{"product_id":"the-bellstone-the-greek-sponge-divers-of-the-aegean","title":"The Bellstone: The Greek Sponge Divers of the Aegean","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor centuries the young men of the Dodecanese Islands  a string of islands in the Aegean Sea between Greece and the coast of Asia Minor  earned their living by diving for sponges. They would descend to the bottom of the sea on just a single breath of air  using as a weight and rudder a flat  marble diving stone called a bellstone. They used this ancient technique of \"naked diving\" until 1863 when the deep-sea diving suit was introduced into the sponge-fishing industry. The new diving suit (dubbed \"Satans machine\" by the divers) allowed the diver to remain under water for long periods of time  increasing his productivity a hundredfold  but it also brought a dramatic change in the physiology of diving. Rather than taking one deep breath  the diver now breathed compressed air  which caused \"the bends\" if he rose from the depths of the sea too quickly. Pressure from international companies to increase the number of sponges harvested on each dive led to mounting casualties. Between 1866 and 1895  on the island of Kalymnos alone  800 young men died of the bends and 200 more were paralyzed. Michael N. Kalafatass grandfather  born on the island of Symi  was eye-witness to these events. In 1995  Kalafatas discovered an epic poem entitled \"Winter Dream\" written by his grandfather  Metrophanes Kalafatas. The poem  composed a century earlier in Greek  recounts the plight of sponge divers confronted with this new technology. He had the poem rendered into English by award-winning poet  Olga Broumas  and using it as his bellstone  dove into his own past. While tracing the historical and cultural contours of this uniquely Greek livelihood  Kalafatas carries the reader from the Dodecanese Islands in the nineteenth century to Constantinople and the Black Sea as well as to contemporary Tarpon Springs  Florida and Melbourne  Australiathe far-flung outposts of the Greek sponge-diving diaspora. He portrays the hubris of young sponge divers defying the odds; the passion of their wives and mothers in protesting the new diving suits; the venality of international capitalists intent on maximizing their investments; and the courage of the Dodecanese people in adapting to catastrophic changes beyond their control. The story Kalafatas weaves is deeply personal  as his grandfathers poem leads the author back to Greece. But The Bellstone is more than just a personal story; it is a lamentation for and celebration of the families  history  and culture of the sponge divers of the Dodecanese.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44951973068853,"sku":"ByrdShop_1584652721","price":129.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781584652724.jpg?v=1770146522","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-bellstone-the-greek-sponge-divers-of-the-aegean","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}