Interesting Facts about Greece
Dear viewers, On this page we give the answers to the most common questions about ancient and modern Greece which our customers have asked us during our tours.
 Q
What happened when the ancient Greeks consulted the Oracle of Apollo
at Delphi?
A Those who wanted advice from the Oracle would be required to pay a levy and sacrifice an animal on the altar. A male priest would then put the petitioner's question to a priestess (pythia), whose trance-like reply would take the form of riddles. These riddles would then be interpreted by a priest in a manner that was still not straightforward, but open to a number of interpretations. 
Delphi |
Q Where did traditional Greek drama come from?
A
Greek drama developed in
the sixth century B.C. from ritual role playing during festivals of
Dionysus, the god of revelry and wine. At first, the participants
danced in groups and were often dressed as animals. Later, singing
and dancing choruses were joined by actors wearing masks with
exaggerated features to indicate the characters they were playing so
they could be clearly seen by everyone in the audience. The first
proper plays were tragedies in the form of episodes from myths and
epic poems. Comedy did not appear on the Greek stage until 480 B.C. |
Q What is the Parthenon and the Elgin Marbles?
A The temple of the
Parthenon occupies the highest point of the Acropolis (city on the
edge). It was dedicated to Athena. The word Parthenon comes from the
Greek word parthenos
meaning virgin. The Parthenon, which still stands today, was built
between 447 and 432 B.C. The sculptures which decorated it and the
ivory- golden statue of the goddess Athena were designed by the
greatest sculpture Pheidias.
Athens
THE ELGIN
MARBLES:
Many of the sculptures
from the Parthenon were taken to England by Lord Elgin (1806), the
British ambassador to the Ottoman court. He saw the sculptures when
he visited Athens and was granted permission to take most back to
England. They can be seen today in the British Museum. The Greek
have been fighting a long battle with the British to have them
returned to Athens.
Q What do we call Golden Age of Pericles?
A Pericles was born in about 495 B.C. and became the greatest statesman in Athenian history. He was a visionary, with an interest in the arts and sciences, who transformed the look of the city to such an extent that the period between 461 and 429 B.C. became to known as the Golden Age of Pericles. By 461 B.C. he had become the leader of a democratic party, and by 443 B.C. he was both ruler and military leader of Athens. Having transferred the Treasury to Athens from Delos, he persuaded the Athenians to invest in a program of building and rebuilding which brought together the best contemporary architects, sculptors, artists, scientists and builders. The results can still be seen today. Most notable are the buildings on top of the Acropolis, with the Parthenon representing Pericle's outstanding legacy.
Q Why is classical Greek architecture so widely admired?
A
State and religious
buildings in ancient Greece were designed and built with the express
intention of embodying perfect form and proportion. The degree of
success their architects achieved is illustrated by the fact that
their classical style has survived, has seldom fallen out of fashion
and has often dominated aesthetic taste. Superb examples were built
in Revolutionary France, Georgian England, the newly formed United
States and 19th C Athens, where Neoclassical architecture completely
dominated public building
|
Q When are the National / religious Holidays in Greece? Restaurants and tourist shops may well stay open on these days, but public
services, shops, museums and archaeological sites will be closed.
|
Q Where did the tradition of the Marathon run come from?
Q
Who were the seven wise men of antiquity?
A:
The seven wise men of antiquity who lived in
Greek territories in the 6th century BC and became known for their
social or political wisdom and prudence are:
Thalis
of Miletus, Pittacus
of Mytilene, Solon of Athens,
Bias of Priene,
Cleoboulos
of Rhodes, Chilon
of Sparta and Periander
of Corinth. |
|
Q What is the emblem of Athens Olympic games?A The Athens 2004 Olympic Games' emblem was an olive wreath - the "kotinos" with which the Olympic winner was crowned in classical times. It is a symbol linked with the Olympic ideals, peace and the city of Athens, whose sacred tree was the olive tree. Its circular shape projects universal meanings of the unity of the world, the circle of life and the link between time past and present |
Q What sports were contested in Athens 2004? A In Athens, athletes from nearly 200 countries competd in 28 sports in 296 events. The sports were: aquatics (diving, swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo) · archery · badminton · baseball · basketball · boxing · canoe-kayak · cycling · equestrian · fencing · field hockey · gymnastics · handball · judo · modern pentathlon · rowing · sailing · shooting · softball · soccer · table tennis · taekwondo · tennis · track and field · triathlon · volleyball · weightlifting · wrestling |
A. The opening
ceremony of the Olympic Games is marked with the arrival of the Olympic
Flame which is taken on every occasion from
Olympia (Era's
alter) Greece, the original site of the Olympic Games. The same year as
the Olympic Games, but at the end of March. Runners take it from Olympia
to the airport, on to the host country where runners take it from city
to city.
|
|
Q What time do Greeks eat?
A
Greeks tend to eat late, and
they seldom eat light. Restaurants are usually open from about noon
onwards for lunch and from 7 seven o'clock for supper, but that is
usually to catch the tourist trade. Owners know the Athenians will
not be out in force for some time. Many of the day's specials are
prepared in the morning or at lunchtime and a dish such as moussaka may
be served lukewarm rather than piping hot - but that is the Greek way.
Typical for this hedonistic city are late dinners at 9p.m. and nightclubs
that fill around midnight.
|
Q Who were the twelve gods of Olympus? A Aphrodite: The goddess of love and beauty. Apollo: The god of the sun, of music and of prophecy. The twin bother of Artemis and the son of Zeus and Leto. Ares: The god of war. Artemis: The goddess of the moon and of hunting. The twin sister of Apollo. Athena: The goddess of wisdom, believed to have sprung fully formed from the head of Zeus, armed and wearing her helmet. She is often depicted with an owl. Demeter: The goddess of the harvest and the mother of Persephone. Hestia: The goddess of the Hearth. Hephaestus: The god of fire and of the forge, and the husband of Aphrodite. Hera: The queen of the gods wife of Zeus and mother of Hephaestus. Hermes: The messenger of the gods. Depicted with winged sandals or a winged cap. Poseidon: The god of the sea, represented by a trident. Zeus: The lord of the gods. |
Q What about modern Greece?
Greece
lies at the southeast end of Europe. Its land mass (50 944sq miles) is
punctuated by mountains, fragmented by the sea and skirted by a very
long broken coastline. The country's most distinctive characteristic is
its many islands: between Thassos and Crete (600km/373ml) there are 427
islands, of which 134 are inhabited. Modern Greece is divided into nine
regions which are sub-divided into departments (nomi). The total
population is about 11.000.000.
Historical Notes:
Greece under Roman occupation from 146 B C. - Greece under the
Byzantines.
After the division of ad 395 the territory of the Eastern Roman
Empire comprised the Balkans, present- day Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt.
Although Latin was soon replaced as the official language by Greek., the
language of the Church and the Near East. The Byzantine Empire developed
into a Greek Christian theocratic state, in which the Emperor and the
Patriarch were interdependent (symbolised by two- headed eagle, the
emblem of the Empire). Greece under the Franks (13c-15c).
Greece under the Turks (15c-19c).
The conquest of Greece by the Turks, which began the capture of the
Balkan territories followed by Constantinople, the capital of the
Byzantine Empire, in 1453 by Sultan Mehment II.
1821 Started the Independence war against Ottoman Empire.
In 1827 the UK, Russia and France decided to intervene to enforce an
armistice '' without however taking any part in the hostilities''. The
allied fleet went to parley with the Turkish fleet anchored off Pylos
Pylos
in Navarino Bay and ended up destroying it. In October 1828 a French
military expedition was dispatched under General Maison, which drove out
the Turks while the Russians threatened Constantinople. The Treaty of
Adrianople in 1829 accorded autonomy to Greece, its independent status
was recognised by the Great Powers in 1830. 1830
Independent Greek State established under the
treaty of London.
1863 The Ionian islands, became part of
Greece. 1881 Greece recovered Thessaly from the Turks.
1882-1893 Building of the Corinth canal. 1912-1913
Balkan War. Macedonia and Epiros liberated from the Turks by the Greek
army under Venizelos. Crete became part of Greece. 1914-1919
First World War. Greece brought into the war by Venizelos on the side of
the allies. Thrace and Smyrna awarded to Greece in 1919. 1919-1922
Great Catastrophe. New conflict with the Turks, resulting in 1.500.000
Greeks fleeing from Asia Minor to Europe 1940 28th of October,
the beginning of the Second World War. 1941-1944
German occupation. 1945-1949 Civil War.
1967-1974
Dictatorship
1981
Accession of Greece to the European Union.2001
Full member of European Union
What about the Macedonian
Issue ?: The Ancient Macedonians
(Greek:
Μακεδόνες, Makedónes) were an ancient tribe which inhabited the
alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axius, north of the Mount
Olympus in Greece.
Historians generally agree that the ancient Macedonians, whether they
originally spoke a Greek dialect or a distinct language, came to belong to the
Koine Greek speaking population in Hellenistic times. The Macedonian Royal
family known as the Argead dynasty claimed ultimate Greek descent from Argos and
Macedonians since Alexander I, were admitted in the
Ancient Olympic Games, an athletic event in which only people of Greek
origin participated.
Following the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, most of its European held territories were divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. The territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia was then named Južna Srbija, "Southern Serbia". After the First World War, Serbia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1929, the Kingdom was officially renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and divided into provinces called banovinas. Southern Serbia (Vardar Macedonia), including all of what is now the Republic of Macedonia, became known as the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
The lands governed by the Republic of Slavic Macedonia were previously the southernmost part of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. Its current borders were fixed shortly after World War II when the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia declared the People's Republic of Macedonia as a separate nation within Yugoslavia. After the end of the Second World War, when Tito became Yugoslavia's president, the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was established. The People's Republic of Macedonia became one of the six republics of the Yugoslav federation. Following the federation's renaming as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963, the People's Republic of Macedonia was likewise renamed, becoming the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. It dropped the "Socialist" from its name in 1991 when it peacefully seceded from Yugoslavia.
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece.
Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region. Together with
the regions of Thrace and—sometimes—Thessaly, it is often referred to informally
as northern Greece. Its territory covers most of the region of ancient
Macedon and most of the Kingdom of Macedon, famously ruled by Alexander the
Great. The name "Macedonia" was later applied to various areas in the Roman and
Byzantine Empires with widely differing borders. By the 19th century, Macedonia
had become defined as a distinct geographical, rather than political, region in
the southern Balkans. It was ruled by the Ottoman Empire at the time but was
divided by the Treaty of Bucharest of 1913, following the Ottoman defeat in the
Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania each took control
of portions of the territory, with Greece obtaining the largest portion. Greek
Macedonia covers 52.4% of the area and contains 52.9% of the population of
geographical Macedonia.
|
Famous Macedonia is a song, often
regarded as the unofficial anthem of the Greek region of Macedonia
Famous Macedonia |
You were and you'll be Greek, the very Pride of Greeks, and we, the Sons of Greece plait you a crown!! Macedonians cannot |
 |
| The Vergina Sun, Star of Vergina or Argead Star is the name given to a symbol of a stylized star or sun with sixteen rays. It was unearthed in 1977 during archaeological excavations in Vergina, in the northern Greek province of Macedonia, by Professor Manolis Andronikos. He discovered it on a golden larnax in the tombs of the kings of the ancient kingdom of Macedon. |  |
 |
| The symbol was discovered in the Greek region of Macedonia and Greeks regard it as an exclusively Greek symbol, unrelated to Slavic cultures and it is copyrighted under WIPO as a State Emblem of Greece. The Vergina sun on a red field was the first flag of the independent Republic of Slavic Macedonia, until it was removed from the state flag under an agreement reached between the Republic of Slavic Macedonia and Greece in September 1995. | Nevertheless, the Vergina sun is still used unofficially as a national symbol by some groups in the country along with the new state flag. The Greek government and many Greek people, especially Greek Macedonians, saw it as the misappropriation of a Hellenic symbol and a direct claim on the legacy of Philip II. A Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman said in January 1995 that "the symbol is Greek and has been stolen." |
 |
Nationalists on both sides subsequently associated the symbol with the (much later) Star of Bethlehem and have argued that their respective communities have used the symbol for sacred purposes before the Vergina discovery. The Greek position on the symbol has been supported by some abroad, such as the former United States Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, who reportedly told a questioner: I believe that Greece is right to object and I agree with Athens. The reason is that I know history, which is not the case with most of the others, including most of the Government and Administration in Washington. The strength of the Greek case is that of the history which I must say that Athens has not used so far with success. |
Copyright © 1999/2011 www.toursingreece.gr All rights reserved. Send us an e-mail.
A
In 490 B.C., the Greeks were facing invasion by
Darius the Great King of Persia, whose warships landed in the bay of
