Greeks
homoglosson " the use of one of the dialects of the
Greek language),
* Common blood (
homaimon " descent from
Hellen, son of
Deucalion),
* Common
shrines,
statues and
sacrifices (practice of the
ancient Greek religion " compare the Christian Greek and Demotic term
omothriskon), and
* Common habits and customs.
As
Thucydides observes that the name of
Hellas spread from a valley in
Thessaly to the Greek-speaking peoples after the formation of the text of
Homer (the
Panellenes of
Il. 2.530 are the troops of Thessaly, contrasting with the
Achaeans), not long before his own time. This places the idea in the
Archaic period, when Greeks discovered that the world was wider, wealthier, and more cultured than they had imagined. Homer's
Trojan War is, indeed, a conflict among Greeks: the
Trojans speak Greek (although most modern historians believe they were more likely an
Anatolian people, based mostly on later translations of the story by late writers), bear Greek names, and worship the Greek gods; and
Priam is descended from
Zeus (see
Alaksandus). The
Carians are the only people Homer considers
barbarophonoi.
Nor did the late and schematic myth of the sons of Hellen ever convince other
mythographers to comply with it.
Theseus is descended from
Erechtheus, son of the
Earth;
Agamemnon from
Phrygian Pelops;
Heracles and
Perseus from
Egyptian
Danaus. Whole cities were not descended from Hellen:
Athens,
Lemnos, and the
Cretans were
Pelasgian. The myth of
Hellen combined into one group the smaller tribes that participated in the
Delphic Amphictyon, such as the
Aeolians, the
Achaeans, and the
Dorians. Traces of the older distinctions remained; Dorians were forbidden in the
Parthenon; although the Spartan king
Cleomenes I claimed this did not apply to him " as a descendant of
Heracles,
he was an Achaean. As in this example, the Greeks almost always reckoned descent through the male line.
So the exact nature of Greek identity has been an open question since ancient times. It has not become clearer with time: descent is at best a matter of tradition, and the Greeks have altered their language, religion, and customs since Herodotus. Nevertheless, there has been, in practice, a continuous Greek identity since ancient times, containing at least those who were born Greek and who had citizenship in a Greek city, or membership of a Greek community.
As early as the
5th century BC,
Isocrates, after speaking of common origin and worship, says: "the name Hellenes suggests no longer a race but an intelligence, and... the title Hellenes is applied rather to those who share our culture than to those who share a common blood".
4.50.
After the
4th century BC and
Alexander the Great's conquest of the East, Greek became the
lingua franca of the East
Mediterranean region and was widely spoken by educated non-Greeks.
Byzantine Greeks
After the creation of the
Byzantine Empire, Greek culture changed from Hellenic (Greek pagan) to Eastern Roman (Greek
paganism fused with Christianity), and the word "Hellene" became associated with the pagan past. Distinctions of nationality still existed in the empire, but became secondary to religious considerations as the renewed empire used Christianity to maintain its cohesion. However, the Byzantine Empire was dominated by the Greek element to such an extent that Emperor
Heraclius (575 AD - 641 AD) decided to make Greek the official language. From then on, the Roman and Greek cultures were virtually fused in the East. Thanks to the settlements that resulted from such policies, many names that seem Greek are actually of different ethnic origin, such as Slavic or Turkish. By that time it was common policy by the Latin West to refer to Byzantium strictly as "Empire of the Greeks" (Imperium Graecorum), or even "Greece" (Graecia).
Nonetheless, it was religion that divided the Empire from the
Muslims; and, along different lines, it came to divide the Empire from the
Franks,
Armenians,
Copts, and
Syrians.
Pure Greek nationalism re-emerged in the
11th century within specific circles and became more forceful after the fall of
Constantinople to the
Crusaders of the
Fourth Crusade in
1204, and the establishment of a number of Greek kingdoms (such as the
Empire of Nicaea and the
Despotate of Epirus). When the empire was revived in
1261, it became essentially a Greek national state. Adherence to
Greek Orthodox rites and the
Greek language, became the defining characteristic of the Greek people.
Greeks in the Ottoman Empire
Under the
Ottoman Empire, religion was the defining characteristic of "national" groups (
milletler), so "Greeks" (
Rumlar) were defined by the Ottomans as members of the Greek Orthodox Church, regardless of their language or origin. Conversely, those who adopted
Islam during that period were considered 'Turks', regardless of their language or origin. Yet, the Greeks themselves upheld the autocephalous concept whereby they maintained their unique ethno-religious identity and consistently distinguished themselves from other non-Greek Orthodox Christian populations. However, some Greeks such as
Alexander Ypsilanti, expected non-Greek populations such as the
Moldavians and the
Wallachians to rise for
Greek independence because they were Greek Orthodox Christians. However, both the Moldavians and the Wallachians were cognizant of their non-Greek identities and refused to contribute.
Modern independence
This strong relation between Greek national identity and Greek Orthodox religion continued after the creation of the modern Greek state in
1830, and when the
Treaty of Lausanne was signed between Greece and
Turkey in
1923, the two countries agreed to use religion as the determinant for ethnic identity. However, in many important respects, the Greek state adhered from its founding to remarkably
secular principles. For instance,
Jews were granted full citizens rights in
1830, the year Greece's independence was formally recognized, thus making Greece the second state in
Europe (after
France) with an
emancipated Jewish community.
Today, the deeper integration of Greece into the Western strategic system and the effects of migration (both emigration from Greece in the
1950s and
1960s, and immigration into Greece in more recent years) have led to a perception of
multiculturalism similar to that of Western European nations.
Main article: Names of the Greeks
.
 |
Family group on a grave marker from Athens, National Archaeological Museum, Athens |
Throughout the centuries, the Greeks have been known by a number of names, including:
*
Hellenes (Έλληνες) - In mythology,
Hellen, son of
Deucalion and
Pyrrha, received from the
nymph Orseis three sons,
Aeolus,
Dorus and
Xuthus, each of which founded a primary tribe of Hellas;
Aeolians,
Dorians,
Achaeans and
Ionians. Originally, only a small tribe in
Thessaly were called
Hellenes, but the word soon extended to the rest of the peninsula and came to represent all Greek people. In early Christian times it was sometimes used to mean "
pagans". It remains in Greece today, the primary national name.
*
Greeks ("ραικοί) - In mythology,
Graecus was the brother of
Latinus and nephew to
Hellen. It was the name of a
Boeotian tribe that migrated to the
Italian peninsula in the
8th century BC and probably through contact with natives there brought the term to represent all
Hellenes, which then established itself in Italy and in the West in general.
*
Romioi (Ρωμιοί) -
Romans is the political name by which the Byzantine Greeks called themselves during
Late Antiquity and the
Middle Ages. In parts of mainland Greece and Asia Minor, the use of this name survived well in the 20th century. The name in antiquity signified the inhabitants of the city of
Rome in
Italy, but with the elevation of the Greeks in the
Roman Empire, it soon lost its connection with the
Latins and acquired a completely different definition.
Roman Emperor Caracalla with his
Constitutio Antoniniana (
212) granted all free people in the Roman Empire citizenship. The term
Roman (
Romaios) represented for the Greeks their Roman citizenship and their Hellenic ancestry. The word
Romaioi came to represent the Greek inhabitants of the
Byzantine Empire. It remains still in use today in
Greece, being the most popular national name after
Hellene and in
Turkey to signify the Greek Orthodox minority. It is found also in the
Koran; one
Surah is entitled
Ar-Rum meaning the eastern Romans, Byzantines, or the Greeks.
*
Achaeans,
Argives, and
Danaans are names used interchangeably by
Homer, to signify the Greek allied forces.
*
Yavan (Ίωνες) or 'Yunan', the name used by
Indians who encountered
Alexander the Great and his successors who ruled areas of Central Asia. Originally from the
Persian Yauna, itself a transliteration of the Greek
Ionia, is the name by which the Greeks are known in the East today. The term became established in
Asia from the Persians, who in contact with the
Ionian tribes in western
Asia Minor in the
6th century BC, extended the name to all
Hellenes.
The history of the Greek people is closely associated with the
history of Greece,
Constantinople, and
Asia Minor. During the Ottoman rule of Greece, a number of Greek enclaves around the
Mediterranean were cut off from the core, notably in Southern Italy, the Caucasus, Syria and Egypt. By the early 20th century over half of the overall Greek-speaking population was settled in
Asia Minor (now Turkey).
During the
20th century, a huge wave of migration to the
United States,
Australia,
Canada and elsewhere created a
Greek diaspora.
The most obvious link between modern and ancient Greeks is the
Greek language, which has enjoyed a continuous tradition at least from the
7th century BC to the present day. There has been no break such as the one between
Latin and the modern
Romance languages, and the only other language which enjoys comparable continuity of tradition is
Chinese [Browning, R. Medieval and Modern Greek, Cambridge University Press, 1983. ISBN 0521234883]. Many modern scientists and scholars (e.g. anthropologists like C. Coon and geneticists like Antonio Arnaiz-Villena) have supported that there is an unbroken racial connection to the ancient Greeks. Other scholars, notably popular in
Nazi Germany, have supported the refuted theories of the 19th century historian
Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer, by claiming that the ancient Greeks genetically disappeared at some point, and therefore the modern Greeks have no genetic connection to them. It should be noted that Fallmerayer's theories specifically aimed at the Greeks of Morea (Peloponnese), which at the time constituted less than a sixth of the overall Greek population, a fact which was being constantly ignored by his later supporters.
Modern, unbiased ethnologists consider genetics irrelevant, but agree that there is a strong and continuous tradition linking ancient and modern Greeks linguistically and culturally over the millennia, though, of course, there have also been significant contributions to Greek culture from other peoples.
Language
Greeks speak the
Greek language, an
Indo-European language which forms a branch in itself, although seems to be more closely related to
Armenian.
Greek literature has a continuous history of nearly 3000 years, and has been written in the
Greek alphabet since the
9th century BC.
Greek demonstrates several linguistic features that are shared with
Romanian,
Albanian and
Bulgarian (see
Balkan sprachbund), and has absorbed numerous foreign words (primarily of western European or
Turkish origin). Due to the movement of
Philhellenism in the 19th century in the rest of
Europe, which emphasized the modern Greeks' ancient heritage, these foreign influences were excluded from official use via the usage of
Katharevusa, a somewhat artificial form of Greek purged of all foreign influence and words, as the official language of the Greek state. In 1976 however, the Greek parliament voted to make
Dhimotiki, the modern dialect of
Athens, the official language, making
Katharevusa obsolete.
Some members of the
Greek diaspora can not speak the Greek language, but are still considered Greeks by ethnic origin or descent.
Greek has a wide variety of dialects of varying levels of mutual intelligibility, which in addition to official variety (Standard Modern Greek - Κοινή Νεοελληνική), include the
Cypriot,
Pontic,
Cappadocian,
Griko (
Calabrian Greek) and
Tsakonian (the only surviving representative of ancient
Doric Greek) varieties.
Yevanic, also known as Romaniote or Judeo-Greek, is the language of the Greek Jews (
Romaniotes), and survives in small communities in Greece,
New York and
Israel.
In addition to Greek, many Greeks in Greece are bilingual in other languages. Such languages include
Arvanitic,
Aromanian (also known as Vlach),
Slavic (also known as
Dopia),
Russian,
Italian,
Turkish and
Romani. In the diaspora, most Greeks also speak the languages of the areas in which they live.
Religion
The vast majority of Greeks are
Eastern Orthodox Christians, belonging to the
Greek Orthodox Church. There are also small groups adhering to other Christian denominations or religions. The main non-Orthodox Christian denomination are
Roman Catholics, and more recently
Evangelicals,
Seventh-day Adventists,
Methodists, and
Christian Jehovah's Witnesses. Since the days of the
Ottoman Empire, there has been a
Muslim minority within Greek society, and for much of its history, Greece has had a substantial
Jewish community.
See also:
*
Roman Catholicism in Greece*
Islam in Greece*
Jews in Greece| Image:Flag of Greece.svg|National flag of GreeceImage:Coat of arms of Greece.png|The national emblem of Greece | | Image:Palaeologus-flag.png|The double-headed eagle flagImage:Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg|The pre-1978 flag of Greece |
Symbols
The most widely used symbol used by Greeks is the
flag of Greece, which features nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white representing the nine syllables of the Greek national motto "Ελευθερία ή θάνατος" (
Eleftheria i thanatos " Liberty or death), which was also the motto of the
Greek War of Independence. The blue square in the upper hoist-side corner bears a white cross, which represents Greek Orthodox Christianity. The Greek flag is also widely used by the Greek community in
Cyprus (which has officially adopted a neutral flag so as to ease ethnic tensions with the Turkish minority " see
flag of Cyprus), and by the Greek minority in
Albania, which has lead to ethnic clashes with the ethnic
Albanian majority.
The pre-1978 (and first) flag of Greece, which features a cross on a blue background, is widely used as an alternative to the official flag, and they are often flown together. The
national emblem of Greece features a blue
escutcheon with a white cross totally surrounded by two laurel branches. A common design involves the current flag of Greece and the pre-1978 flag of Greece with crossed flagpoles and the national emblem placed in front.
Another highly recognizable and popular Greek symbol is the
double-headed eagle, a common symbol in Eastern Europe. It is not currently part of the modern Greek flag or coat of arms, although it is officially used by the Greek Army and by the Church of Greece, and was incorporated in the Greek coat of arms between 1925 and 1926.
Some key historical events have also been included for context, but this timeline is not intended to cover history not related to migrations. There is more information on the historical context of these migrations in History of Greece. *
Pre-20th century BC — Greek tribes migrate into the
Balkans.
*
20th century BC — Settlement into Macedonia, establishment of some settlements in peninsular Greece.
*
17th century BC — Decline of
Minoan civilization, possibly due to the eruption of
Thera. Settlement of
Achaeans and
Ionians in the Greek peninsula (
Mycenaean civilization).
*
13th century BC — First
colonies established in
Asia Minor.
*
11th century BC —
Doric tribes move into peninsular Greece.
*
9th century BC — Major colonization of
Asia Minor.
*
8th century BC — First major colonies established in
Sicily and
Southern Italy.
*
6th century BC — Colonies established across the
Mediterranean and the
Black Sea*
4th century BC — Campaign of
Alexander the Great; Greek colonies established in newly founded cities of
Ptolemaic Egypt and
Asia.
*
2nd century BC — Conquest of Greece by the
Roman Republic. Migrations of Greeks to Rome.
*
4th century — Establishment of
Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Migrations of Greeks throughout the Empire, mainly towards Constantinople.
*
7th century Slavic conquest of several parts of Greece, Greek migrations to Southern Italy take place. Byzantine Emperors capture main Slavic bodies and transfer them to Cappadocia. Bosphorus re-populated by Macedonian and Cypriot Greeks.
*
8th century Byzantine dissolution of surviving Sclaviniai and full recovery of the Greek peninsula.
*
9th century Retromigrations of Greeks from all parts of the Empire (mainly from Southern Italy and Sicily) into parts of Greece that were depopulated by the Sklaviniai (mainly western Peloponnese and Thessaly).
*
13th century — Byzantine Empire dissolves, Constantinople taken by the
Fourth Crusade; becoming the capital of the
Latin Empire. Reconquered after a long struggle by the
Empire of Nicaea, but fragments remain separated. Migrations between Asia Minor, Constantinople and mainland Greece take place.
*
15th century — Conquest of Byzantium by the
Ottoman Empire. Greek diaspora into
Europe begins. Ottoman settlements in Greece. Phanariot Greeks occupy high posts in Eastern European millets.
*
1830s — Creation of the
Modern Greek State. Immigration to the
New World begins. Large-scale migrations from Constantinople and Asia Minor to Greece take place.
*
1913 — Macedonia partitioned; Unorganized migrations of Greeks, Bulgarians and Turks towards their respective states.
*
1910s — approximately 353,000
Pontian Greeks killed [
1] [
2].
*
1919 —
Treaty of Neuilly; Greece and Bulgaria exchange populations, with some exceptions.
*
1923 —
Treaty of Lausanne; Greece and Turkey agree to exchange populations with limited exceptions of the Greeks in Constantinople, Imbros, Tenedos and the Muslim minority (mainly Greeks, Pomaks, Roms and Turks) of Eastern Thrace. 1,5 million of Asia Minor and Pontic Greeks settle in Greece, and some 450 thousands of Muslims settle in Turkey.
*
1947 —
Communist regime in
Romania begins evictions of the Greek community, approx. 75,000 migrate.
*
1948 —
Greek Civil War. Tens of thousands of Greek
communists and their families flee into
Eastern Bloc nations. Thousands settle in
Tashkent.
*
1950s — Massive emigration of Greeks to
West Germany, the
United States,
Australia,
Canada, and other countries.
*
1955 —
Istanbul Pogrom against Greeks. Exodus of Greeks from the city accelerates; less than 2000 remain today.
*
1958 — Large Greek community in
Alexandria flees
Nasser's regime in
Egypt.
*
1960s —
Republic of Cyprus created, as an independent Greek state, under Greek, Turkish and British protection. Economic emigration continues.
*
1974 —
Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Almost all Greeks living in northern Cyprus flee to the south and the United Kingdom.
*
1980s — Many civil war refugees were allowed to re-emigrate to Greece. Reverse migration of Greeks from Germany also begins.
*
1990s — Collapse of
Soviet Union. Approx. 100,000 ethnic Greeks migrate from
Georgia,
Armenia and southern
Russia to Greece.
*
2000 — Greece fully implements the
Schengen Treaty.
*
2000s — Some statistics indicate the beginning of a trend of reverse migration of Greeks from the United States and Australia.
*
Demographics of Greece*
Ancient Greece*
Byzantine Empire*
Byzantium*
Cyprus*
Greece*
Greek American*
Greek Australian*
Greek Canadians*
Greek Cypriots*
Greek diaspora*
Greek mythology*
Greeks in Great Britain*
Greeks in Romania*
Hellenistic civilization*
History of Greece*
List of Greek Americans*
List of Greeks*
Macedonia*
Names of the Greeks*
Philhellenism*
Pontian Greeks*
Pontus
* Peter Mackridge, Eleni Yannakakis, eds., Ourselves and Others : The Development of a Greek Macedonian Cultural Identity since 1912, 1997, ISBN 1859731333.
* Peter Bien, "Inventing Greece", Journal of Modern Greek Studies 23:2 (October 2005), pp. 217-234.
* Michael Herzfeld, Ours Once More: Folklore, Ideology, and the making of Modern Greece, 1982, ISBN 918618320.
* Victor Roudometof, "From Rum Millet to Greek Nation: Enlightenment, Secularization, and National Identity in Ottoman Balkan Society, 1453-1821", Journal of Modern Greek Studies 16:1 (May 1998), pp. 11-48.
* Stephen Xydis, "Medieval Origins of Modern Greek Nationalism", Balkan Studies, 9 (1968), 1-20.
Footnotes
*
Greeks on Greekness: The Construction and Uses of the Greek Past among Greeks under the Roman Empire, a conference on how Greeks imagined Greekness in relation to the past during the first two centuries of the Roman Empire.
*
Racial Type of the Ancient Hellenes a critical evaluation of the extant evidence about the racial type of the Ancient Greeks. It is in part an anthropological study in its own right, and in part a response to those, especially of the
Nordicist school, who claim that the Ancient Greeks were physically different from the modern ones.
