Newsgroups: soc.culture.greek,soc.answers,news.answers Path: rzsun2.informatik.uni-hamburg.de!news.dfn.de!math.fu-berlin.de!ira.uka.de!yale.edu!spool.mu.edu!uunet!mcsun!news.forth.gr!ntua.gr!theseas!nfotis From: nfotis@ntua.gr (Nick C. Fotis) Subject: (16 Mar 93) Soc.Culture.Greek FAQ - Culture Message-ID: Followup-To: poster Lines: 877 Reply-To: nfotis@theseas.ntua.gr (Nick (Nikolaos) Fotis) Organization: National Technical Univ. of Athens Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 17:50:45 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Archive-name: greek-faq/culture Last-modified: 1993/03/16 Soc.Culture.Greek Frequently Asked Questions and Answers ======================================================== (Culture) ========= Last Change: 16 March 1993 Many FAQs, including this one, are available on the archive site pit-manager.mit.edu (alias rtfm.mit.edu) [18.172.1.27] in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers. The name under which a FAQ is archived appears in the Archive-name line at the top of the article. This FAQ is archived as greek-faq/culture There's a mail server on that machine. You send a e-mail message to mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu containing the keyword "help" (without quotes!) in the message body. Items Changed: -------------- -- Lines which got changed, have the `#' character in front of them. Added lines are prepended with a `+' Removed lines are just removed. Use 'diff' to locate these changes. I have included my comments within braces '[' and ']'. Nikolaos Fotis ======================================================================== This text is (C)Copyright 1992, 1993 of Nikolaos C. Fotis. You can copy freely this file, provided you keep this copyright notice intact. Compiled by Nikolaos (Nick) C. Fotis, e-mail: nfotis@theseas.ntua.gr Please contact me for updates,corrections, etc. Disclaimer: that's only a hasty collection of texts and information as I (or other people) remember it, so this file is worth only what you paid for it (and even less! ;-) ) ======================================================================== Subjects: ========= 1. Bookstores that carry Greek books 2. Greek cuisine -- recommended books?? 3. Greek wines -- reference book(s) 4. The 12 Greek Gods : who are they? 5. Greek Popular Music 6. Athens Restaurants 7. Greek Mythology - Various questions, reference books 8. Travel Information -- Greece 9. Greek shortwave (SW) stations 10. Greek Coffee, Reading Turkish grounds 11. Ways for a Vegan to survive in Greece 12. What was the Mythical Labyrinth?? 13. Greek Muses (in Greek) Proposed future subjects: [ Please send me info to stuff these subjects!! -- nfotis] Graduate studies in Greece that are interesting for non-Greeks? (eg. archaeology) Is there any decent backgammon program? [any ideas/info/... ??] ========================================================================== I ask the people to send me stuff in order to make this file more complete. I'm just a kind of editor, and I cannot know everything. YOU'll determine if this FAQ is good or not! ========================================================================= 1. Bookstores that carry Greek books ==================================== Here are some addresses of stores/institutions selling/publishing Greek books/periodicals/newsletters, in no particular order: US/Canada : ----------- University of Toronto Bookstore 214 College Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 3A1 tel.: (416) 978 7905 (ancient Greek) 978 7923 (modern Greek) (ask for the books used by the Classics department ancient/modern Greek courses) Modern Greek Studies Association Box 1826, New Haven, Connecticut 06508 U.S.A. (ask for their Journal of Modern Greek Studies, their newsletter, bulletin, conferences, etc.) Princeton University Press Princeton Modern Greek Studies 41 William Street Princeton, NJ 08540 U.S.A. tel.: (609) 258 4900 (800) PRS ISBN or 777 4726 (orders) (ask for a list of their books on modern Greek studies) Pella publishing company, inc. 337 West 36th Street New York, NY 10018 U.S.A. (ask for a list of their books in general) Schoenhof's Foreign Books Cambridge, MA. tel: 617-547-8855. Greek books can be purchased in Montreal at the Greek Community Centre. For more info. (prices, etc.) write to: Communaute Hellenique de Montreal Centre des Etudes Helleniques 5777, ave. Wilderton, Montreal (Quebec), Canada H3S 2V7 Attn. M. Chatzinikolaou Tel. (514) 738 2421 (until 17:00 EDT) (514) 340 3576 (after 17:00 EDT) UK : ---- [ Can anyone bring us the FAX/phone numbers ? - we think that the area code is 071, but we aren't sure ] The Hellenic Book Service 122 Charing Cross Road WC2 London phone 836-7071 Zeno 6 Denmark Street WC2 London phone 836-2522 Kimon Bookshop 87-88 Plender Street NW1 London phone 387-8809 Located in Greece: ------------------ Olympic Book Center 16 Efroniou 116 34 Athens Greece Avastatikes Ekdoseis Bibliopwleio Diovusiou Notn Karbia Asklnpiou 67 GR-106 80 A0HNA Ekdoseis - Palaiobibliopwleio "KOYLTOYRA" Mavtzarou 4-(Solwnos 54) GR 106 72 A0HNA Ekdoseis - Bibliopwleio Stratns G. Filippotns Solwnos 69 & Asklnpiou GR 106 79 A0HNA Ekdoseis Aposperitns Eressou 9 A0HNA Ekdoseis Dwrikos Ippokratous 72 A0HNA Ekdoseis Epikairotnta Mauromixaln 60 GR 106 80 A0HNA FAX : 36.36.083 - 36.07.382 Ekdoseis Pella 0eof. Papadopoulos & Yios O.E. Kwletth 15 & Emm. Mpevakn A0HNA Ekdoseis Stoxastns Mauromixaln 39 GR 106 80 A0HNA FAX : 36.09.197 Ekdoseis Kardamitsa Ippokratous 8 GR 106 79 A0HNA 2. Greek cuisine -- recommended books?? ======================================= Look at gatekeeper.dec.com (anonymous ftp), under the directory pub/recipes (there's also a compressed tar file that contains all the files). Familiar names were: (I just did a 'dir', and these were some names I found familiar) avgolemono, avgolemono-2, baklava, briami, kourabiedes, lamb-kebab, lasagna-1..4, margarita-1, meat-kebabs, melomacarona, moussaka, spanakopita, spanakopita-2 From: jack@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) ---------------------------- I can't attest to their authenticity, but the recipes in Jack Santa Maria's "Greek Vegetarian Cooking" are absolutely yummy, which is enough for me. It's in print in the UK (Hutchinson, I think) and you can get it in most large bookshops. 3. Greek wines -- reference book(s) ================================= Lambert-Gocs, Miles. "The Wines of Greece". Faber & Faber London, 1989(?) It contains over 2 hundred Greek wine brands, their characteristics, history of large and small producers, etc.etc. 4. The 12 Greek Gods : who are they? ====================================== It's rather easy to remember most of the 12 Gods of Greek Ancient Mythology. The most easy to remember are: Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Demeter, Artemis The number 12 is the most troublesome: > From: cla02@seq1.keele.ac.uk (Richard Wallace) > Newsgroups: soc.culture.greek > Subject: Re: REQUEST: Greek Gods The most usual list has Hestia as number twelve. She was the goddess of hearth and home, and so a rather passive figure, and from time to time people seem to have thought that she didn't really earn her place, and put someone else in instead. So far as I know, Hades is one of the twelve only in the list in Plato's Phaedrus (and perhaps, by implication, in the Laws), and there Plato makes it quite clear that HE has made the decision to leave Hestia out. I think Hades does not figure in the normal lists because they are the twelve OLYMPIAN gods, and Hades does not normally come to Olympus (though Poseidon does). Sometimes you get Dionysus instead of Hestia. He is a rather aberrant god anyway (either because he was a late-comer to Greek religion or for some other reason) - in any case he doesn't normally appear in the list. There is some evidence that there was a local tradition at Olympia which substituted Kronos, Rhea, and Alpheios (the local river god) for Hephaistos, Demeter, and Hestia, and there are other cases of the insertion of local gods into the list in particular localities, presumably out of local patriotism. Mostly, they referred to them simply as 'the twelve', no doubt leaving it open to each individual to write in his own list! [ Personally, I feel that Dionysus was mentioned most often in the mainland Greece mythology, at least in Attica -- nfotis ] From: G0900@vmcms.csuohio.edu ----------------------------- THE MAIN GODS AND GODDESSES OF THE ANCIENT GREEK RELIGION Greek Latin meaning Name Name --------- ------ Zeus Zeus, Jupiter Master of the sky, father of the gods and men. Hera Juno Wife of Zeus, protector of marriage Poseidon Neptune Brother of Zeus, god of the sea Athena Minerva Goddess of wisdom, protector of arts and crafts Apollo Apollo God of the sun and music Artemis Diana Apollo's sister, goddess of hunting Aphrodite Venus Goddess of beauty and love Hephaestus Vulcan God of fire, protector of metal workers Ares Mars God of war Hermes Mercury Messenger of gods and god of trade Demeter Ceres Goddess of agriculture Persephone, Kore Proserpina Demeter's daughter, queen of the Underworld (Hades) Pluton, Ades Pluton King of the Underworld Dionysus, Bacchos Bacchus God of wine, vegetation and fertility Asklepios Aesculapius God of medicine 5. Greek Popular Music ======================= [This is from an article originally posted to soc.culture.greek by Jon Corelis.] Greece has an exceptionally rich and varied musical tradition, so that it's difficult to know where to start. But the most popular Greek music, both in the country and with foreigners, is probably music of the two types called "rebetika" and "laika." Rebetika music has sometimes been called the Greek blues, and although musically it's not like the blues at all, the comparison is an apt one in that like the blues, rebetika music grew out of a specific urban subculture and was associated with a certain type of life-style, in which poverty, oppression, sex, alcohol, drugs, and violence played prominent roles. Rebetika music basically grew out of the culture of the Greek refugees from Asia Minor in the early 1920's. These people were settled in Athens and other areas and continued to live for the most part in their own communities, usually under conditions of great hardship. They created through the fusion of the Anatolian musical modes they brought with them with native mainland Greek musical traditions a unique new type of music called rebetika (no one really knows where the name came from) which reflected both the rough, oppressed condition of their lives and the resilience, toughness, and good humor which enabled them to survive. Rebetika is also similar to the blues in the development of its social position. In the twenties and thirties it was popular with the urban poor who created it, later it became scorned as "low-class" music, and then in the sixties it experienced a revival, becoming immensely popular among young people, some of whom formed their own rebetika bands to revive the music of the great rebetika artists of the past. Giving a discography for Greek music is always a bit difficult, since records tend to rapidly go in and out of print. But I'll give the names of a few popular records which are probably still available. Perhaps the best place to start is with the soundtrack album from the film "Rebetiko," issued in Greece by CBS records. This film, which told the life story of a typical rebetika singer, included numerous musical numbers, some of which were old rebetika songs, others of which were especially written for the film in rebetika style. Rebetiko is one of the very best Greek records ever, and remains immensely popular in Greece. For the real thing -- collections of rebetika taken from the original recordings of the 1920-1950 period -- an excellent series is the six volume Rebetiki Istoria, issued in Greece by EMI. If you can find all six of these, you'll have about the best introduction to rebetika you could hope for. A very interesting record issued in the U.S. is Greek-Oriental Smyrnaic-Rebetic Songs and Dances (Arhoolie/Folkloric 9033,) which concentrates on the early rebetika style which still retained much of its Eastern flavor. As for other records, it's probably better to give the names of some of the better artists rather than listing individual records that may no longer be in print. So look for the names Toundas, Tsitsanis, Markos Vamvakaris, Rosa Eskanazi, Sotiria Bellou, Papaiouannou, and Rita Abatsi. Fortunately for us English speakers, there exists a very good book in English on rebetika: Road to Rebetika by Gail Holst (Third ed., 1983, Athens, Harvey.) This book is sometimes found in university libraries in the U.S., and can probably be obtained by your local library via interlibrary loan service. You could also try writing the publisher at Denise Harvey & Company, Lambrou Fotiadis 6, Mets, Athens 407, Greece, and see if you get a response. It may be a bit of trouble to track this book down, but it's absolutely worth it if you want to investigate this type of music. The other type of music is a looser category sometimes called "laika," which basically means just "popular music." This is the music "everyone" listens to -- sort of like rock music in the U.S. And like rock it includes music of many different subtypes. Again, it will probably be better to give names rather than individual recordings. One of the best, and probably the most popular, of the artists in this field is George Dalaras, who has worked in a wide range of genres -- recently he has branched out to include Spanish music in his repertoire. Another good artist, who has often worked with Dalaras, is Haris Alexiou. These two are perhaps the best introduction to laika music at its best. A singer with a smaller but devoted following is Arleta (she goes by her first name only,) who tends to do relaxed but often very beautiful folk-type songs, with minimal acoustic accompaniment. The composers Hadjidakis and Theoradakis have innumerable records and have to some extent become popular outside of Greece. Perhaps I should also note that there is a certain amount of overlap between rebetika and laika: Dalaras has recorded several rebetika albums, Alexiou usually includes some rebetika songs on her records, and Hadjidakis frequently uses rebetika songs as the basis for his orchestral arrangements. A final note for anyone who plans a trip to Greece: the best place I've found to buy Greek music is the record shop Pop 11, at Pindarou 38 (corner of Tsakalof) in the Kolonaki section of Athens. They have a huge selection, the staff are knowledgable and speak English, and they take credit cards. The staff will also be able to advise you on places to hear rebetica and other Greek music in Athens. 6. Athens Restaurants ===================== From: jon@leland.Stanford.EDU (Jon Corelis) Subject: Some Athens restaurants Date: 28 Jun 92 17:58:44 GMT Here are some notes on Athens restaurants, resulting from a recent trip there. These restaurants are all in central Athens, and in each case I give the neighborhood or district where the restaurant is located (most maps of Athens will indicate where these districts are.) Except where otherwise noted, all the restaurants mentioned are moderately priced. Most are open only for dinner unless otherwise noted. Many Athens restaurants are closed Sundays, so if you want to try one on that day you should check by phone (your hotel can usually help you do this.) I've visited all of these places within the last two months. Almost all visitors to Athens find themselves spending some time in Plaka, the old neighborhood at the foot of the Acropolis. Plaka is filled with restaurants, most of them serving bad, overpriced food to crowds of tourists. There are some worthwhile establishments, though. One of them is Zeus (in Modern Greek pronounced 'Zefs,') a pleasant small restaurant high on the slope of the Acropolis which despite the fact that it caters very much to tourists serves excellent, simple Greek food at reasonable prices. Tables are all outdoors, and the place usually isn't very crowded, probably because it's something of a climb to get to it, and you have to pass a number of other eateries on the way whose touts tend to rope in most tourists before they get to this one. There are nice views from some of the tables. Try their gigantes (giant beans,) a traditional Greek appetizer which is better here than anywhere else I've had it. Open for lunch, and I assume dinner too, though I've never been there at night. To get there from Plaka, find Mnesikleous Street and follow it uphill until you can't go any farther. Another touristy but good place, which is at Hadrian and Kydathinaion streets right in the middle of Plaka, is Costi's, which serves traditional, somewhat elaborate taverna food. Most tables are outdoors, and it's open for lunch and dinner. Sigalas, at 2 Monastiraki Square on the edge of Plaka, serves authentic taverna food of the simpler kind in a colorful, bustling atmosphere at lunch and dinner. They have good barrel retsina. Karavitis, at Pafsaniou and Arktinou in the Pangrati district, remains one of the best traditional tavernas. Open nightly including Sunday. The following restaurants are all in the Kolonaki area: Demokritos, at number 23 on the street of the same name, is an altogether excellent taverna with particularly good barrel retsina. Rodhia, at 44 Aristippou near the base of the Lykavettos funicular, is an upscale taverna with a limited menu -- almost everyone orders the appetizers and the lamb with oregano -- and a very good red barrel wine. Try to get a table in the garden. Somewhat expensive, but worth it. A long-time popular Kolonaki restaurant, Rouga, has closed. Someone in the neighborhood told us they thought it would be closed permanently. Another old Kolonaki place, Jimmy's Cooking, has turned itself into a sort of snack bar; I didn't try it, but it doesn't look very promising any more. Okio, on Haritos Street, remains the best restaurant I have been to in Greece. It's expensive, not much English is spoken, and shorts or other very informal attire will not be in place. 7. Greek Mythology - Various questions, reference books ======================================================= From: ccc@cs.toronto.edu ("Christina C. Christara") Subject: Re: Mythology questions Date: 16 Oct 92 01:12:28 GMT kambizm@fidibus.uio.no (Kambiz Iranpour Mobarekeh) writes: >I am looking for the names of some mythological personalities >whom I read about once. One is the guy who still rolls >a stone up the hill again and again. This is Sisyphos (Sisufos) who tried several times to avoid death; he actually succeded many times. He visited Hades (Adns) and he found some tricks to come back to life. In ceramic paintings, he is depicted pushing a stone towards the top of a mountain, and when he is almost at the end, the stone slips and rolls down fast. He was from Korinthos. His struggle symbolises people's struggle against death, something he did not eventually avoid himself. > The other is one who is >thirsty standing in a river in Hades trying to drink water but >the water disappears each time. What was his name? This is probably Tantalos, the king of Ludia (part of Asia Minor, east of Smyrna). He was invited to dinner by the Gods, but he could not reach anything, neither food, nor drink. He was punished so, because when he invited the Gods to dinner instead of sacrificing an animal for them, he sacrificed his son, Pelops (Pelopas), whose name is the first part of the name "Peloponnese." Tantalos was also punished, because he gave the recipe of ambrosia and nectar (the food and drink of the Gods) to the people. (This story is similar to that of Prometheus, who gave fire to people). > Third question >is was it Ogyas (or Ogias) barns which were cleaned by Hercul? This must be the Avgias barns (stauloi Augeiou). Hercules (Hraklns) was supposed to clean the barns of Augeias, king of Helis (Hlis), in western Peloponnese. This was necessary, because the dirt (shit) of the cows of Augeias was so much that deseases would spread to the people. Hercules had 1 day to complete the job, otherwise he would be a slave (doulos) for the rest of his life. Would he complete the job, he would get a part of the kingdom and the daughter of the king as his wife. Hercules did clean the barns (according to some mythology version, he turned 2 rivers towards the barns and all dirt was gone by the water), but then Augeias did not keep his promise and Hercules fought against him. I don't remember if he won (I wasn't there, anyway :-)). From: nwbernst@unix.amherst.edu (Neil Bernstein) ------------------------------- [regarding the last question] Herakles (Latinized to Hercules) cleaned the stables of King Augeas. You may be thinking of the island of Ogygia, where Odysseus was restrained by the nymph Kalypso after his Great Wanderings and before he returns to Ithaka. [ nfotis: we could continue ad infinitum with Greek Mythology, which is *very* rich and engaging, IMHO. You're advised to read some good books about Greek Mythology. cla04@seq1.keele.ac.uk (A.T. Fear) suggests these two books: > A good reference book for Greek mythology is Robert Graves' book the Greek > Myths which has copious references to the original sources. Don't believe his > personal commentaries however as they are idiosyncratic to put it > mildly. Another book that might interest you is H.J.Rose's A Handbook of > Greek Mythology. Note: I didn't read those books, so don't sue me it these aren't good for your tastes! ] 8. Travel Information -- Greece =============================== [ Note: that's a time limited subject. The time you read this, it may be already out-of-date, so *please* check with the respective embassies/ consulates before starting to prepare for a travel to Greece. This information has a U.S. bias (of course!) ] Newsgroup: rec.travel From: 76702.1202@CompuServe.COM (Charlie Smith) ------------------------------- Subject: *NEW* TRAVEL INFORMATION -- Greece STATE DEPARTMENT TRAVEL INFORMATION - Greece ============================================================ Greece - Consular Information Sheet October 7, 1992 Embassy and Consulate Locations: The U.S. Embassy in Athens is located at 91 Vasilissis Sophias Boulevard; telephone (30) (1) 721-2951. There is also a consulate in Thessaloniki at 59 Leoforos Nikis; telephone (30) (31) 266-121. Country Description: Greece is a developed and stable democracy with a modern economy. Tourist facilities are widely available. Entry Requirements: A visa is not required for tourist or business stays up to three months. An AIDS test is required for performing artists and students on Greek scholarships; U.S. test results are not accepted. For further information concerning entry requirements to Greece, travelers can contact the Embassy of Greece at 2221 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20008, tel: (202) 939-5800, or the nearest Consulate General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, New York, or San Francisco. Medical Facilities: Medical facilities are available. U.S. medical insurance is not always valid outside the United States. Travelers have found that in some cases, supplemental medical insurance with specific overseas coverage has proved to be useful. Further information on health matters can be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control's international travelers hotline on (404) 332-4559. Crime Information: Greece has a low rate of crime, but some pickpocketing, purse-snatching, and luggage theft does occur in Greece at popular tourist areas. The Department of State's pamphlet "A Safe Trip Abroad" is availableKWARD IN from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. It provides useful information on guarding valuables and protecting personal security while traveling abroad. Terrorist Activities: Civil disorder is rare. However, there are several active terrorist groups, including the "17 November" organization, which at times has targeted U.S. government and U.S. commercial interests. Between 1975 and 1991, "17 November" assassinated four Americans assigned to U.S. diplomatic or military installations in Greece. Terrorists in Greece have seldom targeted tourists. Drug Penalties: Penalties for possession, use, and trafficking in illegal drugs are strict, and convicted offenders can expect jail sentences and fines. Arrestees may spend up to 18 months in pretrial confinement. Dual Nationality: U.S. citizens who are also considered to be Greek citizens could be subject to compulsory military service and other aspects of Greek law while in Greece. Those who may by affected can inquire at a Greek Embassy or consulate to determine status. In some instances, dual nationality may hamper U.S. government efforts to provide protection abroad. Registration: Americans who register in the Consular Section of the Embassy or Consulate can obtain updated information on travel and security within the country. 9. Greek shortwave (SW) stations ================================ From: pef@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Panayotis Fouliras; TA PhD) Subject: Re: Need Help finding SW stations! Try (around midnight UTC) 9.395MHz and 9.420MHz. Other frequencies (time is important) are 9.425MHz, 11.595MHz and 11.645MHz (one of the last two is not the Voice of Greece, but the Radio Station of Macedonia, from the city of Thessaloniki, which simply relays the local program; can be heard clearly in London after 1pm UTC). [ Anyone who can add more?? -- nfotis ] 10. Greek Coffee, Reading Turkish grounds ========================================= wfk@cellar.org (William F. Kershner) writes: -------------- >Can anyone explain the art of fortune-telling by reading Turkish coffee >grounds? I enjoy my coffee metrio and would like to know more about it. From: ccc@cs.toronto.edu ("Christina C. Christara") ------------------------ First, all what you are going to read after this line is a fraud! The part of the coffee cup which is positioned closest to the person drinking it is the part of the heart. There all the sentimental issues are depicted... The opposite part of the cup describes the "professional" issues. In general it is good for the grounds not to be very dark. So when you drink your coffee, before it ends, shake it a bit, then turn it upside down, so that most grounds go away. You make your future better! If you have a lot of imagination you look at the shapes the grounds have done and talk about roads, houses, airplanes, trees, etc. The bottom of the cup is the deep part of the heart... You make a wish and put your finger there. If the finger leaves a clear mark then the wish will come true. If the finger does not catch all the grounds, then the wish will not become true ... So twist your finger a bit, when you put in the bottom of the cup. But do this without the person telling you your fortune to know about it! Well, the fraud is over. From kk@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com (Konstantinos Konstantinides) and jyc@leo.Stanford.EDU (Jon Corelis): ------------------------ There is a monograph on the topic (in Greek) by Elias Petropoulos, O tourkikos kafes en elladi (Athens, Ekdoseis Grammata, 1979). The monograph has lots of figures and discusses the art of coffee reading in Greek prisons. A very interesting book, with many illustrations, including some of coffee-grounds patterns with their supposed meanings. The title, of course, is deliberately provocative. In case anyone wasn't upset enough by it, Petropoulous makes a point of beginning his book by saying, "Oi Tourkoi, opou deon na thewrountai paterades twn neoellinwn, metaksu allwn agathwn kai deinwn pou mas eklirodotisan einai kai o kafes." 11. Ways for a Vegan to survive in Greece ========================================= For Vegans (NOT vegetarians - they eat cheese and eggs and milk etc.), who are people who don't eat animal products at all, there are some resources: From: cpbuehrer@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu ------------------------------------- Well...I just spent three weeks in Greece...most of that was spent in Athens. And I'm a vegetarian. I remember a restaurant in Plaka in Athens called Eden. It's a vegan/vegetarian restaurant...priced pretty decently. They had a ton of bizarre dishes that I'm not going to even attempt to start listing them. Suffice it to say that I could have eaten three meals a day there for those three weeks and never would have had to eat the same thing twice. There's also a fast food restaurant chain called "Goody's"...it's alot like Wendy's or BK in the states. They had alot of different types of salads available. I usually got this one called Mexican salad...which was beans, lettuce, corn, radishes, and some other veggies. Anyway, those salads were completely free of animal products (don't order the salad dressing though!). And then you can always go to the marketplaces or supermarkets and stock up on fresh fruits, veggies, breads, etc...those sorts of things are also readily available. Probably the only problem your students will have (and personally I don't consider this a problem) is that they'll have to eat a lot of raw uncooked things...if they don't care about that though then they won't ever go hungry! From: trevore@vast.unsw.edu.au (Trevor Elbourne (Supr. Hell) BE) ------------------------------ Well Greeks have an intresting custom that might help. On relegeous ocasions they faast. When I mean Greeks honestly faast I mean all products that come from animals with blood are excluded. A possible exception were the food for fasting would not be OK is some sea food. Like kalamari or octupous. But that would be obvious. So there is a range off food set up for the fasting that would fit very well. I don't live in Greece now but I am sure if you ask for food for the fasting then you should have no problem. There is quite a bit of it. 12. What was the Mythical Labyrinth?? ===================================== From: nextug@ac.dal.ca ---------------------- There seem to be two schools of thought: One is that the palace at Knossos was itself also referred to as The Labyrinth. Gerhard Sasse in his book "Crete" (APA Publications, 1990) writes: "The Greek designation of part of the palace, if not the whole of it, as the Labyrinth, could also mean "House of the Double Axe", if the derivation of the word labyrinth from the Anatolian word 'Labrys' (double axe) is accepted. "In Knossos several of these artifacts were found, in the so-called "Shrine of the Double Axe", and the holy sign of the double axe was scored into pillars and on votive objects -- as in other Cretan palaces." On the other hand The Labyrinth may have actually been a passageway of caves in close proximity to Knossos. Lawrence Durrell in his book "The Greek Islands" (Vicking Press, New York, 1978) writes: "To revert for a moment to the vexing question of the labyrinth, it is important to make a distinction between a man-made maze and a labyrinth constructed by nature; and the natural geological labyrinth situated near Gortyna has for long been a candidate for the honours of being the original lair of the Minotaur. Sceptics have declared that it is simply an abandoned quarry with a few corridors but, while I have not completely explored it myself -- for lack of an Ariadne and a ball of thread -- I think it is more suggestive than that. "I can vouch ... for the fact that the place is known as "The Labyrinth" in the local speech. To the best of my knowledge the whole of it has never been explored, though the villagers thereabouts claim the internal network of corridors span an area of some ten kilometers. One must, as always, subtract a bit of peasant exaggeration, but nevertheless the place is impressive ..." A certain Reverend Tozer who wrote a travel book in the 19th century (haven't the reference at hand) wrote: "Our host, Captain George, undertook to be our guide and accordingly next morning we started in his company and, fording the stream close under the Acropolis of Gortyna, ascended the hills towards the north-west and in an hour's time reached the place ... It is entered by an aperture of no great size in the mountainside, where the rocks are of clayey limestone, forming horizontal layers; and inside we found what looks almost like a flat roof, while chambers and passages run off from the entrance in various directions ... We were furnished each with a taper and descended by a passage on both sides of which the fallen stones had been piled up; the roof above us varies from four to sixteen feet in height. Winding about, we came to an upright stone, the work of a modern Ariadne, set there to show the way, for at intervals other passages branched off the main one, and anyone who entered without a light would be hopelessly lost. Captain George described to us how for three years during the late war (1867-9) the Christian inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, to the number of five hundred, and he among them, had lived there as their predecessors had done during the former insurrection, to escape the Turks who had burned their homes and carried off their flocks and herds ..." If you wish to pursue this issue seriously I would reccommend you go to your local library and do some research. A couple of books that might get you started (in addition to the ones already cited): AUTHOR: Bord, Janet, fl. 1972- TITLE: Mazes and labyrinths of the world / IMPRINT: London : Latimer New Dimensions, 1976. AUTHOR: Matthews, William Henry, 1882- TITLE: Mazes and labyrinths : their history and development / IMPRINT: New York : Dover Publications, 1970. AUTHOR: Doob, Penelope Reed. TITLE: The idea of the labyrinth from classical antiquity through the Middle A> IMPRINT: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1990. I don't know anything about the "Cave of the Cyclops" near Sougia. Are you certain that it exists? I'd be surprised if there were any pictures of it even if it does exist, let alone ones available via ftp. Not far away (a few km from Asogires, to the west of Sougia) is the well known C ave of Soure in which the 99 Holy Fathers lived. Also east of Rodovani (also west of Sougia) is the Cave of Skotini in which ceramic remains from the Classical epoch (550-67 B.C.) have been found. To the east is the world famous Samaria Gorge and en route is the Tzanis Cave where legend has it that on moonless nights a shepherd, enchanted by a water sprite, plays his lyre and sings of sorrow ... Good luck! Christopher Majka. 13. Greek Muses (in Greek) ========================== [ Can anyoe make an acceptable translation?? - nfotis ] From: peter@ENGR.TRINITY.EDU (Peter Vafeades) ----------------------------- Mouses, oi: 0ugateres tns Mvnmosuvns kai tou Dia n' tns Armovias n' tou Ouravou kai tns Gaias, 0eotntes tns poinsns, tns mousikns, tou xorou, tns astrovomias kai gevika twv texvwv kai twv epistnmwv. O ari0mos tous poikillei: allote treis, allote efta kai telika oi e3ns evvia: Kalliopn, n spoudaiotern apo oles, prostatria tns epikns poinsns Kleiw tns Istorias, EUTERPH tns mousikns, Polumvia twv umvwv kai tns mimikns, Teryixorn tou xorou kai tns xorikns poinsns, Eratw tns lurikns poinsns, Melpwmevn tns tragwdias, 0aleia tns kwmwdias kai Ouravia tns astrovomias. Arxngos tous 0ewrouvtav o Apollwvas (Mousngetns). Topos latreias tous ntav ektos apo tov omwvumo lofo stnv A0nva kuriws o Elikwvas stn Boiwtia. Oi arxaioi Ellnves tous eixav afierwsei tis pnges Agavippn kai Ippokrnvn. Agapnmevoi tous topoi e3allou ntav o Parvassos kai oi Delfoi (0eog. 1 k. e3. 52.75 k.a. Om Um. 25. Apollod. A13) ====================================================================== End of Cultural Part of the FAQ -- Nick (Nikolaos) Fotis National Technical Univ. of Athens, Greece HOME: 16 Esperidon St., InterNet : nfotis@theseas.ntua.gr Halandri, GR - 152 32 UUCP: mcsun!ariadne!theseas!nfotis Athens, GREECE FAX: (+30 1) 77 84 578