Works Cited

Peter Gotti

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/picture/2012/nov/14/debt-crisis-photography-eurozone-protests-strikes

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57546506/anti-austerity-greek-protests-get-violent


 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/business/global/greece-warns-of-going-broke-as-taxes-dry-up.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/06/06/greece_warns_of_going_broke.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMYCNWYjknU

Works Cited

Brandon Hayes and Joe Gulino and Veronica Dehais

http://bicycle2011.com/why-was-trade-important-to-the-greeks/

http://bicycle2011.com/why-was-trade-important-to-the-greeks/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRq7lLawQB4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_tree_of_the_Greek_gods

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evaggelos-vallianatos/greek-movement-better-world_b_2025587.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uHe5qFJCmk

http://blog.visitgreece.gr/most-visited-ancient-sites-in-greece/

http://intlhistory.blogspot.com/2012/06/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history.html

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Ancient_Greece.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=elERNFoEf3Y

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvFVSfMBw04

http://www.greeka.com/greece-politics.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9vEQkjkoi0&feature=youtube

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ancient-political/#PolAncGre

Works Cited

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xjmribtHvA

http://www2.ivcc.edu/gen2002/greek_and_roman_women.htm


http://business.time.com/2012/09/14/in-depressed-athens-a-money-museum-tries-to-turn-the-tide/


http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/greecevsrome/ss/GreecevsRome_4.htm
http://history-world.org/greece%20economy.htm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-GRJ1n0wGE

Greek citizens have been protesting in front of the parliament building to show their opposition to the laws being passed in attempts to get the country less out of debt. 153 out of 300 members voted in favor of the "latest austerity measure." These "measures" include pension cuts and wage cuts, raising the retirement age to 67, and making it easier for employers to fire their staff.
The Greek people have every reason in the world to be upset, but the terrifying "urban warzone" scene they have created is only making everything that much worse.... hence the title of the video:

 "Greece faces civil war if it can't face bankruptcy"

Structure of Greek Politics Today

Greece went from a monarchy to a democratic system, but one that works "like a parliamentary republic with a president as the head of state appointed by a legislative."

The Constitution was signed on June 11, 1975, and amended in March, 1986.

"The legal system is based on a codified Roman law and is judiciary divided into civil, criminal and administrative courts. The other political parties of Greece are the Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), the New Democracy (ND- conservative party) and the extreme right party LAOS."

"Greece is part of many International organizations, [including] NATO (since 1952) and EU (since 1981)."

Current Prime Minister: Loukas Papademos
Current Chief of State: President Karolos Papoulias

Branches of Greek Government
Executive branch: the President

- elected by Parliament for a five-year term
- In charge of appointing the Prime Minister
- The president appoints those in The Cabinet by recommendation of the Prime Minister

Legislative branch: held by the unicameral Parliament (“Vouli ton Ellinon”)

- 300 seats available
- members are elected for four-year terms by direct popular vote

Judicial branch: Supreme Judicial Court and Special Supreme Tribunal

- Judges are appointed for life by the President after he has consulted a judicial council.

In summary, the Greek people elect the members of Parliament, Parliament elects the President, and the President appoints the Prime Minister, those in the cabinet (with the help of the Prime Minister), and judges of the Supreme Court (with the help of a judicial council).


More: www.parliament.gr

Source: http://www.greeka.com/greece-politics.htm

Culture Culture Culture

Do you think Greece is the birthplace of Western Civilization?

Many tourists compliment Greece on it’s beautiful country and how it is full of history. People from Greece are proud of their heritage and culture. You can learn a lot yourself because the old culture/new culture offers a lot of valuable information. 

WHY A PATRIARCHY?

A patriarchy was a society in which power was held and later passed down from male to male. If a historians states that Greece was once a "patriarchal society", they are talking about how all the men held the high positions of power.

Most ancient Greek city-states were patriarchal. In Athens men could debate issues in the Assembly, and only men could vote. However this was not unusual, as most societies around the Mediterranean were patriarchal.

The development of polis, which is a kind of democracy in ancient Greece. It gave men more equal rights. It also placed greater restrictions on women and as the middle class arose, household duties became more important in a women's duties. 

If a woman was to fail to perform her duties, she would have serious legal and moral consequences.Women were prohibited from ever “achieving the status of fully autonomous beings”.  A woman was not allowed to inherit her own property or engage in any business activity. She was considered the legal ward of her father or husband, and her children were placed as the husband's property. 

Most Grecian women lived domestic lives and could not even leave their homes without permission from their husband or father.


 Men usually married around their early thirties and until they became married, Greek men were usually having sex with prostitute or young boys. This typically satisfied their sexual needs and desires until they were ready for children. 


Greek men were taught and engineered in such a way during these times, to not pay much attention to women and certainly to not appreciate them in any shape or form.

 The inequalities that women suffered were not only unfair, but imagine what ancient Greece would have been like if women played a larger role? Do you think anything significant would have happened?

Image from: Google.com

Can Greece get out of this sticky situation?

http://business.time.com/2012/09/14/in-depressed-athens-a-money-museum-tries-to-turn-the-tide/

And you thought your family had issues...

A Family Tree Depicting the Greek God/Titans
Source: Wikipedia.org

The Myth

What makes the Ancient Greece religion stand out from other more modern religions is that with the exception of The Illiad, and The Odyssey there are no other written depictions of the religion. The Ancient Greeks have something much more valuable than that: The Myth. Myths are fabled tales that are generally narratives with a moral tale involved. The major "myths" that we know are often attributed to the Ancient Greek Religion.
Among these memorable mythical characters are:

• Medusa
• Hercules
• Perseus
• Narcissus 
• Orpheus and Eurydice

Economy And Society In Classical Greece

Social Divisions

(A small section of an article about the economy and society in Classical Greece)

Title: Economy And Society In Classical Greece
Author:  Robert A. Guisepi

As with many aspects of Greek culture, homosexuality was almost certainly

more pronounced in the aristocracy than in other social groups. Male and
female peasants and urban workers worked together and generally mingled more
freely, which may have promoted greater emphasis on heterosexuality, and these
groups simply lacked the time for some of the more elaborate sexual
arrangements.

Other cultural divisions complicated Greek society. Peasants shared
beliefs in the gods and goddesses about which the playwrights wrote, but their
religious celebrations were largely separate from those of the upper classes.
At times Greek peasants showed their interest in some of the more emotional
religious practices imported from the Middle East, which provided more color
than the official ceremonies of the Greek pantheon and spiced the demanding
routines of work.

Different beliefs reflected and furthered the real social tensions of
Greek and Hellenistic societies, particularly as these societies became more
commercial and large estates challenged the peasant desire for independent
property ownership. Popular rebellions did not succeed in dislodging the
landowning aristocracy, but they contributed to a number of political shifts
in classical Greece and to the ultimate decline in the political stability of
the city-states and later the Hellenistic kingdoms.

Interestingly, conditions for women improved somewhat in the Hellenistic
period, in an atypical trend. Artists and playwrights began to display more
interest in women and their conditions. Women in Hellenistic cities appeared
more freely in public, and some aristocratic women gained new functions, for
example, in forming cultural clubs. A number of queens exercised great power,
often ruling harshly. Cratesiclea, the mother of a Hellenistic king in Sparta,
willingly served as a hostage to help form an alliance with a more powerful
state; she reputedly said, "send me away, wherever you think this body of mine
will be most useful to Sparta." More widely, Hellenistic women began to take
an active role in commerce, though they still needed male guardianship over
property.

Attractions in Athens

Ever wanted to check out Greece for yourself? Here is a short You-Tube video of the Top 5 Attractions to see while in Athens!

Commentary: Greek Debt Crisis Has Its Roots In Culture

The real ancestor of today’s Greece, says Henriette Lazaridis Power, is Karagiozis, the main character in the traditional shadow theater that’s performed in Athens even now.

Discussions about the Greek debt crisis over the past several months have often compared the Greece of today to its ancient role as the birthplace of democracy. Henriette Lazaridis Power, editor of the online literary journal The Drum, says the ancients don’t provide a useful model:

The fact is — Modern-day Greece is not the descendant of Periclean Athens but the descendant of 500 years of Ottoman rule that created a taste for labyrinthine bureaucracy, a desire to outwit authority, and a disregard for civic society.

Here’s the problem: Even though it’s the birthplace of democracy, Greece has a poorly developed sense of civic responsibility.

–Henriette Lazaridis Power

Here’s how it works in modern Greece: A contractor encourages a home-owner to wall-in an outdoor space and signs off on the creation of an illegal room. A civil-servant volunteers to assess valuable items as old junk so a widow won’t pay a higher tax. A home-buyer wants to fabricate paperwork to evade the tax he’s supposed to pay. Events like these, from my own experience, are replicated all over the country every day.

While I do worry about how my Greek friends and family will cope with more and more austerity measures, I don’t worry that they’ll be upset by my accusations. Because like most Greeks, they agree. The nationwide refrain to any conversation about corruption is “You’re right. We Greeks are always looking for a scam.” Greeks consistently identify themselves as morally impaired in comparison to, say, the Germans — and this goes back decades before the current crisis.

Here’s the problem: Even though it’s the birthplace of democracy, Greece has a poorly developed sense of civic responsibility. If you volunteer for something, you’re a sucker. If you pick up your garbage, or, god forbid, anyone else’s, you’re a fool. With few exceptions, like the upsurge in volunteerism surrounding the Athens Olympics, the culture embraces the view that you take care of your immediate family and the rest of society be damned.

The real ancestor of today’s Greece is not some Athenian holding a scroll of philosophical wisdom. It’s Karagiozis, the main character in the traditional shadow theater that’s performed in Athens even now. Karagiozis is a poor Greek man living under the rule of an Ottoman Vizir. He has a long left arm, the better to slip into people’s pockets with. He’s always trying to outwit the Vizir, and he’s always being beaten for his pains. Karagiozis — conniving, downtrodden, miserable — is the model for Greece. And the fact that Greeks themselves embrace this tells us that Greece’s troubles are both larger and more essential than the press and the politicians have understood.

Alexander the Great- Strategies, Weapons, Formations and Personality

Alexander the Great's army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, from Macedon and various Greek city-states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers.  He showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. This also showed Alexander's eagerness to fight opposite to his father's preference for diplomacy.

The Battle of Granicus was one of the first battles he fought on his conquest to rule Asia. His naivety could be seen through his actions as he was ‘closest to failure and death’ in this battle. It was here that he was learning how to implement the strategies Aristotle had taught him during childhood. Alexander was a wise leader who could see the flaws in military strategy better than even his own military generals, ‘Alexander…rejected Parmenion’s advice… to capitalize on the Persians’ error in tactical deployment’. Alexander the Great demonstrated confidence in this battle, though he was not experienced.  Due to his royal nature, others believed he was superior to others.

After an initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis and proceeded along the Ionian coast. Though Alexander believed in his divine power to fight with the lives of men he did experience sorry as those who died were rewarded generously. ‘To the relatives of his fallen, Alexander granted immunity from taxation and public service’. Whether it was his own warriors of the Persian forces opposing him, Alexander chose to respect those who died. He even went so far to set up statues to honor and respect these people. Though this did not directly influence the culture of the Persians they did not feel the need to begin a rebellion as their men and rulers were treated with proper respect.  

At the ancient Phrygian capital of Gordium, Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable Gordian Knot, a feat said to await the future "king of Asia". According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone and hacked it apart with his sword.

The Current Struggles of Greek Politics

The political strife presently going on in Greece is providing a lot of topics for political cartoonists to harp on. Each of the following cartoons is a reflection of the failures of government in Greece today.

These cartoons emphasize the fact that politics in Greece today are absolutely not what they used to be in ancient times. Other than utilizing a completely different system of government, in what other ways do new Greek politics differ from those of the Ancient Greeks?

Intro to Ancient Greek History

An Introduction to Ancient Greek History

A map of Greece

Early History:

The earliest known civilization in Greece was the Cycladic civilization, that was based in the Aegean sea at around 3000 BC, the Minoan civilization in Crete (2700–1500 BC) and then the Mycenaean civilization on the mainland (1900–1100 BC). Two of the most celebrated works of Greek literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer, were written during that period.

In 776 BC, the first Olympic games were held. By this time, Greece was divided into many quarreling city states and kingdoms. These city states were not restricted to present-day Greece, but also were present in southern Italy, the coasts of the Black Sea as well as in Asia Minor.

Despite the rivalry between the city states, this period was generally seen as a prosperous one for Greece, resulting in advances in philosophy, science, mathematics and the arts.

By around 508 BC, the system of democracy was installed for the first time in the world's history, in Athens.  In 500 BC, the Persian empire had conquered much of Asia Minor and northern Greece. Faced by the imminent threat of the Persians, the Greek city-states tried but failed to expel the Persians from the north. This sparked the first invasion of Greece by the Persians in 492 BC, which would later be halted by a Greek victory in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

A map of the war

Fast forward 10 years to 480 BC and the Persians launch a second invasion, most famously remembered for the Battle of Thermopylae which featured a numerically-disadvantaged Spartan force holding a last stand against a Persian invasion force. The Persians would later sack Athens. Later Greek victories at Salamis would later force the Persians to withdraw.

The main forces in the Greek city state alliance were Athens and Sparta. Both city states generally disliked each other, Athens being an intellectual haven while Sparta was primarily a warrior city. Relations between the two parties degraded and this led to a war, in 431 BC, between the two sides and their respective allies (called the Peloponnesian War, Peloponnesus being the name of the peninsula in southern Greece). The Spartans and their allies formed the Peloponnesian league while the Athenians and their allies in northern Greece calling themselves the Delian league.

The Peloponnesian league (with Persian aid) was victorious and decimated the Delian league, effectively destroying the Athenian empire. But it severely weakened most of the Greek city states, allowing the opportunistic kingdom of Macedon to take advantage and united the Greek states (minus Sparta) into a single entity in 339 BC, known as the League of Corinth, under the leadership of Phillip II of Macedon.

After Phillip II was assassinated in 336 BC, his son Alexander (popularly known as 'Alexander the Great' now) succeeded him. He would later launch a full scale invasion of the Persian Empire in 334 BC, using troops from almost all the Greek city-states. Greek victories at the Battle of Granicus, Guagemala effectively sealed the Persian Empire's fate. In 330 BC, the Greeks sacked Susa and Persepolis, the capital and ceremonial capital respectively. The empire Alexander had conquered spanned from Greece to India and Egypt. Alexander died a sudden death*, in Babylon in 323 BC, at age 32, before commencing a series of military campaigns which included an invasion of Arabia!**

The Remains Of Ancient Greek Civilizations

Ancient Greece 2012

Greece is the origin of philosophy, literature, architecture, democracy and science.

Acropolis

The Parthenon and other main buildings on the Acropolis were built by Pericles in the fifth century BC (golden age of Athens) as a monument to the cultural and political achievements of the inhabitants of Athens. The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, justice and war.

Delphi

Delphi is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece. In ancient times, it was considered the place where heaven and earth met; being centre of worship for the sun god Apollo it was home to the sacred oracle at Delphi

Olympia

Olympia is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, the most famous games in history. The first Olympic Games were in honour of Zeus. The Olympic Games were held every four years, dating back to 776 BC. Try to get to the site early in the morning, before the crowds, and explore the Temples of Zeus and of Hera, and the remains of the ancient stadium in peace.

Sounion

Sounion is noted as the site of ruins of an ancient Greek temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in classical mythology. The remains are surrounded on three sides by the sea. The temple was a landmark for ancient sailors, sitting on top the edge of a cliff on Cape Soúnion. For hundreds of years, its dramatic ruined beauty has drawn visitors from around the world.

Delos

According to Greek mythology, Apollo was born on this tiny island in the Cyclades archipelago. The archaeological site is exceptionally extensive, rich and conveys the image of a great cosmopolitan Mediterranean port. 

Mycenae

One of the most important archaeological sites, known in the whole world. It is a symbol of the heroic Greece and they are covered by the magic veil of the myth of the Atreides whose sufferings had been narrated by the ancient dramatists. The architecture and design of Mycenae and Tiryns, such as the Lion Gate and the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae and the walls of Tiryns, are outstanding examples of human creative genius

National Protest Clash With Police

Suffocation of Greece

A demonstrator marches with a plastic bag over her head to symbolize the suffocation of the Greek people by government austerity measures.

Timeline- Greek Events; People; World Events

Ancient Political Philosophy

This link to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy discusses Ancient political philosophy, and includes a specific section on politics in Ancient Greece. It defines the Greek polis, and Greek ideas of justice. It also goes into greater detail about Ancient Greek politics.
One interesting quote from the page that displays the importance of justice to the Ancient Greeks: "So understood, justice defined the basis of equal citizenship and was said to be the requirement for human regimes to be acceptable to the gods."

You can scroll throughout the page to read more about Ancient Greek political philosophy:
Ancient Political Philosophy

Greek Pensioners March

Inflation is falling, debt is rising, growth is static and credit is edgy. All these are facts. There must be an economic equation that says what Greece needs to do next. So where are the economists when we need them? As usual they have taken to the hills. Greece can not get a straight answer. 

 

Anti- Austerity Protest in Athens

Anti-austerity protests, mainly taking the form of massive street protests by those affected by them and some of them also involving a greater or lesser degree of militancy, have happened regularly across Greece, since the onset of the present-day worldwide financial crisis.

Greek Easter

This news broadcast follows the three days of celebration during the Easter season in the Greek Culture. The story starts by discussing the preparations made the days prior to the main holiday. On Good Friday the streets are blocked off in front of the church, as thousands of Greeks assemble to celebrate and the service is held inside and outside the premise. Easter is ushered on midnight of Sunday, as the Greek people during the vigil chant Khristós Anésti! On Sunday, the Greeks feast on roasted lamb on a spit, as well as traditional Easter soup called magiritsa, which is made of the heart, liver, and lungs of the lamb.

Ancient Greek Food Revival Workshop

This video is a news story on a workshop hosted in Athens that focused on teaching recipes that would have been featured in the Ancient Greek diet. Like the modern Greeks, the Ancients ate olives, olive oil, parsley, oregano, fish, and bread, but unlike their contemporary counterparts, they rarely ate meats, and their meals were very fresh and simple. These types of workshops give people the opportunity to eat like their ancestors and reconnect with a more down to earth style of eating.

The Greek Pantheon

This documentary follows the development and organization of the Greek Pantheon in Ancient times. It follows the 12 Olympians: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, who were always counted, and there were 4 variable gods who would also be considered the one of the 12 (Hestia, Demeter, Dionysus, and Hades). The video discusses the evolution of the mythology, especially after the influences of men such as Homer, who expanded the stories of the gods.

The Fall Of Hector

Achilles Slaying Hector

Homer's The Illiad is the sacred Ancient Greece equivalent to the Bible in many respects. Both deal with the  emotions of their respective Gods/God. And both consist of great epic battles. However, the Greeks valued and placed emphasis on the individual which is shown by Homer's emphasis on Achilles. In addition, there was no happy or bad afterlife for the Greeks as they believed that when you died your soul would be lingering in Hades in a sort of purgatory. This had Greeks place more emphasis on the lives they lived and attempted to control their own destinies rather then be excited to spend eternity with their 'creator' similar to many modern day religions. The Illiad also places a special emphasis on the viewings of knowledge. In Judeo-Christian religions, Eve and Adam were kicked out of Eden because of the cunning serpent which was the Devil. Meanwhile, in the Ancient Greece religion the most intelligent and cunning warrior was that of Odysseus, whose with and cunning were what allowed the Greeks to use the ever infamous "Trojan Horse" battle strategy, a ploy which won the Greeks the war, caused the fall of Troy, and cemented Odysseus in fame and heroism forever. You can clearly see the distinction between the value of knowledge between these two religious groups.

Hercules...The Gospel Truth

This beloved Disney Classic does a good job of describing (to a varying degree) of the origin of the Greek Gods. It introduces Muses, Zeus, and the Titans. Disney also did a good job of changing and ignoring the violent or scary parts of the Hercules story. Do you think most religious cartoon shows (I can only think of Veggie tales)ignore the violent parts of the stories?

Fragile Coalition in Greece Narrowly Backs Austerity

ATHENS — Amid some of the most violent demonstrations in Greece in months, the Parliament approved a sweeping set of austerity measures early Thursday that were aimed at keeping the country in the euro zone, but passage was so narrow that the government’s continued stability remained at risk.

After 14 hours of debate, the three-party coalition of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras held together to pass the measures, 153 to 128, after several lawmakers broke ranks. Eighteen members voted present, the equivalent of a blank vote, including 15 from the smallest coalition party, Democratic Left, which opposes the measures. There was one abstention.

After the vote, six lawmakers were expelled from the governing coalition’s Socialist Pasok party and one from the conservative New Democracy party

The measures — including sharp cuts to pensions, salaries and social services, as well as tax increases and increases in the retirement age to 67 from 65 — are expected, but not guaranteed, to persuade Greece’s foreign creditors to unlock 31 billion euros in aid, or about $40 billion, that the country needs to meet expenses.

A vote on the 2013 budget to activate the austerity package is expected late Sunday.

In presenting the austerity measures, which total 17 billion euros, to Parliament, Mr. Samaras acknowledged that the new cuts to pensions and salaries were “unfair,” but added that Greece was bound by the terms of its agreement with creditors.

“A lot of what we’re voting on today are measures we should have taken a long time ago,” he said, adding that they would be “the last, the last” such cuts. Future “adjustments,” he said, would come from a crackdown on tax evasion and public sector waste.

Mr. Samaras, however, is the third prime minister to promise the “last cuts” since Greece asked for a foreign bailout in 2010. The deep cuts, which have helped Greece’s economy shrink 25 percent in recent years, are undermining the country’s social and political stability — and the government’s ability to carry out the structural changes.

“You can’t rebuild institutions when you’ve cut down the salaries of people who work for them,” said Alexis Papahelas, the managing editor of the Kathimerini daily. “That’s the big problem the government and the country are facing.”

On the eve of the vote, nearly 50 employees of Greece’s central bank resigned to protest the deep cuts to public sector salaries, while on Wednesday, Greece’s Supreme Court ruled that cuts of up to 30 percent in judge’s salaries would violate the constitution.

Parliamentary staff also threatened Wednesday to resign over their salary cuts, leading Mr. Samaras to consider invoking executive authority to force them to stay on the job, according to a government official not authorized to speak publicly.

Greece’s troika of foreign lenders — the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — have demanded that Greece reduce its budget deficit in exchange for more aid.

Yet few believe that the measures will help improve the country’s economic health.

“Telling a whole people that they have to commit collective suicide to save the debt is not a policy,” Zoe Kostantopoulou, a member of Parliament from the leftist Syriza opposition party, said in an interview, expressing a sentiment growing across the political spectrum.

“The reason why we’ve seen the economy implode much more rapidly than thought is that they grossly underestimated the impact that fiscal austerity of this magnitude would have on the Greek economy,” said Simon Tilford, the chief economist at the Center for European Reform in London. “Additional austerity is going to compound that weakness.”

He added that the slump in the economy was also making it harder for Greece to meet the troika’s demands to reduce a mountain of debt. “The whole strategy for Greece has failed,” Mr. Tilford said. “It’s led to collapse in the Greek economy and the ballooning of debt so it’s an abject failure.”.

Stella Dimitrakopolou, a 29-year-old graphic designer who donned a surgical mask to ward off tear gas in Wednesday’s demonstration, agreed.

“These measures are inhumane,” she said. “The young generation has no future, and older people have no money and the measures do not help society economically.”

Greece Broke?

Over the last decade, Greece went on a debt binge that came crashing to an end in late 2009, provoking an economic crisis that has decimated the country’s economy, brought down its government, unleashed increasing social unrest and threatened the future of the euro.

Since a change in government revealed the true size of the country’s massive deficits, Greece has been kept afloat by its fellow euro zone countries, but at a steep price: the austerity measures demanded by France and Germany in return for two massive bailout packages, totaling 240 billion euros, have ripped holes in the Greek safety net and plunged the country into a recession of near-Great Depression dimensions.

After long resisting the idea of a default, European officials in March 2012 helped Greece negotiate a landmark debt restructuring deal with the vast majority of its private sector lenders, who agreed to swap $77 billion in Greek debt for new bonds worth as much as 75 percent less. It was the largest default in history.

The deal cleared the way for the so-called troika — European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — to begin releasing funds from the second, 130 billion euro ($163.4 billion) bailout package, avoiding an uncontrolled default. But many economists said it still left Greece saddled with unsustainable debts and little prospects for growth.

While Greece received billions of euros in emergency assistance from the lenders overseeing its bailout, almost none of the money is going to the Greek government to pay for vital public services. Instead, much of it is flowing directly back into the troika’s pockets. The European bailout that was supposed to buy time for Greece is mainly servicing the interest on the country’s debt; other funds have been set aside for propping up the nation’s shaky banks. Meanwhile, the Greek economy continues to decline.

In early May 2012, voters upended the country’s political system in a parliamentary election that saw the crushing defeat of the dominant parties, who were blamed for Greece’s collapse. Parties representing the left and the far-right made gains, as Greeks protested the austerity pact.



"A World of Wonder and Values"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evaggelos-vallianatos/greek-movement-better-world_b_2025587.html

In this Huffingon Post article Evaggelos Vallianatos discusses Ancient Greek and how we should follow "A Greek movement for a better world." Vallianatos discusses the wonders of Ancient Greece civilization. Vallianatos tells us that the Greeks provided Western Civilization with achievements in  "poetry, history, philosophy, science, political theory and democracy, the civilian control of the military, secular literature, theater, and athletics like the Olympics." He then goes on to explain how their religion despite being destroyed by Christianity, "is still a world of wonder and values." He says this because despite being a polytheistic religion, the Ancient Greece religion had no dogmas, no holy books and perhaps most importantly, no clergy. It was a religion that led to discovery, yearning and curiosity. 

• Do you think the Vallianatos backs up the claim that the Ancient Greece Religion is still a "world of wonder and values?"
• Do you think their is an advantage to a religion with no clergy, dogmas or holybooks?
• Is there anything that the Judea-Christian religions of our time could learn from the Ancient Greeks?  

Dionysia- The festival of "Tragedies

http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~mclennan/Classes/US210/City-Dionysia.html

This link is to a website that offers information about the ancient Greek festival of Dionysia. The City Dionysia, which was held

on the 9th to 13th days of Elaphêboliôn (March 24-28), paid homage to Dionysus,  the 

god of the grape harvest, wine and wine making, of ritual madness and ecstasy. Some of the events included ritual parades and bloodless sacrifices, athletic competitions, and theater performances. The festival concluded on first full moon after the start and was followed by the Pandia, a small festival attributed to Zeus.

Government in Ancient Greece

This video is a little silly and very entertaining, but also very informative. It discusses ideas of politics and political systems of Ancient Greek government, and the changes that took place up until the time of Alexander the Great. It discusses the difference between an oligarchy and a monarchy, as well as the difference between Athenian democracy and the style of democracy we're used to in America today. The video makes the general concepts of Ancient Greek Government easy to understand and grasp. Take a look:

Ancient Greek Music- A method of remembering stories

• Before written history, Bard's were professional poets that chanted epics using a Lyre(Harp like instrument) as a technique of remembering important ancient stories.  
• These chants were used in creating both the Odyssey and the Iliad.  
• Today's term Lyric is derived from the word Lyre.