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ΗΜΕΡΑ ΤΣ ΜΑΔΑΣ
-Δε θα νάρτου αύριγιου στν’ κκλησιά, the old lady, of northern Greek extraction informed her friend after the Saturday liturgy.- Γιατί καλέ; Αύριο έχει μνημόσυνο, her Peloponnesian friend replied.-...
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METROPOLIS v METROPOLITAN: THE TROUBLED TENURE OF THE FIRST ARCHBISHOP OF...
When it was all over and he had returned to his home island of Samos, Metropolitan Christophoros spent his retirement writing and telling all who would listen, tales of his sojourn in a remarkable...
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INTO THE MOONLIT VILLAGE – THE BATTLE OF CRETE
Austrian historian Robert Musil has observed that “there is nothing in this world as invisible as a monument.” Despite their intended purpose to commemorate, memorial artworks and monuments often have...
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IN THE STASIS CHAMBER: THE TERMINAL DECLINE OF MODERN GREEK STUDIES
In the building hopefully accompanying these words, over the course of three years, Anna Chatzinikolaou, lecturer in Modern Greek Studies at Melbourne University, changed my life and that of all my...
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EXILES
It was while driving to one of the outer suburbs in order to visit a client, marvelling at the extraordinary spread of the urban conglomeration that is our city, narrowly dodging a kangaroo that...
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HYBRID MARGIN-DWELLERS: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DIGENIS AKRITAS.
It was on the fringes, where the legends of the hybrid hero, half-Romaic, half Saracen Digenis Akritas survived, for in the “heartland” he had largely been forgotten. His memory lingered in the...
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ROAD RAGE
My tresses having acquired the consistency and style of an over-excited hedgehog, it was that day that I chose to traipse down to the Russian hairdresser near my office, only to be brusquely informed...
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THE OTHER OLYMPICS
According to the International Olympic Committee’s homepage, the ancient Olympic Games ceased their operations in 393AD. The various neopagans that punctuate our paroikia blame Christian intolerance...
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THE ISLAND OF MISSING TREES: THE TRAGEDY OF CYPRUS
In Turkish author Elif Shafak’s 2021 novel: “The Island of Missing Trees,” the trauma of the division of two communities is highlighted through the discovery of her hybrid past by Ada, whose father is...
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PETER JASONIDES AND EPIRUS
My first conversation with the late Peter Jasonides relating to Epirus took place at a Pontian «παρακάθ’». The traditional Pontian song «Τρυγόνα» was playing and we were comparing lyrics, as there is...
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AMIDST THE CROWD AT THE CYPRUS RALLY
“Welcome, let me find you a seat over with the dignitaries,” one of the organisers of the Cyprus Rally greeted me as I arrived at Federation Square.“No need,” I responded. “To paraphrase Groucho, I...
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THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS
“It may be that the tableau with the drag queens is not blasphemous, but none the less, but whatever happened to aesthetics?” my friend threw up her hands and winced in disgust.Of course, we were...
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WITH SYRMOS IN AGIOI SARANTA
The sun, bruised and swollen as if ripe to burst from the repeated blows and ravages of the centuries, leaned exhausted over the sea, shining upon it a phosphorescent path in all the brilliant hues of...
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OLYMPIC OBSERVANCES
“The fact is,” my friend Dimos exclaimed, “the West is not only degenerate but ignorant. Άκου εκεί, placing transexuals at centre stage in the Olympics. There were no transexuals in Ancient Greece.”...
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GOING SOLAR: THE UTOPIANS OF HELIOPOLIS
I’ve always been fascinated by Saint Maximus the Greek, especially when one considered that he was a follower of radical Florentine reforming monk Girolamo Savonarola, who swept the Medicis from power...
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BOOK WEEK AT SAINT JOHN'S COLLEGE
“Thank you for coming,” Leading Teacher Kristian Raspa offered a greeting. “You know, one of the most enduring memories our alumni tell us they have of their time at our school, is Book Week.”I was...
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COMING OUT GREEK
And coming in from fifty metres, it’s Van Der Haar! Van Der Haar is going to chance it. Yes! Van Der Haar has kicked a goal! Ten points the margin…’It was always impossible to obtain the requisite...
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Sarkel means the “White House” in the extinct Khazaric Language. Sarkel the name given to the fortress constructed in 833 to fortify the north-western border of the Khazar state, owing to the...
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ΣΤΕΦΑΝΑ
There are a number of euphemisms to describe getting married. One can get hitched, be wed, tie the knot, walk down the aisle, or exchange vows. In Greek, one can “dance Isaiah’s dance,” or “be...
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ΔΙΕΘΝΕΣ
Once a year, just before Christmastime, we would make an annual pilgrimage to the Lonsdale Street. After stopping at Salapatas to buy a record, my father would take us to Diethnes International Cakes...
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