Greek Wedding, preparation-customs Posted by dareios on Mar 7, 2012
I suppose many of you have seen the movie “My big fat Greek wedding“. Well, today my post will be on the customs which take place before the wedding. In another post I will tell you about the wedding itself and the customs after the wedding. Making of the bed (Στρώσιμο του κρεβατιού): Two days…
Dialogs (booking ship tickets, shopping) Posted by dareios on Mar 3, 2012
After a reader’s suggestion I will show to you two more dialogues that could be useful. If you like to visit one of our islands, you may have to travel by ship. So, how can you ask for a ticket in this case? You: Καλημέρα! (kaleemera)/ Καλησπέρα (kaleespera)/ Γεία σας!(Gia sas) Good morning! / Good…
Clean Monday, Καθαρά Δευτέρα Posted by dareios on Feb 26, 2012
Clean Monday or pure Monday is a public holiday in Greece. For the orthodox Christians the fasting period before Easter starts on Clean Monday and last for 40 days, as many days as Jesus fasted in the dessert. This specific day, Christians “clean” themselves physically as well as spiritually. In other words, Christians leave behind…
Verb conjunctions Posted by dareios on Feb 22, 2012
In Greek verbs are divided into two conjunctions. Two categories. The first conjunction (α’ συζυγία) includes the verbs which are not stressed on the last syllable. The verbs of the second conjunction (β’ συζυγία) are always stressed on the last syllable. The second conjunction is divided into two groups. In the first group are the…
Carnival,Αποκριές Posted by dareios on Feb 18, 2012
Carnival (αποκριές) (or Triodion) are called the three weeks before Lent. It has taken this name because at this period Christians do not eat meat. The word Apokries, like the word Carnival, literally means to stay away from the meat. For Greeks it started in ancient times as a worship to the God of wine…
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…
Adjectives Posted by dareios on Feb 11, 2012
Greek adjectives describe, modify, or attribute a property to a noun. They have three genders (masculine feminine, neuter), singular and plural. They always have the same gender, number and case with the noun they refer to. Ex. Η μεγάλη τρύπα (H megalee trypa). (Feminine) The big hole. Το μεγάλο σχέδιο (To megalo shedio). (Neuter) The…