Παρασκευή 28 Απριλίου 2017

The Funeral of Sarpedon


Zeus mourns deeply:
Patroklos has killed Sarpedon.
Now Patroklos and the Achaians rush forward
to snatch up the body, to dishonor it.

But Zeus does not tolerate that at all.
Though he let his favorite child be killed—
this the Law required—
he will at least honor him after death.
So he now sends Apollo down to the plain
with instructions about how the body should be tended.

Apollo reverently raises the hero’s body
and carries it in sorrow to the river.
He washes the dust and blood away,
heals its terrible wounds so no trace is left,
pours perfume of ambrosia over it,
and dresses it in radiant Olympian robes.
He bleaches the skin, and with a pearl comb
combs out the jet black hair.
He spreads and arranges the beautiful limbs.

Now he looks like a young king, a royal charioteer—
twenty-five or twenty-six years old—
resting himself after winning
the prize in a famous race,
his chariot all gold and his horses the fastest.

Having finished his task this way,
Apollo calls for the two brothers,
Sleep and Death, and orders them
to take the body to Lykia, the rich country.

So the two brothers, Sleep and Death,
set off on foot toward the rich country, Lykia;
and when they reached the door
of the king’s palace,
they handed over the honored body
and then returned to their other labors and concerns.

And once the body was received in the palace
the sad burial began, with processions and honors and dirges,
with many libations from sacred vessels,
with all pomp and circumstance.
Then skilled workers from the city
and celebrated craftsmen in stone
came to make the tombstone and the tomb.


Translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard

(C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992)




Source

Τετάρτη 26 Απριλίου 2017

Fugitive children in Greece


It is true that among the illegal aliens trapped in Greece, there are many children from Syria. They certainly deserve an education, however like any other problem, the politicians play games. The mainstream parties do nothing about it and let far-right and far-left groups make a lot of noise, talk nonsense and never solve the problem. After polarising the problem, the goverments feel free to do whatever they like as most citizens do not want to express their opinion, as they will be classified as far-right activists. Far-right groups take the role of the bad guy and far-left of the good but utopian guy.
In order to see what kind of nonsense this far-right activists speak, it should be highlighted that since the nineties, Albanian children are attending the Greek schools as their parents migrated to Greece. Most Albanians are of Muslim faith although they are not so fanatical. However their numbers are far greater than the Syrian children. The far-right activists shout about Orthodoxy, meaning the Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, being under attack, but Albanians do not seem to have harmed 'Orthodoxy'. Of course there are also children from Africa, India, Pakistan and some countries.
Of course far-left groups are more than happy to respond and make fuss themselves.
The European governments will give some money for the children, the non-governmental people will take them and no one will know what they do with them. The Greek State will also receive much money and come out with the cheapest solution.  The Greek Coalition of far-left and far-right coalition know that they will never have so many MP's again, so they govern from day to day.
What should the children learn in the first place? Greek or Arabic, English or some other language? The children live in hot-spots and do not speak the Greek language. The Albanian and other children on the other hand were usually born in Greece and learnt Greek as their maternal language and were widespread among the country. Their fathers came as young singles, when Albania opened its borders, they found somewhere work, then they brought women from Albania and married them and then they had children. That was generally the case.
The refugees do not want to stay in Greece, they want to go to countries where they think they can find work. They are trapped in Greece. Now, some trolls will say Greece is in the EU, so they are okay. If normal people will say, Greece is bankrupt and there are no jobs in Greece, they add that Greeks could immigrate; so probably the refugees can stay behind and can take over their position as unemployed. Lucky for the English and Welsh, Greeks cannot immigrate in the UK either. The European civil cervants who call themselves politicians and leaders, plus some clowns like George Soros, expect that the refugees will found companies in Europe. Those who had companies in their country can set them up anew, but those with no experience remain without experience. The refugees will not be able to do anything in Greece regarding start-ups, because Greeks cannot do it either. Politicians who want to control, who is getting which job, parasitic capitalism which sees normal companies as prey and the Church coming always up with Byzantine and Ottoman documents claiming land, make every company unprofitable.
So we have the little Syrian children, who have to go to Greek schools. The NGO's say the will visit schools in the afternoon, after the Greek speaking children had their lessons. However I heard many  of them saying how good Greek the Syrian kids already speak. So what is their plan? Keeping the money EU for 'other causes' and letting the children visit the Greek school in the morning? In a language they do not understand and learning things they think they do not need as they hope they will succeed reaching richer countries? Certainly many people think that. 
There is some big business going on, but neither the refugees nor the simple people profit from it, because the self-titled elites are interrested only in themselves.

BBC

Τρίτη 25 Απριλίου 2017

No difference between Conservatives, Communists or Anarchists

It is the country where Liberals, Conservatives, Nazis, Communists, Anarchists and Socialists can sit side by side and agree to every subject. Because they all have the same way of thinking or reacting to reality. Everything may have many facets, however they always have the same position. Another wonder of the Romiosynee, another wonder of their 'Byzantium'.
Press Release 330/23.04."2017"



The byzantine state of Greece has many reasons to be ashamed off, but the most important ones are the absolute cultural decline, the nightmarishly high percentage of functional illiteracy, the absence of respect for public spaces and the complete absence of aesthetic appreciation. We are saying it should be ashamed because people in modern states are shaped primarily through a process called public education, and it is this process that has been a total failure. The byzantine state though is quick to declare that its primary function in education is to produce «faithful orthodox Christians».
The latest result of this inexcusable failure, which has degraded people in an abyss of barbarity, is the overthrowing of the bust of the Goddess Athena, which stood outside the cultural center of the City of Athens. It is the same marble bust that vandals had symbolically, blinded with black paint some years ago.
The Byzantine stare has cultivated in its schools extreme individualism and barbarity, and now normal people and public spaces are faced with the consequences. Objects such as statues and monuments that in other countries enjoy the respect of the public here are being defaced. In this Byzantine state nothing works as in other civilized countries. Destruction and vandalism is everywhere, from the statues of Rigas Feraios and Kolokotronis, to the abandoned ancient Temples around the country that are not suitable to be used for economic exploitation.
The only solution is for this Byzantine state to hear our scream and to change route immediately. It must embrace culture. It must be re-Hellenized.

The Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE)

Πέμπτη 20 Απριλίου 2017

The 'Holy Fire' as a Head of State


1988: The socialist prime minister falls in love in his late sixties with a stewardess. He marries her and suddenly becomes pious. His new wife forms a court around her of an archimandrite, two fortune-tellers and some other people, one of which is a travel agent specialised in religious tourism. They order the Greek Airline Olympiaki to bring the 'Holy Fire' from Jerusalem on Holy Saturday, so it will be available in Greece the same day. Until then each Church lit the 'Holy Fire' like any other fire and the fire from the Church in Jerusalem came by ship.

1990: The then president of the Greek Republic inflicted on the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence to bring the 'Holy Fire' in an airplane, which would be accompanied by a formation of gunships. The 'Holy Fire' should be received as a Head of State and the Ministry of Defence had to distribute it to all archdioceses of the country.

2001: The then Archbishop of Athens and Whole of Greece expounded the transport of the 'Holy Fire', which began thirteen years before, and the reception as a Head of State eleven, as a inviolable 'Hellenic-christian Tradition'.

2017: Some members of the Parliament of the Radical Left Party SY.RIZ.A, which rules with the ultra conservative Christian Democratic party AN.EL., after having received a 'Holy Belt' as a Head of State, express their objections to the whole procedure, because of the 'pagan' nature of the ceremony. The co-ruling party and other bigots expound all conspiracy theories and the union of the policemen, offered to pay the expenses.


Wiki: Holy Fire

Τρίτη 18 Απριλίου 2017

Greek Paganism legally recognized as ‘known religion’ in Greece



Cara Schulz —  April 18, 2017

ATHENS, Greece – On April 9th, the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE), a religious organization working to restore the indigenous religion of Greece, put out a statement saying Greek polytheism has received legal status in Greece. Prior to this, Greek Pagans did not have religious freedoms such as the ability to buy land to create houses of worship nor could Pagan clergy perform marriage ceremonies.

Yesterday the Secretary of the Supreme council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) announced that after more than twenty years of struggle, the Greek state has finally recognized the Hellenic Religion as a ‘Known Religion’ according to paragraph 17 – the only form of recognition for a religion in Greece. The mentioned paragraph includes the permission to build a temple as well as the right of public exercise of any recognized religion.

The recognition of Hellenic Religion as a ‘Known Religion’ is only the first step towards a general recognition of Hellenism. Now the YSEE at Athens is still waiting for recognition as a religious statutory body in Greece. The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes will approach the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if the state leaves them no other choice, said its Secretary.

Unlike the United States, Greece does not have a blanket freedom of religion law built into its legal system. It is instead governed by the Organization of the Legal Forms of Religious Communities and their Organizations in Greece. As of now, only six religions outside the Greek Orthodox faith are recognized as ‘known religions.’ And, even those practices that achieve this status often face an uphill battle in exercising their rights. For example, Muslims in Athens have fought for over 10 years to build a mosque, and have so far been unsuccessful.
The recognition of the Greek religion came after it was rejected in 2015. According to the YSEE, the rejection demonstrated that the Greek government, “…has yet to get rid of its byzantine and medieval whims and […] unable to respect with dignity its own laws.”
“It has rejected by intermediate on of its court of First Instance the motion signed by hundreds of Ethnikoi Hellenes to obtain recognition as a statutory corporation of religious character for their ancestral, indigenous, and historically continuous to our day despite cruel persecutions by Christianity.”

YSEE is currently registered as a non-profit organization and, as explained on its website, has been on the front lines in the on-going battle for religious community recognition.

The Wild Hunt spoke with Mr. Vlassis Rassias, the General Secretary of the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, about what it means for the Ethnic Hellenic Pagans in Greece and what the next steps are in achieving religious right in Greece.

TWH: If this is the first step towards a general recognition of Hellenism, what is the next step?

Vlassis Rassias: This was recognition of our Religion as such, by the official authorities of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Matters. To their credit, they gave us official permission for a place of worship in Athens, thus promoting the Hellenic Ethnic Religion to the status of a “known religion” in Greece, according to article 3 of the Constitution. The next step for us is the recognition of the official organization of the Hellenic Ethnic Religion (The Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, YSEE) as a statutory corporation of religious character, according to the relatively recent law 4301/2014, something that is so far absurdly rejected by the Greek courts, which resist our very name, and more particularly the term “Ethnic”, although the official authorities of the state have already accepted us under our proper title Hellenic Ethnic Religion. We have a rather strange situation here, exactly what our ancient ancestors were calling “tragelafos” (“τραγέλαφος”).

TWH: How was YSEE informed that the Hellenic religion is now a known religion?

VR: We received the official reply of the official authorities of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Matters, in response to an application of ours that we had submitted together with the requested big number of state documents, certifying the appropriateness of our place of worship, concerning its legality, fire safety, sanitation, and such. The above mentioned reply was also notified to various competent authorities, as the Ministry of Interior, the Registry Office, and such.

TWH: What is gained by being recognized as a religious statutory body?

VR: We are now under the protection of the law, to the same degree as the other 5 – 6 non-christian religions that are already classified as “known religions” in our country. We can henceforth register our children at the Registry Office as belonging to the Hellenic Ethnic Religion, and we shall perform hellenic wedding rituals with full legal value. We still remain though a Non-profit Organization, not a religious statutory body. As a religious statutory body, that is what for the time being is denied to us, we will function more properly in the matters that concern our Religion and, of course, we won’t pay every year the 500 – 1000 euros chargeable since 2011 by the indebted Greek State on all the Non-profit Organizations.

TWH:  Was YSEE responsible for this change in status? What did you do to bring this about?

VR:  This and all the future attainments of the goals of the Hellenic Ethnic Religion, is and will be the outcome of the uninterrupted, strategic, collective and devoted struggle of our organization that this June celebrates the 20 years of its operation under its present name. A decade before YSEE’s foundation we were operating through “Diipetes” (“Διιπετές”), a now defunct quarterly journal for the moral defense and restoration of our Religion.

 *   *   *

Mr. Rassias says YSEE will be celebrating their religion’s legal recognition during their annual celebration of Charisia-Aphrodesia, which is a religious observance in honor of Aphrodite and the Charities, on April 22nd.

Article

Δευτέρα 17 Απριλίου 2017

The Hellenic Ethnic Religion is acknowledged by the Greek State


The Greek State acknowledged in the beginning of this present month, that the Hellenic Ethnic Religion doesn't attack the Greek Law and Order, does not offend the Greek morals and doesn't proselytise. Further the Hellenic Ethnic Religion as an acknowledged one, has the same duties as the prevailing Eastern Orthodox Christian Church and is under the same supervision.
So now they may have a temple in a private place and it will be protected by the State.
The Greek State is not very generous with this kind of recognition and the religions that benefitted until now from this law were following five: Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Baha'i Faith. The Hellenic Ethnic Religion is the sixth one. The Christian denominations are many.
Twenty years ago, when it was permitted for individuals to believe whatever they liked, groups had to ask the local Eastern Orthodox Christian Archbishop for permission, which of course he never granted unless it was possible the refusal might cause a worldwide sensation. After some time it was abandoned, but religions had to have sacred scripture, dogma and hierarchy. So some Hellenic groups had to claim the whole ancient Greek literature as holy scripture, some philosophical books as dogma and titles such as president, secretary and treasurer as sacerdotal titles. Which it didn't help as the Greek State refused to award this recognition. And one day it did. Now it is time to go to the next step. Get recognition as a religious body. Last time the court rejected the name, but now having this smaller recognition might help. Maybe another twenty years will be needed.

Wiki catalogue of religions and denominations in Greek