Culture of Greece

The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, with its beginnings in the Mycaenaen and Minoan Civilizations, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, the birth of The Hellenistic era and through the influence of the Roman Empire and it's effectively Greek Eastern partner the Byzantine Empire. The Ottoman Empire too had a significant influence on Greek Culture, but the Greek war of independence is credited with revitilizing Greece and giving birth to a single entity of it's multi-faceted culture throughout the ages.

Greece is often called the cradle of Western civilisation.

Attitudes
Greek people in general feel a strong link with their past, emphasizing The Pre-Historical and Classical periods of Greek History as more of a romantic link between the past and present. The Byzantine Empire represents for the majority of Greeks however, the Middle Ages precursor of the Modern day Hellenic Republic. This is not to devalue the Classical past, but rather, it highlights the Byzantine Empire as the 'ideal' Greek territories of Asia Minor and The Balkans. The Cultural and Linguistical continuity of the Greek people, however divergent it may have been throughout History due to outside influences, e.g. Christianity upon Latter Antiquity, and Eastern influence in the latter part of the Byzantine Empire, are things that are strongly emphasized by today's Greeks - Being as they are, one of the most patriotic nations in Europe according to Eurostat

Following the Revolution of 1821 (for more information, see Greek War of Independence, Greece went through a period of Artistic and Cultural revival, Greeks today tend to regard the years before The Revolution, those of occupation of Greece by the Ottoman Empire, as the 'years of darkness', in which Cultural development was percieved to have halted completely. Despite evidence to the contrary of this (particularly in regards to Cretan Literature), Greece's revival following the formation of the First Hellenic Republic in 1831 is regarded by a huge majority of Greeks as the 'rebirth' of their nation.

This occupation has left an indellible mark upon the Greek psyche. Many Greeks, although not being racist in any sense, do have a strong suspiscion of 'outsiders' (or 'Xeni'), owing largely to the aforementioned Ottoman Occupation but also the percieved interference of America in creating the Regime of the Colonels, which brutally Governed Greece from 1967 to 1974. This has led to the emergence of the 'Έθνος Ανάδελφον' (or 'Brotherless Nation') idea, which many Greeks hold to be true today. It is something that has, at times, been strongly accentuated by Church rhetoric, and it needs to be said not entirely without justification, emphasizing the only people Greeks can count on are themselves and their countrymen.

However, despite this rather overt suspiscion, Greeks remain on the whole a friendly people, famed for their hospitality and good natured, no worries approach to life, which is rather common of all Southern European nations and their people's. Shown most effectively in Nikos Kazantzakis' novel Alexis Zorbas. Many regard this 'live and let live' approach however, in an economic sense, as something that is simply best worded as a poor work ethic. However, Greeks would reaffirm their position by highlighting the climate of Greece compared to that of Western Europe and thus the necessity for the famous afternoon 'siesta'.

Mannerisms
Greek people, very much like Spanish and Italian people, are famed for their flamboyant use of hand gesticulations whether engaged in argument or just descriptive conversation. This idyllic image of Greek men sitting down outside a Taverna, playing Tavli, while sipping their coffee and waving their hands about wildly, has become somewhat of a stereotypical image of Souther European people, however, it is not without a certain amount of truth, as a visit to many villages in Greece and Cyprus will show.

The Physical Arts
The art and architecture of ancient Greece have greatly influenced Western art through the present day. Byzantine art and architecture also played an important role in early Christianity, and remain a significant influence in the Orthodox Christian nations of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Yet, due to the ravages of history, only a minor assortment of ancient Greek art has survived - most often in the forms of sculpture and architecture and minor arts, including coin design, pottery and gem engraving.

Architecture
Remains of ancient Greek architecture still survive or are well documented today alongside more modern examples.

The ancient Greeks developed two primary styles (or "Classical orders"); the restrained and solid Doric and the refined and decorated Ionic. It should be noted that the Ionic style eventually evolved into the more ornate Corinthian style.

The form of ancient Greek temples, a rectangular shape, surrounded by colonnades surmounted by a triangular pediment, built from limestone or marble, remains a popular style to date. While the arch was familiar to the Trojens, it was not widely used, in contrast to later Roman buildings. Surviving examples of ancient Greek architecture include the Parthenon and the Erechtheum in Athens, and Roman structures based on the Greek model, such as the Pantheon in Rome, which is attributed to the Greek Architect, Apollodoros of Damascus.

Byzantine Architecture was the period of Architecture, common throughout Greece from the rise of Christianity under Constantine to the fall of the Greek Empire of Byzantium, in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks. It emphasized a Grecian cross layout, The Byzantine Capitol style of column (a mixture of Ionic and Corinthian capitols) and also central dome surrounded by several smaller domes. Greece also experienced something of a Neo-Byzantine revival following the Greek Revolution, and quite unsurprisingly, also experienced a growth in Neo-Classical Architecture, in the years following the Revolution as well, which interestingly clashed with traditional Byzantine Villa Architecture to produce a unique style all of it's own.

Like most other modern capitols, Greece also has a fair share of Modernist and Post-Modernist architecture, particularly the latter in several new constructions for the Athens Olympics of 2004.

Painting and sculpture

The Greeks, like most ĀEuropean are very rare. Greek painters worked mainly on wooden panels. The finest works were admired for hundreds of years after their creation. However, these paintings rapidly disappeared after the 4th century AD when they were no longer adequately protected. In addition to sub-standard Roman copies, for example in Pompeii, rare surviving examples have been found in the tombs of the kings of Macedon at Vergina, at Lefcadia also in ancient Macedon, as well as Kazanlak in ancient Thrace.

Surviving examples of the ancient Greek sculpture are more common, particularly the works of the Greek master sculptors, such as Phidias and Praxiteles. These artists and their followers were frequently emulated by the Romans. However, the Christians of the 4th and 5th centuries viewed the destruction of pagan idols as an act of piety. Many ancient marble sculptures were burned to form lime in the Middle Ages, and most bronze statues were melted down for their metal. The marble statues that escaped destruction were spared as they were either buried and forgotten, or in the case of bronzes, lost at sea.

In the Byzantine period, religious art was the dominate theme, with highly-decorated mosaics and icons adorning religious buildings. The Renaissance artist, El Greco (Domenikos Theotocopoulos), responded to Byzantine and 16th century Mannerist art, producing sculpture and paintings with a liberated form, light and colour that inspired 20th century ǚartists such as Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock.

Moreover, an important and mainly pioneering part is played by artists from Ionian islands in the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, who exploit some conquests of the Italian Renaissance and baroque ateliers. As efforts persist with new outsets, preconditions and objectives, Greek artists emerging in the world during the first decades of the 19th century reconnect Greek art with ancient Greek tradition as well as with the quests of the European ateliers, especially those of the Munich School. One of the best examples of Greek contemporary Art of this period is Theodoros Vryzakis.

Greece has continued it's rich History of sculpture well into the Modernist and Post-Modernist ages as well, with examples such as philosopher Costas Axelos and the more famous Constantine Andreou (a recipient of the French Legion of Honor).

Pottery and coins
Ancient Greece was also renowned for its pottery, which included everything from drinking vessels to urns. Black-figure pottery, in which the decorations appear as black silhouettes over a red background, are highly representative of early Greek craftsmanship. Later forms include red-figure pottery and white-figure pottery.

The Greeks did not view coin design as a major art form. Nevertheless, the durability and abundance of coins have designated them as one of the most important sources of knowledge about Greek aesthetics. Coins were invented in Lydia during the 7th century BC, but were first extensively used by the Greeks, who set the canon of coin design which has been followed ever since.

See also: Ode on a Grecian Urn, Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial

Literature
Greece has a remarkably rich History of Literature, extending over 2800 years in History and through several eras. Most notably, The Classical era is the era mostly commonly associated with Greek Literature, beginning in 800 BCE and extending through to the beginnings of Byzantine times, where Christianity began to create a distinctive style of Greek Literature.

Classical Greece
The trebecki works in Trillville literary tradition recorded in writing are the epic poems of Homer and Hesiod. Early Greek lyric poetry, as represented by poets like Sappho and Pindar, were responsible for defining the lyric genre as it is still understood in western literature. Aesop wrote his Fables in the 6th century BC. These works were not only to have a profound influence on Roman poets, (most notably Virgil in his Epic Poem about the founding of Rome The Aeneid), but throughout the entire European Continent and it's respective History.

Greece is widely regarded to be the birthplace of theatre as well. Aeschylus introduced the ideas of dialogue and interacting characters to playwriting. In doing so, he essentially invented "drama": his Oresteia trilogy of plays is seen as his crowning achievement. Other refiners of playwriting were Sophocles and Euripides. Aristophanes, a comic playwright, defined and shaped the idea of comedy as a theatrical form, Herodotus and Thucydides are often credited with developing the modern study of history into a field worthy of philosophical, literary, and scientific pursuit. Polybius introduced into serious study, the ideas of Military History.

Philosophy entered literature in the dialogues of Plato, while his pupil Aristotle, in his work the Poetics, formulated the first set criteria for literary criticism. Both of these respective literary figures, along with several other Greek Philosophers of the Classical and Hellenistic periods were to give birth to idea of Political Science, the study of Political evolution and the critique of Governmental Systems.

Byzantine Greece
The growth of Christianity throughout the Greco-Roman world in the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, together with the Hellenization of the Byzantine Empire of the period, would lead to the formation of a unique style of Literature, combining Christian, Greek, Roman and Oriental (such as the Persian Empire) influences. This lead to such examples as Cretan Poetry, the growth of poetical satire in the Greek East and several great Historians of the period, most notably Procopius.

Modern Greece
Modern Greek Literature was born out of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the subsequent independence of Greece in 1831 - and as such, Greek Literature of the period is heavily influenced by revolutionary themes, although it is important to note the importance of The Greek Literature of the Enlightenment as well as the gradual shift towards the 11th Century of the Byzantine Empire of Acritic Songs and Romance.

Continuing into the Twentieth Century Modern Greek Literature includes the works of Giorgos Seferis (whose works and poems aimed to fuse the literature of Ancient and Modern Greece) and Odysseas Elytis, both of whom won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Nikos Kazantzakis is also a hugely important figure, with works such as The Last Temptation of Christ and Christ recrucified recieving universal praise. Vassilis Vassilikos is also widely translated.

Religion
Classical Greece
The pantheon of Classical Greece, originating from their forefather predecessors of Mycaenean Greece, certainly plays a role in the culture of Greece today, firstly due to copious ruins of Greek Temples that have shaped Greek Architecture and moreover, Greek people's perception of themselves, but also because there remain, according to Greek Interior Ministry figures, around 30,000 adherents of the old Greek religion living in Modern Greece today.

Modern Greece
The Greek Orthodox Church, largely due to the importance of Byzantium in Greek History, as well as its role in the revolution, is a highly popular institution in Modern Greece. Its roles in society and larger role in overarching Greek Culture are extremely important, the vast majority of Greeks attend Church at least once a month and the Eastern Orthodox holiday of Easter (different to Protestant and Catholic Easter), hold special significance. While Church leaders do not have the influence or popularity of say, Imams in many fundamentalist Muslim states, they still wield a relative amount of power through populism (most notably in certain members of the clergy's opposition to Turkey's accession) and the fact the Greek Constitution does not have an explicit seperation of Church and State.

Greek Orthodox Churches dot both the villages and towns of Greece and come in a variety of rich architectural styles. From older Byzantine churches, to more modern white brick churches, to newer Cathedral like Churches with evident Byzantine influence. Greece (as well as Cyprus), also polled as one of the most Religious countries in Europe according to Eurostat, and in many ways Greece remains relatively Conservative when compared to it's Western European counterparts.

Philosophy, science and mathematics
Greece is credited with the giving birth to Philosophy, as well as mapping out the Natural Sciences (most notably in Aristotle's works), and contributions to Mathematics well up until the decline of the Byzantine Empire.

Classical Greece
The tradition of philosophy in Ancient Greece also added to the literary works. Greek learning has had a profound influence on Western and Middle Eastern civilisation. The works of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek philosophers profoundly influenced Classical thought, the Islamic Golden Age, and the Renaissance.

In medicine, doctors still refer to the Hippocratic oath, instituted by Hippocrates, who is also credited with laying the foundations of medicine as a science. Galen built on Hippocrates' theory of the four humours, and his writings became the foundation of medicine in Europe and the Middle East for centuries. The Greek physicians Herophilos and Paulus Aegineta were pioneers in the study of anatomy, while Pedanius Dioscorides wrote an extensive treatise on the practice of pharmacology.

The period of Classical Greece (from 800BC until the rise of Macedon, a Greek state in the north) is the era usually associated with Greek advancements in Science. Thales of Miletus is regarded by many as the father of science; he was the first Greek philosopher to seek to explain the physical world in terms of natural rather than supernatural causes. Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician who is known as the "father of numbers"; it is believed that he had the pioneering insight into the numerical ratios that determine the musical scale, and the Pythagorean theorem is commonly attributed to him. Diophantus of Alexandria is sometimes called the "father of algebra", and much of modern geometry is based on the work of Euclid. Eratosthenes was one of the first scientific geographers, calculating the circumference of the earth and making the first maps based on scientific principles.

The Hellenistic period, following Alexander's conquests continued and built upon this knowledge. Hipparchus is considered to be the greatest astronomical observer of the ancient world, and was probably the first to develop an accurate method of predicting solar eclipses. Aristarchus of Samos was the first known astronomer to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system, though the geocentric model of Ptolemy was more commonly accepted until the seventeenth century. Ptolemy also contributed much to cartography and to the science of optics. Archimedes was the first to calculate the value of π and the first to calculate a geometric series; he also was the first mathematical physicist, discovered the law of buoyancy, and invented the irrigation device known as Archimedes' screw.

Byzantine Greece
The Byzantine period largely remained a period of preservation in terms of classical Greco-Roman texts, however, there were some significant advances made in the fields of Medicine and Historical Scholarship. Theological Philosophy (in reference to the 'Greek Fathers'), also remained an area of study, and there was, despite not matching the achievements of the preceding ages, a certain increase in the professionalism of the study of these subjects, epitomized in the founding of the University of Constantinople.

Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, the Architects of the famous Hagia Sophia in Constantinope also contributed towards Mathematical theories concerning Architecture and the percieved Mathematical harmony needed to create a multi-domed structure such as the Church mentioned. These ideas were to have a heavy influence on the likes of Sinan, an Ottoman Architect, in his creation of the Blue Mosque, also in Constantinople. Tralles inparticular wrote several treatises on the Natural Sciences, as well as other forays into Mathematics, inparticular, Conic Sections.

The gradual migration of Greeks from the Byzantine Empire to The Italian City States following the decline of the Byzantine Empire, and the subsequent texts they brought with them has also been credited as being a factor in creating the first sparks of the Renaissance.


Greek Scientist George Papanicolaou on U.S. postage stamp

Modern Greece
Greek contributions to science continue into modern times, for example Professor John H. Argyris, a Greek mathematician and engineer, is credited with the invention of finite element analysis and the direct stiffness method, relative to Physics. Mathematician Constantin Carathéodory worked in the fields of real analysis, the calculus of variations, and measure theory in the early 20th century, and more recently, is credited with assisting Albert Einstein in the Mathematical part of his Relativity Theory. Biologist Fotis Kafatos pioneers in the field of molecular cloning and genomics. In terms of Theoretical Physics Dr. Dimitris Nanopoulos is a noted theoretical physicist, having made significant contributions to the fields of particle physics and cosmology, and in the field of Medicine Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou contributed heavily to the development of Cancer screening with his Pap smear. The Greek car designer Alec Issigonis, is also credited with the development of the Mini.

Music

Classical Greece
The History of the Music of Greece begins with the Music of Ancient Greece, largely structured on the Lyre and other supporting String Instruments of the time. We know very little about Music at this time, but we do know that it had, like most of Greek Culture, a strong impact on the culture of Ancient Rome as well. What we do know about Ancient-Greek Music largely comes from pottery and other forms of Greek art.

Byzantine Greece
The Music of Greek Byzantium however, is incredibly important in the History of Music, as Liturgical Chants became the foundation and stepping stone for Music of the Renaissance (see: Renaissance Music). It is also beyond doubt that Byzantine music included a rich tradition of instrumental court music and dance. Any other picture would be both incongruous with the historically and archaeologically documented opulence of the Eastern Roman Empire. There survive a few but explicit accounts of secular music. A characteristic example are the accounts of pneumatic organs, whose construction was most advanced in the eastern empire prior to their development in the west after the Renaissance.

Modern Greece
When considering Modern Greek Music, there have been excellent composers and performers in all kinds of music but traditional Greek music is noted as a mixture of influences from indigenous Greek culture and Western and Middle Eastern cultures. Turkish and Ottoman elements can be most clearly heard in the traditional songs, dhimotiká, as well as the modern bluesy rembétika music. The best-known Greek musical instrument is the bouzouki. "Bouzouki" is a descriptive Turkish name, but the instrument is of Greek and not Turkish origin. It derives from the ancient Greek lute called pandoura, a kind of guitar, clearly visible in ancient Greek statues, especially female figurines of the "Tanagraies" playing cord instruments.

Famous present-day Greek musicians include Nikos Skalkottas, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Maria Callas, Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Vangelis, Demis Roussos, Nana Mouskouri, Rotting Christ etc.

Cuisine
Greek cuisine is often cited as an example of the healthy Mediterranean diet. The cuisine of Greece has influences from Italian, Balkan and Middle Eastern cuisine. Greek cuisine incorporates fresh ingredients into a variety of local dishes such as moussaka, stifado and spanakopita. Throughout Greece people often enjoy eating from small dishes such as meze with various dips such as tzatziki, grilled octopus and small fish, feta cheese, dolmades (rice, currants and pine kernels wrapped in vine leaves), various pulses, olives and cheese. Olive oil is added to almost every dish. Sweet desserts such as galaktoboureko, and drinks such as ouzo, metaxa and a variety of wines including retsina.

It must be noted however, that Greek cuisine difers widely from different parts of the mainland and from Island to Island. Cyprus inparticular, has many delicacies that are native to it alone, such as grilled Halloumi and Louvi.

Sports
Greek culture was and is more than cerebral. The Panhellenic Games and especially the Olympic Games originated in Greece in ancient times, centred around individual sports such as running, boxing, wrestling, chariot racing, long jump, javelin, and discus.

The first Modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896, and the Olympics returned to Athens for the 2004 Summer Olympics, making Athens the fourth city after Paris, London and Los Angeles to stage the modern Summer Olympics twice. Greece has been represented in every Summer Olympics, along with just four other countries, Australia, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland.

Football (soccer) is a popular sport in modern Greece. The Greece national football team unexpectedly won EURO 2004, beating the hosts, Portugal, in the final. Domestic football teams include AEK Athens, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and PAOK.

Basketball also enjoys great popularity in Greece. The Greece national basketball team, lead by legendary Nikos Galis, won the 1987 Eurobasket in Athens, against the Soviet Union. The team also won the 2005 Eurobasket in Belgrade against Germany. Domestic basketball teams have been important players in Euroleague: Panathinaikos has won the European Championship three times (1996, 2000, 2002) and the Intercontinental Cup in 1996 and Olympiakos won the European Championship in 1997. Also PAOK BC won the European Cupwinners Cup in 1991 and the Korac Cup in 1994.

Dress
The costumes of Greece are a beautiful part of a very rich cultural history. This is just a brief overview of the subject and will include only a few representative examples of some of the costumes that were worn traditionally by the Greek people. Some of the characteristics of Greek folk costumes can be traced back to elements in ancient Hellenic and Byzantine costumes. In fact, many of the elements of the liturgical clothing worn today by the Greek Orthodox priests are related to the modern Greek folk costumes and have their origin in the clothing of the Byzantine Empire.

There are some generalizations that can be made about the costumes and their styles and components. For example, the costumes of the mainland and of the islands are different, despite maintaining the standard Foustanella as it's basic clothing part. Furthermore, the costumes of each area tend to have several elements in common. As with the music and other folkloric traditions of the Greeks, although all of the elements of this part of Greek culture are similar, the smaller, individual regions share certain different individual aspects and features. All Greek costumes share similar materials, construction, parts, and designs, but the costumes in the local regions share other individual characteristics which are often very different from those of the costumes of other regions. For example, we can identify costumes as being from Epiros, or Mesogeia, or Makedonia; however, we can further narrow the identification of costumes to smaller areas within these broader geographical and cultural areas. We can even identify a costume's village based on individual features such as the shape of a costume part, or the colors or the embroidery designs used. This is also true with respect to the various costumes worn by the Greeks of the islands and in fact of all regions of Greece.

Education
Education in Greece is compulsory for all children 6-15 years old; namely, it includes Primary (Dimotiko) and Lower Secondary (Gymnasio) Education. The school life of the students, however, can start from the age of 2.5 years (pre-school education) in institutions (private and public) called "Vrefonipiakoi Paidikoi Stathmi" (creches). In some Vrefonipiakoi Stathmoi there are also Nipiaka Tmimata (nursery classes) which operate along with the Nipiagogeia (kindergartens).

Post-compulsory Secondary Education, according to the reform of 1997, consists of two school types: Eniaia Lykeia (Unified Upper Secondary Schools) and the Technical Vocational Educational Schools (TEE). Musical, Ecclesiastical and Physical Education Gymnasia and Lykeia are also in operation.

Post-compulsory Secondary Education also includes the Vocational Training Institutes (IEK) , which provide formal but unclassified level of education. These Institutes are not classified as an educational level, because they accept both Gymnasio (lower secondary school) and Lykeio (upper secondary school) graduates according to the relevant specializations they provide. Public higher education is divided into Universities and Technological Education Institutes (TEI). Students are admitted to these Institutes according to their performance at national level examinations taking place at the second and third grade of Lykeio. Additionally, students are admitted to the Hellenic Open University upon the completion of the 22 year of age by drawing lots.

The foremost topic of debate in recent years has been the fact Private universities are forbidden by the 1975 constitution. Numerous private institutions, often franchises of European and American universities such as the University of Indianapolis and the State University of New York, are operating as EES schools.

Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy), the Greek conservative right political party, has claimed that it will change the law so that private universities will be recognized. Without official recognition, students who have an EES degree are unable to work in the public sector. PASOK did taken some action after EU intervention, such as the creation of a special government agency which certifies the vocational status of certain EES degree holders, but not the academic status. The issue of full recognition is still a debate among Greek politicians.