“The basis of a democratic state is liberty” - Aristotle
Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel. There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
The prominent equestrian statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis, a key leader in the Greek War of Independence of 1821, is located in Athens, Greece. The statue is situated in front of the Old Parliament House (Constitution Square), a location that underscores its historical significance. The statue was sculpted by Lazaros Sochos.
The statue commemorates Theodoros Kolokotronis, a prominent leader in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. The statue was crafted in 1895 and installed with great ceremony on April 23, 1901. The costs for the erection of the statue and the celebration following its unveiling were raised through a pan-Hellenic fundraising campaign, which started in 1877. There are many other statues of Kolokotronis in Greece, including one in his birthplace Ramovouni, Messenia.
The celebration of the Greek Revolution of 1821 (Greek: Εορτασμός της Ελληνικής Επανάστασης του 1821, Eortasmós tis Ellinikís Epanástasis tou 1821), less commonly known as Independence Day, takes place in Greece, Cyprus and Greek diaspora centres on 25 March every year, coinciding with the Feast of the Annunciation. The day is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus.
Usually, celebrations include parades and other celebratory events on the same day or its eve. The largest event is the military parade in Athens on 25 March, while on the previous day, celebrations take place throughout the schools of the country. In other municipalities parades of military divisions, students, clubs, etc. are held, as well as church services.
More broadly, the holiday acknowledges the successful Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) was fought to liberate and decolonize Greece from four centuries of Ottoman occupation. After nine years of war, Greece was finally recognised as an independent state under the London Protocol of February 1830. Further negotiations in 1832 led to the London Conference of 1832 and the Treaty of Constantinople (1832); these defined the final borders of the new state and recognised the king, King Otto of Greece. The holiday was established in 1838 with a Royal Decree by King Otto's government.
“Justice will not come to Athens until those who are not injured are as indignant as those who are injured.” - Thucydides
Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
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Pláka (Greek: Πλάκα) is the old historical neighbourhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Pláka is built on top of the residential areas of the ancient town of Athens. It is known as the "Neighbourhood of the Gods" due to its proximity to the Acropolis and its many archaeological sites.
Pláka is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists around the year, and is under strict zoning and conservation regulations, as the only neighbourhood in Athens where all utilities (water, power, cable television, telephone, internet, and sewage) lie underground in fully accessible, custom-made tunnelling. Excavations have proven that Adrianou Street is the oldest street in Athens still in continuous use with exactly the same layout since antiquity.
The Anafiotika is a part of Plaka which reminds one of an Aegean island village at the foot of the Acropolis. The area owes its existence to the wishes of Otto the first king of Greece. Upon coming to Greece from Bavaria, Otto decided to build himself a palace. Wanting this palace to be solidly built, he enquired as to who were the best builders in the country. He was no sooner informed that the people of Anafi, a small island in the Cyclades, were famous for their building skills, than he invited the best of them to the capital, to start work on the Palace.
The builders had to have a place to live while works lasted. Knowing that it would be years before they set eyes on their beloved Anafi, and being quite homesick for it, they decided to recreate it, at the foot of the Acropolis. So, they built small white houses in the exact style they used in their home village. And there those little houses remain. Anafiotika, meaning the Anafians’ neighbourhood, is a unique and very charming neighbourhood at the highest point of the Plaka district.
“In cities like Athens, poor houses lined narrow and tortuous streets in spite of luxurious public buildings.” - Stephen Gardiner
The Zappeion (Greek: Ζάππειον Μέγαρο, Záppeion Mégaro) is a building in the National Gardens of Athens in the heart of Athens, Greece. It is generally used for meetings, conferences and ceremonies, both official and private.
In 1869, the Greek Parliament allocated 80,000 square metres of public land between the Palace Gardens and the ancient Temple of Olympian Zeus, and also passed a law on 30 November 1869, “for the building works of the Olympic Games”, as the Zappeion was the first building to be erected specifically for the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern world.
The ancient Panathenian stadium was also refurbished as part of the works for the Olympic Games. Following some delay, on 20 January 1874, the cornerstone of the building was laid; this new building would be designed by Danish architect Theophil Hansen. Finally, on 20 October 1888, the Zappeion opened. Unfortunately for its benefactor, Evangelis Zappas, he did not live long enough to see the Zappeion built, and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas was nominated by Evangelos Zappas to complete the building. The Austrian Parliament Building was also designed by Hansen and followed the same theme in the exterior.
The Zappeion was used during the 1896 Summer Olympics as the main fencing hall. A decade later, at the 1906 Intercalated Games, it was used as the Olympic Village. It served as the first host for the organising committee (ATHOC) for the 2004 Games from 1998 to 1999 and served as the press centre during the 2004 games.
In 1938, the Athens Radio Station, the country's first national broadcaster, began operating in the premises. The building continued to house the National Radio Foundation until the inauguration of the House of Radio in 1970. A number of historical events have taken place at the Zappeion, including the signing of the documents formalising Greece’s accession to the European Community in May, 1979, which took place in the building’s marble-clad, peristyle main atrium. The head of Evangelos Zappas is buried underneath his statue which is located just outside the Zappeion.
“Justice will not come to Athens until those who are not injured are as indignant as those who are injured.” - Thucydides
Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.
Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for at least 5000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western civilisation.
During the early Middle Ages, the city experienced a decline, then recovered under the later Byzantine Empire and was relatively prosperous during the period of the Crusades (12th and 13th centuries), benefiting from Italian trade. Following a period of sharp decline under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Athens re-emerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent and self-governing Greek state.
Athens is rich in ancient sites and buildings, including the areopagus, the acropolis, the agora, various amphitheatres and various athenaea (temples of Athena, like the Parthenon), as well as numerous other architectural remains, and monuments, statuary and objects of everyday life. The Acropolis Museum, the National Archaeological Museum and numerous other museums and galleries also have objects and remains of the ancient city.
“A great city,
whose image dwells in the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome
represents conquest; Faith hovers over the towers of Jerusalem; and Athens
embodies the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art.” - BenjaminDisraeli
Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.
Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
Athens (Modern Greek:
Αθήνα, Athína; Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athēnai) is the capital and largest city
of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world’s oldest
cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years, and the earliest
human presence around the 11th–7th millennium BC. Classical Athens was a
powerful city-state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development
of the port of Piraeus. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of
Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle
of Western civilisation and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the
impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th
centuries BC on the rest of the then known European continent.
Today a
cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Athens is central to economic, financial,
industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2012, Athens was ranked
the world’s 39th richest city by purchasing power and the 77th most expensive
in a UBS study. Athens is recognised as a global city because of its
geo-strategic location and its importance in finance, commerce, media,
entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is
one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a large
financial sector, and features the largest passenger port in Europe, and the
third largest in the world. According to Eurostat in 2004, the Athens Larger
Urban Zone (LUZ) was the 7th most populous LUZ in the European Union (the 5th
most populous capital city of the EU), with a population of 4,013,368. Athens
is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland.
The heritage of
the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient
monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon,
considered a key landmark of early Western civilisation. The city also retains
Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of Ottoman
monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of
Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery. Landmarks of the modern era, dating
back to the establishment of Athens as the capital of the independent Greek
state in 1834, include the Hellenic Parliament (19th century) and the Athens Trilogy,
consisting of the National Library of Greece, the Athens University and the
Academy of Athens (seen above).
Athens was the
host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it
welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. Athens is home to the National
Archaeological Museum, featuring the world’s largest collection of ancient
Greek antiquities, as well as the new Acropolis Museum. This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme, and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.
“And finally
Winter, with its bitin’, whinin’ wind, and all the land will be mantled with
snow.” - Roy Bean
Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel!
There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us!
Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
The climate in
Greece is predominantly Mediterranean. However, due to the country’s unique
geography, Greece has a remarkable range of micro-climates and local
variations. To the west of the Pindus mountain range, the climate is generally
wetter and has some maritime features. The east of the Pindus mountain range is
generally drier and windier in summer. The highest peak is Mount Olympus, 2,918
metres. The north areas of Greece have a transitional climate between the
continental and the Mediterranean climate. There are mountainous areas that
have an alpine climate. Overall, people have in mind Greece as a country with
mild climate, lovely hot summers with little rain and generally warm winters
free from extremes of temperature and certainly no snow. This is usually the
case, especially in the islands…
This Winter, however, has been different. Meteorologists last Wednesday
warned that a high-pressure system from Siberia is to sweep into Greece on
Thursday, bringing freezing temperatures and snow to many parts of the country,
including the capital. And so it was, with the extreme weather system named
“Ariadne” sweeping into Greece and blanketing the whole country in snow, in
some areas as deep as two metres and sending the temperatures plummeting to
minus 20˚C in some areas. In Athens, the temperature failed to rise above 0˚C
and several of the islands were covered in snow, right up to the beach. Some of
the Greek islands are home to thousands of migrants and many are being moved to
temporary housing and heated tents.
Icy temperatures
right across Europe have left more than 20 people dead causing much havoc with
disruption to electricity supplies, freezing water mains and closing roads.
Italy saw ferries and flights cancelled and schools in the south closed on
Monday. Turkey has also been badly affected. The Bosphorus was closed to
shipping as a heavy snowstorm hit Istanbul. At least 10 people died of cold in
Poland. Night temperatures in Russia plunged to minus 30˚C. Normally milder
Greece has witnessed temperatures of minus 15C in the north where an Afghan
migrant died of cold last week and roads were closed.
Here is a photo
of the unusual situation where the Acropolis of Athens is covered with snow…
Unusual, but not rare. I remember when we used to live in Athens, it did snow
in Winter for a day or two, usually mid- to late January. The snow never lasted
long and the cold was not as bitter as presently. But snow we did see! If you
like the cold and snow, now is the time to go see Greece dressed in white!
Add your own travel posts using the Linky tool below, and don't forget to be nice and leave a comment here, and link back to this page from your own post:
“The world
is a book, and those who do not travel read only one of its pages.” - SaintAugustine Welcome to
the Travel
Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography,
painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter
about Travel! There is only one
simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it
with the rest us! Please use this meme for your
creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your
products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed
immediately. Please link your entry using the Linky tool below:
I’m starting off with one my photos
from Athens, taken during one my trips there. Athens (Modern Greek: Αθήνα,
Athína; Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athēnai) is the capital and largest city of
Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world’s oldest
cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years, and the earliest
human presence around the 11th–7th millennium BC. Classical Athens was a
powerful city-state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development
of the port of Piraeus. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of
Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle
of Western civilisation and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the
impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th
centuries BC on the rest of the then known European continent. Today a cosmopolitan metropolis,
modern Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and
cultural life in Greece. In 2012, Athens was ranked the world’s 39th richest
city by purchasing power and the 77th most expensive in a UBS study. Athens is
recognised as a global city because of its geo-strategic location and its
importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international
trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic
centres in southeastern Europe, with a large financial sector, and features the
largest passenger port in Europe, and the third largest in the world. According
to Eurostat in 2004, the Athens Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) was the 7th most
populous LUZ in the European Union (the 5th most populous capital city of the
EU), with a population of about 4,500,000. Athens is also the southernmost capital on
the European mainland. The heritage of the classical era is
still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments and works of art,
the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a key landmark of early
Western civilisation. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as
well as a smaller number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO
World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni
Monastery. Landmarks of the modern era, dating back to the establishment of
Athens as the capital of the independent Greek state in 1834, include the
Hellenic Parliament (19th century) and the Athens Trilogy, consisting of the
National Library of Greece, the Athens University and the Academy of Athens.
Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108
years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. Athens is home to the
National Archaeological Museum, featuring the world’s largest collection of
ancient Greek antiquities, as well as the new Acropolis Museum. The photo is of the main building of
the Academy of Athens, which is a neoclassical building between Panepistimiou
Street and Akadimias Street in the centre of Athens. The building was designed as
part of an architectural trilogy in 1859 by the Danish architect Theophil
Hansen, along with the University and the National Library. Funds had been
provided by the magnate Simon Sinas specifically for the purpose, and the
foundation stone was laid on 2 August 1859. Construction proceeded rapidly,
after 1861 under the supervision of Ernst Ziller, but the internal tumults
during the latter years of King Otto’s reign, which resulted in his ousting in
1862, hampered construction until it was stopped in 1864. Works resumed in
1868, but the building was not completed until 1885, at a total cost of
2,843,319 gold drachmas, most of it provided by Sinas, and, after his death, by
his wife Ifigeneia.
“Ethics and
equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.” - D. H.Lawrence
The pre-Roman
ancient Greek calendar comprised 12 lunar months, lasting for 29 and 30 days
alternately. The Greeks were aware of
the discrepancy between the lunar year and the solar year and made allowances
for this through leap years, correcting the inconsistency. The megas eniautos, or “great year” was
a cycle lasting eight years of twelve months each into which were fitted an
additional three months of 30 days to bring the lunar and solar years back into
concord. This practice of calculating
time spread from the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi to all parts of Greece. The Greeks regarded the sun-god Apollo as the
timekeeper of the gods, this being the reason why many months’ names honoured
the festivals of Apollo or of his twin sister, the moon-goddess Artemis.
The Greek lunar
year began in summer, with Hecatombaeón, the month in which the
great festival of Athens, the Panathenaea, was celebrated.Other Greek city-states celebrated the main
protector deity of their city in the first month of their year.The names of the months varied accordingly in
each city-state, as they commemorated festivals of particular local
importance.There are approximately 300
recorded names of pre-Roman ancient Greek months.Ionians, Aeolians and Dorians had many names
of months in common and this has been of importance in dating certain
pan-Hellenic events in antiquity. The best record of the ancient Greek calendar
and its festivals is that of the Athens and Attica.
The Olympic
Games and the Great Panathenaea, both of which had pan-Hellenic significance,
occurred every four years, which was half the great year.The importance of the Olympics led to certain
events being remembered in the context of the “so-and-so Olympiad”, which also
had the advantage of being of pan-Hellenic time-keeping relevance and was
therefore independent of regional calendrical differences.The ancient Greek months of the Attic year
are given in the table below, where they are correlated with the months of the
Gregorian year.
When the Romans
conquered Greece they imposed the Julian calendar on the Greeks.The Greek calendar was still used, however,
to calculate the occurrence of local religious festivals.The Julian Calendar completely ousted the
Greek calendar in Hellenistic times.In
Byzantine times the ancient Greek calendar was entirely forgotten and the
Julian calendar became entrenched because of the continuing ties with Rome and
the Christian tradition. The photo above
is “Apollo served by the Nymphs” by François
Girardon (March 17, 1628 – September 1, 1715).
“Democracy is
when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” - Aristotle Eurozone finance
ministers agreed in principle on Friday to extend Greece’s financial rescue by
four months, averting a potential cash crunch in March that could have forced
the country out of the currency area. The deal, to be ratified once Greece’s
creditors are satisfied with a list of reforms it will submit next week, ends
weeks of uncertainty since the election of a leftist-led government in Athens
which pledged to reverse austerity. European Union
paymaster Germany (and Greece’s biggest creditor), had demanded significant
improvements in reform commitments by Athens before it would accept an
extension of eurozone funding. The two main combatants around the table put a
radically different gloss on the result. “Being in government is a date with
reality, and reality is often not as nice as a dream”, German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters, stressing Athens would get no aid payments
until its bailout program was properly completed. On the other
hand, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the talks had shown
elections could bring change to Europe. He insisted he had averted recessionary
measures and said the government still hoped to raise the minimum wage and rehire
some public sector workers. “Nobody is going to ask us to impose upon our
economy and society measures that we don’t agree with”, Varoufakis said. Given these
current affairs, my choice of music for Music Saturday may seem a little
ironic… German composer Beethoven writing music about Greece, and more
specifically about Athens, in ruins after the Turkish occupation of 400 years. The Ruins of Athens
(Die Ruinen von Athen), Opus 113, is a set of incidental music pieces written
in 1811 by Ludwig van Beethoven. The music was written to accompany the play of
the same name by August von Kotzebue, for the dedication of a new theatre at
Pest. A second overture was written in 1822 for the same play. It was composed
especially for the reopening of Vienna’s Theatre in the Josefstadt in 1822. The
second overture is now known as “The Consecration of the House”. Perhaps the
best-known music from The Ruins of Athens is the “Turkish March”, a theme that
even many who are not avid classical music listeners are familiar with. The
overture and the Turkish March are often performed separately, and the other
pieces of this set are not often heard. Another of Beethoven’s compositions, “Six
variations on an original theme”, Op. 76, uses the Turkish March as its theme.
The music for “The Ruins of Athens” was reworked in 1924 by Richard Strauss and
Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Here are the Berliner
Konzertchor and Berliner Symphoniker conducted by Hans Hubert Schönzeler,
playing “the Ruins of Athens”. Movements:
1. Overture, Op. 113, (Andante con moto, G
minor - Allegro, ma non troppo, G major)
2. Chorus: Tochter des mächtigen Zeus
(Andante poco sostenuto, E-flat major)
3. Duet (a Greek and a Greek girl): Ohne
Verschulden Knechtschaft dulden (Andante con moto - Poco piu mosso, G minor)
4. Dervish Chorus: Du hast in deines
Ärmels Falten (Allegro, ma non troppo - G major)
5. Turkish March (Vivace - B-flat major)
6. Music from the back of the stage
(Allegro assai ma non troppo - C major)
7. March with chorus, Op. 114: Schmückt
die Altare (Assai moderato - E-flat major)
8. Recital: Mit reger Freude
9. Chorus: Wir tragen empfängliche Herzen
im Busen (Allegretto ma non troppo - G major)
10. Aria and Chorus: Will unser Genius noch
einen Wunsch gewähren? (Adagio - C major) Er ist’s! Wir sind erhört! (Allegro
con brio - C major)
11. Chorus: Heil unserm König! (Allegro con
fuoco - A major).
A translation of
the first two vocal pieces below gives you an idea of the tenor of the work:
Daughter of Mighty Zeus! Awake!
Her name resounds!
The years of wrath are past!
We are reconciled!
To suffer slavery, though guiltless, is misery!
Every day new sorrow to get our scrap of bread!
On its branch shines the fig tree’s sweet fruit,
Not for the slave that tended it but for the cursed
master!
Greece is at a crucial crossroads. The choices that are made and the policies that are enforced will have a decisive impact on the wellbeing of Greeks. The way forward will not be easy but the problems can be solved, and will be solved, if there is unity, co-operation and consensus. - Lucas Papademos
The dire news from Greece over the last couple of days has caused great consternation amongst the community here. We watched the footage from Athens and felt deeply saddened and dismayed. Greek parliament met to approve a new round of draconian austerity measures despite a long day of street battles between police and protesters. An altercation that left tens of Athens buildings ablaze and the streets in the historic centre of the City in chaos. Despite the 100,000-strong turnout in Athens and Thessaloniki the Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos denounced the violence in the debate leading up to the vote, saying the street battles around the parliament building had no place in a democracy. The result was approval of another round of stringent budget cuts requested by Greece’s international creditors in return for a further $160 billion bailout.
In the meantime, the damage was being done. Although the majority of protesters were peaceful and wanted nothing more than to express their consternation at the impossibility of having to cope with even more reductions in salaries, increases in taxes, deterioration of working conditions and an ever-increasing insecurity of jobs, a small but highly organised element of anarchists were hell-bent on destruction and immolation. These are the “known unknowns” or “hooded ones” who infiltrate the milieu of peaceful demonstrations in order to push their own agenda: Destabilisation of the establishment, destruction of private and public property, looting, demolition of the status quo, ruination of the state, anarchy. To what end? Chaos, disorder, nihilism, the law of the jungle, the downfall of civilised society.
What a terrible thing to befall the Greek people and Athens. We watch it all on TV in disbelief and cannot understand what motivates these small groups of hooligans that burn, destroy, loot and destabilise. It’s all so sad and it is so disappointing. The birthplace of Western civilisation now looks as though it is becoming its deathbed… It is all the more poignant for us of Greek origin who live in faraway lands. We may have created new lives here and our primary loyalty may now be to other states, however, our heart still beats tenderly for the land of our fathers. How very disconsolate we feel, watching it all and not being able to do anything about it.
We hope that somewhere amidst these burning destructive fires there is also another unquenchable flame, that of the Greek spirit that refuses to be extinguished. The spark of the that spirit that gave the world concepts and words with which to think about them: Philosophy, technology, politics, democracy, architecture, drama, comedy, theatre, philology, logic, mathematics, mythology, geometry, ethics, dialectics… And the list goes on and on. I sincerely hope that soon we shall see some resolution one way or another. Greece is a country with endless miseries in its history, yet it always manages to resurrect itself. There is a joy, imagination, creativity and ingenuity in the Greek soul and Greece still has much to give the world.
It is disheartening to see the ruins of Athens, the burned shells of neoclassic buildings, the clashes in the streets where Greek fights with Greek. It is deplorable to watch civilisation being consumed by flames, to witness anarchy looting and destroying that which exemplifies the classic beauty of the blossoming of fine minds. It is lamentable that a proud and resilient people have been reduced to this pitiful state. Thucydides said: “We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.” It is worth remembering this as inhuman and unmanly acts of cowardice take place. Greece sparked the flames of Western civilisation, Europe was illuminated. Now Europe has returned the flame to Greece, but it is a destructive conflagration. Has modern Greece lost what Thucydides was extolling?
Prometheus springs to mind. The sacred flame is both friend and foe. Fire can warm or burn. Fire can work miracles or it can destroy utterly. Beware the flame, for in evil hands it is a potent enemy. In wise hands, fire can illuminate the darkest parts and warm the frozen places, it can spark wild flights of intellect and lighten the deep recesses of the soul. Greece needs a Hercules that will slay the vulture that consumes Prometheus’s liver. Fire need be tamed, its deliverer liberated and days of prosperity need return. Athens has been in ruins many times before, it will rise from its ashes one more time.
“True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes, but the firm resolve of virtue and reason.” - Alfred North Whitehead
The atrocious terrorist attack in the Moscow Metro yesterday has once again made me wince with consternation and distress. The reality of terrorism in our days is something that we are not permitted to forget as daily events around the world draw attention to desperate and extreme acts performed by minorities that attempt to draw attention to their cause. These are cowardly acts of blackmail and instead of support and sympathy (for whatever cause) they attempt to garner, all they do is to succeed in gaining the revulsion and opposition of any person with a shred of humanity within them.
I was not interested to learn more about which organisation or group was behind this latest mass slaughter in Moscow, or the reasons for this madness. All I want is that the perpetrators be found and punished as befits criminals and murderers of the worse kind. Sympathy with their cause or interest in their point of view is the thing most distant in my mind at this point. The image of masses of innocent commuters packed into trains making their way to work that were killed is with me as I get into my train every morning. These ordinary people like you and me, are the victims of terrorists not of liberation fighters, of assassins not of idealists, of fanatics not of visionaries.
One of the most distasteful aspects of the attack is that the suicide bombers were women. Even if these women had lost husbands and children, how could they sink into the same quagmire of hate and violence that destroyed their own families? Does killing several tens of innocent civilians compensate them for their loss? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a barbarity that is propounded by violent and uncivilised brutes whose motivation is the same as that of the criminal they are intent on punishing.
The atrocity was preceded by yet another terrorist attack, this time in Athens, late on Sunday night. A 15-year-old Afghani boy was killed and his mother and his 10-year-old sister wounded when a home-made pipe bomb exploded. The boy was looking in a bag in a rubbish bin containing the bomb, when the blast occurred. The girl was taken to a children’s hospital with burns to her face and hands, as well as bruising. Her mother, who was in a state of shock, was also injured and taken to a different hospital. No group has claimed responsibility and the terrorist attack has blighted the streets of a residential area of another European city whose inhabitants are living a hard enough life already.
The bomb exploded outside the offices of the Hellenic Management Association, a non-profit organisation. Since a teenager was shot dead by a policeman in Athens in December 2008, there have been frequent attacks on public buildings. Most of these blasts have been blamed on far-left and anarchist groups, but typically these explosions have been minor and caused no injuries. Last week, three bombings targetted the offices of an ultra right wing party, a police immigration centre and a Pakistani immigrant leader’s home. The “Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire” group claimed responsibility for those bombings and said they were intended to highlight racism in Greece.
The father of the killed boy visited the site of his son’s death today. He and his family migrated to Greece for a better life. He couldn’t speak Greek or English but his sorrow was immediately and palpably intelligible as it needed no words to convey the immense sense of loss and devastation he felt. He knelt and wept at the steps where his son lost his life. He sobbed and bewailed his fate. He escaped terror in his own country, searching for a better life in a distant land and all he found was death and endless misery from now on. What sort of society are we becoming? The savage beasts of the jungle are less terrible and less brutal than we humans are. We take cut the thread of human life as easily as if we were chopping the stalk of a lettuce.
Dare we call ourselves civilised? Can such a civilisation survive? Hw can we end this chain of violence and terror we have become trapped by?
“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
The events in Athens still prey on my mind and they join other similar acts of violence and desperation around the globe that float in my brain like vultures. Humanity is becoming inhuman and we rush to our own destruction, like moths around a flame. My poem today was inspired by these fiery visions and is not a happy one… Revelation
And then the beast awakens, stirs, It shakes and bellows loud, Yelps, cries, like a hundred curs; And even if shielded by a shroud, Its eyes still burn with fury bright.
The beast awakens and it crushes All resistance; logic is slain. Death in its wake; blood gushes, Plague, famine, panic, bane Will cause the loss of light.
Black scrawny birds of sorrow fly, And shrieks of misery resound; The beast is quick, draws nigh With claws clutched all around A bloody sword that’s black as night.
Its footsteps leave a wake of fire, Pain, fear, agony, tears, doom. Repentance too late, the hour dire, The sun has died, all is a-gloom; The earth has sickened in its plight.
The beast moves fast, destroys, Its purpose deadly as was prophesied; Chasms gape open, an infernal noise, As earth is gashed, as cities subside, And terror reigns wedded with fright.
The beast within us stirs, it wakes, And years of calmness, reason, die. The demon that’s inside of us, shakes, Our civilised existence to defy.
How easy in a moment’s fury to annihilate, What took a century or two to build. We kill the angels, holy things do desecrate All that is innocent and pure, is killed.
Fire, sulphur, tar, mire, brimstone, blight, We’re tortured by the demons that we liberate. Wisdom wiped out, light gives way to night, Apocalypse comes from within, such is our fate.
“The keenest sorrow is to recognise ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.” – Sophocles
It is with horror and disgust that I watch the news from Athens these past few days. During the previous couple of years, there has been an ever-increasing accumulation of explosives in the tinder box that is Greece: A volatile political situation, high unemployment, chronic disgruntlement with social and economic policies, inflation, high prices, low salaries, influx of illegal immigrants, unchecked crime, numerous scandals in government and church, the world economic crisis… The spark that set off the explosion of the recent riots was the killing of a 16-year-old boy by a policeman last Saturday in Athens. Alexandros Grigoropoulos was fatally shot by a police officer in Athens’ Exarchia district close to the Athens Polytechnic University after hurling stones at police at night. How the shooting occurred is unclear, but the two officers involved have been arrested; one has been charged with murder and the other as an accomplice. A coroner’s report shows that the boy was shot in the chest. The officers claim that the bullet ricocheted before hitting the boy.
The episode was the catalyst for widespread rioting, not only in Athens, but in most major cities around the country. Gangs of youths smashed their way through central Athens and Thessaloniki on Sunday and Monday. Shops, banks, apartment buildings and even luxury hotels had their windows smashed and burned in a night of anarchy and lawlessness as youths fought running battles with riot police. In Crete, Larissa, Chios, other towns, similar violent protests occurred. The increasingly unpopular Karamanlis government has been criticised as being a weak and powerless observer in these vicious demonstrations. Burning barricades, flames and clouds of smoke were mixing with tear gas used by police. Molotov cocktails joined flying stones and debris as they converted the centre of Athens into a battle zone.
The news relayed live and non-stop by the Greek satellite TV channel have created shock waves around the world amongst all ranks of the Greek diaspora. No doubt, this contributed to demonstrators entering and taking over the London and Berlin Greek embassies. They raised banners of support and the black-and-red anarchist flag. Most rational and civilised people whether Greeks or not abhor such acts of unrestrained fury and revolt. There is little public support for street violence or wanton destruction of property amongst Greeks, but within the Greek psyche there is a tolerance for demonstrations, and the right to protest is held in high esteem.
Anarchists are blamed for late-night fire-bombings of targets such as banks and diplomatic vehicles, which occur regularly in Athens, but these attacks rarely cause injuries. The anarchist movement traces its roots largely in the resistance to Greece’s 1967-74 military dictatorship and the small groups of “known-unknowns”, as they are called since they sport balaclavas, are behind most violent protests. The anarchists tend to support anti-capitalist and antiestablishment activities, and have long-running battles with police, which represents for them everything that they hate.
In the wake of the riots, over 30 police officers and riot police members have been injured. Millions of euros of damage has been done. Greece’s reputation as a stable democratic country has been further sullied. The message that is getting through to the international community is that it is a country of barbaric savages that respect no law, no common human decency, no code of civilised society. The images that have been transmitted to the word’s TV screens are full of savage, mindless acts of mass hysterics. These are no children of Socrates or Plato, but rather bands of animals that are bent on mindless destruction and brutishness. The episodes of genuine demonstrations over a heinous act have been overshadowed by acts even more vicious. Blatant disregard for law and order, wholesale destruction and damage to property, looting and violence for the sake of violence.
It is heart-breaking to see what was once a beautiful, peaceful city (and yes, maybe I am stretching it, as I refer to the Athens of my childhood of the early ‘60s) now becoming a shambles. A burnt out shell of a once great civilisation. A shadow of its former substance. What more can I say? Perhaps a song can sum up my feelings:
Αθήνα (1978) (Χρήστου Γκάρτζου, Σώτιας Τσώτου)
Ξέρω μια πόλη που η άσφαλτος καίει Και δέντρου σκιά δεν θα βρεις… Μεγάλη ιστόρια, προγόνοι σπουδαίοι, Λυχνάρι και τάφος της γης.
Θυμίζεις Αθήνα γυναικα που κλαίει Γιατί δεν την θέλει κανείς. Αθήνα, Αθήνα, πεθαίνω μαζί σου, Πεθαίνεις μαζί μου κι εσύ.
Ξέρω μια πόλη στη νεά Σαχάρα Μια έρημο όλο μπετόν Οι ξένοι στόλοι, λαθραία τσιγάρα, Παιδιά που δεν ξέρουν κρυφτό.
Θυμίζεις Αθήνα γυναικα που κλαίει Γιατί δεν την θέλει κανείς. Αθήνα, Αθήνα, πεθαίνω μαζί σου, Πεθαίνεις μαζί μου κι εσύ.
Ξέρω μια πόλη στη γη της αβύσσου, Κουρσάρων κι ανέμων νησί. Στης Πλάκας τους δρόμους Πουλάς το κορμί σου για ένα ποτήρι κρασί.
Θυμίζεις Αθήνα γυναικα που κλαίει Γιατί δεν την θέλει κανείς. Αθήνα, Αθήνα, πεθαίνω μαζί σου, Πεθαίνεις μαζί μου κι εσύ.
I know a city where the asphalt burns, Where you won’t find a tree to shade you. Great history, even greater ancestors, Light of the world, grave of the world.
Athens, you remind me of a woman crying Because nobody desires her; Athens, oh Athens, I die with you, You die with me too.
I know a city in the new Sahara, A desert made of concrete. Foreign fleets anchor there, contraband cigarettes, Children who do not know how to play hide-and-seek.
Athens, you remind me of a woman crying Because nobody desires her; Athens, oh Athens, I die with you, You die with me too.
I know a city in the country of the abyss, An island home to pirates and wild winds. In Plaka’s neighbourhoods You sell your body for a glass full of wine…
Athens, you remind me of a woman crying Because nobody desires her; Athens, oh Athens, I die with you, You die with me too.
“Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.” - Victor Hugo
We got up rather early on our last day in Athens, wishing to pack our luggage carefully, ensuring of distributing the weight evenly between our two suitcases and hand-luggage. Although we had sent back about 100 kilos of books, we managed to accumulate another 15-20 kilos more of them (with my Bible alone contributing to about 4 kilos of that!). That done, we decided to go to the airport early and left the hotel at about 11:00 am for our 1:30 pm flight. Once again, the traffic was light given that this was Whitmonday, and hence a public holiday.
Our flight to Singapore was uneventful and we managed to get some sleep on the plane. The downside of not stopping over in Singapore for a day and night was having to spend 5 hours in the airport waiting for our connecting flight. Admittedly, this is not too bad in Singapore airport, which in my opinion is the best airport in the world. The tremendous variety of indoor plants in the terminal alone are worth the visit and when adds to that top class facilities and services for the traveller, one cannot but admire the Singaporeans for their enterprise and genuine concern for the comfort and enjoyment of the passengers travelling through their country.
The flight back to Melbourne seemed long, even though we managed to get a little sleep through it, but our fatigue must have elongated the relatively shorter flight (seven hours compared to the eleven hours of the previous leg). One of the best things about travelling is the homecoming at the end. No matter how enjoyable a trip is, it always pleasant to come back home.
Sunday in Athens was an extremely quiet and peaceful affair this weekend as many people had left the city for the long weekend. Nevertheless, the people remaining behind were out and about and early in the morning were doing the regulation buying of the Sunday newspapers. This is an amazing experience in Greece as there are enormous numbers of newspapers, magazines, periodicals and books that are offered for sale daily, but on Sunday there is the added bonus of the “free” offers that are included with the publication. These range from CDs and DVDs, to magazines, to books, cosmetics, sunglasses, clothing, bags, and whatever else you may imagine. It is interesting to note that many newspapers come in two forms, the “no-frills” cheaper version (newspaper alone or with a basic TV guide magazine included) for about one euro or so and the same newspaper with the added goodies (for example, I bought a newspaper with a CD, a DVD and a special interest holiday magazine) for 4.50 euros. Both the CD and DVD were commercial quality and relatively recent (i.e. not new releases, but certainly within the last 10 years).
One can have great fun in newsstands and kiosks that sell these publications and it is mind-boggling to work one’s way through the various offers and finally decide on one’s purchase. Some are not worth it, but others are a great way of getting some great music or films relatively cheaply. We made our way to Monastiraki and had a last forage in the second-hand bookstores. On Sunday, there is a trash and treasure market held here and this is a good place to wander in and there is no predicting what one may find here and one may pick up a great bargain, as we did! My discovery was a wonderful edition of the Bible in Greek, in large format and copiously illustrated with Gustave Doré’s full page etchings on every second page, in remarkably good condition for the paltry sum of 2.50 euros! The down side was it weighed about 4 kilos, but I was not leaving this treasure behind.
After walking around for several hours, making a few more purchases, we finally flopped down on the seats of a café and had much needed refreshment. It was interesting to watch the people (mainly tourists) going back and forth and to enjoy the glorious weather, knowing that in 48 hours we would be braving the elements of a Melbourne winter once again. We walked back to our hotel to deposit our treasures, freshen up and rest a little before heading off to our friends’ house in Aigaleo, where we had been invited for the afternoon and to dinner.
The afternoon was very pleasant and we spent it chatting and then playing cards. The highlight of the afternoon was me excusing myself to go to the bathroom and locking myself there because the key snapped the lock. This was an interesting state of affairs as the only exit from the windowless room was a small (50 cm x 35 cm) skylight that led to an attic above the bathroom through a light well that went up to the roof almost two metres above. We firstly tried to get the door open on both sides by unscrewing the door handle (unsuccessfully). Then by using a similar key from the outside (to no avail). And finally, me climbing up (very athletic!) through the skylight (a tight squeeze) onto the attic through the light well. When I climbed down from the attic and outside the bathroom, I was able to use the key that George had tried to open the door with and successfully unlock the door.
With that excitement over and the keys being banished from the bathroom door forever (a simple latch on the inside would ensure privacy) we had a delightful dinner on their terrace overlooking their lush back garden. It was soon time to make our goodbyes and such times are always sad, but we did promise to try and return to visit them soon. We took a taxi to our hotel and were surprised at the low fare (about 3.50 euros), but this was due to light traffic and a very direct route taken by the taxi driver. We had a good night’s sleep knowing that tomorrow was going to be a long and busy day of unrelenting travel.
I have been blogging daily on this platform for several years now. It is surprising that I have persisted as the world is changing and "microblogging" is now the norm. I blog to amuse myself, make comment on current affairs, externalise some of my creativity, keep notes on things that interest me, learn something new and to surprise myself with things that I discover about this wonderful, and sometimes crazy, world we live in.
I sometimes get the impression that I am on a soapbox delivering a monologue, so your comments are welcome.
