The Modern Greeks: An Interpretation of National Characteristics

by GEORGE THEOTOKAS

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WHO are the modern Greeks? What is their origin? How did their national character come to be formed? Greeks today speak a language which, though not the ancient Attic tongue, is nevertheless, in a modernized form, a genuine Greek language. As a nation we have undoubtedly maintained some very ancient traditions. I know of villages, on my native island, where one may find records dating back to the fifteenth century. Common peasant families may there trace their ancestry as far back as the period of the Byzantine Empire. But again, who were the ancient Greeks and who the Byzantines?

At no time in history does there appear to have existed a pure Greek race. The ancient Hellenes were an ethnic mixture of prehistoric Mediterranean peoples and of northern invaders who, in successive waves, overran the country in the millennium before Christ. After the campaigns of Alexander the Great (336-323 B.C.) the Greeks spread across Asia Minor and other East Mediterranean regions, where they assimilated many foreign elements. From these blendings, there developed that Hellenism which was to gain ascendancy over the Byzantine Empire (330-1453) and, even after its fall, to continue to influence the culture of the Western world. A Greek tradition, constantly renewed and transmuted, was kept alive in Greece itself throughout the Middle Ages. Then the Turks came in the fifteenth century and conquered all but a few islands of Greece. Principally because the Turks were Moslems and the Greeks Christian, there was little cultural interpenetration between them. Thus the Greeks who after bitter struggles regained their independence early in the nineteenth century were essentially the same as their ancestors of Byzantine times.

Many and various have been the factors which have molded the modern Greek character. There is no certain way of proving the influence exercised by natural environment upon the mind and soul of a people. Yet the natural beauty of Greece has always been of such paramount importance in the life of the people that it seems to have left its indelible mark on our mentality.

The intensity of the light in Greece — that unique transparency of atmosphere — the brilliant reflection of the sun on the sea, the clear, delicate, yet firm lines of the mountains against the sky, the endless variety of an ever-changing scenery, have deeply impressed every sensitive traveler. He becomes aware of beauty in a complete, finalized form, of an expression of the universe — simple, tangible, intimate, yet incomparable in its purity. The traveler becomes alive to the intellectual and moral significance of a natural environment seemingly fashioned to man’s stature, to its teaching of a sense of proportion. In Greece the sea, the forest, the mountains, the climate, the elements, do not dwarf, do not debase man but give him stature. Nature is in harmony with man and yields to him the privilege of being the center and the measure of the universe.

Because he has been shaped in this environment, the Greek, when expressing his personality, will tend toward clarity, delicacy, and fine balance — which is Nature herself—limpid, harmonious, and comprehensible. There is no room in the Greek mind for the colossal, the gigantic, nor for frenzy and confusion. We see this spirit in Greek art, irrespective of the various styles affected at one period or another. Yet Greek art has never been exclusive. From the earliest times it has always been ready and willing to adopt methods, teachings, and elements from East and West alike. But Greece has almost always assimilated such acquisitions, adapted them to her character, somehow humanized them and brought them all into harmony with the Greek measure.

Two other physical features deserve mention: Greece is nearly as mountainous as Switzerland and almost as insular as Great Britain. Mountains cover over three quarters of the land area, with small plains between the rocky ranges. Islands make up a considerable part of the country (the Peloponnesos itself is, strictly speaking, an island). But even the greater part of the Greek mainland, with its countless capes and promontories, its bays and harbors, is so much washed by the sea that it, too, takes on an almost insular character, particularly as the mountains isolate so many regions. This geography has produced a strong sense of independence and an inflexible attitude toward external enemies.

On the other hand, the sea — ever present — tends to broaden the imagination, to awaken a strange curiosity and longing for far-away shores. The sea sharpens and cultivates the mind, instilling in the restless spirit a lust for adventure, for the unknown. Throughout history it has prompted the Greek to become either a sailor or an emigrant, to get to know, like Ulysses, “the towns and spirit of many peoples,” to set up colonies of Greeks all over the world. Yet the mysterious call of the sea is not the sole reason for the traditional tendency of Greeks to emigrate. There is also the pressure of poverty.

Greece has always been poor. One of the oldest Greek myths is the epic of Jason setting out with his companions in the good ship Argo in quest of the Golden Fleece, the substance of wealth which was missing from the radiant but barren rocks of their own country. Even today, though much technical progress has been achieved during the last thirty years, Greece is unable to offer her people an adequate living standard. The great landed properties were expropriated by the state a generation ago and parceled out among the indigent peasantry. But the average plot assigned to each peasant family is insufficient and keeps shrinking further with the increase of population. Modern farming methods have been adopted, numerous factories founded, and large reclamation projects completed. Yet official statistics tell us that two million Greeks, or fully one fourth of the total population, are still destitute.

The poverty of the soil, combined with the other factors mentioned, has made the Greek resourceful — again I think of Ulysses — has given him mental adaptability and adroitness and has taught him how “to get. juice out of a stone.” At the same time there has remained in Greece, much as in the days of Thucydides, a kind of permanent restlessness, an underlying discontent of Greek with Greek, as well as an inherent fickleness in political affairs. And sometimes the recollection of poverty and of the lack of opportunity produces in successful Greeks who have amassed a fortune a rather embarrassing display of wealth.

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IN GREECE the memory of her ancient past has lingered on to this day. Byzantine Hellenism kept the flame of classical learning alive until it could be passed on to Western Europe in the Renaissance. During the long years of Turkish domination (1453-1821) the memory of the glories of Ancient Hollas grew into a legend, kindling the national pride and stirring hope for a reawakening in Greece. The learned used classical literature and history to stimulate national consciousness and morale in the people, to inspire them by holding up the example of their ancestors. The names of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis became hallowed symbols of that fighting spirit which was to free Greece from new conquerors who, like the Persians, had come from Asia. Homer, the ancient tragedians, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle became heralds of the Greek War of Independence.

Yet this reverence for the great thinkers and writers of the past was not merely the result of a reborn nationalism. However one may apply their words, in the end they will point to a certain attitude toward life, to a certain conception of man’s lot upon earth. The classical Greek spirit acknowledges man’s ignorance and his limitations. It rejects every kind of fanaticism and despotism, whether political or intellectual. It seeks truth and beauty, aims at perfection in art and thought, but, prompted by the nature of the country, pursues these objectives with a sense of measure. Because man’s personality is the only true source of intellectual creativeness and social development it constitutes life’s greatest good. Yet only in a climate of freedom is it possible for man to create and to achieve a sense of happiness. Freedom requires courage, which is action and struggle. Some phrases contained in the ancient texts, to this day commonly used by Greeks, are eloquent of this spirit: “The one thing I know is that I know nothing”; “Measure in all things is best”; “Happiness demands freedom and freedom demands courage.” An immortal way of life and thought is reflected in these simple words, and in many others like them, a way which for centuries has molded the spirit of the Greek people. Christianity in Greece did not clash with the ancient culture nor did it aim at suppressing or abolishing it. On the contrary, the early Christians made use of the ancient lore to help them in their own spiritual development and in the propagation of their faith and thus greatly enriched Christianity. Out of these influences the Greek Orthodox Church was born, at once as a religion, a form of worship, and a theology. Greek classical culture introduced a sense of measure into dogmatic conceptions, clear and harmonious forms into art, logical reasoning into the search for truth and the formulation of thought. Christianity was wedded to Hellenism and absorbed precise and balanced forms in accordance with the traditional Greek genius.

Adapting itself ever more closely to the atmosphere of the land, the Orthodox faith has influenced Greek life to its very roots and has become an inseparable part of it. We have here an enlightened, warm, and liberal religion, made to man’s stature. The church is democratic. Its teachings are clear and intelligible, suited to the Greek mentality. The moral attitude of the church is humanitarian and lenient. Its symbols are familiar to everyone. Its worship rests on a succession of cheerful symbolic feast days rhythmically following the seasons of the year. The greatest and most splendid religious festival in Greece is Easter, the Feast of Spring, which in the consciousness of the people expresses not only the dogma of Resurrection but also Nature’s eternal rebirth. “Easter so pleasant, in joy one another we embrace . . .” goes the church choral in dance rhythm. The blessing of St. John Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed, adds, “Hades, it is said, was subdued when finding You below. It was subdued and verily abolished. It was subdued and verily derided. It was subdued and verily put to death. It was subdued and verily exterminated . . .” A death-defying triumph of life, joy, and love of all people in the sun and the green of April — that is ihe message contained in this culminating feast in the religious life of the Greeks.

Another great spiritual force which has left deep imprints on the psychology of the Greek people is the memory of the Byzantine Empire. For centuries after its fall Byzantium lived on in their imagination as some kind of Paradise Lost, a great, glorious, mythical country of their own which had been submerged in the darkness of time. The more painful and humiliating the stark reality of enslavement became, the more the national memory would embellish that period of splendor when Hellenism had constituted the greatest power in Europe and the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, had held a position similar to that later occupied by Paris. This nostalgia gradually bred an ideal which became known as “The Great Idea.” This was the dream of re-establishing the old Empire which would include most of the Balkans and Asia Minor. It was to be a motive power in Greek society during the whole of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries.

After the military disaster of 1922 in Asia Minor and the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, there occurred a radical change in the political orientation and objectives of the Greek people. Forgotten were the dreamy ambitions of an empire. Greece made friends with her neighbors and has pursued a policy of peaceful progress. But in the soul of the Greeks there remains a note of complaint that history has treated them unfairly, that they had no share in the flowering of European civilization in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. When, at the beginning of the nineteenth century they re-entered the family of European nations they felt that they no longer held pride of place but were relegated to the position of “poor relations.” Modern Greek literature clearly reflects the inner conflicts of the Greek soul torn, as it is, between the absorbing spell of the past and the impelling necessity for a new, original life of its own.

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THANKS to her geographical position and historical circumstances Greece has always been at the crossroads of the most varied influences. Her whole culture has never ceased to adopt and to adapt alien elements. Down through history, West and East have always met on Greek soil, sometimes clashing with, and at other times complementing each other.

Basically Greece has always belonged to the Western world. Greece gave the West some of its most fundamental principles, such as free philosophical and scientific thought and its bearer, man’s emancipated personality. European civilization was born from the combined influences of the classical Greek spirit, of the Roman conceptions of state and law, and of the Christian doctrines. In Greece, Rome was something more than a mere foreign conqueror. Rome borrowed much Greek culture but in return she gave Greece her state organization and legal science. Roman law was completely integrated into the lives of the Greek people and became the cornerstone of society, which it remained even during the years of Turkish occupation. Under the Turks the Greeks managed to maintain their religious life and their communal self-government, as well as their own ecclesiastical courts which interpreted Roman law as it had been modified and completed by the Byzantine emperors.

Nevertheless, Turkish oppression proved a terrible ordeal. For four centuries Greece was cut off from the rest of Europe. The people were forcibly subjected to Asiatic influences. Such tyranny left ugly wounds in the nation’s soul. Many daring young men refused to go on living under the Turkish rule. They took up arms, banded together in partisan groups, and lived a free life in the mountains. Soon this resistance gave rise to heroic and romantic legends among the population. Popular ballads celebrated the struggle in a tone reminiscent of Homeric epics. From these independent fighters, the Klephts, was born the military tradition of the modern Greeks, their collective pride, and the spirit of their national struggles which have always been conducted under the banner of freedom. In the towns and plains the subject people eked out their existence, filled with uneasiness and melancholy at the presence of the foreign conquerors. Something of this psychological attitude has remained typical of the modern Greek, as has his mistrust of government and of any organized authority. There also were those among the population who curried favor with the Turks, sought to serve and flatter them, and then to deceive them. These people! developed a roguish cunning and lost some of their self-respect.

Greek psychology today still reflects our history. We meet men worthy of the highest praise for their independence of character, their generosity, and their superior morality. Then we meet those who, psychologically, appear to be still in fetters, still retain some of the sadness of the once enslaved Greeks, some of their fear of life, of their indolence, or their cunning. We shall also find the type of person who, unconsciously suffering under the memory of foreign tyranny, seeks release through a desire to enslave others, to tyrannize a family, an office staff, or, if he holds some position of authority, the common citizen, or even, at times, a whole nation.

In modern times the efforts the Greeks have made to rejoin Europe and catch up with lost progress have been hard and often painful. But there was no time to lose. The industrial revolution had begun in the West and conditions of life were changing. Moreover, in Eastern Europe new national groups were taking up arms prepared to stake out fresh territorial claims. Struggling against heavy material obstacles, often further hampered by bitter internal controversy, the Greeks did whatever they could to bring their nation up to a modern standard. From England and France they copied political ideas such as the parliamentary system. From France, too, they borrowed the organization of law courts as well as administrative procedure. The university system and most scientific methods were copied from Germany. In the field of art and letters Greece was very much influenced by Italy and then later by France. Intellectual and social ideas were absorbed from all over Europe.

There is no doubt that many mistakes were made in this wholesale assimilation, but how could they have been avoided? Often the Greeks were carried away by a tendency towards indiscriminate imitation, rashly adopting habits and ways of thinking which were ill suited to the character of the people and so bound to fail. But in many spheres this fusion of the Greek and the modern European spirit was effected naturally and harmoniously.

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DESPITE its long and troubled history, Greece today is a young nation: its emotional pattern has the freshness of youth, its imagination is that of an adolescent, its spontaneity is sometimes almost primitive. This is the same nation which cherishes so many old memories and preserves traits formed in different eras, long ago. Its personality is complex, worked and fashioned by many a century. Yet Greece is far from tired. It is actually renewing itself constantly, ready to start, out afresh every so often in quest of a better and brighter existence.

The Greek is a good soldier and sailor. Within the limited period of his newly found independence he has produced noteworthy military leaders. He is easily capable of heroism and self-sacrifice when he fights for freedom. But he wants to know for what he is fighting and to convince himself that the cause is just.

As a people the Greeks are fond of dispute, at all times ready to argue over anything, to question and to criticize endlessly, stating their views. They have a passion for truth but are no fanatics. They do not seem to be deeply attached to any particular ideology.

The Greek loves life. He believes that the world is beautiful and that it is worth enjoying with one’s body and one’s soul. He holds that man is the center of the universe and that he is good. He has confidence in man and respects him. The Greek is generous. He has a very well-developed sense of hospitality and is always ready to help others. He is a confirmed individualist by nature, inclined to make his own world, free from outside interference, where he may achieve his own happiness and, if possible, through his life’s work leave something of himself to posterity. He abhors tyranny and often misinterprets the meaning of the state, seeing it as an encroachment upon his liberties, which leads him to oppose law and order.

In politics modern Greece has produced two prominent personalities of international significance: Count John Capodistria, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and Eleftherios Venizelos, a century later. The country has had many able politicians but it can hardly be claimed that Greek public life has attained anything near an ideal level. Generally, I should say, the modern Greeks have not yet developed that sense of organization and team spirit which is so essential in the world of today. Conversely, their talents and capabilities often bring exceptional results wherever individual initiative is in itself sufficient.

Greeks have a distinct aptitude for intellectual work. During the last one hundred and fifty years they have made valuable contributions in theoretical science, archaeology, history, and law. There have likewise been a number of eminent physicians. In the field of the arts, literature is doubtless in the forefront. The really important milestones in the intellectual life of the nation have been left by the poets — Dionysios Solomos, Andreas Kalvos, Kostis Palamas, Constantine Kavafis, Angelos Sikelianos, and two famous men of letters, true guiding spirits of the nation, Adamantios Koraïs and John Psycharis. We also find interesting developments in plastic art, in music, and the theater.

Heretofore her statesmen, writers, and heroes have given substance to the life of the nation. But in the immediate future modern society and technocracy will demand of Greece a fresh and enormous effort of psychological and intellectual reorientation. If the Greeks wish to hold their own and advance within the civilized world to which they belong they will need a more up-to-date social consciousness, better organization, more scientific methods, deeper thinking, and correspondingly capable leaders. Let us hope that those virtues with which the Greeks have shown themselves endowed — humanity, courage, intelligence, and a sense of measure— will see them through.

Translated by Conn Hadjilia