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Category: Culture
Four Romaic names for Greece
As ably explained in Wikipedia: Names of the Greeks, there is a tension in mediaeval and modern times between names for Greeks based on their ancient heritage (Hellenic; Hellenes), and names for Greeks based on their Roman and Byzantine heritage (Romaic; Romioi = Romans). The tension was clearer within Greek, because Western languages used a term […]
Are you Greek? And if yes then where in Greece are you from?
A far from straightforward question for those of us in the Greek diaspora. My dad does not speak a word of Pontic Greek. But this Pontic revival song, sung by Stelios Kazantzidis towards the end of his life, shook him: stixoi.info: Πατρίδα μ΄ αραεύω σε Five houses have I built; unhoused from all.A refugee from […]
Do they have pazza, Πατσά, in Melbourne restaurants at 6am, the way they do in Greece?
Patsas (Tripe soup) is a Greek hangover cure specialty. It occupies the same niche in Greece that a late night kebab occupies in Britain. Or Australia. The answer is, not really; Stalactites would be the obvious place to do it (one of the few remnants of the original Greektown in the CBD, which is open […]
Was there any famous Greeks called Alexander before the 1900s besides Alexander the Great?
See Nick Nicholas’ answer to Who is the most famous Greek who was named Alexander in the previous 15 centuries (one for each century)? and Konstantinos Konstantinides’ answer to Who is the most famous Greek who was named Alexander in the previous 15 centuries (one for each century)? tl;dr: for Greeks who are famous to […]
What is the best Greek restaurant in Melbourne?
The Press Club mentioned in other answers (which are now a few years old) is the flagship of celebrity restauranteur George Calombaris, and was at the forefront of nouveau Greek cuisine. Calombaris was into molecular gastronomy before he was into nouveau Greek, and you could tell: there was tzatziki ice cream to be had. The […]
Is there a tradition someplace in Greece, to give a special name to your last girl to get a male child?
Ah, you know there is, OP. Greeks do have a tradition of omen-names they give kids, once they’re run out of grandparents to name their kids after—although with the drop of children per mother, and of traditional superstitions, they are probably no longer issued. Greeks did not like female births, because they cost them. Less […]
If so many Greeks live in Anatolia (modern Turkey), then should we consider Greeks as Asians and not Europeans?
It’s an interesting question—more interesting than people are giving it credit for. The question I’m going to write on is, how did the balance between Anatolian Greeks and Balkan Greeks change over time, and should that change in geography influence whether we call them European or Asian? (You might say, it’s only interesting because I’m […]
What should I do and not do when visiting and praying at the Greek Acropolis?
Do bring a drink with you. Don’t expect to find cheap drinks in the vicinity. On my latest visit to the Sacred Rock, I said to a vendor at the foot of the hill: —As our ancient ancestors used to say: I’ll have a coke please. The vendor replied. —As our ancient ancestors used to […]
In what ways are Albanians in Greece mistreated?
My answer to this is a historical anecdote, but the quite informative answers here do talk about what happened in the 1990s, as well as what’s happening now. The reports now are that Albanians are on the top of the totem pole of immigrant privilege. They are of course still below Western Europeans, who are […]
Which city is better Athens or Thessaloniki?
What are the main differences, i heard Thessaloniki is more cosmopolitan Oddly enough, my wife (who is not in any way Greek) spontaneously said Salonica was cosmopolitan when she visited it. So there’s something to that. The hostility between Athens and Salonica within the Modern Greek state is of very long standing: Salonica was incorporated […]