The Greek character, customs, mind-set, mentality, traditions, attitude, life style or what have you

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.

Greece has became 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 grand children 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: