Archive for 'Culture'
25th Of March, independence day of Greece. Posted by dareios on Mar 25, 2012
“Freedom or death“(Ελευθερία ή θάνατος). These are the first words that come in the mind of every Greek in the sound of this date. The 25th of March is both national and religious holiday for Greece. It is the date that our ancestors back in the 1821 started their revolution against the Ottoman Empire. In…
Greek National Anthem (Εθνικός Ύμνος), Greek flag Posted by dareios on Mar 21, 2012
The National Anthem was established by the Greeks in1865. The Anthem is a poem called Hymn to freedom (Ύμνος εις την ελευθερία) which has been written from Dionysios Solomos (Διονύσιο Σολωμό) in 1823 and composed by Nιkolaos Mantzaros (Nικόλαο Μάντζαρο) in 1828. It consists of 158 stanzas (verses) and it is the longest Anthem in…
The 12 Olympians (last part) Posted by dareios on Feb 16, 2012
This is the last post of the series presenting the last two Olympians. Artemis (Άρτεμις): Virgin goddess of wilderness,fertility (γονιμότητα),hunt(κυνήγι) and wild animals. Daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin (δίδυμη) sister of Apollo. She is often depicted with the crescent of the moon above her forehead and her symbol is a deer with…
The 12 Olympians (Part 3) Posted by dareios on Feb 5, 2012
Three more Olympians are presented in this pre-last post of the series. Ares (Άρης): God of war and lover of Venus. Son of Zeus and Hera. His obsession with war and fight has made him the most disliked god of the mountain. Only Venus and Hades liked him, for obvious reasons… His passion, his…
The 12 Olympians (Part 2) Posted by dareios on Jan 29, 2012
We continue our last post with 4 more Olympians. Athena (Αθηνά): Virgin goddess of wisdom (σοφία), war (πόλεμος), justice (δικαιοσύνη) and skill. However, war was rather like a duty for her. She was not proud of it. Her role was more about negotiating and peacekeeping. Her symbols are the spear (δόρυ), the helmet (κράνος) and the…
The 12 Olympians (Part 1) Posted by dareios on Jan 23, 2012
The 12 gods of Olympus (12 θεοί του Ολύμπου) were the principle gods of the Greek Mythology residing on the top of the Olympus Mountain. The Olympians came to power after their victory over Titans(Τιτάνες) in the war of gods. Titans were the children of Gaia (Γή, earth) and Uranus(Ουρανός,sky) and the ancestors of the…
Athenian democracy (Αθηναϊκή δημοκρατία) Posted by dareios on Dec 14, 2011
Everyone is familiar with the term of democracy. But how many people ever wondered when did it started and what are the similarities and the differences with the democracy as we know it today. This is a very brief overview of the very first democracy. Democracy has its roots in ancient Greece.The name comes from…