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NEO-BYZANTINE CHRISTMAS
Isidoros, known to the general populace as Izzy, is a Neo-Byzantine. What this means is that even though the last vestiges of Byzantine power fell in the fifteenth century, they endure in him, and his...
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KAZAMIAΣ 2024
Having observed every single New Year’s custom made mention of on the internet, including but not limited to: the ritual hurling of the fortuitous pomegranate upon the threshold of the host’s place of...
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THE DICKENSIAN PAPADIAMANTIS: THE CHRISTMAS STORIES
“If she lived to celebrate other Christmasses, the heartless mother-in-law and unwitting infanticide did not enjoy a happy old age.” Alexandros Papadiamantis, “The Christmas Bread.”One of my favourite...
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Η ΛΥΡΙΚΗ ΣΤΙΓΜΗ: ETHICS AND AESTHETICS IN THE POETRY OF THE LATE ARCHBISHOP...
«Ἄν γράφει ὁ ποιητὴς εἶναι μονάχα γιὰ νὰ μαρτυρήσειὅτι τὰ πάντα εἶναι ἄρρητακι εἶναι τῷ ὅντι σὰν νὰ μὴν ὑπάρχουνἀφοῦ δὲν ὑποτάσσονται». Συζυγίες (Νεροσυρμὴ 2002). “Which philosophers do you read?” the...
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FLYING THE FLAG ON AUSTRALIA DAY
Kevan, an Armenian from Iraq, was made a citizen of this country on Australia Day, a few years ago. The year after, he came by my house and happened upon me retrieving a small plastic Australian flag...
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ON THE MARCH TO SINOPE
ON THE MARCH TO SINOPEFew poems resonate in my mind as Cavafy’s “On the March to Sinope,” one of few of his historical poems that are set in Pontus. “I ask myself…”Cavafy, could you write History?’...
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CAFÉ CONVERSATIONS
“What is your favourite Greek word?” my friend Chris asks me. We are seated at a most genteel café in a suburb in which our unaspirated t’s draw the sideways glances of elderly ladies resplendent in...
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GREEK VAMPIRES: A REDISCOVERY
“She appeared to be a Greek in all the ripe charms of womanhood. Her hair flowed down her shoulders in long graceful curls, crowned by a little scarlet cap, embroidered with gold, and further...
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EPIROTE SISTERS LIBERATING FOR THEMSELVES
The Balkan Wars still loom large in the consciousness of those who come from Northern Greece or the Aegean islands, for it was in their aftermath that those territories were liberated from the...
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ΟΠΟΥ ΓΗΣ ΚΑΙ PATRIS
It was while reading George Mouaratidis’ poetry collection “Angel Frankenstein,” some years ago, a homage to a past both real and imagined, as a migrant growing up in Thomastown, that I conceived of...
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GREECE'S THREE YEAR PLAN
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently unveiled its “Strategic Plan for the Hellenic Diaspora 2024” in the form of a rather aesthetically graphic-designed brochure with all the hallmarks...
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ALEXANDER THE GOLDEN GAYTIME HERO
“I need a heroI'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the nightHe's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fastAnd he's gotta be fresh from the fight.” Bonnie Tyler. From the outset, I feel the need to...
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STRUGGLING AGAINST IMPERIALISM: THE 1848 IONIAN REVOLT
The revolt in the Ionian Islands in 1848 was a significant episode in the island's history, closely intertwined with the broader revolutionary movements that swept across Europe during the tumultuous...
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GREEK SCHOOL DAZE
“I’m taking my child out of Greek school,” my hyperventilating friend spluttered in outrage. “I think someone needs to tell the people that run these establishments that this is the twenty first...
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THE OTHER TWENTY FIFTH OF MARCH
The Twenty Fifth of March, the day in which the Greek people celebrate the re-genesis of their nation should be a day of jubilation. Regardless as to whether chooses to commemorate the Greek Revolution...
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NICK VISITS THE ACROPOLIS
In Athens, Nick is visiting the ruins of the Acropolis for the very first time. Well, not really, for there exists a dog toothed photograph of him being held in his mother’s lap, she perched...
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TSINTESA
Theia Tsintesa was not anyone’s auntie but try telling her that, when she fixed you with her penetrating green eyes and twirled the hairs on the mole that adorned her left cheek. Six feet tall with...
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THE SPIRIT OF BYRON
“Lord Byron’s portrait on the wallAnd the cast iron statuetteWith folded arms and eyes bent low,Cocked hat and melancholy brow.”Pushkin, Eugene Onegin Only the initiated are possessed of the knowledge...
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KASSIANE AS FEMINIST
"I hate silence when it is time to speak."Saint Kassiane It is Saint Kassiane’s hymn, chanted during the Matins service of Holy Saturday that penetrates my mind as I stand before my grandparents’...
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GREEKS BEHAVING BADLY: MUTINY IN MALTA
The whole thing, being based on false pretences was doomed from the start. In December 1803, Count Froberg lately of Germany, received authorisation from Britain’s Secretary at War to form a regiment...
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