When not knowing your history damages the local economy

"OOh no,  Zeus wasn't from here!" said the lady in the shop, and began to tell me the story of how young Zeus was brought up by wolves.

I was in Crete and had asked if any of the small statues were of Zeus, as he was from the island. That's when she told me the story of Romulus and Remus - the twins who founded Rome.

She attempted to tell me the life stories of the many philosophers and other mythical beings from antiquity, but I was already gone. How could I trust her knowledge when she was so glaringly wrong about the ancient king of the gods, Zeus? In her home country?

I was shocked by her ignorance. Also by the lack of anything relating to Zeus on the whole island. Obviously, history means nothing to the majority of the people. But does it matter that nobody cares about ancient myths? Is it important to anyone but historians?

Perhaps not. But at a time when the Greek economy is far from its best, the locals need to be selling their country. And despite Moussaka and Greek Salad, the mythology is their best export. Maybe my eighty Euros would not have made much of a dent in their debts, but it all counts. How many other tourists would have bought replicas of statues of Zeus had they known Crete was where he lived?

This is the point where I planned to insert my picture of the statue of Zeus that I purchased. But I don't have one, so here is a picture of the sea.