Konstantinos Konstantinidis – Amphiktyon
Every word had meaning in Ancient Greece.
Even every syllable and every letter
revealed the character
and the composition of the thing itself.
For the ancients, words were not merely means of communication.
They concealed within them a deeper meaning
and were connected with the essence of the thing.
The Greek Logos was at the same time speech,
mathematics and music.
Our language is divine.
It also expresses thought,
cause and logic.
According to Heraclitus,
it is the order that governs the universe.
All wise things
were taken from the Greeks free of charge.
Virtue was not only the goodness of souls;
it was also the fulfillment of noble purposes.
The driving force within us is our soul.
It is this that mobilizes our spirit
in our daily life.
A person without education
is barren soil,
without fruitfulness.
Through words they sought truth,
wisdom and concealed truth,
and so did mythology.
Our ancient names are beneficial.
During the massacre of Kalavryta,
a young man named Socrates,
because of his name,
received mercy from the German commander
and was not executed.
Later he studied philosophy in Germany
and was elected professor.
Ancient Greek names are NOT conventional.
They contain meaning and beauty within them
and declare the essence
and the function of the thing.
For example:
Cosmogony = the birth of the world.
Brook = the murmuring
and flowing of water.
Our ancestors did not give names
to their children by chance.
A name was a seal,
a vision of the future
they wished to foresee.
If one was called “Hippocrates,”
perhaps he would become a physician.
And if he was called “Laocrates,”
perhaps a ruler or a leader.
Theodoros:
“Gift of God.”
Nikolaos:
“Victory of the People.”
Alexandros:
“He who repels the enemy,
the brave one.”
Sophia:
“Wisdom and prudence,”
like the divine goddess Athena.
Do names possess a natural correctness?
And does every thing
have the “right” name by nature?
The study of words
greatly occupied the ancient Greeks.
Through understanding them,
they sought to approach Truth.
For our ancestors,
names had significance,
and they often believed
that they revealed something
about a person’s nature,
character,
or destiny.
Yet truth lies beyond words,
in beings themselves,
in their quintessence.
Thus writes Plato
in the “Cratylus”.
The linguists of the establishment maintain
that names are linguistic conventions.
The etymology of many Greek names
conveys meanings,
virtues,
wishes,
or qualities
that parents desire for their children.
However,
the use of words over thousands of years
has endowed them
with certain natural properties,
making them sing
like nightingales.
The example contained in a name
bestows many virtues upon its bearer.
And merely by studying them
one may draw knowledge
from Alexander,
Pericles,
Socrates,
and Epaminondas.
Some modern names,
harsh in sound,
make their bearers appear ridiculous
and ought to be abolished.
Others associate their bearers
with criminal figures
and should trouble them.
It is time
for modern Greeks
to choose ancient names,
and for the State
to adopt our Ancient Language.
A notable example
is our great poet Odysseas Elytis.
His name was
Odysseas Alepoudelis.
How could a poet
with such a name
make a career in the world of poetry?
There were two reasons
for the change.
The first was that
it would expose him to ridicule.
The second,
and more serious one,
was that it connected him
with a family industry,
whose association with money
and profit
would have troubled him.
Elytis did not wish
to be associated with money,
for he was a seeker
of the higher spirit.
Not by chance
did he choose the name “Elytis”,
which connects him
with Hellenism,
the olive tree,
Helen,
and Hellas,
with spiritual light.
He rejected material profit,
changed his family name,
and won
the Nobel Prize in Literature—
the Golden Elytis.
22/6/26
Amphiktyon
Major General (Ret.) Konstantinos Konstantinidis
Author
Member of the Society of Greek Writers
Αμφικτύων – Υποστράτηγος ε.α. Κωνσταντίνος Κωνσταντινίδης
Συγγραφέας – Μέλος της Εταιρείας Ελλήνων Λογοτεχνών
Amphiktyon Blog: http://www.amphiktyon.blogspot.com
Amphiktyon Official Site: http://www.amphiktyon.org