It is fashionable today for academicians and plebeians to speak of Greek “civilization” as if it was some monolithic expression of a monolithic state (country) Greece. But whether this is so and whether this could be established, is a matter altogether different—but what it does do is give us some pause of thought.
In examining these matters, we must first throw off the yoke of Western scholarship, Western bias, and Western humdrum oration. Let us take apart, piece by piece, the mythos surrounding the nonexistent ancient state of “Greece,” and let us reveal the truth of these matters.
So notwithstanding “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and the father’s proclamation of “pick any word, and I will show it to be of Greek origin,” and “the Greeks invented pottery,” let us press ahead and document the errors of Western scholarship and Greek propaganda.
The ancient writer Tatian, writing over 1500 years ago, understood this all too well when he stated “Cease, then, to miscall these imitations inventions of your own.” So in other words, the Greeks steal, without admission or recognition, other cultures ideas as their own. If they do this for ideas, imagine what they might do with “persons”; wait, they already do that too!
The alphabet, itself composed of the Greek letter alpha and beta, originated with the Phoenicians.
Astronomy (Greek word) originated with the Babylonians.
Geometry, another Greek word, originated with the Egyptians.
Imagine if English and other European countries used the original words for alphabet, astronomy, geometry, and so forth, they wouldn't sound so Greek! But when you Hellenize the name, they become Greek!
In examining these matters, we must first throw off the yoke of Western scholarship, Western bias, and Western humdrum oration. Let us take apart, piece by piece, the mythos surrounding the nonexistent ancient state of “Greece,” and let us reveal the truth of these matters.
So notwithstanding “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and the father’s proclamation of “pick any word, and I will show it to be of Greek origin,” and “the Greeks invented pottery,” let us press ahead and document the errors of Western scholarship and Greek propaganda.
The ancient writer Tatian, writing over 1500 years ago, understood this all too well when he stated “Cease, then, to miscall these imitations inventions of your own.” So in other words, the Greeks steal, without admission or recognition, other cultures ideas as their own. If they do this for ideas, imagine what they might do with “persons”; wait, they already do that too!
The alphabet, itself composed of the Greek letter alpha and beta, originated with the Phoenicians.
Astronomy (Greek word) originated with the Babylonians.
Geometry, another Greek word, originated with the Egyptians.
Imagine if English and other European countries used the original words for alphabet, astronomy, geometry, and so forth, they wouldn't sound so Greek! But when you Hellenize the name, they become Greek!
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