{"id":4423,"date":"2026-06-22T17:54:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4423"},"modified":"2026-06-22T17:54:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:54:05","slug":"the-golden-elytis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4423","title":{"rendered":"THE GOLDEN ELYTIS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Konstantinos Konstantinidis \u2013 Amphiktyon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every word had meaning in Ancient Greece.<br>Even every syllable and every letter<br>revealed the character<br>and the composition of the thing itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the ancients, words were not merely means of communication.<br>They concealed within them a deeper meaning<br>and were connected with the essence of the thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Greek Logos was at the same time speech,<br>mathematics and music.<br>Our language is divine.<br>It also expresses thought,<br>cause and logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Heraclitus,<br>it is the order that governs the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All wise things<br>were taken from the Greeks free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Virtue was not only the goodness of souls;<br>it was also the fulfillment of noble purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The driving force within us is our soul.<br>It is this that mobilizes our spirit<br>in our daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A person without education<br>is barren soil,<br>without fruitfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through words they sought truth,<br>wisdom and concealed truth,<br>and so did mythology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our ancient names are beneficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the massacre of Kalavryta,<br>a young man named Socrates,<br>because of his name,<br>received mercy from the German commander<br>and was not executed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later he studied philosophy in Germany<br>and was elected professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ancient Greek names are NOT conventional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They contain meaning and beauty within them<br>and declare the essence<br>and the function of the thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cosmogony = the birth of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brook = the murmuring<br>and flowing of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our ancestors did not give names<br>to their children by chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A name was a seal,<br>a vision of the future<br>they wished to foresee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If one was called \u201cHippocrates,\u201d<br>perhaps he would become a physician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if he was called \u201cLaocrates,\u201d<br>perhaps a ruler or a leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Theodoros:<br>\u201cGift of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nikolaos:<br>\u201cVictory of the People.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alexandros:<br>\u201cHe who repels the enemy,<br>the brave one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sophia:<br>\u201cWisdom and prudence,\u201d<br>like the divine goddess Athena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do names possess a natural correctness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And does every thing<br>have the \u201cright\u201d name by nature?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study of words<br>greatly occupied the ancient Greeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through understanding them,<br>they sought to approach Truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For our ancestors,<br>names had significance,<br>and they often believed<br>that they revealed something<br>about a person&#8217;s nature,<br>character,<br>or destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet truth lies beyond words,<br>in beings themselves,<br>in their quintessence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thus writes Plato<br>in the \u201cCratylus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The linguists of the establishment maintain<br>that names are linguistic conventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The etymology of many Greek names<br>conveys meanings,<br>virtues,<br>wishes,<br>or qualities<br>that parents desire for their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However,<br>the use of words over thousands of years<br>has endowed them<br>with certain natural properties,<br>making them sing<br>like nightingales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The example contained in a name<br>bestows many virtues upon its bearer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And merely by studying them<br>one may draw knowledge<br>from Alexander,<br>Pericles,<br>Socrates,<br>and Epaminondas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some modern names,<br>harsh in sound,<br>make their bearers appear ridiculous<br>and ought to be abolished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Others associate their bearers<br>with criminal figures<br>and should trouble them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is time<br>for modern Greeks<br>to choose ancient names,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and for the State<br>to adopt our Ancient Language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A notable example<br>is our great poet Odysseas Elytis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His name was<br>Odysseas Alepoudelis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How could a poet<br>with such a name<br>make a career in the world of poetry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were two reasons<br>for the change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first was that<br>it would expose him to ridicule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second,<br>and more serious one,<br>was that it connected him<br>with a family industry,<br>whose association with money<br>and profit<br>would have troubled him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elytis did not wish<br>to be associated with money,<br>for he was a seeker<br>of the higher spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not by chance<br>did he choose the name \u201cElytis\u201d,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">which connects him<br>with Hellenism,<br>the olive tree,<br>Helen,<br>and Hellas,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">with spiritual light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He rejected material profit,<br>changed his family name,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and won<br>the Nobel Prize in Literature\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">the Golden Elytis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">22\/6\/26<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amphiktyon<br>Major General (Ret.) Konstantinos Konstantinidis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Author<br>Member of the Society of Greek Writers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>\u0391\u03bc\u03c6\u03b9\u03ba\u03c4\u03cd\u03c9\u03bd \u2013 \u03a5\u03c0\u03bf\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b5.\u03b1. \u039a\u03c9\u03bd\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03af\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u039a\u03c9\u03bd\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9\u03bd\u03af\u03b4\u03b7\u03c2<br>\u03a3\u03c5\u03b3\u03b3\u03c1\u03b1\u03c6\u03ad\u03b1\u03c2 \u2013 \u039c\u03ad\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u0395\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u0395\u03bb\u03bb\u03ae\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd \u039b\u03bf\u03b3\u03bf\u03c4\u03b5\u03c7\u03bd\u03ce\u03bd<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Amphiktyon Blog: http:\/\/www.amphiktyon.blogspot.com<br>Amphiktyon Official Site: http:\/\/www.amphiktyon.org<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Konstantinos Konstantinidis \u2013 Amphiktyon Every word had meaning in Ancient Greece.Even every syllable and every letterrevealed the characterand the composition of the thing itself. For the ancients, words were not merely means of communication.They concealed within them a deeper meaningand were connected with the essence of the thing. The Greek Logos was at the same &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4423\" class=\"more-link\">\u03a3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b5\u03c7\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;THE GOLDEN ELYTIS&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4424,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4423\/revisions\/4424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}