More Olympian Revenge

The elaborate stories in Greek mythology guarantee that the gods of Olympus were never bored. They were either constantly falling in love, protecting or punishing someone. The following are people that managed to anger the gods and their chosen punishments:

Ixion: A king of the Lapiths in Thessaly, he pushed his father-in-law into a bed of coal and wood making it the first murder of kin in mythology. Ixion was shunned by the other kings and princes in the area, but Zeus took pity on him and invited him to sit with the rest of the gods in Olympus as a guest. Ixion, however, did not respect Zeus's hospitality as he lusted after Hera. Zeus decided to trick him and presented him with a cloud (nephele) of Hera, with which Ixion mated. This union with the cloud-Hera produced the Centaur who later ruled the mountain of Pelion in Magnesia. As punishment for his betrayal, Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and tied him to a spinning burning wheel for all eternity.

Sisyphos: Sisyphos was the king of Corinth who managed to trick both men and gods alike with his craftiness. He betrayed Zeus's secrets, took his brother's throne, and when he was chained by Thanatos (death) as punishment for his betrayal, he even managed to trick Thanatos into releasing him and tying up death. After this he was dragged to Tartarus again, where he once again tricked Persephone into allowing him to visit the world of the living. Finally, the gods reserved special punishment for Sisyphos in Hades: He was forced to push a large rock up a hill and right before he reached the top, the rock would roll back down forcing him to start his ordeal again.

Read the rest of the article at www.allthegreeks.com and more revenge stories here.

Image and Source: www.theoi.com

It's a Fact: Greece Is Leaking ...Brains

For decades now Greece has been the country that sends away its children ("η Ελλάδα που διώχνει τα παιδιά της" as generations have said before us). Back in the old days it was poverty. They literally had little to eat so they would emigrate to other countries, make a living for themselves and send money to their families back home. Today it's for other reasons.

In the midst of an international and national crisis, at a time when it's most in need of development, Greece is losing its best... literally leaking brains.

It's frustrating.

Lena, a friend, has gotten two masters in England and shortly after graduating, family issues and bad weather conditions in London brought her back to Greece to try and find a job, build a life. After months of searching for a job in her field of study, she finally finds a job that lower than her expectations just to have one. Her masters degrees were more scorned than appreciated, as employers did not want to (or could not afford to) pay extra for her extra years in school (masters). Eventually she left for London again.

It's not so much the low pay that bothers job-hunters, even though that is a particularly big issue when you spend years in university. It's the lack of appreciation for skill and the almost complete lack of prospect in the majority of Greek businesses. There is no room to grow, and this is a major problem, especially for those who have received degrees from abroad where the mindset is generally different (and not everyone wants to get a job in the "secure" public sector).

Read the results of a Greek study on "brain drain" and similar articles at www.allthegreeks.com.

Source: http://alfavita.gr/artra/art27_5_10_848.php

Image: http://matadorabroad.com/2010/03/

Blue-Flag Beaches 2010

Four hundred and twenty one beaches and 9 marinas were awarded the blue flag this year in Greece. The "Blue Flags" program is an international effort made by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) based in Denmark, which awards blue flags to beaches that meet certain criteria of cleanliness and safety. In Greece the coordinator of the program is the Greek Organization for the Protection of Nature (Ελληνική Εταιρεία Προστασίας της Φύσης) and a list of the beaches awarded for 2010 is provided below. Greece comes in 2nd place this year in the number of beaches that were awarded. The beaches or marinas that want to receive a blue flag must be tested every year. This is how it works:

First of all, the EEPF does not go around the entire country testing the water of all the beaches. So it is left in the hands of the mayors around the country to apply for a blue flag every year. Once the mayor applies, the EEPF and its team run the necessary tests in order to determine whether the beach in question is suitable enough for a blue flag.

Therefore, if you're curious as to why some of the most amazing beaches you know don't have blue flags, know that it's probably because no mayor applied for a blue flag for this beach. So, of course there are lots of beaches around the country that are breathtaking (a big example is Porto Katsiki and Kathisma in Lefkada), but no one bothered to apply so they can receive a blue flag.

In any case, for those beaches that do apply for a blue flag, there are four different areas on which they are tested:

See the criteria and the full list of Greek beaches at allthegreeks.com.

Source: http://www.eepf.gr/

Image: http://www.goldensands.gr/goldensun/grk/beach.php

Be Inspired: Innovative Diaspora Greeks

Innovation is definitely not a foreign term in Greece. Contemporary Greeks have a history of innovation to be proud of in the fields of engineering, mathematics, astronomy and so on. Likewise, the Greek spirit of innovation lives on in today's Greeks, whether they live in their country of origin or have chosen to excel away from it. The following is a small list of innovators of the diaspora:

The Blackberry Creator: Mike Lazaridis - Born in Constantinople in 1961, Lazaridis and his family were immigrants to Canada. Two friends/partners, a 15,000 dollar loan from his parents and the general support of General Motors led to the creation of RIM, the company that created the famous Blackberry phone and many other patented innovations. In 1999 he founded the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada, which studies black holes, quantum physics, the theory of relativity and similar scientific subjects. Among its esteemed staff is also the famous physicist Stephen Hawking.

One Laptop per Child: Nicholas Negreponte - Born in 1943, Nicholas Negreponte is a Greek-American who was raised in New York. He conceived and is cofounder of the MIT Media Laboratory as well as chairman of the One Laptop per Child non-profit association, which aims to bring 100$ self-powered laptops to children of poor countries. He has also funded many startups for companies such as the magazine "Wired."

BusinessWeek's Best in 2007: Thomas Milonas: Born and raised in Greece, Thomas Milonas studied industrial design in Italy, because he failed to make it into the university of his choice in Greece. Having worked for Fila as a footwear designer, Thomas decided to start his own company in the Netherlands with only 4,000 euros to spare. As a result the company "Dot Kite" was born that led to clients such as Best Western, Velvet Airlines, Puma, Fila. He didn't stop there, however, as he also founded the company "Loggia Import" that imports italian and greek wine and olive oil as well as the "Crux Group," which invests in innovative ideas. He was voted as one of the most successful young businessmen in Europe for 2007 by Business Week magazine.

READ MORE AT allthegreeks.com

Image: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/08/0804_cheap/7.htm

Sources:

omogeneia.ana-mpa.gr

media.mit.edu

telegraph.co.uk

umain.edu

The Antikythera Mechanism

In 1902, a diver exploring a shipwreck off the coast of Antikythera finds fragments of the earliest complex computing instrument ever discovered. This 30-dial instrument was dubbed the "Antikythera Mechanism." Although scientists have mostly deciphered its codes and have been awed by its creator's knowledge of astronomy and engineering, they still haven't understood its use and the reason for its creation. The sophistication of this instrument was so advanced that antiquity did not see anything quite as complex until 1,300 years later.

READ THE REST AT allthegreeks.com

Image: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/11/29/science/29cnd-compu.ready.html

Sources: http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/el/project/overview

http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7204/full/nature07130.html

Ancient Egnatia Odos Revived

Traveling through northern Greece these past couple weeks you may have encountered a caravan of people and mules somewhere along the way. That would be the members of the "Via Egnatia Foundation," which is based in the Netherlands, actually hiking along the ancient route of Egnatia from Florina to Thessaloniki.

The NGO, whose members consider the Via Egnatia part of the world cultural heritage, are interested in reviving the road as a hiking trail, contributing to scientific and cultural research concerning its history, the people that used it and the people that live around it today. Volunteers from all over Europe and the Balkans started in Dyrrachium in Albania, they crossed through FYROM, which led them through Greece and their trip will be completed in Constantinople in July.

In an interview with Ms. Gioultsi of APE-MPE, the director of this endeavour, Mrs. Marieta Van Atikum, explains (in Greek) that the NGO was formed by a group of phil-hellenes with Greek studies. She explains that the reason they travel by caravan with mules, is because this was the considered a safe way to travel back in the days of the Roman Empire.

History

The Roman Officer Egnatius was in charge of constructing a road that would facilitate commerce and transportation of war material during the era of the Roman Empire. It was constructed between 146 - 120 BC over an ancient pre-Roman road that connected the Adriatic countries and the Aegean.

The via Egnatia was a road of European standards, as it was paved, complete with road signs (with information signs on the distance between major cities), stops for rest and to change horses. It also boasted similarly constructed entrances to cities. The length of the via Egnatia was measured in roman miles (100 paces) and there were signs at every mile indicating the distance covered up until that point.

The via Egnatia initially served as a military road, but soon it was used as an exchange between peoples and cultures, and it also served as a mean to transfer art around the Balkans, with Thessaloniki as the center.

*In February of 2010, the "Via Egnatia Foundation" is cooperating the the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki in presenting the conference "Myths About Others."

Sources: omogeneia.ana-mpa.gr

http://www.viaegnatiafoundation.eu/

http://www.egnatia.gr/page/default.asp?la=1&id=23

Image: http://www.danek.gr/?page_id=272

The Contradictory Life Actions of a Greek

There's an eerie silence everywhere I go, ever since the announcement of the new government measures on Sunday. It feels like a blanket of pessimism has fallen over everyone and you see people walking down the street or working with their heads hung low.

People are quick to blame outside influences, the markets, the government, politicians of the last 30 years, and basically everyone else but themselves for the current crisis the country is in.

However, it's the Greeks that started and allowed this situation to reach the stage it's at right now.

The Greek mentality has a unique way of molding people into big drama queens that are secretively smart-asses. How? Here are some of my real-life examples:

- The employer that constantly complains to his employees that he has no money, customers aren't paying, he dreads the end of the month because he doesn't know if he'll be able to pay the bills... is the same guy that drives around a BMW 4x4, lives in a luxurious house and goes on vacation in secrecy lest his 500-euro/month employees find out and get jealous.

- The pensioner that curses at today's politicians, calling them impotent with his friends over screaming matches at the kafeneio... is the same man that once (and often times, more than once) voted for a local politician and/or did favors for him in hopes that this politician would repay him with a job for his son or daughter. In the public sector, of course.

- The woman expressing her frustration over the financial crisis on TV, complete with a look of anguish and phrases she hears uttered on TV ("Things just keep getting harder," "How am I going to feed my kids")... is the same woman that... read the rest at allthegreeks.com