Kon Konstantaras is set to make history this weekend as he prepares to coach the first Greek women’s football team, The Herald Sun reports.
Konstantaras has been appointed the team’s mentor for the Australia Football International (AFI) World 9s tournament to be held on Saturday at Box Hill Rugby Club.
Konstantaras said it was a “privilege” to be given a chance to lead the country of his birth.
Members of the inaugural Greek women’s team Meagan Kovatchev, Joanna Sofos (vice-captain), Caitlyn Crameri, Chantelle McDonald (captain) and Krystle Jewell.
“I’m really looking forward to the honour of being involved in this weekend’s competition,” he told The Herald Sun.
“I think we’ve managed to put together a fantastic team which has a mix of experience and inexperience.”
The Greek side will play three games on Saturday against Nauru, the United Nations and Australia.
These quick and easy olive bites are the perfect addition to your party menu.
This simple, no-knead dough, along with the olive explosion, will create “an absolute dance on your taste buds,” Greek food blogger, Helen Demetriou, explains.
For some mouth-watering recipes that are sure to impress at any party, Helen’s Kouzina has you covered.
Photo: Helen’s Kouzina
Ingredients:
Dough
3 cups self raising flour
1 cup peanut oil or light olive oil
1 cup orange juice
Olive tapenade
2 cups pitted olives, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1 tablespoon of dried mint
Method:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
Combine self-raising flour, peanut oil and orange juice in a bowl and mix.
Mix together pitted olives, red onions and dried mint to create tapenade.
Take some dough and flatten to create small circle.
Spoon in the tapenade mixture and fold edged over to create the bites.
Bake for 15 mins until golden brown.
Can be served hot or cold.
Photo: Helen’s Kouzina
*Check out Helen’s Kouzina for all of Helen’s amazing recipes that are posted daily.
The Acropolis of Athens is the best-known archaeological site of Greece. But that does not necessarily mean that it is well understood. Among the scholars who try to uncover its ancient secrets is Dr. Janric van Rookhuijzen, researcher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
In 2019, he published an article concluding that the name “Parthenon” (an ancient Greek term meaning ‘room of the virgins’) originally belonged not with the great temple of Athena on the Acropolis, but rather with an entirely different temple of the goddess nearby: the one whose roof is supported by iconic virgin statues called caryatids. The theory caused quite a stir among archaeologists and the wider public.
Though many welcomed the new theory, not everyone is entirely convinced yet. Van Rookhuijzen is nevertheless pleased to have renewed the debate. “We have to keep an open mind about the Acropolis buildings rather than take for granted what we thought we knew. The traditional views are often centuries old, based on unconfirmed assumptions, and do not explain all the data from inscriptions and historical texts.”
Van Rookhuijzen is now ready to share a new provocative insight on the temple of the caryatids. The building is today commonly known as the Erechtheion – the sanctuary of the mythical Athenian king Erechtheus. The ancient Athenians believed that Erechtheus was an alter ego of Poseidon. “However, many archaeologists are not happy with the traditional idea that the caryatid temple was the Erechtheion. They think that the Erechtheion needs to be sought elsewhere.”
In his new study in the academic journal Kernos, van Rookhuijzen analyzed all historical sources for the Erechtheion, to confirm that the Erechtheion cannot be identified with the temple of the caryatids. Ancient authors, such as the playwright Euripides, rather describe the Erechtheion as a destroyed, yet sacred site in the middle of the Acropolis.
Three caves in the north face of the Acropolis – the mark of Poseidon’s trident? (photo by J.Z. van Rookhuijzen).
As it happens, the middle of the Acropolis sports a mysterious structure: the massive foundation of an ancient temple. The temple itself has long vanished after it fell victim to the invading Persians in 480 BCE. Nevertheless, the Athenians continued to venerate the sacred site itself for centuries. After antiquity, the structure was forgotten and rediscovered as late as 1885 by the renowned German archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld. Van Rookhuijzen believes that the foundation could just be the elusive sanctuary of Erechtheus: “This sacred structure ticks all the boxes of the Erechtheion.”
The long-held, but probably erroneous belief that the temple of the caryatids was the Erechtheion is partially based on the idea that a mark of Poseidon’s trident was visible in a gap of the caryatid temple’s pavement. However, the ancient sources point in a different direction for that trident mark.
Van Rookhuijzen explains: “An ancient visitor to Athens wrote that the enormous trident mark was to be seen from a distance in the north face of the Acropolis. As it happens, three caves here seem to form the impression of a trident. Ancient Athenians apparently believed that Poseidon had thrusted his mighty weapon into the rock and created the caves. I was rather surprised that no-one before me has come up with this idea. If I’m correct, Poseidon’s trident mark was all this time hidden in plain sight.”
The Acropolis is not only a contested place for scholars. In one of the world’s most prominent cases of disputed heritage, many of the temple sculptures (including one of the caryatids) were taken to the United Kingdom in the early nineteenth century by Lord Elgin. They currently reside in the British Museum in London. Since the 1980s, calls for the return of the artworks to Athens have been numerous and loud, particularly from Greeks all around the world.
“The calls for restitution show how the Acropolis is in the hearts and souls of the Greeks, and many other people as well” notes van Rookhuijzen. From his position as a scholar, he remarks that it is undesirable that one of the most important legacies of Greek antiquity is divided over different places. “Leaving aside the extremely complicated legal considerations and understandable emotions on both sides, the current situation just doesn’t make sense. How can we fully appreciate and understand these artworks if they continue to be divided?”
Change is in the air as a piece of the great frieze of the Parthenon (the great temple, to be precise) was recently returned from Palermo’s Antonio Salinas Archaeological Museum to Athens in a loan arrangement. Thousands of years after their creation, new chapters continue to be opened for the ancient temples: “The Acropolis of Athens is among the most fascinating archaeological sites of the European continent. It deserves careful preservation, study, and contemplation. Its story is far from told.”
Education on consent will be made mandatory in all Australian schools, after state and federal ministers unanimously agreed to enshrine it in the curriculum.
The move was confirmed by Senator Jonathon Duniam on Thursday and comes after a year of extensive public pressure.
One of the women behind this pressure was Chanel Contos, a former Sydney private school student.
In February 2021, Ms Contos polled her Instagram followers and asked if they or someone close to them had been sexually assaulted by someone when they were at school.
After more than 200 people responded with “yes” in just 24 hours, Ms Contos launched an online petition calling for more holistic and earlier consent education in Australia.
The petition has since gained 44,000 signatures, with more than 6,600 people sharing their stories of sexual assault.
On Instagram, Ms Contos celebrated Thursday’s announcement.
“This monumental change has only been made possible because of the tens of thousands of voices that have supported this movement,” she wrote. “We did it.”
Education ministers are due to meet in April to finalise the new curriculum, which is set to be taught from the 2023 school year onwards.
It was only a few years ago that the seaside village of Agii Apostoli on the island of Evia in Greece was enjoying a simple life drawing modest income from tourism and fishing.
Today, the once-peaceful village is ringed by towering wind turbines whose night lights and whirring sounds are equivalent to daily “torture,” locals say.
“Why did you allow this crime to take place?”
The island of Evia, which is 80 kilometres east of Athens and the second largest island in Greece after Crete, was one of the first of the country’s regions to host wind farms almost two decades ago.
Since then, the turbines have multiplied, mainly in the less populated areas of the island. In the local municipality of Karystos, more than 400 turbines envelop the land with some of them even along the main roads.
Local employee, Stamatoula Karava, told local media: “long-term visitors ask us, why did you allow this crime to take place?”
“It’s a scandal”
Chryssoula Bereti, who chairs the Karystos anti-wind farm front, says the oldest turbines have now fallen into disuse although no plans to remove them and recycle their parts have been made.
“It’s a scandal,” she exclaimed.
In line with the EU clean energy targets, Greece has reduced its once-overwhelming reliance on lignite for electricity production to around 10 percent.
Forty percent of Greek power plants are now gas-fired and 30 percent run on renewable resources, of which 18 percent are wind turbines.
With its predisposition for high winds, the island of Evia is a natural location for wind farms, but critics say that the expansion has gone too far.
In response to the mounting criticism, the Mitsotakis government last month announced that six mountain ranges in central Greece, the Peloponnese, Crete and the island of Samothrace would be given additional protection status against future energy instructed development.
On Wednesday, February 16, the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) Electoral Committee called to a meeting at the Greek Centre the 19 successful candidates from the most recent Greek Community elections.
The meeting was conducted according the GCM’s rules in which following a 9 day waiting period, the Electoral Committee invites the candidates to vote in the GCM’s office-bearers for the coming term.
The election of the community’s executive team went smoothly with a unanimous election process resulting in the following Executive Team:
The Board was then handed the reins to the next term by the Electoral Committee and then the Consul General of Victoria from Greece, Emmanuel Kakavelakis, congratulated the new team and wished them all the best for their next term.
Newly elected President, Bill Papastergiadis said: “It is a great honour to once again Chair the Board of this historic organisation and to lead a team that is so enthusiastic about the organisation and our community at large.”
“The next term will hopefully see us start to emerge from this pandemic’s shadow and we do so with a team that will enthusiastically tackle all the speed humps and grab all opportunities that we create along the way,” Mr Papastergiadis added.
Papastergiadis on election day.
The GCM Board features a number of returning members but also sees an influx of eight new members into its ranks.
“Humbling,” “Exciting” and “Thankful” were all words repeated by many of the new members to the Board, such as Dean Kotsianis, Mena Giannelis and Vicky Kyritsis, as they prepared for their stewardship of the Greek Community of Melbourne.
Anthie Sidiropoulos said: “I am excited about be back on the GCM Board and humbled that it’s as a Vice President. I look forward to working with the new Board.”
Finally, long running Education advocate, Nick Dallas, was keen to press an “investment in education” as “the cornerstone in the new Board’s agenda.”
Two NSW Police officers, who had sex with a Sydney schoolgirl after one of them met her while working, have officially left law enforcement, The Daily Telegraph reports.
James Delinicolis, 30, and Angelo Dellosa, 31, both pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office over the 2020 incident with the 17-year-old, known only by the pseudonym Violet.
In March 2020, Delinicolis was stationed at a bus stop at Cabramatta railway station when he saw Violet wearing a school uniform. According to details from the court, the policeman asked her several intrusive questions before handing her his number.
Angelo Dellosa. Photo: NCA NewsWire / Steven Saphore.
That same day, Violet and Delinicolis met up at a hotel and engaged in sexual acts. Dellosa soon arrived and also engaged in sexual acts, all of which have been supressed by the court. A complaint by Violet prompted their arrest.
Following a court case, Delinicolis was sentenced to a two-year intensive correction order, while Dellosa was handed an 18-month community corrections order.
Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, and Australia’s Ambassador to Greece, Arthur Spyrou, held a working lunch on Thursday, February 17 in Athens.
According to a statement from the Greek Foreign Ministry, the officials had “a fruitful discussion on the enduring Greek-Australian ties, Greek diaspora in Australia and the latest regional developments.”
Ambassador Spyrou also thanked the Minister for being willing to talk about the bilateral relationship between Greece and Australia, as well as the potential for “closer trade and investment links.”
This working lunch is not the first time Ambassador Spyrou and Dendias have met.
In May last year, both officials attended a meeting with other Ambassadors from Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, to discuss the Greek diaspora and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Ambassador Spyrou also recently met with His All Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia at the Phanar in Constantinople.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said in Brussels on Thursday that Greece will support the territorial integrity of Ukraine if it is invaded by Russia, but firmly believes in the need for open lines of communication.
Mitsotakis was speaking to the press following an informal meeting of the European Council ahead of the African Union-European Union Summit.
Επανεπιβεβαιώσαμε, για μία ακόμα φορά, την ενότητα της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης για την αντιμετώπιση των προκλήσεων στην Ουκρανία. Την ίδια στιγμή, θέλουμε να κρατήσουμε όλους τους διπλωματικούς διαύλους ανοιχτούς. Ελπίζουμε για το καλύτερο, αλλά προετοιμαζόμαστε και για το χειρότερο. pic.twitter.com/qUMCGux9sJ
“We reconfirmed our absolute unity, our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and our determination to act in a coordinated manner and in consultation with our Euro-Atlantic allies, in the event of an invasion by Russia on Ukraine,” the Greek Prime Minister said.
“At the same time, we also reconfirmed our faith in dialogue and in the need for all the channels of communication with Russia to remain open…”
Μεταβαίνω την Παρασκευή 18 Φεβρουαρίου, στη Μόσχα, όπου θα συναντηθώ με τον Υπουργό Εξωτερικών της Ρωσίας Σεργκέι Λαβρόφ, στην τρίτη επίσκεψή μου ως Υπουργού Εξωτερικών στη Ρωσική Ομοσπονδία, την τελευταία διετία. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/LNlRVPgLjc
Mitsotakis added on Twitter later that Greece has an interest in regional developments “because there are tens of thousands of ethnic Greeks living in Ukraine.”
“We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” he said.
These statements comes as Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, also heads to Moscow on Friday, where he will be holding talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to discuss developments in the region.
The Greek Festival of Sydney was officially launched on Wednesday night with a sit-down three-course dinner at The Grand Roxy in Brighton-le-Sands.
This year marks 40 years since the festival first started and to celebrate the occasion, Sydney’s Greek community is encouraged to attend the 35 scheduled events which are set to showcase Greek history, culture and music.
On the launch night, over 100 officials and prominent members of the Greek community were given an insight into these upcoming events.
Attendees enjoyed a sit-down dinner on the night.
This included, but is not limited to, the Trade Commissioner of Greece, Katia Gkikiza; Press Councillor Konstantinos Giannakodimos; Georges River Council Mayor Nick Katris; Randwick City Councillor Alexandra Luxford; Bayside Councillor Andrew Tsounis; and Inner West Councillor Zoi Tsardoulias.
After everyone was seated, the emcee for the night, Artemis Theodori, introduced a number of speakers.
These were the President of the Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales (GOCNSW), Harry Danalis; the Festival Chair of the Greek Festival of Sydney, Nia Karteris; the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism, Mark Coure MP; the Member for Canterbury, Sophie Cotsis MP, representing NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns; and the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras.
Mark Coure MP (left) and Christos Karras (R).Sophie Cotsis MP gave a speech.
In his speech, Minister Coure said the festival is “by far one of the most important cultural events that we have here in Sydney.”
“The Greek festival is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the great contributions to our great state and our country by so many Greek Australians,” the Minister said.
The Consul General of Greece in Sydney spoke along similar lines and said the Greek festival enables Greek Australians and the broader Australian society “to honour and celebrate together all things Greek, that have creatively enriched multicultural Australian society.”
The Festival Chair, Ms Karteris, also stressed the importance of supporting all the artists who are a part of the festival program this year.
The launch night.
“With us tonight we have artists who are in the third and fourth generation who believe in their heritage, who want to promote it… so I think if we can produce 35 high-calibre events in 2022, I think we’ve got a long way to go,” Ms Kateris said.
At the conclusion of these speeches, Ms Theodori read out a congratulatory letter from Dr Alfred Vincent, who was the first lecturer in Modern Greek Studies at the University of Sydney.
Awards were then given to festival sponsors as a thank you for their support, and a cake was cut and enjoyed for dessert by all attendees.
