A new novel by Canterbury born Billy Cotsis When a Greek Aussie, a Cypriot, football and Brexit all meet in Crystal Palace Writer, director and good bloke, Billy Cotsis has just brought out his new book title, his fourth since 2016. The book, a novel, allows him to return to the type of fiction he…
A Greek in the Holy Land
Geia sou ti kaneis? Emena me lene (Hi, my name is) Rashed Al-Zorba. And with that, an older man who hails from Jericho city, greeted me in Greek at a hotel, in Shepherd’s Fields, the birthplace of Jesus, just outside of Bethlehem. Thanks to a very large Christian population and a high number of tourists…
The hidden Greek history of Montenegro – it’s in the Balkans
Sitting on the plane ready to fly up from Athens to Dubrovnik, which is a small ride from the Montenegro border, I couldn’t help but laugh at an American girl who was face timing her boyfriend. “Baby I am off to Croatia.” “Where?” “It’s a country in Europe” “Where?” and it went on. I asked…
When Asia was ruled by the Greeks: Seleucid Empire
When we in Australia think of Asia, we tend to think of the oriental end of the continent. In Britain, when the term Asia is used, it generally refers to the Sub – Continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or wherever cricket is played), yet to the ancient Hellenes, Asia was once that area from…
The Greeks of Ukraine: from Marioupolis to Odessa
Billy Cotsis takes us on a journey through the Greek areas of the Ukraine including the historic Philiki Eteria Museum, the home of the Greek Revolution ‘Ola kala, kai panta kala (always good, forever good).’ With the clink of our glasses and the downing of another vodka drink I started to feel very much at…
Agios Efstratios, an ideal island to forget to bring an iPhone charger to
Sometimes, it’s all about the risk. The risk of sailing to a quiet island with no advertised hotel and certainly it’s a risk to sail on what appears to be a rusty, creaky boat, with a battered Greek flag and caged budgies for company on the deck. And it’s always a risk to share it…
Rhodes and the Colossus: the ancient Greek power
Before the Statue of Liberty, another monument stood by a great harbour welcoming ships and arrivals to the safety of a democracy. Standing at around 100 metres, this ancient Colossus celebrated victory and was built in the mould of the powerful Helios the Sun God in 292 BCE, a relative of Apollo. Where does one…
Pyrrhus, a Pyrrhic Victory and the rise of Epirus in the Hellenistic Age
Epirus, is a place of geographical contrasts. The high mountains and windy roads that take you across terrain that only shepherds and trekkers seem to traverse with ease. Then you have a coastline that once acted as a buffer to the Romans; a coastline that has many gems for the water enthusiast. What makes the…
Letters to the Calabrian Greko speakers from Greek kids and students in Australia and Thessaloniki
London based, Adelaide born filmmaker Basil Genimahaliotis joined me recently as we visited the Greek villages of Calabria to film a documentary on the Greko speakers. As part of our journey, we took along letters collected from Dr Efrosini Deligianni, the head of Modern Greek Studies at University of NSW, with her Greek language students…
The Principality of Samos
I remember sitting at the airport waiting to be picked up by a friend, thinking what would Pythagoras make of his island, now filled with tourists and a constant stream of visitors from Turkey (just 1.6 km away at its closest point)? I wondered if I would find the inspiration to add numbers and philosophise…
When ancient Greek statues speak: Galliciano, one of the last remaining Greko towns of Calabria
Every day in Athens, people stroll past ancient statues; statues that were sculpted in classical times. Imagine if these statues could talk, tell their stories. Stories of a culture and a language that is far removed from a world of text speak or social media posts. Well, what if I told you that somewhere in…
Mykonos: the other side WORLD PREMIERE. Thursday, 13 September at Beverly Hills GU Film House cinema
Mention the name Mykonos, and immediately it conjures up images of parties and outrageous nightlife. Mention Delos to the uninitiated and you may receive a blank stare. Mention Kalafati beach and the same stare may remain… That is the way Mykonos has come to be viewed by many around the world, yet it is an…
Tracing the various Hellenic communities of the Mediterranean
Hellenes have been everywhere! From the shores of the Black Sea to Asia, you can find traces of ancient colonies, conquests, migration and great Hellenic and Byzantine empires. This talk provides a snapshot of those historic communities across the Mediterranean, from the ancient colonies to the modern era. A particular focus will be on Egypt,…
Icaria the Free State
It was 2004 and I was stumbling and hopping my way across the Aegean Sea and somehow, I ended up on this small island that has a long history. There are approximately nine thousand inhabitants here and every single one of them appeared welcoming. I ended up staying in Evdilos not exactly a haven for…
Exploring Greek communities around the world, lecture series
President of the Hellenic Studies Foundation at the University of New South Wales, Costa Vertzayias will be teaming up with writer Billy Cotsis to discuss a range of Greek communities around the world including those that became extinct in the last century. The pair will present information based on years of their own research and…
The Empire of Nicaea – undefeated Hellenic empire and its role as protector of Europe
The tragedy of the Hellenic Republic can best be encapsulated by an empire that for a brief period shone brightly, while fighting fellow Hellenes and circling vultures. The Hellenic world since the 1100s has seen many internal wars rather than concentrate on important matters such as the growing Seljuk/Ottoman power and the sustained Bulgarian threat….
Hellenic Colonies and Towns: Ten of the Best Ever
From the shores of the Black Sea to the Sub Continent in Asia, the Hellenes established or re-founded hundreds of cities and towns around the world. By my estimation, there are over forty countries where cities/towns were founded. These colonies and settlements happened in waves, with a significant period coming in the Eighth to Sixth…
1453: an interview with Constantine Paliologos, the last Byzantine Emperor
Billy Cotsis – the writer intents no offence by travelling back in time to interview the hero of 1453, the year the Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople. BC: Emperor, you have resisted the Ottomans with the bravery of a million souls. Tonight, being 28 May, 1453 must be a tough one as tomorrow could be your…
Gallipoli: what the Hellenic town means for Turkish, ANZAC, British and Greek people
Gallipoli means many things to many people, and countries. To the Turks it is considered a defining moment for Ataturk and modern Turkey; to the British, yet another example of running a war from a room/bunker in London. For the people of Lemnos, it is the hospital and base for the Allied campaign of 1915….
Phanariotes of Wallachia and Moldavia (Romania)
Under the Ottomans, there were areas of that empire that were either self governed or controlled outright by Greeks. In fact, the early Ottomans are more benign than many have given them credit for. Greeks prospered as they generally had a good handle on commerce and merchant trading. In Constantinople Greeks continued the level of…
