robes and vests of purple; all which he burnt in the hope of thereby making himself more secure in the favor of the god. Further he issued his order to all the people of the land to offer a sacrifice according to their means. When the sacrifice was ended, the king melted down and vast quantity of gold, and ran it into ingots, making them six palms long, three palms broad, and one palm in thickness. 

The number of ingots was a hundred and seventeen, four being of refined gold, in weight two talents and a half; the others of pale gold, and in weight two talents. He also caused a statue of a lion to be made in refined gold, the weight of which was ten talents. At the time when the temple of Delphi was burnt to the ground, this lion fell from the ingots on which it was placed; it now stands in the Corinthian treasury, and weighs only six talents and a half, having lost three talents and a half by the fire.

Because Croesus was so overjoyed with the response from the oracle, he showered Delphi with lavish gifts made of gold and silver, and sacrificed the best of beasts in their honor (and in extraordinary quantities, up to three thousand beasts). He then placed them upon silver and gold coated couches and burned it all to the Gods in the hope of making himself more appealing and favorable to them later on. He further issued an order to all the Delphic people declaring that they had to make a sacrifice according to their means. Once the sacrifice ended, Croesus melted down the rest of the gold and molded it into a statue of a lion, so large it weighed ten talents. Subsequently, the temple at Delphi was burnt down, where the golden lion was placed; it now weighs six talents and is in the Corinthian Treasury.

On the completion of these works Croesus sent them away to Delphi, and with them two bowls of an enormous size, one of gold, the other of silver, which used to stand, the latter upon the right, the former upon the left, as one entered the temple. They too were moved at the time of the fire; and now the golden one is in the Clazomenian treasury, and weighs eight talents and forty-two minae; the silver one stands in the corner of the ante-chapel, and holds six hundred amphorae. 

This is known because the Delphians fill it at the time of the Theophania. It is said by the Delphians to be a work of Theodore the Samian, and I think that they say true, for assuredly it is the work of no common artist. Croesus sent four silver casks, which are common in the Corinthian treasury, and two lustral vases, a golden and a silver one. One the former is inscribed the name of the Lacedaemonians, and they claim it as a gift of theirs, but wrongly, since it was really given by Croesus. 

The inscription upon it was cut by a Delphian, who wished to pleasure the Lacedaemonians. His name is known to me, but I forbear to mention it. The boy, through whose hand the water runs, is (I confess) a Lacedaemonian gift, but they did not give either of the lustral vases. Besides these various offerings, Croesus sent to Delphi many others of less account, among the rest a number of round silver basins. Also he dedicated a female figure in gold, three cubits high, which is said by the Delphians to be the statue of his baking-woman; and further, he presented the necklace and the girdles of his wife.

Croesus had also donated bowls of gold which were to be placed at both sides of the entrances to the temple, but these were also moved during the fire. The golden bowl is in the Clazomenian treasury and the silver bowl is in a different location and holds six hundred amphorae (vases), which the Delphians filled themselves. Additionally, Croeus sent even more presents, including silver casks and gold and silver vases. One of the vases has the name of the Lacedaemonians (who claimed it was a gift from them), but it truly was from Croesus. That inscription was made on the vase by a Delphian citizen who wished to please the Lacedaemonians. 

These were the offerings sent by Croesus to Delphi. To the shrine of Amphiaraus, with those valour and misfortune he was acquainted, he sent a shield entirely of gold, and a spear, also of solid gold, both head and shaft. They were still existing in my day in Thebes, laid up in the temple of Ismenian Apollo.

In addition to the presents sent to the Oracle at Delphi, Croesus also sent gifts to the shrine of Amphiaraus; a gold shield, a spear also made entirely of solid gold. These gifts still exist and are in modern day Thebes.

The messengers who had the charge of conveying these treasures to the shrines, received instructions to ask the oracles whether Croesus should go to war with the Persians and if so, whether he should strengthen himself by the forces of an ally. Accordingly, when they had reached their destinations and presented the gifts, they proceeded to consult the oracles in the following terms:- “Croesus, of Lydia and other countries, believing that these are the only real oracles in all the world, has sent you such presents as your discoveries deserved, and now inquiries of you whether he shall to go to war with the Persians, and if so, whether he shall strengthen himself by the forces of a confederate.” 

Both the oracles agreed in the tenor of their reply, which was in each case a prophecy that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire, and a recommendation to him to look and see who were the most powerful of the Greeks, and to make alliance with them.

The same messengers who were to deliver the gifts were told to ask the oracle at Delphi whether or not Croesus should go to war with Persia, and whether or not he should take on any allies (thus strengthening his own power). Once the messengers had placed the presents with the oracles, they proceeded to ask the question as instructed: "Croesus of Lydia, who believes that the oracle of Delphi is the only true oracle in the world, has sent you these presents to reward you. Now, he requests of you whether he should or should not go to war with Persia, and if so, shall he strengthen himself by working with an ally?" The oracle responded by saying that if Croesus were to attack the Persians, then a great empire would fall. The oracle recommended to determine who among the Greeks was the most powerful and to establish an alliance with that particular polis. 

At the receipt of these oracular replies Croesus was overjoyed, and feeling sure now that he would destroy the empire of the Persians, and he sent once more to Pytho, and presented to the Delphians, the number of whom he had ascertained, two gold staters apiece. In return for this, the Delphians granted to Croesus and the Lydians the privilege of precendency in consulting the oracle, exemption from all charges, the most honourable seat at the festivals, and the perpetual right to becoming at pleasure citizens of their town.

Once Croesus heard this response, he was extremely elated and confident that he would destroy the Persian empire. He sent even more presents to Pytho and again to Delphi. In return for all the gifts Croesus had sent, Delphi gave Croesus (and all Lydians) priority in consulting their oracle. They were also exempt from all charges, guaranteed the best seats at all festivals and now had the right to become a citizen of Delphi.

Questions regarding the Passage:

1) Who was Croesus?

Croesus was the last king of Lydia located in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) who reigned from 560 to 546 BCE. He allied Lydia with Egypt and Babylonia against Persia, but was subsequently defeated and captured by Cyrus the Great. Croesus was friendly with the Greeks and some of whom (notably Solon) visited his capital at Sardis. The Lydians also contributed to the rebuilding of Greek shrines, including the Oracle at Delphi. The best-known anecdotes about Croesus are from the writings of Herodotus, but little is know about the true magnitude of his wealth. After Croesus was captured, he was either burned on a pyre, miraculously saved by the god Apollo or put to use as an administrator by Cyrus (depending on the legend).

2) Why did Croesus go to the oracles? What did he consult them for?

After Croesus had ruled over Lydia for about 10 years, he initiated a test to discover which was the world's most accurate oracle. He sent his men to ask numerous different oracles the same simple question: "What was the King doing right now?" The answers were written down and brought back to Croesus so he could compare. The Oracle at Delphi was proclaimed the winner, and showered gifts onto Delphi. The reason for this test was to ask a follow-up question: Should Croesus attack Persia? With Cyrus the Great as its leader, Persia was pressing on Lydia's borders, and Croesus felt like he had to take action.


3) What did the oracle say?

The Oracle at Delphi claimed that if Croesus was to attack the Persians, then, "a great empire would fall." It also stated that Croesus should consider the most powerful Greek city and ally himself with it to make himself more powerful.

4) How did Croesus interpret the oracles?

Upon hearing this information, Croesus was overwhelmed with happiness and euphoria. Croesus interpreted this information to imply that if he would pair himself with the most able and influential Greek power, then he would defeat the Persians and become the supreme conqueror of all the land. He gained confidence in his quest and supported by his vast wealth, he resolved to attack the Persian empire.

5) What actually happened?

Croesus invaded Persian territory in 546 BCE, and was quickly defeated by Cyrus. Croesus' kingdom Lydia fell to the Persians, along with Ionia. Croesus was taken prison by Cyrus but was eventually treated with respect in honor of his former status. He was later allowed to return to the Oracle of Delphi to complain, that it's advice had been wrong and the god had not repaid the favor that Croesus had given him (regarding all the splendid presents and gifts given to the oracle and to the city of Delphi). The oracle then replied to his complaint by answering that if Croesus had been wise, he would have asked another follow-up question: whose kingdom was he going to destroy with this expedition, Cyrus', or his own?

Croesus and Fate:

"Croesus and Fate" is a short story told by Leo Tolstoy that is the retelling of Herodotus' Greek legend, published in 1886. Below is his synopsis.

"Croesus is a rich king in ancient Greece who is quite enamored with his own wealth. When the wise man Solon comes to visit his kingdom, Croesus asks Solon if he had ever seen greater opulence than his own. Solon replies that birds like peacocks are incomparable in their beauty. Croesus disagrees, and he tries to impress Solon with a list of vanquished foes and claimed territories. Solon still disagrees, telling Croesus that the happiest man he had ever met was a peasant in Athens. He explains that the peasant worked hard, raised a family, and was content with what he had. Croesus takes this as an insult and Solon leaves.

"Soon after Solon's departure, tragedy befalls Croesus. His oldest son is killed in a hunting accident, and then Emperor Cyrus invades. Cyrus' army is triumphant, and Croesus' kingdom is ravaged and Croesus himself is captured and ordered to be executed. As Croesus is about to be burned on a pyre, he cries out Solon's name. Cyrus stops the pyre to hear what Croesus has to say. Croesus relates Solon's story to Cyrus, and Cyrus is moved by the notion that Fate can bring misery to a rich man and happiness to a poor man. Croesus is freed and the emperor and the king become good friends."

This is the report passed down by Greek historian Herodotus; but according to Persian historians and Persian school texts, Croesus had himself tied on the pyre to be burned rather than be tortured by Cyrus. What Croesus didn't know was that Cyrus was a kind liberator. So when he saw the pyre on fire, Cyrus ordered it to be doused and told Croesus that he was still king in Lydia and that he could keep all his riches because Cyrus would never want such a burden.

About the Author: Herodotus of Halicarnassus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus lived between 484 and 425 BCE and is often viewed as the "Father of History." Others sometimes call him the "Father of Lies," because he loved telling intricate and dramatic stories that some people consider to be figments of his attention-seeking imagination.

Little if known regarding his own history, but his writings along with other ancient sources suggest

• He was born in Halicarnassus in 484 BCE. He was the son of Lyxes and Dryo and had at least one brother.
• He was exiled after he participated in a failed coup d'etat.
• Following his exile, Herodotus claimed to have spent some time in Athens after travelling to Egypt, the Aegean, Palestine, Phoenicia, Babylon and Susa. Some of his descriptions make it seem likely that he did visit them, others not so much.

In regards to his identity and context, we can make the assumption that because Herodotus knew how to write, he was possibly upper-class and rich. He was Ionian Greek, born and raised in the Persian Empire. He most likely fought as a hoplite, as suggested by his comments on military matters. He also lived in Athens at the height of its economic power.

The values, beliefs and philosophy of history, we can infer that

• Herodotus believed in the Greek Gods, although not as strongly as others. He makes some references to divine intervention in his Histories, but recognizes that events are shaped by people, not Gods.
• The Histories were meant to entertain, they would have been read in courts.
• He outlines the "astonishing achievements" of societies to preserve their memory.
• The name Histories literally translates into "researches," reflecting Herodotus' approach to history.

Herodotus' stories were originally constructed as an oral history in narrative style. One of his influences may be Homer, is sometimes regarded as being the first historian (although most give this title to Herodotus). The history written was within living memory, which allowed Herodotus to speak with witnesses about a past event. This made his work reliable. He also aims to give Persian and Greek perspectives.

Included everything he heard on matters, although he explains why he does or does not believe different sources and judges them on their merits. Herodotus often comes under fire for his inclusion of a myth about giant ants in The Histories, although there is no evidence that he believes it to be true; he is merely stating that he heard it. He gives his opinions as to which version of events he supports, although he rarely states that one is correct or not.

Despite some account of his historical accuracies, there are some biases recognized in the Histories. He describes battles from the soldier's perspective, he doesn't criticize foreign customs, even thought they would have been strange to him, he does see Greece as the center of the Earth and he tends of favors Athens in his stories.

Lingering Questions:

When was this event supposed to have taken place?
Why did Croesus make his messengers wait 100 days before questioning the oracles?
Why did he determine that the oracle at Delphi was the best? Why not any of the others?

These are some questions that remain unanswered by the passage itself. As to the time of when this sequence of events occurred, we can estimate a year based other primary sources and historical research (it was said to be around 546 BCE), but it is not directly stated in the passage itself. Regarding why Croesus made his messengers wait 100 days before asking the oracles the first of his questions and how he determined that the oracle at Delphi was superior to the others is something we'll never know; we can only speculate. Croesus sent many messengers to numerous oracles but to guess as to why he chose that one is questionable. It's difficult to try to understand the thought process of a great king from 2500 years ago, but everything is up to interpretation by the reader.

Sources:

http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/historians/narrative/persianwars.html
http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=characters&FileName=croesus.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croesus_and_Fate
http://www.ancient.eu.com/lydia/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphiaraus
http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/ancoracles.html
http://historynerds.wetpaint.com/page/Herodotus+of+Halicarnassus


The summary throughout the text is great! It helps to understand as the reader views the document rather than being confused until the very end. Maybe relate how Tolstoy's synopis can be understood in today's terms. Great work! -Alexandra Watkins

I really enjoyed the way you summarized each part of the passage. It made it very easy to understand what was going on - something that isn't always the easiest when reading Ancient Greek texts! Putting in the synopsis from Tolstoy was also very interesting. My only question is this: what other oracles did Croesus test? All of the oracles of Greece, or just a select few? All around, well done! - Lindsay Gaard

https://herodotus2012.wikispaces.com/Croesus+Tests+the+Oracles

Pythia, The Oracle of Delphi

 

Perhaps one of the most famous prophecies uttered by the Oracle of Delphi is that of Croesus’ defeat by the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, Croesus, the king of the Lydians wanted to know if he should wage war on the fledging Persian Empire. The reply he got was that he would destroy a great empire if he attacked Persia. Satisfied with this answer, Croesus prepared to invade Persia. Little did Croesus know that the ‘great empire’ referred to by the Oracle was not that of Persia, but his own. The rest, as they say, is history. While the authenticity of this story may be questionable, what is certain is that the Oracle of Delphi did exist.

Situated on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis, Delphi was associated with the Greek god Apollo. According to legend, the hill was guarded by a giant serpent called Python, who was a follower of the cult of Gaia (Earth), for hundreds of years. After killing Python, Apollo claimed Delphi as his own sanctuary. Perhaps this legend was a reflection of actual events. 

During the Mycenaean period (14 th-11th centuries B.C.), there were small settlements in Delphi dedicated to the Mother Earth deity. Subsequently, the worship of Apollo was established between the 11 th and 9 th centuries B.C. By the 8 th century B.C., Delphi was already renowned internationally for the prophetic powers of the Pythia. Yet, it was only in the following century that the Oracle became a Panhellenic institution, when Apollo’s advice was sought by the Greek cities on important matters of state.

The Pythia was the name given to any priestess throughout the history of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The priestess was a woman over fifty years of age, lived apart from her husband, and dressed in a maiden’s clothes. According to Plutarch, who once served as a priest at Delphi, the Pythia first enters the inner chamber of the temple ( Adyton). Then, she sits on a tripod and inhales the light hydrocarbon gasses that escape from a chasm on the porous earth.

This observation can be confirmed by modern geologists. After falling into a trance, she mutters words incomprehensible to mere mortals. These words are then interpreted by the priests of the sanctuary in a common language and delivered to those who had requested them. Nevertheless, the oracles were always open to interpretation and often signified dual and opposing meanings. This can clearly be seen in the case of Croesus. Yet, there are many other instances where the prophecies of the Pythia were ambiguous as well.

For instance, according to Herodotus, one of the oracles given to the Athenians during the Persian invasion of 480 B.C. was “Far-seeing Zeus gives you, Tritogeneia (Athena) a wall of wood, / Only this will stand intact and help you and your children .” (Herodotus, The Histories , 7.141). While some Athenians interpreted this literally and concluded that the prophecy referred to the survival of the Athenian Acropolis (it was surrounded by a protective stockade in times past), other regarded the “wall of wood” as ships.

However, the latter interpretation failed to make sense of the last two lines of the prophecy, “ Blessed Salamis, you will be the death of mothers’ sons / Either when the seed is scattered or when it is gathered in ”. According to the official interpretation, if the Athenians were to engage the Persians in a naval battle, they were destined to lose. Despite this seemingly inauspicious omen, an Athenian commander called Themistocles decided to challenge the oracle by arguing that if the Athenians were doomed, the tone of the oracle would have been harsher.

The Athenians were convinced, perhaps not by Themistocles’ interpretation, but by the fact that it would be better to fight the Persians, rather than not do anything, as seemingly suggested by the Oracle. As you may have guessed, the Athenians gained a decisive victory over the Persians, and was a turning point of the second Persian invasion of Greece.     

So, the next time you’re tempted to believe in prophecies, remember the story of Croesus, and the Athenian ‘wall of wood’. In the former, the misinterpretation of a prophecy caused Croesus’ downfall, and demonstrates the challenges involved in interpreting prophetic statements. In the latter, by defying the prophecy of the Oracle and taking their fate into their own hands, the Greeks were able to turn the tide against the Persians, and saved themselves from destruction.

http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pythia-oracle-delphi-001641

Francis Ngannou is a treasure

Toiling in a sand quarry in his economically depressed home country of Cameroon, Francis Ngannou felt he was destined for more, for something beyond the imagination of his friends and neighbors, for something that the world would glare at in awe. It was an audacious dream, yet one he has scratched out moment by moment, from an emigration journey so traumatic that he declines to detail it, to homelessness on the streets of France, to trying out a sport he had no intention of following.

From those humble beginnings, he has become the most terrifying man in mixed martial arts, a finely tuned machine of violence that sends bodies crashing and leaves jaws hanging. Alistair Overeem was his latest victim at Saturday’s UFC 218, in a knockout so viscerally savage, it left the fight world simultaneously buzzing on a high yet uneasy at what it had just witnessed.

At the point of impact of a shovel left hook, Overeem’s head was knocked backward with a whiplash effect that briefly had him resembling a human Pez dispenser before he crashed to the mat unconscious. It was one punch and out, a ballistic missile of a shot that would have laid waste to any fighter in the division, and likely made a few rethink their chosen vocation. It was that stunning; it was that pulverizing.

With only four years of experience in MMA, this is what Ngannou is now, MMA’s bogeyman, who speaks softly with threats of pulling you into the shadow realm. No, really, this is what he does. A few days ago, he stood in a faceoff with Overeem, and whispered to him, “You go to sleep Saturday night.” The hint of a smile broke through Overeem’s stare, and Ngannou doubled down, saying, “You will sleep.”

‘Reem did. Ngannou correctly called his shot, a sixth straight stoppage to start his UFC career, joining Ronda Rousey, Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin as the only fighters to do that in the modern UFC era. You may notice that all of those fighters went on to capture UFC championships. Ngannou’s turn is coming now, that was confirmed by UFC president Dana White following the event.

White does not generally like to make fights in the immediate aftermath of an event, for fear of making an emotional pairing. But this was a no-brainer, and when he was asked if Ngannou had done enough to earn a date with Stipe Miocic, White could not get a “yes” out of his mouth fast enough.

“He’s a big, scary monster,” White said at one point. Later, he added, “I think he’s going to be a rock star globally.”

Ngannou feels like a present dropped from the sky, the right man at the right time. Regardless of White’s proclamation that 2017 has been the “biggest year in UFC history,” it has been mostly dark days for the fans of the world’s biggest fight promotion.

Conor McGregor abandoned the UFC for the year, Jon Jones self-immolated again, and many champions are flexing their leverage while seeking better deals or more lucrative fights, keeping them out of the cage all the while. Many cards have been stale. The heavyweight division has been a huge source of frustration in 2017, with Miocic holding out for a renegotiated contract, and no one emerging as a new or exciting challenger. But that has all changed in a matter of months.

Ngannou’s ability to close the gap between himself and world-class heavyweights in this brief window of time is pretty much unprecedented. This is a man who did not play any organized sports at all growing up. Not boxing, not soccer, nothing. He was too poor. And just over four years after stepping into an MMA gym for the first time, he may well walk into a championship match against Miocic as the favorite.

Overeem, who is now 37 years old, is certainly at the tail end of a decorated yet controversial martial arts career, yet his experience is beyond reproach. He won championships in MMA (with Strikeforce and DREAM) and kickboxing (with K-1). He was a decorated grappler. This fight against Ngannou was his 60th professional MMA bout, and even though he’s aging, that kind of experience chasm is often insurmountable when paired against a relative MMA newbie. It should be.

“That is the past, man,” Ngannou (11-1) said in the post-fight press conference. “We’re talking about now. And now, it’s me. I’m the present.”

The UFC really seems to have a gem on their hands with this one. Despite his ferocious competitive streak, Ngannou is soft-spoken and gentle, notably taking a few moments in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan to rail against the slave trade that was recently uncovered in Libya. He’s also setting up a boxing gym in his native Batie to offer hope, a commodity that is in short supply there.

His humanitarian side is something to be admired, and serves as a nice counterbalance to what we see of him in the cage, where he seems to have no regard for human life. Dare I say he is the most intriguing heavyweight fighter since the original arrival of Brock Lesnar? He is quickly gaining that same kind of aura. The fight world has been fast to compare him to Mike Tyson and others, but truth be known, there are still plenty of questions it’s OK to have about him.

If Miocic, an excellent wrestler, gets him to the ground, what happens then? Does he have the endurance to go five rounds? Would it be more fair to match him up with two heavyweights at a time?

I’m joking about that last one (sort of), but it’s OK to hold a degree of skepticism about where Ngannou is going. Plenty of others stories like this have flamed out, but something about him seems right. Everything does, from his look and story to his skills and coaching staff — the likes of Jerome LeBanner, Dewey Cooper and Vinny Magalhaes, among others. This is no fly-by-night success story. It’s a journey of blood and sweat. It survived a trip through a zone of desperation. It defeated the laws of probability.

And he assures us there is more on the way. More wins, more action, more everything. Good, he couldn’t have come at a better time. Dropped seemingly from the sky, Ngannou is in no mood to revel in what he’s already done. Asked how he would celebrate the biggest win of his career, he corrected the questioner.

“No,” he said, “the biggest win of my career is coming.”

In that moment, a smile crossed his face, and anyone watching could be excused for feeling the same way.

https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/12/3/16729700/in-a-ufc-year-where-superstars-vanished-and-champs-sat-on-the-shelf-francis-ngannou-is-a-treasure

The kid from the favela

It took 16 years for Jose Aldo to go from being a kid who was so broke he couldn't pay his capoeira fees to the Jose Aldo who enters the biggest event in UFC history to defend his legacy. And what a ride it's been.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Jose Aldo Junior wasn't much different from the other poor kids growing up in Manaus, Amazonas in the 1990s. Son of Jose Aldo and Rocilene Souza, he was a sports aficionado from an early age. But watching his father struggle to get money to even eat and support his family didn't give him many options.

"We came from a humble background, but with a lot of love, so we were able to overcome that," Aldo says of his childhood. "My father was a bricklayer, and my mother was a housewife. It was complicated, obviously, because of our humble origin, but thank God we were all focused. I loved to study, had a good head."

A life that wasn't easy from the beginning turned worse for Aldo, who watched his mother leave home.

"I was a young boy, I didn't really understand what was going on, but it's obviously hard for a kid to see his mother leave, see your parents splitting," he says. "But she always supported me. She taught me good things. Just like my father, who supported me a lot to become the fighter I am today."

'I was just a kid, so I did what I could do to help him. He was the first to support me, and that's exactly when Jose Aldo the champion started to rise.'

It was only the two Jose Aldos from then on, as the family decided Junior should stay with his father. Working hard hours as a bricklayer, Jose Aldo Sr. couldn't give his son a great life. He provided them somewhere to sleep and food to eat, but Junior wanted more.

"I was really close to my father since I was young," Aldo says. "He always told me that I had to work in order to become a man, so I had to stay with him when my mother left. He always took me to work to help him as a bricklayer. I was just a kid, so I did what I could do to help him. He was the first to support me, and that's exactly when Jose Aldo the champion started to rise. That was the moment."

That little manauara wanted to become a champion. He wanted to thrive through a sport. In particularly, as with every kid in in every city around Brazil, he wanted to excel at soccer. Soccer was Aldo's first love. And he had talent. He dreamed about doing it professionally, imagining himself playing for Flamengo at Maracana one day.

Yet getting a good opportunity make a living from a sport - a sport that every single kid in Brazil also wants - is a challenge. There came a time when he had to give up.

Luckily for him, young manauaras had the chance to fight for a better future through sports. Yet even those opportunities came with a price.

THE COMFORTABLE MAT

Aldo used to get on his bike and ride to Vila Olimpica every day after school. He loved studying, but sports were his passion. Aldo entered a capoeira class, and everyone around him could tell he was talented. Kicks, spinning kicks - he had it all. Capoeira wasn't going to make him any money, though. In fact, it was taking some of the scant money he made helping his father at work.

That's when jiu-jitsu entered his life.

"God always opens doors for you, and He put Marcio Pontes and Marcos ‘Loro' (Galvao) in my life," Aldo says. "Marcio always supported me financially so I was able to do what I did and get here."

Pontes wanted to make a name for himself. Seven years after receiving a jiu-jitsu black belt through the hands of Nonato Machado in 1992, the Manaus native Pontes decided to finally open his own jiu-jitsu gym at Alvorada, and by helping out poor kids in his neighborhood he heard about a little boy called Jose Aldo Junior.

"I wanted to build a team, so I created scholarship for the humble kids in the neighborhood alongside my friend, Marquinhos, who also taught jiu-jitsu there," says Pontes.

Aldo would stop by Pontes' gym every day on his way back home from the capoeira class. It ended up being a life-altering moment, because spending money at Vila Olimpica was hurting him.

"Aldo had to leave capoeira because he had to pay a 10 reais fee," Pontes recalls. "That's really cheap, but he didn't have that money at the time. He stopped playing capoeira and saw this opportunity to train jiu-jitsu, but he had no money to buy a gi either."

Andre Luiz was the first boy to enter Pontes' gym. Pontes gave him an old gi for free so he could train, and his cousin Aldo showed up a week later wanting a free gi as well. They were afraid Pontes wouldn't give Aldo one, so Luiz came up with an idea. They told him they were brothers.

It made no sense why they would lie about it, especially since Pontes knew they were not brothers. Pontes pretended to believe their ruse for some time, just for the fun.

"I knew for sure they were not brothers, but I let them continue with that story," Pontes laughs. "I gave them a pair of old gis and we started training."

Training jiu-jitsu isn't easy. But it felt comfortable for Aldo.

"I wanted to train jiu-jitsu instead of capoeira because the mat was soft," Aldo says. "It was better than training capoeira on the hard floor. I started reading jiu-jitsu magazines, reading about the world champions, and becoming one of them became my goal."

"Part of Aldo's initial success was due to his previous training with capoeira, and he learned positions and techniques pretty quickly," says Pontes, who decided to sign them up in a tournament in May of 1999, four months after opening his gym.

Aldo followed his coach to the gymnasium for his first tournament as a white belt, and the little boy took to the mat four times that day. It was hot as hell inside the arena, especially for those wearing a gi. That didn't stop Aldo from defeating his first three opponents in the tourney. It wasn't in the cards for him to go back home with a gold medal, though.

"It was a close match, it ended in a draw, but the judges gave the other kid the win," Pontes says. "I was pissed off. I thought he did enough to win. But even without the victory, I realized I had a talented kid right there."

Aldo wouldn't leave school. He wouldn't even stop helping his father at work. Routine got harder, though, as Pontes signed him up to compete in every single tournament they had the chance to enter. Pontes wanted his gym to be popular, wanted more students, and Aldo became his little protègè.

"They won everything as white and green belts, and started to hang with me wherever I went," Pontes says. "At the tournaments, at my house. I helped Andre and Aldo the way I could with clothes, gifts, money. They were like sons to me. We created a bond."

But training once a day wasn't enough for a hungry kid like Aldo. As soon as he realized he could go further in this sport, that the sky was the limit, he looked for more.

"Aldo trained at my gym in the afternoon, but decided to follow me at Nonato's gym in the morning as well, so he could learn more," Pontes says. "He wanted more knowledge, and he wouldn't stop training."

"I started training hard to one day be able to go to Rio de Janeiro and win a tournament there," says Aldo, who looked up to other successful Manauaras like Wallid Ismail and Saulo Ribeiro in jiu-jitsu magazines. "That was my focus. I trained three times a day, because I knew that could give me a better future."

For a kid who had no money to even buy his first gi, traveling 2,657 miles between Manaus and Rio de Janeiro to enter a tournament that wouldn't pay a dime to its champion made no sense for some.

But who said dreams have to make sense?

WELCOME TO RIO

Aldo always told his mother he would see the ocean one day. "You're a dreamer," she would respond. And he definitely was, though he knew how to make his dreams come to reality.

Aldo continued to rise in the local circuit, winning tournaments and making lasting impressions as a rare talent as the 2001 world championship loomed ahead. The government decided to invest money and help Manauaras go to Rio de Janeiro to compete for a gold medal, and the then 15-year-old Aldo was one of the few lucky talents to earn an airplane ticket to go. It was the first time Aldo had ever been on a plane.

Aldo arrived in the Marvelous City, and thought it was as beautiful as he imagined. The sea, the beaches, the landscape... it was perfect, and he couldn't wait to go there and see it for himself, not through a bus window.

Pontes and his pupils arrived at the Hotel Copacabana later that day. They were all tired, including Aldo, but the desire to see the ocean did away with the fatigue. They were just half-a-mile away from the world famous Copacabana beach, and an excited kid couldn't let that opportunity escape.

"It was July, so it's a bit colder in Rio, but he still wanted to go to the beach when we got to the hotel," Pontes says. "We were all tired, but he wanted to see the ocean, so I explained to him how to get there."

Every step in that direction gave Aldo butterflies. There was no such thing as cell phones and cameras for a poor kid like Aldo. All he had was his eyes, and he made sure to enjoy every second of that adventure.

He was gone for a couple hours until he finally walked back to Barata Ribeiro Street — picking up a few little shells and sticking them in his pocket along the way, so he could prove to his mother that he really made it to the Copacabana beach.

"It was freaking cold, and he was completely soaked, but wouldn't stop smiling," Pontes says. "He fulfilled his dream to visit Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana. I know deep in there he knew he wanted to stay there for the rest of his life.

All he had was his eyes, and he made sure to enjoy every second of that adventure.

"Rio is a different city. It dazzles you, especially if you never visited a big capital before."

The touristy stuff came to an end as he entered the Tijuca Tenis Clube gymnasium to compete at his first world championship. Nothing was easy for that young blue belt, and his first chance against the big boys wouldn't be different. Aldo was 15 and the world championship didn't have an under-16 division, so he had to go up against older athletes in the bantamweight division.

Aldo was at the podium by the end of the day, but - again - not as a gold medalist. He should have been in the finals, according to Pontes. His coach to this day swears the referee for Aldo's semifinal match was affiliated to his opponent's team. It's not impossible to imagine this scenario, especially in those early days in jiu-jitsu. Ironically, the three other fighters at the podium represented Nova Uniao — which he would later help make globally famous — while Aldo was still fighting for Manaus’ jiu-jitsu federation, that paid for his flight tickets.

It was part of the game, and they knew a bronze medal in those conditions meant a lot.

"He was happy he visited Rio and happy to be at the podium, but that's not what he wanted," Pontes says. "Aldo wanted to win a world title, he wanted to be a world champion."

Aldo flew back to Manaus with a medal, a few seashells, and lots of memories. Months later, a visitor from Rio de Janeiro changed his life forever.

Marcos Galvao was one of the top jiu-jitsu fighters in the city of Manaus, and Aldo wasn't the only one to look up at him. Aldo's daily trips to different gyms quickly gained another stop, as he went from Marcio Pontes' to Nonato Machado's to Marcos Galvao's every single day, five days a week.

Galvao didn't stay much longer in Manaus, and that gave Aldo the chance to follow his dream. Aldo, who had just finished high school, got in early to Pontes' gym that day.

He was anxious.

As soon as Pontes arrived, Aldo quickly approached his master and revealed his plans.

"I want to move to Rio de Janeiro," he said.

Pontes didn't know what to do. He wanted his protègè to succeed, but living in Rio de Janeiro wasn't an easy task for a poor kid from Manaus, especially if his plans included making a living of a sport that didn't pay its biggest stars.

"If you want to become a world champion, you know Manaus is a complicated place to be," Pontes told Aldo. "If you want to make a living of this, you have to leave and train with the best, and that's where the best are."

Aldo then called "Loro." Galvao was living inside the Nova Uniao gym at the time, sleeping at the same mat they rolled on all day, and was only making 200 reais a month with sponsors.

"Man, this is how things work here. It's rough. I save my lunch so I have something to eat at night," Galvao told his friend. "But if you want to come, come join me. We can split everything."

Pontes called some friends, and they were able to buy a one-way ticket to Rio de Janeiro. Aldo left family and friends behind.

'At the same time I used the jiu-jitsu mat to work, it became my bed as well. That's where we slept.'

"It was hard because we lived inside a jiu-jitsu gym," Galvao recalls. "We spent the entire day inside the gym. We had no money to do anything out there. We had nowhere to go, no money to do anything."

"At the same time I used the jiu-jitsu mat to work, it became my bed as well," Aldo says. "That's where we slept. It was a huge bed. It wasn't so soft, but it wasn't hard either. But it's part of the game. That's the price I had to pay in the beginning. That made me grow."

Moving to Rio proved to be a smart decision. Three years after placing third in the IBJJF World Championship in the city, Aldo flew to Salvador, Bahia, to enter the CBJJO World Cup. Even though CBJJO isn’t putting on top tournaments anymore, the scenario was different at the beginning of the century. The best grapplers flew to Salvador to enter the mat, and Aldo was one of them.

With a brown belt around his waist and competing as a featherweight, Aldo got past every single one of his opponents until he faced Rubens Charles "Cobrinha" in the semifinal. "Cobrinha" would become a four-time IBJJF world champion as a black belt a few years after, and beating him again — Junior also defeated "Cobrinha" in the CBJJO Brazilian Championship as a purple belt a year before — to move on to the final and win the gold medal proved he was the best at the time.

Goal-driven Aldo fulfilled his ultimate purpose and became a jiu-jitsu world champion, so he needed new ones. Living in Rio de Janeiro and training at Nova Uniao gave him the opportunity to watch some of the best vale tudo fighters at the time training under the same roof.

Pedro Rizzo, Renato Sobral and many others trained under the tutelage of Marco Ruas in Rio, and Aldo made time to watch them spar. Aldo was fascinated by the training methods of Ruas Vale Tudo. Like in his early jiu-jitsu days in Manaus, he managed to learn from the best schools as he planned to make his vale tudo debut. Rodrigo Ruas, Marco’s nephew, started to teach Aldo the art of kicking people in the leg, and he quickly became a master at it.

Just a few months after winning the gold medal in Salvador, Aldo entered a vale tudo ring for the first time.

A fight promoter couldn't find an opponent for BJJ black belt Mario Bigola, considered one of the best fighters in Minas Gerais at the time. "Loro" told Marcio Pontes he believed Aldo was ready for his first fight, so they booked the match-up.

"It was a lightweight bout, and Aldo didn't even weigh 145 pounds, and we had no money to pay for his flight," Pontes says. "I got the money and paid for his flight ticket, and he knocked Mario out in 18 seconds. That's when we realized his full potential and that no one would be able to stop him."

But again, things got worse for Aldo. Pederneiras had to move his gym from Botafogo to Flamengo. It was just a few miles away, but it became an issue for Aldo.

This time, though, Aldo and "Loro" wouldn't be allowed to sleep at the gym at night. Galvao was already fighting in Japan, so he was making some money to find a place to stay.

Aldo had nothing. He had nowhere to go.

FAVELA: DRUG DEALERS AND ANGELS

There are more than 750 favelas in Rio de Janeiro. The majority of them still have to deal with a routine of violence, crime and poverty. The situation was even worse at the time Jose Aldo found himself with no place to stay after Nova Uniao's gym in Botafogo was moved.

Aldo had only a few options, and moving back to Manaus — and thus giving up on his dream to become a top fighter  — was his most reasonable choice, but not the path what he wanted to take.

That's when a benefactor of sorts changed the course of his life.

Nova Uniao was in its last days in Botafogo, and Aldo was still trying to come up with a solution when fellow MMA fighter Hacran Dias offered help.

"I asked him where was he going to live, and that's the part that touched me the most," Dias says. "I'll never forget what he said. He said, 'I don't know. I don't have a place to go.'"

Dias was living with his mother, Julia Dias, and his younger brother at the Santo Amaro favela, located three miles away from Nova Uniao's new address. It was a tiny little house at the top of the slum, small enough for three people to live, but - hearing of Aldo's situation - they still managed to find room.

"I told him I'd figure it out, call my mother and find a place for him," Dias says. "We lived in a small house at the favela, so I asked her if Aldo could stay with us for some time. I told her I had a friend that had nowhere to go."

As with Aldo's life in Manaus, life wasn't easy for the Dias family. When Julia was pregnant with her youngest son, Hacran's farther passed away in surgery after being injured in a car accident.

'This is why I say Nova Uniao is not a team, it's a family. I always had someone to count on when I needed.'

"I didn't know Aldo," Julia says. "Poor kid — he had nowhere to go. He was Hacran's friend, [Hacran] knew him, so I let him stay."

Her husband's pension brought only limited help, so both kids had to work when they grew up. "I raised them both by myself, I don't even know how," says Julia. "In a place like this, they never got themselves in trouble."

"I thank Hacran and aunt Julia for the help. I love them," says Aldo, who stayed with the Dias family for seven months. "This is why I say Nova Uniao is not a team, it's a family. I always had someone to count on when I needed."

Living in a favela is no joke.

The city of Rio de Janeiro recently created the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP), which basically means putting military police headquarters inside favelas to get rid of criminals, but that didn't exist when Aldo moved to Santo Amaro.

"Every time we left home to train, we saw criminals, drug dealers everywhere, but that was normal," Aldo recalls. "It was hard for someone like me, a boy that came from Manaus and never saw anything like that, to deal with that, but we got used to it eventually."

Aldo may have gotten used it, but it took some time for the local criminals to get used to him.

"It was harder for Aldo because nobody knew him there," Hacran says. "There was a shooting in the community one day, and he was training at the gym. He couldn't go back home alone. I told him to sleep somewhere because I couldn't go down to pick him up. Living in a place dominated by drug trafficking wasn't easy at all.

"In the beginning, they always stopped him, told him to pull his shirt up to check if he was carrying a gun of something like that. When they realized he was living at my house, they stopped asking him that."

Aldo became a prime candidate, as the criminals like to recruit new soldiers to their army. It's easier to impress and convince a young kid with no money to join them, as they walk around with guns, motorcycles and wads of cash.

Aldo didn't fall for it.

"I come from a good family, my father raised me saying what's right and what's wrong, and I never had this temptation," he says. "I knew that could be an easier way to make money, but that would make your life harder later in the future. I decided to take the toughest way, moved in with Hacran and Julia. They kept telling me that wasn't good, and that's why I stayed away from it."

"He never got himself in trouble. He just wanted to train and train," Julia says. "He was always a good boy, respectful, didn't like to party or anything like that."

LEAVING THE FAVELA

Aldo was still in the favela and barely making a living when he met the woman of his life.

Vivianne Pereira moved from Curitiba to Rio de Janeiro, living in an apartment her father rented for her in Meier, when she decided to find a place to train Muay Thai. She had already competed in the sport, and wanted to invest in it, while Aldo had just returned from England, where he improved to 7-0 as a professional MMA fighter with a 65-second knockout.

Pereira was training for her first Muay Thai tournament in Rio, and one of Aldo's friends was also slated to compete in that state championship.

"He was a bit shy," Pereira says. "He was always joking around, finding a way to come talk to me. Two weeks later, I had a Muay Thai tournament and his friend was also going to compete, so he helped me train as well. He was in my corner when I fought, and from then on we stayed together."

Call it destiny, but don't call it love at first sight — at least not for Pereira.

"No, it was not love at first sight," Pereira laughs. "We got to know each other and started to like each other. But it wasn't something like I saw him and thought, 'wow, that's the man I'm falling in love with.'"

Pereira worked as a receptionist at the Nova Uniao gym. Aldo was a cook at a restaurant right around the corner.

Pereira worked as a receptionist at the Nova Uniao gym, while Aldo cooked crepes. Living in Meier and going to Flamengo to work and train every single day was complicated, especially with the crazy traffic in a big and disorganized capital like Rio, so Pereira decided to move in with Aldo four months after they started dating.

By this time, Aldo was not living with Hacran Dais' family anymore. He rented a little place over Marlon Sandro's house in the favela. On their first days together in Santo Amaro, Pereira wondered if that was the future she wanted for herself.

"It was hard at first because I didn't have that life before. I never had to deal with anything like that. I was scared," she recalls. "There was a shooting one day, cops invading every house looking for drug dealers and thieves. It was scary. It was terrible. I started to cry and think, 'what am I doing here? Should I stay with him?'"

She got used to it eventually, as they lived there for almost seven months until finally deciding to leave.

"Being in Santo Amaro was really complicated," Pereira says. "The structure wasn't good, there were rats inside the house, garbage everywhere, cats. Police and drug dealers would get inside your house anytime they want.

"It wasn't comfortable or cool. It was just decent," she adds. "We had a cooker, a fridge. We had no bed, just a mattress on the floor. It wasn't comfortable. We had everything, but we had nothing [laughs]. Violence everywhere."

Pereira asked Aldo if he wanted to move in with her in Meier, where she had that old apartment her father rented for her, so they could save some money to buy their own house one day. Aldo wanted to say yes right away and leave a dangerous place, but wouldn't feel comfortable living in an apartment his girlfriend's father paid for.

"He said 'I won't like to live like this, so let's get married'," she recalls. "We decided to get married and save some money to buy an apartment for us."

Aldo and Pereira became husband and wife on July of 2006, and his fight became theirs.

***

WHEN MMA ALMOST LOST JOSE ALDO

A year before getting married, Aldo lost. It wasn't the first defeat of his life, as he had to deal with many of them before in his jiu-jitsu career, but tapping to Luciano Azevedo at Jungle Fight almost made him quit the sport.

It's not like he couldn't deal with the loss himself, but there was a lack of opportunity for lightweight fighters in MMA at the time. Especially for someone coming off a loss.

"We had few opportunities to fight at 145 pounds," Aldo's wife says. "We considered moving up to lightweight so he could fight in the UFC. He said, 'I will never make money (as a featherweight). I'll move up and try going to the UFC,' but there was a long list of fighters at Nova Uniao waiting for a chance. 'It might take a while before you get there,' they told him. He tried going to Japan, but it didn't work either."

Nova Uniao was known as a go-to place for promoters who needed fighter at 155 pounds or below. Vitor Ribeiro, Joao Roque, Marcos Galvao, Wagnney Fabiano and many others were fighting all over the world, and Aldo had to wait in line despite the fact that everyone saw a bright future for him.

Aldo was devastated. Losing for the first time, and with the prospects of his future dimming, he thought about leaving mixed martial arts.

'He decided to take the fight only for the money. He predicted what was going to happen, and ended up losing.'

"Aldo had injuries everywhere. He decided to take the fight [against Luciano Azevedo] only for the money," Pontes says. "I remember him saying, 'I have one round to win this fight. I can't fight more than that. I have a sore throat and my hand is injured.' He kicked Luciano's leg pretty badly in the first round, beat him up badly, but couldn't do sh*t in the second round. He predicted what was going to happen, and ended up losing."

Living the life of a MMA fighter wasn't working so well for him, and Pontes tried to help him come up with a back-up plan. Aldo loved studying as a kid, so his first coach asked Andre Pederneiras to help him get a college scholarship in Rio de Janeiro. He wasn't getting any younger.

"It was really complicated. He didn't get many opportunities to fight, wasn't making much money," Pontes recalls. "I spoke with 'Dede' to get him a chance in a college so he would have a plan B. If everything goes wrong in fighting, he would have a career. 'Dede' told he would get him one, and Aldo was thinking about it, he wanted to study."

Getting a college scholarship in Rio proved to be hard, but Pontes succeeded in Manaus. He called Aldo and told him the news. He could fly back to his hometown and study, find a better job. Pederneiras quickly shut that idea down.

"I got him a college scholarship," Pontes told Pederneiras under a tree, in front of Nova Uniao's gym.

"Marcinho, don't you worry," Pederneiras responded. "This kid will be rich. Give me more time. Stay calm."

Pontes always trusted his friend and idol, but an opportunity like that wouldn't wait. They gambled with Aldo's future, and decided to bet on his talent.

The best place for a lightweight fighter to compete those days was Japan, and Aldo wanted to be one of them. His dream was to fight at PRIDE Bushido. The UFC had other plans, though, as Zuffa purchased the promotion and later shut it down.

Pancrase offered him a fight right after, and the Nova Uniao fighter beat Shoji Maruyama. Aldo struggled for a few months to get another fight. Yet when he did, it changed his life.

After fulfilling his dream to compete in Japan, Aldo was matched-up against one of the most dangerous fighters of that time. Alexandre Franca Nogueira — also known as "Pequeno" — reigned in Japan for years and needed an opponent for his World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) debut in the United States. Aldo got the call.

Aldo was supposed to lose to Nogueira, but instead put on a classic beating en-route to a TKO victory at the Arco Arena in Sacramento. He quickly became one of the stars of the show, adding one knockout after another to his record and eventually earning a shot at featherweight champion Mike Brown.

"Our lives changed when he went to WEC," says Pereira, who couldn't stop crying after watching her husband win the WEC title a couple years after they got married. "We were finally able to fulfill a dream and buy our own apartment.

"Every time he fought, I said to him, 'you can't forget you're fighting for the key of our home,' and that made him hungrier to go there and win. Everything went perfect, thank God."

"Scarface" seemed unstoppable as the best featherweight on the planet, but only got recognition from fans in Brazil when WEC merged with the UFC. Money, fame, reverence — they all came with the package of being a UFC champion, but that never really changed who he is.

"Few people knew him before he went to the UFC," Pereira recalls. "In Brazil, nobody knew what MMA was, only hardcore fans knew about MMA and the UFC. We took the subway and nobody knew who he was. It has changed a lot since the first UFC event in Rio, but he continues to take the subway every day."

His subway trips and soccer games at Maracana became more complicated as he became famous, at least for his wife.

"He's handsome now, right?," she laughs. "He wasn't this handsome when he was living in Santo Amaro, but he's like a model now [laughs]."

"They go after him now," Pereira says of Aldo's female fans. "At the first UFC card in Rio, a girl tried to kiss him, started to grab him, and I was right in front of them. It was weird. It was a first, but I was able to handle it. They are fans, you know? I try to understand and ignore."

Aldo became famous, and that brought more responsibility.

He fought for his house before. Now, he fights for legacy — and the future of his family.

ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER: UFC 194

Three-year-old Joana still can't understand for sure what her father does for a living. He wants her to become an Olympic gymnast and stay away from mixed martial arts. Her mother, used to being a woman that kicks ass inside a ring, wouldn't mind watching her punch people for a living.

Aldo knows the outcome of every fight can affect the livelihood of his daughter, but that doesn't change the way he sees his career.

"That hasn't changed," Pereira says of how her husband handles his Octagon duties. "He still thinks the same way. He wants to be champion for a long time, until he retires. That's his focus. And he has other goals before he retires, too.

"Family won't change his thoughts about work. He says 'if I'm well to train and work, I'll be able to provide the best to my family'. We all want to provide good things to our families, or course, but he thinks about work first. The welfare of the family is a consequence of his job."

The only moment that life as a MMA fighter affected in his personal life was when Joana was born. Aldo definitely has talent with his hands when he had to punch someone in the face or lock in a rear-naked choke, but changing diapers?

Aldo has shown he can think on his feet, so he used his training routine and constant diets to avoid getting up in the middle of the night to take care of diaper duty.

"He didn't do any of that," Pereira laughs. "He didn't change one diaper. He just bottle fed her. But I won't let him escape from changing diapers next time we have a kid.

'The first [McGregor fight] there was a heavier environment, but not anymore.'

"But he's a great father. It was all new at first. She was so small and soft. He didn't know how to deal with her, but he learned with time. He's a great father, he's always with her. We go out together, have fun, he buys her presents all the time."

Always calm and collected, always with a smile on his face, Aldo will only change tunes when he has to talk about his most irritating foe. Conor McGregor got under his skin during the UFC 189 world tour earlier this year.

"The first time there was a heavier environment, but not anymore," Aldo admits. "We're more focused now, and I can say I'm way better prepared than the first time. We're well trained. I was already adapted from the first camp we did for him, and we also know how to deal with his trash talk. It's way easier now."

"There's a lot of talk but I try to stay away from all this," he adds. "You have no idea how motivated I am. For the love of God. I can't wait for this to happen so we can prove everything we say."

The UFC champion was forced out of the bout with a broken rib and criticized by fans. Aldo was the baddest 145-pound man on the planet, but still had to hear people say he was scared. To make things worse, Aldo was forced to watch "The Notorious" win an interim title against Chad Mendes in front of thousands of Irishmen in Las Vegas.

On Dec. 12, "Scarface" has the chance to make things right, and again be the only featherweight king.

"I've been through things that made me grow, and that's why I fight harder when I'm inside the Octagon," Aldo says, as he leaves the gym. "Like I always say, after going through all this, I'm prepared for a war."

https://www.mmafighting.com/2015/12/9/9834878/the-kid-from-the-favela