Gustavo Rubio Rizo-Patrón
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
By Louis de Bernieres
Oral Expositions:
GREECE.
“Greece is the land of Gods and Goddesses.” Greece was where Western civilisation
started. No European community was civilised before the Greeks. Once it had emerged in
Greece, it spread all over Europe and afterwards to other continents.
Later on, many other things surged in Greece and spread all over the world. Such are
the cases of drama, history and philosophy. In the same way we can say that Greece was the
first country to have a democratic government. They were the first ones to practise
democracy. Nowadays, almost all countries in the world have this type of government. Ever
since the Greeks started to use democracy to solve their problems, many other European
communities copied from them and established the same sort of government.
Also, there were other types of influence of ancient Greece. These influences were
very important for the new civilised world. There were several Greek characters that became
very famous and popular because of their thoughts and capacity. Such are the cases of, for
example, Euclides and Pythagoras. These men contributed a lot to the subject of Mathematics,
especially to Geometry. They discovered several formulae, which were of great help.
We can also mention the well-known Aristoteles, whose logic and architecture has influenced
many people all over the world.
Finally, we can say that Aesop was of great help because his fables were heard and read by
children everywhere.
Another important event under Greece’s history was the creation of the Olympic
Games, that were held in 776 B.C. The Greeks were the ones that organised them and the
ones that conceived them.
It is also worthwhile to mention the fact that the Greek language has been of great influence
to other proceeding ones. Many new languages have used several Greek words and concepts.
Looking at the country itself, we can say that Greece has a varied geographical
landscape. It is not a country where you find the same sort of land all over the place. This is
because there are both high mountains and beautiful shores and beaches. Some of the most
famous mountains are the Pindus mountain range, mountains Macedonia and Thrace and
Mount Olympos. Most shores and beaches face the Mediterranean Sea.
Geographically, Greece lies at the southern-extremity of the Balkan Peninsula in
south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria, Macedonia and Yugoslavia are found at the north of Greece.
To the west, there is the Ionian Sea and further west Italy. To the south lies the Mediterranean
Sea, while the Aegean Sea lies to the east of Greece. Further east is Turkey.
Greece has wet winters and hot dry summers. Most Greeks practise hunting or fishing,
but Greece’s main industry is tourism. It has around 9.4 million visitors annually and most of
them go in spring or autumn.
As said before, Greece’s main industry is tourism. This is mainly because it has
several beautiful attractions. First of all we have to mention it’s capital city: Athens. Very few
cities have the same glorious history and past as Athens. It is one of the most ancient cities in
the world.
We can also mention the Acropolis, which is visible from almost everywhere in Athens.
There we find colossal buildings and gargantuan statues. On the southern slope of the
Acropolis is the Ancient Theatre of Dionysos.
The Peloponnese, Greece’s southern peninsula, is rich in history and scenically diverse. Also,
the monasteries of Meteora, which are an extraordinary sight in mainland Greece.
But, Greece’s greatest income comes from the visitors to their islands. The tourists
have a great variety of islands to chose from, which include the Cyclades, such as Mykonos,
Santorini, Paros, Ios, Andros, Kea, Kythnos, Serifos and Sifnos. We can also mention Crete,
which is Greece’s largest island and was the centre of the Minoan culture, Europe’s first
advanced civilisation. There are also the Dodecanese Islands (Rhodes, Kos, Symi, Patmos,
Tilos, Agathonisi, Kastellorizo and Kassos), the Ionian Islands (Corfu, Paxoi, Kefallonia,
Zakynthos, Ithaki, Laefkada and Kythira), the North-eastern Aegean Islands (Samos, Chios,
Ikaria, Lesvos, Limnos, Samothraki and Thasos), the Sporades Islands (Skiathos, Skopelos,
Alonnisos and Skyros) and the Saronic Gulf Islands (Salamis, Aegina, Hydra, Spetses and
Poros).
To end this small review of Greece, we can give some dates, which were of great
importance to this country. These dates include:
7000 B.C. First Stone Age settlements in mainland Greece.
1550 B.C. Mycenaean civilisation started on mainland Greece.
1200 B.C. Disappearance of Mycenaean civilisation
776 B.C. First Official Olympic Games held in Greece.
600 B.C. First Greek city-states appear, Athens and Sparta are among them.
479 B.C. Persian invasion of mainland Greece.
0-300 A.D. Romans rule Greece.
650 Invasion of Greece by Slavic tribes.
1260 Byzantium reclaimed the control over Greece.
1669 Ottomans conquered whole Crete.
1821- 1830 Battle of Navarino. Greece gained independence from Ottomans.
1833 Otto was declared as the king of Greece by Russia, France and Britain.
1912 First Balkan war.
1913 Second Balkan war.
1914 World War 1. Greek alliance with Allied forces.
1919 - 1923 War between Greece and Turkey. Greeks lost.
1936 General Metaxas became dictator.
1941 World War 2 and German invasion.
1945- 1949 Civil war between royalists and communists.