Greece. Cradle of Western Civilisation. My home. Currently, the country is going through its most dire phase since the end of a devastating Civil War that followed the end of the 4-year Nazi Occupation at the end of the 1940s. The land, economy, society and institutions have been in steady decline for a number of years now, but the downfall has been accelerated since the start of the financial crisis in early 2008. The name and reputation of the country and its inhabitants have been seriously damaged by the developments of the last two years. ‘Greece’ and ‘Greek’ have become words almost synonymous to laziness, corruption, nepotism, cheating and much more. To the consciousness of the majority of the world, the country has managed to transform in a short number of years from a modern, European state which builds state-of-the-art infrastructure and organises and executes world class events (the 2004 Summer Olympics is the best example) to a backwater of Europe and a problem child of the Balkans; some claim almost a ‘failed state’. The story of the country’s management of its finances over the last 30 years has now become a case study of ‘the best way to bring a country to bankruptcy’.

However, despite all the bad press and the scathing articles that analyse the sorry state that modern Greece has managed to bring itself into, what is most worrying is the complete lack of confidence and optimism that the Greek people are experiencing in the last two years. Even inside the country, the political and economic elites and the largely controlled major media outlets (daily newspapers, TV channels, radio stations, etc.) have added to the attacks and libels from abroad. An endless parade of scandals, corruption and lawlessness pass before the eyes and ears of the average Greek citizen, 24 hours a day until even the last one of them is convinced that there is no hope and that everyone is rotten and unworthy of salvation. No good news, no reason for optimism. The result is a dispirited population, resigned and immersed in a state of collective depression.

But a people with damaged confidence and no hope for the future will never manage to stand up back on its feet and create a better future. On the other hand, even countries and populations with the most devastated economies and finances have achieved rebirths and renaissances when they managed to keep their optimism and confidence high.

Greece still has many reasons to feel confident about. Hundreds, if not thousands of examples that prove Greece and the Greek people have huge reserves of ingenuity, industriousness and talent which they have used in the past and managed to excel in periods much more difficult than today. In order to avoid leading myself into the trap of archaeolatry, as it usually happens with Modern Greek commentators and intellectuals, I chose to study the near past and more specifically the decade of the 1950s, in order to try and find examples of my claims about the importance of hope, optimism and confidence for the fortunes of a country and its people.

Greece in the 1950s was in a state far worse than it is today. The country entered its first post-war decade completely devastated after 4 years of Nazi Occupation followed by an even more destructive 5-year Civil War. Families destroyed and a state that was unable to provide its citizens with even the most essential means for survival. Despite all that and amidst a climate of disintegration and deprivation, the country experienced an unprecedented flourishing in literature, the arts, science, and entrepreneurship, significantly aided by the Greek Diaspora, many of them immigrants from the war years or a little earlier.

The global shipping industry after the war was dominated by three names: Stavros Livanos from the island of Chios, Aristotle Onassis from Smyrna and the Athenian Stavros Niarchos are three of the richest men of the time and together control the majority of the world’s merchant fleet.

Dimitri Mitropoulos is the most renowned orchestra conductor of his time. Born in Athens at the beginning of the century, the ’50s find him as the Musical Director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, then the most famous orchestra in the world, and the main conductor of the Metropolitan Opera of New York.

The most famous soprano in the history of opera is at the peak of her career during the ’50s. Born to Greek parents in New York, Anna Maria Cecilia Kalogeropoulos has performed all the major roles of the Opera repertoire in the most famous theaters in the world. People know her as Maria Callas, and the press and critics of the time give her the nickname ‘La Divina’, the ‘Divine’.

At around the same period, a young man from Crete with the name of Mikis Theodorakis is studying musical theory and composition at the famous National Conservatory in Paris. He writes symphonies, suites and chamber music. In 1957 he is awarded the Gold Medal at the Moscow Music Festival, where President of the Jury is the famous Russian Dmitri Shostakovich who becomes a good friend of his. In 1959 his first ballet, ‘Antigone’, is performed with great success at the Royal Opera House of Covent Garden in London, and receives enthusiastic reviews. Many world famous musicians perform his songs including the likes of Edith Piaf and the Beatles.

In 1952, a 28-year old Greek who at that time is studying for his PhD in Chemistry at the renowned University of Princeton, is honoured as the fifth best pianist in the United States and begins to compose music while performing with some of the most famous jazz orchestras in America. His name is Mimis Plessas.

In 1957, the Cretan Nikos Kazantzakis, a world famous author at the time, loses the Nobel Prize for Literature by a single vote to the Frenchman, Albert Camus. It is the third time he is nominated for the prize. Following the announcement, Camus himself said: ‘Kazantzakis deserved the prize 100 times more than me.’

At the same time, the most acclaimed tragedian internationally and one of the best actresses of her era, Katina Paxinou, is enjoying a successful Hollywood career along with her husband Alexis Minotis. Paxinou had already been awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress back in 1943, the first ever non-American actress in the history of the awards. Paxinou and Minotis become one of the most famous couples in Hollywood and take part in the films by legendary directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks.

In the early 1950s, a young Greek-Cypriot named Michael Cacoyannis returns to Greece after a long stay in London where he studied theatre acting and directing. The young Cacoyannis will start making films in the mid-’50s, beginning with the legendary ‘Stella’ which causes a steer at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival, earns many international awards and puts the Greek Cinema on the world map. In the following years, Cacoyannis shoots three films with his muse Ellie Lambeti which are all major international successes and go all the way to the Oscars and the Golden Globes. The British press praises Lambeti’s performances in Cacoyannis’ films. At a private screening of his films in Los Angeles, legendary Hollywood actress and friend of Cacoyannis’, Katharine Hepburn, confesses to him: ‘I wish one day I could be as good in a movie as this young girl …’ During the same period in the late 50s, Cacoyannis’ second great muse, Irene Pappas, returns from the US after an already 10-year career. In 1962, she stars in the movie ‘Electra’. The film earns an Oscar nomination in the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category, a Golden Globe, rave reviews by most film critics and a place in the list of the 10 best films of that year. Even today, the film is still considered the best film adaptation of an Ancient Greek tragedy.

Meanwhile, another young composer, Manos Hadjidakis, is already well known in Greece and writes music and songs for film and theatre. In 1959, he will meet a young girl from Crete who is studying at the Athens Conservatory and sings at the jazz clubs of 50’s Athens. Hadjidakis is impressed by her amazing voice and will make her his first muse. The young singer of Hadjidakis will go on to have a great international career beginning in the early ’60s and today is recognised as the most successful female solo artist in the history of the international music industry with over 300 million record sales. Her name; Nana Mouskouri. Hadjidakis himself will gain international prominence during the same period and in 1961 he wins the Oscar for Best Song for the film ‘Never on Sunday’.

Finally, the 1950s finds George Papanikolaou, a great medical doctor and researcher, at the zenith of his fame. Papanikolaou, who was born in Kymi on the Greek island of Euboia and studied in Athens and Germany, lived and worked in the United States for the last 40 years of his life and became a naturalized US citizen. He is famous as the creator of the Pap Smear and the father of ‘Exfoliative Cytology’. He produced most of his work at the labs of the world-acclaimed ‘Cornell University’. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and his portrait will even end up on a US postage stamp. He was one of the most famous scientific figures in America during the ’50s with appearances and interviews on American television, and is now considered one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century.

These are perhaps the most famous examples of a country and a people that came out almost destroyed after 10 years of war. I am sure that few of my compatriots now know these facts and the details. Unfortunately, no government and no medium have yet chosen to highlight some of the events of the not too distant past, even in an attempt to provide people with a new sense of optimism, hope and renewed confidence and self esteem. The same obviously applies to the formal education system which rather than fostering free thinking, the critical evaluation of history and sound patriotism that will push the future generations to reach or exceed the achievements of the past, instead it  recycles and perpetuates a sense of self-pity, inferiority and servility.

I think it is time for the people of Greece to rediscover their history, their abilities, the invaluable natural and human resources of their country, get over the old feuds and create a new common vision for the future. But first they need to stop deifying money, consumerism, empty ‘lifestyle’ and all sorts of mediocrities. They must rediscover some of the morals and values of the past that are now found only in old Greek movies, but which helped the ‘50s generation to accomplish all those things described here. Morals and values that were put in the drawer for all these years and which we now must take out, dust off and make them part of our lives once more. Honesty, cooperation, thrift, and a reappraisal of the value of work, the family and society in general. A whole new culture: social, professional, political. And a new confidence in their abilities and their value both as a nation and as individuals. Only then will they begin to regain the respect of the international community and improve their reputation. Only then will people eager and willing to offer their services begin to return to the country. It is tragic for any nation to lose the most productive, innovative and talented portion of its population. People who could offer the most, financially, politically, scientifically, artistically, are now offering their talents and services to foreign governments and nations. No country has ever managed to come out of such crises without the contribution of these people. If something changes in the coming years it will be from the current generation of 20 and 30 somethings. This must be fully understood by all. The rest now have to support and facilitate as much as possible their work. Unfortunately, their time has passed. Their work and legacy, good or bad will be judged by the historian of the future.

My first contact with Hitchens’ work was a rather belated one. Like most other people of my generation (late 20s – early 30s), I got to know Hitch mainly as one of the passionate champions of the ‘New Atheism’ movement, which gained popularity during the second half of the last decade partly as a result of the rise of religious fundamentalism in the United States and the horrors of Islamic Terrorism that characterised the first years of the 21^st Century. He was probably the most passionate, outspoken and irreverent member of the ‘Holy Trinity’ of New Atheism, the other two being evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel C. Dennett. Personally, I was introduced to this new intellectual movement by reading Dawkins’ infamous ‘The God Delusion’ back in 2006.

For as long as I can remember, I had never been a particularly religious person or at all concerned with the concept of God or the Divine. Coming from a country with deep religious traditions, Christianity was woven into the fabric of everyday life and the multitude of religious holidays and celebrations of the Church’s Saints and Holy figures defined how people organised their life and work. During all that time, I guess I was mostly ‘following the herd’ without any particular conviction that any one of those rituals or stories were true or had any rational basis whatsoever. Nevertheless, after discovering Dawkins, Hitchens and the rest of the New Atheist thinkers, I finally had a scientific and rational basis for my unbelief; I could make my point in any argument that would be concise, researched and most of the times undisputed. That was liberating, and because I was finally an adult I would not have to ‘follow the herd’ ever again in my life.

As a consequence, my first Hitchens read was the seminal ‘God is not Great’, his scathing critique of religious belief that was published in 2007. From the first pages I was immediately hooked by the excellence of his prose and the clarity of his arguments. Even in such a narrow field as theology and religion, the reader could instantly recognise that he was in the hands of a master of language, a deeply knowledgeable person and a figure of unrivaled wit and humour. In order to justify and back up his usually impeccably expressed arguments, he would effortlessly employ references from resources as diverse as Church scholars, Enlightenment philosophers and famous authors. Needless to say that after this introduction I needed to learn more about Hitchens; the man and his work.

The second great revelation came through that most modern of mediums, the Internet, and in particular the miracle that is YouTube. Following the immediate and mostly unexpected success of his book, Hitchens embarked on a long tour which involved lectures, talks and most importantly live debates with religious leaders and apologists of all dogmas and denominations. These events took place mainly in the US and the UK and were held in a variety of venues from cosy, small town bookshops to large university auditoriums that could house thousands. Gradually the organisers started filming the events and putting them online for everyone to enjoy. And enjoy we did…

It turned out that the man could speak the way he wrote. Sharp, quick-witted, humorous, irreverent; I was watching in amazement at the brilliant manner in which he constructed his arguments and refuted his opponent’s thesis. Always ready and open to the challenge; always willing to give the next ‘Hitchslap’ to some poor theologian, Catholic priest or Jewish rabbi who was struggling to make the audience accept that ‘God is great’ and ‘Religion is the supreme human institution and the major force for good in the world’. Unfortunately, they soon realized they were dealing with a more powerful opponent than usual. His debates were addictive. People would often confess that they abandoned their faith after reading his book or attending his talks.

Then, suddenly, while at the height of his popularity disaster struck. A rapidly progressing form of cancer, probably a result of his chronic alcoholism and chain smoking habits. The enemies seemed to relish in the guilty pleasures of ‘Schadenfreude’. Surely, they thought, he would soon be renouncing his godless views, and running back to the Eternal Father begging for salvation before the dreadful end arrived. Not Hitch. He kept going strong. He knew the end was near and he faced death with the calmness and dignity of a free man. Until the very last minute, he would get on the podium and speak his mind about politics, life, men and God. Frail, weak, with his voice almost gone, he was still going strong. He never gave up, he never apologized, he NEVER renounced. That is to me the definition of true Greatness.

Though his voice was silenced he can still be heard through his talks and verbal combats with the establishment figures he so much detested all his life. Though his fingers will never caress the keyboard of a typewriter or computer any more, his words will still be read through his countless articles, essays and books. And his spirit will live on through the millions of men and women all over the world who by losing their Faith, they found their Freedom.

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BOOKS

Christopher Hitchens on Amazon

ARTICLES

• Contributor page at Vanity Fair
• Column archive at The Atlantic
• Article archive at The Guardian
• Hitchens articles at Slate
• Article archive at Journalisted

TALKS

Hitchens on FORA.tv

VIDEOS & DEBATES

Hitchens on YOUTUBE

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‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ – John 1:1

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Pensées literally means ‘thoughts’ in French. Today, the word is more well known to the non-French speaking world as the title of the ‘magnum opus’ of one of the greatest scientists, philosophers and intellectuals of the Enlightenment, Blaise Pascal. Pascal perfectly represents the kind of intellectual figure that characterised the scientific and philosophical revolution which occurred in Western Europe during the 1600s and 1700s. The products of this prolific period of human activity (scientific discoveries, inventions, political and moral ideas, philosophical models, etc.) have greatly influenced every subsequent generation of scientists, artists, philosophers and writers. The achievements of that era established the foundations for the development of the Modern World.

Pascal himself was a child of the Enlightenment. A mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and philosopher; he managed to excel in all those fields. A true Homo Universalis. Among his many important contributions some stand out: 

• In projective geometry he discovered Pascal’s Theorem
• He described Pascal’s triangle
• He was one of the founders of the mathematical theory of probabilities, along with Pierre de Fermat.
• He invented the mechanical calculator, known as ‘Pascaline’.
• His work and research in the fields of hydrodynamics and hydrostatics was revolutionary, especially on the principles of hydraulic fluids.
• As a direct result of this work he invented the hydraulic press and the syringe.

Following a mystical experience in late 1654, he abandoned his scientific work, and devoted himself to philosophy and theology. His two most famous works date from this period: the ‘Lettres provinciales’ and the ‘Pensées’.

Pensées is widely considered to be a masterpiece and a landmark in French prose. In it, Pascal surveys several philosophical paradoxes: infinity and nothing, faith and reason, soul and matter, death and life, meaning and vanity—seemingly arriving at no definitive conclusions besides humility, ignorance, and grace. Rolling these into one he develops the famous Pascal’s Wager.

The truly amazing fact about this remarkable thinker is that he was far from the exception in the Europe of his time. Pascal’s era was dominated by a vast number of geniuses in every conceivable area of human activity: artists, writers, poets, philosophers, scientists, political thinkers, theologians and natural philosophers. Assisted by the newly invented printing press, their radical new ideas spread rapidly across Europe and the power of their influence culminated in the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.

Today, a new technological innovation is rapidly changing the way humans communicate, exchange and record ideas. The Internet is the most important revolution in the recording and distribution of human knowledge since the development of the printing press in 1440. Already, the World Wide Web is the largest depository of human knowledge ever created and its many applications (blogs, sites, forums, social networks, etc.) have become the main hub for the exchange of new and radical ideas.

The immense influence of these tools in the everyday lives of millions of people is undeniable. All over the planet, strangers get connected, organise, and demonstrate demanding changes, new ideas and the abandonment of the old ways. The anti-war movement, the gay rights movement, the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, the environmental movement, even the new ways of artistic expression like flash mobs and viral videos are all products of the Internet Revolution.

Today, the blogs have replaced the newsletters and journals of the past, the tweets have replaced the pamphlets, Wikipedia is the new ‘Encyclopédie’ and the online forums are the digital salons and learned academies of the new Enlightenment.

What still remains is for the new Pascals, Newtons and Voltaires to make their appearance and start changing the world.

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Texts

Pascal’s Pensées (Project Gutenberg) [EN]

Pascal’s Lettres Provinciales (Uni. Of Adelaide) [EN]

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