because they were such a deviation from the normal appear-
ance of the sky. Stunned by the evident power behind such
events, they could explain them only as the work of the gods.
Detailed accounts of natural disasters in Europe, outside
Rome and Greece, are rare. Archaeological evidence and the
theories of astronomers fi ll in some of the gaps in the histori-
cal record.
Th e Stone Age hunters and gatherers had to cope with
changing environments during the ice age. While these
changes lacked the suddenness that is normally associated
with natural disasters, the new conditions oft en caused peo-
ple to modify their lifestyle and occasionally to retreat into
warmer parts of southern Europe when the cold became too
intense. Aft er the ice age, the climate warmed up, but rising
sea levels in many parts of northern Europe caused coastal
settlements to become inundated. In 5900 b.c.e. a tsunami in
the North Sea was caused by a massive submarine landslide
off the coast of Norway that aff ected the entire North Atlantic
basin.
Although the evidence is the subject of controversy, some
scholars have argued that the Black Sea basin was fl ooded
around 5000 b.c.e. by a breakthrough of a geological forma-
tion at the Bosporus that allowed Mediterranean water to
fl ow through in a torrent. If this indeed happened, then this
fl ood would have rapidly displaced the farmers and hunter-
gatherers who lived around the Black Sea, forcing them to
move quickly inland to avoid being drowned.
It is diffi cult to minimize the risk associated with vol-
canoes. A major group of volcanoes, both active and inac-
tive, stretches across the Mediterranean through Anatolia
and into the Caucasus. Besides the damage caused by lava
and falling ash, volcanic eruptions can trigger landslides and
giant waves. Prehistoric volcanic eruptions in 4700 b.c.e.
prompted the sides of submerged hills in Lake Lucerne in
present-day Switzerland to slump. Th e sliding sides of the
hills displaced water and resulted in tsunami-like eff ects.
Waves almost 10 feet high struck the lakeshore opposite the
submerged hills within a minute of the slide of earth. Th e
waves had lengths greater than half a mile, which is entirely
diff erent from the situation with ordinary wind-induced sur-
face waves; they resembled mountains of water rising in the
center of the lake and undoubtedly terrifi ed witnesses. Any
structures around the lake and any watercraft on it would
have been destroyed by the waves. Sardinia apparently suf-
fered a similar event. In Sos Furrighesos, Sardinia, a wide
landslide in about 3000 b.c.e. smothered a settlement that
had lasted for about 100 years. Th e survivors rebuilt in the
same area, devising a new style of decoration for tombs that
had survived undamaged. Th e tombs severely damaged by
the landslide were abandoned.
Th e response of the Sardinians is typical of ancient
people. In preindustrial societies people recovered from a di-
saster by harmonizing their responses to nature rather than
employing technological solutions to manage and control na-
ture. Individuals and small groups, rather than governments,
took actions that were fl exible and easily abandoned if they
proved unsuccessful. Deaths and other losses from natural
disasters were perceived as inevitable. Gods, not humans,
were in charge. Th e mind-set of the ancients was dominated
by notions of supernatural punishment or vengeance. Lack-
ing scientifi c knowledge, ancient Europeans believed that the
course of a volcanic eruption could be aff ected, if at all, only
through divine appeasement.GREECE
BY JOHN THORBURN
Although the ancient Greeks did not face threats from torna-
does, hurricanes, or typhoons, a tradition of dangerous winds
does exist in their culture. Whereas the modern defi nition of
“typhoon” restricts this type of storm to the western Pacifi c
Ocean and the oceans around India, the English word is re-
lated to a Greek word, typhos, which means “whirlwind.” Ac-
cording to Greek mythology, Typhon was a hundred-headed
monster that tried to overthrow Zeus and the other gods.
Ultimately, Zeus blasted Typhon with a lightning bolt and
pinned the monster beneath Mount Etna on Sicily, where his
fi ery breath causes that volcano to erupt. Another well-known
myth connected with wind is the story of Boreas, the god of
the north wind, who abducted Oreithyia, the daughter of the
Athenian king Erechtheus, and whisked her away to Th race
and impregnated her. She gave birth to twin sons, Zetes and
Calais. Like their winged father, the twins could fl y and as-
sisted the hero Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece.
Besides stories about powerful winds, Greek mythology
also preserved tales of a major fl ood, which share similarities
with the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Flood story in
the Old Testament. According to the Greek tradition, Zeus
decided to destroy the human race because of their wicked
behavior and thus prepared to send a fl ood. Deucalion, the
son of Prometheus, and his wife Pyrrha, the daughter of Pro-
metheus’s brother Epimetheus—thanks to a warning from
Prometheus—built a boat and managed to survive the high
waters, which drove them from their home in northeastern
Greece. Aft er traveling in their boat for nine days and nights,
Deucalion and Pyrrha landed on Mount Parnassus in central
Greece.
Like Noah in the book of Genesis, Deucalion is said to
have released a dove to determine if the weather would be
favorable. Aft er landing on Parnassus, Deucalion and Pyrrha
went to the shrine of the goddess Th emis and consulted her
oracle about what they should do next. Th e oracle told them
to throw the bones of their mother behind them. Initially, the
couple thought this oracle meant they would have to dig up
the bones of their dead mothers. Eventually, though, they re-
alized that stones were the “bones” of Mother Earth. Accord-
ingly, Deucalion and Pyrrha picked up stones and threw them
over their shoulders. Th e stones Deucalion threw turned into
men, whereas those Pyrrha threw became women. In this
way, the couple repopulated the earth.780 natural disasters: Greece