{"id":4508,"date":"2026-07-11T10:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4508"},"modified":"2026-07-11T10:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:30:15","slug":"a-restless-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4508","title":{"rendered":"A RESTLESS WORLD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Konstantinos Konstantinidis \u2013 Amphiktyon<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our world is restless,
as though it has lost its way,
like clouds gathering before the storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It runs without ceasing,
chasing illusions,
pursuing shadows,
forever seeking happiness,
forever pursuing technology
that always slips beyond its reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanity has never truly learned how to live;
it has learned only to fear,
to toil without fulfillment,
to work without creating,
to abandon dreams
and forget how to reflect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear
has made people suspicious.
The struggle for survival
has made them irritable.
Ambition
has made them immoral,
estranged
even from themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No longer do they converse with Nature
or with their neighbours.
Instead, they plunder her
while claiming to protect her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They no longer love knowledge;
they worship information
and chase innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They no longer seek the truth.
They seek only
what serves their own interests,
provided they profit,
whatever the cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And screens,
like invisible prisons,
keep people confined
within their own homes,
while they imagine
they are freely travelling
across the whole world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

II<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The powerful
measure the Earth
by oil,
by natural gas,
by stock markets,
by missiles
and by gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never
by human dignity
or by the happiness of mankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They speak of peace
with their fingers
resting on the trigger,
aiming at human beings
as though they were
prey on a safari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They praise democracy
while embracing dictators
and delighting
in neo-Ottoman dreams of grandeur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet they fear
the voice
of the free human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wars
are renamed “operations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invasions
become “peacekeeping missions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And falsehood,
every single day,
puts on
a new mask
stained with blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

III<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education
has lost its compass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning
has been replaced
by diplomas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classical literature
has been driven away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homer
is distorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mythology
is ridiculed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philosophy
is dismissed
as useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom
has yielded
to information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thought
has surrendered
to slogans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lessons from suffering
no longer become
lessons in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children
grow up
amid noise
and violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They learn to demand
before they learn to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To destroy
before they learn to love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To judge
before they understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violence,
once the exception,
has become
the everyday norm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A weary mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some honour her.
Others wound her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet she continues
to open her arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyprus
still lives
beneath the shadow
of Attila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet Europe’s rulers
remain unmoved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine burns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Middle East
boils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Markets celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arms dealers
rejoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The peoples
pay the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their wages shrink,
their burdens grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always,
the heaviest loads
are laid upon their shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not surrender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every morning
I greet the sun
and continue my journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I exercise my body
so that my soul
may never grow old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cool shower
refreshes my body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I draw
a deep breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as I still can,
at the age of ninety-eight,
admire a tree
in my courtyard,
watch a child
at play,
remember the sea
from which I was separated
for two long years,
rejoice
at a smile
or good news\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and as long as writing
continues to redeem me\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

life
has not ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when, one day,
I depart,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shall take with me
neither wealth,
nor honours,
nor grievances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only gratitude
for having lived,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and the few thoughts
I leave behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For life
and death<\/p>\n\n\n\n

are but two faces<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of the same<\/p>\n\n\n\n

eternal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 July 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amphiktyon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major General (Ret.), Hellenic Army<\/strong>
Konstantinos Konstantinidis<\/strong>
Author \u2013 Member of the Society of Greek Writers<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Konstantinos Konstantinidis \u2013 Amphiktyon Our world is restless,as though it has lost its way,like clouds gathering before the storm. It runs without ceasing,chasing illusions,pursuing shadows,forever seeking happiness,forever pursuing technologythat always slips beyond its reach. Humanity has never truly learned how to live;it has learned only to fear,to toil without fulfillment,to work without creating,to abandon dreamsand … <\/p>\n

\u03a3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b5\u03c7\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 “A RESTLESS WORLD”<\/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-4508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508","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=4508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4509,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508\/revisions\/4509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}