Harry's Greece Travel Guide--go to home page

Greek Character, Customs, and Travellers’ Tips

Greek Character, Customs, mind-set, mentality

Though one must always guard against facile generalizations and stereotyping of national or ethnic groups, there are some things one can safely say in a general way about Greeks without succumbing to these dangers.

It must always be kept in mind, however, that 'traditional Greece' and 'modern Greece' have some major differences, and that many Greeks have a foot in both worlds.

Though the urban world tends to reflect modern ways to a far greater extent , no village is untouched by them, what with television, visits between members of urban and village extended families, and with university study in the cities by villagers who later return to work in their place of origin.

On the islands, especially those most visited by tourists (both foreign and Greek) the interpenetration of the two worlds is even more apparent, with villagers who still bring their produce to market on donkeys or mules in the same town with beaches full of young women under twenty (and over) sprawled nude on the beaches.

Postcard publishers have made the most of this interface between the old and new Greece, with often salacious depictions of foreign tourists, along with nostalgic pictures of Greek villagers sitting side saddle on donkeys as well, though certainly neither all foreign tourists nor all Greek villagers fit these stereotypes.

Apart from this rather lamentable imaging of what is to be found in Greece (based on the lowest level of commercial rapaciousness), one must understand Greek history, and especially modern Greek history, if one is to truly understand the Greek people, as one must understand the history of any people to truly understand their behavior in the present.

Given the limited scope of this article, suffice it to say here that Greece has been urbanized mostly since World War II, followed by the horrific Greek Civil War of 1946-49, both of which wars devastated the country and caused massive depopulation of villages.

More than two thirds of the present population of Greece reside in cities (with one third or more of the population in the Greater Athens area). Almost all urban Greeks have relatives and/or houses outside of the cities in which they reside, many in villages, where many of them were born.

The pre-war agricultural villages of Greece had economies based on production of olives, olive oil, nuts, fruits, vegetables, meat, wool, and dairy products, and, on islands and in coastal areas, fishing, boat building and the shipping industry.

Urban Greeks return to these villages at Paskha (Orthodox Easter), to a lesser extent at Christmas, during the autumn months for olive gathering and pressing of oil, and for longer periods in the summers, many of them restoring family houses or building new ones on family holdings.

The many Greeks with parents and other relatives living in villages or towns outside of the cities, are visited by those relatives periodically, the visitors bringing produce from the home villages to their urban family members.

Conversely, many city Greeks have also set up tourist-related businesses in their home villages or towns, especially on the islands, including hotels and rooms complexes, restaurants, tavernas and bars, music clubs, tourist offices, crafts shops, computer stores, etc., which businesses have, in many cases, enabled many urban Greeks to return to the places where they were born (or where their parents or grandparents were born), to live permanently.

Given the unbroken connection between village and metropolis (country and city) in Greece, there is a wide range of qualities to be found in Greeks, a fascinating mix of traditional village ways and customs and modern, cosmopolitan ways that have been intensely influenced during the past thirty years by the outer world, and especially the 'West' (northern Europe and the United States, in particular).

The millions of Greeks who emigrated to other countries and who come to visit their homeland, especially in the summer, accompanied by children and grandchildren born abroad, also link Greece and Greeks with the outer world and its cultures.

All of these things make it hard for foreigners to pin down what it is that is essentially 'Greek', though speaking the language, if only on a simple level, and mixing with Greeks on a regular basis, will naturally enough, bring one closer to the essence of 'Greekness'. The Greeks for example greet one another when the occasion arises with the following standard greetings: Kalimera, Kalo Mheena and Kali evdomada. Good Day, Good Month to you  and Good Week to you.

All this said, here are a few observations about Greeks and Greek ways in general, though some of the same things might be said about Mexicans and Latinos in the US, and of southern Mediterranean people in general:

Greek time & distance

An anecdote about a foreign tourist visiting the island of Ikaria (in the east Aegean) illustrates very well (if to an extreme), the relaxed attitude concerning time that some foreigners (at least from north Europe, north America, or Australia) often notice in Greeks.

The traveller in question was told to wait at a certain kafenio (Greek coffee house traditionally frequented by men) for the boat back to Athens, but arrived just a few minutes after the boat had departed. Noticing his distress, one of the old men who passed his mornings at the kafenio, and who spoke a little English, said to him: Don't worry! There will be another one in three days!!!

Though some Greeks are right on time for appointments (euphemistically referred to as English Time), many are not, and many don't like to plan things for an hour or even an exact day, wanting to leave things open, to allow for spontaneity.

Similarly, Greeks will often overestimate how long it will take to walk or drive to a certain destination, or how far away it is. It's always a good idea to multiply by two or three when given an estimate, especially by villagers, who live less by the clock than city folk. Greece is a country where half the populations still smokes, time or distance can occasionally be measured in the time it takes to smoke a cigarette or even two or three. To walk from here to there is three cigarettes.

Time in the Greek day

Though the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Greek defines the Greek word 'mesimeri' as 'midday or noon', and 'apoyevma' as 'afternoon', foreign visitors to Greece will soon understand that both translations are misleading when applied to structure of the Greek day.

Though 'mesimeri' does mean quite literally 'midday', a typical morning work shift in both cities and villages (though the latter may be that of a 'self-employed' farmer, ends at around 2:30, and those with jobs in stores often work an evening shift from around 6:30 to 9:30 or 10 or later, the midday break for the meal and subsequent nap hence beginning sometime after 2:30, with many actually sitting down to the meal around 3 or 3:30 pm (or even later in hot weather).

'Apoyevma' means literally, 'After/from the meal' but the term is applied to the period following the large midday (2-3 pm)(mesimeri) break described above, which includes the nap after the meal.

Consequently, when Greeks says that they'll meet you ' to apoyevma' ('in the afternoon' if one follows the Oxford dictionary definition), that can mean anytime from 5 pm till as late as 9 pm, with 'evening' (vradhi in Greek) meaning maybe as late as 10 pm, and 'nikta' (night) meaning really the wee hours. Everything, that is to say, is pushed forward in relation to the 'Western' clock, though morning (pro-ee, in Greek, with accent on the second syllable), does indeed mean the same thing as it does in north Europe or North America, with very early morning expressed by (repeating the word twice for emphasis, hence 'pro-ee pro-ee'.

The 'midday' nap: Or-ess kee-neese e-see-hee-as or 'hours of popular quiet'

It is not only considered very bad manners in Greece to make noise during the period from around 2 to 5 pm (and especially after 3 pm), but there is a law against it (though broken sometimes by those doing construction or using rototillers, because work is often excused if the workers have no other time to do that work). This is less so and rarely enforced in the city of Athens much to the chagrin of many lovsl residents. In theory it is quiet time. Siesta time!

So if a visitor to Greece is staying in a rooms complex that is near the houses of local Greeks, it is not appropriate to sit outside talking loudly and playing a radio or live music at that time.

The same need for quiet holds for those renting apartments in Greek towns or cities. During the hot summer months the midday meal and nap may get pushed forward until it cools off a little, with the meal even as late as 4 pm, and the nap to 5 pm or so. Few rules are 'set in stone' in Greece, but to be on the safe side, in the heat of summer, one should be aware that many Greeks are still napping until maybe 6:30.

Many visitors to Greece learn to do as the Greeks do, and find that this way of patterning one's day makes perfect sense, given the climate.

Greek eating, drinking, and socializing conventions

It can be stated unequivocally that Greeks are social creatures, and that much socializing goes on in connection with food and drink, and that drinking in Greece is always accompanied by some kind of food, if only a little plate of peanuts or a small mezes (snack/appetizer) such as a few little squares of bread with some olives and bits of cheese.

More often, however, plates of mezedhes (plural of mezes) are far more elaborate, and include everything from meat or fish dishes to dips for bread, including tzatziki (yogurt-garlic-cucumber) or melitsanosalata (a puree of aubergine with oil and garlic), the dishes commonly shared by the parea (the company partaking of the food and drink, who are most often friends and/or relatives, though a parea can be a group of professionals meeting over a meal, too).

Often one person will pay for everyone, though people will share the bill too, but if you are invited as a guest, your effort to pay for your portion will be refused.

As stated above, a substantial meal is eaten by most Greek at midday, which usually means sometime after 2:30, though with some exceptions, especially among those who do not work for others at regular jobs.

Villagers with crops and animals, for example, might begin in the wee hours of the morning (pro-ee pro-ee) and get home for the midday meal at noon.

Greeks who live in cities and towns, including young students, often go out for a meal in the evening, a meal that may begin after 10 pm in the summer months, just after it gets dark.

Many shops stay open till this hour (or later in summer), so that many are getting off work around then. Music at many tavernas begins around this hour as well. The midday nap (which begins anywhere from 3- 5 pm), allows for the lively nightlife enjoyed by Greeks in many places, which in summer, also includes villages, where people wait for the coolness of late evening to sit down to the last meal of the day, whether at home or in a local taverna.

Expressions of Affection in the Greek Language

One can learn much about Greeks by watching them when at table with friends and family, because this is when they are at their happiest and most relaxed. Animated, friendly, affectionate, exhuberant, demonstrative, humor loving-all these words could be used to describe Greeks.

The depth of their all-important family bonds carries over into relations with friends, and even with acquaintances, with many words of affection that derive from family relationships, especially the common form of address, 'Paidi mou', (literally, 'My child,' but used with everyone, often as a form of tender admonishment, sometimes when someone doesn't immediately grasp what one is trying to say, and one has to repeat it or explain it in other words, preceding the repetition with this term of endearment).

Another affectionate term of address is 'Mana mou' (literally, 'My mother',  though it can be used between any two people, regardless of age or gender).

The use of diminutives is another way of expressing affection, one form of this involving the addition of 'aki' to the end of a man's name (as in 'Yiannaki' for Yiannis, or 'Mihalaki' for Mihali), and then adding 'mou' (my) to it, hence calling a man or boy named Yiannis, Yiannaki mou (my little Yiannis), also regardless of age.

This ending can also be added to a word such as 'agori' (boy), thus making it into 'agoraki',with 'mou' then tacked on, resulting in 'Agoraki mou' (My little boy), used for any male , regardless of age.

Diminutive endings for women's names include 'oula' or 'itsa' tacked on to a woman's name, as in 'Annoula' for Anna, or Yeorgitsa for Yeorgia (Georgia), to a word like 'mikro' (small), making it 'mikroula'.

Another form of affectionate address is 'Kopelia', or 'Kopelia mou' or 'Koreetsi mou' (Girl, or My girl), used by men or women when addressing a girl or even a mature woman.

These are only a few of the many ways that Greeks express affection, for friends and family, but also for total strangers, thus extending the intimacy of family relationships outward into the world, and offering others the warmth and affection usually reserved for children in 'Western' culture. There is no condescension involved in this, but merely a form of sweet verbal caress.

Affection between male adolescents and men

Affection between male adolescents and men is a very warming and refreshing facet of Greek culture, with unabashed signs of physical affection that have nothing to do with sex, but everything to do with friendship.

Girls too, can be seen walking hand in hand or arm in arm. Greek men, especially in villages, but in general even in the cities, tend to respect women and to be unaggressive towards them (and often paternal) though caution should certainly be observed by women travelling in Greece, given the reality of the famous type known as the 'kamaki' (lit. harpoon), which describes (usually youngish) men known for hunting foreign women (though these types generally hang out in tourist spots), and because there are always exceptions to the rule.

The instinct to reassure and relax others is built into the Greek character, another manifestation of the affection that is related to warm and nourishing family ties. No one is expected to be perfect, and no one is allowed to worry too much. The expression 'Den Be-razei' (which is best expressed in English by the words 'Never mind' or 'Don't worry about it') is one of the most common Greek expressions, as is 'Mi se niazei' (same thing), or 'Min anisiheis' ('Don't be uneasy', literally). One also hears the expression 'Siga siga' frequently in Greece, which means something like 'Take it easy' or 'Gently does it', or 'Give yourself time'.

Some other common expressions:

Greeks have a similar expression for demurring when thanked for something or complimented: 'Na 'sai kala' (or, in the plural/formal usage, 'Na 'ste kala'), which means, literally, 'May you be well'. When uttered in response to a compliment, it can be an expression of shyness or reluctance to hear praise.

The same words are used sometimes as the end of a telephone conversation, or at the end of a visit. Other words said to those who are departing are 'Sto kalo' or 'Na pas/pate sto kalo' (which means literally, 'Go to the good'.

Thank yous are also frequently deflected by Greeks with the word 'Tipota', which means 'nothing', much like the English expression, 'Think nothing of it,' or, 'It was nothing'., or 'Don't mention it'. Many will also respond to expressions of gratitude with the words, 'Sto theo' ('to God', meaning.'Thank God, not me', with the implication that everything comes from God. 'Ta Lema' is one that means we'll speak soon.

Language etiquette. Greetings, Farewells, etc.

It is amazing how knowing just a few words of Greek, including appropriate common social rituals, will remove one a little from the class of generalized foreigners with whom Greeks cannot exchange the simplest formalities, and who are therefore inaccessible entities to be related to with improvised sign language.

Formal and Informal pronouns

It is a good thing for visitors to learn the difference between the singular/familiar 'Ya sou!' and the plural/formal 'Ya sas!' which means, in both cases, 'Your health!' and which can be said both on arrival and on parting without error (though there are other greetings and words of farewell, too, as seen below).

'Ya sou!' can only be used with one person, since it is singular, and 'Ya sas!' when addressing more than one person, but if a single person being greeted is up in years (or just a good deal older than oneself), and/or a stranger, to be on the safe side, use the plural/formal 'Ya sas!'.

Get a good phrase book with not only the transliterated phrases in your own alphabet, but also in the Greek, and carry it with you. Not only will that give you a handle on the Greek alphabet, but you can always show someone the question you are asking in the book if they don't understand you (since it's all too easy to mispronounce Greek words from transliterations). 

And if you intend to be in Greece for up to a month, knowing the Greek alphabet will enable you to read signs (both in small letters and capitals), so that you can locate places more easily are are in general more comfortable. Knowing some basic Greek is a sure ice-breaker when travelling in Greece.

People really appreciate the effort that you've made, since so many make none whatsoever, and even ask Greeks questions in English (or other languages) without asking the Greeks they are addressing if they speak it.

In tourist offices, most employees must and do know English (and sometimes French and German), but many Greeks don't, and it is rather arrogant to assume that they do. Learn at least how to say, 'Excuse me, do you speak English?' (French, German, etc.) 'Signomi, (accent on the 'o'), Milate Anglika?' (Gallika, Yermanika?) (Milate with accent on the 'a', pronounced 'ah', and on the last 'a' in Anglika, both 'a's pronounced 'ah'.

Filoxenia and attitudes towards tourist hospitality

'Filoxenia' (roughly, hospitality), is an important point of pride for Greeks, and is something rooted in ancient times and in mythology. In the latter, Zeus was said to have disguised himself as a poor man, dressing himself in rags, so that he could visit the homes of Greeks and see how they treated strangers, revealing himself at a certain point as the god he really was, the point of the story being that it's a good idea to treat strangers/foreigners well, because they could turn out to be gods.

The Greek word 'xenos/ xeni' (masculine/ feminine) means 'foreigner' or 'stranger'; making filoxenia/hospitality 'love or friendliness for the foreigner/stranger', who is, in turn, the guest (filoxenoumenos).

In villages, it is not uncommon for villagers to show up at the door of a resident foreigner (or even a temporary visitor renting a room) with a sack full of fresh tomatoes, or even a bottle of local olive oil.

On the other hand, many Greek villagers keep to themselves, with an invisible, but palpable, barrier between their extended families and outsiders. Again, one cannot generalize, and people act differently, too, from place to place.

Tenured Employees often have no incentinve to treat customers well

Many civil servants in Greece, at the telephone company, the national bank, etc. are noticeably cold and indifferent (and often downright rude) to customers, as are a good many salespeople, especially female ones, who will often go on talking with friends or on their mobile phones, with barely a glance in the direction of the customer waiting for help. Once again, there are occaisional exceptions.

Greek suffer tourist BURN OUT towards end of season

In touristic places that see hordes of visitors in the warmer months, Greeks who work in tourist offices, shops, car rentals, hotels, rooms complexes, restaurants, and bars (all the places that serve these visitors) some Greeks have been negatively influenced by rude, demanding, heavy drinking, half-nude, thieving, or otherwise obnoxious types of foreign visitors, or merely by the sheer numbers dealt with every day for up to 12 (or even more) hours, seven days a week for a period of some four or more months.

Many Greeks shield themselves from these types with cold indifference, or even with rudeness of their own, though many are quite professionally (or even warmly) polite. So, on the other hand, enterpreneurial Greeks, working for themselves (of which there are far too few), can be wonderfully helpfull if in the mood.

Certainly many of them have come to regard non-Greeks collectively, an impression that more sensitive visitors to Greece can help to counteract. It is therefore extremely important to visitors to touristic places to keep in mind that the Greek people who serve them during their visits to Greece ( in all the kinds of places mentioned above) endure a brutal work schedule, many of them at very low pay, in order to survive and to feed their families.

Many of them are continually exhausted during the long months of the tourist season, and need to be treated with extreme patience, respect, and sensitivity.

For example, if your boat is late, don't sound off about it to the employee at the ticket office, and when you enter a taverna, if you see that the the dishes are displayed behind the glass 'vee-tree-na' and the place is busy woth customers, save yourself time and go look at the dishes on offer and right then and there order the ones that appeal to your eye rather than sitting at the table and having the wait person try to explain what all the dishes are on the entire menu.

Misinformation or Getting directions from strangers

It is a good rule of thumb when visiting Greece, to ask more than one person for the same information, especially when asking people on the street. If at least three people agree on something, then there's a 50% chance that you've gotten correct information.

Outside of the cities it's a good precaution to ask more than one employee at bus stations for bus details, especially during such holiday periods as Christmas.

Bus schedules in smaller towns and villages during such vacation breaks are often different from the regular ones posted at the stations, many routes in such areas geared towards public school needs, since there are few other passengers. There may be far fewer buses during holiday breaks, with different departure times as well.

Pharmacies and banks too, have wierd hours and are only open 5 days a week

Religion and customs related to it

Despite the fact that many modern Greeks aren't religious, they still almost uniformly baptise their children around the age of one, and name them at that time, with the custom of naming children for grandparents of the same sex, though customs vary from place to place as to which parent's parent name is first bestowed on which gender of child in what order.

Naming the Kidaki

Baptising of children is a major event in the life cycle in Greek people. The church service is most often followed by feasting, often with music and dancing, sometimes held at a taverna or hall, and is an event on which some Greek families spend large sums of money).

Children are much loved and doted upon in Greece, and grow up in a circle of loving relatives, often cared for by grandparents or other relatives while the parents are working. Many Greek families share the same houses or apartment buildings, or live in neighboring houses in villages, the extended family at the heart of Greek culture, with the church and its ceremonies very much like an umbrella that includes the extended families that make up Greek communities. First names are usually chosen from those of the Greek Orthodox Saints such as Saint John, Thomas, Andrew or Dimitri for men and Sophia, Ioanna (Joan) or Katerina for ladies. There are many more variation in Sir names than in first names, in Greece, particularly for men.

Some times Greek sir names can sound absurd to western ears: Mr. Chicken, or Mr Goat even Mrs. Erota.

Not Birthdays but Saint Name Days are celebrated ! Yiortaso!

Another example of this is the saint's day festival (glendi) and the related name-day. Greeks also almost uniformly also celebrate their 'name days' (the saint's day for the saint whose name they share).

For example, on Aghios Giorgos (St. George's Day) in April, all men and boys with the name Giorgos celebrate their name-day, as do all girls and women with the name Giorgia (Georgia).

On Aghios Michalis (St. Michael's Day), boys and men with the name Michalis and girls and women with the name Mihaela, similarly celebrate.

The name day is known as a 'yeorti', as is the saint's day celebrated by church dedicated to that saint, on whih days a church service is held in all churches and chapels belonging to (ie. named for) the saint whose day it is, and in many cases a 'glendi', or celebration, follows, often in the church courtyard if weather permits, frequenly with feasting, music and dance.

On an individual level, anyone celebrating a yeorti is expected to have some sweets (snacks, drinks, and sometimes food) to give/serve guests who visit her/his home on that day. The appropriate greeting to the celebrant is 'Chronia polla!' ( literally, 'Many years!', but similar in meaning to the expression 'Many happy returns!). The same words (often used in parting) will be heard after Paskha (Greek Easter), though in the week leading up to that day one must say, 'Kalo Paskha' (Good Easter!).

Apart from the saint's day glendi in a local church or chapel, those celebrating their Yiorti may also go out for a meal with their 'parea' (their best friends), or with their families.

Though the birthday is now also celebrated in Greece, it is a relative newcomer to Greek culture, imported from the west, the name-day being far older and more traditional. It is easy to see that the name day is more of a collective event which derives in turn from another collective phenomenon-the traditional passing on of family names over the generations-with those names and the rituals governing them defined by the collectivity of the Orthodox church. All of these things make very clear both unifying cultural role of the Orthodox church in Greece, something that doesn't depend on how 'religious' individuals are, and when the more religious ones light candles in chapels to their favorite saints, there is something both extremely familial and personal about this appeal for help to a spiritual entity, far different from prayers addressed to an abstract God.

Many of the small chapels seen all over the Greek countryside are built by families to honor their patron saint and ensure protection by that saint.

Proper attire in churches

Many guidebooks for travellers to Greece urge travellers to observe dress codes when visiting churches, chapels and monasteries, and though some women may balk at not being allowed into some of these places in trousers (even when they cover the entire leg), one can understand local chagrin in island villages where young girls in bikini tops and shorts have been seen to stride nonchalantly into churches, unaware that for the local people, such scanty attire represents a profound lack of respect.

Visitors are best advised to accept the topical dress codes in religious localities like churches and monasteries or to stay away.

Another area where respect for local custom is needed is in regard to mourning of the dead, with playing of music in small communities where someone has died deemed entirely inappropriate.

Though this may seem strange at first, if one considers that small communities in Greece consist mostly of several families that have intermarried over the generations, making the entire community one large extended family, it is understandable that all are affected by the death of one of its members, especially if relatively young.

So travellers staying in such communities might take mention of a death in the neighborhood as a signal to not sit on the veranda playing loud music or having highly audible parties, though one can always simply ask the proprietors of the place where one is staying what behavior is appropriate in the particular situation.

Attitude towards Religious minorities in Greece

Though some 98% of Greeks are born into Greek Orthodox families (regardless of how religious individuals in those families are), there is also a sizeable Roman Catholic minority, mostly in Athens (many of whom are Filipino and Polish immigrants) and in the Cyclades especially on the island of Syros, where they make up 40% of the population) but also in Naxos and Paros. All of the Cyclades constituted a Venetian duchy from the 13th to the 16th centuries.

Before World War II there were some 80,000 Jews in Greece, 60,000 of whom lived in inThesalloniki, with all but about 10,000 remaining after the war, most of them shipped off to their deaths in Auschwitz.

Some 46,000 of them were Sephardic Jews, the first of whom came to Greece from Spain in the 15th century when non-Christians were expelled during the years of the Inquisition, and who formed a majority of the population of Thessaloniki for many many years. The Turks had welcomed them with open arms because as Jews they were "people of the Book" and the city was under populated.

Earlier communities of Jews, termed Romaniot Jews (who came to Greece even before the Roman times for which they were named), were scattered in many areas in Greece, some of them dating back to 300 BC. There are about 5000 Jews in Greece today, 3000 of them in Athens, 1000 in Thessaloniki, and the rest in small communities here and there, mostly on the Greek mainland.

There are about 120,000 Muslims in Greece, residing in Thrace, where they make up perhaps as much as half of the population. They are made up of Turks, Pomaks (a race speaking a dialect of Bulgarian, who were forcibly converted to Islam centuries ago), and Roma (the politically correct name for people formerly known as gypsies), though the larger numbers of Roma residing in Greece outside of Thrace are non-Muslim.

Muslims were permitted to remain in Thrace after the population exchange of Christians and Muslims between Greece and Turkey referred to above ( in 1923), and there are smaller numbers of them on the islands of Rhodes and Kos in the Dodecanese islands.

Xenophobia in Greece

There is an significant awareness historically of the foreign policy held by American and Britain towasds Greece, it is aimed more at governments than at individuals, and is based on both present and past foreign policy on the part of both countries in regard to the Balkans and the Middle East in general since the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and World War I up through World War II (American involvement mostly since the latter), and in regard to Cyprus. Over 50,000 Greeks students study in both these countries anually even so.

Germans are general accepted by Greeks, despite the brutal occupation of Hitler's armies during World War II, with the burning of up to 1000 villages and massacres of civilians even on mere suspicion of supporting the resistance guerilla fighters.

Widespread antipathy is, however, expressed by Greeks towards Albanians, who make up the largest percentage of immigrants who have come to Greece for work since the early 1990s, and who are disliked by many Greeks for being the cheap labor force and source of public revenues that has been the basis of their being permitted to stay and apply for work permits.

They are also widely seen as being the cause of the significant rise in crime rates in Greece and are often scapegoated unjustly. Though many Greeks have Albanian employees whom they personally like and treat fairly, Greeks and Albanians generally don't socialize.

Other recent immigrants to Greece include Bulgarians, Ukranians, Moldavians, Philipinos, Africans, Iranians, and, more recently, some Chinese, Pakistanis and Bangladeshi.

Many Greeks, especially in the large cities, resent the large proportion of foreigners both in schools and neighborhoods, often expressing the fear that Greeks will be outnumbered if even more immigrants come. Greece has been criticized both by Amnesty International and by the EU for its treatment of both minorities and foreigners, and in particular for its failure to observe international asylum standard. Only a tiny fraction of those who petition for asylum in Greece are granted asylum.

Religious traditions concerning mourning

There's even a verb in Greek which means to 'dress in black', describing the old custom of widows wearing black for the rest of their lives after the death of their husbands.

One can still still many older women in Greek villages dressed entirely in black, following the old custom, though many modern women wear black for a much shorter time period (maybe a year). Death of a relative can also be the reason for wearing black for a period of time, and again, it is the women who dress entirely in black , the men simply wearing a black arm for a fairly short period of time.

I was told once of a not-so-young widow in an island village, whose husband had insisted that she dispense with this custom when he died, and she was seen at church after his death, wearing colors, setting the local village women to fierce gossiping. Indeed, these days many wear black in such places today only from fear of such censure from neighbors.

Customs such as these die hard in small villages, but there is far less observance of this custom among modern women, especially in cities, with younger women (especially those who have children in need of a father) often being encouraged to remarry.

Music and dance/Orthodoxy and the Dionysian element

Ancient Greek vases show a circle of dancers performing a dance which is believed to be the same as one still danced in present times (syrtos) ,though with many variations according to region, all over Greece. The subject of Greek music and dance is vast, but certain salient points can be made with the foreign traveler to Greece in mind. The best-known type of popular Greek music known outside of Greece is rembetika music, an urban music tradition with its classic period in the 1930s, which has experienced an international revival in recent decades. Classic rembetika music, performed typically with three instruments: bouzouki (or the smaller tzouras), guitar and baglama-the latter a tiny bouzouki used for chords played in percussive fashion.

Rembetika

This urban genre of Greek music had its roots in mainland Greece during the late 19th century, and later overlapped with the music brought in the early 1920s by the Greek refugees who flooded into Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki from Smyrna and Constantinople in Asia Minor after the compulsory population exchange of Christians and Muslims in 1923. This exchange followed the 'Katastrofi' (Catastrophe) of 1922 , which in turn followed the failed Greek attempt to take back formerly Greek areas within the new Turkish nation that arose after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The music brought by the refugees is generally referred to as Smyrneika, and was played on instruments such as violin, the Constantinopolitan lyra, the santouri, kanonaki (both zither like instruments, the first struck with mallets and with fixed pitches, the latter played with metal picks attached to the fingers and with pitches adjusted to small microtones while playing, by use of tiny levers that lower tiny bridges that change string lengths), and outi (oud, ud), a gourd-backed instrument with gut string and no frets. The highly sophisticated players of these instruments included song composers who were at the reins of the recording industry in Athens after 1922, and many people refer to their music (which includes traditional, handed-down, pieces as well as composed ones), as 'Early Rembetika'. By the 1930s, however, the bouzouki centered music had displaced the Asia Minor music and its instruments, the three instruments of the former music utilizing fixed frets, and hence, fixed pitches (ie. half tones and whole tones). Interestingly, the early bouzouki looked exactly like the saz, which had moveable frets, and which could hence be adjusted to play various microtones. By the post war period entire bouzouki orchestras had replaced the old intimate trio, and the dark themes of the earlier 'classic rembetika' (drugs, jail, poverty, betrayal in love, etc.) replaced by themes more acceptable to the middle class urban Greeks. The scion of that later rembetika was laika (literally, 'popular music' or 'people's music') and by the latter part of the 20th century, the process of commercialization and electrification had reached an extreme.

Music of urban Asia Minor

Far less known to the outside world was the music of 1920s and early 1930s urban Asia Minor, or the music from many areas of both coastal Asia Minor and inland regions where Greeks lived, which including the wonderful music of Greeks from Kappadokia (Cappadocia) or from the Black Sea coast in the north, the homeland of the Pontic Greeks. Nor was the music of the different Greek island groups, including the very unique music of the largest island, Crete, or of the various regions of the Greek mainland (Thrace, Macedonia, Ipiros, Thessaly, Central Greece, the Peloponnisos) known to people outside of Greece. A few major figures in Greece, however, devoted their lives to the recording and collection of music, dance and costume from all regions of Greece. Among them was Simon Karas who founded the Society for the Dissemination of Greek Music, who made field recordings during the 1960s and '70s which resulted in some 30 LPs, later issued as cassettes, and some of them now reissued as CDs. Another major figure was Dora Stratou, whose spawned the dance productions that still continue annually in Athens at the theater named for her on Filoppapou , near the Acropolis in Athens. Regional recordings are available from the society founded by her, with a site on the internet. Other major players include Domna Samiou, now in her 70s, born of Asia Minor refugees in Athens, who had collected and recorded an enormous body of songs from all regions of Greece, accompanied by some of Greece's finest musicians, and Finos Anoyinakis, whose collection of folk instruments played traditionally in all Greece are housed in the superb instrument museum in Plaka (across from the Tower of the Winds). Travelers to Greece interested in hearing authentic older Greek music as well as Greek dancing, can do so in many places in Greece. Athens and Thessaloniki are the main cities where such music is happening, as well as in some smaller cities and towns. Authentic village music and dance are increasingly harder to find in their places of origin, due to intense electrification, over amplifcation, sound effects, and slicking up of styles, replacement of older instruments with others, ,etc. In Crete one can find both the older authentic music and dance as well as the modern commercialized versions. The Dodecanese island group, especially Karpathos, offers some of the real thing as well. Visitors will see signs posted everywhere in summer for saints' day festivals and other music events, but the best thing is to know the difference between truly 'traditional' music and the modern 'replacement'. Many local Greeks will tell you that the music advertised on a phone pole is 'paradosiaka' (traditional), but they won't tell you that the volume will be cranked up to earsplitting levels and that the laouto (lute) will sound like an electric bouzouki.

Etiquette regarding folk dancing

There are times when one will see many people getting up from their tables and joining in the dance with others, and one can take one's cue from this that it is appropriate to do so yourself. On the other hand, if you see someone (usually a man) get up from his table and lead a dance of his parea (those who had been seated with him), often first going over to speak to the musicians and throwing some paper money at their feet, all this should be taken to mean that someone has paid the band to play his favorite tune for him to lead the dance for his personal party, and that by no means should you get up and join in. Chances are, if you did so, the parea would not throw you off the dance floor (knowing that you were just an outsider ignorant of the customs), but most likely you would feel quite foolish, especially the people next to you started doing fancy steps and you couldn't follow, with many eyes fixed in amusement on your inadvertent blooper. It is also important to take note of the fact (assuming that you are not a veteran folk dancer) that in line dances (as opposed to couple dances), the line of dancers, for all that it appears to be a circle, is really a broken circle with a leader, who is moving the line to the right. So if you get into line, don't go to the far right end of the line and take the leader's hand, or you will be seen to be usurping the leader's role and be expected to lead all the dancers with your own fancy variations of the steps.

Concerning the Zeybekiko and Greek dance in general

This is a free form dance that is done these days mostly to bouzouki music (whether of the old classic type, or of the more modern flashy, plate smashing or bottle smashing travesty of the older form). It is basically a highly improvised solo dance, though sometimes two men will get up and dance it separately, but within the same area. Despite the fact that it is improvised, it is not free form dancing like modern, jazz, or rock 'n roll dancing. The way of moving-- the type of steps executed-in this dance, though individualized, belong to a definite tradition, and can easily be wrecked by someone unacquainted with the tradition getting up and rocking out . Though it is harder to wreck a line dance, given the larger number of dancers who know the steps and the feeling of the dance, even then , foreign participants should make an effort to try to follow the simple step pattern done by those on either side of oneself, rather than doing one's own thing. Line dances (and couple dances too) are a form of communiction (and communing ) among Greeks (as is all folk dancing everywhere), and if you want to participate, do so with sensitivity to what is going on. This is not to discourage people moved by the music and dance from joining in, but merely to urge tuning into what is happening rather than 'doing your own thing' (and hence standing out like the old 'sore thumb'.

Miscellaneous Travel Tips/Etiquette

Nude bathing

There are many beaches in Greece where nude bathing is accepted, especially on islands which have a lot of tourists (with the exception of Patmos , in the Dodecanese islands). Sometimes one will find that the beaches in more built-up areas are bathing suit beaches, but that farther down, as the buildings (hotels, rooms, tavernas, etc.) thin out, so do the bathing suits. A good rule of thumb for areas where one isn't sure what the rules are, is to simply look around (or ask someone who speaks your language). But if there isn't a bare breast or behind in sight, best put on the bathing suit, not just to keep from being approached by police, but simply out of respect for local sensibilities.

As almost everywhere else in the world, not everyone is ready to see people walking around naked, or to have their children see them, natural and holy as the human body may well be. Don't sunbathe half nude (or nude) near chapels and churches, and don't engage in sexual acts on beaches where there are other people (or where others are likely to show up). Not only can such behavior more surely draw the police, but in any case, such acts will be offensive to all but voyeurs and those of pornographic mentality.

There are certainly plenty of postcards, T-shirts, prints, and kitch sculpture seen in touristed areas of Greece (especially on the islands), which present Greece as a haven for sex-sun-sand-sin, etc., and this is something that many would love to see become happily extinct (though it most likely won't).

In any case, it seems unlikely that those who view Greece as an erotic playpen will be reading an article such as this, but instead start heading for the nearest beach where he/she can indulge her/his fantasies. Just in case there's an exception, however, this much could be stated to the open ear: As a visitor to Greece, you are a representative of the country from which you come, and of the outer world in general in the eyes of the local people. You are not visiting an anonymous playground of the Mediterranean, but the home of a particular people and of a complex, fascinating, and in many ways beautiful, culture. You are highly visible, and you leave an impression that will become part of the general impression that Greeks have of 'foreigners' and which will affect how they treat you and other foreigners as well. Consider both what you would like to bring to Greece from your country of origin, and also how you would like to be seen (and, by extension, have other foreigners regarded by Greeks).

As to the first, you have the option of bringing sensitivity and kindness to the people of Greece who work unbelievably hard and long hours (many of them seven days a week) during four long hot months in the industry geared towards making your stay in Greece a pleasant and relaxing one, and as to the second-you have the option to be seen as a visitor who not only demands energy, but one who also gives the human gesture of empathy, kindness, sensitivity and respect for local ways.

Environmental Issues in Greece

Even if millions of tourists didn't visit Greece annually, there would still be far too much environmental abuse in this beautiful country, because awareness of the need for environmental protection in Greece is a fairly recent development, with far too few laws supporting it. But millions of tourists severely compound the problem..

Garbage

The everpresence of plastic water bottles, plastic and paper packaging on the beaches, in the sea and streams and on the roads of Greece, is all too apparent to visitors, many of whom are part the problem. Here are some of the ways in which foreign visitors to Greece can help diminish this blight on the environment:

Water conservation

It is essential to conserve water in Greece, where this resource is all too scarce in many places, especially on very dry islands. Long showers are to be avoided, or heavy water usage of any kind, especially during the months from late spring (after the winter rains) and up until November.

Flora

Greece is known for its grand displays of spring wildflowers, many of which include many species of orchids. The latter should be enjoyed visually, but not gathered., and in general, though it is a Greek custom to gather wildflowers for wreaths on May Day, it is always best never to gather flowers of which one sees only very small clusters.

Fauna (Wildlife)

There has been a long ongoing uphill battle in Greece to protect the endangered loggerhead turtle, especially on the island of Zakynthos, on some of whose gently shelving beaches these turtles have traditionally dug their nests and laid their eggs. Successful reproduction is essential to survival of these creatures, though heavily impacted by tourist activity on those same beaches. Lights from hotels disorient the hatchlings, who often perish because they head towards those lights instead of towards the sea, which, under natural conditions would be the brightest thing around, thus triggering their instinct to move towards it. Loud noise from tourist bars and restaurants is also a deterrent to the approach of females from the sea seeking to dig their nests in the sand, and nests are often destroyed by compacting of sand by vehicles driven on the beaches, or puncturing of them by beach umbrellas. Hatchlings also get entangled in beach chairs left on the beach. Do not camp on beaches where these turtles nest, or even walk on them at night, or talk loudly or play music near them at night. By no means drive bikes or cars on such beaches, and don't put up breach umbrellas or leave beach beds out at night. There are educational centers in many places where the loggerhead turtle nests. Educate yourself as to their habits and learn which areas to avoid at night. (The repetition of the words 'at night' here is quite deliberate, for it is at night that serious damage can be done to these ancient and threatened creatures).

The monk seal

The first marine sanctuary in Europe is found on and around the island of Alonissos and its islets in the Sporades island group, which is mostly to the east of the city of Volos and the Pilio peninsula. This sanctuary was established to protect the very rare and endangered Mediterranean monk seal, though there are also many species of birds, including rare falcons on some of these islands.

Animal welfare in Greece (domestic and farm animals)

There has been increasing awareness of the need for better treatment of animals in Greece during the past few decades, with many animal welfare groups established all over the country, in both cities and on the islands, in many cases (though not all) started by concerned foreign residents. Most of these groups deal with the need for sterilization and adoption of stray dogs and cats, as well as for medical care and increased public awareness of the need to treat such animals kindly. Programs have been established in some places for adoption of stray animals by foreigners who take the animals back with them to their own countries, though strict procedures must be followed for this that conform to respective national laws. As in many other places in the world, many people (in farms and cities alike) have dealt with unwanted , freely reproducing animals, by poisoning them or killing them by other rather appalling means. These days, though one will see dogs and cats which are loved by local Greeks, there are still far too many cases of brutal 'disposal' of unwanted animals, as well as ill treatment and neglect. Many village dogs are kept day and night on short chains, from a very young age, either by themselves or near other such chained dogs, often close to chicken coops, where their barking is meant to frighten away weasels. Hunting dogs have it a little better, as they are taken out for hours at a time more than once a week, especially in winter, during hunting season (though many may stay chained up during the other months). Many animals (mules, donkeys, horses, sheep, goats) have their feet tightly hobbled so that they won't leave poorly fenced pastures; and many animals are tethered in full sun during hot summer days with no shade available to them. These latter practices will be slower to change than the situation with dogs and cats, but there is always hope. It certainly can't hurt to write to the EU about the need for laws concerning these things, or to talk with local officials.

Forests and Forest Fires

There are far more forests in Greece than many foreign tourists realize, because much tourism was focused during the first few decades (from the 1960s through the 80s) on the islands, especially those in the Cyclades ( Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, etc.), where there is no forest. There are, however, islands which have extensively forested areas, though much decimated by fires, including Lesvos/Lesbos (also called Mytilini), Hios (Chios), and Thassos, in the north and northeast Aegean, Samos (east Aegean), and smaller patches of forest here and there on other islands, including the large island of Evia (Euboea). There is also extensive forest in the Peloponnisos (Peloponnese), and in central and in the northern Greek regions of Ipiros, Macedonia and Thrace. Many fires that have wiped out forest in Greece (especially on the islands mentioned), are well known to have been set deliberately by developers who want to build on land with protected forest status (ie. off bounds to building). It is the same rapacious interest group that is behind the present effort to change the definition of exactly what constitutes 'forest' in Greece, with the aim of removing much land from its present legally protected status. Foreign visitors are urged to be extremely vigilant when camping, or when smoking cigarettes during the hot dry summer months in open areas. The lovely hiking trails on Mt. Ymittos (Hymettus) to the east of Athens (near the beautiful monastery of Kesariani), are a case in point, as is Parnitha, to the north of Athens, which is also a favorite hiking area near Athens. Given the fact that these forested areas constitute the main forest in the dry region of Attiki (Attica), it would be tragic to lose them to carelessness. Certainly such caution must be exercised everywhere in Greece, though, not just in Attica.

greece travel awards

©Harry's Greece Travel Guides | Greece links I | II | III | Musicians Click Here for Great Deals | Athens Festival Herod Attikus / Epidavros Schedules maybe

Click Here to share this page with your friends, website visitors, ezine readers, social followers and other online contacts.