The Greeks have a word (or two) for it: 65, Odyssey (η Οδύσσεια) and Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς)

How many would-be critics of ‘The Odyssey’ know the meaning of ‘Odyssey’ or the name of Odysseus? … a sailing ship at sunset in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey is continuing to be a box-office success, and is continuing to inspire criticism and evoke responses not only from film critics but from classicists too and also from people interested in Greek culture and language.

In my reflections in prayer diary this morning, I referred to the small island of Gavdos off the south coast of Crete which is said to be the Ogygia of Calypso where Odysseus stayed for seven years. I have often looked out across to this Ogygia or Gavdos from Preveli Monastery, and so the fires that have devastated the forests and landscape in the Preveli area in the past week are particularly poignant and heart-breaking for me.

But as I was reading some of the more absurd nit-picking about Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey, I wondered too how many of those would-be classicists, including Elon Musk, with his very weird observations, have ever read The Odyssey in its original Homeric Greek, how many understand that it is epic poetry and not historical narrative, and how many actually try to understand the meaning of the name Odyssey or the name of the hero Odysseus?

The Odyssey (η Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia) is one of two major epics in ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences.

Like the Iliad, the Odyssey is divided into 24 books. It follows Odysseus, also known in Latin as Ulysses, the heroic king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the ten-year Trojan War. His journey from Troy to Ithaca lasts an additional ten years, during which he encounters many perils and all of his crew members are killed.

During Odysseus’s long absence, he is presumed dead, leaving his wife Penelope and their son Telemachus to contend with a group of unruly suitors vying for Penelope’s hand in marriage.

The Odyssey was first composed around the eighth or seventh century BCE, and by the mid-sixth century BCE, it was part of the Greek literary canon. In antiquity, Homer’s authorship was accepted, but contemporary scholarship assumes that the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed independently, as part of long oral traditions.

In a time when illiteracy was widespread, the poem was performed for an audience by an aoidos (ἀοιδός) or skilled singer.

The key themes in the epic include those of νόστος (nostos, return or homecoming), which gives us the concept of nostalgia, wandering, ξενία (xenia, guest-friendship), testing and omens. while the Iliad centres on the exploits of soldiers and kings during the Trojan War, some groups in the Odyssey, such as women and slaves, have larger roles than in other works of ancient literature, making the poem relevant to today’s agendas.

The Odyssey is one of the most significant works of the western canon. Its first complete English translation was published in 1616 and it remains one of the most enduring narratives in literature.

Posters for ‘The Odyssey’ at Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς or Ὀδυσεύς, Odysseús or Odyseús) of Greek mythology was known in Roman mythology by the Latin variant Ulysses (Ulysses or Ulixes).

Odysseus was the son of Laërtes and Anticlea, the husband of Penelope, and the father of Telemachus, Acusilaus, and Telegonus. He is cunning with an edge of pride, a liar and a storyteller, too smart by far so that he can wriggle his way out of any tight corner. He has a determination to get his homecoming at almost any cost.

He is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatility. The term πολῠ́τροπος (polytropos) literally means ‘man of many turns’, while some translations ‘man of twists and turns’ and ‘a complicated man’. This, in turn, gives him the epithet Ὀδυσσεύς ὁ πολύμητις (Odysseus ho polymetis), Odysseus the Cunning, μῆτις (mêtis) meaning ‘cunning intelligence’.

Ὀδυσ(σ)εύς (Odys(s)eus) is used as the form of his name starting in the epic period and through the classical period. But other forms and variations are found. In vase inscriptions, the variants include Oliseus (Ὀλισεύς), Olyseus (Ὀλυσεύς), Olysseus (Ὀλυσσεύς), Olyteus (Ὀλυτεύς), Olytteus (Ὀλυττεύς) and Ōlysseus (Ὠλυσσεύς). Other forms of his name include Oulixēs (Οὐλίξης) and Oulixeus (Οὐλιξεύς).

But the etymology of his name remains unknown. Ancient authors link his name to the Greek verbs ὀδύσσομαι (odussomai) ‘to be wroth against, to hate’; ὀδύρομαι (oduromai), ‘to lament, bewail’; or even to ὄλλυμι (ollumi) ‘to perish’, ‘to be lost’.

Homer relates the name to various forms of this verb in references and puns. In Book 19 of the Odyssey, where Odysseus’s early childhood is recounted, Euryclea asks the boy’s grandfather Autolycus to name him. Euryclea seems to suggest a name like Πολυάρητος (Polyaretos), ‘for he has much been prayed for’.

But Autolycus, ‘apparently in a sardonic mood’, decided to give the child another name recalling ‘his own experience in life’: ‘Since I have been angered (ὀδυσσάμενος odyssamenos) with many, both men and women, let the name of the child be Odysseus’.

Odysseus also receives the patronymic epithet Laertiades (Λαερτιάδης), ‘son of Laërtes’.

In Latin, he was known as Ulixēs or Ulyssēs, but the origins of the Latin form have different explanations. However, I sometimes wonder whether James Joyce’s great work Ulysses would have the same impact if he had named it Odysseus or even The Odyssey.

For my reflections on Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey, see this posting on 21 July 2027.

For the word Ὀδύσσεια (Odyssey) alone, see an earlier posting in this series: The Greeks have a word for it: 39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια (7 May 2024).

A poster at the bus station in Rethymnon reminded me I was setting out on an Odyssey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, Χριστούγεννα (Christougenna), Christmas

58, ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia), θεοφάνεια, (theopháneia), Epiphany and Theophany

59, Ζέφυρος (Zéphuros), the West Wind

60, Αύριο (Avrio), Tomorrow

61, καλημέρα (κaliméra), ‘Good Morning’, and καλαμάρι, κalamári, ‘squid’

62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’

63, Ποδόσφαιρο, ‘Football’

64, καφές (coffee), Φραπές (frappé)

65, Odyssey (η Οδύσσεια) and Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς)

Series to be continued

Penelope waiting for Odysseus … Μαριάννα Βαλλιάνου, Η επιστροφή, Mariánna Valliánou, ‘The Return’

The Greeks have a word (or two) for it: 64, καφές (coffee), Φραπές (frappé)

A frappé and a Greek coffee (ena ellinikó skéto) on the go at Damnoni on the south coast of Crete, south of Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?

― TS Eliot, The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

I suppose I could measure out my time in Greece with coffee too. In Greece, a Greek coffee or ελληνικός καφές is often simply ένα ελληνικό (ena hellenikó). It is strong and rich in flavour, finely ground and made and served in a μπρίκι (briki), a traditional small brass pot with a long handle.

Traditionally, it is made over a gas burner and at the top it should always have a generous layer of froth known as καϊμάκι (kaimáki). It is served with a cube of λουκούμι (loukoumi), which is similar to Turkish delight.

When ordering your coffee in Greek, it is important to be clear how sweet you like it: plain with no sugar, ένα ελληνικό σκέτο (ena ellinikó skéto); medium sweet, ένα ελληνικό μέτριο (ena ellinikó métrio); or sweet, έναν ελληνικό γλυκό (ena ellinikó glykó). Mine is always ένα σκέτο.

A Greek coffee in the mountains in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

How to make a Greek coffee:

Ingredients:

• Finely ground Greek coffee
• Cold water
• Sugar (optional)

Equipment:

• A briki (small long-handled pot)
• A small coffee cup (demitasse)

Steps:

1, Measure Water and Coffee
2, Use a small coffee cup to measure cold water and pour it into the briki
3, Add one heaped teaspoon of finely ground Greek coffee per cup of water
4, Add sugar (optional)
5, Stir the coffee and sugar (if added) until dissolved
6, Place the briki on a low to medium heat. Do not stir while heating
7, Let the coffee heat slowly until καϊμάκι (kaimáki) or thick foam forms on top. Watch closely to make sure it does not boil over
8, Just before it boils, take the briki off the heat, let it settle, then briefly return to the heat to enhance the foam
9, Pour the coffee into the small cups, distributing the foam evenly. Let the grounds settle before drinking

Some little extras:

• Serve with water: traditionally, Greek coffee is served with a glass of cold water
• Sip slowly: enjoy the coffee slowly, allowing the grounds to settle at the bottom
• Do not drink the sediment
• Serve with treats: enjoy with a small cube of loukoumi, a small biscuit or a piece of chocolate

A Greek coffee and a frappé on a sunny afternoon at Finikas Taverna in Plakias, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A particularly Greek drink, especially at this time of the year, is a frappé or φραπέ, a cold iced coffee normally made with instant coffee, water and sugar, and often with milk. Frappés are one of the most popular forms of coffee in Greece and they quickly become a hallmark of postwar outdoor Greek coffee culture.

Popular Greek myths say the frappé was invented almost 70 years ago in Thessaloniki in 1957 by Dimitris Vakondios, a Nescafe representative or by Christos Lenzos (1930-2023), who owned a coffeehouse in Pangrati in suburban Athens from 1964 to 2013.

The name frappé (‘punched’ or ‘shaken’) comes from French and describes a drink chilled with ice. A variety of cold coffee drinks named café frappé (à la glace) are documented from some time in the 19th century. Some were similar to slushies, others more like iced coffee.

The Greek version of café frappé, using instant coffee, was invented in 1957 at the Thessaloniki International Fair. Giannis Dritsas, a representative of the Nestlé company, was exhibiting a new product for children, a chocolate beverage made instantly by mixing it with milk and shaking it in a shaker. Dritsas’s employee, Dimitris Vakondios, was looking for a way to have his usual instant coffee during his break but could find no hot water. He mixed coffee with cold water and ice cubes in a shaker, and so the Greek frappé was invented.

However, Nikos Bakounakis first questioned this story in 2006, and it was questioned again by the magazine Gastronomos in 2013. Based on Nestlé’s newspaper advertisements leading up to the 1957 Thessaloniki International Trade Fair, it appears the product was already being promoted as ‘Nescafé frappé’, either as iced coffee with ice cubes or as a shaken drink, but shaken perhaps not in a shaker but with a spoon.

A year earlier, ‘Shaken, not stirred’, the catchphrase of James Bond when it came to his preference for a vodka martini, was introduced in Ian Fleming’s 1956 novel Diamonds Are Forever.

Five years before that, in the 1951 film Προ παντός ψυχραιμία (You’ve Got to Keep Cool) starring Mimis Fotopoulos and Dinos Iliopoulos, Iliopoulos makes a direct reference to frappe coffee, which the two protagonists prepared with a shaker at Pavlidis Patisserie on Amerikis Square in Athens: ‘If we make even the slightest mistake, they’ll turn us into a frappé!’

Nevertheless, Vakondios’s improvised experiment is thought to have established the frappé and it quickly grew in popularity in Greece. Nestlé capitalised on the drink with intense marketing campaigns in the 1980s that broadened the drink’s popularity and left the brand name Nescafé inextricably linked with frappé throughout.

Today, the drink is usually simply called a ‘frappé’ in Greece, but in the past it was often called a ‘Nescafé frappé’, and nescaf remains the Greek colloquial word for instant coffee, no matter what the brand may be.

A Greek coffee and a frappé in the shade at Pavlos Beach in Platanias near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A frappé can be made with a cocktail shaker or, more commonly today, with an electric milk frother or milkshake machine. Instant coffee, optional sugar optional and a little water are shaken or blended together until a thick foam is made. This is then poured into a glass with ice cubes and cold water. Milk, traditionally evaporated milk or sometimes condensed milk, is added to it optionally. Frappé is almost always served with a drinking straw as many find the thick foam formed on top is unpleasantly bitter.

The spray-dried instant coffee used to make a frappé contains almost no oil and this allows the frappé’s characteristically thick layer of foam to form. Frappé foam is similar to crema, the foam found in espresso, but thicker and longer lasting due to its oilless composition. Depending on the initial size of the foam’s bubbles and the frappé’s sugar content, water drains from the foam over two to 10 minutes. It will thicken until it forms a nearly solid foam that then slowly dissipates.

Frappés made with freshly brewed coffee or freeze-dried instant coffee, which both contain significantly more oils than spray-dried instant coffee, produce only short-lived foams. In addition, the method of preparing the frappé can impact the bubbles on top of the coffee.

As with Greek coffee, a frappé is generally ordered by specifying sweetness and the option to add milk:

Γλυκός (glykós, sweet), four spoonfuls of sugar
μέτριος (métrios, medium), two spoonfuls sugar
σκέτος (skétos, plain), no sugar

Milk, usually evaporated milk, is generally not added unless you explicitly use the phrase με γάλα (me gála, with milk). In a similar way, it can be explicitly asked for without milk by saying χωρίς γάλα (horís gála, without milk). A frappé with milk is occasionally called φραπόγαλο (frapógalo, frappé-milk).

In some beach bars, alcoholic liqueurs such as Kahlúa or Baileys Irish Cream, may be added to a frappé. Some restaurants may add a ball of vanilla ice cream to a frappé instead of milk.

Although technically not frappés, since they are not shaken, some variations are stirred with a spoon when a shaker is not available, and this creates a different texture and taste. These variations are generally referred to as κουταλάτος (koutalátos, ‘spoon-made’) or καραβίσιος (karavísios, ‘of the ship’), which has something to do with some association with sailors at sea.

As the popularity of Italian coffee swept the world, the frappé got a revamp and the freddo was born. The freddo espresso is a Greek iced espresso, first made in Athens in 1991 by Yiannis Iosifides and it has grown in popularity ever since. It is often seen as a higher quality frappé. There are several varieties of freddo, including espresso, cappuccino and even flat white versions. A freddo cappuccino is a freddo espresso topped with a cold milk-based foam called αφρόγαλα (afrógala).

Frappés became broadly known outside Greece probably thanks to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and tourists in Greece have also brought the frappé back home.

A frappé and a Greek coffee in the Taverna Garden in Platanias, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

How to make a frappé:

Ingredients:

• Instant coffee
• Cold water
• Sugar (optional)
• Ice cubes
• Milk (optional)

Equipment:

• A shaker or a jar with a tight lid or a handheld milk frother
• A tall glass
• A straw

Method:

1, Add 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee to the shaker or jar
2, Add sugar to taste (optional)
3, Pour in a small amount of cold water (about 2 tablespoons)
4, Close the shaker or jar tightly and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds until a thick foam forms. If using a milk frother, froth the mixture until it’s foamy
5, Pour into a serving glass
6, Add a few ice cubes to the glass
7, Fill the glass with cold water, leaving some space if you want to add milk
8, Add milk (optional)
9, Stir gently with a straw … and enjoy

A frappé and a Greek coffee in the former Lichnos taverna in Piskopiano, in the mountains above Hersonissos in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, Χριστούγεννα (Christougenna), Christmas

58, ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia), θεοφάνεια, (theopháneia), Epiphany and Theophany

59, Ζέφυρος (Zéphuros), the West Wind

60, Αύριο (Avrio), Tomorrow

61, καλημέρα (κaliméra), ‘Good Morning’, and καλαμάρι, κalamári, ‘squid’

62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’

63, Ποδόσφαιρο, ‘Football’

64, καφές (coffee), Φραπές (frappé)

65, Odyssey (η Οδύσσεια) and Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς)

Series to be continued

There’s more than one way to enjoy a coffee in Greece … a poster in the old town in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Greeks have a word for it: 63, Ποδόσφαιρο, Football

The Nikos Kazantzakis Stadium, also known as Ergotelis Stadium or Martinengo Stadium, is the traditional home of Ergotelis in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

As we face into the semi-finals and finals of the World Cup, of course I am hoping for an England win tomorrow night, and then in the final on Sunday night. This is where I live, but I also remember the enthusiasm with which I supported England in the final back in 1966.

Ireland and Greece have not in this competition at all. But I recall many a holiday in Greece, especially in Crete, when holidaymakers from many countries and nations filled the bars at night, and laughed, shouted, cried and commiserated with one another during World Cup matches, always in good humour and always with a shared sense of fun and passion, poured out in good measures.

Despite the absence of Greece and Ireland from the competition, and even though there are few tourists from Argentina in Greece, those bars will be filled again tonight for the semi-final between France and Spain (Tuesday), tomorrow between England and Argentina (Wednesday), and for the final on Sunday night.

Among Greeks, football (ποδόσφαιρο, podósfairo) is the most popular sport, followed by basketball, and over half the people of Greece share an interest in football.

English fans may chant ‘Football is coming come’ on Wednesday night, claiming football as an English game. But it seems there was a classical Greek version of football too. The Ancient Greeks played many ball games, and some of them were with their feet.

These games appear to have resembled rugby football, but they have many similarities too with today’s football or soccer.

ἐπίσκυρος (Episkyros, ‘over the line’) was also known as ἐπίκοινος (epíkoinos, ‘over the public’). This Ancient Greek ball game was typically played between two teams of 12 to 14 players each, and was focussed on teamwork. The game allowed full contact and the use of hands. While typically it was men who played, women also took part occasionally.

Although it was a ball game, it was quite violent – at least in Sparta. The game is comparable to rugby or American football, at least in concept. The two teams tried to throw the ball over the heads of the other team. There was a white line, the σκῦρος or skŷros between the teams, and another white line behind each team. The teams often changed possession of the ball, until one team was forced behind its line. A form of Episkyros was played in Sparta during an annual city festival that included five teams of 14 players.

A depiction on a vase in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens shows a Greek athlete balancing a ball on his thigh. This image is reproduced on the European Cup football trophy.

The Romans later adapted the Greek game of Episkyros, or a similar game called Φαινίνδα (Phainínda),which took its name from Phaenides, who first invented it.

The Romans renamed and transformed the Greek games of football into harpastum, a latinisation of the Ancient Greek ἁρπαστόν (harpastón), meaning ‘snatched away’, from the verb ἁρπάζω (harpázō), meaning ‘to seize’ or ‘to steal’. The Roman game harpastum is said to have been adapted from the Greek team game known as ἐπίσκυρος (Episkyros) or Φαινίνδα (phaininda), a game that is mentioned by the Greek playwright Antiphanes (388-311 BCE) and later referred to by the Greek-speaking theologian Clement of Alexandria (ca 150-215 CE).

Modern football is said to have been introduced to Greeks by expatriate British communities and military personnel. The first Greek football teams were created as part of long-established athletic and gymnastic clubs in the major port cities of Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as among the large Greek communities then living the Ottoman Empire, such as Constantinople and Smyrna, in the early 1900s.

In Athens, Panathinaikos played in red and white after they broken away from the sports club Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos in 1908 when it decided to discontinue its football team. The first name of the new club was Podosferikos Omilos Athinon or POA.

Panathinaikos adopted the shamrock as its emblem in 1918. The shamrock bears a closer resemblance to the emblem of Shamrock Rovers in Dublin. The shamrock was proposed by Michalis Papazoglou, an athlete, and was designed by George Hatzopoulos, director of the National Museum of Art and a member of Panathinaikos. But there are different popular myths to explain why Panathinaikos wears the shamrock as its logo.

Michalis Papazoglou had previously played for another Greek club, Chalkidona, who wore the green trefoil or τριφύλλι (trifylli) as their own emblem. Other accounts say Papazoglou was inspired by Billy Sherring, the Irish-Canadian athlete who won the Athens 1906 Olympic Marathon wearing a white shirt with a large green shamrock.

After the Asia Minor Disaster of 1922, which resulted in a large rnumber of Greeks being forcibly moved from Turkey to Greece, and several clubs, such as Panionios and Apollon Smyrnis, were moved too. Many athletes of other clubs, like Pera, formed new clubs in their new home. AEK Athens (Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, Athletic Union of Constantinople) was founded in Nea Filadelfeia in 1923, and PAOK (Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, Pan-Thesalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans), was founded in Thessaloniki by Greek refugees in 1926.

It seems every large town and city in Greece also needs to have two decent, rival football teams, if not three.

The two main football clubs in Athens, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, are often referred to as ‘the Eternal Enemies’ because of their fierce rivalry. These two, along with AEK Athens, form the ‘Big Three’ (Οι Τρεις Μεγάλοι, Oi Treis Megaloi) in Greek football and are usually the main contenders for the title. Together they share a total of 82 out of 90 Greek Football Championships and they usually end up sharing the top three positions.

The two main football clubs in Thessaloniki are PAOK and Aris Thessaloniki FC. Fixtures between these two rivals are known as the Thessaloniki Derby. PAOK’s success has also added them to ‘Big Three’, making it the ‘Big Four’ in Greece.

In Crete, the two Super League clubs based in Iraklion, Ergotelis and OFI, share a rivalry that can be traced back to social and political roots. Their first-ever game was a friendly match in 1929 that ended after 35 minutes. Ergotelis were ahead by 1-0 when the game was abandoned after violence broke out between the players.

OFI, officially ΠΑΕ Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Ηρακλείου 1925 (Iraklion Sportsmen’s Club 1925 FC), is part of the OFI multi-sports club and celebrated its centenary last year. This year, OFI won the Greek Cup for the second time in its history, defeating PAOK 3-2 after extra time in the final at the Panthessaliko Stadium in Volos on 25 April 2026.

Ergotelis Football Club (ΠΑΕ Εργοτέλης) plays in the FCA Iraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, and home games are played at the Pankritio Stadium. But the club’s traditional home ground is the Nikos Kazantzakis Stadium, also known as Ergotelis Stadium or Martinengo Stadium. It is below the grave of Nikos Kazantzakis on the Martinengo Bastion on the Venetian fortifications surrounding the city.

Ergotelis was formed in 1929 and is part of Gymnastics Club Ergotelis (ΓΣ Εργοτέλης), named after the ancient Cretan Olympic runner. Ergotelis was formed mainly by refugees from Asia Minor, and the first recorded game was a 4-0 win for Ergotelis in a friendly against local side Leon (Λέων) at Chandax (Χάνδαξ) stadium on 4 August 1929. Ergotelis suffered retaliation under the colonels’ junta having previously allowed the songwriter and composer Mikis Theodorakis, later a key voice against the regime, to perform a concert at the Martinengo Stadium. When the colonels seized power, they branded Ergotelis an unpatriotic organisation, and club officials were accused of ‘deviating from the purposes for which they were elected, turning the club into an instrument servicing political, and sometimes unpatriotic objectives’.

As for the Greek national team, its first match was on 7 April 1929, in a 4-1 loss to Italy. Greece has qualified for the FIFA World Cup on three occasions, in 1994, 2010 and 2014, for the European Championship in 1980, 2004, 2008 and 2012, and were the reigning European champions when they failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2006.

Ergotelis Football Club (ΠΑΕ Εργοτέλης) now plays its home fixtures at the Pankritio Stadium in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, Χριστούγεννα (Christougenna), Christmas

58, ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia), θεοφάνεια, (theopháneia), Epiphany and Theophany

59, Ζέφυρος (Zéphuros), the West Wind

60, Αύριο (Avrio), Tomorrow

61, καλημέρα (κaliméra), ‘Good Morning’, and καλαμάρι, κalamári, ‘squid’

62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’

63, Ποδόσφαιρο, ‘Football’

64, καφές (coffee), Φραπές (frappé)

Series to be continued

Greek postage stamps celebrating some of Greece’s best-known football teams

The Greeks have a word (or two) for it: 62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’, an irreversible binomial

The nine blue and white stripes of the Greek flag represent the nine syllables of the rallying cry Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (‘Eleftheria i Thanatos’), ‘Freedom or Death’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

While I was wnandering aoround Oxford yesterday (16 June 2026), by the boathouses, the rivers and the islands in the river, I was musing on Bloomsday and the wandering of Ulysses. But I also recall a holiday on an Ionian island in Greece about 20-25 years ago, when I also visited Ithaki, the island home of Odysseus. On that same holiday, I met an Irish couple who introduced themselves as Joyce and James from Dublin.

They never, ever, introduced themselves in the reverse order, as in ‘I’m James, … Joyce.’

But inevitably, for many of the people staying in that same small apartment block, this became known as their ‘James Joyce holiday’. The pairing was irreversible.

Another holidaymaker in the same apartment block found out, as he was packing to go home, that his suitcase had ripped. Rather than buying a new case, he found a large, pre-used cardboard box, packed all his belongings inside and wrapped it up in bubble wrap, with strong brown masking tape.

At the airport, as he was about to place the box on the scanning machine, a policeman asked him to take it off, and open it.

‘I can’t,’ he pleaded.

‘Take it off’.

Lesson 1, Do not argue with a Greek police officer, any police officer, at an airport.

The lesson was being ignored, but two other tourists – eager to defuse the situation and more eager not to miss their flight – without any airs and graces or fuss and bother removed the box, hoping to restore peace and calm and wanting to minimalise any confrontation with law and order.

‘What is it in the box?’

‘Just me Bits and Bobs’, said the elderly Dub casually, unaware of the chaos or mess that could unfold around him – what Greeks call τα πάνω κάτω (ta páno káto), ‘the ups-downs’.

‘Bobs and Bits?’ the policeman asked.

We all began to smile, he noticed our spontaneous response, tensions were defused, and soon the box was on its way back through the scanner.

Pardon the pun, but it was an open and shut case. Perhaps all he had in his bag and baggage was odds and sods, six of one and half a dozen of the other. Not in there, I am sure from his holiday attire, were a shirt and tie.

Despite the smiles, we had all minded our Ps and Qs. No-one had to bow and scrape, no-one lost an arm and a leg, and we all went through security, happy after a holiday on a Greek island that for two weeks had been our Land of Milk and Honey.

When we got home, I am sure, nobody unpacked their flop flips, put their holidays nacks and nicks in appropriate crannies and nooks, or had conversations in the days that followed with their dad and mum about the days of the Tans and Blacks.

Who speaks of ‘breakfast and bed’ rather than ‘bed and breakfast’ for a B&B? … Park Villa Guest House in Kilkenny (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The pairing of words known in English as an irreversible binomial, or a frozen binomial, also exists in Greek. This is a pair of words linked by a conjunction such as και (‘and’) and that always occur in a fixed, non-reversible order. Έτσι κι έτσι (Etsi ki etsi), which means ‘so-so’, is a classic example of this paired rhythmic pattern in Greek. The phrase literally means ‘thus and thus’ and is used to describe average health, mood, or a mediocre experience:

Τι κάνεις; (ti káneis), How are you?

Έτσι κι έτσι (Etsi ki etsi), So-so.

Other common examples of the use of an irreversible binomial in Greek include:

Πέτσι και κόκαλο (pétsi ke kókalo, skin and bones), meaning emaciated or extremely thin.

Απ' έξω και ανακατωτά (ap' éxso ke anakatotá, inside out and upside down, completely mixed up), referring to knowing something perfectly.

Ήθη και έθιμα (íthi ke éthima, morals and customs), a standard frozen phrase encompassing cultural traditions.

Στο κάτω κάτω της γραφής (sto káto káto tis grafís, after all, bottom line), literally ‘at the bottom bottom of the writing’.

Τα πάνω κάτω (ta páno káto, upside down, chaos), literally ‘the ups-downs’, used to describe a mess.

Άνω κάτω (ano kato, ‘up down’) or ‘topsy-turvy’.

Μπρος πίσω (bros piso, ‘front back’) or back and forth.

Έθιμα και έθιμα (ethima kai ethima), ‘customs and habits’.

Μισός κι άλλος μισός (misos ki allos misos) ‘one and the other’.

Ένας κι ένας (enas ki enas), one by one.

Common Greek irreversible binomials feature entrenched phrases, historical idioms, and common collocations. In Greek linguistics, irreversible binomials or idiomatic, fixed-order word pairs, similar to the order of ‘bread and butter’ in English, are heavily shaped by iconicity or the chronological or logical sequence of events, and by end-weight, with longer or heavier words appearing toward the end of the phrase.

Verbs expressing sequential actions must follow their natural temporal order (as in going in before going out). In Greek, this appears as μπαινοβγαίνω (bainovgeno, ‘go in and out’) or ανεβοκατεβαίνω (anevokateveno, ‘go up and down’).

When nouns or adverbs of similar meaning are combined, the element with the more sonorous or longer vowel, or a greater number of syllables, is usually placed at the end to provide a rhythmic cadence.

The most famous example of an irreversible binomial in Greek is Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (Eleftheria i Thanatos), ‘Freedom or Death’. This pair of words is ordered by established convention, and they are fixed in sequence. Swapping their order, as in saying ‘Death or Freedom’, sounds jarring to any Greek speaker.

As a linguistic convention, the pairings in an irreversible binomial are anchored by cultural, psychological, and semantic rules. When faced with an ultimatum, we instinctively priorities the positive or desired outcome first, followed by the negative alternative. Positioning ‘Freedom’ before ‘Death’ frames the statement as a pursuit of life’s highest ideal, with death accepted only as a last resort.

The phrase Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (Eleftheria i Thanatos) has become the Greek national motto. It originated in the 1820s during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. The nine blue and white stripes of the Greek flag represent the nine syllables of this rallying cry.

The phrase gives its name to Freedom or Death, also known as Captain Michalis, a 1953 novel by the author Nikos Kazantzakis from Iraklion in Crete that is became a key work of modern Greek literature.

The binary choice between liberty and life without freedom is mirrored in other historic rallying cries, such as the Patrick Henry’s ‘Give me liberty, or give me death!’ The late Seumas Phelan, when he was a sub-editor at The Irish Times, would cry out during lulls and dull moments on the subs desk, ‘Give me copy, or give me death’.

In English, the fixed order of irreversible binomials or frozen binomials means that changing the order sounds jarring, even if the meaning remains clear. This fixed order is largely shaped by linguistic patterns rather than arbitrary rules.

The natural rhythm or ablaut means English speakers naturally prefer pairs with specific syllable stresses, or where a shorter, high-frequency word precedes a longer one, as with short and sweet or sick and tired.

Iconic sequencing means phrases often follow a chronological or logical order of events in the real world, such as cause and effect, or trial and error.

But cultural conventions and historical and semantic traditions also cement phrases into our long-term memory, processing them as single holistic units rather than individual words. In law and official documents, there are many irreversible binomials consisting of near synonyms, such as the oft-expressed terms and conditions and cease and desist.

There are hundreds of these expressions in English and they generally fall into a few key categories, such as food and objects. Think of how we link Fish and Chips, Salt and Pepper, Knife and Fork, or Bread and Butter. In everyday conversation and idioms, we refer to Give and Take, Back and Forth, Safe and Sound, Bed and Breakfast, but never to Roll and Rock or Blues and Rhythm, and we ask for explanations and excuses to be Short and Sweet.

The term ‘irreversible binomial’ was introduced in 1954 by the Ukrainian-born etymologist and philologist Yakov Malkiel (1914-1998), although aspects of the phenomenon had been discussed since at least 1903 under different names such as ‘terminological imbroglio’ and the now politically-incorrect ‘Siamese twins’.

Many irreversible binomials are catchy due to alliteration, rhyming, or ablaut reduplication, and have become clichés or catchphrases. The mix and match of idioms includes phrases such as rock and roll, the birds and the bees, and they have survived the wear and tear of generations among generation of native English speakers, even one word in a pairing has become obsolete as in spick and span. Spick is a fossil word that never appears outside the phrase spick and span. Who uses words such as such as vim or abet except when using sayings such as vim and vigour or aid and abet.

No-one is ever caught between a hard place and a rock, high water and hell never come, and I know no-one who has had a tuck and nip, even among the famous and rich. Although, if I wanted to be little more Greek in my turn of phrase, or a Joycean reference, then instead of ‘a rock and a hard place’ I might chose to be caught between the equally dangerous and threatening Scylla and Charybdis.

Ball and Chain? … ‘Sitting on History’ by Bill Woodrow in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, Χριστούγεννα (Christougenna), Christmas

58, ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia), θεοφάνεια, (theopháneia), Epiphany and Theophany

59, Ζέφυρος (Zéphuros), the West Wind

60, Αύριο (Avrio), Tomorrow

61, καλημέρα (κaliméra), ‘Good Morning’, and καλαμάρι, κalamári, ‘squid’

62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’

63, Ποδόσφαιρο, ‘Football’

64, καφές (coffee), Φραπές (frappé)

Series to be continued

’Freedom or Death’ is one of the great literary works by Nikos Kazantzakis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

‘The Thucydides Trap’ could trap Trump, with classical lessons on war and democracy

The Monument of the Unknown Soldier outside Parliament in Athens … the quotations are from the Funeral Oration by Pericles, recounted by Thucydides in ‘The History of the Peloponnesian War’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

When Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met in Beijing last week, the Chinese leader recalled another conflict between superpowers of the past, when he referred to the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece, a decades long conflict that between Athens and Sparta that began in 431 BCE.

In a reference to classical rivalry, Xi asked: ‘Can China and the United States transcend the so-called “Thucydides Trap” and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?’

I doubt that Trump had much of a classical education, and the reference must have gone over his head, presuming he was awake and listening at the time. If he was listening, I cannot imagine that he connected with the Peloponnesian War, still less that he ever heard of Thucydides or Pericles, just as I imagine that throughout the illegal war that has been waged continuously against Iran for weeks now, he has been incapable of knowing about the Persian Wars, still less that Persia was once one of the great classical civilisations.

Trump took a pack of ambitious business deal-makers with him on the jolly to Beijing, but few actual members of his administration, and probably no-one who was educated enough to understand the reference to the Thucydides Trap or anyone who was wise enough to grasp the significance of the citation.

The Thucydides Trap refers to the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established one, the result is often war. ‘It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable,’ Thucydides wrote in The History of the Peloponnesian War. Just as Athens was once at war with Sparta, the implication is that China’s rise provokes anxiety and potential conflict with the US.

But the term the ‘Thucydides Trap’ was not devised by Thucydides. Instead, the label was first used by the US political scientist Graham Allison of Harvard in a feature in the Financial Times in 2012 to describe an apparent tendency towards war when an emerging power, such as Athens, threatens to displace an existing great power, such as Sparta, as a regional or international dominant power. The term has been widely used since 2015, and it primarily applies to analyses of China-US relations.

Graham Allison led a study at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs which found that, among a sample of 16 historical instances of an emerging power rivalling a ruling power, 12 ended in war. Allison expanded his theory in 2017 in his book Destined for War, where he argues that ‘China and the US are currently on a collision course for war’.

However, Allison’s theory has come under considerable criticism, and scholars remain divided on the value of the ‘Thucydides Trap’, particularly as it relates to a potential military conflict between the US and China.

If anybody is brave enough to explain to Trump the meaning of the ‘Thucydides Trap’, they might also be well-advised to explain how the concept and values of democracy – so under threat in Trump’s America today – emerged and were consolidated around the same time as Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War.

The term democracy first appeared in Greek political and philosophical thought in the city-state of Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Greek word δημοκρατία (dēmokratía), a compound of δῆμος (demos, people) and κρατία (kratía, power or rule). The term first appeared in Greek political and philosophical thought in the city-state of Athens. The first attested use of the word democracy is found in prose works in the 430s BCE, such as Herodotus’ Histories. But its usage was older by several decades, and Aeschylus strongly alludes to the word in his play The Suppliants (ca 463 BCE), in which he mentions ‘the demos’s ruling hand.’

Athenian democracy took the form of a direct democracy, and it had two distinguishing features: the random selection of ordinary citizens to fill the few existing government administrative and judicial offices, and a legislative assembly consisting of all Athenian citizens.

All eligible citizens could speak and vote in the assembly, which set the laws of the city state. However, Athenian citizenship excluded women, slaves, foreigners, and youths below the age of military service. Effectively, only 1 in 4 residents in Athens qualified as citizens.

During the run-up to this week’s election, I have been re-reading one of the greatest Greek speeches about democracy and democratic values. For many years I had a T-shirt, bought in Athens, with quotes from that funeral oration by Pericles in the cemetery in Kerameikos in Athens at the height of the Peloponnesian War.

The funeral oration by Pericles has been handed down in history by Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War. He tells us Pericles delivered his oration in the cemetery in Kerameikos – not only to bury the dead, but to praise democracy.

There are excerpts from the speech on the Monument of the Unknown Soldier on Parliament Square (Plateia Voulis) on Vasilissis Amalias avenue, facing onto Syntagma Square. The monument, designed by the architect Emmanuel Lazaridis in 1929-1930, includes a large bas-relief of a dying Greek soldier by Kostas Demetriadis (1881-1943) and the Greek text of the funeral oration delivered by Pericles in 431 or 430 BCE.

Part of the Parthenon frieze in the Acropolis Museum in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Pericles was a Greek leader and statesman and a supporter of democracy during the Peloponnesian War. He was so important for Athens that his name defines the age – the Periclean Age – during which Athens rebuilt what had been destroyed during the recent war with Persia.

The people of Athens, including those from the countryside whose land was being pillaged by their enemies, were kept in crowded conditions within the walls of Athens. Near the start of the Peloponnesian War, a plague swept through the city. Pericles succumbed to this plague and died.

Before he died, though, Pericles delivered his rousing speech about the virtues of democracy. Thucydides puts in Pericles’ mouth key democratic values that are worth remembering today when democracy is under threat:

• Democracy allows humanity to advance because of merit instead of wealth or inherited class.
• In a democracy, citizens behave lawfully while doing what they like without fear of prying eyes.
• In a democracy, there is equal justice for all in private disputes.

Pericles, in his ‘Funeral Oration’ in Athens, uses ‘the many,’ οἱ πολλοί (hoi polloi), in a positive way when praising the Athenian democracy. He contrasts them with ‘the few’ (οἱ ὀλίγοι, hoi oligoi), who abuse power and create an oligarchy, rule by the few. He advocates equal justice for ‘the many’, ‘the all’, before the law, against the selfish interests of the few.

And that’s what democracy should have at its heart despite all the threats it faces from the Trump autocracy in the US and from the far-right in Britain and across Europe: equal justice for ‘the many’ and ‘the all’, before the law, against the selfish interests of the few.

A grave in Kerameikós, Athens, where Pericles delivered his funeral oration (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)