National traditions of Greece, habits and characteristics of local residents. What you need to know about Greek men

Life in Greece is measured and exciting. Every day for the Greeks is a unique holiday, and the local calendar is another confirmation of this. No other country in the world can boast of such big amount red days on the calendar like Greece. One holiday here imperceptibly flows into the next, and sometimes the celebration lasts for weeks. It is this unhurried rhythm of life that Greece attracts tourists who are constantly in a hurry.

“I immediately smeared the map of everyday life”

Greeks really like to do nothing. In addition to countless holidays, general strikes, absenteeism due to sudden snowfalls, heavy rains, fires and similar force majeure are constantly organized here.

At the same time, the Greeks manage to work. It looks like this: in the morning after a sleepless night, the Greek worker awakens himself to life with coffee and cigarettes. After that, he works until two hours, and then he goes to the beach or home - to sleep for a couple of hours, because from 14:30 to 17:30 in Greece there is a siesta, in other words - a quiet hour. From nine o'clock in the evening comes the fiesta, when the entire population goes to restaurants, bars or on the embankments - to communicate with friends and acquaintances. Often such communication drags on until the morning, while the Greeks drink only retsina - inexpensive white wine diluted with Coca-Cola. But early in the morning they are able to get behind the wheel and calmly drive to the house or place of work.

I drove a Greek ...

Driving on the roads of Greece deserves special attention. Public transport here goes minute by minute, according to the schedule. Nice female voice informs about the arrival of the bus through a special device, which is equipped with all stopping points. Buses have posted warnings not to distract the driver. At the same time, the driver constantly talks on the phone during the trip. mobile phone, holding it in one hand, and with the fingers of the other, turning the steering wheel from time to time.

The police in Greece are very democratic. Fines are very rare. A common practice is to verbally reprimand the violator, although there are plenty of those here. Motorcyclists pierce space at great speed and without a silencer - it is considered cool. In general, all road users, barely seeing a green traffic light, abruptly take off with a deafening roar of engines and screeching tires. It is customary to overtake on a turn and in the oncoming lane, while continuously signaling.

It should be noted that there are no drunk drivers here, since the Greeks are indifferent to alcohol. Local vodka ouzo is drunk in small glasses and infrequently. There are a lot of wines - about 500 varieties, but even here the Greeks know when to stop.

A little about food

From the local cuisine, you should definitely try the following:

1) thyro-salad of vegetables and cheese;

2) the freshest fish and seafood;

3) stifado - amazingly delicious local lamb dish;

4) vegetarian is common name for all vegetable and legume dishes;

5) tzatziki - kefir-cucumber sauce with garlic and herbs;

6) dolmados - small cabbage rolls in grape leaves;

7) souvlaki - small kebabs;

8) and of course, olives, of which there are several hundred varieties.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the rich offal soup, which is not found in the capital's establishments. This dish is typical for suburban taverns, which receive visitors from 5 o'clock in the morning. If suddenly some Greek still happened to drink too much last night, such a soup will certainly sober up and restore strength.

A trip to Greece will be especially useful for "professional workaholics", because you can completely relax only where no one thinks about work, and everywhere there is an endless celebration of life - and all this against the backdrop of sea and mountain scenery to the accompaniment of amazing Mediterranean cuisine.

meager natural conditions ancient Greece left an indelible imprint on the formation of the mentality ancient Hellenic. "Poverty - stepsister Hellas". These words of Herodotus especially accurately characterize the life of the Greek peasantry, which in the 5th century. BC, when the historian lived, still made up the vast majority of the country's population. In areas of the Greek world poor in fertile lands, such as Attica or neighboring Megaris, the life of a peasant farmer was a real torment. He had to constantly clear his small plot of land from thickets of shrubs and stone taluses sliding from the surrounding mountains, fight drought and floods, drag earth to the slopes of the mountains to build terraces on which olives could be grown. The meager harvest obtained at the cost of all this hard work was usually barely enough to last until spring. The poet Alkman, who lived not in poor Attica, but in rich fertile land Laconia, in one of the verse passages that have come down to us, scolds spring as the worst time of the year, when the stocks of food accumulated since autumn run out, and the threat of famine is approaching.

The constant struggle for survival developed in the Greek character such an important trait as thrift. However, for many, it imperceptibly turned into real stinginess. Here are a few instructions from the already mentioned poem of Hesiod “Works and Days”, which vividly characterize both the personality of the poet himself and the society among which he happened to live:

Give only to those who give: do not give anything to those who do not give.

Everyone who gives will give, and everyone who does not give will be denied.

If you apply even a small thing to a small one,

Soon it will become big, apply only more often.

Burning hunger will be avoided by those who have learned to save.

Nature was a harsh nurse and educator of the Greek people. She taught him to be content with little. We people early XXI century, living in the so-called "consumer society" and appreciating everyday comfort above all else, it is difficult to imagine how simple, miserable, devoid of the most basic amenities, life was even higher strata Greek society, those whom their compatriots considered aristocrats and the rich, not to mention the rest of his mass. The daily diet of a wealthy Athenian in the time of Plato and Socrates would seem to us like a starvation diet. It included bread, most often barley (white, wheat bread even the wealthy Greeks ate very rarely), vegetables, beans, olives, a little seasoned fish, a little cheese made from goat's or sheep's milk. Meat was considered a delicacy. It was mainly eaten on holidays during sacrifices to the gods, who also received their share from the meal in the form of bones. Each meal, morning or evening, was accompanied by the Greeks with wine, but they drank it heavily diluted with water.

But the Greeks very quickly learned to make the most of the meager wealth that their impoverished country could endow them with. Suffering from a constant lack of land, they learned to work their dwarf allotments with stony, almost barren soil with such amazing care and diligence that the varieties of wine and olive oil they produced were soon recognized as the best in the world, and no one dared to compete with them in the future. in foreign markets. The competition was only between the Greek winemakers and buttermakers themselves: each sought to give his products some special, unusually subtle flavor, accessible only to true connoisseurs, so that his wine or its oil could always be distinguished from all the others. The same struggle of shades was also waged between various craft workshops producing painted earthenware, fabrics, weapons, various bronze, gold and silver items. And here the victory over the opponent could be achieved only due to the greatest sophistication. technical skill and very high artistic taste. And here the simplest materials, often of no particular value in themselves, such as, for example, potter's clay, stone or wood, turned into original works art, with which it was difficult to compare the works of foreign masters.

"Necessity is the mother of ingenuity" - says an ancient saying. The history of Greek civilization fully justifies this aphorism. It was the constant struggle with want that made the Greek intellect extraordinarily inventive, resourceful, able to find a way out of any predicament. No wonder the great inventors and at the same time the great cunning, rogues and deceivers enjoyed such great popularity in Greece: Prometheus Sisyphus, Daedalus, Odysseus. It can even be said that these mythical characters have become a clear embodiment of some very important features of the Greek mentality. The Greeks have always valued in people such qualities as cunning, dexterity, the ability to fool another. In all this they saw a manifestation of special talent or even a kind of artistry. human nature. The cunning of a master artist, preoccupied with the improvement of his products, and the cunning of a thief-deceiver, who thinks only of how to more cleverly inflate the simpletons that come across to him, were put by them practically on the same level. The “father of history” Herodotus, choking with delight, tells readers about one truly brilliant thief who managed to deceive King Rhadamanthus himself.

Even to their gods, the Greeks did not hesitate to attribute obviously fraudulent inclinations, which in their character were bizarre and for a Greek quite naturally and naturally combined with various manifestations of artistic and technical talent. So, for example, the messenger of the gods Hermes. In one of the so-called. “Homeric Hymns” tells how Hermes, who had just been born, barely got out of diapers, did two wonderful things: he invented the lyre, building it from the shell of a turtle he caught, and stole a whole herd of cows from Apollo himself, moreover, in order to knock down the sense of the pursuer deliberately drove them forward with their tails. Both of these feats of the "divine baby" evoke in the poet a feeling of genuine delight and tenderness. Apollo himself, having finally found his herd and his kidnapper, cannot restrain his admiration and predicts a great future for the prankster boy.

The picaresque dexterity and enterprise of the Greeks were well known to the tribes and peoples of the barbarian periphery who were in close contact with them. They willingly entered into commercial transactions with the Greeks, bought from them their excellent wines, various handicrafts, even invited them to their service when the need arose, when the need arose for skilled craftsmen, artists or builders, but at the same time they were inclined to look down on them as a breed of professional traders and swindlers worthy of all contempt. This general opinion about the Greeks, which existed among the barbarian peoples, was successfully expressed by Herodotus, who put into the mouth of the Persian king Cyrus the Elder such an assessment of the Hellenes: “I am not afraid of people who have a certain place in the middle of the city where people gather, deceiving each other and bringing false oaths." These words contain a direct allusion to the Greek agora - the place where popular assemblies, legal proceedings were conducted, and at the same time they were engaged in trade. What is important here is the reputation that the Greeks had among their neighbors in the ecumene. However, if we translate this assessment from a negative to a positive plan, we have to admit that among other peoples of antiquity, the Greeks were distinguished by a highly developed intellect, entrepreneurial spirit and unusual for that historical era vital activity.

Inventiveness and enterprise were closely intertwined in the character of the Greeks with another no less important feature - an unusual restlessness, a predisposition to eternal change of place. Sometimes alone, sometimes in small heteria companies, sometimes even in whole communities-polises, they surprisingly easily removed from their homes of revenge, went somewhere far away in search of good luck, or even more often just their daily bread. It was very easy to accuse them on that ground of lack of patriotism. Like many other peoples of antiquity of the Middle Ages, the Greeks lived according to the principle: the fatherland is where it is better. They were never tightly tied to the land on which they were born and raised, especially since this land, as we have seen, often became not a mother for them, but evil stepmother. As A. Bonnar well noted: “The Greeks became navigators out of necessity. The cry of a hungry belly equipped the ships and sent them to the sea. Of course, the exceptional, perhaps unparalleled in the entire Mediterranean, suitability of the Aegean for navigation in those days when the art of navigation was still taking its first timid steps played its role here. The sea splashed literally “at the threshold” of almost every Greek town, and it would be simply reckless not to use the tempting opportunities that it opened up for brave and at least a little adventurous people.

Nevertheless, even getting to the most remote ends of the then ecumene, finding themselves either at the mouth of the Dnieper or Don among the wild steppe nomads, or on the coast of Gaul among no less wild Celtic tribes, the distant ancestors of the present-day French, Greek merchants and colonists never forgot about their participation in the Hellenic world, in its culture and language, in its common shrines for all Greeks. Moreover, it was here, among alien languages ​​and dialects, among outlandish, and sometimes disgusting barbarian customs and customs for the Hellenes, that feeling of blood connection with their distant homeland, with their people, was experienced especially sharply and intensely. It can be said that the Greeks carried their fatherland with them everywhere, as a snail drags its shell behind it. After all, the idea of ​​​​the homeland for each of them was associated primarily with his native policy and its immediate environs. And recreate this small homeland somewhere in a new place, although in a greatly reduced copy, it was, in general, not so difficult. All Greek policies were standard in their layout and in their internal structure. Almost all of them included the same set of basic elements: the agora, the city citadel-acropolis and the temples of the gods located on it, a harbor with shipyards and piers, in later times - a theater, a gymnasium, a stadium - a place for youth athletic exercises.

Mass migrations of the population, in which individual communities and entire tribes participated, were in antiquity, and in the era early medieval generally quite common. But what was characteristic of the Greek world, and for which it was difficult to find any close analogies in the life of other peoples, was the extremely high mobility of individual individuals. In countries ancient east the freedom of spatial movement of the individual has always been extremely limited. Almost every person, especially those who were on one of the lower floors of the social ladder, a peasant farmer or an artisan, was most often attached for life to his place of residence, to his rural community, with which he was connected by a kind of mutual guarantee. The same merchants in the East were most often agents of some temple or were directly dependent on the royal power.

In Greece, starting from the time of Homer, everything was completely different. Any free man, whether he was an aristocrat or a commoner, a rich man or a poor man - it doesn’t matter, he could at any moment, without asking anyone for permission, equip a ship or wagon, or simply pick up a staff, put on road boots with thick soles and go anywhere with any purpose, whether it be a business trip, a pirate raid, a visit to a particularly holy place, or simply looking for a job or a piece of bread. The history of Greece is full of such examples. The heroes of Homer's poems are constantly wandering over land and sea. Craftsmen-demiurges constantly moved from place to place. Traveled constantly famous poets, philosophers, artists. Among them we see the poet Archilochus, the great legislator and poet Solon, the outstanding Greek historian Herodotus, and so on.

The range of movements of Greek travelers expanded all the time and often went far beyond the boundaries of the Aegean basin, long inhabited by the Greeks, and even the Mediterranean. Back in the 7th century BC. shipbuilder Kolya from Fr. Samosa in the Aegean Sea sailed through the Pillars of Heracles (as the Greeks called the Strait of Gibraltar) in Atlantic Ocean, visited the southwestern coast of Spain and returned home with a large cargo of silver. In the same century, the wandering poet and soothsayer Aristaeus, a native of Fr. Prokonnesa on Propontis, penetrated into the deep regions of the Northern Black Sea region, wandered for a long time among the wild tribes inhabiting them and, possibly, reached the Ural Mountains, or at least the Volga region. If in Homeric times a trip to Egypt or Syria was considered a bold enterprise, then already in the 7th-6th centuries. BC. such trips have become business as usual. So, at the beginning of the VI century. Solon visited Egypt.

But perhaps the most mobile part of Greek society, its vanguard, were Greek mercenaries. Long before the campaigns of Alexander the Great, mercenaries recruited into the army of the “king of kings” explored almost the entire vast expanse of the Persian state from Asia Minor to northern India. Most likely, it was from them that not only Greek merchants, but also scientists: geographers, historians, and naturalists received the necessary information about the deep regions of this vast state. Among the Greeks wandering around the barbarian camps there were also many craftsmen and artists, sometimes of the highest class.

It is very significant that with such an abundance of information about the development of the East by the Greeks and other regions of the barbarian periphery, there is surprisingly little evidence of the opposite kind about visiting Greece by immigrants from these countries. The bulk of foreigners who visited Hellas in the period from the 8th to the 3rd centuries. BC, that is, in the era of the formation and flourishing of the Greek civilization, they got there as prisoners of war and slaves.

In general, this comparison once again testifies to the exceptional dynamism and openness of Greek society, as well as to the extreme inertness, static nature and isolation of the barbarian societies that oppose it. One more important circumstance should be borne in mind: spatial mobility was quite naturally combined in the life of the ancient Greeks with the mobility of movement along the social ladder. One here smoothly transitioned into another. So, a person who was unlucky for a long time in his homeland, say, in Athens or Mileet, could quickly get rich by changing his place of residence, moving to one of the remote colonies and engaging there, for example, in transit trade - buying or reselling bread, wine, slaves or whatever. The case was associated with a certain risk, but brought good profits if successful. Having acquired a great fortune, such a merchant could become one of the first rich men of his colony, but he could also return back to his fatherland, having bought a house or land allotment, and enjoy influence and honor. Of course, not everyone was able to do this. Otherwise, in the Greek policies there would be neither the poor nor the common people, and everyone would be rich and aristocrats. However, the path to life success was in principle open to any person naturally endowed with courage, enterprise or business acumen.

In this regard, it is impossible not to notice that the Greeks with surprising ease changed not only their place of residence, but also their occupation. And the sources of livelihood, and with them, the way of life and social status. So, Solon, man noble birth, and like all Athenian aristocrats - a landowner, he was forced to engage in maritime trade in order to improve his shaken financial situation of his family in this way. The father of the poet Hesiod, on the contrary, changed the wandering life of a navigator and the pursuit of profit for a more measured and calm existence of a peasant farmer. classic pattern Greek enterprise and the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, to find a way out of the most difficult situations can be considered life path one of the most popular Greek writers of the 4th century. BC. Xenophon, whose biography is known from his own writings. Coming from a rich and noble family, he lived in Athens until almost the age of thirty, studying philosophy under the guidance of the wise Socrates and at the same time was fond of hunting and horseback riding. However, circumstances changed his life dramatically. In 401, after the end of the long and devastating Peloponnesian War, in which Athens was defeated, he was forced to leave hometown and exchange quiet life landowner to the dangerous trade of a mercenary soldier. Xenophon managed to enlist in the army of the Persian governor of Asia Minor, Prince Cyrus the Younger, and, as part of ten thousand mercenaries, make a campaign through the interior regions of the Persian state, which he later described in his work Anabasis. In gratitude for the services rendered to Sparta, he receives from the Spartans a large allotment of land in Elis and lives there for about 12 years, peacefully engaged in literature and agriculture. But then his life does again flip flop: troops of the Boeotian Union, hostile to Sparta, invade Elis, and it became mortally dangerous for him to stay here. He was forced to flee to Corinth, where apparently, and ended his days in the position of a political exile. The main and most remarkable feature of his career is a clearly expressed activity and independence in choosing the ways and means of arranging his life well-being, combined with a clear lack of moral scrupulousness.

Thus, some rather important features of the mentality of the ancient Greeks, such as frugality, moderation, ingenuity, enterprise, a tendency to travel, can be explained by the peculiarities of their lifestyle, which in turn is due to natural environment their home country. IN this case the old Marxist formula is justified: “Being determines consciousness”, although not all wealth spiritual world Greeks and their mental life is derived directly and directly from their way of life or forms economic activity. In many cases, their consciousness had a tangible feedback on their individual and social being.

The Greeks are an incredibly original people. Their vitality surprises to infinity. Life in Greece is measured and exciting. Every day for the Greeks is a unique holiday, and the local calendar is another confirmation of this. No country in the world can boast of such a large number of red days on the calendar as Greece. One holiday here imperceptibly flows into the next, and sometimes the celebration lasts for weeks. It is this unhurried rhythm of life that Greece attracts tourists who are constantly in a hurry.

“I immediately smeared the map of everyday life”

Greeks really like to do nothing. In addition to countless holidays, general strikes, absenteeism due to sudden snowfalls, heavy rains, fires and similar force majeure are constantly organized here.

At the same time, the Greeks manage to work. It looks like this: in the morning after a sleepless night, the Greek worker awakens himself to life with coffee and cigarettes. After that, he works until two hours, and then he goes to the beach or home to sleep for a couple of hours, because from 14:30 to 17:30 in Greece there is a siesta, in other words, a quiet hour. From nine o'clock in the evening, the fiesta begins, when the entire population goes to restaurants, bars or on the embankments to chat with friends and acquaintances. Often such communication drags on until the morning, while the Greeks drink only retsina - inexpensive white wine diluted with Coca-Cola. But early in the morning they are able to get behind the wheel and calmly drive to the house or place of work.

I drove a Greek ...

Driving on the roads of Greece deserves special attention. Public transport here runs minute by minute, according to the schedule. A pleasant female voice announces the arrival of the bus through a special device that all stops are equipped with. Buses have posted warnings not to distract the driver. At the same time, the driver constantly talks on a mobile phone during the trip, holding it in one hand, and turning the steering wheel with the fingers of the other from time to time.

The police in Greece are very democratic. Fines are very rare. A common practice is to verbally reprimand the violator, although there are plenty of those here. Motorcyclists pierce space at great speed and without a silencer - it is considered cool. In general, all road users, barely seeing a green traffic light, abruptly take off with a deafening roar of engines and screeching tires. It is customary to overtake on a turn and in the oncoming lane, while continuously signaling.

It should be noted that there are no drunk drivers here, since the Greeks are indifferent to alcohol. Local vodka ouzo is drunk in small glasses and infrequently. There are quite a lot of wines - about 500 varieties, but even here the Greeks know when to stop.

A little about food

From the local cuisine, you should definitely try the following:

1) thyro-salad of vegetables and cheese;

2) the freshest fish and seafood;

3) stifado - amazingly delicious local lamb dish;

4) vegetarianos is a common name for all vegetable and legume dishes;

5) tzatziki - kefir-cucumber sauce with garlic and herbs;

6) dolmados - small cabbage rolls in grape leaves;

7) souvlaki - small kebabs;

8) and of course, olives, of which there are several hundred varieties.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the rich offal soup, which is not found in the capital's establishments. This dish is typical for suburban taverns, which receive visitors from 5 o'clock in the morning. If suddenly some Greek still happened to drink too much last night, such a soup will certainly sober up and restore strength.

A trip to Greece will be especially useful for "professional workaholics", because you can completely relax only where no one thinks about work, and everywhere there is an endless celebration of life - and all this against the backdrop of sea and mountain landscapes to the accompaniment of amazing Mediterranean cuisine.

Dasha Astafieva: “I have a Greek mentality”

The sex symbol of Ukraine, the soloist of the NikitA group, shared her impressions about the trip to the island of Crete, where she flew to combine business with pleasure - to relax and shoot a video on new song"Inhale"

Dossier: Dasha Astafyeva - Ukrainian singer, soloist of the NikitA group, actress, model. She graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk Theater and Art College (Director's Department). At the same time, she studied vocals. In 2007, producer Yuri Nikitin invited Dasha to take part in a television musical project"Star Factory". Astafieva reached the final of the "Factory", but she did not get the main prize. In 2008, the girl became the soloist of the NikitA group. Dasha became wildly popular with the title of Playmate of the Month in the 55th Anniversary Playmate magazine. And she also starred in the films “Lovers in Kyiv”, “What Men Do!”, “Island of Luck”.

"ZagraNitsa": Do you like to travel? What do you enjoy most about traveling?

Dasha Astafyeva: When people ask me: “What do you dream about?”, the first thing I want to answer is: “Travel”! There is nothing better! Traveling is something that never gets bored and helps to find yourself. Travel time is my personal, I spend it exclusively on myself. Even the very beginning of the journey, the flight is already a closed space with a lack of connections and proximity to the sky.

ZagraNitsa: How many times have you been to Greece? What was the purpose of going there in the first place?

YES.: Several times, exclusively on the set and concerts. But absolute love for this country appeared from the first trip! For a person whose work is connected with constant flights and moving, the opportunity to combine business with pleasure is extremely important. Greece is a perfect example of beauty, gourmet cuisine, hospitable people and unforgettable experience. In addition, it was here that the shooting for Playboy took place, which became the start of my career and helped me get into the house of Hugh Hefner.

"ZagraNitsa": What sights and landscapes of island Greece won you over? Did you like the Cretan capital - Heraklion?

YES.: I remembered emotions and sensations more than facts. We spent a lot of time on the territory of the Aldemar Royal Mare hotel - we had our own little country there. And I just fell in love with Heraklion and Rethymnon!

"ZagraNitsa": What surprised the islands of Crete and Mykonos?

YES.: An abundance of scents and unforgettable beauty. I bring home flowers or beautiful twigs from every trip. There was plenty to choose from!

"ZagraNitsa": How comfortable was the climate on the islands?

YES.: I really like heat and humidity, so Greece is ideal for me in terms of climate. Usually, when traveling, I rebuild for several days, I get cold, I start to get sick. But here - no. So Greece is also good because you do not waste time on acclimatization, but spend all your days pleasantly and profitably.

"ZagraNitsa": How do you like island beaches? Have you tried extreme sports?

YES.: I have enough extreme Everyday life so I didn't set it as a goal. The beaches of the island are calm and peaceful. There you experience emotions that help you to truly relax, gain new pure thoughts, look at things from a different angle. For me now it is very important.

"ZagraNitsa": Are you close to the culture and mentality of the Greeks? What impresses or repels them?

YES.: I really like the sense of humor of the Greeks and the fact that they are very sociable, sometimes they exaggerate reality. They love to fantasize! One of my friends is sure that the myths Ancient Greece appeared solely for this reason. And I myself am like that - I like to joke and exaggerate. You could say I have a Greek mentality.

"ZagraNitsa": Did you go to the market? How do you like the local color?

YES.: The Greeks are very hospitable, and most importantly - generous. They do not seek to cash in on tourists, they want to please you. They treat you, and when you praise olives or fruits, there is sincere happiness in the eyes of the sellers.

ZagraNitsa: You stayed at a hotel. What can you say about the level of Greek service?

YES.: Aldemar Royal Mare staff exceeded all our expectations: attentive attitude to each of our requests, sincere friendliness and responsiveness. The workers helped us in every possible way and did a lot of things that went beyond their scope of duties. Special thanks to the tour operator Mouzenidis Travel Ukraine for organizing our shooting. When minutes count on the set, this is very, very important!

"ZagraNitsa": What kind of Greek island cuisine did you like?

YES.: Seafood and sweets. Everything is so delicious and beautiful that it is impossible to stop! Forget about diets and rules! It's good that we had an active holiday and managed not to score overweight. I really like adding spices to any dish, even sweet ones. Unforgettable taste!

"ZagraNitsa": Have Greek wines been rated?

YES.: I don't big fan wine, but the last trip has changed my attitude to this drink. It turns out that the place is important for him - not even the company.

"ZagraNitsa": How much cheaper or more expensive is a vacation in Greece compared to other European resorts?

YES.: It all depends on how you rest. But in Greece it is so good just to walk along the seashore alone with your thoughts or sit in a tavern for hours and look at the surroundings, that if you wish, you can relax there, fitting into a very modest budget.

"ZagraNitsa": How do you spend money during your vacation: do you save on anything or do you still think about spending?

YES.: I buy what close friends recommend, as well as something new that I have not tried before. Greece is ideal in terms of gastronomic discoveries. I returned from my last trip with a six-month supply of delicious gifts for the whole family.

"ZagraNitsa": What did you bring from souvenirs?

YES.: I'm fine with souvenirs. This time I was pleasantly surprised by the cosmetics that I purchased. Products with natural essential oils, sprays, lotions are all very high quality and smell incredibly. I recommend them to all my colleagues and friends!

"ZagraNitsa": Which of the islands would you like to return to?

YES.: To Mykonos. He remembered beautiful people and an atmosphere of unbridled fun!

5.1 The mentality of the ancient Greeks. Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) wrote that the northern European peoples are energetic, but do not have sufficient mental alertness; the population of Asia, living in hot countries, on the contrary, with a lively mind, lacks energy. The Greeks, thanks to their moderate mu climate, Aristotle saw a combination of energy of character with mental subtlety.

in steady development various abilities Aristotle saw the reason for the happy peace of mind and harmony manifested in the great works of literature and art of the Greeks. He noted that the Hellenic imagination was always combined with elements of rationality, a sense- with the mind, passion - with reflection. He never indulged in any one-sided hobby, being the owner of numerous abilities, one for each case. By combining these abilities, he gave the creations of his work their true character.

Another essential feature of the Greek people, Aristotle considered his inexhaustible curiosity. In the field of natural and moral sciences, in history, geography, philosophy, mathematics, the Greeks showed curiosity in best value of this word and therefore were the first to formulate almost all the great scientific problems and invented almost all scientific methods. They were always tempted by everything mysterious, no matter how it manifested itself, but they were especially attracted by the mystery of the universe. They wanted to see everything and know everything. This need to ask questions of everything where an answer can be obtained is manifested both in the first Ionian philosophers and in the writings of the great Greek historian Herodotus (485- 425 BC. e.). Herodotus wrote about the subtlety of the mind of the Hellenes: "Since ancient times, the Hellenes differed from the barbarian in their ingenuity and lack of foolish gullibility. These are the characteristics of all Greeks, despite the fact that the inhabitants of different Greek policies had St. oh features. Boeotia, for example, was famous for its literary and political figures, the wit of the Spartans was known throughout Greece. And although their witticisms are less graceful and less imbued with subtle irony than Athenian ones, they have more conciseness and force. Many wise men, famous for their sayings, came from the Dorian part of Greece; but when the Roman Cicero wanted to show how to use witty words as a tool of eloquence, since he himself was an outstanding orator, he turned to all Greeks for models without distinction.

Traditions had in Greece great power but never suppressed freedom individual. Thanks to the courage of judgments, the fantastic power of imagination, the sincerity of feelings, the Hellenes avoided constraints in the development of their culture.

All the poetry of the Greeks is ultimately the poetry of life. Ideal

Greeks - the ideal of youth and beauty, which they constantly strived to realize and on which they willingly concentrated your thought. The Greek nation loved life more than any other , enjoying her thoughts and feelings, and by nature was prone to constantly active optimism.

Due to the listed reasons of general and particular order, a small number of Greek people in his cultural development He rose to such a height that is difficult to imagine, to which neither before nor after him any nation has been able to rise. That is why everything that concerned the ancient Greeks, including the smallest details of their life, has always been and remains a subject of keen interest.