Few figures in late antiquity present as compelling a historical debate as Julian the Apostate’s attempt to restore the Greek gods in opposition to Christianity in the Roman Empire.

During his brief but highly consequential reign in the fourth century AD, the Roman Empire stood at a profound religious crossroads. For a short period, Julian attempted to slow the empire’s accelerating Christianization, launching a sweeping effort to revive the ancient Olympian pantheon and return Rome to its traditional pagan practices. His sudden death on the battlefield has led historians to debate how dramatically the cultural trajectory of Western civilization might have shifted had his reforms endured.

Julian was born into the heart of the Constantinian dynasty, a family that had only recently converted to Christianity. Nonetheless, he became the last Roman emperor to openly support and worship the traditional Greek gods. He ruled for only about two years from 361 to 363 AD, but he acted with urgency and purpose. Julian the Apostate initiated an extensive program of philosophical and religious reform, aiming to reverse the Christian expansion advanced by his predecessors. To the growing Christian population, he was seen as a traitor to the new religious order, but to those who still admired the intellectual and cultural legacy of the classical world, he appeared as a philosopher-king attempting to restore an older vision of Rome.

Julian the Apostate’s early life

Julian did not experience the typical sheltered upbringing of an imperial heir. He grew up constantly looking over his shoulder, surviving political purges that eliminated many members of his own family. Although he was raised in a strict Christian environment under the supervision of powerful bishops, he is often understood to have developed a private intellectual attraction to classical texts and traditions associated with the ancient world.

His life took a decisive turn when he went to study in Athens. There, he was secretly initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, an experience that deeply shaped his philosophical outlook and strengthened his commitment to rejecting Christianity in favor of Neoplatonism. This forced dual existence helped form a uniquely strategic mindset. He became familiar with the inner workings of the Church, knowledge he later leveraged in support of his own religious and philosophical aims. By the time his troops in Gaul unexpectedly proclaimed him emperor, Julian was convinced that the gods themselves had chosen him to restore the ancient order.

Julian the Apostate as Emperor and the worship of the Ancient Greek gods in the Roman Empire

When he finally took power, Julian did not launch the kind of widespread, violent persecutions often associated with earlier periods of religious conflict. Instead, he pursued a more calculated cultural strategy. His approach focused on weakening Christian influence within imperial institutions while strengthening traditional religious structures. Julian the Apostate reduced the privileges and state support enjoyed by Christian clergy and redirected resources and prestige toward the priesthood of the traditional Greco-Roman religion centered on the Greek gods.

In a particularly controversial move, he restricted Christians from teaching classical literature. His reasoning was that those who rejected the traditional religious framework of Homer and Hesiod should not profit from instructing it. At the same time, Julian sought to make traditional religion more socially competitive by encouraging pagan priests to adopt public charitable functions, including aid for the poor and the establishment of hospitals—areas in which Christianity had been especially successful in gaining support. He appears to have believed that traditional worship had declined not because of its inherent weakness but because its institutions had failed to match the organizational and charitable presence of Christianity.

In practice, many historians argue that this cultural and intellectual strategy posed a different kind of challenge to early Christianity than outright violence. While persecution could strengthen Christian identity through martyr narratives, Julian the Apostate’s policies instead aimed to limit the social structures that supported its continued expansion while restoring the worship of the Ancient Greek gods within the broader Greco-Roman religious tradition.

Unfortunately for his beliefs, that grand vision of such a revived Greco-Roman empire came to an abrupt end in the arid regions of Persia. During a military campaign, Julian was struck in the side by a spear, cutting his reign tragically short. Ancient sources and later traditions continue to debate the circumstances of his death, with some attributing the blow to a Persian soldier and others speculating—without evidence—that it may have come from within his own ranks. The true origin remains uncertain.

A well-known tradition holds that, as he lay dying, Julian the Apostate is said to have declared, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean,” acknowledging the perceived triumph of Christianity. Whether or not he actually spoke these words, his brief reign left a lasting imprint on Roman and Western history. His efforts to restore the Ancient Greek gods within the Roman world continue to be discussed by historians as a striking moment in the empire’s religious transformation. Even in modern Greek cultural memory, echoes of this tension can still be felt in the broader contrast between the rational legacy of ancient philosophy and the spiritual tradition of Orthodox Christianity.

No other woman in Ancient Greek history inspired as much fascination, fear, and controversy as Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great. She is described as passionate, intelligent, ruthless, and deeply religious. Enemies portrayed her as dangerous and manipulative, while supporters viewed her as a fiercely loyal mother and protector of Alexander’s destiny.

Behind the legends and accusations, however, stood a woman who exercised enormous political influence during one of history’s most transformative periods. Olympias shaped Alexander from childhood, influenced the succession crisis after Philip II’s death, and later played a decisive role in the violent struggles that followed Alexander’s empire.

Her presence loomed over Macedon for decades. Even after Alexander conquered much of the known world, Olympias continued to influence the royal court and the fate of the Argead dynasty.

Alexander the Great’s mother, Olympias, and her Molossian origins

Olympias came from Epirus, a Greek kingdom west of Macedonia. She belonged to the royal Molossian dynasty, which claimed descent from Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. This heroic ancestry carried enormous symbolic value in the Greek world. Her original name may have been Polyxena or Myrtale. The biographer Plutarch suggests she later adopted the name Olympias after Philip achieved victory at the Olympic Games.

From an early age, Olympias displayed strong religious devotion.They initiated her with mystery cults and ecstatic rituals connected with Dionysus and the mysteries of the Cabeiri to whom she became a high-ranking priestess. These cults emphasized sacred initiation, hidden knowledge, and intense spiritual experiences. Her religious identity later became central to the legends surrounding Alexander’s birth.

The snakes and the divine birth of Alexander

Ancient authors repeatedly connect Olympias with snakes and mystery rituals. Plutarch wrote that Philip once saw a serpent lying beside Olympias while she slept. Legends claimed that she begot Alexander with Zeus through intercourse with snakes. According to later traditions, this event contributed to the belief that Zeus himself fathered Alexander.

These stories shaped Alexander’s image ever since childhood. Olympias appears to have encouraged the belief that her son possessed divine ancestry. Such ideas naturally fit within the heroic traditions of the Greek world in which exceptional rulers often claimed descent from gods. The symbolism of Zeus held enormous political importance. Alexander did not simply present himself as a king but increasingly viewed himself as a chosen figure with a cosmic mission. Of course, Olympias likely played a major role in nurturing this mindset.

Ancient religion did not sharply separate politics from divine legitimacy. A ruler with sacred ancestry possessed more potent authority and prestige. Olympias therefore strengthened Alexander’s position both psychologically and politically. The stories involving snakes also reflected the mystical atmosphere surrounding cults. Serpents symbolized rebirth, divine wisdom, chthonic forces, and sacred power in many Greek traditions. As a priestess connected with such cults, Olympias cultivated an aura of mystery that impressed supporters and frightened enemies.

Olympias’ relationship with Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great

The marriage between Olympias and Philip II began as a political alliance, yet tensions soon emerged between them. Philip married several women during his reign, partly for diplomatic reasons. However, these marriages threatened Alexander’s position as heir. Olympias fiercely defended her son’s claim to the throne and distrusted rival factions within the Macedonian court.

Conflict intensified after Philip married Cleopatra Eurydice, a Macedonian noblewoman. Her marriage resulted in the possibility of a fully Macedonian heir, which endangered Alexander’s succession. Plutarch describes a famous banquet confrontation during which insulted Alexander by implying doubts concerning his legitimacy. The quarrel severely damaged relations within the royal family.

Olympias soon withdrew from Macedon temporarily and returned to Epirus. Alexander also left for a period before reconciliation occurred. These events led to an atmosphere of suspicion and instability that surrounded Philip’s final years.

The assassination of Philip and Alexander’s accession

Philip II passed away in 336 BC after assassination during a public celebration at Aegae. His bodyguard, Pausanias, killed him before guards immediately cut the assassin down. The assassination remains one of antiquity’s great mysteries. Plutarch and the historian Arrian often suspected Olympias of involvement. Some even claimed she honored Pausanias afterward or placed a crown upon his corpse. Other traditions accuse Alexander indirectly as well.

No definitive evidence proves these accusations. However, Olympias clearly benefited politically from Philip’s death because Alexander immediately became king. She acted quickly afterward to eliminate threats against her son’s rule. The geographer Pausanias accuses her of orchestrating brutal acts against Cleopatra Eurydice and her child. Whether entirely accurate or exaggerated by hostile writers, these accounts reveal Olympias’ fierce determination to secure Alexander’s position. In the brutal world of Macedonian succession politics, hesitation often meant destruction.

Even after Alexander launched his campaigns into Asia, Olympias continued influencing Macedonian affairs from afar. Alexander maintained regular correspondence with her and respected her opinions deeply. Both Arrian and Plutarch suggested that Olympias frequently warned him about political rivals and court intrigues. At times, her intense personality resulted in tension with Antipater, whom Alexander left in charge of Macedon during the eastern campaigns. Their rivalry became one of the defining political conflicts of the period.

Olympias viewed herself not merely as the king’s mother but also as guardian of the Argead dynasty and protector of Alexander’s divine mission. Meanwhile, Alexander’s own behavior increasingly reflected the heroic and semi-divine identity cultivated since childhood. His visit to the oracle of Zeus-Ammon in Siwa of Egypt supported these beliefs further when the Egyptian priest proclaimed him as “child of Ammon.” The foundations of this worldview likely originated partly through Olympias’ influence, as previously mentioned.

The chaos after Alexander’s death

Alexander’s death in 323 BC plunged the empire into chaos. Without a clear successor, powerful generals fought for control over the vast territories he conquered. Olympias returned to political life aggressively during this turbulent period, supporting the rights of Alexander IV, Alexander’s young son by Roxana. Olympias viewed him as the legitimate continuation of the Argead dynasty.

In order to defend her grandson’s claim, she entered the brutal wars of the Successors. During this struggle, Olympias captured and executed Philip III Arrhidaeus and his wife Eurydice. These actions shocked many Macedonians and intensified divisions within the kingdom.

Nevertheless, Olympias believed she acted to preserve Alexander’s bloodline and royal legitimacy. Her enemies, however, saw only cruelty and vengeance.

The fall of Olympias

Cassander, one of the most powerful Successors, eventually marched against Olympias. Many Macedonians abandoned her cause as political exhaustion, and civil war consumed the kingdom. After siege and defeat, Olympias surrendered.

Cassander condemned her to death in 316 BC. Plutarch claims that soldiers initially hesitated to execute her because of her royal status and dominant personality. Eventually, however, relatives of her victims carried out the killing. With Olympias’ death, the final collapse of the Argead dynasty was all the more imminent. Soon afterward, Cassander eliminated Alexander IV and Roxana, as well, and thus ended the bloodline of Philip and Alexander.

Olympias remains one of antiquity’s most complex female figures, having shaped Alexander psychologically ever since childhood and having encouraged his belief in divine destiny. She defended his succession fiercely during critical political crises and later fought relentlessly to preserve the dynasty after his death. Without Olympias, Alexander’s rise may have unfolded quite differently.

At the same time, her actions contributed to the violence and instability that destroyed Macedon after Alexander’s empire fragmented. She therefore stands both as creator and destroyer: a queen, priestess, mother, and political strategist whose influence changed the ancient world forever.

Every day, thousands of Athenians and visitors pass through Michalakopoulou Avenue, one of the main arteries of central Athens. Yet few know the story of Andreas Michalakopoulos, the forgotten Greek Prime Minister and diplomatic genius whose name the avenue carries.

Who was the man behind the Michalakopoulos name?

Andreas Michalakopoulos was born in Patras in 1876 and went on to become one of the most important statesmen in modern Greek history. He was a man who helped redraw Greece’s borders, solved Athens’ water crisis, and brokered peace with Turkey at a time when Greece couldn’t have suffered more militarily.

Yet most Greeks today could not tell you a single thing about him. History has been unkind to Michalakopoulos, largely because he spent most of his career standing next to one of the most towering figures Greece has ever produced: Eleftherios Venizelos. That proximity was both his greatest role and the reason he is so rarely remembered—a blessing and a curse for a public figure like him. Michalakopoulos rose through the Liberal Party (Κόμμα των Φιλελευθέρων) ranks after 1910, holding portfolios in Economy, Agriculture, and Military Affairs under successive Venizelos governments.

He was not a man who craved the spotlight. He was a man who understood how government actually worked, and he was trusted with the levers of it accordingly—a true politician in the best definition of the term possible. When Venizelos went before the great powers of Europe to argue for a bigger Greece after the First World War, Michalakopoulos was beside him at the negotiating table. He participated in the long, tough diplomacy that produced both the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920 and the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, the two documents that first promised the unthinkable and then permanently fixed, without too heavy losses, the borders of the modern Greek state. Venizelos got 100% of the credit.

However, Michalakopoulos did much of the work. He became Prime Minister in October 1924, inheriting a country in a genuine, profound, and almost existential crisis. The Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922 had sent over a million Greek refugees flooding into Greece in a matter of months. From dreams about the reinstatement of Byzantine glory, Greece woke up in ruins, literal and metaphorical. Athens had nearly doubled in population within just a few years, and the city’s ancient water infrastructure simply could not cope. Water was being sold from carts in the streets. Taps ran dry. For a capital city that had stood for thousands of years, it was an embarrassing and dangerous situation. Greece was on the brink of collapse.

Michalakopoulos wasted little time. In December 1924, his government signed a landmark contract with American engineering firm Ulen & Company and the Bank of Athens to construct the Marathon Dam. It was one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe at the time. The Marathon Dam was a gravity dam built of the famous Pentelic marble—the same stone used to construct the Parthenon—rising 54 meters above the Haradros River outside of Athens. The project cost more than the entire National Bank of Greece and was funded with a $10 million loan. Yes, modern Greece and loans, this stereotypical love affair…

Construction ran from 1926 to 1929. The finished system delivered water to Athens through nearly 880 kilometers (547 miles) of new pipes and was inaugurated in 1931. The water that flows from Athenian taps today finds its roots in that contract and in that decision. Michalakopoulos never saw it completed. A military coup by General Theodoros Pangalos ended his government in June 1925, just months after the contract was signed.

But, thankfully, the work was done. He returned to government as Foreign Minister under Venizelos starting in 1928, and it was here that he made perhaps his most lasting contribution to the nation. Greece in the late 1920s was a country that had been through a lot. The Megali Idea, the great dream of a Greece stretching across the Aegean and into Anatolia, had collapsed spectacularly and catastrophically. The population exchange with Turkey had displaced more than a million people on each side. The two countries were locked in mutual suspicion and unresolved property disputes.

Michalakopoulos understood, more clearly than most, that Greece could not afford to stay that way. On October 30, 1930, he co-signed the Greek-Turkish Friendship Convention, also known as the Treaty of Ankara. He did that alongside Venizelos and Turkish Prime Minister İsmet İnönü. The treaty settled the border, resolved the property claims of the displaced populations, and established naval parity in the eastern Mediterranean.

It was a remarkable diplomatic achievement that helped lay the groundwork for the Balkan Pact of 1934 and brought a genuine, working peace between two nations that had spent generations at war. When Ioannis Metaxas declared his dictatorship on August 4, 1936, Michalakopoulos refused to go along with it. He had spent thirty years building democratic institutions from the inside. He spoke out against the regime and paid a heavy price for it. He was sent into internal exile on the island of Paros. He died on March 7, 1938, aged sixty-one.

Michalakopoulos’ legacy is a strange one: a man who brought water to a thirsty city, helped draw the map of modern Greece, made peace with its archenemy, and died in exile because he would not pretend that democracy was something you could simply switch off. Next time the traffic backs up on Odos Michalakopoulou in downtown Athens, take a moment to read the sign. The water in your glass and the borders of this nation have everything to do with the man it honors.

The Los Angeles Greek Film Festival marked its 20th edition in Hollywood with the Orpheus Awards Ceremony, honoring Greek and Cypriot filmmakers and paying tribute to Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat.

The festival’s Closing Night Film and Orpheus Awards Ceremony took place on May 31 at the Egyptian Theatre, in collaboration with the American Cinematheque. This year’s edition brought together filmmakers, artists, industry professionals, and supporters of Greek cinema for a week of screenings, red carpet events, tributes, and awards. The festival’s virtual film program continues through June 14.

Founded in 2007, LAGFF has grown into one of the most important platforms for Greek and Cypriot cinema outside Greece. Over the past two decades, it has screened more than 800 films, hosted over 700 filmmakers, and reached an audience of more than 50,000.

Alexandre Desplat honored at closing night

One of the evening’s major highlights was the presentation of the Honorary Orpheus Award to Alexandre Desplat, one of the most acclaimed film composers working today.

Desplat, who won Academy Awards for his scores for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water, received the honor for his contribution to contemporary cinema. Filmmaker Malcolm Washington presented the award during the Closing Night ceremony, while Fay Lellios produced the tribute.

The evening also included a remembrance tribute to George Kolovos of G.P. Kolovos & Associates, a longtime benefactor of the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival.

“The 20th celebratory edition of LAGFF left indelible memories,” said Aristotle Katopodis, Artistic and Festival Director of LAGFF. “Feting Alexandre Desplat, remembering Dean Tavoularis, and paying respects to our 20-year-long benefactors, the Kolovos family, are images deeply etched in our hearts and souls.”

Katopodis also congratulated the filmmakers whose work was celebrated this year and thanked the festival’s supporters, sponsors, and team for championing Greek cinema.

Hold onto me wins best feature film

The Closing Night Film, Hold Onto Me, directed by Myrsini Aristidou, won the Orpheus Award for Best Feature Film.

The film, which previously won the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance, was one of the leading titles of this year’s festival. Following the screening, actor Michael Grant hosted a Q&A with Aristidou.

KNX Radio’s Vivianne Linou hosted the Orpheus Awards Ceremony.

2026 orpheus awards winners announced by the Los Angeles Greek film festival

In the animation category, Dream by Semiramis Mamata won the Orpheus Award for Best Animation Film. The Special Jury Award for Animation Film went to Poppy Flowers by Evridiki Papaiakovou.

The Orpheus Award for Best Short Film went to Prelude to a Supernova by Christos Artemiou, while the Special Jury Award for Short Film went to Gekas by Dimitris Moutsiakas.

In the feature film categories, Hold Onto Me by Myrsini Aristidou won Best Feature Film. Krysianna Papadakis and Stergios Dinopoulos received the Orpheus Award for Best Director for Bearcave, while Amerissa Basta received the Special Jury Award for Best Director for Life in a Beat.

The Orpheus Award for Best Performance went to Denise Fraga for Dreaming of Lions. Niovi Charalampous received the Special Jury Award for Best Performance for Smaragda – I Got Thick Skin and I Can’t Jump, while Vangelis Mourikis earned an honorable mention for Patty Is Such a Girly Name.

Audience awards and social justice honors

The Audience Award for Feature Film went to Best Friends Forever by Konstantinos Mousoulis. The Audience Award for Short Film went to The Smoker by Alexa Economacos.

The festival also presented its Social Justice Awards in partnership with Loyola Marymount University’s Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, Department of Classics and Archaeology.

The Social Justice Award for Short Film went to The Wolves Return by Stelios Moraitidis, while the Social Justice Award for Feature Film went to Maysoon by Nancy Biniadaki.

Award presenters included animator Aliki Theofilopoulos, actor and author Patricia Kara, music composer George Kallis, and film distributor Bill Vergos.

The jury panel included Leo Behrens, Nora Bernard, Karen Cifarelli, Cheng Guo, Harrison James, Chieh-Chih Liao, Eric Nazarian, and Irene Soriano Saxon.

Los Angeles Greek film festival celebrates orpheus awards at the Egyptian theatre

This year’s Closing Night continued LAGFF’s collaboration with the Egyptian Theatre, Netflix, and the American Cinematheque.

The Egyptian Theatre, one of Hollywood’s most historic movie palaces, opened in 1922 and helped shape the early history of film premieres in Los Angeles. Restored through a partnership between Netflix and the American Cinematheque, the venue now combines its historic character with modern projection capabilities.

For LAGFF, the setting offered a symbolic backdrop for a festival that has spent two decades connecting Greek and Cypriot cinema with the wider Los Angeles film community.

More than seven in ten property purchases in Greece in 2025 involved residential homes, with three-quarters of those sales concerning buildings over twenty years old, underscoring the country’s persistent shortage of new housing. The figures point to a structural imbalance in the Greek real estate market in which limited construction in recent years has failed to keep pace with demand.

As a result, buyers continue to turn to older properties, particularly in the country’s largest urban centers. Residential properties accounted for 74.8 percent of all property sales in 2025. Plots of land followed at 14.3 percent, agricultural land at 5.8 percent, and commercial properties at 5.1 percent.

The data comes from REMAX Greece, a real estate network, and is based on thousands of completed transactions recorded through its ninety offices and more than 1,200 agents nationwide.

Three-quarters of homes sold were over 20 years old

Homes more than twenty years old represented 75.6 percent of residential property sales across Greece. Newly-built homes, defined as properties up to five years old, accounted for just 12.3 percent of sales.

Properties aged six to ten years represented only 0.3 percent of transactions, while homes aged 11 to 15 years accounted for 2 percent. Properties aged 16 to 20 years made up 9.8 percent of residential sales.

The dominance of older housing reflects the limited availability of newer homes in the Greek market. Where newly built properties are available, however, they remain highly attractive to buyers because they offer modern energy efficiency standards and better meet contemporary living needs.

Athens reflects national trend

In Attica (Greater Athens), residential properties accounted for 85.3 percent of sales. Commercial properties and land plots each represented 7.2 percent.

Older housing stock was even more dominant in the capital region. Homes more than twenty years old made up 86.2 percent of residential sales in Attica, while newly built properties up to five years old represented only 3.3 percent.

Land purchases also gained ground in Attica. Plots and agricultural land combined rose by 1.8 percent year-on-year, indicating growing buyer interest in development opportunities amid the shortage of available modern housing.

Older homes drive Greece’s property market in Thessaloniki

A similar picture emerged in Thessaloniki, where residential properties represented 87.4 percent of total sales. Commercial properties followed at 8.7 percent. As in Athens, older homes dominated the market. Properties more than twenty years old accounted for 87 percent of residential sales in Thessaloniki, while newly-built homes represented just two percent.

The figures underline the depth of Greece’s housing supply challenge. Demand for residential property remains strong, but the limited availability of newly built homes continues to push buyers toward older stock across the country’s largest real estate markets.

Greek drivers display some of the most dangerous road behavior in Europe, with new findings showing that risky habits such as phone use, fatigue, alcohol-related driving, and low seatbelt compliance remain widespread among motorists, especially younger drivers.

According to the 16th Responsible Driving Barometer released by the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation, 66 percent of Greek drivers say they use their phones while driving, 41 percent admit to driving while severely fatigued, and 10 percent say they have driven after consuming alcohol.

Despite these behaviors, 97 percent of Greek drivers describe their own driving in positive terms. The contrast suggests that many motorists underestimate the risks they take behind the wheel, even when those risks are among the leading causes of serious crashes.

The survey, conducted by Ipsos BVA, polled 12,100 people across 11 European countries and highlighted a troubling gap between how Greek drivers see themselves and how they actually behave on the road.

Young drivers raise particular concern

The survey also points to alarming habits among younger drivers in Greece. Among those  aged 16 to 24, 48 percent say they drive without wearing a seatbelt, while 16 percent admit they occasionally drive under the influence of alcohol.

These figures indicate that road safety remains a serious cultural issue, particularly among younger motorists who may be more likely to normalize dangerous behavior such as not wearing a seatbelt, using a phone, or driving after drinking.

Road deaths show scale of Greece’s safety issue

The survey findings come at a time when Greece is also ranked among Europe’s five most dangerous countries for driving, according to data from the European Transport Safety Council.

Greece recorded 62 road deaths per one million residents in 2024, up from 60 per one million in 2023. While the increase may appear insginificant, it points to a wider road safety problem at a time when several other European countries are making progress in reducing traffic fatalities.

In the 2024 rankings, Greece placed fifth among the most dangerous European countries for road users. Serbia topped the list with 78 deaths per one million residents, followed by Romania with 77, Bulgaria with 74, Croatia with 64, and Greece with 62.

Greece has not historically been at the very top of Europe’s road-death rankings, but its current position shows that road safety remains a persistent national challenge. The country’s performance is also concerning because Croatia, which remains just above Greece in the ranking, has shown signs of improvement.

AI cameras reveal Greek drivers’ risky habits in Athens

Recent data from AI-powered traffic cameras in Athens adds further evidence that risky driving behavior remains widespread.

Eight pilot AI traffic cameras installed in the Greater Athens area have already recorded thousands of serious violations. In roughly one month, four of the cameras detected 39,543 major offenses, including running red lights, using a mobile phone while driving, and exceeding speed limits.

The violations were recorded at some of Athens’ busiest locations, including Syntagma Square and Syngrou Avenue. Separate data showed that on Syngrou Avenue alone, more than ten thousand violations related to seatbelt use and mobile phones were recorded between December 25 and January 28, along with more than 1,500 speeding violations.

The environmental organization iSea, in collaboration with the Hellenic Ornithological Society and the Municipality of Lemnos, has launched an ambitious project to restore the Eastern Mediterranean’s largest marine meadow—a 140-square-kilometer Posidonia sanctuary off the coast of Lemnos, widely known as the region’s “Amazon.”

This massive underwater ecosystem serves as a vital carbon sink, holding over 270,000 tons of stored carbon dioxide and effectively absorbing the annual emissions produced by the vehicles of an entire small city.

To mark World Environment Day 2026, the project partners are celebrating the completion of the initiative’s pilot phase under the “Reviving Lemnos” program, which successfully transplanted more than 250 posidonia shoots.

A Vital Marine Ecosystem

Posidonia oceanica is not an algae, but a flowering marine plant (seagrass) that forms dense underwater meadows. These meadows act as a crucial sanctuary for an abundance of marine life. While most people recognize it from the long, brown “seaweed” leaves that wash ashore, its true value lies beneath the surface.

The Lemnos marine meadow thrives at depths of up to 30 meters and stretches over 20 kilometers long, extending beyond the boundaries of the Natura 2000 Protected Area and into international waters. According to data from iSea, this single ecosystem hosts more than 66 species of marine organisms.

Looking Ahead: The “Reviving Lemnos” Project

During this pilot phase, the transplanted shoots have been secured inside protective metal cages to shield them until they mature, and they will remain under close scientific monitoring.

This initial phase sets the foundation for a much larger effort: restoring more than 10,000 posidonia rhizomes across a 400-square-meter area over the coming years.

“The knowledge gained from monitoring this pilot application will provide a valuable roadmap for completing our restoration actions and ensuring the long-term success of ecosystem conservation in Lemnos,” said Nikoletta Sidiropoulou, Project Manager at iSea.

The “Reviving Lemnos” project is one of seven large-scale initiatives funded by the international Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme.

Related: Posidonia Seagrass Meadows in Greece Reveal their Secrets

Albanians have joined a growing wave of protests against a major coastal resort project linked to Jared Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners. The demonstrations began near the proposed development site in Zvernec, close to the protected Vjosa-Narta coastal area, before spreading to the capital, Tirana, where protests continued for several days.

Chanting “cancel the project” and carrying banners reading “Albania is not for sale,” demonstrators demanded that the government block the resort plans. The project includes luxury tourism development on the uninhabited island of Sazan and in the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape, a wetland area near the southern community of Zvernec. The region is known for its biodiversity and is home to flamingos, seals, and sea turtle nesting sites.

Environmental groups, local residents, and civil society activists say the development could cause irreversible damage to one of Albania’s most sensitive coastal ecosystems. They have also raised concerns over transparency, land ownership, and possible corruption.

Albanians protest coastal resort after beach access blocked

The latest wave of demonstrations began after fencing and barbed wire appeared near the proposed development area, blocking access to the beach. Residents and environmental activists gathered in Zvernec, where tensions escalated.

Private security guards reportedly attacked and injured several protesters during the gathering. Following the incident, authorities suspended several police officers and revoked the licenses of two private security companies.

The unrest then moved to Tirana, where protesters rallied outside government buildings, including the office of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Demonstrators used inflatable flamingos as a symbol of the protected wetland and held signs reading “Nation is not for sale” and “I don’t want Albania like Dubai.”

Anti-corruption prosecutors open inquiry

The protests intensified after Albania’s Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) opened an inquiry into issues surrounding land titles, sales to investors, and changes affecting the protected status of the area. It has not been confirmed whether the land surrounded by barbed wire has been purchased by Affinity Partners.

Kushner first presented plans for development projects in Albania two years ago. According to those plans, Sazan, a former secret communist-era military base, would be transformed into a luxury tourist destination. The development has been estimated at around €1.4-1.6 billion ($1.62-1.86 billion). Luxury hotels were also planned for Zvernec, near the Vjosa-Narta protected area.

Environmental groups warn of serious damage

In January, around forty environmental organizations called for the suspension of the resort plans, warning that the project could threaten biodiversity in a coastal zone of major ecological significance. “We want all construction to halt and heavy machines out of the protected area,” said Joni Vorpsi, an ecologist with PPNEA-BirdLife Albania. “This would be a new city with around 10,000 rooms and it will completely destroy that wild region.”

Environmentalists argue that the scale of the project is incompatible with the protected status of the area. They say the development could disrupt bird migration routes, damage habitats, and permanently alter a largely undeveloped stretch of coastline.

Albanians protest as Rama rejects calls to halt coastal resort project

Prime Minister Edi Rama invited protesters to choose a delegation of about twenty people to discuss possible solutions, but the protesters rejected the proposal. Rama has publicly defended the investment, arguing that Albania must remain open and fair toward foreign investors.

“It is very important that we remain welcoming, that we remain fair, and that under no circumstances do we receive the stigma of being a country where investors are met with hostility,” Rama said in a statement shared with Reuters. “There is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here.” His comments have further angered opponents of the project, who say the issue is not hostility toward investment but the protection of public land, natural heritage, and the rule of law.

In ancient Greece, the experiences of women varied dramatically from Athens to Sparta. While the prevailing image often portrays women as largely “invisible” in public life, a closer examination reveals a striking contrast between the lives of Athenian and Spartan women.

As archaeologist Evi Pini emphasized in speaking recently to the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA), it is crucial to avoid broad generalizations about women in ancient Greece, given the vast differences across regions and centuries.

Pini’s research, which focuses on the classical period in Athens and Sparta, illuminates how these two prominent societies treated women in fundamentally distinct ways, revealing that invisibility was far from a universal reality.

Women in ancient Athens: The “invisibles of history”

For the most part, Athenian society aimed for women to be unseen and unheard. The ideal Athenian woman was confined to the home, managing the household and raising legitimate children. Their public presence was minimal, and their lives were largely dictated by their male relatives.

As Pini notes, there were specific primary obstacles women in ancient Athens confronted, as indicated below.

Limited legal rights

Athenian women had no legal right to inherit property directly. Their dowry, while providing some security in case of divorce, remained largely under the control of their husband or father.

If a woman was the sole heir to her father’s property (an epikleros kore), she was legally obligated to marry her closest male relative, even if it meant divorcing her current husband. This highlights a system in which women were often pawns in the preservation of family property and lineage.

Marriage and love

Conventional wisdom, often derived from ancient male writers, suggests that Athenian marriages were devoid of emotional connection, serving primarily the purpose of procreation. Love was supposedly reserved for concubines and courtesans.

However, Pini challenges this stereotype, pointing out the economic impracticality for most men in maintaining multiple partners and citing funerary monuments as evidence of genuine affection between spouses.

High mortality in childbirth

Childbirth posed a significant danger for women, contributing to high female mortality rates. This was a grim reality for women across ancient societies, including Athens.

Sole area of distinction

The primary public role for Athenian women was in priesthood. Their participation in religious ceremonies and rituals was crucial. Beyond this, opportunities for distinction were virtually nonexistent.

Women in ancient Athens and Sparta: A striking contrast

According to Greek archaeologists, in stark contrast to Athens, Spartan society granted women a much more prominent and respected position.

While not entirely equal to men, their social status, legal rights, and public recognition were remarkably progressive for the time.

High social status and public honor

Spartan women, especially mothers, held high social standing and were not shy about expressing their opinions publicly. They were even honored with public praise, a stark difference from the Athenian ideal of female silence.

Numerous “Lakaean aphorisms” attributed to Spartan women attest to their wit and influence.

Economic power and inheritance

Spartan women possessed significant economic power. Unlike their Athenian counterparts, they could inherit property from their parents and manage it independently. Due to high male mortality in warfare, Spartan women controlled approximately two-fifths of the land by the 4th century BC.

This economic independence was so unusual that other Greeks, including Aristotle, reportedly viewed Spartans as “womanizers” because of it, misinterpreting their women’s power.

Physical education and health

Spartans prioritized the physical training of girls from a young age, believing that strong bodies would lead to healthier offspring who could better cope with the rigors of childbirth.

They also married their daughters off at an older age (18-20) than Athenians (15-16), considering physical maturity beneficial for motherhood.

Absence of dowry and adultery laws

Spartan law prohibited dowries, ensuring that even less fortunate girls could marry. Furthermore, the concept of adultery as a punishable offense largely didn’t exist in the same way as in Athens.

Consensual extramarital relations, often for the purpose of procreation and to ensure strong offspring for the state, were acceptable and not kept secret. While secret affairs might have occurred, they didn’t lead to the severe penalties and social ostracism faced by Athenian women caught committing adultery.

“Secret” weddings

Spartan weddings involved a ritualistic “secret abduction” of the bride, a haircut, and disguise.

While Plutarch offered a practical, though likely inaccurate, explanation for these “secret” marriages (testing for offspring), Pini suggests they were more likely ancient customs signifying a transition from one state to another, a young woman “disappearing” to reappear as a married woman with a new identity.

Distinction in arts and philosophy

Beyond their domestic roles, Spartan women, alongside women from other Dorian and Aeolian cities and colonies, could achieve distinction as poets and philosophers.

Stereotypes about women in ancient Athens and Sparta to break down

Evi Pini’s insights reveal several crucial stereotypes pertaining to women in Greek antiquity that need to be challenged, as indicated below.

The monolithic “ancient Greek woman”

It’s a significant oversimplification to generalize about “women in antiquity.” The vast differences between Athenian and Spartan societies, among others, demonstrate the diverse realities of women’s lives across different regions and periods. The notion of a single, universal experience for women in ancient Greece is inaccurate.

Absence of marital love

The stereotype that emotional bonds were absent in Athenian marriages, with love reserved for concubines and courtesans, is largely unfounded. Economic realities for most Athenians would have made supporting multiple partners impossible.

Furthermore, evidence from funerary monuments suggests genuine affection and grief existed between spouses.

Universal invisibility

While Athenian women were indeed largely “invisible” in public life, Spartan women were far from it.

Their economic power, social standing, and public voice demonstrate that invisibility was not a universal experience for women in all Greek societies.

Adultery as a universal sin

The draconian Athenian laws surrounding adultery, including the husband’s right to kill the adulterer, are often projected onto all of Greek antiquity.

Sparta’s approach, where consensual extramarital relations for procreation were accepted and “adultery” as a concept barely existed, shows a dramatically different cultural norm.

By examining the nuances of different Greek city-states, particularly the contrasting experiences of Athenian and Spartan women, we gain a much richer and more accurate understanding of women’s roles, rights, and visibility in Greek antiquity, dismantling simplistic and often misleading generalizations.

(With information from AMNA)

Related: What Did Everyday Life in Ancient Athens Really Look Like?

Salt has played a crucial role in the history of civilization, enabling food to be preserved over the winters until the modern miracles of refrigeration and preservation. This is no less true in Greece, where the salt used in antiquity likely originated from the salt flats in Messolonghi.

According to ancient sources, salt was even used in the slave trade in antiquity. It is even said that the ancient expression “not worth his salt” came from this practice.

In ancient times, most civilizations also had myths and religious and magic rites involving salt, and Greece was no exception.

With tales of its usage during sacrifices and religious rituals, the history of salt is as exotic as is the amazing Alykes, the salt marsh gardens that extend for miles on end in Messolonghi, Greece.

The unique landscape of the Messolonghi Lagoon, the largest lagoon in the country, is otherworldly, and the region is said to produce 60 percent of the country’s salt. In fact, the Messolonghi–Aetoliko lagoon system is considered to be one of the most important Mediterranean lagoons.

Along the coastal road from Messolonghi towards Aetoliko are the salt lakes known as Alykes of Messolonghi.

They are especially eye-catching as one can see enormous squared-off fields filled with sea water; once the water evaporates, the sea salt is left behind to be collected.

The salt comes from the Mediterranean Sea, of course, which is one of the saltiest seas in the world.

Most seawater has about 35 grams (7 teaspoons) of salt in every 1,000 grams (about a liter, or quart) of water.

The Mediterranean Sea has very high salinity—38 ppt (parts per trillion), or more in some areas. It is almost closed off from the Atlantic Ocean, and there is three times more evaporation than there is rain or freshwater flowing into it from rivers.

Messolonghi salt flats home to unique ecosystem

The salt flat phenomenon in Messolonghi provides an amazing view along the way to the small town of Aetoliko, with flocks of flamingos basking and feeding in the nutrient-rich marshes and bright, white salt pyramids lining the drive.

The fantastic ecosystem of the region is evident upon arrival in Aetoliko which encompasses the small island that separates the two lagoons.

Famous for hosting rare birds and fish species, the lagoons are breathtaking and are dotted with traditional fishing huts built over the water on piles of wood.

The drive to the Troulida islet is one of the most sought-after trips in the area, as the sun sets and reflects off the still waters of the lagoon.

 

Greece is marking World Environment Day 2026 with a nationwide program of events that brings the global call for climate action down to the local level—from protected areas and wetlands to city galleries, museums, and island beaches.

Observed every year on June 5, World Environment Day is the United Nations’ main global platform for raising awareness and mobilizing action to protect the natural world. First celebrated in 1973, the day has grown into an international campaign involving governments, organizations, schools, communities and citizens around the world.

In Greece, the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency, NECCA, is at the center of the program, organizing 65 events across the country. Activities include guided nature walks, biodiversity recording, wildlife observation, educational games, workshops, public information events and volunteer cleanups, many of them in or near protected areas.

Greece’s government highlights achievements on World Environment Day

Greece’s Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, highlighted some of the government’s environmental policies and key achievements over the past seven years.

• Expanded Marine Protection: Moving forward from commitments made at global ocean conferences (2024 in Athens and 2025 at the UN), Greece is establishing two new large National Marine Parks in the Ionian and South Aegean seas. This will double protected waters to 36% of territorial waters, surpassing the EU’s 30% target well ahead of 2030.
• Banning Industrial Fishing: Greece is pioneering marine conservation internationally by completely banning bottom trawling in all national marine parks.
• Renewable Energy Zoning Restrictions: New regulations prohibit the installation of solar farms in all Natura areas, forests, and woodlands, and ban wind farms at altitudes above 1,200 meters (3,937 ft).
• “Untrodden” Landscapes: Greece has introduced pioneering designations for strict ecological preservation, establishing thirteen “Untrodden Mountains” and 250 highly protected “Untrodden Beaches” to limit human development in sensitive ecosystems.
• Targeted Species & Habitat Conservation: Twelve National Action Plans have been launched to protect endangered species (including the brown bear, Mediterranean monk seal, Loggerhead sea turtle, and bearded vulture). Additionally, all major wetlands (Ramsar sites) and Key Biodiversity Areas are now placed under strict legislative protection.

Ancient Athens is renowned to this day as the birthplace of democracy and cradle of philosophical debate, but few know the story of the city state’s harshest lawgiver.

Draco, also spelled Drako or Drakon, was Athens’ first recorded democratic legislator. Draco was called upon by his fellow Athenian citizens to establish a comprehensive legal code for the city.

Many Athenians were surprised by the harshness of the laws introduced by Draco and baulked at the Draconian constitution that bore his name. Nevertheless, the Draconian constitution introduced several important innovations, namely the transition from oral laws to written laws.

Who was Draco?

Draco was an Athenian aristocrat born sometime during the 7th century BC. Despite his importance to the city’s history, Draco’s biographical details remain incredibly sketchy and little is known about his life beyond the laws that he imposed.

Indeed, as the historian Chis Carey points out in an academic paper published in The Cambridge Classical Journal, “Already for Greeks of the Classical period, Drakon was a shadowy figure. We get no patronymic, no biography; he simply emerges fully formed as a legislator.”

“He may be wholly or in part a fiction,” Carey continues. Crucially, however, Carey sees no reason to dispute the dates given by the ancient Athenians for the introduction of Draco’s laws between 624 and 620 BC.

So, whether or not Draco was a real individual, or perhaps a mythologized stand-in for a specific Athenian lawgiver or collective of legislators, the Draconian institution itself was introduced in the 7th century BC as recorded by the Athenians in the view of modern historians.

Draco’s new Athenian laws

Draco’s most important contribution as a legislator was the introduction of Athens’ first written constitution, the so-called “Draconian Constitution”.

This was an important legislative and legal innovation because the laws had previously been recorded orally. This meant that there was far too much room to arbitrarily interpret or apply the laws. A written system meant that the law was much fairer and more universally interpreted.

So that everyone would be made aware of the new laws – or at the very least, those who were literate – the laws were made visible in the city on wooden tablets called axones. These were presented on rotatable four-sided pyramids called kyrbeis.

One of Draco’s chief aims as a legislator was to bring an end to the blood feuds plaguing the city. He introduced laws that differentiated between homicides and accidental killings and specified punishments for each crime. The translations below provide some perspective:

• “He who kills another Athenian, without a purpose or by accident, should be banished from Athens forever. If the killer apologizes to the family of the murdered man and the family accepts the apology, then the murderer may stay in Athens.”
• “A relative of a murder victim, can hunt and take into custody the murderer and thus hand him to the authorities where he will be judged. If a relative kills the murderer he will not be allowed to enter the Athenian Forum (agora), or participate in competitions or set foot into sacred places…”

Athens’ harshest lawgiver?

As a lawgiver Draco was innovative and his changes made the legal system in Athens clearer and more consistent. However, his laws were also deemed to be excessively harsh and were subsequently repealed by Solon in the early 6th century BC.

Severe punishments were often dealt out for relatively minor crimes. For example, a thief might be sentenced to death for stealing a cabbage.

The lawgiver and his code also attracted infamy for its bias in favor of the elite over commoners in Athens. For instance, a debtor unable to honor his debts to a higher-class creditor could be sold into slavery, whereas punishments for higher-status individuals indebted to lower-status creditors were more lenient.

The English word “draconian”, meaning “excessively harsh” or “very severe” is derived from the Draconian Constitution, which is remembered for its severity.

Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday afternoon, June 4. The forty-minute discussion focused heavily on protecting Christian communities across the Middle East and safeguarding freedom of worship in the Holy Land.

The meeting comes at a time of severe regional instability, as Christian populations in Lebanon, Syria, and the Holy Land face mounting pressures and security challenges. During the talks, Patriarch Theophilos expressed deep concern over the vulnerability of these communities, emphasizing that their protection is vital not only for religious reasons but as a cornerstone for regional stability, coexistence, and peace.

“In recent years, Christian communities in the Middle East have faced a harsh reality of instability, growing threats, and rising pressures,” the Patriarch of Jerusalem stated in an official release. “We see ancient communities asking for something fundamentally basic: to continue living in safety, to preserve their faith, and to protect their freedom of worship.”

Safeguarding religious freedom

Addressing President Trump, His Beatitude noted that “safeguarding religious freedom and maintaining open access to the Holy Land is more than a spiritual matter; it is a prerequisite for stability, coexistence, and peace throughout the entire region.”

During the encounter, Patriarch Theophilos honored Donald Trump with the “Grand Cross” of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the highest distinctions bestowed by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

According to the Patriarchate, the meeting builds upon the established relationship between the Patriarch and the Trump family, serving as a continuation of the US President’s landmark 2017 visit to Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

As one of the world’s oldest Christian institutions, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem holds a historic role in guarding holy sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Patriarch Theophilos III, who has held the patriarchal throne since 2005, has frequently been involved in global religious events, including the consecration of the holy oil used in the coronation of King Charles III.

Related: Millions of Christians Face Persecution, Violence Worldwide: Holy See

On June 5, 1947, US Secretary of State George C. Marshall stood before a Harvard University commencement crowd. He proposed a radical blueprint for the survival of post-war Europe—the European Recovery Program, famously known as the Marshall Plan.

Conceived in a climate of escalating Cold War anxieties, Marshall famously declared:

“Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.”

While the resulting Marshall Plan is celebrated globally for sparking Western Europe’s golden age of growth, its application in Greece was uniquely volatile. It acted as an economic accelerator for a nation on the brink of collapse. Still, the cure arrived with heavy-handed strings that permanently altered Greek sovereignty, escalated an internal civil war, and drew fierce resistance from the country’s left-wing factions.

Greece in ruins

By 1947, Greece was a landscape of absolute ruin. The brutal wartime Axis occupation had destroyed its railways, burned hundreds of villages, and decimated the merchant marine fleet. Infrastructure such as the vital port of Piraeus serving Athens and the three-mile-long Corinth Canal lay unusable.

Compounding this physical tragedy was a bitter, bloody civil war between the royalist government and communist-led insurgents of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE).

Starvation was an immediate threat. Appealing to Congress for immediate intervention, President Harry S. Truman painted a grim picture of the Greek reality: “Greece is today without funds to finance the importation of those goods which are essential to bare subsistence…the people of Greece cannot make progress in solving their problems of reconstruction. Greece is in desperate need of financial and economic assistance to enable it to resume purchases of food, clothing, fuel, and seeds.”

The American response was unprecedented. Between 1947 and 1951, Greece received roughly $2 billion in Marshall Aid and related Truman Doctrine funds—an astronomical sum worth more than $21 billion today. At its peak, US aid financed 67% of all Greek imports and constituted a staggering 25% of the nation’s gross national product.

Marshall plan rebuilds Greece’s infrastructure

The economic injection quite literally rebuilt the country’s shattered spine. Over 6.5 million tons of American food, clothing, and medical supplies flooded into Greek ports, staving off a humanitarian catastrophe.

American engineers and funding dredged and reopened the blockaded Corinth Canal, completely reconstructed the Port of Piraeus, and paved thousands of miles of modern highways that connected isolated rural provinces to urban markets.

In the fields and factories, the money drove rapid modernization. Thousands of American tractors, advanced irrigation pumps, and high-yield seeds were imported, shifting Greek agriculture from primitive subsistence farming to a competitive export industry.

Furthermore, the plan financed the establishment of the Public Power Corporation (DEI), laying the initial brickwork for a unified national electrical grid.

The cost and institutional decay

Yet, this massive economic lifeline had a darker, counterproductive underside. Unlike in Great Britain or France, where aid was managed by robust local governments, the United States viewed the unstable, war-torn Greek administration with deep suspicion.

Consequently, Washington established the American Mission for Aid to Greece (AMAG), an oversight apparatus that wielded extraordinary, direct control over the country’s domestic affairs. Dwight Griswold, the head of AMAG, made it very clear to the Greek government that the money came with absolute American leverage: “We are here to help Greece, but we must be sure that the help is used effectively. If the Greek government does not take the necessary steps to stabilize its economy and clean up its administration, we will have to reconsider our position.”

American administrators held functional veto power over the Greek state budget, tax legislation, and currency issuance. Greek cabinet ministers routinely had to clear basic administrative policies with US advisers. This heavy-handed intervention saved the state from collapsing into communist hands—Washington’s primary geopolitical goal—but it severely eroded Greek political autonomy.

Prominent Greek intellectual and novelist Giorgos Theotokas captured the growing local resentment in his diary during the late 1940s: “The Americans have become our true masters. Ministers do not dare make a move without asking the permission of some American adviser. We have been saved from the rebels, but we have lost our independence.”

Furthermore, because aid was distributed through a centralized state apparatus during a civil war, funds and import licenses were frequently weaponized. Capital was often allocated based on political loyalty to the right-wing government rather than economic merit, inadvertently reinforcing a rigid system of political patronage and favoritism.

Konstantinos Karamanlis, a rising political figure who would later become Prime Minister, looked back on how the rush of money warped the country’s institutional health:

“The aid was a blessing, but the way it was managed taught Greeks to look to the state for salvation rather than their own productivity. It fed a system of dependency and favoritism that outlived the docks and roads we built with it.”

Marshall plan opponents in Greece

Because Marshall Aid was fundamentally tied to Washington’s anti-communist containment strategy, it faced fierce, violent opposition from the Greek Left, primarily spearheaded by the Greek Communist Party (KKE) and its military wing, the DSE.

To the communists, the Marshall Plan was not a humanitarian gesture but a textbook example of “American imperialism” designed to turn Greece into a strategic military outpost for the United States. KKE propaganda aggressively painted the American administrators as the “new conquerors,” succeeding the German occupiers.

They argued that the economic restructuring pushed by AMAG was explicitly designed to restrict Greek industrial self-sufficiency, forcing the nation to remain a dependent market for American manufactured goods and agricultural surpluses.

This opposition extended far beyond rhetorical propaganda into active physical resistance and domestic warfare. Communist circles actively orchestrated plans to paralyze American reconstruction work. Guerrilla cells launched targeted bombings and acts of sabotage against critical infrastructure projects, focusing on the newly restored Piraeus docks and the Corinth Canal to disrupt the flow of American supplies.

An ambiguous legacy

Ultimately, the Marshall Plan in Greece achieved its immediate, vital objectives. It prevented mass starvation, facilitated the defeat of the communist insurgency, and laid the concrete physical foundations for the country’s mid-century economic expansion.

However, the sheer velocity and volume of the aid left a profoundly ambiguous legacy. It demonstrated how foreign aid can simultaneously rescue a nation’s people from chaos, while binding its political institutions and sovereign decision-making to the strategic whims of an external superpower.

The ideological battle over the economic recovery is captured visually in the following historical archival footage, which illustrates the intersection of American material aid and public relations efforts during the height of the reconstruction program. The “Story of Koula” Marshall Plan Film demonstrates how the US government utilized media to promote the agricultural modernization of the Greek countryside during this volatile era.

Related: What Has the United States Ever Done for Greece?

While Uranus was officially discovered as a planet by the astronomer William Herschel in 1781 using a telescope, some ancient Greek astronomers, such as Hipparchus, may have observed Uranus—but only as a fixed star rather than as a planet.

Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, is unique in that it is barely visible to the naked eye, appearing as a faint, star-like point in the night sky.

Hipparchus and the catalog of stars

Hipparchus (2nd century BC), among the greatest ancient Greek astronomers, compiled one of the earliest known star catalogs. He meticulously recorded the positions of about 850 stars, significantly advancing observational astronomy. The fact that Uranus was likely observed and recorded by Hipparchus, even if only as a faint star, is a major contribution to the history of astronomy. It is proof of the remarkable precision and thoroughness of ancient astronomers in mapping the night sky.

Because Uranus moves especially slowly across the celestial sphere, its motion was imperceptible to naked-eye observers over short periods. Thus, Hipparchus correctly classified it as a fixed star rather than a planet. From the perspective of ancient Greek astronomy—which was strictly geocentric and based on Earth-centered celestial spheres—this classification was logically consistent. Uranus does not revolve around the Earth in a way that is observable to the naked eye. Therefore, ancient astronomers had no reason to consider it a “wanderer” or planet.

The classical planets of Greek astronomy

Many ancient Greek astronomers were influenced by philosophers such as Aristotle and astronomers like Hipparchus and, later on, Ptolemy. They identified five planets visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Along with the Sun and Moon, these made up the seven classical celestial bodies known as “planets” (meaning “wanderers”).

Uranus, being dim and slow-moving, did not appear among these and was therefore excluded from the traditional geocentric cosmology, which placed Earth at the center, surrounded by the concentric spheres of the other celestial bodies.

Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century AD), the eminent Greco-Roman astronomer and mathematician, authored the Almagest, a comprehensive treatise on astronomy that shaped scientific thought for over a millennium. Ptolemy’s planetary system included the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Although Ptolemy compiled an extensive star catalog and developed sophisticated mathematical models for planetary motions, there is no mention of Uranus as a planet or wanderer. It likely appeared in his star catalog simply as an unremarkable star without recognition of its planetary nature.

Mythology and  astral symbolism

In Greek mythology, Uranus was the primordial sky god, father of the Titans. While the planet got its name from this mythological figure, ancient Greeks did not associate the myth with any observable celestial body beyond the known planets of the time.

The naming of the planet Uranus centuries later reflected a mythological heritage, but ancient astronomy itself made no link between the myth and an actual astral element. The likelihood that Hipparchus observed Uranus as a star highlights the exceptional skill of ancient astronomers in mapping the heavens.

Yet their classification of Uranus as a fixed star rather than a planet was entirely consistent with the contemporary geocentric framework that dominated ancient Greek astronomy. Since Uranus does not visibly orbit Earth, it did not meet the criteria of a “wandering star” or planet from their perspective.

Ptolemy’s Almagest and the classical planetary model included only the five planets visible to the naked eye, omitting Uranus altogether. Ancient Greek astronomers made impressively advanced discoveries for their time. However, the observational technology and conceptual frameworks available to them ultimately limited their progress.

The eventual recognition of Uranus as a planet in the 18th century dramatically expanded the known solar system and challenged the classical view inherited from antiquity.

Brussels has placed Greece’s tax system back under scrutiny, highlighting tax exemptions, the VAT gap and diesel policy in the European Commission’s latest review of the country.

The review does not introduce binding measures and does not amount to a formal directive. However, it shows where the Commission sees structural weaknesses in Greece’s tax framework and where future policy changes could be considered.

While the Commission acknowledges Greece’s strong fiscal performance, it also points to areas that continue to affect public revenue, tax fairness and the country’s green transition. These include the large number of tax exemptions, the structure of energy taxation, the favorable treatment of diesel compared with gasoline and electricity, and the environmental pressure created by Greece’s aging vehicle fleet.

Greece’s tax expenditures cost €22.88 billion

A central issue in the Commission’s assessment is the scale of Greece’s tax expenditures. These include exemptions, reductions and special tax treatments that reduce state revenue.

According to the review, Greece had 1,236 tax expenditures in 2024, with an estimated fiscal cost of €22.88 billion ($26,5 billion). The most important categories include exemptions for first homes, rental-related tax benefits, personal income tax, corporate taxation, reduced VAT rates and excise duties.

The Commission notes that Greece does not have an official mechanism to regularly evaluate whether these tax benefits are effective. By comparing both their number and cost with other EU countries, Brussels suggests that Greece could benefit from a more systematic review and rationalization of its tax exemptions.

VAT gap remains a persistent weakness

VAT is another major area highlighted in the review. Although Greece has improved tax compliance, the Commission stresses that exemptions and reduced rates continue to weigh on revenue collection.

The VAT gap reached €9.4 billion in 2023, equal to 18.3 percent of potential VAT revenue. The Commission recognizes that the compliance gap has narrowed significantly, but it says progress has not been even across the economy.

The review points to exemptions that complicate the functioning of the VAT system, including those related to private education and financial services. It does not propose an immediate specific measure, but its wording leaves open the possibility of future restructuring.

Self-employed workers remain under scrutiny

The Commission also refers to persistent tax evasion in personal income tax, especially among self-employed workers and sectors where cash transactions remain common.

The issue is particularly visible in technical trades and services provided outside fixed business premises, where payments may be made directly and with limited electronic recording.

Although the Commission does not explicitly recommend a new measure in this area, its assessment suggests that existing tools aimed at addressing underreported income among freelancers and self-employed professionals are unlikely to be withdrawn soon.

Brussels review says Greece’s energy taxation sends mixed signals

Energy taxation receives some of the sharpest comments in the review. The Commission says Greece remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, while electricity prices are higher than the EU average, partly because of the country’s reliance on natural gas.

The review argues that Greece’s current energy tax structure continues to favor fossil fuels over electricity, sending mixed price signals at a time when the EU is pushing for faster decarbonization.

Diesel is central to this concern. The Commission views the lower tax burden on diesel as a distortion, especially because diesel remains a key fuel for production and road transport in Greece.

The issue is politically sensitive. During the energy crisis, the Greek government supported diesel prices, with the impact estimated at an additional 15 to 20 cents per liter, in an effort to prevent further price increases. At the same time, public debate in Greece continues to include demands for deeper fuel tax cuts.

Diesel policy comes into focus

The Commission takes a clear position on diesel compared with gasoline and electricity. It notes that excise duties on diesel remain particularly low compared with gasoline, even though diesel is considered more harmful to the environment.

This does not mean that a diesel tax increase has been announced. The remarks form part of a broader review and recommendation process. Still, they indicate the direction of EU policy as the green transition becomes more central to national fiscal planning.

Over the next five years, the EU’s green transition agenda is expected to push member states toward measures such as higher excise duties on diesel, closer alignment between diesel and gasoline taxation, and vehicle taxes more closely linked to emissions.

Other possible policy tools include incentives for electric vehicles, purchase subsidies, tax deductions and changes to registration taxes designed to favor cleaner cars.

Greece’s aging vehicle fleet draws attention in Brussels review

Vehicles are also part of the Commission’s assessment. The review notes that Greece has one of the oldest vehicle fleets in Europe, a factor that contributes to higher emissions and increases the need for policy intervention.

For Brussels, the issue is not only fiscal. Tax policy is also seen as a tool for influencing consumer behavior, encouraging the replacement of older vehicles and supporting the transition to cleaner transport.

The review therefore opens a wider debate over how Greece should balance fiscal stability, household costs, business needs and EU climate goals.

For now, no binding measures have been imposed. But the Commission’s review makes clear that Greece’s tax exemptions, VAT gap and diesel policy are likely to remain under European scrutiny.