Category: Culture

Depends on where and when, of course. In Australia 40 years ago: almost never intermarried. In Australia now: often do intermarry; intermarriage exceeded 50% some time in the last ten years. In Greece a century ago: almost never intermarried. There weren’t a lot of non-Greeks around to marry (depending on your definition of non-Greek, of […]

I should know the answer to this, being one of them. But it’s actually reasonably hard to introspect this, especially as the novelty of Greek Australians has long since worn off. I’m going to offer some stereotypes, but as I often do with this kind of question, I’m hoping for someone to step in with […]

I have attempted to recuse myself from answering this, being ethnic Greek myself. But Desmond James has importuned me to answer with my Australian hat on, and I do appreciate a challenge. So I will meet this challenge with generalities, reflecting on the hellenophiles and/or philhellenes that I have encountered. Hellenophile is not an established […]

Gareth Jones asked me this at Nick Nicholas’ answer to Can fascism grow in Greece?, when I said that I don’t think so. I’m not in a good position to judge, and I’m actually answering this to prod some Greeks closer to what’s been happening into an answer. So, if they won’t vote in Golden […]

Tolis Malakos of London Metropolitan University wrote a very insightful piece on this in 2013: What does the rise of fascism mean for Greece and for Europe? Above and beyond that, turning to populist, authoritarian solutions when faith is shaken in bourgeois democratic politics is not an idiosyncrasy of Germans or Italians: it is human […]

There was a bit of merriment when George W Bush used the word. I actually don’t know whether Greeks in Greece know about the oddity of “Grecian”. My take, as someone bicultural: it’s not offensive, it’s just archaic; so seeing it in live use is puzzling. Because it’s archaic, I’m led to wonder whether I’m […]

Souvlaki – Wikipedia lists the variation of Souvlaki within Greece and Cyprus. Gyro (food) – Wikipedia speaks to gyros, which is the Greek evolution of the Doner kebab – Wikipedia. In Greece, Souvlaki properly is a skewer of meat, typically pork, and often served in pita. Gyros, which involves shaved rotisserie meat (again, typically pork) […]

Hm. I get the symbolism, and the symbolism is important. It would demonstrate that, whatever the demographics and the history, both communities are equal in the State. It would work brilliantly if the presidency in Cyprus were a ceremonial head of state position, a symbolic Father/Mother of the Nation gig. The problem is that the […]