By Major General (Ret.) K. H. Konstantinidis
Just as lightning precedes every storm, so art precedes every cultural change, setting the pace for what follows.
Having lived through the end of the Romantic era, when art had not yet embarked on the downward course we see today, allow me to express a few thoughts about the art we enjoyed in those days and the art experienced by contemporary generations after the Second World War. The younger generations, moreover, cannot be considered blameless in shaping the youth of today.
The Bouzouki Lowered the Musical Sensibilities of the Greek People
The introduction of a different musical genre into our country took place during the Greek Civil War, when popular music featuring the bouzouki became officially established. This instrument came from Asia Minor along with the refugees. Until then, the bouzouki had been associated with dives, tekés (hashish dens), and drug addicts. Today, it is a musical preference even among the upper economic classes. Of course, Greek popular music has also produced quite a few noteworthy songs; overall, however, it has lowered the musical aesthetic standards of the Greek people.
Painting
In painting, the trends represented by Picasso, Dalí, and Marinetti prevailed, embodying Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism, and other radical forms of art. At the time, we ridiculed these trends as a perversion of art; today, however, their creators are regarded as towering figures of their era. In my view, the damage had already been done: from that point onward, the world began to grow uglier in order to be considered modern.
Sculpture
Sculpture followed the same downward course, with the crude, angular or wrinkled, unaesthetic and inelegant creations of modernist sculptors. One such work can be found in Athens, in the square in front of the Hilton Hotel: The Runner, constructed from pieces of glass.
Music and Song
Music followed a similar downward course. From the works of the great composers, such as Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, Bach, and Brahms, to Greek composers such as Kalomoiris, Theodorakis, and Hadjidakis, the composers of the Ionian Islands, the distinguished representatives of light music, and our exceptional traditional folk music—
And Now, Pop and Heavy Metal
From those giants of music, we have arrived at an era in which young people, imitating foreign models, have embraced pop and heavy metal. Many of these musical trends draw elements from the music of primitive tribes, while they are often associated with forms of entertainment accompanied by strong alcoholic drinks, marijuana, hashish, and other narcotic substances.
This music, as expressed in some of its extreme forms, vulgarizes and debases the individual, drives people outside themselves, and often makes them aggressive. Evidence of this, in my view, can be found in the premature deaths of well-known pop stars, several of whom lost their lives as a result of drugs.
With this musical culture, our sense of reality and our feelings of humanism recede, as does our appreciation of goodness, truth, and beauty, along with gentleness, spiritual elevation, and harmony. Love, romantic affection, virtue, modesty, and respect for human beings are lost—values that we older generations took for granted. The rules of good conduct, mutual assistance, and affection even toward children are eroded. Thus, human beings risk becoming indistinguishable from animals, and society risks turning into a jungle.
The Promotion of Personal Particularities as Normality
Alongside other deviations, pronounced sexual deviations emerge, together with the public promotion and dissemination of homosexual relationships. Such relationships existed in the past as well, but they were often concealed so as not to offend public sensibilities. Today, by contrast, the public promotion of homosexual relationships and other personal particularities is presented as an expression of freedom and normality. When this becomes detached from all restraint and respect, however, it leads to license and permissiveness.
Religious Taboos in the Islamic World
In the Islamic world, in certain societies and under specific legal or religious interpretations, marriages to underage girls are permitted.
At the same time, cases of sexual abuse of minors are reported even among educators of both sexes. This demonstrates the seriousness of the problem, regardless of a person’s profession or social standing.
The masses have traditionally received only a basic education, in contrast to the elite, which attended the best schools and received a better education. Today, the elite itself has been weakened—the very elite that, for centuries, preserved and cultivated the concept and form of human life, as well as high ideals. Thus, society as a whole risks being led into decline as the middle class falls.
The Utopian and Unnatural Ideology of Equality
The utopian ideology of equality at every level among human beings, which runs contrary to nature when it ignores natural differences in abilities and intellectual cultivation, contributes, in my view, to the overall decline of society. This is precisely what we observe today.
Challenging intellectual and moral superiority degrades and harms society as a whole.
Conclusion
Art is not progress when it merely overturns established forms, nor is it freedom when it shows contempt for every measure of restraint. True civilization is that which elevates the individual and society. When these are lost, progress risks becoming regression, and civilization risks losing its soul.
For humanity to emerge from today’s spiritual and moral crisis, it must restore Greek values and ideals, as well as Direct Democracy and Freedom.
(29 October 2026)
Major General (Ret.) Konstantinos Konstantinidis
Author – Member of the Society of Greek Authors
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