• Meraki (μεράκι): This beautiful word describes doing something with soul, creativity, or love—putting "a piece of yourself" into what you're doing. Whether it's cooking a meal or writing a letter, meraki means going the extra mile to make it special.
• Philoxenia (φιλοξενία): Literally meaning "love of strangers," this term refers to the deeply rooted Greek tradition of hospitality. It’s more than just being polite—philoxenia is about making guests feel like family.
• Eudaimonia (ευδαιμονία): Often translated as "happiness," it’s more accurately defined as a state of being good-spirited or flourishing—essentially, the pursuit of a fulfilling, meaningful life, which was central to ancient Greek philosophy.

3. The Dual Number: When Two is Special

While most languages today use singular and plural forms, ancient Greek also had a dual number. This unique grammatical form was used when referring to exactly two people or things. So, instead of saying “we” (plural) when talking about two people, ancient Greeks would use a specific form for "the two of us."

The dual number was used in verb conjugation, pronouns, and even nouns. For example, the word "ὀφθαλμός" meaning eye was the singular form, "ὀφθαλμοί" the plural, and "τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ" was used to refer to the pair of eyes. The dual number slowly disappeared from the language by the Classical period, but it’s a fascinating reminder of the precision in ancient Greek grammar.

4. Koine Greek: The First Global Language

Koine Greek could be considered the first global language in human history. Emerging after the conquests of Alexander the Great, it spread across a vast territory from Greece to Egypt, Persia, and even India. People from vastly different regions and cultures used it as a lingua franca, facilitating trade, diplomacy, and intellectual exchange.

Koine Greek was also the language of early Christianity, as the New Testament was written in it, and it played a crucial role in the spread of religious ideas. Its wide-reaching influence made Greek one of the earliest languages to bridge disparate cultures, a precursor to languages like English in modern global communication.

5. Compound Words: The Art of Building New Meanings

Greek has a remarkable capacity to create new words through compounding—joining two or more words together to express a complex idea. For example:

• Anthropology (ανθρωπολογία): Comes from anthrōpos (human) and logos (study), meaning "the study of humans."
• Television (τηλεόραση): Combines tele (far) and vision (sight), describing the transmission of visual media over a distance. 

What’s unique about Greek compounding is that it allows for incredible precision in describing abstract concepts, emotions, and scientific phenomena. Greek words were so flexible in this regard that they became the foundation for much of the vocabulary used in modern science and medicine today.

6. Greek's Contribution to Modern Medical & Scientific Terminology

If you've ever wondered why medical terms or scientific classifications sound so complicated, it’s because they’re often built on Greek roots. Greek provides a huge percentage of the vocabulary used in the fields of medicine, biology, and astronomy, among others. Terms like:

• Cardiology (καρδιολογία) from kardia (heart) and logos (study of).
• Photosynthesis (φωτοσύνθεση) from phos (light) and synthesis (putting together). 

My perception over the past several weeks is that Greece, somehow, has turned a corner. At least on a macro level, the economy seems to have eased away from the brink, and all signs are pointing to a slow pattern of recovery. At least this is my perception, and those of many others I’ve spoken with.

However, looking outside and overhearing conversations on the street or in the café, I’m not quite sure…

Here is my problem with perception vs. reality: I don't know which one to believe! So, as with most things, I turn to Google for help. I have a bunch of news feeds set up on my internet homepage – from around the world, but also from Greek news sources. The headlines from this week are oh-so-confusing:

Cost of borrowing via T-bills drops to pre-bailout levels

City Hall's anti-graffiti campaign reaches Monastiraki

IBM to open New center in Athens for big data analytics

Benefits to all single-parent families and new unemployed

But also:

Supermarket chains sense worst is yet to come

GDP falls by €40bn in four years

Golden Dawn MP praises Hitler as a 'great personality'

My own strong perception is that Greece is changing. In small steps, to be sure, but changing nonetheless. This perception is also echoed by my international friends and colleagues who seem to believe that Greece is getting its act together. And many of whom, it seems, have already booked a holiday here this summer. 

Perception is reality. Western self-help psychology tells us that changing our perception can change our reality. And I tend to agree. I feel (want, hope) that Greece is changing, slowly crawling to a better place. And maybe if we all started to believe this, our perception would slowly shift, our mood would slowly change, our interactions would improve, and our overall experience of Greece would improve is subtle ways. Thus, by believing we have turned a corner, we will have changed our reality.  Naïve? Perhaps…  Effective? Most likely…

In the end, I suppose we have to make our own reality, and our individual perception will constantly shift depending on where our day takes us. Maybe the trick is to ‘manage’ our perception like we manage our news feeds.

One thing is for sure: this weekend’s perception (long weekend) and reality (long weekend) are very much in line.  Happy Easter to all  :)

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…