How do Ancient Greek literature compare to Modern Greek literature?

[poiuytrewq0987]

I wonder if modern Greek literature has produced works that is comparable to ancient Greek literature?

[Queen B]

I m not a scholar to compare, but we had some great people already:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elitis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantinos_Kavafis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgos_Seferis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostas_Kariotakis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritsos

[MegaArgus1]

http://www.soros.org.mk/archive/G04/01/images/Sg2008.gif

[Crn Volk]

Modern Greeks are a mixture of Slav, Vlach, Albanian and Turkish bloodlines, with a hint of ancient Greek. They have nothing to do with the likes of Socrates and Plato...

[Anusiya]

Modern Greeks are a mixture of Slav, Vlach, Albanian and Turkish bloodlines, with a hint of ancient Greek. They have nothing to do with the likes of Socrates and Plato...

My God, you make it sound like we have smallpox or something :D
Do you love yourself?

[Crn Volk]

My God, you make it sound like we have smallpox or something :D
Do you love yourself?

Be proud of your heritage brah, don't deny it!

[Sforza]

Modern Greeks are a mixture of Slav, Vlach, Albanian and Turkish bloodlines, with a hint of ancient Greek. They have nothing to do with the likes of Socrates and Plato...

Apart from "Turkish" in everything else you're partly right. And so was Socrates and Plato, a product of mixture of the southern Balkan tribes. In that sense we're *exactly* what they were South-eastern Europeans who speak the descendant of their language, the descendant of their religion (our brand of Christianity carried over many of the parts of the old religion).

What's this "ancient Greek" blood you speak of? ... check our genes, were do you think we get our/the relation with South Italians, coastal "Turks", hell even with some of you people? They were *Greek* colonies that still carry the Hellenic (genetic) signature.

If we were mostly Slav or Turk as you claim, we would look like Polish or Uzbeks in genotype, but we're *nothing* like them, we're exactly what one would expect us to be; the descendants of south-eastern Europeans/Balkanites, the descendants of the people that used to live in this place. Now you may claim that the ancient Greeks were "Germanic ubermenschen" or Martians even, but genetic findings show otherwise...

Damn, why do I feel that I'm wasting my time? You're like robots spewing the same thing again and again and again w/t an ounce of scientific backing...

edit: Hmm, I think I need to take a break... I'm off.
Sorry for the mess, back to topic for the rest...

[Anusiya]

Be proud of your heritage brah, don't deny it!

I am not "proud" of anything that someone else has done. I am proud of what I am doing. However even I can't deny I am Greek.

Some people have this idea of ancestry that shamelessly implies it's preservation, even by the act of incest.

[Crn Volk]

Apart from "Turkish" in everything else you're partly right. And so was Socrates and Plato, a product of mixture of the southern Balkan tribes. In that sense we're *exactly* what they were South-eastern Europeans who speak the descendant of their language, the descendant of their religion (our brand of Christianity carried over many of the parts of the old religion).

What's this "ancient Greek" blood you speak of? ... check our genes, were do you think we get our/the relation with South Italians, coastal "Turks", hell even with some of you people? They were *Greek* colonies that still carry the Hellenic (genetic) signature.

If we were mostly Slav or Turk as you claim, we would look like Polish or Uzbeks in genotype, but we're *nothing* like them, we're exactly what one would expect us to be; the descendants of south-eastern Europeans/Balkanites, the descendants of the people that used to live in this place. Now you may claim that the ancient Greeks were "Germanic ubermenschen" or Martians even, but genetic findings show otherwise...

Damn, why do I feel that I'm wasting my time? You're like robots spewing the same thing again and again and again w/t an ounce of scientific backing...

edit: Hmm, I think I need to take a break... I'm off.
Sorry for the mess, back to topic for the rest...

This is similar to our case. Yes, we speak a Slavic language, but we look like Balkanites, rather than Russians or Poles. Guess why?

And yes, back to the topic. I'm off.

[Absinthe]

Back on topic: the only modern Greek writer that I immensely appreciate is Nikos Kazantzakis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Kazantzakis).

I am not an expert in modern Greek literature but I find the ones that Dandelion quoted to be grossly overrated.

As for the contemporary pop authors that create best sellers such as this one (http://www.books.gr/ViewShopProduct.aspx?Id=2852923), or this (http://www.psichogios.gr/site/Books/show?cid=22531), I wouldn't even wipe my bottom with these.

But then again, I'm an H.P. Lovecraft enthusiast, so what do you expect. Not the most impartial judge of literature on earth :p

[Queen B]

My God, you make it sound like we have smallpox or something :D
Do you love yourself?

Νο, he is just annoying.
He has NOTHING to add in the thread, so he posts his bullshit.

[MegaArgus1]

This is similar to our case. Yes, we speak a Slavic language, but we look like Balkanites, rather than Russians or Poles. Guess why?

And yes, back to the topic. I'm off.

majority of the macedonians don't have slavic look as a consequence of the strong macedonian gene but some do have typical slavic look including myself

[Anusiya]

strong...macedonian...gene...
a1Y73sPHKxw

[kabeiros]

There were some modern Greek writers of importance (like Kazantzakis, Papadiamandis, Skaribas, Karyotakis, Kavafis, Elytes, Penelope Delta etc.) and even some important philosophers (like Castoriadis and Axelos) and theologians, but they can not compare with the ancient Greek literature.... because it's almost impossible to do so.
The ancient Greeks produced most of their masterpieces during a short period of time -from 600-200 BC- and I think that all the nations of the world produced their masterpieces during a short but brilliant period of time too, no one lasted at the top for ever... Do the Germans still produce writers equal to Goethe, Nietzsche or Kant?

[Sforza]

strong...macedonian...gene...

Hah, to be fair (to them) though, a lot -maybe most- of them are "slavicized" indigenous people (i.e. Macedonians). Of course I'm of the opinion that since one chooses to abandon the practices/languages of old and the proceed to accept an entirely different culture, mix with different people then he/she cannot suddenly remember (after centuries and centuries) that "oh wait, now I want to go back to that period of time before my ancestors got slavicized". It's a bit disingenuous what our "friendly neighbors" do and they do not even seem to understand why it is so...

Anyway, back to topic...
The reasons why greek writers/thinkers of old are as lauded (more than anything else) it's because of the high attention they got because of Alexander's conquest but/and especially its influence on Romans (who also happened to be the rulers of most of Europe). So "you" had a period of time that most of Asia *and* Europe was under the Greek civ's influence, the Greeks were clearly at the centerstage so whatever they were to say it was heard with a giant echo.

Not to take away from their accomplishments, some of the most awesome, more clear thinkers were (ancient) Greek and (they) are still an example to follow. But there is none to say that there are no Greeks of equivalent intelligence, creativity and clarity of thought nowadays; but it's also the case that -now- the "lights are dimmed" and nobody sees them, nobody hears them. The play has been over for some centuries now.

Kazantzakis is maybe the only greek writer who has/had *some* influence but that's mostly due to how quickly his works got translated. Unfortunately the greek language acts like a wall against the proliferation of Greek literature/thought worldwide, very much *unlike* what was once the case (i.e. Greek used to be what English is today).

Same (the opposite in fact) with German in the 19th and early 20th, English as it is now and possibly Chinese in the future. The language that the "rulers" speak is almost as important as the content of one's thoughts.

BTW Greeks until relatively recently were still an intellectual force to be reckoned. People like Pletho and Chalkokondyles boot started a big part of what became Renaissance turned Enlightenment (and thus the modern world)... It was the "damn Turk" that put us out of the world's intellectual center stage as decisively and completely maybe for the first time in our history :( ... and now we're mere balkanites :picard1: (no offence meant to our lovely neighbors :) )

[Anusiya]

Hah, to be fair (to them) though, a lot -maybe most- of them are "slavicized" indigenous people (i.e. Macedonians). Of course I'm of the opinion that since one chooses to abandon the practices/languages of old and the proceed to accept an entirely different culture, mix with different people then he/she cannot suddenly remember (after centuries and centuries) that "oh wait, now I want to go back to that period of time before my ancestors got slavicized". It's a bit disingenuous what our "friendly neighbors" do and they do not even seem to understand why...



Naturally, and thank you for clearing this up. I am not out there on a mission to "hellenize" anyone. However, there is an issue with the choice of the name "Macedonia". They cannot explain the etymology of "maced-", they don't know who the Macedonians exactly were and lastly they make awkward little spastic market openings as if their national name is some kind of franchise for God's sake (Which pretty much worked 15 years ago with Xena and Hercules mini-series:p). If only they knew how awkward and it feels to a Greek to claim something you have absolutely no ties to whatsoever.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BxQhm0vRNv8/TZG4BO3XoxI/AAAAAAAAFfw/LJGLdj9ZStM/s1600/Slavomakedonskiot%2Barma.jpg:picard2:

[Scholarios]

No one can create works similar to Plethon or Socrates or Thucydides or Pindar or Sappho. Who can? Did someone from Northern Europe recently surpass Plethon and I didn't hear about it?

So how can Modern Greeks surpass their ancestors?

[Drawing-slim]

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