#066 Greece...Thanks Panagiotis!

The 0.67 euro stamp is from Greek Islands issued in 2008 showing Kos Island.

Kos is located in the south-eastern Aegean Sea. It is the third largest island in the Dodecanese and the second most popular and touristy island after Rhodes. It was from the prehistoric times an important channel of the sea ways that started from the Black Sea and along the shoreline of Asia Minor and the islands of Aegean it reached the North Africa. Kos is the birthplace of the father of medicine, Hippocrates, which was born in the island round 460 B.C. and founded the Great School of Medicine of Kos. The island is famous for its tight vegetation and for its temperate climate and it was characterized by the Roman doctor Gallino as "the most temperate place in the world".

The 0.05 euro stamp is from Greek Mythology issued in 2009 depicting Heracles wrestling against Triton.

Heracles, meaning "glory of Hera", or "glorious through Hera" is the most famous Greco-Roman legendary hero. Traditionally, Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene (see Amphitryon), granddaughter of Perseus. Zeus swore that the next son born of the Perseid house should become ruler of Greece, but by a trick of Zeus's jealous wife, Hera, another child, the sickly Eurystheus, was born first and became king; when Heracles grew up, he had to serve him and also suffer the vengeful persecution of Hera. His first exploit, in fact, was the strangling of two serpents that she had sent to kill him in his cradle.

Extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females were among his characteristic attributes. Although he was not as clever as the likes of Odysseus or Nestor, Heracles used his wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice, such as when laboring for the king Augeas of Elis, wrestling the giant Antaeus, or tricking Atlas into taking the sky back onto his shoulders. Together with Hermes he was the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae. His iconographic attributes are the lion skin and the club. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal with children. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have "made the world safe for mankind" and to be its benefactor.Heracles was an extremely passionate and emotional individual, capable of doing both great deeds for his friends (such as wrestling with Thanatos on behalf of Prince Admetus, who had regaled Heracles with his hospitality, or restoring his friend Tyndareus to the throne of Sparta after he was overthrown) and being a terrible enemy who would wreak horrible vengeance on those who crossed him, as Augeas, Neleus and Laomedon all found out to their cost.

Triton is a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the sea. He is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, whose herald he is. He is usually represented as a merman, having the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish.

Like his father, Poseidon, he carried a trident. However, Triton's special attribute was a twisted conch shell, on which he blew like a trumpet to calm or raise the waves. Its sound was so terrible, that when loudly blown, it put the giants to flight, who imagined it to be the roar of a mighty wild beast.