The Lands of Hellas
Overview
Hellas is not a unified empire, but a web of sacred city-states, wild territories, and divine remnants stitched together by tide, oath, and memory. It is a land where the gods walk lightly, but their shadows are long. Mortal civilization exists between breaths of divine silence, guided by sacred law, ancestral knowledge, and a shared reverence for the Order of Story and Stone.
Time in Hellas is not linear—it is layered. The past can bleed into the present, memory can be traded like silver, and prophecy whispers backward as often as forward.
Themes
- Divine Influence: The gods are loud, their influence endures through relics, rituals, and omens. Cities interpret their absence and or presence in different ways—some with law, others with worship, some with secrecy.
- Memory as Power: Oral tradition, ancestral names, and bound oaths are living forces. There are cults who remember what the world has forgotten, and cities that encode truth in song or stone.
- City-State Sovereignty: Each polis is a microcosm with its own laws, gods, symbols, and rhythm. Trade, rivalry, and divine influence connect them, but none reigns supreme.
- Sacred Neutrality and Broken Peace: Olympia, Elis, and a few other sanctuaries serve as centers of truce and ritual judgment—but beneath the surface, old grudges and forbidden alliances stir.
The Divine Order
In Hellas, the gods are not omnipresent—but they echo.
- The Olympians remain worshiped, but their direct influence is filtered through bureaucracy, mystery, or performance.
- Chthonic powers slumber, remembered through ritual, feared through silence.
- Titanic remnants and localized deities (like Mneme or the Tidemother) persist, revered in regional cults or outlawed orders.
- The divine is not defined by morality—but by force, domain, and reverence maintained.
Geography
Hellas is a country consisting of extremely rough mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into the Thalassan Sea and two smaller peninsulas projecting from it: Khalkidhiki and the Peloponnese which is joined by the isthmus of Korinth . Hellas also has many islands of various sizes, the largest being Krete , Euboea , Lesvos , Rhodes , Khios , Kephallonia , and Korfu ; groups of smaller islands include the Dodecanese and the Cyclades. Hellas is surrounded by water, to the East, the Aegean Sea, to the South, The Thalassan Sea, and to the West, the Ionian Sea
Major Physical Features
- Metsovo
- Mountain range located in Northern Hellas
- Includes Mt. Parnassus and Mt. Helicon
- Mount Parnassus
- Sanctuary for the Oracle of Apollo
- Mount Helicon
- Two holy springs called Aganippe and Hippocrene are located on this mountain
- Mount Helicon and the Hippocrene spring were considered to be a source of poetic inspiration.
- Mount Olympus
- The Tallest mountain in Hellas
- Separates Thessaly from Macedonia
- Believed to be the home of the gods
- Aegean Sea
- Facilitated trade and connections between the islands and the mainland
Localized Phenomena
in the Mountainous areas earth quakes are common, while the coast faces flooding and storms
Climate
The climate of Greece is mild. A Mediterranean climate prevails on the coast and islands, and a strong Continental climate prevails in all of the mountainous regions of the interior.
Seasons:
Summers are hot and dry, Summer is rainless and the almost cloudless season lasting about three months. In the eastern part of the country and especially in the archipelago, a cooling wind blows in the summer, but in big cities like Athens it can get sweltering hot. The wind can be very strong at times, which makes sailing difficult.
Winters are cold and humid.
Fall
Spring
Fauna & Flora
Natural Flora
Find more plants native to Hellas Here: https://www.theoi.com/Flora1.html
- Anemone, poppy, and windflower
- A perennial spring-flowering bulb with delicate blood-red flowers.
- Their seed is carried on the wind, hence the ancient Greek name for the flower, anemone (from anemos, the wind).
- Melia-
- A small spring-flowering deciduous tree. It secretes a sweet sap known as manna in July and August which was harvested by the ancients.
- Manna was believed to be closely related to honey (the word for both was meli in Greek). The tree was said to have been first sprung from the blood of heaven, and its manna was often described as the sky-fallen juice of the stars. The stem of the young ash was used in crafting spear-shafts.
- Asphodel
- A spring-flowering perennial with grey-green leaves and pale pink-grey-white flowers. The tubers are edible-
- This ghostly grey plant was believed to dominate the fields of the land of the dead. It was regarded as the food of the dead.
- Cedar or Juniper
- A small tree with needle like leaves which grows to a height of 10 to 15 metres. The juniper's berries ripen to an orange-red, and the male cones are yellow. The tree is prized for its wood. The famous Phoenician cedar of Lebanon, also found in Crete, is another species.
- Aconite, Monkshood,wolf's-bane
- An herbaceous perennial plant with purplish-blue flowers which grows up to a metre in height. Its leaves and roots are extremely extremely toxic and were used by the ancients as a poison. The Greek's called it akoniton (without dirt) because it grows on rocky ground, and lykoktonon (wolf-slaying) because it was traditionally applied by their arrows when hunting wolves.
Crops
- Krithe (Barley)
- An important grain-crop in the ancient word, second only to wheat.
- Apple Trees
- The apple-tree was an important orchard fruit of ancient Greece. It was associated with love and marriage.
- The earth-goddess Gaia produced first apple-tree as a wedding-present for the goddess Hera. This tree of the golden apples was guarded by the three goddess Hesperides.
- Almond Trees
- A small deciduous tree growing 4 to 9 metres tall. It flowers in pink-white blossoms in the spring and produces an autumn crop of edible nuts in a tough shell.
- Kyamos (Beans)
- One of the main garden-crops of ancient Greece.
Natural Resources
Minerals:
- Gold
- SIlver
- Iron
- Coal
- Marble
- Limestone
Crops
These core crops were added to by gardens (cabbage, onion, garlic, lentils, chick pea, beans fig, almond, apple, and pear trees) and herb gardens (sage, mint, thyme, savory, oregano
- Barley
- Wheat
- Olive trees (Olive oil)
- Grapes (wine)
Livestock
- Goats/sheep
- Chicken
- Geese
- Oxen(rare)
- Donkeys/Mules (raised as pack animals)
- Horses- raised on the plains of Thessaly and Argolis; it was a luxury animal, signifying aristocracy
Other
- Fishing
Comments