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 For
a long time now Greece has been like a magnet for most people
that have passed through this country. The diverse landscape,
the beautiful colours of the light, Greek food and not to be
left out the joyful company of the Greeks are but a few features
which everyone would remember with delight. But spending a
two-weeks holiday is only enough to get a rough image and idea
of Greece and its inhabitants though a very enchanting one. To
really understand the Greeks and their attitude towards life
takes more than that and even after living in Greece for some
years it still depends on your own openness and perception, if
ever you have the luck to gain insight. One has to dive deeply
into Greek culture and history without leaving out the current
situation of life in Greece.
In
order to approach the idiosyncrasy of a people or culture one
should become conscious to the fact that our sight is constantly
influenced by
culture-specific attitudes regarding up-bringing,
beliefs, etc. and this partial sight leads to premature
conclusions and judgments. One tends to compare everything with
the already known patterns and happenings are pitched on, looked
at and judged without association to the whole. Therefore, you
cannot just simply believe that you understand a different
culture. This is only obtainable when beliefs and habits are of
similar consistency or the visitor is able to overcome these
subconscious influences. Different culture, different beliefs,
different expectations - they all lead to misunderstandings that
tend to change ordinary situations into disproportionate
problems. The consciousness about our own limited sight is the
beginning of understanding.
Therefore, the first step towards understanding another culture
has to be realized within oneself.
One
may ask now what is so special about Greeks; after all they are
only a people like all the others. This is true and nevertheless
Greece differs. The
Greek mythology with gods and heroes like Zeus, Hercules and
Dionysos on the one side and the ancient history of Greece with
the famous philosophers and scientists such as Socrates,
Aristoteles and Pythagoras as well as the monuments of arts on
the other are known worldwide and the Greek philosophical and
scientific theories are the cradle of the western world - not to
mention the roots of democracy that were set in Ancient Greece
2000 years ago. This is a wonderful heritage and a heavy burden,
as well, as will be shown below.
The
connection to the spirit of Ancient Greece was abruptly cut off
by the christianisation of Europe when former believes and ways
of thinking were forbidden and exterminated in order to bring
forth the new values. The only direct link to ancient Greece is
preserved within Greek folksongs that show the same bars and
follow the tradition of transmitting values and idealistic ideas
within songs. By following the course of the Greek folk song,
that began in the 3rd or 4th century, you will end up at the
poetry of Homer. Of course, the language has changed, but the
subjects of the songs like courageousness, the participation of
nature within life and the deep understanding of the soul have
remained the same. And that is perhaps the reason why even
nowadays Greek folk music is so popular among all generations.
It is interesting though that the only reminiscence of the Greek
spirit has survived in a natural way through the people and not
within scientific discourses.
While
the rest of Europe after medieval times regained its link to the
spirit of Ancient Greece starting with the epoch of
such significant importance for the development of Europe, the
Renaissance, Greece missed this important step due to its being
under foreign rule and also further epochs such as the
Reformation and Enlightenment passed without leaving any
noteworthy influence on Greece. Having not taken part in the
development of Europe is of great importance and has remained a
problem for Greece in finding its place in Europe. It is
therefore amazing how the Greeks handled and are still dealing
this competition with the rest of the world, with a
self-confidence that is rooted in individuality and a critical
attitude to the happenings in the world.
Being
the most eastern country of the Western Europe and due to its
history, Greece was and continues to be a buffer as well as a
bridge between the occidental and oriental cultures. As a result
of this unique position Greece had difficulties to find its
identification when re-obtained its independence in the 19th
century after 400 years under foreign rule. I would like to
freely cite here Nikos Dimou of his book "The Misfortune Of
Being Greek": Are the Greeks the Europeans of the East or
the Orientals of Europe? Whenever Greeks talk about Europe they
do not include themselves, a completely
incomprehensible
fact for the rest of the Europeans. Part of this attitude rooted
in the fact that Greece was under foreign rule as above
mentioned, partly due to Greece's particular location, as Greece
was for a long time geographically cut off from the EU by
Yugoslavia, and also because of the course of history where
Greece often found itself neglected by precisely these Europeans
(remember the fight for freedom in the 19th century and the
crisis of Cyprus). Thus it becomes clear that the Greeks may be
conscious of their being Europeans but tend to question it as
well. Out of this feeling of negligence rises rebellion, which
is a favorite pastime of the Greeks: They are very proud of
having and declaring
their own opinion in political matters - often by not obeying
the official attitude of the EU. Therefore they are frequently a
thorn in the European community's side - and nothing pleases a
Greek more than that. Being a small country without any global
economic importance and nevertheless able to affront these
giants if necessary - this automatically gives them a feeling of
independence, something Greece from economical standpoint
doesn't have but ideologically searches for.
With
this practice Greeks follow in some respects the tradition of
their ancestors, who as well wouldn't accept the given values
and ways of thinking, and by challenging made way for their
philosophical systems and sciences. You can still find this
suspiciousness now in Greece, although it is not obvious at
once. The domain where this distrust exerts its most important
influence is within the relationship of citizens and government.
Government is often regarded as an enemy - like an egoistic
father who doesn't care about nobody but himself. This
unfortunate relationship originates - to the opinion of many
Greeks - from the
foreign rule, where the rulers were in fact the official
enemies. It
is a fact that Greeks don't like to obey laws or rules, and it
is a game for every Greek finding ways to by-pass them and they
are very inventive at it. In Greece, laws are often only a piece
of paper without much influence towards real life. You can
experience this on your daily walk though the city: Never trust
a green traffic light or a zebra crossing, you have to look out
every moment - and it keeps you awake. Once a Greek philologist
explained to me the difference of the attitude of German and
Greeks towards their governments. The German is by nature a
law-abider and he is sort of rewarded by the legislature with a
relatively good-working welfare state. As the welfare state in
Greece is virtually non-present, Greeks are not willing to pay
for nothing. The
consequence is a circle without exodus. The economic loss, tax
evasion as an example, tears another hole in the already
bottomless budget and automatically destroys the hope of a - if
ever thought of - reconditioning of the social welfare state.
But why shift the blame of a dysfunctional welfare state on the
citizens, when there is no evidence that their obeying to the
laws would have a positive effect on their lives? The mistrust
towards the government finds its confirmation in episodes such
as the replacements of public servants according to their
political believes after elections, which is also based on
mistrust.
Despite
the twisted fates placed on them, they never lose their faith
and hope, when they really belief in something they want to
achieve. The path to achieve their aim is not realised by asking
nicely but rather by unceasing insistence, and this is the way
you normally receive whatever you want in Greece. This
insistence, whenever Greeks have a strong believe in something,
together with their pride towards themselves and their country,
which is the most outstanding characteristic of the Greeks, and
the tendency to exaggerate led to events like the famous
resistance, despite the mere desperateness, by saying
"No" to the Italian invaders who wanted to cross the
Greek border during the 2nd World War.
A really remarkable feature of Greece is the fact that there are
as many Greeks living within Greece as there are living abroad.
The mountainous form of Greece and its ending up in bays at the
seaside is a possible factor of the outwards stream of the
Greeks. Nearly every family has some relatives living abroad.
Living and working outside their country has a long tradition in
Greece. All over European and Asian scriptures you can find
clues of Greeks being in other countries and involved in
historical events. Greeks were known as excellent dealers and
navigators who had the talent of having a good intuition for
business, as well as negotiators and arbitrators - a vocation
that remains alive until now. In today's politics regarding
frictions between western and eastern governments, Greece often
plays an important role within negotiations and is often the
host of such events.
In ancient times, Greece was
never a unified country - with the exception of Alexander the
Great - who unified the Greek cities and created a vast empire
expanding from Greece up to the Northwest India. Therefore, ages
now Greece has kept a kind of an impartial status, although it
is known for its penchant for oppressed peoples.
So,
many of us have already had a first insight into the Greek way
of life either by visiting Greece or at least by having met
Greeks living abroad and each of us has weighed up for himself
its positive and negative aspects according to his
understanding. As positive aspects most of us consider to be the
landscape, the food, the celebrations and the proverbial
hospitality and helpfulness of the Greeks, whereas many visitors
are offended by unpleasant troubles such as public transport
strikes within holiday time, unorganized structures in the
working and service area, the unreliability, e.g. the negligence
of a promise due to overestimation, bureaucracy etc. These
annoying factors are likely to be accepted during a holiday stay
although lack of understanding is often expressed by the
visitors, because their needs - a stress-less holiday - are
being ignored. Often one forgets that the inhabitants of the
country have their own view towards life and how to regulate it
and despite their hospitality and the wish of pleasing their
guests, the struggle for their rights have always been of more
importance than the consideration of what economical effect the
dissatisfaction of their guests would mean.
Many
times within conversations with Europeans I was confronted with
how pejoratively they judged these nuisances and very often - as
a summit - a comparison with the Ancient Greeks would follow.
This is a very fatal standpoint, for precisely the comparison
with the ancient Greeks holds a vain complacency of overcoming a
complex of the visitor: the fact that their culture and origins
lack the prestige of that of the Greeks. The feeling of
bitterness Europeans show regarding the
apparently lost heritage and the lack of respect towards it even
results in a feeling of undeservedness due to the inability of
the Greeks to preserve and exploit the wonders that have been
handed down to them - they tend to regard these treasures even
as being theirs, given that their civilization is based upon
Ancient Greece. Such
an approach, however, immensely distorts the actual image of the
contemporary Greeks and is
without any relation to reality. This is the burden of their
heritage and Greeks are aware of it. Actually there is nobody
that mocks Greece and the Greeks more as the Greeks themselves -
this is another popular pastime, but they do not like to be criticized
by Non-Greeks and are not likely to criticize their country in
the presence of strangers.
When
I first came to Greece I was overwhelmed by the pulsing life I
met there. Everything was intensive starting with the light,
colours, fragrances and landscape and as if the Greek way of
life was emulating this beautiful exaggeration of the nature, it
also moved between extremes when it came to sentiments,
interpersonal relations etc. To experience such a multitude of
intensive impressions automatically has an influence on your own
attitude and behaviour towards this country or even life. By
immersing in the flow and rhythm of the daily life in Greece you
can have your own experience and you will understand that there
is one thing you will never meet in Greece: mediocrity. As
Nikos Dimou states: The Greek ignores reality: He lives twice as
much as his economical funds would allow him, he promises thrice
as much as he can do, he knows four times more than he ever
learned, he feels and sympathises five times more than he
actually senses.
Soon
after my arrival in Greece I was subject to the illusion that it
is easy to understand Greeks because of their open-heartedness
and their being filled to the brim with emotions and reactions.
Only after a certain time was I able to get deeper in to the
Greek way of thinking. The feeling that I was at any time
welcomed was then replaced by the knowledge that Greeks would
never give you the feeling that you may not be welcome, because
of their traditional belief in hospitality. It depends on you,
if you are able to sense the truth beyond the surface.
This
hospitality towards their guests is one of the most attractive
traits of the Greeks. It can lead to extreme situations such as
sacrificing their beds to their guest while sleeping on the
floor or strangers being invited spontaneously to a wedding
party when going to a tavern simply for dinner. These offers
come from the bottom of their hearts and are absolutely sincere
and the invited guests to such unexpected actions feel
deeply embraced. What non-Greeks often do not understand
and is not shown by their hosts is that this trait has its own
rules. Being invited immediately calls for reciprocation, an
action that is often not easy to accomplish, because Greeks in a
playful manner test your real intention and the honesty with
which you intend to do something. If you truly intend to
reciprocate an act of hospitality you can do it, but must show
it through insistence and willingness. Otherwise, if you just
try to repay a favour out of the feeling of debt, you will never
achieve it - so it is up to you, if you are able to play and
continue the game. Unfortunately, in the last decades the noble
and unwritten law of hospitality has been tested to extremes by
countless tourists who, with their often senseless behaviour and
ways, have taken everything from this country without anything
in return.
The
behaviour of Greeks regarding inter human relationships are as
intense as their emotions. Strangers are often astonished when
they follow a conversation that suddenly turns into a dispute
and seems to their understanding to be predestinated to lead
into a brawl, and they are even
more surprised when finally the parties end up in
drinking and laughing together. The release of emotions is
assisted by the respect and understanding that non-involved show
towards the involved and by non-interfering allow the explosion
of emotions; only if someone would be in danger of being harmed
they would stop them. Of course, there are also serious
differences and it is actually said that in Crete the custom of
blood feud still exists in some excessive exceptions. But
generally the differences are more of verbal nature. The
philosophic tradition of Pre and Contra of the Ancient Greeks is
another favourite pastime of the contemporary Greeks and is held
alive in the Greek cafenion-s as well as in family meetings or
get-together of friends. Unusual is the fact that as deep as
their differences might be, as soon as it is necessary they
become a unit. This tightrope-walking between individuality and
unit is an art that is mastered by Greeks with an ease that
seems almost weird.
Family
bonds are essential in Greece and the interdependence within
family generally lasts the whole life. Due to the difficult
economic situation, the parents often help the newly married
couple by providing them economic support and assisting them in
family matters such as attending to the children and more. The
contact to even remote relatives is cultivated intensely and
together with the inquisitive interest of the Greeks in the life
of their compatriots, Greece sometimes seems to be like a small
village. Whenever Greeks meet someone for the first time, they
try to find at least one mutual relative or friend, and it is
unbelievable that most times they really end up in knowing
someone familiar to both.
All
the beauties of Greece cannot fool you about the fact, that the
economic situation of Greece is one of the worst within Europe.
Salaries are very low in regard to the costs of living.
Unfortunately, the globalisation and development of the modern
times has influenced Greece and its inhabitants. Due to their tendency
to exaggerate everything their consumer behaviour has had
catastrophic consequences, which have led them to live and
became dependent upon plastic money. The mounting debts encored
have to eventually be paid back and consequently are changing
the Greeks into marionettes on the wheel of capitalism and
suddenly Greeks are on their way to lose their especialness. A
way out of this could be to face and accept this reality and
utilise their innate insistence in order to turn the dependency
into resistance.
Perhaps
the most famous Greek of the last century is the hero of Nikos
Kazanzakis' novel
"Alexis Sorbas". Alexis Sorbas is seen as the Greek
par excellence not only by Greeks but also by the rest of the
world. His attitude towards life, his wiseness, his spontaneity
and ingenuity in every situation and the intensity he lived his
life with shows what a Greek can be like at his best: A
philosopher and connoisseur by experience and a bon vivant in
ecstasy as well. He achieves this by overcoming the limitations
of ordinary life. It is this dream of freedom that lasts in
every Greek soul, the understanding of life and the being aware
of every moment. By observing the Greeks you can find signs of
Sorbas's character in nearly everyone while the limitation of
daily routine within society hinders them from climbing higher.
But a look into their eyes will convince you that the love for
life is present and perhaps you will recognize the roguish look
on the face of the owner of the market stand who is bargaining
over the price with
you.
This
is my understanding of the Greeks and it is first of all a
personal opinion as it is based on my observation without the
claim of being complete or correct. There are many more
peculiarities of the Greeks that would be worth of being
discussed but it would go beyond the scope of this article to
mention them all. I also would like to place emphasis on the
fact that I have met many Greeks that do not fit into this
image. An article about understanding Greeks is not predestined
to take into account the individual; it is the general
impression Greeks leave on people, that is regarded and
discussed in this essay. Hopefully, my approach to the Greek way
of thinking is able to mark the beginning of your own way
towards understanding Greeks - not by adopting it but rather by
having achieved sensibility towards the complex nature of
Greeks.
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