Greeker than the Greeks

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Greeker Than The Greeks

Gemista -Tomatoes and Peppers Stuffed with Rice- Greek Style

Greek Cuisine

Greek Gemista – Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers

    You know summer’s arrived when Greeks start cooking stuffed vegetables! Gemista (Greek for filled), are summer vegetables, usually tomatoes and bell peppers but courgettes and aubergines are also firm favourites, stuffed with...

Utopia or Dystopia?

Greece: ancient and modern / Untranslatable Greek Words

Eutopia – Utopia – A Greek Neverland?

    The word Utopia; used to describe an imaginary island, a perfect world, was first used by Sir Thomas More, an English lawyer, writer and statesman, in his book “Utopia”, written in 1516....

Gorgon Medusa Mythical Greek Creature

Great Greek Lists / Greek Mythology

10 Feared Female Creatures of Greek Mythology

    Have you ever thought about why so many leading ladies in ancient Greek mythology are usually in the guise of wicked witches, devious femme fatales, evil goddesses and fearsome monsters?  I’m no...

The Ancient Greek Underworld

Greece: ancient and modern / Greek Mythology

The Ancient Greek Underworld

    The ancient Greeks believed that existence does not end with death; there is no death, only a transition from one state of being to another; every human died only to live again...

Greek Key or Meander motif

Greece: ancient and modern

Greek Key – Meander – Origins and Meanings

    More than likely we’ve all come across the “Greek key” also known as the “meander” (a repeating geometric motif) at some time or another. During 18th century Europe along with the rejuvenated...

Satyr and Nymph - Joao Werner – 2016

Greek Mythology

Satyrs and Nymphs – Pleasure Addicts of Ancient Greece

    Dedicated to my daughter Nais (Νάϊς)   If I begin by telling you that Satyriasis, the word for the uncontrollable desire in men, to have lots of physical pleasure, especially with different...

Roman mosaic of the birth of Dionysus.The House of Aion, Paphos, Cyprus..

Greek Mythology

Are the 12 Days of Dionysus the Ancient Greek Origins of Christmas?

    Could the twelve Days of Dionysus, a no-holds-barred celebration of the birth of the Greek god of wine and fertility, be the source of what we now know today as Christmas? Held...

Sirius - Dog Star - Brightest Star in the Sky

Greece: ancient and modern / Greek Mythology

Ancient Greece and Sirius – The Dog Star

    The ancient Greeks knew the star Canis Majoris by various names including: Sirius, derived from the Greek word Σείριος (Seirios), meaning glowing or scorching, Sothis (Σῶθις), which is also the Egyptian word for...

The siesta – Lawrence Alma-Tadema – 1868

Great Greek Lists / Greece: ancient and modern

The 10 Most Desirable Hetairai – Courtesans of Ancient Greece

    Hetairai (ancient Greek courtesans), the polite term for a ‘kept mistress’, were beautiful, sophisticated, educated and respected women who were, without a doubt, the most liberated women of ancient Greece. They were...

Secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries - The Way to the Afterlife

Greece: ancient and modern / Greek Customs traditions & celebrations

Secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries – The Way to the Afterlife

    Little to nothing is known about The Eleusinian Mysteries and probably never will be as nothing was ever written down. Participants of this member’s only cult were sworn to secrecy; to spill...