Greece(Hellenic Republic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZOLDAPTH_I&feature=related

Capital: Athens

Language: Greek

Population: 11.295.002

Area: 131.990 km²

Currency: Euro

Anthem: “Hymn to Liberty”

General Information

Geography

Located in southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula;Boarders with Albania, Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey;Surrounded by Aegean, Ionian and Mediterranean Sea;Has the longest coastline in the world;Vast number of Islands (the biggest one - Crete);80% of Greece = mountains; highest mountain - Mount Olympus;Some plains in the north = key economic regions - agriculture;

Climate

3 predominant types of climate:

‣ Mediterranean (mild winters and hot, dry summers);

‣ Alpine (cold, harsh, snowfalls)

‣ Temperate (cold, damp winters, hot summers with frequent thunderstorms)

History and PoliticsThe first area in Europe, where advanced civilisation emerged;

Greek city-states spread across the peninsula, to the Black Sea, South Italy and Asia Minor - prosperity, cultural boom and democracy of the classical Greece;

Athens and Sparta - the most developed;

Wars with the Persian empire; eventual victory under Alexander the Great;

Roman rule - mixture lead to the Byzantine empire;

Ottoman rule - from 1453 - the fall of Constantinople;

Segregation based on religion - formation of modern Greek identity;

Greek War of Independence - 1821-1829; 1830 - independence recognized;

Monarchy under Bavarian House of Wittelsbach; then replaced by George I of Denmark;

History and Politics cd.Conflict between the monarchy and the prime minister - two opposed groups;

After WWI - massive population exchange between Turkey and Greece;

1940 - Greco-Italian War; first victory of Allies over Axis forces on land;

Defeat to Germany - Battle of Greece;

Strong resistance;

After WWII - Civil war: Communist v. Anticommunist;

Political chaos - dismissal of the government, dictatorship, Turkish invasion;

Greece leaves NATO - protest against the Turkish occupation of Cyprus;

First multiparty elections - 1964;

Democratic and republican constitution, abolishment of the monarchy - 1975;

1980 - Greece rejoins NATO; 1981 - Greece joins the EU;

Recent economical crisis due to the post-2000s recession;

Politics

Parliamentary republic

Executive power:

Head of state: President of the republic, elected every 5 years;

Government with the Prime Minister;

Legislative power:

Unicameral Parliament (300 members) elected every 4 years;

Current president:Karolos Papoulias

Current PM:Georgios Papandreou

Culture

Culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, through Mycenaean and Minoan Civilisations, Classical Greece, Hellenistic Period, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire and Ottoman empire;

Philosphy

Most western philosophical traditions started in Greece in 6th century BC;

Thales of Miletus - all things come from water;Anaximander - all things come from “the indefinite”;Anaximenes - all things come from air;Pythagoras - rationalist;Heraclitus - “everything flows”;Socrates - founder of political philosophy, inspiration for his students;Plato - a student of Socrates, wrote down their dialogues;Aristotle - empirical and practical concerns;And many more...

LiteratureThe ancient:

Monumental works of Homer: The Iliad and The Odyssey;

Lyrical poetry, odes, pastorals, elegies;

Comedies: Aristophanes, Menander; Tragedies: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides;

Historical: Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch;

Scientific: Hippocrates, Erathostenes,

Philosophical: Plato, Aristotle, Socrates;

Old testament in Greek: Spetuagint;

The Byzantine:

multicultural as the empire itself;

Personal correspondence;

written in Latin;

Chronicles and Encyclopedias;

Literature cd.

Modern:

written in Modern Greek;

“Erotocritos” - masterpiece of the period;

Contemporary:

Giorgos Seferis - Nobel Price in Literature 1963

Oddyseus Elytis - Nobel Price in Literature 1979

Ancient Architecture

3 main orders/styles : Doric, Ionic, Corinthian;

Most of the best known surviving Greek buildings, such as Parthenon or the Temple of Hephaestus, are Doric;

The Erechtheum, next to Parthenon is, however, Jonic;

The Acropolis

The Parthenon

The Erechteum

The Temple of Athena Nike

The Propylaea

The Temple of Hera

Mythology

A body of myths concerning gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origin and the significance of the Greek culture and rituals;Gods

•Primordial gods and Titans

•Zeus and the Olympians

•Pan and the nymphs

•Apollo and Dionysus

•Sea-gods and Earth-gods• Heroes

•Heracles and his Labors

•Achilles and the Trojan War

•Odysseus and the Odyssey

•Jason and the Argonauts

•Perseus and Medusa/Gorgon

•Oedipus and Thebes

•Theseus and the Minotaur

Herakles Demeter and Metanira

TraditionsThe names day celebrations: Most of the Greeks owe their names to a religious saint. A very important Greek tradition that takes place in the entire Greece is that everyone who has a name coming from a saint celebrated by the church celebrates his name on a given day of the year. On the “name day” of someone, his friends and family visit him without invitation and offer their wishes (long life to you, live many years, etc…) as well as small presents. The hostess of the house offers pastries, sweets and hors d’oeuvres to the guests;

Carnival: In Greece, Carnival is called “Apokries”; it consists of two weeks of feast, beginning from the Sunday of Meat Fare and ends with the start of Lent, called “Clean Monday” (Kathari Deutera). Everyone is costumed and parties in the streets and bars, throwing coloured confetti to each other. The most famous Carnival parade takes place in the city of Patra, where everybody dances and drinks all night and day.

Marriage: In some parts of Greece, the bride has a dowry made by her mother, grandmothers and aunts, consisting of sheets, towels and hand made embroideries, and the father of the bride offers a furnished home to his daughter and son-in-law as a wedding gift.Today, in Athens and other big cities, the bride doesn’t have a dowry anymore.On the day of the wedding, the bride gets dressed, with the help of friends and women from her family, and is kept hidden, for it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony.During the wedding ceremony, the best men and best woman (koumbaro and koumbara) give the wedding rings to the priest and cross the crowns (stephana) over each other three times and then place them on the couple’s head. During the Isaiah dance (once the priest has declared them married), the guests throw rice and almond candy wrapped with tough white sugar (ta koufeta) to the new couple. After the ceremony, the bridal couple stays in the church and all the guests kiss them and wish them “na zisete” (long life to you). Then everybody goes to the wedding reception, which is usually a restaurant rented for the night, where they dance, eat and drink all night long.

After the reception the new couple leaves for its honeymoon.