The ancient ore mines of Lavrio hold fresh promise

When the allied Greek cities found themselves facing the invading Persian Army in 480 BC, it was an existential battle between East and West. Greece, representing all the values of the West, as we know it today, used its "wooden walls" - its ships - to face the Eastern invaders.

Many historians have dealt with the "what if" question: What would the history of humanity have looked like if the outcome of the Battle of Salamis had been different. However, history is not written with "what ifs."

The priestess Aristonike, with her famous second oracle, pointed to the solution for the Athenians: According to Herodotus, she said, "The wooden wall will be a salvation for you and your children, it will remain impregnable." It took Themistocles' bright mind, however, to convince the Athenians that the "wooden wall" did not refer to the old Acropolis fortification, but their...