What you should Know !

Dear viewers,  On this page I give the answers to the most common questions about ancient and modern Greece which my costumers have asked me during our tours.

Q What happened when the ancient Greeks consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi?

A Those who wanted advice from the Oracle would be required to pay a levy and sacrifice an animal on the altar. A male priest would then put the petitioner's question to a priestess (pythia), whose trance-like reply would take the form of riddles. These riddles would then be interpreted by a priest in a manner that was still not straightforward, but open to a number of interpretations.

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. The remains of a restored and redesigned Roman version can still be seen there today.

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 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

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 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

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. The Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 accorded autonomy to Greece, its independent status was recognised by the Great Powers in 1830. 1830 Independent Greek State established under the treaty of London. 1863 The Ionian islands, became part of Greece. 1881 Greece recovered Thessaly from the Turks. 1882-1893 Building of the Corinth canal. 1912-1913 Balkan War. Macedonia and Epiros liberated from the Turks by the Greek army under Venizelos. Crete became part of Greece. 1914-1919 First World War. Greece brought into the war by Venizelos on the side of the allies. Thrace and Smyrna awarded to Greece in 1919. 1919-1922 Great Catastrophe. New conflict with the Turks, resulting in 1.500.000 Greeks fleeing from Asia Minor to Europe 1940 28th of October, the beginning of the Second World War. 1941-1944 German occupation. 1945-1949 Civil War. 1967-1974 Dictatorship 1981 Accession of Greece to the European Union.2001 Full member of European Union