Melina Trireme

A trireme was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans. It was fast and agile and became the dominant warship in the Mediterranean from the 7th to the 4th centuries BC. Triremes played a vital role in the Persian Wars, the creation of the Athenian maritime empire. This particular bead is a replica of the ship that brought Odysseus around on his odyssey. Odysseus is most famous for the ten eventful years he took to return home to reassert his place as the rightful king of Ithaca after the decade-long Trojan War and his famous Trojan Horse ploy to capture the city of Troy.