by Ioannis Abatzoglou*
Manolis Andronikos discovered in 1977 at Vergina, the Golden Larnax with the 16-rayed star, an ancient Pan-Hellenic Sun Symbol which became known since then as the Vergina Sun. In his book titled «The Chronicle of Vergina», Andronikos mentions the following1: «Inside the sarcophagus there was a golden larnax. On its cover there was an imposing star relief with 16 rays and at its centre a Rodakas» . Except the 16-rayed star mentioned by Andronikos, lets also keep in mind the rodakas, which is on its centre and we will mention it again later.
In the ancient Greek world and from a very early time, the Greeks used as Sun Symbol, stars in many variations which included four and more rays (personally I have seen a star with 64 rays). This symbol was very frequent in antiquity and we find it in coins, statues, shields, vessels2, etc. It has been found even in a 2000 BC vessel2 but also in a Mycenaean era stamp, specifically in 1500 BC at Pylos3. This one in Pylos has got 16 rays. In general, the Vergina Sun, i.e. the 16-rayed star, adorned the shields of ancient Macedonians, the one side of the silver Macedonian coins, but was also used by the Diadochi in the Hellenistic kingdoms. 16-rayed and 8-rayed stars are found frequently in Macedonian and Hellenistic coins and shields.
Regarding the use of the specific Greek symbol, meaning the Sun of Vergina, Skopje’s Slavs promote for years the claim that the Greeks supposedly discovered it after 1977. The truth is the exact opposite. Skopje Slavs stole it right after the sensational archaeological discoveries of Andronikos in 1977 and after the specific «ties» between the symbol and the Macedonian royal house were revealed. However, aside from the archaeological findings and the churches in Skopje where this symbol exists because of the Greek presence during history, there is not even ONE (1) photograph depicting a Skopje’s Slav using that symbol prior to the 1980s, while in the ancient Greek world it was used BEFORE, during and after its adoption by the Macedonian royal house.
A Slav from Skopje could argue the following : «If it was a Greek symbol, why didn’t the Greeks use it before 1977?». And the answer is quite simple. There are photos4, even from 1930s depicting Greeks using the symbol. I won’t even mention churches, archaeological sites in Greece where you can easily find it. For instance, there are fotos from 1938 from the 14th Pan-Thracian games taking place in the national stadium of Drama. In two of these pics, school students from Northern Greece are depicted in two theatrical plays, one about the Greek antiquity while the other, about the Byzantine era. In these theatrical plays, the Greek students were dressed as ancient Greeks and Byzantine Greeks while having their shields adorned with the 8-rayed Star.
So we Greeks use this sun symbol throughout our history, uninterruptedly. On the contrary, the Skopje’s Slavs never had, neither in history nor in their tradition, anything to do with this symbol. It is worth noting that this symbol was neither used by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO)5, which was a Bulgarian secret separatist organization founded in 1893 and disbanded by Bulgaria’s Tsar Boris III in 1934. So while the Slavs adopted this Greek symbol recently, they want to convince public opinion that we stole it from them. Also, the real Macedonians honored their ancestors by organizing games to honor them where they dressed up as ancient Macedonians. The Skopje’s Slavs have never done this. There is not a single photo of a Slav dressed as an ancient Macedonian before the 1980s.
Now let’s come to the Rodakas located in the center of the sixteen ray star, found in Vergina. The word rodakas comes from the word rose and was widely used in Greek antiquity6. It was used as a charm and decorative element in prehistoric Minoan Crete of the 2th millennium BC, as an adornment of the queens’ diadems in the Mycenaean era, as decoration on the roofs of the sacred places to honor Aphrodite and Asclepius, in the murals of houses and as a diadem of Artemis and Aphrodite in the classical era, as well as the Roman era and in Byzantium. The existence of the rodakas in the Eleusis sanctuary where the Eleusinian mysteries were held, as well as rodakes on women’s ornaments, e.g. earrings, adorning ancient Greek women’s statues.
Now let’s see what the Skopje’s Slavs have invented about the origin of the rodakas located in the center of the Vergina Sun. As we are informed by the flags of the world website7, their first flag with the Vergina Sun was designed in 1992 and is the infamous red flag with the yellow Vergina Sun that Skopje tends to use. In the center of the Vergina Sun, this flag, has the rodakas in blue, no matter if later, as mentioned, «due to political pressure, the government of the Republic of Macedonia proposed to eliminate the blue in the center». We are informed on the same website that «according to the statute of OMO Ilinden-PIRIN (party of the “Macedonian” minority in Bulgaria), the blue object in the middle of the Vergina Sun is an edelweiss, a flower growing today on Pirin Mountain Bulgaria». Problem solved by the pseudomacedonians! The rodakas found in the Vergina Sun is a flower, namely an entelweis, which is found in Pirin, Bulgaria. After all, Pirin, which the Skopje’s Slavs claim it because they consider it an area of the great Macedonia so all is well. The golden larnaca with the Vergina Sun was found by Andronikos in Aegean Macedonia, (that’s how they falsely name our Macedonia), the rodakas contained in the Vergina sun represents a flower sprouting in Pirin, Bulgaria, they possess Vardar Macedonia (i.e. Skopje), so the next step is –according to them– to unite all the above areas (Greek Macedonia, Pirin Bulgaria, Vardar) and to emerge the so-called «Greater Macedonia». It is simple as that! With these illusions, the Skopje’s Slavs created – in their minds – their «Macedonia», which has roots in antiquity (golden larnaca in Vergina), but also on a mountain of Bulgaria (flower of entelwais in Pirin).
This is the kind of argumentation we have to argue against and it really requires from our part patience, insistence and courage not to lose our spirit and goals. To the illusions of Skopje’s Slavs we should respond with credible and scientific reasoning, but without abandoning our national rights, not even by a millimeter! The political leadership of our country must stand up and preserve our heritage and also the amazing history of Greece. This is a requirement by the Greek people, who, as they have proved, they punish politicians who fail to do their duty to the country.
P.S.1: Many scientists, intellectuals and politicians in Skopje have stressed that their people are Slavs and have nothing to do with ancient Macedonians, who were Greeks. They have also expressed themselves against the use of the Vergina Sun by Skopje, because it is not their symbol. This is a statement by the Skopje Professor of University Katerina Kolozova, Director at the Institute of Social and Humanities in Skopje, while referring to the Vergina Sun, she stated: «The sun nothing means to us, it has never been a part of our folklore, nowhere anywhere, nor of the symbolism patriotic».
P.S.2: The name given by the Skopje’s Slavs to the Vergina Sun is «Sun of Kutlesh» (in the Bulgarian language «Сонце од Кутлеш») from the settlement «Kutlesh» located near Vergina. Despite the fact that the name «Kutlesh» is Turkish, the inhabitants of this settlement even during the Turkish occupation were native Greeks. The Slavs from Skopje give a Turkish name (Kutlesh) to an ancient Greek symbol, which was found near the specific Greek settlement. It is obvious that they are trying to eliminate anything Greek that is connected with Macedonia, hoping that in this way they will disconnect it from its real history. Wishful thinking…
14th Panthracian games in the national stadium of Drama in 1938. Students of the Komotini high school dressed as ancient Greeks while performing during an ancient Drama. The 8th-rayed stars on their shields are visible.
14th Panthracian games in the national stadium of Drama in 1938. Students of the Kavala’s high school dressed as Byzantines while performing during a Theatrical play. The 8th –rayed star on the shield of an actor is still visible.
The Skopjan Professor of University Katerina Kolozova, stated: “The sun nothing means to us, it has never been a part of our folklore, nowhere anywhere, nor of the symbolism patriotic“.
2.https://history-of-macedonia.com/sun-of-vergina/
3.https://phys.org/news/2019-12-archaeologists-bronze-age-tombs-lined.html
5.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Macedonian_Revolutionary_Organization
6.http://www.rodax.gr/RODAX.htm
7.https://www.fotw.info/flags/mk!prop.html#p92
*Ioannis Abatzoglou is Radiation Physicist with PhD in Medical Physics, he is the Head of the Medical Physics Department in the University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis in Greece and he is the Chairman of the Committee of Hellenism.