The olive was the trademark of Athena, goddess of wisdom, intelligence, strategic thought, and female crafts.

Athena defeated her uncle Poseidon in a contest which had been set up to establish which of them would become the protector deity of a hitherto unnamed city in Attica. Poseidon had offered the city a roaring saltwater spring, whereas Athena knelt on the Akropolis and planted a single olive tree, offering the citizens the gifts of oil, food, and light. Thereafter the city was named Athens. You can see an olive tree there today, next to the Erechtheion, the temple dedicated to the thwarted uncle and his shrewd niece.

The olive tree became a symbol of resilience. Herodotus wrote that it was assumed that when the Persians had sacked Athens and set fire to the Akropolis in 480 BCE, the sacred olive had been destroyed. Yet, the very next morning, a green shoot almost a meter long, had miraculously appeared! It became a powerful symbol of rebirth, renewal, and transformation, a reflection of the indomitable spirit of Athens and her citizens. Cuttings (moriai) from this tree, were then planted across Attica, so that every ancient Athenian olive-grove shared the DNA of the goddess’s original gift!

The olive appears on the famous Athenian owl tetradrachm coin, and is a recurrent motif in ancient Greek art, whenever Athena is depicted. Nike, the goddess of Victory, and a deity closely associated with Athena, is often depicted with an olive wreath, which she would place on the head of a victorious athlete.

The ultimate prize for champions at the ancient Olympic Games, held in honour of Zeus, was not gold, but a simple wreath woven from the wild olive (kotinos) —a tree said to have been ripped from the earth and planted at Olympia by Zeus' son, Herakles himself. The hero even fashioned his signature weapon, a mighty, unbreakable club, from raw wild olive wood.

Symbol of wealth and prosperity and guardians of prized possessions, the mythical hybrid griffin had powerful wings, the body of a lion and the beak of an eagle.

Griffins were sacred to Apollo, whose treasure they guarded. They are also associated with Dionysos, as the guardians of his ever-flowing supply of wine.

Bronze cauldrons set on tripods were among the most spectacular votive gifts dedicated in Greek sanctuaries from the eighth to the sixth centuries BCE. A cast bronze griffin head, called a protome, often formed part of the decoration of these cauldrons.

Over six hundred such bronze griffin heads are on display in museums all over the world. Many have been found at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia and at that of Hera on Samos.

The prototype for these glorious helmets is the plain, uncrested Corinthian style of the 6th century BCE. Originals of these can be seen in museums across the world. Those in the Goulandris Collection in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, and in the Museum of Ancient Olympia are the inspiration for this collection, created by Kostas Semitekolo.

The motifs on the crests are either geometric designs, such as the Greek key meandros motif, or symbolic creatures such as the griffin, the sphinx, or the serpent.

Original helmets are much thinner and lighter than these, and the largest 'life-size' copies are also smaller than the circumference of today's average male head. They are most definitely not to be worn! The crested ones are cast in two pieces, then the crest is inserted. If you look inside the helmets, you can often see the marks left by the wax during the casting process. Where mounted, they are on a solid marble base.

A note about variations in height if the helmet is on a base: As they are not mass produced, the little (fixed) pole in the smaller size helmets can vary in height up to 2cm either way. If you need a specific height, email me before you order! The larger helmets have a detachable pole which is (usually!) the same height. The marble base can also vary in dimensions, but only by millimetres.

The bronze pieces are cast in Greece using the traditional lost wax method. As nothing is mass-produced, there will inevitably be slight variations in texture, patina, and colour. No two pieces are ever the same. If mounted on a marble base, it will be a black or very dark grey base. There may be a variation of some millimetres in the dimensions of the base from time to time.

It's All Greek is so grateful and so proud to have been working closely with the Semitekolo family foundry since 1999. It has been a privilege and a joy to handle, live with, and photograph these gorgeous pieces and to pass them on to customers all over the world.