As witnessed by an ancient traveller… Around 163 BCE I happened upon a mountainous kingdom located on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now Turkey, bordering Syria. This was the year when this kingdom was truly recognised, after breaking away from the Greek ruled Seleucid Kingdom. The name Commagene refers…
Pericles: an interview from 5th Century Athens
After years of being turned down by Pericles for an interview, finally he has taken the time out to speak me after he delivered the Funeral Oration. Here Pericles tells us about his childhood, his love of Athens, democracy and why Sparta must be defeated. BC: You are known as the First Citizen of Athens,…
Lesvos: fall in Love and the liberation of the island
Event held on November 9, 2016 delivered at Mytilene House with 200 people in attendance “Lesvos will continue to function as an island. That is what we are, an island. It is not a Dubai, it is a remote island.” Good evening, how is everyone? I’m here to talk you a little about a film…
Ten of the best Greek islands by a seasoned traveller
Billy Cotsis has travelled to 65 Greek islands and counting. Here he recalls HIS top ten favourite islands based on personal experiences, beauty, aura and history. They say that Greece has 227 inhabited and 6000 uninhabited islands. They also say that each one has a story to tell; I have been lucky enough to have…
The Republic of the Ionian Islands
When the Byzantine Empire came to an end in 1453, a number of small strongholds held out. These were eventually swept aside by the might of the Ottoman Empire; the Morea, Empire of Trebizond and the Principality of Theodosia in the Crimea circa 1475. The entire Greek world was either under the Sultan or Latin…
Battle of Crete commemorated in NSW: The Evzones from Greece honoured in Sydney
The Martin Place Cenotaph on Saturday 16 April played host to a thousand members of the Greek and broader community who came to pay their respects and to remember one of the legendary campaigns in modern history, 75 years ago.
HERO: How an American named Asa Jennings saved hundreds of thousands of Greeks in Asia Minor
The word hero comes in to play often in our society, yet do we really know what it means? Can a sports star for example truly embody the term? When a new footy season kicks off, we look to our “heroes” to lead our respective teams. The media and the public tend to use the…
The Hellenes, a fork and Germany, an open letter to the people of Deutschland
Guten Tag, Hallo Deutschland! What a wonderful country you are; football, beer, sausages, David Hasselhoff (ok he wasn’t born there, I know but his music was big in Germany). You also have great dance parties. Yet you are a country that refuses to pay Greece what is owed, a country that has been at the…
Back to the Future: the Hellenes of Armenia
Travelling through the picturesque mountains of Armenia, one can’t help be transformed to another time and place. This can’t be Europe! With little evidence of the hustle and bustle of a Rome and none of the pollution one would find in a big city, Armenia is a breath of fresh air. And with the absence…
My new book: The Many Faces of Hellenic Culture Book
My first book, The Many Faces of Hellenic Culture, is out now. Here in an interview with Neos Kosmos the author, Billy Cotsis, talks about his book and the journey that inspired it.
From Cleopatra to Averoff, just a quiet day in Hellenic Alexandria
Alexandria, there is no place like it. A Hellenic city, still influenced by its Greek roots and a passionate Greek Community, this Mediterranean delight has had a profound effect on history and Hellenism. As I sat by the 1920’s style Greek owned cafe opposite the harbour, I reflected on 2 simple questions I had asked…
Once were Greeks … the Hellenes of Auckland and New Zealand
It was at the home of school teacher Ilias Pavlidis that it hit me. Auckland is essentially Greece in disguise. For what you will find here, nestled amongst the population of 1.6 million is a small Greek community that brings to you all the wonderful aspects of filoxenia that one traditionally finds in a village….
The Despotate of Epiros: another forgotten Greek kingdom
When we think about Greek empires we tend to think of the achievements of Alexander, Ptolemy, the Spartans, Corinth or the Byzantine Empire. Who can begrudge the heroic defiance of Constantine in 1453 or the last stand of Leonidas as their respective territories were challenged? Heroism, glory, romance, passion. Image credit: Wikipedia
Bulldogs Bite: Multiculturalism and Rugby League in ‘Greek’ Belmore
For sheer athleticism and history, Rugby League is a sport which can captivate and at the same time divide opinion for its ability to give itself a headache every other week. League attracts almost as many negative stories in Sydney as positive ones, which can at times frustrate the fans and those who have grown…
Football and a Greek identity in many leading clubs in Europe
It is fair to say that football was a creation of the ancient Greeks and Romans, playing a brand that required kicking ‘balls.’ The name given to the sport was episkyros by Antiphanes, eventually making its way to Rome, Alexandria and other cities. In Rome, the balls were first filled with air and as has…
A Leonidas in Brussels: an Overview of the local Greek Community
Sitting in the aptly titled Pita (Greek) Street in the centre of Brussels having a yeeros and speaking Greek…my trip to Belgium began in earnest. I had ventured here on the recommendation of a priest. A few years ago I had met Father Christos Sidiropoulos who drives from Belgium to Rotterdam in The Netherlands to…
New feature
To add a little more life to the blog, we now have a new Hellenic Travels in Visuals section where, as the name suggests, we let the visual splendour of Greece do all the talking. Please let us know what you think! https://herculean.wordpress.com/hellenic-travels-in-visuals/
Hellenic Romania: from Greek Colonies to Dracula
Straddling the Black Sea and bounded by Hungary to the north, I was curious by the Hellenic history of Romania and decided to pay a visit. Greek history in Romania dates back over 2700 years! Just don’t call them Eastern European… When I interviewed Ramona a friend of mine from Ploesti, a small inland city…
November 17: the day democracy died and was reborn in Athens
You can hear the screams. If you walk by the Polytexneio University in Athens as I have done many, many times in my life you can feel it. ‘Brother, lay down your weapons, we are students, we are merely protesting…’ Your heart can melt here. In 1973, the world was shocked and horrified by the…
Hellenic Crimea and the discovery of a Greek Principality
The sound of waves crashing on the shore and lush nature that traverses the interior, this could be yet another location in Greece. Instead it is something else. The peninsular at the tip of the Ukraine is known as the Crimea. Whilst it may be in dispute between Ukraine and Russia, it was virtually a…
