When politicians start listening to psychics and science-deniers it’s time to head for the hills.
This cautionary tale, from Τα Παντά Ρεί, highlights what can happen if somebody starts telling you something you would really like to believe.
In 1987, a Dutch clairvoyant claimed to know the whereabouts of the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes. A search of the sea bed retrieved what was believed to be a part of the statue. Some Greek politicians supported the astounding “find”, happy that proof of Greece’s wonderful past (as if more was needed!) had turned up on their watch. Sadly no one asked the archaeologists until the world’s press had already been excited by the idea that the ancient wonder had been discovered.
Embarassingly, (for some politicians at least – Melina Mercouri, arts minister at the time, comes out of this with some honour) when it was examined it turned out that the rock that had been found was just that, a rock.
You can read the Τα Παντά Ρεί article in Greek here. The Fiasco of the Greatest Archaeological Discovery in the History of Greece.
Or, if you’d rather, here is a contemporary article in English from the New York Times.
Not that we English can brag. The story of the Piltdown skull is every bit as embarassing.
(I started learning Greek so I could do this sort of thing; pick up stories about the past that might interest me. I wouldn’t have bothered to read it if I hadn’t been able to work out that the headline “Το Φιάσκο Της Μεγαλύτερης Αρχαιολογικής Ανακάλυψης Στην Ιστορία Της Ελλάδας” might have a tale behind it… )
This post was inspired by a Facebook conversation with a Greek friend and is another diversion into the alleyways of language that I find fascinating.
Today (28th October) is Όχι Day (literally “No! Day”) in Greece when they remember the defiance of prime minister Ioannis Metaxas in 1940. He is supposed to have replied with the single word “No!” when presented with an ultimatum by Axis forces threatening to enter Greek territory.
While Papadiamantis was writing in the formal, “
The book is a compact (16x12cm) softcover book of 63 pages, covering 15 of the most famous myths. Each myth gets a short (typically two or three pages) description in straight-forward modern Greek. Some will be familiar to everyone (Daedalus & Icarus, Narcissus & Echo, Orpheus & Eurydice), others less so.
I found Nixey’s portrait of the early Christian world chimed well with my own (Roman Catholic) upbringing of only fifty years ago where certain books were denounced from church pulpits as “polluting”, where piety was valued over knowledge, where the mission of the church justified any behaviour by those responsible for its ministry and where those who sought to convert other-believers to the true faith were lauded – irrespective of their impact on the cultures they disrupted. These are all themes that Nixey explores and we can still see these behaviours in some faith-based societies today.
My attention was attracted to the modern Greek word δώρο (“gift”) by 
In particular, she has brought together a post on the work of Francois Perilla who produced a number of paintings and guides to different places in Greece starting during the 1920’s & 30’s.
Like their other collaborations, the play is performed in Greek with English surtitles.
“Καλημέρα σας, Ονομάζομαι Μαργαρίτα Ιωαννίδου, και θα ήθελα να σας ενημερώσω για ένα βιβλιαράκι που εξέδωσα. Είναι το «Μόνο της Ζωής του Ταξίδι» του Γεώργιου Βιζυηνού, σε απλοποιημένη μορφή, κατάλληλη για μαθητές που μαθαίνουν ελληνικά σαν δεύτερη/ξένη γλώσσα. Είναι κυρίως κατάλληλο για μέσο επίπεδο γλωσσομάθειας (Β1 – Β2) σύμφωνα με το Ευρωπαϊκό Πλαίσιο Αναφοράς για τις γλώσσες. Σας στέλνω ένα δείγμα του. Με την διδασκαλία των ελληνικών ως δεύτερης γλώσσας, ασχολήθηκα εθελοντικά για δυο χρόνια, κάνοντας μαθήματα σε μετανάστες. 
In a series of dramatic vignettes, the play explores the way we think about ourselves and the ways that, in giving our feelings voice, we change how we feel and how those feelings and expressions affect those around us. The cast portrays the mixture of friends, lovers, family members and individuals with an energy that lets the audience share in their characters’ confusions, pathos, joy and pain.
Lord Byron
The series is well worth a watch. It raises questions about the role of drama then and now. In one section it explores the links between Euripides play “The Trojan Women” and the actions of the Athenian polis at Melos. What’s less clear, of course, is whether this had any impact on the thoughts and actions of the Demos.
There are some neat designs that could make presents for any enthusiast for Greece and the Greeks, including some bags that look ideal for carrying your Greek notes to class!
