The Greek nose is a characteristic feature of ancient Greek statues. Modern Greeks against the backdrop of the European Union: The whole truth about the Greek character

It is well known that the Greeks, like any southern people, are loud, good-natured, quick-tempered and hospitable. To be convinced of this, it is enough to spend a vacation in Greece. The overall picture of the collapse of the Greek economy brought into the list of their traits such characteristics as negligence and cunning. Do they have a right to exist? Two weeks spent in Greece is not enough to answer this question. But you can try to analyze the experience of several years.

Walking down the street you see more than one Greek sitting at a table with a cigarette and a glass of frappe, with or without company. Relaxing, peaceful picture. An outside observer will say: an inert person, apart from this chair and a glass of coffee, he doesn’t need anything else. What a deceptive impression! If things had been like this, the Greek nation would still have been under the Turkish yoke. You could drink coffee with them too. Get up from your chair, start a rebellion? Why such difficulties?

However, not so long ago (a little over a hundred years ago), after a long and bloody war for independence, the Turks were expelled forever, and Greece began to write its modern history.

Modern Greeks like to express their love of freedom in a special way: strikes and demonstrations. Take away the right to strike from the Greeks and you take away their soul. Regular strikes accompanied by demonstrations are like earthquakes in a zone of high seismic activity: the more often, the better, as long as there is no serious damage. The Greek people must constantly release accumulated tension and discontent, otherwise the resulting blood clot can lead to unpredictable and terrible consequences. Chaining the Greeks is very, very dangerous - just ask the Turks.

Modern Greeks like to express their love of freedom in a special way.

Are Greeks hardworking? Probably no less than any other European people. Like big children, the Greeks love to complain a little to their neighbor about their difficult life, the large number of working hours or the low salary, but all these conversations end with one phrase: “Dulya na ehi!” “If only there was work!” A strange slogan for a lazy nation, isn't it? If there was work, the rest would be bearable. The harsh justice of this phrase makes further complaints impossible, the conversation stops, and everyone returns to their business.

Young people here get used to earning pocket money from adolescence: it is rare that someone did not undergo an internship as a waiter or bartender during their student years. Often such a position is then retained for many years as a second profession - if the first does not bring in sufficient income. But no one perceives this state of affairs as tragic; on the contrary, sociable Greeks quickly create their own microclimate in such an establishment and will not part with their favorite cafe, even if they have to work in it for free.

If we are to tell the truth about the Greek character, then it is worth mentioning such a phenomenon as Greek punctuality and commitment.

Young people in Greece get used to earning pocket money from adolescence: it’s rare that someone did not undergo an internship as a waiter or bartender during their student years.

It’s customary here to arrive on time only for appointments with the dentist and real estate agent - otherwise you’ll go back without a bite to eat. In all other cases, being on time means not respecting yourself. If you have agreed to meet a Greek there in so many minutes, calmly double the agreed upon time interval - and everything will be fine. If you arrived at the indicated hour, and your opponent, smiling from ear to ear, appeared at the door half an hour later, it is better not to show him your dissatisfaction: you will only achieve that the smile on his face will be replaced by surprise and misunderstanding, and he will will forever consider you petty. You weren’t waiting for him on the street in the bitter cold, that’s a great thing.

Greek obligatoryness is a no less sensitive issue. "Let's do it!" - the house manager, mechanic, electrician, salesman and builder will assure you. But, as you know, they have been waiting for three years for what was promised. Wanting to influence the conscience of your debtor and being a silent reproach in his eyes, you will achieve little; you are unlikely to even be able to ruin your relationship with him. You will be greeted by the same open arms and joyful exclamation as before, as well as the assurance that he was literally dialing your number right now. The phrase “I remember you!” is very popular. This will be followed by coffee, a detailed conversation about life and a promise to resolve your issue “next week.”

The Greeks develop a sense of patriotism from childhood.

Softened and reassured, you leave with a vague feeling that you have been left in the cold, and this is true: the next week, as a rule, never comes. Having made a similar promenade with the same result N number of times, you eventually lose your temper and use shouting and threats to achieve results. Is it any wonder that the Greeks themselves begin to shout in advance, sometimes simply for preventive purposes?

It is customary here to arrive on time only for appointments with the dentist and the real estate agent - otherwise you will go back without a bite to eat.

How paradoxical, incomprehensible and at the same time wonderful that these same people, seeing a person in difficulty, will do everything they can for him, and even more - and will never put their merits on his line. Unselfishness and an open soul are the engines that will make a Greek give you his shirt off his back. If later you decide to thank him, the Greek will be sincerely surprised: just think! How not to help, we are people. It would be logical to expect a similar attitude towards yourself - but you won’t be nice by force.

It is impossible to complete our essay without mentioning another feature of the Hellenes - Greek patriotism. Who doesn't have it, you say? So remember how many times did you raise the flag of your country at school? And Greek children - every morning. Their school day begins with this activity, coupled with morning prayer. Service in the army gives young Greeks a feeling of legitimate pride, and the Greeks will tear their throats for their national team in any stadium.

Whatever they think and say about them in the notorious European Union and beyond, the words, like empty water, will flow down from the Olympic peaks, without stopping there and leaving no trace.

The men of Greece are known throughout the world for their mesmerizing voices and bodies of ancient gods. The iodine-filled sea air of this country with an abundance of seafood affected the temperament of Greek men. Lovers of Hellas have repeatedly taken first place in male sexuality ratings.

Mentality

The mentality of the Greeks inherited features that are clearly manifested in the legendary myths of Ancient Greece. They are romantic, conquest-minded and open-minded.

Since Greece lives off the tourism business, it is full of Russian travelers. An often observed picture is how, among flirting Greek men, cold women from the Russian north, underestimated by their compatriots, reveal themselves to be seductresses and insidious beauties.

Advantages

There are also similarities with the Russian mentality. Representatives of this country are mostly Orthodox Christians and have a warm attitude towards Russians, they are hospitable and friendly. They have a simple worldview and enjoy everything they do. Their peculiarity is the ability to live “here and now”, to abstract from everything that causes despondency and melancholy. Even a broke Greek man who has just been laid off from his job can go out and have fun with a noisy crowd, and that’s par for the course here.

The widespread laziness in this country is pure myth. In their free time from holidays, the heirs of Hellas are hardworking. Often workdays begin at 5 am. Greek men often support the entire family themselves, taking on all the traditional male responsibilities; their wives do not work. This is especially true for men of high status - such people always have non-working wives who take care of the house and children.

The crisis situation in the country has changed somewhat. Then the female part of the population went to work during the most difficult periods of time.

The emotionality of any Greek stands out as a separate point. Sometimes you can see two men quarreling to the death, but in reality they are just peacefully discussing the weather. With increased emotional intelligence due to the constant expression of their own feelings, Greeks are very attentive interlocutors. Being in harmony with their own inner world, they have the ability to subtly feel the people around them and their emotions. So, in a conversation with them, it may seem that they are listening so carefully, as if with their whole body. The Greek's gaze will only go to the side if something extremely wrong is happening. Well, either an interesting representative of the opposite sex is passing by. The immersion in their own inner world of fishermen from Greece was glorified and became legendary. This is not surprising: only people with such a developed emotional sphere can go into such deep, attractive reverie with the same dedication with which they indulge in all kinds of feelings.

Key to the Heart

At the deepest levels of his subconscious, every Greek considers himself the heir of the gods and the rightful owner of the planet. At least the owner of shares in it. Therefore, a characteristic male trait - the need to be a patron - is especially strongly developed among Greek men. At the genetic level, he strives to teach, and his spirit comes to life when such an opportunity is given to him. Conversely, he feels unhappy when he feels that no one needs his experience.

The Greek man strives to become a mentor, and something masterful often slips into his approach. This manifests itself in relationships with the entire world around us. He can start teaching his interlocutor anything, even if he doesn’t understand it. And since the male sex of this nation simply adores women and communication with them at any age, this happens very, very often. Even a gray-haired Greek will not miss the opportunity to gaze at any representative of the fair sex for a long time, smacking her lips after her. And you need to be prepared for this, you need to understand what is really behind it. This feature hides a curious key to the male heart of any Greek. After all, he may suddenly discover a woman, next to whom Zeus, the patron of the whole world, will wake up in him.

Flaws

The Greeks do not always keep their promises. A certain carelessness in this matter is a characteristic feature of the whole nation. These people simply live for today and are careless about the future. They are serene and philosophically calm in matters of life.

Nevertheless, the Greek nation loves prosperity. Any holiday is spent in grand style. It is considered normal to waste your entire month's income on one party. A Greek man will feed the entire bar at his own expense, order wine and a sea of ​​snacks, and never mind waking up tomorrow with empty pockets. After all, his generosity will remain in the memory of the participants for a long time. And a Greek will never hold his head when remembering the money spent; the past and future are not as important to him as a specific moment, the emotions from which will warm him for some time.

Going to restaurants is almost the main expense item in the life of any representative of this nation. There are dozens of taverns in every locality. Sometimes it seems there are thousands of them, and this is a clear overkill per capita of the local population. However, they all turn out to be full in the evening. The Greeks do not like to gather in their homes as much as in taverns. Stuffy establishments are often literally packed, but this does not bother anyone. To an unaccustomed person it will probably be unclear where the place to rest in such conditions is. However, such evenings, taking place in an atmosphere of emotional friendship, are a favorite place for Greeks to hide from current problems. Greeks never spare money for food. However, until recently, average salaries allowed regular visits to taverns with tables filled with delicious snacks.

It is possible that such national traits led to a huge default in Greece. The Greeks simply continued to live, allowing themselves things beyond their means, without thinking about important steps to equalize the economy. And at the same moment, the way they appreciate every moment cannot help but draw attention to these people who love life.

Gender relations

The Greek people are distinguished by sensuality. Even people of high status have only apparent restraint. This is not surprising given the fact that from childhood everyone in the country was brought up not on classic cartoons, but on very adulterous myths.

Hence the desire to touch upon the most intimate topics in communication. Shameless stories, when and how much, are decorated with expressive details. One should not be surprised at the prevalence of such intimate conversations in Greek circles. They were never Puritans.

It is common for married, handsome Greek men to try to seduce any member of the fair sex. Fleeting romances often develop. Unlike the situation in our country, this does not usually lead to a split in relationships with wives. Husbands, entering into fleeting relationships, add spice to everyday life, but do not divorce their wives. Greek wives are usually quite confident, like queens in a beehive. They will only casually dismiss adultery and say that the poor husband is incapable of saying no to a cat.

And often wives behave similar to There are sayings in Greek society in the style of “Cuckold your husband and do not resort to witchcraft and potions.” This is often the Greek scenario for a happy, full-of-well-being family. Usually, the more prone a wife is to infidelity, the less her husband suspects her of cheating.

Since ancient times, Greek society, even in patriarchal foundations, observed the relative equality of the sexes. The entire female population of Hellas received education. Girls and boys were taught reading and writing equally in the same schools.

Attitude to sex

The approach of southerners in this area is very different from that of residents of northern latitudes. This fully extended to the emotional Greeks. They treat the sphere of human sexuality in a special way. Strict concepts of sin have not reached here, and sex is not considered forbidden or immoral. The Greeks say: “If God wanted people not to make love without the goal of procreation, he would have made their physiology similar to animals - estrus strictly once a year.” No moral teachings of the church were able to suppress their healthy attitude towards their own bodies and natural gender relations.

Sinfulness generally failed to take deep roots in the culture of Hellas. They never had such “living in sin” concepts. Thus, female representatives do not change their surnames when they get married. The children have the choice of any surname. It’s not immediately clear whether the couple is scheduled. Regardless of marital status, a man and a woman are called “husband” and “wife.” In Greek these words have the same meaning.

Greek appearance

Greek men's faces have the large, broad-boned features characteristic of the nation. The Greeks are stocky, their bodies are characterized by increased hairiness and dark skin.

All representatives of the nation are distinguished by the depth of their eyes and thick hair. The typical Greek appearance of a man is broad-shouldered, stocky, highly sexual and aware of his worth. All Greeks are proud of their origin, everyone considers themselves almost a direct descendant of Zeus himself.

The standard Greek profile of men in this country deserves special attention. The classical understanding of beauty is associated precisely with the national traits of the Greeks. The standard Greek nose for men is absolutely straight, with a smooth line running from the forehead. There is practically no depression on the bridge of the nose, there is only a barely noticeable bend. The world-famous Greek nose in men is reflected in all ancient frescoes and sculptures. The gods were then believed to have such features of appearance.

Greek style of clothing for men

Design motifs from ancient Hellas, the land of the gods of Olympus, are still echoed in the latest collections of fashion designers. Since ancient times, the Greek nation has glorified the beauty of the human body. There was a real cult of good physical shape. The clothing of this country emphasized the exciting curves of the figure of both sexes, although bright colors were not typical for it.

The silhouette-lengthening robes often resembled majestic white temples with their strict outlines. Greek clothing for men was spacious - these were capes, cloaks, and under them - loose pants with shirts. However, these days no one wears such things anymore, they are inconvenient and impractical. Modern Greek men wear European-style clothing. Although many people wear national costumes to ancient Greek festivals.

Even with the hot climate inherent in the country, they have always been multi-layered and voluminous. There were always many folds in them where bladed weapons were hidden. The Greeks were in constant wars throughout their history, instantly transforming from peaceful peasants into brave armed partisans.

The most handsome Greek men

Men of this nationality are recognized throughout the world as the most beautiful on the planet. Italians and Latin Americans gave laurels of superiority to their male beauty. They are the most sought after in the male modeling business. It is enough to look at the photos of Greek men with the standard appearance of this ancient nation to personally see the validity of such judgments.

Names

The distant ancestors of modern representatives of this nation gave the world many sonorous names. Ancient traditions are still preserved in the country. Thus, sons are never named after their father. However, it is very common to name children after grandmothers, uncles, and so on. The classic names of Greek men, now common throughout Greece, will be very familiar to the Russian ear.

Older generation

Representatives of the Greek nation generally respect old age. There are much more pensioners in the country than in Russia. Their faces are usually filled with serene calm and peace so that it becomes clear that they are getting a well-deserved rest. Life expectancy in Greece is also high - it reaches 80 years. Having a Mediterranean climate, healthy food, sunshine and a relaxed attitude to life obviously does the trick. There is a lot to learn from them.

The mother has the main unquestioned authority in the family; she actually personifies Hera along with Athena. Family ties are very strong. Thus, weekly lunches with mothers are traditional. Their sons are devoted to them all their lives, fulfill all their requests, and listen to their advice. It is clear that the search for a bride is carried out by the Greeks with a focus on the qualities that the mother demonstrated. Most often, families are created at the age of 30. The Greeks do not deny themselves the pleasure of living a happy, free youth and having fun.

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Customs and traditions in Greece. Character of the Greeks

Greek culture goes back thousands of years and is deservedly considered one of the most original and ancient in the world! Greece, Great Hellas, is a country that gave the world the Olympic Games and philosophy, democracy and classical architecture, one of the most widespread writing systems and a rich literature that spread its influence throughout Europe and half of Asia. Ancient Greece truly made the greatest contribution to the culture and development of human society, and it cannot be underestimated.

We are all, a little bit, Greek. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our art - everything has its roots in Greece. However, in reality, modern Greece now has very little in common with Ancient Hellas, and these days it is heavily mythologized. Let's try to figure out how modern Greeks live now and how they differ from us.

Greek mentality

The Greeks, according to an international study, are the most insecure nation in the world. Hiding behind the facade of external dignity, they try to hide their doubts, their insecurities by any means. They are afraid that they will be considered not serious enough, and the more shortcomings they find in themselves, the more pompous and serious they try to seem.

The Greeks are a huge tangle of contradictions. They are happy to criticize other Greeks for minor offenses, but if someone from another nation even slightly doubts that the Greeks are the salt of the earth, then this stranger will not be happy! The Greeks would attack him, blaming him for all the sins his country had committed against Greece since the dawn of civilization, and maybe even earlier. Modern Greeks, although they cannot boast of even a hundredth of the achievements of their ancestors, were nevertheless able to go through the 400-year Turkish occupation, one of the most brutal in history, practically keeping their identity, religion, customs and language intact, and are extremely proud of their country and its achievements. The very word “Turk” makes the hair on end of the most cosmopolitan Greek stand on end, even though the object of their hatred is Türkiye , as a concept, and not individual Turks.

But, there is also the other side of the coin. Living in a country that has lost more than three-quarters of its former territory and which is constantly on the verge of bankruptcy, they are burdened with a huge inferiority complex in relation to the ancient and Byzantine Greeks, because they failed to revive the “Magna Graecia” of their forefathers. Deep down, they would welcome any opportunity to retake their "lost homeland", no matter the cost. And since the Turks, in turn, dream of reviving the Ottoman Empire, relations between these nations are very, very strained.

With the exception of the Turks, the Greeks bear no ill feelings towards any other nations. True, they do not particularly favor the Bulgarians, nor do they burn with love for the Albanians, who managed to profit from the Greek civil war and drag the region of Northern Epirus with half a million Greeks inhabiting it behind the communist “iron curtain”.

The Greeks have a difficult relationship with each other. The Cretans ridicule the Peloponnesians, the Macedonians ridicule the Roumeliots, the inhabitants of Epirus ridicule the Thessalians, the islanders ridicule the inhabitants of mainland Greece, the Athenians ridicule everyone else, and so on until the whole country is covered. And in case it is necessary to question the mental abilities of any people, the Greeks have Pontian Greeks (immigrants from cities on the Black Sea coast). In general, there are a huge number of different jokes and anecdotes about them, for example: an announcement at the airport: “We ask the Pontians not to scatter grain along the runway. “Big Bird” will fly in anyway.” And the Greek gypsies are a favorite subject of jokes, because of their penchant for theft, obsessive trading of all unnecessary little things, countless children and unimaginable dirt.

In fact, all Greeks have a dual nature. They are the smartest, but also the most vain people, energetic, but also disorganized, with a sense of humor, but full of prejudices, hot-headed, impatient, but true fighters... One minute they fight for the truth, but the other is to hate the one who refuses to lie. They are half good - half bad, fickle, with changing moods, self-centered, eccentric and wise people. IN Georgia The Greeks are called “berdznebi” (“sages”), and Greece is called “saberdzeneti”, that is, “land of the sages.” In different strata of society one can find Alexander the Great - noble, brave, intelligent, broad-minded, sincere, warm-hearted and generous, and Karagöz - low, treacherous, selfish, talkative, vain, lazy, envious and greedy - often in the same the same person.

The Greeks have a special relationship with the government. It is well known that most nations have the government they deserve. This couldn’t be more true of the Greeks. Their successive governments - regardless of political color - usually exhibit the same shortcomings as the average Greek. Despite their undoubted intelligence, the Greeks are a very gullible people, especially when some charismatic politician tells them what they want to hear. They are ready to follow him until the moment when bitter disappointment sets in. When, of course, nothing works out for a politician, the Greeks begin to become mischievous and vote for his resignation.

Bureaucracy in Greece has been elevated to the level of an art - the art of turning citizens into enemies. In any given ministry or government institution there is some distant relative, a godfather, a godfather or a friend of an acquaintance. He can speed up the process, sometimes as a favor, and sometimes for an appropriate bribe. A Greek who has managed, in one way or another, to become a government official, in nine cases out of ten does not consider himself a servant of society. He becomes a kind of little dictator who is afraid to make any decisions on his own, but takes pleasure in tormenting the unfortunate petitioners. Even getting a small certificate turns into a real operation, which will take several hours or even days, since you have to deal with at least half a dozen officials, which you need to walk through to get a signature from one, a stamp from another, a visa from third and so on.

Greek character

Greece in Greek is Hellas, and the Greeks are Hellenes and Hellenids (as they call themselves). The Greeks are people of the Mediterranean, with a mild climate, caressed by the rays of the sun all year round. Like all residents of other countries around the Mediterranean Sea, they are never in a hurry, do not stress at work, do not try to “jump in over their heads,” try in every possible way to evade “duties” and, in general, live for the present day. At the same time, they manage not to cross the lines of outright laziness and idleness. The spirit of competition is absolutely alien to the Greeks.

They nurture their over-inflated egos, and cherish an extreme passion for freedom of choice - which makes them completely impervious to understanding the words "discipline", "coordination" or "system". In interpreting the word “freedom” in their own way, the Greeks often confuse good manners with the servile obedience that they were forced to learn under the Turkish yoke in order to survive. They believe that politeness is only for slaves.

“I” is the favorite word of the Greeks. Absolutely every Greek considers himself the center of the universe. With all this, the southern temperament can be traced very clearly in the character of the Greeks. The Greeks are cheerful, have a wonderful sense of humor and do everything they like with amazing passion - they have fun and sadness, talk and dance, argue and even pray. Self-control, although invented by the ancient Spartans, is not only unknown to modern Greeks, but also completely incomprehensible to them. The Greeks give full vent to their emotions, and... don't care about the consequences! They shout, scream, burst into pompous tirades, furiously curse fate in the same way, about important and not very important circumstances. No feeling is too personal to remain unexpressed. Their passions know no bounds.

Such rampant incontinence often results in a burning need to express oneself in some physical form. The brightest facet of the Greek character can be observed in dancing. All over the world people dance when they are happy. The Greeks, on the other hand, tend to pour out their deepest pain and heartache in a heart-rending, majestic dance rhythm.

The most significant Greek dance is... “sirtaki”. This is the same dance that no holiday is complete without, and which has long become the hallmark of the country. Despite the fact that it itself is very young (“the classic” version of sirtaki was invented, literally, in a few minutes by Mikis Theodorakis for the Hollywood film Jeremy Arnold “Zorba the Greek”, in 1964), it absorbed many dance elements truly folk dances of the country - Cretan “pidikhtos” and “sirtos”, Athenian “Hasapiko”, island “Nafpiko”, continental “zeybekiko” and dozens of others. And the Greeks themselves, without regard for tourists, dance the same ancient folk dances, simply calling them “sirtaki” - for brevity and clarity to outsiders. By the way, here you can easily see the same “sirtaki” at a youth disco, or completely unimaginable dance variations at any wedding, or, which is not uncommon, at a funeral. At the same time, equally ancient musical instruments are used - the indispensable bouzouki (another calling card of the country, also revived from oblivion by the composer Mikis Theodorakis), lute, lyre, reed flute, bagpipes, mandolin and others. And the most favorite dance of the Greeks is no, not sirtaki, but zeybekiko, similar to the dance of a drunken sailor. Performed, as a rule, by one man. The audience sits in a circle and applauds. One got tired, the next one entered the circle, and so on.

But let’s not forget about the dual nature of the Greeks. The heat of the Greek temperament is organically combined with the ice of the well-known indifference of the Greeks to everything related to the improvement of public life or to any worthy cause that will not bring them personal benefit.

Greeks move and drive in an aggressive manner, and their actions are completely free from any concern for the well-being and peace of mind of others. Don't expect them to say "thank you" and "please", and don't expect Greeks to remain calm in a crisis.

A Greek cannot talk if his hands are full, he is a quiet Greek - one who can be heard no further than the next street. Two Greeks talking amicably sound like they are ready to kill each other. Greeks proclaim their views not only in countless coffee shops, but also on the streets, on buses or in minibuses. The Greeks love to listen to themselves, and when they are carried away by their own rhetoric, wild exaggerations and sweeping generalizations can easily mislead. In Greece, during a conversation, it is not customary to take your eyes off your interlocutor. If a Greek “broadcasts into space,” you can be sure that the conversation is about something not very important and the interlocutor is clearly bored.

Greece has its own code of honor, and it is called “filotimo”. This literally means generosity, and hospitality, and respect for others (especially elders), love of freedom, personal pride, dignity, courage, of course - a sense of humor and a dozen other concepts. The most prominent philosophers of the country (both modern and ancient) have more than once turned to the description of the various components of “philotimo”. Lies, non-repayment of debt, failure to fulfill promises - all this can become an indelible stain for life, therefore, many Greeks try to avoid such “offences”, at least in relation to their loved ones and friends. In relation to “strangers”, petty cunning or dishonesty is “as if tolerated.”

Intoxication and appearing drunk in a public place in Greece is regarded as an inability to control oneself, and is by no means encouraged. Therefore, a Greek will never insist on “one more” at the table - the sense of proportion and the art of wine drinking have been elevated to a cult here since ancient times! Nobody dreams of a reputation as a drunkard in this country, and any bad act in a drunken stupor can ruin a person’s whole life.

In provincial towns, even on the streets, everyone greets everyone, and often more than once a day. Handshakes are just for getting to know each other: friends say to each other “Yia sou!” and kiss on both cheeks, regardless of gender and age. Bowing and kissing hands are reserved for priests of the Greek Orthodox Church.

There are legends about the non-pontuality of the Greeks. There is only the concept of “approximate time” here, since the Greeks treat all time frames very loosely. Even the Greeks have their own concept of the time of day - morning here is all that is before 12:00 (that is why the greetings “kalimera” and “kalispera” have quite clear boundaries), “after lunch” comes no earlier than 17:00 - 18: 00, although the Greeks actually have lunch much earlier! In Greece, dinner begins no earlier than 21:00, and the “evening” lasts long after midnight. The schedule of most means of transport here is such a conditional concept that the mark “12:00” will most likely mean “somewhere from 11:00 to 13:00”, and “after 15:00” and even “or will come or not.” Local flights are also not known for their punctuality, and although international flights depart and arrive more or less on time, people make jokes about the Greek national airline, for example: The plane is about to land in New York, and the pilot asks the dispatcher about the local time . “If you are Delta,” he answers, “the time is fourteen zero-zero, if you are Air France, it is two o’clock, and if you are Olympic Airways, today is Tuesday.”

No other country in the world can boast so many different types of coffee shops, cafes, cafeterias, taverns, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and bouzouki venues - all of which are crowded with visitors seven days a week. Throughout the country you will not find a city square that on a sunny day would not be filled with tables and chairs, lounging on which, the majority of the country's population while away the time in idleness, as if tomorrow would never come. And Greeks also love coffee. With ice.

Eating out is a favorite pastime for Greeks, especially if the restaurant they choose has a show or live music. The Greek idea of ​​the best way to spend an evening is to sit down at a tavern table, preferably with two or three married couples (sometimes with children), then they begin to eat excessively, drink moderately and talk a lot until late into the night. , while children have fun pulling street cats by the tails, or simply fall asleep from fatigue on chairs. Greeks are not aggressive. There are almost no fights in bars. At most, they will shout and wave their hands, after a while they will calm down and communicate as if nothing had happened.

The Greeks not only produce a lot of tobacco - they also smoke a lot of it. Smoking is seen as a sign of "modernity", and given the famous Greek indulgence, it is already difficult for adults to break an established habit. At the same time, the total life expectancy of Greeks is about 79 years for men, and women live slightly longer - up to 82 years.

Greeks don't like to work. Greece has 12 official holidays, plus 22 working days of paid leave. And also weekends, sick leave, mandatory various strikes - all this allows an enterprising Greek, for about six months, to do what he loves most in the world - that is, do nothing. As a result, during the two weeks around Christmas and during the Easter holidays, as well as during the two hottest summer months - July and August - life in the country literally comes to a standstill.

None of the Greeks consider themselves a sinner, everyone is convinced that when they die they will go to heaven, everyone believes in an afterlife (moreover, in a good and comfortable life). When they die, Greeks rest in marble graves topped with large white marble crosses. Three years after burial, the bones are dug up and placed in family tombs, thus solving the problem of overcrowding in cemeteries. Flowers, fresh or artificial, and constantly burning oil lamps in intricate glass lanterns are standard decorations for graves.

Greek Hospitality

"Xenos" in Greek means both "foreigner" and "guest". Already in the time of Homer, hospitality in Greece was not only a kind of ritual, with a slight religious overtones, but also turned into a form of art. The Greeks were the world's first "xenophiles" - that is, they loved friendly strangers.

The Greeks are incredibly hospitable people. They love guests very much and love to visit themselves. For a Greek, a guest is something sacred. Unlike many neighboring countries, in Greece it is customary to receive guests in your own home, and not in a cafe or restaurant, although the latter is not uncommon.

Receiving guests is associated with an endless series of customs and rituals. Well, for example, the Greeks, based on the character of the first guest, judge what the day, week or year will be like: if a calm person comes, that means there will be a quiet period, noisy and fiery, that means everything will be fun, and so on.

If you decide to come as a guest to a Greek home, nothing is impossible. You will become an ideal guest if you follow a minimum number of simple rules. For example, you should not cross the threshold of a house with your right foot (especially in the provinces they pay attention to this), you should wish something good to the whole house and its owners at the entrance, bring a small gift with you, and, of course, behave with dignity at the table . Flowers, sweets or wine are perfect gifts, and remember, in Greece it is not customary to open gifts in front of guests.

Be sure to praise the hostess or cook - for a Greek, a person who knows how to cook deliciously is often almost a saint, therefore, any praise addressed to them will be received with special enthusiasm. The main thing here is not to overdo it! Everything else is quite European.

A Greek feast is always a feast and a whole set of various traditional elements that a foreigner still won’t remember the first time. The presentation of dishes, their order and selection - all this has its own meaning and significance for a Greek. Often lunch or dinner is quickly moved or even initially organized in the fresh air - in the yard, on the veranda. You must be prepared that as the feast progresses, more and more guests will join - both invited and those who “dropped in for a sneak peek.” Therefore, for almost half of the evening you will have to greet and get to know someone. So don’t be surprised if, when you visit a Greek friend, by the end of the evening you will have met half the village! It’s the custom here, they know everything about everyone and communicate often.

The table manners of the Greeks leave much to be desired. Elbows scurry back and forth, hitting neighboring plates; your neighbor may run into your shoulder in an unequal struggle with a stubborn piece of meat. People reach into shared dishes with appetizers and salads with their fingers and dip individual pieces of bread into the common sauce. At the same time, everyone is chatting and chewing without closing their mouths. But they more than compensate for their “manners” with a good mood and lively sociability.

Greeks often like to organize a feast in a restaurant or tavern. Sometimes it seems that all Greek men do is sit in cafes and drink. In fact, this is not entirely true: Greeks often drop into such establishments, but rarely stay there for a long time, only in the evenings noisy groups of friends and acquaintances gather here. Any cafe is a meeting place, a point for exchanging news and settling matters, and only then an establishment where you can drink and sit. This is the main place where any Greek man learns the latest gossip, meets business partners, friends and relatives, often receives guests or celebrates festive events. As a rule, if a Greek invites someone to dinner, he pays the bill. It is wrong to offer to contribute to the payment of the bill, since for a local resident the inability to pay his bill is humiliating. It is interesting that Greeks almost always pay bills in a tavern or restaurant only in cash. By the way, the word “symposium” translated from ancient Greek means “drinking together.”

Many tourists in Greece note the inattention of waiters to a lonely visitor. This is not due to their laziness or unwillingness to serve you, but precisely to the tradition of this country of visiting taverns in large groups. The Greeks believe that if one person is sitting at a table, then he is simply waiting for company - then the menu and everything else will be offered, but for now it is simply pointless to waste time and effort on it. However, the natural slowness of the Greeks still takes place here.

As in all Mediterranean countries, the ritual of siesta, or afternoon rest, is sacredly observed in Greece. From 14:00 - 15:00 to 17:00 - 18:00, some establishments simply do not work, and those that are open clearly have a reduced staff. During these hours it is not customary to make appointments, make phone calls, or simply make noise.

Greek language

For centuries, Greek was the lingua franca of the ancient world in the Mediterranean region. It was the language of culture and trade. No educated Roman could do without the Greek language, and therefore, thousands of words penetrated into Latin and from there passed into modern European languages. In the English language alone, about a third of the total vocabulary is either words of Greek origin or transcriptions from Greek. In addition to medical, scientific and literary terms, as well as hundreds of names of plants, animals and chemical elements, words of Greek origin in modern language are represented in the range from “auto” to “iamb”.

Modern Greek (or modern Greek) is actually quite different from ancient Greek, and has undergone major changes over the centuries. The Greeks are very proud of their language (Greeks, in general, are proud of everything Greek), characterizing this by the fact that they speak the language of Homer, but in fact, modern Greeks would not be able to understand Homer. The thing is that in the modern Greek language there are many more Slavic or Turkish word forms than ancient ones. In addition, different local dialects are used in different regions of Greece, for example: “Sfakia” - in Crete, “Tsakonika” - in the east and center of the Peloponnese, “Sarakitsani” - in the mountainous regions, Vlachian - in the northwestern regions, etc. Further. In addition to territorial affiliation, the dialects of the Modern Greek language should also be distinguished by ethnic groups, for example: “Romaniote” (“Greek Yiddish”), “Arvanitika” (Albanian), Macedonian, Rumean and Pontic (the languages ​​of the Greeks of the Black Sea region, which returned in the 90s to their historical homeland), Pomak (Bulgarian, with an admixture of Turkish words), Cypriot, Gypsy, Turkish and so on. And it cannot be otherwise, in this historical cauldron, from time immemorial, too many nationalities have been “cooked”.

The Greek language, in general, is very beautiful, too exotic and soft for prim Europe. And not at all easy to learn. Additional difficulties in the perception of this beautiful language are its division into 2 separate branches: the “pure” (“kafarevusu”) form of Modern Greek until the beginning of the 20th century, and the simpler one – “demotics” (colloquial version). “Demotics”, which absorbed many colloquial words and borrowings from Italian, Turkish and Slavic languages, served as the basis of the modern language. However, in the second half of the twentieth century, an intensified revival of “kafarevusa” began, so to speak, the artificial cleansing of the Greek language from foreign words, which gave rise to considerable problems. “Demotics”, however, has retained its folk basis and is used in schools, on radio, television and in most newspapers. However, the church and jurisprudence still use their forms of “kafarevusa”, which can already be safely considered independent dialects, since many Greek emigrants do not understand them.

Greek grammar is quite complex: nouns are divided into three genders, all with different singular and plural endings. All adjectives and verbs must agree with nouns in gender and number. In general, Greek, according to its rules, is very similar to the Russian language, and this similarity only complicates auditory perception.

Accepted forms of Greek greeting: “kyrie” - “lord”, “kyrie” - “lady”. Depending on the time of day, the greetings “kalimera” (“good morning”, “good afternoon”) and “calispera” (“good evening”) are used. Thank you sounds like "efcharisto" in Greek. You should know that “ne” in Greek means “yes”, and “no” means “ohi”. They also shake their heads incorrectly. When answering in the negative, the Greek slightly nods his head from bottom to top (as we mean “yes”), and not from side to side (in this case he wants to show that he does not understand). A wave with an outstretched palm in the interlocutor's face means an extreme degree of indignation, a rotation of the palm means surprise, and so on. And in general, the gestures and body language of local residents are sometimes no less expressive than speech, therefore, body language here is considered a very important component of conversation. But the meaning of many of them, at times, is very different from those accepted in our country.

The Greeks themselves are very respectful of foreigners’ attempts to learn at least a few words in Greek. Tourists who know a few Greek words automatically move from the category of idle visitor (“turistas”) to the more “noble” category of guest (“xenos” or “xeni”).

Religion of Greece

Religion occupied an important place in ancient Greek culture. However, unlike the Egyptians, the Greeks dressed their gods in human clothing. It was important for them to enjoy life. The Greeks imagined that from chaos the earth, darkness, night were born, and then light, ether, day, sky, sea and other great forces of nature. From heaven and earth the older generation of gods was born, and from them Zeus and the other Olympian gods. Sacrifices were made to the Olympian gods. It was believed that gods, like people, needed food. The Greeks also believed that the shadows of the dead needed food, and tried to feed them. Each temple had its own priest, and the main temples had an oracle. He predicted the future or reported what the Olympian gods said.

Chronologically, the emergence of Christianity can be dated back to the middle of the 2nd century AD. From the ashes of the Greco-Roman pantheon, a more mature idea of ​​monotheism arose, moreover, the idea of ​​a god-man who accepted martyrdom for the sake of our salvation. Due to the official non-recognition of Christianity at the very beginning of its existence, adherents of the new faith were forced to gather secretly. Over the course of a thousand years, Christianity has evolved from scattered underground societies to one of the most important forces influencing the development of civilizations.

By the 8th century, the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople began to argue over many issues relating to religion. One of the many differences of opinion is the celibacy of the clergy (priests in Rome must remain celibate, whereas an Orthodox priest can marry before his ordination). Also, there are some differences in the food during fasting or in the wording of some prayers. Disputes and objections between the spiritual leaders of Orthodoxy and Catholicism became increasingly intense, and in 1054 the Patriarch and the Pope finally parted ways with each other. The Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church have each taken their own path of development: this division is called heresy. Today, Orthodoxy is the national religion of Greece.

All Greeks are Orthodox. Moreover, this is a terribly religious nation. The role of the Orthodox Church in the life of the average Greek is difficult to overestimate. The Greek Orthodox Church is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch and, according to the constitution, the church is separated from the state, however, at least half of the priests' salaries are paid by the state. The priest is a highly respected person in the local community; most Greeks cannot imagine a wedding or funeral ceremony without a church, and there is nothing to say about baptism or Easter. In Greece there is a law allowing civil marriage, and it has been in effect since 1982, however, until now, 95% of couples get married in a church. There are always images hanging in every home, and they can be seen in almost all offices, shops, and even on buses or taxis. In many schools, the school year begins with the blessing of the priest, and in some they also teach the Law of God.

In every Greek family, church customs and sacraments are strictly observed, which are taken very seriously. The most common time to attend services is Sunday. When passing or driving past churches, every Greek believer is sure to cross himself. Such major religious holidays as Christmas, Epiphany and Easter turn into mass festivities in Greece.

Each city, commune, trading community or church has “its own Saint” and a special feast day in his honor, which usually turns into a “panigiri” - a religious and cultural festival in which various church services, banquets, music and dance performances are held . Most Greeks do not celebrate their birthday, but the day of “their” Saint, in honor of whom they were named, certainly does. Greek ingenuity even brought into the ranks of the Saints pagan gods, like Dionysus or the ancient philosophers Socrates and Plato, and therefore there are many reasons for celebrations here.

The religion of Greece is present in many different aspects of Greek society. The Orthodox Church also influences some political issues and every time a new decision is made that does not satisfy the Orthodox leaders, it is always accompanied by disapproval from church representatives.

What about Orthodoxy? Greece is one of the recognized world centers of monastic life. Only in this country (and nowhere else in the world) does there exist a separate theocratic male state of Athos, where only men live (women can never (!) set foot on this land - those who disobey face a long prison sentence) and only monks (although not all are Greek by origin). Also, one of the cult places of Greece is the famous Meteora monasteries, built on rocks.

Despite their incredible piety, the Greeks are also incredibly superstitious people. In Greece, everyone believes in the power of the evil eye; you will not meet a child who would not wear, as an amulet, a turquoise bead, sometimes with an eye drawn on it. For the same reason, turquoise beads adorn the necks of horses and donkeys in villages. A Greek would never dare to praise someone's elegance and beauty, especially children, without spitting three times and knocking on wood. This is done to ward off the envy of the gods when you praise someone. It is considered bad luck not to offer something to drink to anyone who comes to their house, regardless of the time of day. On the Saturday before Easter, a plate will definitely be broken “for good luck” (this symbolizes the rejection of death), and the same ritual will be performed at the wedding. And the sacrifice of a lamb is an integral part of many Christian holidays in the country, just as it was many centuries ago, in the times of completely different gods. However, what else can you expect in a country where the Parthenon still stands and Olympus rises, and almost a third of the mountains and valleys bear the names of ancient gods.

Greek clothing

The fashion and clothing of Ancient Greece were distinguished by five features: regularity, organization, proportionality, symmetry, and expediency. In ancient culture, the human body was first viewed as a mirror reflecting the unity and perfection of the world. Even during the archaic period, Greek women's clothing was distinguished by its slender lines created by flowing fabrics.

In the classical era, clothing emphasized the beauty of the female body, ennobled by softly falling
fabrics, through which they are slightly outlined, and when moving, its forms clearly appear. In Ancient Greece, the fabric was not sewn, but only gathered vertically into folds that resembled the flutes of Greek columns. The organization or structure of clothing was dictated, on the one hand, by the material, and on the other, by the fashion of that era: the dress was not cut according to the canons of that time. The symmetry of the dress was determined not only by the rectangular piece of material from which it was made, but the clothing was entirely subordinate to the natural lines of the human body and highlighted them favorably.

The quadrangular woolen garment was the same for both men and women, but as men's clothing it was called hlena, and as women's clothing it was called peplos. It was wrapped around the body and secured at the shoulders with hairpins. This was the so-called Dorian clothing, created according to a completely original principle - without cutting and sewing. This principle can be considered the discovery of ancient Hellenic culture. This is probably the most ancient type of Greek dress, and since it was made of wool, it was very heavy. Under the hlena, men wore a narrow apron tied around their hips. Only a thin linen, which replaced wool, can make clothes graceful and light.

Women's clothing was much more varied and colorful than men's. Its main types were also chiton and himation, but besides them there were others. A chiton with a lapel was a rectangular piece of fabric 60 - 70 cm larger than human height, sewn in the longitudinal direction. Its upper edge was bent back by 50 - 60 cm, then fastened with buckles - brooches on the shoulders, slightly draping the front part. At the fastening points, the lapel was draped with several folds. The chiton was girded with a belt, distributing its entire width in even soft folds around the figure or only in the center of the front and back.

The diploidium (the lapel of the chiton) was the subject of special care and dandy for Greek women; it was often decorated with embroidery, and in the Hellenistic era it was made of fabric of a different color. The length of the diploid could be different: up to the chest, hips, knees. The loose tails and draperies of the diploidium gave greater picturesqueness to the costume, and the relationship of its main parts (diploidium, colpos and the lower part of the chiton) created excellent proportions, giving the figure greater harmony.

Complex hairstyles, decorated with gold nets and tiaras, were worn mainly by hetaeras. Respectable mothers of noble families, busy with housework, adhered to ancient customs: their appearance was distinguished by restraint and modesty. Greek women rarely wore hats, covering themselves in bad weather with the upper edge of a himation or chlamys.

The ancient Greeks walked barefoot at home and put on shoes only before going outside. Most often, they wore ipodimata - sandals that consisted of a sole (leather or wood) and several straps with which the sole was tied to the foot. If small bumpers were sewn to the sole, a different type of shoe was obtained – crepides. They were also held on the leg with the help of straps, which were threaded through holes made in the sides, and criss-crossed the foot to the ankle. In addition to sandals, the ancient Greeks wore soft leather ankle boots (persikai), as well as high leather or felt boots - endromids, which covered the leg at the back and were tied in front with complex lacing. The toes, however, remained open. Women's shoes, in principle, differed little from men's, but were more elegant. It was painted in bright colors (yellow, red and others), sometimes even silvered or plated with gold. But, this all happened before, but what now?

Modern Greeks are among the tidiest inhabitants of the Mediterranean. For a Greek, sloppiness in clothing or appearance is a sign of poverty, not “advancement.” Neither men nor, especially women, skimp on clothes here. Noticeably inferior to their Italian neighbors in terms of general living standards, the Greeks spend almost the same amount on clothes as the famous “fashionistas of Europe”. In the street crowd you can meet people dressed “according to a template”; in fact, the Greeks very clearly distinguish between clothes “for work” and “for themselves”. They try to dress simply, comfortably and somewhat conservatively.

With all this, the Greeks are very protective of their traditions. The Greek folk costume is a richly ornamented shirt, an embroidered vest, a black skirt with a bright apron or a red scarf with pendants, which can be seen at holidays just as often as a three-piece suit or a business dress. Even the guards of honor at national shrines do not stand in full army uniform, but in traditional skirts, vests, tight pants and “slippers with pom-poms” - such is the great respect of local residents for their history and traditions.

Greek attitude towards money

The Greeks have a very unique attitude towards money. It’s probably not in vain that Greece is known as one of the “poorest countries in the European Union” in terms of per capita income. The Greeks “don’t try to make money.” They will never strain beyond measure to earn money with their own labor, but they will take a million tricks to do this without extra effort.

The cherished dream of every modern Greek is to get rich as quickly as possible, preferably without lifting a finger. For many Greeks, buying a lottery ticket is a habit like reading the morning newspaper, and once they buy a ticket, they begin to daydream about what they will do with all the money they win. The day of the draw (and, accordingly, disappointment) comes, and everything starts all over again - they buy new tickets and start dreaming again. Equally popular are game shows, which, with prizes ranging from toasters to cars, quench the Greeks' thirst for easy riches.

A Greek needs money to spend it, moreover, for show, so that everyone will notice - on sports cars, dazzling jewelry (real, of course), clothes from famous couturiers, fur coats, country houses and baskets of flowers. Everything else - a successful career, a successful marriage, a family - comes in second place.

They want to have a good time and live for their own pleasure here and now, and let tomorrow go to the devil! A Greek can waste a month's salary on one single feast and spend the remaining time before payday penniless, but with a satisfied grin on his face. The Greeks manage to have fun even in situations that plunge other peoples into deep despondency. Their unbridled optimism is expressed in the common phrase “God willing!” and in the well-known “maybe” concept. It is much more important for them to show the very fact of having money than to actually have it. The broad soul of the local residents does not allow them to put themselves at the service of money, rather the opposite. Neither education, nor upbringing, nor wealth creates a person in Greece, and their absence does not create a scoundrel.

However, some Greeks in business have achieved notable success - especially those Greeks who live abroad: there are a surprising number of Greeks on the list of the 100 richest people on the planet. Basically, these are people who believe in free trade, in fair deals and keep their word. When abroad, Greeks adhere to the business ethics of the host country. In Greece itself, they demonstrate all the national character traits: they can be lazy, indecisive, careless, irritatingly inept. Apparently the climate of Greece absolutely does not suit people to work...

Greek society is, at its core, a male-ruled society, but there are also quite a few women in high positions. They succeed in their careers without using or sacrificing their femininity. However, sexual harassment in the workplace is rare. Since most positions are obtained through personal recommendations from friends or relatives, no one wants to risk their job. You can throw bait, but if they don’t bite it, well, no complaints.

Big Greek wedding

The god of marriage in Ancient Greece was Hymen, hence the name of wedding songs - Hymen. The young prayed to Aphrodite - the goddess of love, Artemis - for procreation, Athena, so that she would give the spouses worldly wisdom, Hera and Zeus, who took the newlyweds under their protection. According to statistics, the age of first marriage in Greece is 27 years for girls and 31 years for men.

A Greek wedding is an event that will be remembered for a lifetime. A wedding day is a whirlwind of ancient traditions and rituals, and the sacred ceremony is full of symbolism and mystery. The wedding is usually preceded by an engagement - a tradition in which the groom asks for the hand of the bride's father, and having received consent, invites the priest to seal the “agreement of intent”: to bless the wedding rings and place them on the ring fingers of the left hands of the engaged couple. Guests invited to celebrate the engagement wish the couple a happy wedding.

Preparations for a wedding in modern Greece can begin on Sunday, a week before the wedding. On this day, the groom sends henna to the bride. Preparations for the wedding begin on Monday. The bride, with the help of her bridesmaids, dyes her hair with henna received from the groom, at which time a special song is sung.

Two days before the wedding, representatives of two families gather in the bride’s father’s house to look at the dowry and evaluate the wedding attire. Unmarried bridesmaids make her bed, throw rice, rose petals, money on her, thereby wishing her a happy and prosperous life. Babies are also placed on the bed to ensure fertility for the couple. If a boy is born, then the first one in the new family is expected to be a boy, if a girl is expected, then a girl is expected.

Greeks celebrate weddings for three whole days, usually starting on Saturday and ending on Monday. On the first day, family and friends begin to have fun, on Sunday the ceremony and wedding itself take place, and on Monday, according to Greek tradition, the bride will be obliged to show everyone her marital devotion and ability to run a household.

On the wedding day, the bride and groom each dress in their own home. Tradition requires that the bride be dressed by unmarried bridesmaids, and the groom shaved and dressed by his friends. On the sole of her shoe, the bride writes the names of her unmarried girlfriends - the one whose name is erased first will soon get married. Before leaving her father's house, the bride dances a farewell dance with her father. An important moment of the ceremony is the bride leaving the house. She must pretend in every possible way that she is resisting, that she is being taken away by force.

Finally, the groom leads the bride out, both holding the ends of the same scarf. The bride says goodbye to her family and is given a glass of wine. She takes three sips and throws it back over her shoulder. When getting into the car, the bride should not look back or return for a forgotten item - this is considered a bad omen, and the groom should not see the bride or her dress before church. The newlyweds go to get married in church, although sometimes the wedding takes place in the usual Politikogamo - in our opinion, the registry office. “A wedding without a church and a wedding is not a wedding for the Greeks.” In Greece it is customary to get engaged. People very rarely get married without getting engaged. When getting engaged, the rings are put on the left hand, and when getting married, the rings are removed from the left hand and put on the right.

The bride is brought to the groom, who is waiting at the entrance to the church decorated for the occasion, by her father or brother. The Greek wedding ceremony is in many ways similar to the wedding in the Russian Orthodox Church. The ceremony begins when the bride and groom are given white candles, symbolizing the couple's readiness to accept Christ. Then, the exchange of rings follows, and this procedure, like many others, is performed by the Greek best man - kumbaros.

After the prayers, the wedding takes place: the heads of the bride and groom are covered with thin crowns called stephana, connected by a white silk ribbon and blessed by the priest. The crowns symbolize the glory and honor bestowed upon the couple by God, while the ribbon symbolizes unity. After reading the Gospel (about the marriage in Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle by turning water into wine), the couple is served wine in a common cup, from which the bride and groom drink three times.

In Greece, the cost of the bride's decoration, including her underwear, rests solely with the mother-in-law. The groom's best friend plays a special role in wedding expenses. The cost of wedding paraphernalia, as well as the wedding ceremony in the church, is paid by the groom's best friend.

After the wedding, the celebration itself will begin with the presentation of gifts, a feast, music and dancing. The wedding feast lasts almost the entire night. At a Greek wedding, they always break the dish on the floor for good luck. It is customary to throw money at musicians so that the young people have money. Another custom is to secure a lot of money during the wedding reception on the bride, and sometimes on both newlyweds. Guests provide money for this.

The wedding dance of the newlyweds is an integral part of almost any wedding. At Greek weddings
the newlyweds begin to dance together, and then the guests join them, forming a circle (traditional Greek dance). Greek weddings are characterized by a large number of joint, friendly dances in a circle, with guests placing their hands on each other’s shoulders.

Well, of course, all Greek weddings are distinguished by a large number of guests. All relatives, close friends and even people they barely know are invited to a wedding in Greece. At least 400 guests come to the wedding, and you can never fully know how many people will come, because the invited guests can easily take 10 - 15 more people with them, and this is considered normal. Average weddings are attended by 700 - 800 people. Especially important Greek families can have up to 2,000 people at their wedding!!!

Greek family

Greek family ties are so strong that you can often find three or even four generations living in the same house, or at least close enough to literally shout at each other. In rural areas, grandparents live with their children and care for their grandchildren. In cities, the picture is closer to the pan-European one, but even here it is simply impossible to imagine a Greek family without numerous relatives visiting each other every day or living nearby. Even after children grow up and begin to live their own lives, they will certainly return to their parents, at least on vacation or holidays, which is generally not typical for European society.

But the Greeks are not real Europeans. More precisely, they are different. Greeks feel a strong attachment to their native village, district or region. Community, albeit informal, is a very important factor here. Well, if among fellow countrymen there are relatives, even distant ones, then the Greek’s joy will never end. At the same time, most Greeks, even those who moved to the cities long ago, try to preserve their own land and house in the countryside - some for recreation, others as a dacha or summer house. In the event of any problems, the Greeks, first of all, turn to loved ones for help and only then to some government or financial authorities.

Respect for elders is undeniable. The elders are the first to enter the room, the first to sit at the table, preside over all ceremonies and are the main advisers in all aspects of family life. If several elderly people are sitting at the table, they focus on the oldest, even if he is not a family member. Tradition forces younger women to publicly submit to men and not contradict them, however, older women in the family can interrupt men's conversations without fear. Shouting and swearing in public is considered a sign of the inability to solve one’s affairs independently and calmly, and therefore is frankly not welcome. A man practically does not have the right to publicly raise his voice at a woman - not she herself, so those around him will quickly “stick” him with the label of a weakling, which in local conditions can be very difficult to correct. However, this again concerns the Greeks themselves - in areas where ethnic minorities live, the picture may be completely different.

In the cities, the concept of “living in sin” does not exist, and since women no longer legally take their husbands' last names (children can choose any), there is no way to know whether a couple is married or not. The words "husband" and "wife", which in Greek are the same as "man" and "woman", are used regardless of marital status.

When a young couple gets married, families on both sides help them organize their life and household. Local Greek houses often have a rather characteristic appearance of “eternal construction”, with a forest of reinforcement protruding from the roof, and sheets of protective film hanging from the walls. These are the peculiarities of local construction - there is not much space for new housing in mountainous Greece; high-rise buildings, due to seismicity, are very expensive to build, but they need to be expanded. Often, such a unique modularity is specially built into the house design so that the owner, in the future, does not have to waste time on additional approvals and drawings. Parents usually build or complete a house not for their sons, but for their daughters - they are the informal heirs of their parents, although according to the law, all children have equal rights. However, a simple rule is often followed: daughters inherit from their parents, sons from their grandparents, or vice versa.

Despite the Greek "machismo", in eight cases out of ten, the wife and mother are the non-nominal head of the family, especially in cities. Most Greek men live under the thumb of women, but they would rather die than admit it. Mother is the most important and most beloved person in the house. For Greeks, a mother's cooking is always the most delicious, and therefore, when choosing a wife, a Greek will look for a girl similar to his mother. Even middle-aged bachelors who have their own apartments visit their mother almost every day, who will feed them deliciously and iron their shirts impeccably. One Greek proverb even states that a wife is always like a mother-in-law, and Greek women, from childhood, are raised to be respectable mothers-in-law.

Greeks traditionally name their firstborns on the seventh or ninth day after birth. Greek names are not particularly diverse. In Greece, the first son in a family receives the name of his paternal grandfather, the second - his maternal grandfather. The first daughter receives her grandmother's name from her father, and the second from her mother. They try not to give their son his father's name. Therefore, among relatives there are always children with the same names. When you meet a Greek, you can be sure it’s Yirgos, Yannis, Kostas or Dimitris. The names Panayiota, Maria, Vasiliki are popular among women. Women themselves may forget their full name - they are called by diminutives all their lives. Every Greek name has a formal and colloquial form. At the same time, according to Greek laws, even a diminutive form of the name can be recorded in the passport if the Greek chooses it. The Greeks use patronymics infrequently, most often in official documents, as well as in bibliographic records. A married woman changes her middle name to her husband's middle name.

Many Russian names came from Greece. The Greek names are: Alexander, Alexey, Andrey, Anatoly, Artyom, Vasily, Georgy, Grigory, Gennady, Denis, Dmitry, Evgeny, Leonid, Nikita, Nikolay, Peter, Stepan, Fedor, Philip, Alla, Anastasia, Veronica, Ekaterina, Elena, Zinaida, Zoya, Ksenia, Irina, Larisa, Maya, Raisa, Sofia, Tatyana and many others.

Greek children are very loved in the family and usually live with their parents for a very long time - almost until they get married. For a Greek, children are an almost sacred concept; many traditions and customs revolve around them. Behind their angelic faces hide overfed, spoiled, boastful, demanding fiends of hell. Parents may yell at them for the sake of appearances, but they themselves spoil them terribly, yielding to the most reckless demands of their children. As a result, most children develop all the worst qualities of the Greek character. Boys, being more spoiled, are much worse than girls. They should continue the family name - therefore, for them there is no word - refusal at a tender age can make a future man impotent. There are spanks and slaps, but real discipline is rare. At the same time, children's relationships with their parents are rarely interrupted, no matter what happens, and do not degrade to the level of polite acquaintance that is so common in the rest of the Western world.

The Greeks are the second cleanest people in the world (after the Japanese). Cleaning and scrubbing the house is a matter of honor and a favorite pastime for at least 90% of Greek housewives. Greek women are extremely proud of their homes. Even if they work, they devote the remaining hours to keeping the house clean and tidy and fulfilling the wishes of their loved ones. Greek women have all the modern kitchen appliances, but the Greeks themselves consider it “unmanly” to even lift a finger at home, therefore, the entire household falls solely on the shoulders of women.

In recent years, the best kitchen invention has reached Greek homes: Filipino girls. There are about half a million Filipino maids in Greece - half of them work illegally. In addition to Filipina maids, there are many au pairs from Albania in Greece, and these helpful young ladies are a real help to many Greek housewives.

Greek women

The woman of Ancient Greece served for a long time as the standard of beauty for Europeans. Her unearthly beauty inspired sculptors and artists who captured images of Aphrodite, Athena or Demeter in art. Stately, slender, graceful, with a swan neck, dressed in a flowing chiton, golden curls in a high hairstyle, decorated with ribbons and a tiara. Almost a goddess who descended from Olympus... So, let's dispel the myths...

Modern Greek women, for the most part, are short, of average build, and many are overweight. They are charming, smiling, almost all have beautiful hair. Many people go overboard with cosmetics - almost always even the lightest makeup is based on an impressive layer of foundation, which they try to “plaster over” skin imperfections, since many Greeks and especially Greek women have poor facial skin! This is characterized by the peculiarities of the climate - the pores of the skin are constantly open, there is no winter or cold, there is no time to “shrink”, plus the lifestyle - an innumerable number of cups of coffee per day and smoking, smoking, smoking...

Greek women are especially sensitive to jewelry. Moreover, not only to precious metals and precious stones, but also to costume jewelry. All kinds of sparkles, beadwork, Swarovski crystals and their cheap analogues are what every Greek girl/girl/woman has in stock.

Life in Greece is not bad for women - they have long had equal rights with men and have reached great professional heights, and since 1952 they have the right to hold public positions.

Greek men

“Good girls go to heaven, and bad girls travel around the world.” Every year, flocks of tourists from cold European regions flock to the Greek islands to relax and bask in the sun. And here hundreds of thousands of hot Greek machos are waiting for them, into whose traps many ladies successfully fall. What are Greek men like?

Greece is a country where people live, work and relax, who are not similar either externally or internally to any other people in Europe. They are the ones who give this corner of the earth a unique flavor. Greeks are actually very handsome men. They appear to be short southerners (the average height of most Greeks is 175 - 178 cm) with hot blood and a typical Mediterranean appearance. Tanned, dark-haired handsome men with a toned torso, slight stubble and the famous Greek profile - macho, no less. And after 35 years of age, they remain fit, well-groomed and energetic.

The main thing about the Greeks is their bright turquoise eyes, reminiscent of a sea wave on a clear sunny day. Such eyes occur in both men and women. Regular chased profiles and figures reminiscent of animated statues - such is the beauty of the Greeks. In general, the male half of the Greek population is much more attractive in appearance than the female half.

You never know what kind of man you will meet in Greece. Here you can meet the wisest of the wisest men, and flighty playmakers, and cunning “tycoons”, and strategists, and prostitutes, and “throwers of dust in the eyes”, and respectable, rightly respected authorities, and talented creators, and just lazy, stupid idlers... Probably like in any other country. Therefore, it cannot be said that Greek men are very good or very bad. They are all different... completely different...

For the most part, Greek men are simple-minded and spontaneous, like children. They absolutely do not know how to hide emotions, and do not even try to do so. If a Greek wants to scream, he will scream; if he wants to laugh, he will laugh; if he wants to cry, he will cry. He sings, dances, argues - the Greek man does whatever he pleases. Moreover, with such sincere, almost childlike spontaneity that it is impossible to be angry with him. If he wants to touch the hand of his interlocutor, he won’t even worry about what and who might think about this.

Greek men have a feature that is characteristic only of this nationality. They are all very
They pay attention to the interlocutor, as if they are listening to him with their whole body. Looking clearly into the eyes, listening to every word, the Greek will not miss a single detail. Well, who else can you pour out your soul like that! And guess who it affects the most? Of course - for women! That's how lovely ladies get hooked and fall in love with Greek men, even if they didn't give them any hint!

To say that Greeks love women is an understatement. Due to the hot southern temperament, all Greek men are womanizers! Everything! Nobody hides this. And if the Greek does not physically cheat on his chosen one, in his fantasies he is the ultimate libertine. A guy can walk down the street hugging a girl, and, at the same time, openly stare at other girls, or even wink at them and make eyes. A gray-haired old man walking near the house with a cane does not consider it shameful to exchange a word or two with a young or not so young beauty, or at least just look expressively after her, smacking his lips thoughtfully.

Greeks are very passionate, caring and attentive, jealous and sentimental. The main thing is not to forget that of the two, the main one is the man. Greek men have great difficulty admitting their mistakes or do not admit them at all.

But, if you dig a little deeper into the Greek, then behind the mask of a handsome and confident macho, there is an ordinary pompous man, while all Greeks, somewhere at the genetic level, consider themselves heirs of the whole world. They will teach you on any subject, regardless of whether they understand this area or do not know it at all. A Greek man definitely needs to feel “half a head ahead” (or better yet, a couple of heads ahead). They express their point of view very violently and temperamentally, supporting their opinion with active gestures.

Almost all Greeks are very good fathers, sometimes paying even more attention to their children than to their mothers. If there is a break in the family, then the Greek will never abandon the child and will take care of him with the same zeal as before the divorce. The Greeks love children very much, perhaps because deep down in their souls they themselves always remain children - the connection between a man and his mother cannot be broken until death. A man, a mama's boy, is an extremely common phenomenon among the Greeks, and has already become some kind of mass disease, spreading at the speed of the flu. Until the child’s old age, the mother buys him clothes, chooses socks, the over-aged uncle reports to the mother that he washed his hands, had lunch or will come to visit tomorrow, and before placing an order at the restaurant, he calls the mother and asks for advice about the choice of dish. Such men are all too common in Greece - some are more spoiled by their mother, some less, but it is very difficult to get used to. And all because the Greeks dote on their children! Here it is - the other side of the coin!

Sex with Greeks

According to research conducted by Durex, the most sexually active nationality in the world (!) was the Greeks. They have sex much more often than others (approximately 138 times a year) and practically everywhere. Why would they be Greeks? - you ask. It's no secret that sea air oversaturated with iodine and an abundance of seafood have a positive effect on potency. Greek lovers are leaders in all sorts of ratings in terms of sexuality. It seems that Hellas, with the permission of the voluptuous Eros, was created for love and carnal pleasures. Let’s see where the “wind blows” and, as usual, take a look into the turbulent history of Ancient Greece.

From time immemorial, all Greeks indulged in adultery with voluptuousness, and sex was elevated to a useful science, the study of which in practice was extremely pleasant, therefore, everyone, always and everywhere, was engaged in “studying” it. The ancient Greeks did not sin with same-sex relationships, incest and other perversions. The inquisitive Greek mind first discovered for mankind both anal sex and unbridled orgies (the word orgy is of Greek origin, and originally denoted religious mysteries associated with the cults of the gods of fertility). Everything that could bring even the slightest pleasure was used...

The ancient Greeks considered carnal pleasures as the greatest gift of nature. The infidelity of husbands and wives was not considered a sin and did not threaten the marriage. Rich Greeks had a habit of filling their houses with flowers and spending time in the company of young naked girls. Demetrius - ruler Athens , took great care of his appearance, dyed his hair, and indulged in unbridled orgies, both with passionate women and ardent young men. And among philosophers, in general, same-sex love flourished. It was equally a shame for young men not to have a spiritual teacher and a mentor in sex.

In the pre-Spartan period, violence, pedophilia, prostitution and extramarital affairs were prohibited in Greece. During the time of Sparta, homosexuality began to be encouraged, and later it became widespread, and the transfer of a wife “on loan” became commonplace.

Many have heard about the beautiful Greek hetaeras. Greek hetaeras should not be confused with prostitutes (“pornaii”). The latter performed only one function, and the hetaeras, moreover, entertained the men with conversation, dancing and singing. They also went on military campaigns, like Thais, who gave the signal to set fire to Persepolis, conquered by Alexander the Great. Greek hetaeras chose their partners themselves. In Athens there was a special wall with proposals - Keramik, where men wrote proposals for a date to hetaeras. If the woman agreed, then she signed the offer for an hour of meeting.

Hetaera were not only not despised, but were highly valued for their intellectual and physical virtues. The historian Strabo testified that the temple of Aphrodite in Corinth contained more than a thousand heterae. Many pilgrims came to communicate with them. As a result, the city grew richer.

The Greek writer Lucian described orgies held in the temple of Aphrodite at Byblos. All residents on a certain day were obliged to give themselves to strangers for money. Aphrodisia, a holiday in honor of Aphrodite, lasted all night and consisted of drinking and copulation of everyone with everyone. Getters played a leading role at the ceremony.

The ancestor of lesbian love is considered to be the Greek poetess Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos in 617 - 570 BC. She raised girls from rich and noble families, preparing them for high society. She taught her students the art of seduction and pleasure between women.

Thessaly also had its own “interesting” holidays. The festival of Aphrodite Anosia, celebrated in Thessaly, was lesbian and began with erotic flagellations. Then the women took off their clothes and swam in the sea. Coming ashore, the “horse-goddesses” pleased each other in all available ways. Men were not allowed to attend the ceremony.

In the fall, the Greeks celebrated the Elysian Mysteries for nine days. “Immodest” actions were an integral part of the ritual. Noisy, cheerful festivities began with copious libations. Incest was an integral part of the holiday. The priests obliged women to abstain from sexual intercourse for nine days before the mystery. This was probably done so that they would go all out during the holiday.

In Ancient Greece, sex was of great importance. Sex education for children began from a very young age. During the games, in honor of the national hero Diokleos, there were kissing competitions among handsome boys. In Sparta, hypnopaedias, dances of naked boys, were held annually in honor of compatriots who died in the war. In Hellas, erotic dances, sikshny and kordeks, gained great popularity. Naked performers imitated movements made during sexual intercourse. Usually these dances were an integral part of religious holidays and feasts.

Hedonists did not want to give up pleasure even during wars. Athenian commanders, in particular Kar, took flute players, harpists and hetaeras on campaigns. After the battles, the command relaxed in their company. One of the rulers of Athens became famous for his love of harnessing naked prostitutes to his chariot, who drove him around the city (!!!).

When Alexander the Great defeated Darius III, the conqueror arranged a “wedding” for himself and his closest associates. In one place, 92 (!!!) marriage beds were built, decorated with expensive fabrics, carpets, gold, silver and precious stones. The “grooms” lay down on them and copulated with the “brides” in front of each other. Yes, the ancient Greeks knew how to have a blast! Well, what is happening these days?? And these days, the Greeks continue to enjoy the fruits of love and passion, and I must say, they do it very well, although they no longer indulge in unbridled orgies (public morality condemns such behavior, but the forbidden fruit is especially sweet ).

The Greeks are a very sensual people. Despite the apparent reticence towards sex, nothing could be more deceptive. If you overheard an intimate conversation among friends, you would not believe your ears: the descriptions of what they did, how, how many times and with whom, are so shameless, frank and decorated with such picturesque details that it makes Aristophanes' collection of plays a collection of Puritan moral teachings. By the way, according to surveys of many European ladies, it was the Greeks who deserved the laurels of the best lovers - to the great chagrin of the Italians, who were only in second place.

For the Greeks, sex is a gift from the gods to humanity, and they enjoy this gift to such an extent that Greece has one of the highest abortion rates in Europe. At the same time, the Greeks do not have an urgent need for sexual toys and visual aids, which are so popular in other countries. There are few sex shops here, and porn films are watched more for entertainment than as an additional incentive before sex. On the other hand, they firmly believe in the aphrodisiac properties of oysters and olive oil, and in the fact that carbonated drinks and soda are detrimental to their potency.

But, despite the ancient and rich history, the love itself between a man and a woman in Greece is not at all diverse. Practically, all couples use only one position - missionary. The Greeks themselves believe that they give themselves over to love so passionately that they simply do not have the strength to try other positions.

Forget about the loyalty of Greek men - it is not held in high esteem here. Most men, happily married or not, consider it a matter of honor to try to seduce any more or less presentable female. Greek men get into relationships to stroke their egos and add spice to their daily lives, and no matter who says otherwise, it is very rare that they can be forced to divorce their wife and marry their mistress. The wife is safe on her throne, however, often the wife is inclined to repay him in kind. The most interesting thing is that every single Greek considers their amorous adventures as a service to humanity, bestowing sun-soaked male power on frozen pale northern maidens. And some, needless to say, even take money for it. Greek men who “accompany” tourists for a fee are called “kamakia” - from the Greek “harpoon”.

Today, Greek travel companies offer foreign women to “rent” a living Greek god. A young man with the build of Hercules is not inferior in knowledge to Apollo, and in matters of love, perhaps, he will eclipse Adonis. The demand for such holiday companions for rich ladies is steadily growing, but they are incredibly popular.

Marry a Greek

Are you planning to marry a Greek? Have you gotten caught in the web of these sultry southern beauties? We can say with confidence that your romance began in Greece. It is at its latitudes that most women “lose their heads” from local men. Arriving in Greece pale and tired, after a couple of weeks of the Greek sun, male attention and octopus on the coals with homemade wine, the lady suddenly notices that her skin is smoothing, her eyes are burning and she wants to live. Preferably in Greece. She falls in love and thinks: “Well, finally, I’ve met Him,” and is already making plans for how they will live wonderfully and how they will be happy together on this earth, because He “loves her so much.” If this story is about you, then please try Greek cuisine flavored with Mediterranean passions. Her menu is very simple, and almost the same for everyone: first - love and calculation with white sauce, second - betrayal and betrayal with pepper and spices, and for dessert - bitter retribution with chocolate mousse. It’s worth washing it all down with a tart red wine aged for many years...

“But there are happy couples!” – you exclaim. And you’ll be right, indeed, there are such people. But there are very few of them. At all. But we can’t dissuade you. Then let's figure out in order who he is - a Greek man and whether the devil is as terrible as he is painted...

Greek grooms, like men from most countries of the world, can be bad, smart, rich, poor, traitors, loyal. You shouldn’t judge a Greek by his words - they know how to speak, for a long time and very beautifully, and they also know how to “hang noodles” professionally. Judge your Greek only by his actions (!). Those men who say “I love you” after an hour of dating are not sincere. They do not plan to develop a relationship, but want to get immediate pleasure (that is, sex). If you have another, “more serious” option, then you are very lucky. But we still have to live until the wedding. It can take 5 to 10 years to bring a Greek man to the altar. Although passionate Hellenes swear eternal love on the second day of acquaintance, they are in no hurry to take decisive action.

The Greeks still have a patriarchal way of life and the spirit of house-building. This is especially noticeable in villages, and even in cities it is simply hidden “under a thin layer of civilization.” Many men in Greece are childish and are not ready to share household chores with a woman. A common situation is when a wife sits at home with a newborn child, and the husband wanders around the pubs and complains to friends that the child is crying and won’t let him sleep. Although, when children appear, spouses take equal part in their upbringing. But the husband spends more time with the boy.

By marrying a Greek, you will forever forget about the word “loneliness”. Together with your husband, you will receive his entire large family as a dowry. Be prepared for the fact that you will have 3,000 relatives at once, and in the near future, after the wedding, it is better to learn all their names and family connections. Parents and relatives in general are something sacred and untouchable (for a wife). He himself can, with pleasure, quarrel with them, but he will not allow you to say a bad word about them.

But the real problem is his mother. You must make her an ally, not an enemy! Even Greek bachelors who have their own apartments visit their mother almost every day, who feeds them and irons their shirts. And the Greek proverb states that a wife is always like her mother-in-law. In Greece, it is customary that in old age it is not the daughter who looks after the mother-in-law, but the daughter-in-law. Therefore, the mother-in-law tries with all her might to choose a daughter-in-law according to her taste. Sometimes her son goes against her, but she doesn’t back down. She's just trying to change her daughter-in-law the way she wants. Therefore, it will most likely be difficult for you with your mother. She demands obedience and approval in everything, and also sees the highest good for you in life according to her recipes, and only according to them. You need to very tactfully and gradually win independence in your personal life, and stock up on great patience.

Dependence on your husband will be very strong and comprehensive. Until you learn the language and go to work (and this is mandatory), you will be completely dependent on your husband in matters of obtaining a residence permit and citizenship, and even after receiving it in a few years you will be dependent. Divorce, if something in family life does not work out, takes at least three to four years, and at the same time, a foreign wife, most likely, will not be able to defend her property and other rights in a Greek court.

The Greek husband loves to be praised and told how rare, beautiful and compliant he is. Even if, in fact, this is far from the case. By praising the Greek, you thereby give food to his ego, swollen to the limit. Saying “I’m so lucky to have you” will do wonders.

Another unpleasant feature may be the polygamy of Greek men. This will be especially difficult for many ladies to come to terms with, but the vast majority of Greek men love to walk to the left. There are, of course, exceptions to the rules, but we still have to try to find them.

In general, life in Greece is not all sugar and not a resort, this needs to be clearly understood. But, if there is mutual love and trust, if your husband is a person in whose integrity you are confident, under any circumstances, if you are ready to forgive him for his significant (!), and not sweet and innocent shortcomings, then family life with a Greek can be very successful.

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The value system, behavior, manners and obsession of the Greeks

System of values

We live once!

Greeks know how to enjoy life to the fullest. They want to have a good time and live for their own pleasure here and now, and let tomorrow go to the devil! A Greek can waste a month's salary on one single feast and spend the remaining time before payday penniless, but with a satisfied grin on his face.
The Greeks manage to have fun even in situations that plunge other peoples into deep despondency. Their unbridled optimism is expressed in the common phrase “God willing!” and in the well-known “maybe” concept.
They tell a story about how, during the time of Turkish rule, a Greek made a deal with a qadi (su-
dyey) bet that in a year he will teach his donkey to read and write; in this case, he was supposed to receive a thousand gold coins, and if after a year the donkey remained illiterate, he would lose his head. The Greek borrowed money against future winnings, married a nice girl and lived happily ever after. A friend asked him, “Aren’t you going to do something to train the donkey?” “Bah!” answered the Greek. “In a year, either the donkey or the judge will probably die. They are both so old!”

If I were rich...

The cherished dream of every modern Greek is to get rich as quickly as possible, preferably without lifting a finger. But it would never occur to him to hide his wealth in a box. “After all,” they say, “there are no pockets in a shroud.”
On the contrary, they need money to spend it, and to show it off so that everyone will notice - on sports cars, dazzling jewelry (real, of course), clothes from famous couturiers, fur coats, country houses and baskets of flowers for performers in the nightclubs where they are regular customers. Everything else - a successful career, a successful marriage, a family - comes in second place.
The old Cretan, proclaiming a toast, summed up this dream as follows: “To our future joys, friends! May we be kidnapped by lovely girls - and may we live a short but full life!”

Self-esteem

Philotimo - self-esteem is a value that the Greeks carefully protect and
put above everything else. It implies self-respect, honor, conscience, respect for others, fair play and duty. Usually, appealing to self-esteem can make a Greek rise above his circumstances. Showing disrespect or disregard for Kphilotimo is tantamount to losing face among Eastern peoples. This is a serious insult that requires revenge.

Behavior

Never throw grandma off the train!

Greek family ties are so strong that you can often find three or even four generations living in the same house, or at least close enough to literally shout to each other.
Despite the Greek "machismo", in eight cases out of ten the wife and mother are the non-nominal head of the family, especially in cities.
Looking at the picturesque photographs of Greek peasant women, loaded with bundles of firewood and obediently wandering behind their husbands, proudly sitting on donkeys, one can assume that the life of these women is no better than the life of their sisters in Muslim countries. However, like many things in Greece, this appearance is deceiving.
The carefully hidden truth is that most Greek men live under the thumb of women, but they would rather die than admit it. Even middle-aged bachelors who have their own apartments visit their mother almost every day, who will feed them deliciously and iron their shirts impeccably.
For Greeks, a mother's cooking is always the most delicious, and therefore, when choosing a wife, a Greek will look for a girl similar to his mother. After all, the Greek proverb states that a wife is always like a mother-in-law, and Greek women are raised from childhood to be respectable mothers-in-law.
The older generation enjoys traditional respect in the family, even if the time has passed when they held the reins of power in their hands and when the children fulfilled their every whim. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that old people bring pensions into the house (sometimes quite significant), but most likely it is more important: after all, the children received everything from them on a golden platter until they became adults, so now they feel obligated to care for their elderly parents.
Besides, what will the neighbors say if they don't take care of their parents? They will be spoken of as if they had no philotimo at all.

They wouldn't let King Herod get anywhere near it!..

Stay away from Greek kids! Behind their angelic faces hide overfed, spoiled, boastful, demanding fiends of hell. These cute babies will destroy your house faster than a demolition team. Parents may yell at them for the sake of appearances (mainly when everyone else is sleeping sweetly), but they themselves spoil them terribly, yielding to the most reckless demands of their children.
As a result, most children develop all the worst qualities of the Greek character, and none of the best. Fortunately, healthy competition among peers, higher education, the army, work activity and other harsh realities of life, as a rule, cut them down, and such positive qualities and virtues suddenly appear in them that no one suspected.
Boys, being more spoiled, are much worse than girls. They can continue their family name - so there is nothing too good for them, not to mention the belief of old women that refusal at a tender age can make a future man impotent. There are spankings, slaps, and terrible threats (“I'll skin you!”), but real discipline is rare.
Greeks adore their children and care for them endlessly until they find a good, stable job or get married. Relationships with parents are rarely broken, no matter what, and certainly do not degrade to the level of polite acquaintance so common in the rest of the Western world.

Other little things

The Greeks are one of the most non-racist nations in the world. If they tell racist jokes, it's because they can't resist the punchline of the story, not because they actually think anything bad of anyone.
The ancient Greeks said: “He who is not a Greek is a barbarian.” But, as the 3rd century BC orator Isocrates said, “We call those who share a common culture with us Greeks.” Modern Greeks think the same.
There are a lot of foreigners living and working in Greece (half of them illegally); among them are exchange students, political refugees and tourists who came for a week or two to relax, but 10 years later are still hanging out here.
The Greeks do not distinguish between individual ethnic and religious groups - rather, on the contrary, they are ready to bend over backwards to make “others” feel at home. However, this does not mean that the nightclub gatekeeper will let you in if he decides that you have no money or that you can expect trouble.

Dog life

The Greeks cannot be called such animal lovers, although you can often find elderly spinsters spending all their meager savings on a full house of stray cats and dogs. As a rule, keeping pets is a privilege of high society and those who try to imitate them.
The rest reserve their love for those animals that have at least some benefit. But if a Greek gets himself a cat or a dog, he will not allow them to sleep on the bed or run wildly around the house. In big cities, the fear of rabies (no cases of which have been reported for several decades) still forces mothers to warn their children: do not go near “those dirty dogs”!

Greek manners

In interpreting the word “freedom” in a peculiar way, the Greeks often confuse good manners with the servile obedience that they were forced to learn under the Turkish yoke in order to survive. As a result, they believe that politeness is only suitable for slaves.
Add to this an absolute aversion to discipline (which they are taught to do from the cradle), a desire to put everyone in their place, and a general tendency to lower standards (since it is always easier to move down than up) - and it will not surprise anyone that good manners are not are the strongest trait of the Greek character.
Greece does not have a class system with clearly defined boundaries; Different classes mix freely, so bad manners can be found in the most unexpected places. Birth and a good school do not guarantee a position in society, and the concept of a “social upstart” does not exist for the Greeks.
Since the titles of the nobility are prohibited by the constitution, what the Greeks call the upper classes are in fact the nouveau riche of today married to the nouveau riche of yesterday. This rich social dough is leavened with the addition of intellectuals, scientists, artists, senior managers and politicians.
Those few representatives of truly old families who can still afford to move in society decorate this social cake like decorative cherries. But most of the ancient families mentioned in the Venetian Golden Book, whose ancestry goes back to the Byzantine court and whose ancestors were powerful landowners and leaders of the past, have long since gone to the bottom financially. There may be quite a few of them left, but still not many enough to have a positive influence on the unmannered majority.
And so Greek manners are best described as superficial. Handshakes are for getting to know each other only. Friends say “Yia soul” to each other and kiss on both cheeks, regardless of gender or age. Bowing and kissing hands are reserved for priests of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Standing in line is practically an unprecedented experience. Greeks move and drive in an aggressive manner, and their actions are completely free from any concern for the well-being and peace of mind of others. Don't expect to be told "thank you" or "please" or anything resembling punctuality all the time, and don't expect Greeks to remain calm in a crisis. Those who do this will regret it later (if they survive, of course).

At the table

The table manners of the Greeks leave much to be desired. Elbows scurry back and forth, hitting neighboring plates; your neighbor may run into your shoulder in an unequal struggle with a stubborn piece of meat. And even in expensive restaurants it is not considered shameful to gnaw bones. People reach into shared dishes with appetizers and salads with their fingers and dip individual pieces of bread into the common sauce.
At the same time, everyone is chatting and chewing without closing their mouths.
But what the Greeks lack in table manners, they more than compensate for in a good mood and lively sociability. If you have at least a few Greeks at the table, even the most formal dinner is sure to ring with laughter - to the benefit of everyone present.

Greek obsession

The passion for easy money is one of the obsessions of the Greeks, as evidenced by the numerous state lotteries, which create a couple of millionaires every week and at the same time provide the treasury with a decent income. For many Greeks, buying a lottery ticket is as common a habit as reading the morning newspaper, and once they buy a ticket, they begin to daydream about what they will do with all the money they win. This is how they spend their time dreaming until the day of the draw. The day of the draw (and, accordingly, disappointment) comes, and everything starts all over again - they buy new tickets and start dreaming again.
Greece may be a poor country, but most Greeks have more money than they can spend. Money pleases the enormously inflated ego of the new bourgeoisie, and it tries to advertise the amount of money it has with cars, furs and other acquisitions. This innocent desire to show off is understandable - most city dwellers left their villages for big cities only 50-60 years ago, so their urban mentality has not yet formed - it will take at least two more generations for them to become a real middle class.
The enormous popularity of the soap operas Dynasty, The Bold and the Beautiful and their Greek imitations is matched only by Greek self-doubt. Through such films, they seem to live among all those items of prestige and wealth that they cannot or do not dare afford in real life. Equally popular are game shows, which, with prizes ranging from toasters to cars, quench the Greeks' thirst for easy riches.
One might expect the Greeks to be obsessed with their cultural heritage, but no. They are indifferent to him - as they say, the closer you know, the less you respect. The Greeks remember their famous ancestors only when their fame can serve some practical purpose.
But who they respect most are the heroes of the War of Independence. They are also terribly proud of the fact that in World War II they still continued to fight against the Axis powers, when the rest of Europe had already capitulated: “We no longer say that Greeks fight like heroes, we say that heroes fight like Greeks,” said Winston Churchill.
Greek national holidays - March 25 and October 28 - celebrate victories in these two wars with flags and emotions. The Greeks may be indifferent to classical Hellas, but as soon as anyone questions any of the heritage of their ancestors, modern Greeks will rise one and all to defend this heritage, since they perceive any disregard for their historical past as a personal insult, like infringement of their own philotimo.

The Greeks also display an extreme passion for freedom of choice - which makes them completely impervious to understanding the words "discipline", "coordination" or "system".

“I” is the favorite word of the Greeks. When a Greek asks the rhetorical question “Do you know who I am?”, he clearly considers himself the center of the universe. As one old man from Delphi explained, everything is very simple: “The Earth is the center of the Universe, Greece is the heart of the Earth, Delphi is the center of Greece and, therefore, the navel of the Earth, I am the head of Delphi, therefore, I am the center of the Universe.”

Stormy emotions

When a Greek does not sleep, his lively temperament blossoms wildly, unhampered by any conventions. Perhaps this is what led the ancient sages to carve the sayings “Nothing in excess” and “Know thyself” on the portals of the temple of the Delphic oracle in a vain attempt to convince their fellow citizens to restrain their emotions.

They did not heed this call then, and they do not heed it now. From Achilles, whose anger was the cause of such mass slaughter at the walls of Troy, to Admiral Miaoulis, who in the 19th century was so angry with the government that he set fire to the Greek fleet, the Greeks give full vent to their emotions, and... do not care about the consequences!

Self-control, although invented by the ancient Spartans, is not only unknown to modern Greeks, but also completely incomprehensible. They do everything with passion - they have fun and they grieve. They scream, they scream, they burst out into pompous tirades, they frantically curse fate equally over important and not so important circumstances. No feeling is too personal to remain unexpressed. Their passions know no bounds.

Such rampant incontinence often results in a burning need to express oneself in some physical form.

All over the world people dance when they are happy. The Greeks, on the other hand, tend to pour out their deepest pain and heartache in a heart-rending, majestic dance rhythm.

“There is a devil inside me,” explains the Greek Zorba in the novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. “Every time my heart is ready to burst, he orders me: “Dance!” - and I dance. And my pain goes away."

Indifference

The heat of the Greek temperament is organically combined with the ice of the well-known indifference of the Greeks to everything related to the improvement of public life or to any worthy cause.

The widely used expression “Forget it, brother! I will not risk my neck to save the Roman nation!” indicates the stubborn reluctance of most Greeks to show a property interest in anything that lies outside their immediate environment or that will not bring them personal benefit.

There’s even a song about this that ends with the chorus: “And we’re all sitting in a coffee shop - cigars, coffee and cards, and let it be, brother!”

Diffidence

According to an international study, Greeks are the most insecure nation in the world. They are afraid to see themselves as they really are, they are afraid of responsibility for their actions - and therefore are not able to laugh at themselves. Hiding behind the facade of external dignity, they try to hide their doubts, their insecurities by any means. They are afraid that they will be considered not serious enough, and the more shortcomings they find in themselves, the more pompous and serious they try to seem. Two thirds of Greek society are haunted by the thought “What will others say?” and hide their true selves under layers of ill-fitting decency.

Those weird Greeks
Translation: Tatiana Sevastyanova
Alexandra Fiada