Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andreas Katsaniotis, has sent a message to all Greeks abroad to mark International Greek Language Day today.
In the message, Mr Katsaniotis underlined the importance of the Greek language and said Greek people “are its guardians and proud protectors.”
Full message in English:
“(…)Look what a wonderful thing it is for someone to consider that, since Homer spoke, until today, we speak, breathe and sing in the same language(…)”
The words of the great Seferis are true…
From the “golden Mycenae” to the words of Homer and the great tragic poets, until today’s age of information, digital technology and social media, the Greek language is alive and active, producing history, culture and science.
During its long journey, our language was present when the Evangelists proclaimed in Greek the coming of Christ to the world, when distant Oceania was named after the Titan son of Uranus and Gaia. It was also present when Euclid’s of Alexandria ‘Elements’ was translated into Chinese as the first western book…
Greek is therefore a universal language, which followed a complex and fruitful path and continues, constantly enriched, in the modern world. Medicine and theology, technology as well as philosophy, all the fruits of the human intellect can fit in it.
Our language is that imaginary line that unites the ancient Greek way of thinking with today’s considerations. It is the key to understanding the modern world. It is a universal good, of high cultural value, which belongs to all of us. And we are the privileged, as communicators of a language with admirable timelessness and global echoes.
Greeks abroad, Friends of Greece in every corner of the earth,
Our language is our world. And we are its guardians and proud protectors, determined to continue speaking, thinking but, yes, also dreaming in Greek.
