MARKOS
Greetings, my friend!
Welcome to Arkadia, home of shepherds, sheep
and shi - er, manure.
MARKOS
Why, I'm Markos, of course!
One of the most successful merchants in all
of Greece.
You really haven't heard of me?
MARKOS
My name is known from Kephallonia to Kos!
If you've ever paid money for something, I
probably received a percentage.
MARKOS
But enough about me.
Let's go back to what you're doing here.
MARKOS
I recently made an offer to buy some nearby
farmland.
MARKOS
Unfortunately, the owner refused based on
completely unsubstantiated rumors that I once
burned down three farms in Kos.
MARKOS
Can you believe it?
I've never burned down a farm in my life!
MARKOS
I may have once paid someone else to do so,
but I assure you my reasons were entirely
acceptable and in the best interest of everyone
involved.
MARKOS
Arkadia was well known for its sublime natural
vistas.
MARKOS
Farmers and shepherds were seduced by its
beauty, and it's easy to see why!
MARKOS
I have to leave for now, but I'll meet you
again when you finish your visit.
Until then, my friend!
NARRATOR
Grain was a staple of the Greek diet, to the
point where Homer referred to his compatriots
as "mortal eaters of bread".
NARRATOR
Grain farming was a meticulous process.
NARRATOR
Due to dry summers, artificial irrigation
was impossible, so farmers had to rely on
rainfall to water their crops.
NARRATOR
This gave them very narrow windows for sowing
and harvesting. On a farm of this size, only half of the field
would be planted every year,
- while the other half would lie fallow to
avoid exhausting the soil.
NARRATOR
According to the poet Hesiod, the best time
to sow grain was in autumn, and the best time
to harvest it was in May.
NARRATOR
Fortunately, if farmers missed their opportunity,
they also had a chance to plant millet in
the spring.
NARRATOR
Before planting in a field, the land needed
to be plowed a total of three times:
Once in the spring to remove weeds, again
in the summer to aerate the soil, and a final
time in the winter to plant the seeds in the
moist earth.
NARRATOR
The plow was pulled by two oxen, while the
sowing of seeds was done by hand.
NARRATOR
After the seeds were planted, a boy turned
the soil with a hoe to protect them from hungry
birds.
NARRATOR
Once the sowing was finished, the farmers
waited for winter rains to irrigate the field.
NARRATOR
They also prayed to the goddess of agriculture,
Demeter, and her daughter, Persephone, in
the hopes of being favored with a bountiful
harvest come springtime.
NARRATOR
Grain was harvested in the spring using a
curved knife called a sickle.
NARRATOR
With their backs to the wind, the reapers
cut the plants' stalks and left the sheaves
behind before moving through the rest of the
crop.
NARRATOR
Once the harvest was mowed, the sheaves were
brought to the threshing floor.
NARRATOR
Animal husbandry was an important part of
Greek agriculture.
NARRATOR
Farmers usually kept cattle, donkeys, sheep,
goats, pigs, dogs, geese, and chickens.
NARRATOR
The animals mostly fed in pastures, but could
also eat some of the farm's harvested grain,
as well as damaged fruit and residue from
olive oil and wine production.
NARRATOR
Livestock had several purposes.
Their manure was used to fertilize the fields,
and their grazing helped remove weeds.
NARRATOR
Arkadia was a mountainous region believed
to be the home of the god Pan, so farmers
were more likely to keep sheep and goats than
cattle.
NARRATOR 
Most farming tools were simple handmade implements
made of wood, and occasionally tipped with
iron.
NARRATOR_M
The most complicated tool was the plow, which
was made up of several parts, including a
beam, a drawbar, and a yoke.
NARRATOR_M
A two-pronged hoe, meanwhile, was used for
tilling soil, and farmers also had tools for
digging and weeding.
NARRATOR_M
After the sheaves were harvested, workers
brought them to the threshing floor to extract
the grain.
NARRATOR_M
Oxen or donkeys were hitched to a post in
the center of the floor and guided around
it, while workers threw sheaves under their
hooves.
NARRATOR_M
The animals' stomping forced the grain kernels
out of their casings.
NARRATOR_M
Afterwards, the kernels were collected for
the winnowing process.
NARRATOR_M
Winnowing helped separate the heavier grain
seeds from the chaff.
NARRATOR_M
It began with using a wooden shovel to toss
the grain.
NARRATOR_M
While in the air, the wind blew away the lighter
chaff, leaving only the heavier grain.
NARRATOR_M
To remove the remaining chaff, the grain was
tossed in a wooden basket called a liknon,
which filtered the grain until only clean
kernels remained.
NARRATOR_M
Barley, which was used to make flour, was
different from other types of grain.
NARRATOR_M
Threshing was not enough to separate the barley
from its husk, so instead it was roasted in
a specialized tool called a phrygetron.
NARRATOR_M
After the barley was roasted, it was pounded
with a mortar and pestle.
NARRATOR_M
The pounded grain was then ground into a meal
using either a hand-mill or a hopper mill.
NARRATOR_M
Grinding was boring work, so workers often
lightened the mood with a mill song.
NARRATOR_M
Once the barley was completely ground, it
was sieved using a wicker basket called a
koskinon, making it ready for use.
NARRATOR_M
Grain storage areas needed to be dark, dry,
cool, contained, and well-ventilated to prevent
the grain from spoiling.
NARRATOR_M
According to Hesiod, the preferred method
of storing grain was in a pithos, the same
container as Pandora's mythological box.
NARRATOR_M
Archaeological evidence suggests that Greeks
may have also stored grain in small-walled
structures woven from branches.
NARRATOR_M
Farms generally needed to store enough grain
to sustain themselves for the year, and seed
corn for the next.
NARRATOR_M
Any surplus was either stored for a lean year,
or sold to markets for profit.
MARKOS 2
My friend, good to see you again!
MARKOS 2
You must feel hungry!
I know I would, spending all that time watching
farmers working themselves to the bone.
MARKOS 2
Now, what else can I do for you?
MARKOS 2
If you say so!
Let's get started.
MARKOS 2
According to Hesiodos, what was the best month
to start harvesting grain?
MARKOS 2
January was far too wet for grain harvesting!
Try another answer.
MARKOS 2
Fall was the preferred time to plant the seeds,
not to harvest the grain!
Keep trying.
MARKOS 2
Close, but a little bit too early.
Try again.
MARKOS 2
Yes!
Spring was the ideal time for harvesting.
Guess I'm not the only smart one around here!
MARKOS 2
Time for another question.
MARKOS 2
Which tool did reapers use to cut stalks?
MARKOS 2
Hoes were used to till the soil, not cut the
stalks!
Keep trying.
MARKOS 2
No, that probably would have resulted in a
lot of accidental maiming.
Ouchie.
MARKOS 2
Try another!
MARKOS 2
No, the plow was used to prepare the soil.
Try again.
MARKOS 2
Yes!
A sickle was a curved knife, making it ideal
for harvesting sheaves of grain.
MARKOS 2
Only one question left!
MARKOS 2
Arkadia was believed to be the home of which
god?
MARKOS 2
Panakea was Asklepios's daughter, and didn't
really have a connection to Arkadia.
Keep trying though, my friend!
MARKOS 2
Zeus preferred Mount Olympos over the mountains
of Arkadia.
Try a different answer.
MARKOS 2
Athena was the patron of Athens.
She didn't even live in Arkadia!
Try again.
MARKOS 2
Correct!
Pan supposedly called the mountainous region
his home.
MARKOS 2
Incredible work, my friend!
It's safe to say your mind is definitely more
wheat than chaff.
MARKOS 2
Safe travels, my friend!
We'd better be seeing each other again soon.
