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ANZAC: THE GREEK CHAPTER
War documentaries often seek to propagate or reinforce a national myth. When this happens, it is difficult for historians and veterans alike not to act as performative agents, showcasing power or...
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GERSHOM AND THE COMPASSION OF THE PATRIARCH
When I was ushered into the room, I was transfixed by his gaze immediately. Two pairs of large, pitch black eyes, poring into the innermost recesses of my being. At least that is what I was told...
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THE COMING OF THE DIGNITARIES
In those days dignitaries walked among us from over the sea, from the land we left behind, in order to confer legitimacy upon us all and to certify our ethnic credentials. We knew they were not from...
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THE MOONEE VALLEY “UNA RAZZA UNA FAZZA” FESTIVAL RETURNS
There is a village named after Saint Dimitrios in Calabria. It was founded by refugees from Epirus in the fifteenth century, fleeing the Ottoman occupation of their homeland. The refugees settled near...
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DIMITRIA
October is an exceptional month in the Greek calendar. Not only do we celebrate OXI day, but also the liberation of Thessaloniki and the patronal feast of its protector, Saint Dimitrios. A few weeks...
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DELPHI
Delphi shares the same root with the Greek word for womb, δελφύς. It is thus not only, as the ancient Greeks believed, the centre of the world but the beginning of everything. It is also the end....
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ON AMAZONS, EVZONES AND RUSSOPHILES: GREEKS IN THE CRIMEAN WAR
There is a history of Greeks fighting for Russia in the Crimea. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Greek Battalion of Balaklava, comprised of Greeks living in Sebastopol,...
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ΜΑΥΡΑ
“I miss all those old nonnas wearing black, with their cute headscarves, walking back from the shops with their little shopping carts. You just don’t get that kind of authenticity in the area...
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ERYSICHTHON THE INSATIABLE
“And just like a greedy fire never refuses food and burns up countless torches and, where a greater supply of fuel is available, seeks more and more, and grows only more voracious with abundance, thus...
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ΑΛΛΟΘΡΟΟΙ
“Greek is not a clean language for an old woman.”- JuvenalThe highlight of my week was having Doctor Alfred Vincent refer at the recent Pharos Symposium on the Greek language in Australia at LaTrobe...
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LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATRICIDE: THE REVOLT OF THE ZEALOTS OF THESSALONICA
"...one after another the prisoners were hurled from the walls of the citadel and hacked to pieces by the mob of the Zealots assembled below. Then followed a hunt for all the members of the upper...
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CHANGING THE DATE
“What are you doing Christmas Eve?” Niko enquired. “Going to Midnight Mass?”«ΆκουεκείMidnight Mass,” Stefo sniggered. “Like the good little Orthodox boy he is, he is going to go to the εσπερινό. You’ve...
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BEFORE MIDNIGHT
Every New Year’s Eve, wherever I may find myself, as I watch the passage of the dial across the clock until midnight, I hear the words of Cavafy’s poem “Since Nine” resonate with each tick:“Half past...
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PISOPOGON
It was the anniversary of the crowning of Admiral Romanos I Lekapenos as co-emperor of the underage Constantine VII. I was recalling a lecturer at university pronouncing Lekapenos as Lekapenus, with...
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THE EDIFICATION OF CHILDREN
When I was young, some of the readings that we were periodically assigned at Greek School, were penned by a mysterious figure who would always begin with the endearment «Αγαπητοί μου» and end with the...
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IN SEARCH OF A SUITABLE DATE
Just before Christmas, the Iraqi president visited a Christian church in that country and as well as announcing that henceforth Christmas Day would be a public holiday, he paid homage to the Assyrians...
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GRECOPHONES
We had just completed an almighty sandcastle with crenelated ramparts with which I intended to demonstrate to my children the Siege of Amorion, when the earth began to shake. Minutes later, the castle...
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FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY: THE JEWISH MEDICAL RELIEF FUND IN GREECE
Even before the close of World War II, Jewish relief organisations began to seek volunteers for post-war relief work in shattered Europe. In Australia, Jewish communities established the Jewish Relief...
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ON SECONDMENT
Widely debated in our community of late, is the news that the Greek government, through an initiative by the Minister of Education, Religion, and Sports, will send 600 clergy on a three-year...
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THE MANY FACES OF THE BOURBAKI
Years ago, I caused to be posted on social media, a copy of a painting depicting a foustanella clad gentleman crossing the Sturt Desert. In the accompanying caption, I informed the viewer that the...
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