Looking back on perhaps the strangest period of our collective history, I realize that some of the brighter moments came during my weekly lessons with my Greek language teacher in Thessaloniki. Sure, learning another language is challenging, but it is also full of unexpected delights. In my online lesson with Maria, I respond to the greeting of ti kaneis (‘how are you’) with mia xara (‘one joy’). When I thank her for her instruction – euharisto – I offer gratitude as deep as the disciples’ for the eucharist, or Last Supper. And when we sign off, she reminds me to sto kalo (‘go for the good’). I can’t imagine better advice!
Much of the joy of learning a new language is discovering how a culture’s character and values are inscribed in its language and idioms. Beginning with the ancient Greek philosophers, who had a lot to say about the ‘good life,’ striving for the best that one could be was expected of each self-respecting Athenian citizen. With the commitment to arete, excellence was as much about unimpeachable standards of conduct as it was about achieving professional success. Happiness or eudaimonia was similarly broadly conceived as something that resulted from self-fulfillment, or flourishing, as a human being.
Given the bar was so high, it’s not shocking that prized codes of honour hovered about day-to-day life for Greek citizens. Filitimo or ‘love of honour’ was, and still is, considered to be the highest of all virtues, and compels people to do what is honourable and right and good, without expecting anything in return. A sense of duty to uphold one’s family reputation is instilled in childhood, serving to promote only that behaviour which is exemplary. Filitimi underlay Greek heroism during World War II, such as the assistance rendered Allied soldiers on the island of Crete upon the invasion of the Axis forces and the sheltering of Jews on the island of Zakynthos, despite the severe penalties.
Reaching out to those beyond one’s family and borders is also behind another of Greece’s most enshrined codes of honour, that of filixenia, or ‘love of strangers.’ Besides, one never knows when, by welcoming and caring for a guest, one has unwittingly entertained angels! Today, Greek hospitality is legendary; often a few complementary items are given at a restaurant or a local store, no matter how modest the owner’s means.
That nothing should be done sparingly or offhandedly, Greeks also try to live up to a code of workmanship known as meraki. When you are given something made with meraki, it has been created with love, creativity and soul; in short, with every gram of a person’s being. Every time a foaming cafe latte, with obligatory glass of water and a biscuit, is brought to your table at the local cafe, or you are trying to choose between a selection of exquisitely crafted baked goods or ice cream treats at a bakery, you are experiencing the blessings (and conundrums!) of meraki. And that person who does everything with unstinting zeal and singlemindedness? They’re known as meraklis (miraculous, indeed!).
In addition to its enshrined codes, or cultural laws, we can learn a lot by examining our cognates with the Greek language. No less than 150,000 words in English have Graeco-Latin origins (compare that to 20,000 derived from Spanish). Some well-known ones are kudos, nostalgia, and euphoria, symphony and enthusiasm. Interestingly, enthusiasm means to be filled with theos or God, something which would likely identify each and every meraklis!
Symphony, or ‘sounding together,’ is also the verb ‘to agree’ in Greek. A good percentage of the other cognates we would be familiar with are scientific or medical in nature (think ‘phobias’ and ‘ologies’), but those, too, invite a little unpacking. For example, with the root word of techne, which means ‘art,’ technology means ‘the science of art.’ That throws a whole new spin on it!
And then there is the etymological debt we owe to Greek mythology and stories, such as: Achilles Heel (a weakness that can lead to downfall), Midas touch (the ability to turn everything you touch into ‘gold’), Pandora’s Box (the forbidden box which, when opened, releases all manner of misery and misfortune), Herculean task (a feat of endurance and strength), Gordian knot (an intractable problem solved only by thinking ‘outside the box’), Draconian measures (unusually cruel and harsh punishment for relatively innocuous offences), and Pyrrhic victory (a victory achieved at a great cost).
An abundance of common idioms in English, such as cry wolf, sour grapes, spill the beans, touch wood, call a spade a spade, between a rock and a hard place, leave no stone unturned, wrong end of the stick, and resting on one’s laurels are also Greek (think Aesop’s tales!) in origin.
Like our own more colourful idioms, however (like ‘break a leg,’ or ‘bite the bullet’), it is the idioms in everyday Greek language that blaze with the most warmth and colour. One doesn’t sunbathe, one engages in ‘sun therapy,’ the playground is known as ‘children’s joy,’ when you feel utterly confused, ‘you’ve lost your eggs and your basket,’ and when rain is streaking down, it’s raining ‘chair legs.’ Rich in image and metaphor, they reflect the spirit and humour that have long sustained the Greek people.
Given the lexicon of traditional and contemporary expressions, some which have found their way into the English language, you can understand why it’s easy to get sidetracked in lessons! Maria and I are often guilty of abandoning verb conjugations and the accusative case to ponder our connections and what truly lies at the heart of our teacher/student exchange.
We share photos of our families and tell tales of pandemic perseverance. She’s astonished to hear of our warm spring weather – temperatures approaching 30 degrees on some days – and I am intrigued by the flourish of rituals that accompany Orthodox celebrations (such as the highly competitive egg cracking contests that are held every Maundy Thursday!).
It is not just a language we are exchanging; it is about exploring the range of what it means to be human, and the joy experienced in uncovering both its cultural specificity and its universality. For while the Greeks may have coined it, I suspect that we are all going for the good!
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