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Q
Where did traditional
Greek drama come from?
A:
Greek drama developed in the sixth century B.C.
from ritual role playing during festivals of Dionysus, the god of
revelry and wine. At first, the participants danced in groups and were
often dressed as animals. Later, singing and dancing choruses were
joined by actors wearing masks with exaggerated features to indicate
the characters they were playing so they could be clearly seen by
everyone in the audience. The first proper plays
were tragedies in the form of episodes from myths and epic poems.
Comedy did not appear on the Greek stage until 480 B.C.
FIRST STONE THEATRE.
The first stone theatre ever built, and the birthplace of Greek
tragedy, was the theatre of Dionysus, which was cut into the southern
cliff face of the Acropolis.
Q
Why is classical Greek
architecture so widely admired?
A:
State and religious buildings in ancient Greece
were designed and built with the express intention of embodying
perfect form and proportion.
The degree of success their architects
achieved is illustrated by the fact that their classical style has
survived, has seldom fallen out of fashion and has often dominated
aesthetic taste. Superb examples were built in Revolutionary France,
Georgian England, the newly formed United States and 19th C Athens,
where Neoclassical architecture completely dominated public building
Q
What is the Parthenon and
the Elgin Marbles?
A: The temple of the
Parthenon occupies the highest point of the Acropolis (city on the
edge). It was
dedicated to Athena. The word Parthenon comes from the Greek word parthenos
meaning virgin. The Parthenon, which still stands today, was built
between 447 and 432 B.C. The sculptures which decorated it and the
ivory- golden statue of the goddess Athena were
designed by the greatest sculpture Pheidias.
THE ELGIN MARBLES:
Many of the sculptures
from the Parthenon were taken to England by Lord Elgin (1806), the
British ambassador to the Ottoman court. He saw the sculptures when he
visited Athens and was granted permission to take most back to England. They
can be seen today in the British Museum.The Greek have been fighting a
long battle with the British to have them returned to Athens.
Q What we call
Golden Age of Pericles?
A
Pericles was born in about
495 B.C. and became the greatest statesman in Athenian history. He was a
visionary, with an interest in the arts and sciences, who transformed the
look of the city to such an extent that the period between 461 and 429
B.C. became to known as the Golden Age of Pericles. By 461 B.C. he had
become the leader of a democratic party, and by 443 B.C. he was both ruler
and military leader of Athens. Having transferred the Treasury to Athens
from Delos, he persuaded the Athenians to invest in a program of building
and rebuilding which brought together the best contemporary architects,
sculptors, artists, scientists and builders. The results can still be seen
today. Most notable are the buildings on top of the Acropolis, with the
Parthenon representing Pericle's outstanding legacy.
Q
When are the National / religious Holidays in Greece?
Restaurants and tourist shops may well stay open on these days, but public
services, shops, museums and archaeological sites will be closed. Check
out:
Museums & sites
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1 Jan |
New Year's
day |
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6 Jan |
Epiphany |
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Feb/Mar |
Greek
Carnival season, 3 weeks before the beginning of Lent. |
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Feb/Mar |
Ash
Monday (41 days pre- Easter) |
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25 Mar |
Independence day - Military parade in Athens |
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Mar/Apr |
Good
Friday, Easter, Monday |
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1 May |
Labor Day |
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May/Jun |
Whit Monday
(50 days after Easter) |
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15 Aug |
Feast of
the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
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28 Oct |
Ochi (OXI) Day -
Military parade in Thessalonica |
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25/26 Dec |
Christmas |
Q
Where did the tradition
of the Marathon run come from?
 A:
In 490 B.C., the Greeks
were facing invasion by Darius the Great King
of Persia, whose warships landed in the bay of
Marathon.
Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Greeks surrounded the enemy
troops and drove them back to the sea, losing only 192 men during the
fighting, while 6,400 Persians perished. News of the victory was taken
back to Athens a distance of 42 km (26 miles) by a runner in full
armor, who collapsed and died immediately afterwards. The modern
marathon has its roots in this heroic effort. In the Olympics of
Athens 2004 the athletes ran the same course as in 490 BC.
Q Who were
the seven wise men of antiquity?
A:
The seven wise
men of antiquity who lived in Greek territories in the 6th century BC and
became known for their social or political wisdom and prudence are: Thalis
of Miletus, Pittacus of Mytilene,
Solon of
Athens, Bias of Priene, Cleoboulos
of Rhodes, Chilon
of Sparta and
Periander
of Corinth. Check out : The seven wise men
 Q
What
is the emblem of Athens Olympic games?
A:
The Athens 2004 Olympic Games' emblem was an olive wreath -
the "kotinos" with which the Olympic winner was crowned in classical
times. It is a symbol linked with the Olympic ideals, peace and the city of
Athens, whose sacred tree was the olive tree. Its circular shape projects
universal meanings of the unity of the world, the circle of life and the
link between time past and present
Q What sports were contested in
Athens 2004?
A
In Athens, athletes from nearly 200 countries competd in 28 sports in 296 events. The sports were: aquatics (diving, swimming, synchronized swimming
and water polo) · archery · badminton · baseball · basketball · boxing ·
canoe-kayak · cycling · equestrian · fencing · field hockey · gymnastics
· handball · judo · modern pentathlon · rowing · sailing · shooting ·
softball · soccer · table tennis · taekwondo · tennis · track and field
· triathlon · volleyball · weightlifting · wrestling
 Q
Where and When is the Olympic flame lit?
A :
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is marked with the arrival of the
Olympic flame which is taken on every occasion from
Olympia,
(Era's
alter) Greece, the original site of the Olympic Games. The same year as the
Olympic Games, but at the end of March. Runners take it from Olympia to the
airport, on to the host country where runners take it from city to city.
Q What time do Greeks eat?
A:
Greeks
tend to eat late, and they seldom eat light. Restaurants are usually open
from about noon onwards for lunch and from 7 seven o'clock for supper, but
that is usually to catch the tourist trade. Owners know the Athenians will
not be out in force for some time.
Many of the day's specials are prepared
in the morning or at lunchtime and a dish such as
moussaka
may be served
lukewarm rather than piping hot - but that is the Greek way.
Typical for this hedonistic city are late dinners at 9p.m. and nightclubs
that fill around midnight.
Q Who were the twelve gods of Olympus?
A : Aphrodite: The goddess of
love and beauty. Apollo: The god of the sun, of music and of prophecy. The twin bother
of Artemis and the son of Zeus and Leto. Ares:
The god of war. Artemis: The goddess of the
moon and of hunting. The twin sister of Apollo. Athena:
The goddess of wisdom, believed to have sprung fully formed from the head
of Zeus, armed and wearing her helmet. She is often depicted with an owl. Demeter: The goddess of the harvest and the
mother of Persephone. Hestia: The goddess of
the Hearth. Hephaestus: The god of fire and
of the forge, and the husband of Aphrodite. Hera:
The queen of the gods wife of Zeus and mother of Hephaestus. Hermes: The messenger of the gods. Depicted with
winged sandals or a winged cap. Poseidon: The
god of the sea, represented by a trident. Zeus:
The lord of the gods.
Q
What about modern Greece?
Greece lies at the southeast end of Europe. Its land
mass (50 944sq miles) is punctuated by mountains, fragmented by the sea
and skirted by a very long broken coastline. The country's most
distinctive characteristic is its many islands: between Thassos and Crete
(600km/373ml) there are 427 islands, of which 134 are inhabited. Modern
Greece is divided into nine regions which are sub-divided into departments
(nomi). The total population is about 11.000.000.
Historical Notes: Greece under Roman occupation from 146 B C. - Greece
under the Byzantines. After the division of ad 395 the territory of the
Eastern Roman Empire comprised the Balkans, present- day Greece, Asia Minor
and Egypt. Although Latin was soon replaced as the official language by
Greek., the language of the Church and the Near East.
The Byzantine Empire
developed into a Greek Christian theocratic state, in which the Emperor
and the Patriarch were interdependent (symbolised by two- headed eagle,
the emblem of the Empire). Greece under the Franks (13c-15c). Greece under
the Turks (15c-19c). The conquest of Greece by the Turks, which began the
capture of the Balkan territories followed by Constantinople, the capital
of the Byzantine Empire, in 1453 by Sultan Mehment II.
1821 Started the
Independence war against Ottoman Empire. In
1827 the UK,
Russia and France decided to intervene to enforce an armistice '' without
however taking any part in the hostilities''. The allied fleet went to
parley with the Turkish fleet anchored off Pylos (See Pylos) in Navarino
Bay and ended up destroying it. In October
1828
a French military expedition was dispatched
under General Maison, which drove out the Turks while the Russians
threatened Constantinople.
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