1. Publishers and aims
The journal Astir tou Pontou (Star of the Pontus) was published in Trebizond during the end of the 19th century by Th. Grammatikopoulos and I.A. Parcharidis. Its publication can be considered as a part of the general effort to diffuse literate culture via the publication of journals and newspapers –an effort also supported by the existence of a printing house in the city- as well as of the interest for the diffusion and spreading of the ideals and ideological beliefs of the urban middle strata. Thus, the aim of the publication of the journal was by far not just recreational; instead, the editors already from the first volume make it clear that with this edition they were aiming in contributing “to a spiritual and moral development of the society and of the people of the Pontus”.1
2. The review’s material
The review’s material was from the beginning organized in a specific way, in order to secure recreation as well as education. Themes included were the following: religious and moral issues, pedagogic issues, economics, nature and mathematics, philology, archaeology/linguistics, novels and short stories, varia (curiosities, jokes etc.), news and reports on the Greek-Orthodox communities, poems and riddles. Some indicative titles are: “About superstition”, “About religious tolerance”, “Woman as a wife and a housewife”, “Woman as a mother”, “Woman as a citizen”, “About the duties of the parents towards their children”, “About the education of the girls”, “Training of infants”, “About the encyclopaedia and the methodology of the philological sciences”, “Private life of the ancient Greeks: about marriage”, “About the dresses of the ancients”, “The Greeks of Corsica”, “About the natural sciences”, “About astronomy”, “The science of 'Poor Richard' by Benjamin Franklin”, “About the myths of the Pontus”.
The subjects of the articles demonstrate that the editors were interested in issues such as the position of women in the sphere of the urban culture of the middle strata, the education of girls, the update on the advancement of the modern physical sciences, and the emphasis on Greek antiquity.
Although we can not be sure about the total duration of the publication, we know that the volumes of at least two years have been preserved: 1885 and 1886.