Why Greeks are...Greeks
This is a comment that I got today from Konstantinos on my previous post "A tale of two cities or why Greeks are Europe's biggest suckers" of March 25. I copied and pasted it without changing a bit. I believe it is by far the best comment I ever got since I started this blog. I hope it will stir up a new dialogue over Greek identity in the 21st century. Enjoy...
"Konstantinos said...
Sitting in front of my pc drinking slowly my frappe coffee, smoking my cigarette and reading your comments about this post which to tell you the truth is a bit offensive and inaccurate is stimulating. Some took the chance to prove that we are rude and primitive like the first guy while others are trying to explain why Greeks are...Greeks and all the others are not!! Well here is my opinion for whatever its worth.
Being a Greek is something very...weird. You feel proud and embarrassed, humiliated and divine at the same time. You have so many things to support and so many that you d rather never knew about. You feel blessed and cursed. You have so many things to show to the world but you don’t want to just because you think you might lose it. It s in our DNA i guess to be loud and rude and selfish, not organized not good team mates and always looking how to get away with it. I know that s the way it is and even though i consider my self to be educated, i think that the day that Greeks start to think differently they will no longer be Greeks.
I don’t know if that’s sad but i don’t know if its not either. Most probably we are talking about a miracle here surviving for so many years. Of course there s no relationship with the ancient Greeks whatsoever but this legacy is our burden and pride.If you are trying to find excuses for not being as advanced as other countries in Europe you ll find plenty but instead try to look at the facts that left us behind. The only way to understand is to read and educate yourself. And most important read things that you might not like or agree with. I guess that’s what being open minded is all about.
There are really so many things to write about history of Greece which (lets be honest) affects today the mentality of the modern Greeks. There is not a single event that created all these but the whole package from the 5th century onwards. And it s not only the events that took place in Greece but throughout Europe that affected this small country that used to be the greatest of the world. I suppose we had our time and our chance. And we can be proud of what these guys that were speaking the language that I do (more or less), left to the world even if the modern Greeks are no match to them whatsoever.
Politics, wars, disasters you name it. Still that’s a common thing all over the world. What s in our DNA cant change. And i mean people all over the world. If you see someone dancing in a night club all night long drinking and smoking singing as loud as he can and return home early in the morning you ll never believe that his a German or a Dutch. Not because they don’t know how to have fun but because they have the reputation of being very strict concentrated and serious. You ll probably think his Italian Greek or even Irish. Why? Is it our reputation that defines our DNA or vice versa?
Living away from Greece and in one of the most beautiful cities in the world according to some sort of statistics is really something that can improve your way of living. Still this madness of Athens amazes me. You can find everything you want anytime you want wherever you want. They wont tell you at 17:45 that they re closed for lunch and will reopen at 6 for dinner so you cant eat yet. You wont go round and round trying to find something open after 22:00.You wont see speed limit signs where cameras are near and ‘run as fast as you can and kill yourself’ signs where there are no cameras around.
Bottom line...From my experience you cant win. Whether you live in Athens or Lisbon or i don’t now where you will always want the things you can’t have. Things that you can have in some other places on this small planet. And that s certainly in our DNA... Greeks and non Greeks."
"Konstantinos said...
Sitting in front of my pc drinking slowly my frappe coffee, smoking my cigarette and reading your comments about this post which to tell you the truth is a bit offensive and inaccurate is stimulating. Some took the chance to prove that we are rude and primitive like the first guy while others are trying to explain why Greeks are...Greeks and all the others are not!! Well here is my opinion for whatever its worth.
Being a Greek is something very...weird. You feel proud and embarrassed, humiliated and divine at the same time. You have so many things to support and so many that you d rather never knew about. You feel blessed and cursed. You have so many things to show to the world but you don’t want to just because you think you might lose it. It s in our DNA i guess to be loud and rude and selfish, not organized not good team mates and always looking how to get away with it. I know that s the way it is and even though i consider my self to be educated, i think that the day that Greeks start to think differently they will no longer be Greeks.
I don’t know if that’s sad but i don’t know if its not either. Most probably we are talking about a miracle here surviving for so many years. Of course there s no relationship with the ancient Greeks whatsoever but this legacy is our burden and pride.If you are trying to find excuses for not being as advanced as other countries in Europe you ll find plenty but instead try to look at the facts that left us behind. The only way to understand is to read and educate yourself. And most important read things that you might not like or agree with. I guess that’s what being open minded is all about.
There are really so many things to write about history of Greece which (lets be honest) affects today the mentality of the modern Greeks. There is not a single event that created all these but the whole package from the 5th century onwards. And it s not only the events that took place in Greece but throughout Europe that affected this small country that used to be the greatest of the world. I suppose we had our time and our chance. And we can be proud of what these guys that were speaking the language that I do (more or less), left to the world even if the modern Greeks are no match to them whatsoever.
Politics, wars, disasters you name it. Still that’s a common thing all over the world. What s in our DNA cant change. And i mean people all over the world. If you see someone dancing in a night club all night long drinking and smoking singing as loud as he can and return home early in the morning you ll never believe that his a German or a Dutch. Not because they don’t know how to have fun but because they have the reputation of being very strict concentrated and serious. You ll probably think his Italian Greek or even Irish. Why? Is it our reputation that defines our DNA or vice versa?
Living away from Greece and in one of the most beautiful cities in the world according to some sort of statistics is really something that can improve your way of living. Still this madness of Athens amazes me. You can find everything you want anytime you want wherever you want. They wont tell you at 17:45 that they re closed for lunch and will reopen at 6 for dinner so you cant eat yet. You wont go round and round trying to find something open after 22:00.You wont see speed limit signs where cameras are near and ‘run as fast as you can and kill yourself’ signs where there are no cameras around.
Bottom line...From my experience you cant win. Whether you live in Athens or Lisbon or i don’t now where you will always want the things you can’t have. Things that you can have in some other places on this small planet. And that s certainly in our DNA... Greeks and non Greeks."
posted by OnCulture.eu at 7:21 AM
2 Comments:
Small general comment: I believe that the meaning of the word pride, or being proud is the reason behind a lot of wrong things happening in this planet. Why be proud about anything? Just be happy about it, and share it if you can.
http://dienekes.angeltowns.net/articles/fallmerayer/index.html
http://dienekes.angeltowns.net/articles/greeknry/
http://dienekes.angeltowns.net/articles/hellenes/
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