Five Cents for Every Greek Word

How much really would Greece make if it charged for every greek word uttered worldwide? Billions, one would presume. Does the rest of the world owe to Greece? German historian and writer, Leonora Seeling, who considers Greece the cradle of Western culture and democracy, believes so. She is angry at the German press for attacking Greece and she's done something about it:

She has actually published a booklet suggesting that every European pay the symbolic amount of 5 cents every time he/she says a Greek word, as a minimal tribute to the country on which European culture and achievement is based.

Seeling expresses her opposition to the patronizing way the German media talk about Greece, also accusing them of turning a blind eye to the corruption of their own country (Germany) and instead criticizing Greece. She also suggests that Greece cut back on buying German weapons by 50%.

Source: omogeneia.ana-mpa.gr

Read similar news at allthegreeks.com

Ancient Macedonians Cursed in Greek

The ongoing name dispute between Greece and FYROM (which started out as such a silly claim from our tiny neighbor, that the Greek politicians completely ignored it) has left Greece scramming for supporters in the archaeological community (because, turns out that the majority of the political community has already recognized FYROM as "Macedonia," deeming the Greek stance ridiculous).

One such supporter and famous archaeologist, Dr. Steven Miller, begs to differ with the Skopian side. "[The Macedonians'] Greekness is evident, as the inscriptions of the Ancient Macedonians are written in Greek," he said in an interview published in this month's "Greek Diaspora" magazine.

Dr. Miller is famous for his discovery of the ancient stadium of Nemea in 1973, however he initially came to Greece to look for the palace of legendary King Phillip of Macedonia and it has been an issue that interests him ever since. "The Greeks considered the Macedonians Greeks, in the 7th century BC," he says. "They took part in the Nemean Games as one of the Greek tribes or city/states" and there is no doubt about that as Dr. Miller points out.

Some people are quick to point out that the Macedonians' inscriptions may be in Greek, because it was considered the language of the elite at that time. However, Dr. Miller's counter-argument is clear: "Even curses, which are a part of every-day language, are written in Greek in Macedonia. Therefore, their spoken language was Greek."

Read more at allthegreeks.com

Mythology: The Many Bastards of Zeus

Zeus was always known for being naughty in the Olympian god circle, even though he was married to Hera. Most of the time Hera knew about his love affairs and made sure that most of his bastard children were hunted down. The following is a list of the most well-known cases:

Iraklis (Hercules): His mother Alkmini was seduced by Zeus who took the form of her husband to sleep with her. Hera\'s wrath for Hercules is well-known, as she even sent two big snakes to his crib as a baby to kill him. Hercules killed them, but this wouldn\'t be the last of his achievements. As obedience to the oracle of Delphi, he had to perform 12 major labors (killing the Lernea Idra, taking the hide of the Nemean Lion etc), which made him famous.

Alexander (the Great): The famous hero\'s mother Olympia, a queen of Macedonia, claimed that Zeus himself had fathered her son.

Athena: The goddess of knowledge and war sprung out of Zeus\'s head. Zeus laid with her mother Metis, the wisest woman in the world, and fearing that Metis might give birth to a child stronger than Zeus, he swallowed her and when it was time for Athena to be born, Zeus asked for Iphaistos to crack his head open, because he had a horrible headache. Athena jumped out in full armor as she is depicted in paintings.

Apollo and Artemis: The mother of these two Olympian gods was Lyto, a titan. When it was time to give birth, Hera pursued her relentlessly so that Lyto wouldn\'t find a place to give birth to her children. The island of Dilos, hidden from the sun, provided her with refuge where the two gods were born. Artemis was born first, helping her mother give birth to her brother Apollo.

Dionisos: The demi-god of wine and fun was born out of Zeus\'s thigh. Semele his mother was seduced by Zeus, but when Hera found out, the goddess tricked her into getting struck by Zeus\'s powerful lightning bolts. After her death, Zeus rescued the baby, keeping it in his thigh until it would be ready to be born.

Ermis: One of the 12 Olympian gods, Ermis was the offspring of Zeus\'s union with a nymph named Maia.

Perseas: Hercules is actually a descendant of Perseas. Perseas\'s mother, Danae, was impregnated by Zeus when he took the form of a golden shower to reach her in a bronze cell, where her father had locked her in hope that she would never bear any children (the oracle had told Danae\'s father that his grandson would eventually kill him). When her father found out she was pregnant, he threw her and the baby Perseas into the sea in a golden chest and the baby survived, eventually killing his grandfather, accidentally many years later.

Minos, Sarpedon, Rhadamantes: Their mother Europa (it\'s where we get the name for the continent Europe) was a princess in Phoenicia who was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull, bringing her the whole way over to Crete.

Read about the rest of the "bastards" at allthegreeks.com

Source: theoi.com

Image: Zeus and Europa by Alexandru Radvan http://radvanpainting.blogspot.com/2007/04/zeus-and-europa.html

Clash... with Mythology

I watched the hollywood epic "The Clash of the Titans" recently. And I didn't like it. At all.

Going into the movie theatre to watch a Greek history-inspired film, as a Greek, can be tricky. What you expect to see is usually different from what you actually end up experiencing. Although "Troy" had some historical inaccuracies that put some people off, it was tolerable, and the film "300" actually awoke patriotic feelings within us. "The Clash of the Titans" has none of these to offer.

The Storyline

It is well-known that Hollywood usually sacrifices the accuracy of historic or mythological events in the name of a more impressive and moving storyline, however, in my opinion there is a limit to this that was surpassed in "The Clash of the Titans."

In Greek mythology there is no such battle between the gods and humans, there is no feud between Hades and Zeus, and there is no Kraken.

The story of Perseas in Greek mythology is as follows:

His mother Danae was the daughter of king Akrisios, whome the oracle warned that if his daughter were ever to give birth to a boy, that boy would kill him one day. Fearing this prediction, Akrisios locked his daughter in a bronze chamber, away from all men. However, Zeus managed to impregnate her in the form of a golden shower.

When Akrisios found out what happened, he locked both his daughter and grandson in a chest and threw them in the sea, where they were washed ashore on the island of Seriphos. Years later, king Polydektes of Seriphos commanded the young Perseas to kill the Medusa (a gorgon sister with snakes as hair that turned everyone that met her gaze into stone) and bring him her head. Perseas received winged sandals, an invisibility helmet and a magic sword from the gods to help him in his feat.

When Perseas reached the Medusa, he managed to cut her head off and when he did, two creatures sprang from the blood spilt: the Pegasus (a winged horse) and a giant called the Krysaor. Pegasus was later ridden by Bellerophonta against the Amazons, not by Perseas himself as is suggested in the film.

On his way back to Seriphos, Perseas saw Andromeda, princess of Argos, chained on a rock to be sacrificed to a sea monster as payment for a debt owed to the god Posidon. Using the head of Medusa, Perseas turned the monster into stone and took Andromeda with him to be his wife in Seriphos (not Io, a nymph that is shown in the movie to be the protector and love of Perseas).

Back in Seriphos, Perseas turns the king into stone and goes back to his grandfather\'s kingdom to claim his place. The old man flees, still fearing the prophecy, but it does him no good. A few years later he is accidentally killed by a discus thrown into a crowd of people by Perseas.

Toping it all off...

As if these inaccuracies weren\'t enough, the directors throw in a battle with giant scorpions, magical desert creatures and terrible script that reminded me a little of the TV series \"Hercules,\" where the hero has time to crack jokes in the middle of a battle and give uninspiring speeches. And don\'t let me get started on the supposed \"3D\" experience, which left you feeling dizzy after quick scenes and didn\'t make much of a difference anyway.

Source: theoi.com

Image: filmofilia.com

www.allthegreeks.com

The Immigrant Case

Greece has had a homogenous population until the last couple decades. The first wave of immigration 20 years ago brought thousands of Albanians, when communism collapsed in the neigboring country, and the last decade has seen an influx of immigrants from Africa and the East - they\'re mostly people who see Greece as the threshold to the EU and a better life. These changes have caused insecurity to some and a deep sense of xenophobia to other Greeks.

The question is, what are Greeks so afraid of? Especially when some of us have worked (and still do so) abroad and even more have at least one relative that was an immigrant to other countries.

Why immigrants intimidate Greeks:

Greeks are suckers for conspiracies. And most of these conspiracy theories involve carving away a piece of Greece by one or more of our neighboring countries. So when it comes to the following nationalities, Greeks can be very prejudiced for the following reasons:

1. Albanians teach the idea of a \"Great Albania\" in their public schools, which involves extending the country\'s borders all the way down to Preveza.
2. The tiny country of FYROM, which emerged after the break-down of Yugoslavia, has been trying to create national pride in its youth by telling them that they are descendants of Alexander the Great and by claiming Macedonia and its history as their own.
3. Turkey wants to extend its jurisdiction into the Aegean by claiming small uninhabited islands gradually, while also supposedly eyeing up Thrace with its small Muslim minority. Of course the 400 year occupation by the Ottoman Empire doesn\'t help either.

Another important factor in spreading fear and uncertainty is the media. The crime rate in Greece is generally one of the lowest in Europe (if not the lowest), therefore everytime there is a serious crime, it is reported extensively in the news. When crimes are committed by immigrants, there is more emphasis placed on the news item,creating the impression that immigrants are responsible for the rise in crime the last few years. Whether or not that is true, I don\'t know, but I wouldn\'t be surprised considering the marginalization that most immigrants experience once they enter the country.

There is widespread belief that immigrants are taking our jobs by asking for lower pay and sending all of their earnings back to their mother countries, instead of keeping them in Greece where they can be taxed. In reality, immigrants only seem to be taking the jobs that Greeks don\'t want anymore and they can send their money back \"home,\" because most of them are working illegally and getting paid under the table by their Greek employers. So, whose fault is it?

Are Greeks racists?

Aside from the far-right consevative Greek, who proudly exhibits his racist feelings, the average Greek will say that he/she is not racist. Yet, the use of the following stereotypes soars:

read the rest at www.allthegreeks.com

Oh No... Not Alkaios!

... is exactly what I said when I heard that this song was chosen to represent Greece in Eurovision this year:

First of all, let me just clarify that I cuckoo Eurovision fans who know what size shirt Saki wore to the finals last year. I don't think it's culturally important, as a competition, either, and I definitely think that the public TV station spends WAAAAYYY too much money on it.

But, I still watch it, because I find it amusing.

This year, I liked that ERT considered several artists who were (the majority) not big stars. I also liked that these artists were very different from each other. I can't say I loved the songs presented, but I did think that Alkaios' "Opa" was one of the worst.

It is a typical tsiftetelodaxtiridi Greek Eurovision song, with music that sounds like a million other songs that Alkaios has sung and with lyrics that are also super predictable and a big fat "Opa" to top everything off.

This song will not even get through the semi-finals. Not that winning is a big deal either. Despite that, I would like to see some originality in this singing competition.

As for the rest of the songs that were competing with "Opa"...

Polemao (Giorgos Karadimos) - It bored me so much I actually started nodding...

Illusion (Christos Hatzinasios) - This is the one I liked out of the bunch.

Game of Life (Second Skin) - This girl could not sing live. And what's up with "Let's play this game of life Ha ha ha" ?

H Kivotos tou Noe (Manos Pirovolakis) - Initially it's not bad, but the rapper and the girl's bad English accent bothered me. And then it gets confusing. Does it want to be a Greek song? An R&B song? A traditional Cretan song?

Kinezos (Melisses) - I thought it was kind of funky, but it's in Greek and no one will get the quirky lyrics that are supported by the music.

Touch Me Deep Inside (Emigre) - Wow, this song was just so typical of Eurovision, complete with the dancy music and retarded lyrics. Who says, "touch me deep inside"?

www.allthegreeks.com

Image: eurovision.ert.gr

Obessive Relationship: Greek Mom and Her Son

All moms love their kids. But Greek moms have a special way of spoiling them to show it, and when it comes to their sons... Forget about it! Greek women have always known that it's difficult for moms to let go of their little boys (even when they're past 30), but now there's research to back up this notion.

According to a study published today on in.gr, one in four Greek men are so attached to their mothers that they rarely realize how harmful this attachment can be to their relationships with women. In fact one in four Greek men consider their mother's opinion for every important decision they have to make, and many of them inform their mothers of every detail in their daily lives.

That doesn't sound that bad, until you actually start dating one of these men. OK, maybe not immediately after dating them, but definitely if you marry them. The mother-in-law is there to supervise you as her new daughter-in-law. She has to make sure that her son is eating well, that he's eating the food he likes the way his mommy cooks it, that the house is cleaned on a regular basis and so on.

And if it's not about the daily chores and housekeeping, they will interfere with your upbringing of your children - 24% of the women in this study found this a big problem.

Often times such "orders" are not expressed directly towards the daughter-in-law. They are subtly inserted in a harmless conversation, as the mother-in-law "hints" at the mistakes that her son's wife is making.

According to this study, 23% of couples involved, divorced because of the husband's mom. The percentage of break-ups due to the man's mother getting involved, reaches 80% for unmarried couples.

The worst part, is that most women who experience such behavior from their mother-in-laws, actually end up treating their daughter-in-laws the same way they were treated!

GREEK MAMAS: Please stop babying your boys! They cannot stay with you forever - that's what your husband is there for. Be a diplomat: treat your daughter-in-law with respect and you will have the couple's love and devotion.

GREEK MEN: Stop the kiss-and-tell with your mom! Allowing her to interfere from day one, doesn't show that you love her. It shows that you don't respect your wife and that you can't stand up to your mom. Grow up!

Image: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/wild-animals/images/3633203/title/mother-son