Returning From Greece
Well, we're nearly there, Hermippos.
Day after tomorrow, it seems - that's what the captain said.
At least we're sailing our seas,
the waters of our own countries - Cyprus, Syria, Egypt -
waters we know and love.
Why so silent? Ask your heart:
didn't you too feel happier
the further we got from Greece?
What's the point of fooling ourselves?
That wouldn't be properly Greek, would it?
It's time we admitted the truth:
we're Greeks also - what else are we?-
but with Asiatic tastes and feelings,
tastes and feelings
sometimes alien to Hellenism.
It isn't correct, Hermippos, for us philosophers
to be like some of our petty kings
(remember how we laughed at them
when they used to come to our lectures?)
who through their showy Hellenified exteriors
(Macedonian exteriors, naturally)
let a bit of Arabia peep out now and then,
a bit of Media they can't keep back.
And to what laughable lengths the fools went
trying to cover it up!
No, that's not at all correct for us.
For Greeks like us that kind of pettiness won't do.
We simply can't be ashamed
of the Syrian and Egyptian blood in our veins;
we should really honour it, delight in it.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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Related quotes
Herodis Attikos
What glory, this, for Herodis Attikos!
Alexander of Selefkia, one of our better sophists,
on reaching Athens to lecture
finds the city deserted
because Herodis was in the country and all the young men
had followed him there to hear him.
This makes sophist Alexander
write Herodis a letter
begging him to send the Greeks back.
And the tactful Herodis answers at once:
'Along with the Greeks, I'm coming too.'
How many young men now in Alexandria,
in Antioch or Beirut
(being trained by Hellenism as its future orators),
meeting at choice banquets
where the talk is sometimes about fine sophistry,
sometimes about their exquisite love affairs,
suddenly find their attention wandering and fall silent?
Their glasses untouched,
they think about Herodis' fortune-
what other sophist has been given this kind of honour?
Whatever his wish, whatever he does,
the Greeks (the Greeks!) follow him,
not to criticize or debate,
not even to choose any longer,
only to follow.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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In 200 B.C.
"Alexander son of Philip, and the Greeks except the Lacedaemonians--"
We can very well imagine
that they were utterly indifferent in Sparta
to this inscription. "Except the Lacedaemonians",
but naturally. The Spartans were not
to be led and ordered about
as precious servants. Besides
a panhellenic campaign without
a Spartan king as a leader
would not have appeared very important.
O, of course "except the Lacedaemonians."
This too is a stand. Understandable.
Thus, except the Lacedaemonians at Granicus;
and then at Issus; and in the final
battle, where the formidable army was swept away
that the Persians had massed at Arbela:
which had set out from Arbela for victory, and was swept away.
And out of the remarkable panhellenic campaign,
victorious, brilliant,
celebrated, glorious
as no other had ever been glorified,
the incomparable: we emerged;
a great new Greek world.
We; the Alexandrians, the Antiocheans,
the Seleucians, and the numerous
rest of the Greeks of Egypt and Syria,
and of Media, and Persia, and the many others.
With our extensive territories,
with the varied action of thoughtful adaptations.
And the Common Greek Language
we carried to the heart of Bactria, to the Indians.
As if we were to talk of Lacedaemonians now!
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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It's How I Feel
Speaking plainly
It's not something you and I do…
Not really
Not when it matters
We talk about the weather
We discuss the benign events in our life
I hold back
So you hold back
There's a calculated way we have
That masks some very non-calculated feelings
Feelings that
EXIST
No matter how cool
No matter how calm
No matter how calculated
Our exteriors
How unattached our conversation
They manage to bubble to the surface
Demanding to make themselves known
In some very non-calculated moments
Moments where
You think of me
Or I of you
Where, it's not longer so easy to control
Where something has to be said
Just to be said
To
Me
To
YOU
I admit
I take a step in the direction of being transparent
Only to go back and cover it all up
Hide as much as I can
You were better at saying what you really felt
However I think my lack of reaction
Or circumstances
Have taught you to hide
I admit I miss the way things once were
When you were more willing to try
More open with what you were thinking
More willing to communicate
I know I didn't react
But it always made me smile
Sometimes I feel… you're trying to spare my feelings
Because, perhaps you know, I feel
Something
And, you've simply changed your mind
Sometimes
I wish we could just speak plainly
I wish we could just have an exchange
About
What's really on our minds
If I sit back and look at the patterns of me and you
If I look at all that you do to show me how you feel
Without the utterance of a word..
It makes my heart smile
And, I hope somewhere in our acquaintance
I've managed to illustrate the same
I hope there have been times
I too have made your realize
It's not just you
With
Feelings
poem by Rabia Minhas
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In business you need two Jews for one Greek, two Greeks for one Syrian and two Syrians for one Armenian.
Greeks Don't Want No Freaks
There was beer all over the dance floor
and the band was playin' rhythm and blues
You got down and did the gator, and half
an hour later, you were barfin' all over your
Girlfriend's shoes.
But the Greeks don't want no freaks.
The Greeks don't want no freaks
Just put a little smile on them rosy
cheeks,
'Cause the Greeks don't want no freaks.
(GATOR!!)
She was the pride and the passion of Dixie
She did exactly what her daddy had planned.
She was perfect little sister until somebody missed
her and they found her in the bushes with
the boys in the band
But the Greeks don't want no freaks
The Greeks don't want no freaks
So put a great big smile on them rosy cheeks,
'Cause the Greeks don't want no freaks
No, the Greeks don't want no freaks
Said, the Greeks don't want no freaks
Just put that monster smile on them rosy cheeks
'Cause the Greeks don't want no freaks
No, the Greeks don't want no freaks,
Ahh...
song performed by by Eagles
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Julian at the Mysteries
But when he found himself in darkness,
in the earth's awful depths,
with a group of unholy Greeks,
and bodiless figures appeared before him
with haloes of light,
the young Julian for a moment lost his nerve:
an impulse from his pious years came back
and he crossed himself.
The Figures vanished at once;
the haloes faded away, the lights went out.
The Greeks glanced at each other.
The young man said: 'Did you see the miracle?
I'm frightened, friends. I want to leave.
Didn't you see how the demons vanished
the second they saw me make the holy sign of the cross?'
The Greeks chuckled scornfully:
'Shame on you, shame, to talk that way
to us sophists and philosophers!
If you want to say things like that,
say them to the Bishop of Nicomedia and his priests.
The greatest gods of our glorious Greece
appeared before you.
And if they left, don't think for a minute
that they were frightened by a gesture.
It was just that when they saw you
making that vile, that crude sign,
their noble nature was disgusted
and they left you in contempt.'
This is what they said to him, and the fool
recovered from his holy, blessed fear,
convinced by the unholy words of the Greeks.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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A Prince from Western Libya
Aristomenis, son of Menelaos,
the Prince from Western Libya,
was generally liked in Alexandria
during the ten days he spent there.
As his name, his dress, modest, was also Greek.
He received honors gladly,
but he did not solicit them; he was unassuming.
He bought Greek books,
especially history and philosophy.
Above all he was a man of few words.
It got around that he must be a profound thinker,
and men like that naturally don't speak very much.
He was neither a profound thinker nor anything else—
just a piddling, laughable man.
He assumed a Greek name, dressed like the Greeks,
learned to behave more or less like a Greek;
and all the time he was terrified he would spoil
his reasonably good image
by coming out with barbaric howlers in Greek
and the Alexandrians, in their usual way,
would make fun of him, vile people that they are.
This was why he limited himself to a few words,
terribly careful of his syntax and pronunciation;
and he was driven almost out of his mind, having
so much talk bottled up inside him.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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The Greeks Dont Want No Freaks
There was beer all over the dance floor
And the band was playin rhythm and blues
You got down and did the gator, and half
An hour later, you were barfin all over your
Girlfriends shoes.
But the greeks dont want no freaks.
The greeks dont want no freaks
Just put a little smile on them rosy
Cheeks,
cause the greeks dont want no freaks.
(gator!!)
She was the pride and the passion of dixie
She did exactly what her daddy had planned.
She was perfect little sister until somebody missed
Her and they found her in the bushes with
The boys in the band
But the greeks dont want no freaks
The greeks dont want no freaks
So put a great big smile on them rosy cheeks,
cause the greeks dont want no freaks
No, the greeks dont want no freaks
Said, the greeks dont want no freaks
Just put that monster smile on them rosy cheeks
cause the greeks dont want no freaks
No, the greeks dont want no freaks,
Ahh...
song performed by by Eagles
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Say Days Ago
I still remember a year ago
The times we spent
I think that Im happier now
Up from the down
By all means
Its strange cause I feel the same way
I think of what it looks like
I think of what it tastes like
Same strange
Said its strange cause I feel the same
Makes me ill
Still remember what it tastes like
What it felt like
song performed by by Used
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Say Days Ago
I still remember a year ago
the times we spent
I think that I'm happier now
up from the down
by all means
it's strange cause I feel the same way
I think of what it looks like
I think of what it tastes like
same strange
said it's strange cause i feel the same
makes me ill
still remember what it tastes like
what it felt like
song performed by by The Used from The Used
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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England and Greece are friends. English blood was shed on Greek soil in the war against fascism, and Greeks gave their lives to protect English pilots.
quote by Melina Mercouri
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Awhatthef..kia
'What ho? There ain't no bears down here, '
Said Robert Falcon Scott,
'I'll call it Anobearia.'
Back in acadamia
They translated it to Greek,
Called the place Antarctica,
That's still the name we speak.
What a shame he didn't honour
The flightless polar bird
And call it Apenguinia.
That name might have stuck-
Unless the Greeks had seen the bird
And called it whatthef..k.
In Greek that's ti-oto,
The land Ati-otoa.
Arty-ottowa.
'Sound's good, ' said acadamia,
'But meaning's not so nice.
We'll use the Greek for 'penguin'
And call Apigwevosa,
The Underland of Ice.'
poem by Douglas Scotney
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We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.
quote by Thucydides
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Philhellene
Make sure the engraving is done skillfully.
The expression serious, majestic.
The diadem preferably somewhat narrow:
I don't like that broad kind the Parthians wear.
The inscription, as usual, in Greek:
nothing excessive, nothing pompous—
we don't want the proconsul to take it the wrong way:
he's always nosing things out and reporting back to Rome—
but of course giving me due honor.
Something very special on the other side:
some discus-thrower, young, good-looking.
Above all I urge you to see to it
(Sithaspis, for God's sake don't let them forget)
that after "King" and "Savior,"
they engrave "Philhellene" in elegant characters.
Now don't try to be clever
with your "where are the Greeks?" and "what things Greek
here behind Zagros, out beyond Phraata?"
Since so many others more barbarian than ourselves
choose to inscribe it, we will inscribe it too.
And besides, don't forget that sometimes
sophists do come to us from Syria,
and versifiers, and other triflers of that kind.
So we are not, I think, un-Greek.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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Politically Correct
If you sing out Baa Baa Blacksheep,
It will have a terrible effect,
Who tells us that this song is bad,
The Politically Correct.
Enter our country illegally,
Then show us no respect,
Will we send you straight back, no,
It's not,
Politically Correct.
We're told not to smack our children,
As their minds it will affect,
That is why they run amok,
Thanks,
The Politically Correct.
If you have a criminal mind,
Then join a violent sect,
We won't hold this against you,
We're,
Politically Correct.
If you break in to a house or bank,
Your booty to collect,
We'll put you up if you get caught,
That's,
Politically Correct.
If you're addicted to illegal drugs,
We'll rush in to protect,
We'll say you are a poor wee soul, why?
It's,
Politically Correct.
You can take cocaine and smoke your hash,
Illegal drugs you can inject,
We're not allowed to stop you because,
It's not,
Politically Correct.
If you say Shhhh! Black or White,
Then I'm afraid you can expect,
To be told you're out of order by,
The Politically Correct.
How dare you celebrate Christmas,
That's a time we must all reject,
All Christians are now redundant,
Who says?
The Politically Correct.
We must now rewrite our history,
Our past must now be checked,
We cannot say we won the war,
It's not,
Politically Correct.
Politicians the world over,
Have their fiddles go unchecked,
Why? Because they make the rules,
They're,
The Politically Correct.
Terrorists murder ever day,
On our system this does reflect,
Are we allowed to hang them, no,
We must be,
Politically Correct.
If we try to deport these murdering scum,
We're told we must not neglect,
The fact we're placing them in danger,
That's not,
Politically Correct.
If we hurt their feelings and make them cry,
We must forget those lives they wrecked,
Try to be understanding,
It's,
Politically Correct.
We spend millions on interpreters,
But we're not allowed to object,
We can't force them to speak our dialogue,
Say,
The Politically Correct.
The government now want to seek me out,
I know now that I must defect,
For what I've put in writing's not,
‘' Politically Correct''
Sailing
Maybe tomorrow with the wind on my side
I will sail across the ocean
To the island of white, the sea is pink
Only one star in sight
Thats where Ill be going
Because Im searching for the light
There goes my mind again
It just cant stop its wondering around
Cause it wants to know everything that is going on
Sailing across the ocean
Sailing across the sea of time
Could be Id find promotion
Maybe I can be what my teacher was to me
He was a man giving the truth to me
Let me see for myself whats going on
Maybe soon I will see the great horizon
The velvet sails of my ship in the night
Give away the colors of the faces delight
Land ho was the cry of the day
As I turned to face the captain
When I heard a voice say
There goes my mind again
It just cant stop this wondering around
Cause he wants to know everything thats going on
Sailing across the ocean
Sailing across the sea of time
Sailing across the ocean
Sailing across the sea of time
Sailing across the ocean
Sailing across the sea of time
song performed by by Rick Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Beginning Of The End
Composed and lyrics by valo
Your world is coming to its end
But you dont have to be afraid - Im here for you
Save your happiness for tomorrow
And today well drown in your tears
A drop of your blood tastes like wine today
Come closer my dear
It is just the beginning of the end
Yes, Im here for you
Save your happiness for tomorrow
And today well drown in your tears
A drop of your blood tastes like wine today
And because I love you so
And Im here for you
Save your happiness for tomorrow
And today well drown in your tears
A drop of your blood tastes like wine today
Save your happiness for tomorrow
And today well drown in your tears
Your blood tastes like life today
Will you let it rain
Let it rain
So wont you let it rain
Oh, let it rain
Wont you let it rain
song performed by by H.I.M.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Lliad- in 50 words or less
Paris stole Agamemmon's woman.
Hector Killed Patroclus in a fight.
Achilles took revenge against the Trojan,
but otherwise sat sulking in his tent.
Odysseus, the ever resourceful Greek,
built a wooden horse.
Final score: Greeks 1, Trojans 0
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!
poem by John F. McCullagh
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You Got The Car
The last time I held you
You held the cards and I was
asking for anything you had
You saw it coming but you
didn't tell me and next
thing everything turned bad
You got the car and I got the break
I've had as much as I can take
And my heart can't handle anyomre
And all the kings horses and all the kings men
couldn't put me back together again
So I laid in broken pieces on the floor
So don't come back for more
The last time I saw you
You didn't see me from
The sdiewalk the south side of town
I called your name in a whisper so
You wouldn't hear me and turn around
The last time I thought of you
Was in this song and I
Can't get you out of my head
But I'm not stupid I can
Just walk away and
I'll break my own heart instead
song performed by by Kasey Chambers from The Captain
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Norway
I packed up my bags,
My shoes, my clothes,
My toiletries.
Packed everything
I needed
For my holiday
To Norway.
My mind was set
So was my mood
To have a great time.
But when I boarded
The plane, something
Wasn’t right, as if
Something was missing.
I had taken all caution
And a lot of care to see
That nothing goes wrong
And yet, somehow I knew,
Something didn’t feel right.
I checked all over again
Did a memory drill of my mind
To see what was missing.
But it didn’t have a clue
Despite being so pragmatic,
And ‘right’ in all its social codes.
Politically correct, that’s what they say,
When the mind “knows it all”
Yet I knew it didn’t know,
What was missing, what was so wrong
About not having it with me.
I delved deep inside my feelings….
Then did I fathom what was missing,
Without which I felt so empty and inept.
Yes, I packed all what I could take with me
Yet, my heart remained to be with thee….
And so I left my heart, that wouldn’t budge
No matter where I went, it always had to
Holiday with thee, never wanting to come with me.
poem by Aparna Chatterjee
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