Phidias’ Workshop in ancient Olympia has been approved for restoration by the Central Archaeological Council (KAS), the Greek Culture Ministry said on Tuesday.
The Workshop of Phidias is the birthplace of one of seven wonders of the ancient world, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Standing 41 feet tall, the sculpture was covered with ivory plates and gold panels on a wooden framework.
While the statue was lost and destroyed during the 5th century AD, records of its history are still marvelled by modern historians.
Lina Mendoni.
Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni said the restoration will “significantly increase the stay time of visitors”.
“Today, most visitors limit their tour to the area of the sanctuary in the phase of classical antiquity. The completion of the program will highlight the Roman phase of the Sanctuary of Ancient Olympia.”
According to the Ministry of Culture, the monument has been fully documented: All the stones of the southern pillar, the floor stones that are in the depository of architectural members, east of the monument, as well as other members kept in the Museum have been identified.
In total, 160 architectural pieces were documented, while on-site measurements were made using modern and traditional methods.
The study will commence with the complete protection of the monument and its wider area, with interventions that serve its readability, without disturbing the patina of time on its surfaces.
In its statement the Greek Culture Ministry did not say when the project will begin or is expected to be concluded.
Greece’s migration minister on Tuesday pointed the finger at unnamed nongovernmental organisations for facilitating the illegal crossing of dozens of undocumented Somali migrants from Turkey into Greece.
Speaking to foreign correspondents in Athens, Notis Mitarakis said that the ministry has “witness testimony and confirmed information” that NGOs were helping Somali asylum seekers travel to Turkey and from there helped arrange their crossing to Greece via migrant smuggling networks.
“NGOs pat for the cost of travel and the issuance of a Visa to Turkey, with flights to Istanbul. Then [the migrants] are transported to the Turkish coast, where migrant smugglers, again with NGO support, help them enter the European Union illegally,” Mitarakis said, without providing additional details.
“These crossing must be prevented by any legal means. We do not want our country to become a gateway to Europe,” he said.
Since November 1, 142 of the 214 migrant arrivals in Lesbos have been from Somalia, according to news24/7.gr.
The migration minister placed blame on the Turkish coast guard for the death of two women off the coast of Lesvos last week.
Mitarakis says the migrants are coming to Greece with “unsuitable boats and people, without permission and with complete ignorance of the rules of the sea”.
Greek American politicians and foreign representatives paid tribute to Paul Sarbanes after his tragic death on Sunday.
The son of Greek immigrants, Sarbanes became one of the most powerful and respected US Senators prior to his death at age 87.
President-elect Joe Biden sent his condolences to Sarbanes’ family via Twitter, saying there was “no one sharper, more committed, or with firmer principles,” than the former Democrat politician.
Paul Sarbanes and I served together on the Foreign Relations Committee for 30 years. There was no one sharper, more committed, or with firmer principles. And he, too, returned to his family nearly every night. They meant the world to him.
Born in Salisbury on February 3, 1933, Sarbanes was the prototype of the self-made Greek American.
He grew up around the restaurant owned by his parents, Spyros and Matina, landed a scholarship to Princeton University and went on to become a Rhodes scholar. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1960, the same year he married his British-born wife, Christine. They had three children.
Eleni Kounalakis, Vice President of California, said Sarbanes was “a friend, mentor and role model for so many of us in the Greek-American community.”
Friend, mentor and role model for so many of us in the Greek American community. We will miss you Senator Paul Sarbanes. pic.twitter.com/ZpBNGp1L65
Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Ambassador to the USA, mourned the death of the influential politician and also sent condolences to his family.
“Condolences to his family and son, John, who celebrated with the EU Ambassadors, exactly one year ago, the great ties between the European Union and the state of Maryland, with Paul as their inspirational founder,” Stavros Lambrinidis said.
Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, Endy Zemenides, says the community has lost a “legend, real gentleman, a completely dedicated public servant and a wonderful father.”
2020 can’t end soon enough. We’ve lost a legend, an absolute gentlemen, a truly committed public servant, and a great father.
From eight-years-old, Mary Konstantopoulos’ love for Rugby League grew as she looked to spend more time with her father and brothers on the weekend. Growing up an avid Rugby League and Parramatta Eels fan, she was known by many to have a strong passion for the game.
Rugby League, however, was simply a passion project as she journeyed through law school and earned her place at a top-tier law firm in Sydney.
“When I first started work, this woman I met realised that I had this passion for rugby league and she said to me, ‘Have you ever thought about sort of doing something about it?’”, Mary said to The Greek Herald.
“She sort of pushed me and said I can go home and think about it. And I did. That night, I realised I had nothing to lose.
Mary Konstantopoulos. Photo: The Roar
“The next day I started Ladies Who League and at that point it was about encouraging women to get involved in conversations about rugby league and about promoting the women that I could see involved in the game.”
A few months into running ‘Ladies Who League’, it came to Mary’s attention that Australia had their own women’s rugby league team, the‘Australian Jillaroos’. She then realised that if she didn’t know who they were, “then there would be others exactly the same as me”.
“So I also wanted to advocate on behalf of those players that competed in the women’s game and then share the stories.”
Not long after, she was approached by the ‘Sydney Thunder’ cricket team, who asked if she could promote the WBBL. This prompted her to start ‘Ladies Who Legspin’ and grow a greater influential voice in sport diversity in Australia.
“When I hear the stories of incredible women involved in sport, I can’t say no. And I definitely don’t discriminate between sports,” Mary said.
Mary Konstantopoulos. Photo: Supplied
In 2018, the inaugural season of NRL Women’s Premiership commenced with four participating women’s sides. A landmark moment for the game in Australia, Mary was thanked for her contribution to not only to helping progress the women’s game, but for being part of a larger movement in women’s sport.
“I remember the day that it was announced that the NRL was getting a women’s competition,” Mary said.
“Australian Jillaroos coach Brad Donald and the head of women’s partnerships at that stage, reached out to thank me for the small part that I played.
“But whenever I get emails from young women or young people wanting me to share their stories or saying thank you for the work that I do, it reminds me of the impact.”
Mary Konstantopoulos speaking at the Australian Pride in Sports Awards 2020.
Mary said that the attention being given to women’s sport has grown exponentially with part of that being due to the increase in technical quality in the NRL, cricket and other sports.
“We’re starting to get more analysis of the women’s games, why players are performing the way they perform, the strengths and weaknesses of coaching staff and it’s becoming more critical and analytical.”
To see the growth in women’s sport, Mary said people need to look no further than at the MCG on 8 March 2020, which hosted 84,000 people this year for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final.
“We’re moving away from simply, ‘oh gee it’s so good women play sport’, to actually covering it in a similar way we do the men’s game, which I think is really important.”
Mary Konstantopoulos.
Still a long way to go, notable progressions are certainly being made not only in Australia, but across the world. FIFA announced in November their plan to introduce a rule change to mandate 14 weeks’ maternity leave, and protect players ‘before, during and after childbirth’.
Mary said that similar steps are being made in Australia to protect women cricket players.
“Cricket introduced a new parental policy last year, and it’s all about supporting women to return to the game after having children,” Mary explained.
“This woman named Amy Satterthwaite in New Zealand, she’s a New Zealand International and she’s come across to the WBBL this year, about a year after giving birth.
“So she’s returned to the game at an elite level and her and her partner actually play in the same team for the Melbourne Renegades. They brought that baby over with them to stay in the club.”
Greek Australian economist, Conrad Liveris, has been named as one of Australia’s top 50 LGBTIQ+ leaders in a list recently released by Deloitte, in partnership with Google and Energy Australia.
The 2020 list includes individuals who identify as trans and gender-diverse, non-binary, queer and bisexual, and includes several Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse, neurodiverse and spiritual leaders.
Liveris himself identifies as gay but that’s not the only thing which makes him influential.
He is also the CEO of The Piddington Society and seeks to bring together justice and collegiality by providing a supportive environment for lawyers to learn together through professional development programs.
Alongside this role, Liveris runs his own HR advisory and labour economics practice, where he helps small regional WA non-profits and foreign governments with workplace performance, engagement and the changing workforce.
Greek Australian economist, Conrad Liveris, has been named as one of Australia’s top 50 LGBTIQ+ leaders.
Here is Liveris’ interview with Deloitte:
Who are your role models?
I didn’t have any openly LGBTI+ role models at the start of my career. Instead, as I was beginning to understand gender inequality issues in the workplace, I drew inspiration from the leading women in business and politics who were able to make important contributions despite difficult pressure and judgement.
Where LGBTI+ people could hide their sexuality if they felt uncomfortable, though this isn’t recommended or ideal, these women couldn’t. They were great people to emulate – many who I get to call friends now.
Changing perceptions:
The changes to society’s perceptions of the LGBTIQ+ community and inclusion has changed profoundly in the past decade. Fundamentally, workplaces and communities now see homophobia and transphobia as poor judgment and distasteful. Also, there are now many obvious LGBTI+ leaders for young people. This was not something that was around when I was coming of age.
Do you have any advice for others in the LGBTIQ+ community?
Success happens at the intersection of competence and engagement. There are plenty of people who are exceptionally competent who cannot bring people with them. Likewise, there are plenty of popular people who shouldn’t be in their job. Balancing being good at your job and bringing people with you is where true action and outcomes happen. Also, it doesn’t matter who takes credit – the people who matter will know.
LGBTIQ+ inclusion and visibility:
For LGBTIQ+ people, be confident in yourself. Don’t try to fit into a box that doesn’t fit you. Have the courage to step outside and be bold. Take the leap because it isn’t as scary as you may imagine – it will help your career and people will respect you. For allies, be ready and willing to engage in meaningful conversations with LGBTIQ+ people as well as bigots. To bring people along with you on your allyship journey, speak to their hearts and minds.
A ‘mutually beneficial agreement’ on Modern Greek Studies at La Trobe University is expected within a week, according to the Greek Community of Melbourne President, Bill Papastergiadis.
This news comes out of a virtual meeting held today between the University’s Vice Chancellor John Dewar and a delegation from the Greek community, including Mr Papastergiadis, the outgoing Greek Consul General in Melbourne, Dimitrios Michalopoulos, and Victorian Labor MP, Kat Theofanous.
Mr Papastergiadis tells The Greek Herald that all those in attendance at the meeting agreed that the discussion was “highly constructive.”
La Trobe University.
“The Vice Chancellor said to me, ‘We’ve had a highly constructive discussion. The university is confident that we can reach a mutually beneficial outcome within a week’,” Mr Papastergiadis says.
This positive news comes out of weeks of lobbying and petitioning by the Greek community to stop the Modern Greek Studies program at La Trobe University from being discontinued.
Mr Papastergiadis, along with the Greek delegation, also made a strong case during the meeting by presenting the Vice Chancellor with a three page submission detailing what can be done to save the program.
A ‘mutually beneficial agreement’ on La Trobe Greek Studies is expected within one week.
“We prepared a three page submission detailing how to work with increased enrolment, an internship program, links to industry and scholarships,” Mr Papastergiadis says.
“We then discussed what funding is required and what reassurance is needed from the community. We reached an agreement on what those are and we’re now going to try and document it.”
In a statement to The Greek Herald on November 23, La Trobe University wrote that they “will carefully consider the outcomes of staff consultation, as well as representations made from members of the community, regarding the future of the program before making any decision.”
Mr Papastergiadis says that after today’s meeting, he’s feeling “very positive.”
Since the early 1990s, one family has remained the dominant force behind the transformation of Rundle Street in Adelaide’s East End – the Maras family.
In 1993, Theo Maras and then business partner, Bill Manos, won the rights to redevelop a portion of the former Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange site into a dining, retail and commercial hub.
The Maras family has since retained control of a swathe of real estate on the southern side of Rundle Street, from East Terrace to Union Street, as well as the shops and bars lining Ebenezer Place and Vardon Ave.
All this information was made clear through analysis undertaken by The Advertiser and international property group JLL, which showed that more than 100 properties on the East End are owned by local families.
Property heavyweight, Theo Maras, is taking over as boss of the Adelaide Central Market and says he plans to turn it into one of the world’s best. Photo: Tait Schmaal/Adelaide Now.
They include prominent fruit and vegetable wholesalers, the Raschella family, as well as longer term investors such as Alex Siros, who established the Piaf perfumery chain in the 1960s, and has owned the Scout Outdoor Centre building since the early 1990s.
For the Maras family, after initially entering a 99-year ground lease with the State Government for the former produce market site in the East End, they took over the freehold interest in 2007, and now oversee dozens of properties in the precinct.
Mr Maras has played an important role over the years in positioning the East End as the main hub for the Adelaide Fringe, and while disappointed that Supercars have been pulled from the annual calendar, believes major events remain vital for traders in the precinct.
His son Steve, who joined the family business in 2007, agrees, and has continued to promote events in the precinct.
“From the start we wanted to brand this place as a place of living, wining, dining, shopping, entertainment and festivity – we had all of those things and in addition we would have these major events,” Steve told The Advertiser.
“We have the Fringe, WOMAD, we have the Ebenezer night markets during summer, we have Vardon Avenue, Ebenezer Place and Rundle Street shut down to cars for East End Unleashed in February and March, we have Winter Weekends with fire pits and live music – we’re real big on events because events bring people.”
Nikos Gatsos was born on December 8, 1911, in the Peloponnese Peninsula in southern Greece, in the village of Asea in Arcadia. Gatsos would study in both Tripoli and later Athens.
By the time he moved to Athens to study philosophy, he was already fluent in both English and French and familiar with famous Greek poets.
Gatsos was familiar with the work of Kostis Palamas and Dionysios Solomos and was a fan of Greek folk songs, as well as the trends of European poetry at the time.
The knowledge Gatsos gained helped him in his pursuit of becoming a successful poet himself.
While in Athens, Gatsos became life-long friends with poet Odysseas Elytis.
Nikos Gatsos was born on December 8, 1911. Photo: Ellines.com
Gatsos’ earliest published work came in the form of small but classical poems. He published his work in magazines Nea Estia (1931) and Rythmos (1933).
While publishing poems in magazines, Gatsos also enjoyed publishing critics, writing for magazines Makedonikes Imeres, Rythmos and Nea Grammata.
It was during the Nazi occupation of Greece in 1943 when he published his greatest work, Amorgos. It is well known that he wrote the poem in just one night, at a time when Greek citizens were at their most vulnerable to danger during WWII.
Amorgos was named after the island Amorgos, an island Gatsos never actually visited. It is a poem that has two potent themes throughout – loss and hope. Gatsos writes about these two themes in both a celebratory and agitated way.
The poem was a huge success for Gatsos, and the work was revered by Nobel Laureates Odysseas Elytis and George Seferis. Gatsos’ poem became highly inspirational and led to an increase in the post-war generation of Greek poets.
Despite all his success after its publication in 1943, it would become the only book he would publish during his renowned career. But despite this, Gatsos continued to publish poems in magazines, such as Elegya (1946) and The Knight and Death (1947). He also began writing songs.
Manos Hadjidakis, a famous Greek poet, set music to Gatsos’ poem Amorgos. It was highly successful and led to Gatsos becoming an influential figure for Greek composers, as a lyricist. Gatsos would also write for famous composers such as Theodorakis and Xarhakos.
Gatsos and composer Hadjidakis. Source: greeksongstories.wordpress.com.
His writing became revolutionary, as Gatsos’ writing was that of beauty and clarity, themes not often heard in Greek pop music at the time.
Later in his life, Gatsos left the world of songwriting, becoming an inspirational literary figure for Greek poets. He would often hold lectures in Athenian coffee shops, where intellectuals and writers would visit to learn from him.
On May 12, 1992, Nikos Gatsos passed away in Athens and was buried in his village of birth as he wanted.
Gatsos will always be remembered as one of modern-day Greece’s finest poets and lyricists, as his poems inspired a new generation of Greek poets, while his songwriting revolutionised Greek pop music.
Services Australia, which includes Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support, will close during the Christmas holiday period.
All service centres and most phone lines will close on:
Friday, 25 December 2020
Monday, 28 December 2020
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 and
Friday, 1 January 2021.
If you have to return a form or report your earnings for a Centrelink payment on one of these days, you will be able to report earlier than usual.
Services Australia will let you know if you have to report your earnings earlier.
If you do not need to return a form or report to get a payment, Services Australia may pay you early.
On public holidays, you can get information about your child support payments using the Child Support Info Service and your Child Support online account.
When service centres are closed, you can use your myGov account to access your online accounts, including your Centrelink online account. You can also use the Express Plus mobile apps and phone self service to check your reporting dates, update your details or report your earnings quickly and easily.
You can find out more information about holiday reporting by:
visiting servicesaustralia.gov.au/holidays
calling 131 202* to speak to someone in your language about Centrelink services and payments, or
calling the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) on 131 450* to speak to someone in your language about Medicare and Child Support services.
You can also read, listen to or watch information about Services Australia’s payments and services in other languages by visiting servicesaustralia.gov.au/yourlanguage
*Calls to ’13’ numbers from your home phone anywhere in Australia are charged at a fixed rate. This might differ from the local call rate and between phone providers.
Calls to ‘1800’ numbers from your home phone are free. Calls from public and mobile phones may be timed and charged at a higher rate.
Helena Smith has been The Guardian‘s Greece Correspondent for the last 30 years. In this time, she’s met resistance heroes, been quoted by former US President, Barack Obama, and covered the Golden Dawn era.
In a special interview with The Guardian to mark her 30 years of coverage, Smith left no question unanswered, discussing the highs and lows of her career, as well as the difficulties she’s faced reporting from Athens.
Making Greece her base:
On the question of how she came to be a correspondent in Greece in the first place, Smith says her history with the country began in her 20’s.
“All roads led to this part of the world fairly early on. My history with Greece began in my 20s, although I arrived here via Cyprus, where I spent some of my childhood,” Smith tells The Guardian.
“I initially trained as a cub reporter with the Associated Press, before working as a freelancer for various print media and the BBC. When communism collapsed and it was clear the Balkans were about to go up in flames, I took the decision to make Athens my base.”
The difficulties with reporting from Athens:
Smith goes on to say that she has had to cover a number of challenging Greek issues, and at one stage even received death threats during the Andreas Papandreou era.
“Every country has its challenges: writing about Greeks and Greece comes with its own set of perils. The Macedonian question, issues of identity, and ethnic and religious minorities are especially sensitive, as is the 1946-49 civil war and the tumultuous events that preceded it,” Smith explains.
“I received death threats during the Andreas Papandreou era, which prompted the British embassy to send a protection officer to “sweep” my then home.”
Career highlights:
For Smith, two of her biggest career highlights are her meeting with resistance hero, Manolis Glezos, and the moment Pope Francis waved in her direction when he visited Lesvos.
“Being denounced as a “dirty piece of rag” by Jean-Marie Le Pen’s Front National after swimming out to interview him on a floating deck off Corfu was unexpectedly flattering, closely followed by Pope Francis on Lesvos waving in my direction and the hundreds around me as he stepped on to the tarmac at Mytilini airport,” Smith says.
Helena Smith reported on Pope Francis’ visit to Lesvos. Photo: The Guardian.
The Greek correspondent goes on to say that Barack Obama’s reference to a piece she had written on his last international trip as US President, was also “seriously uplifting.”
“It was his final big speech on foreign soil and he chose to repeat the words of Melia Eleftheriadi, an Athens prefecture employee I’d interviewed at the height of the refugee crisis, saying it was women like her who gave him cause for hope,” Smith details.
Reporting on the debt crisis and the Golden Dawn trials:
In her 30 years of reporting, Smith has also covered two important events in the history of Greece – the debt crisis and the Golden Dawn era.
She recalls how the debt crisis began in late 2009 and “no one knew what was around the next bend… with potentially explosive effects for Europe.”
In 2015, she says, “the rollercoaster intensified” and “it was hard to recognise” Greece.
“It had become one big wound. I had friends who were badly affected and that was heartbreaking,” Smith says.
Smith also covered the debt crisis. This photo shows graffiti that says ‘I am suffering’ on a building in Athens. Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images.
“A decade after the 2004 Athens Olympics, people in middle-class districts beneath the Acropolis were struggling to feed themselves as hunger and malnutrition emerged in tandem with joblessness and homelessness.
“The crisis undoubtedly exposed the flaws of the state. But it also confounded expectations. Although struck by loss in myriad ways, Greeks exhibited admirable fortitude and became a poster child of the resistance and resilience of our age.”
On the Golden Dawn era, Smith recalls the moment when it felt like public sentiment towards the group was shifting.
“The murder of the popular anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013 was a turning point (for Golden Dawn),” says Smith. Photo: John D Carnessiotis/AP.
“The murder of the popular anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013 was a turning point. It took the assassination of a Greek by a professed Golden Dawn operative to galvanise public opinion and re-energise the anti-fascist movement,” she says.
“The era as we have known it is over. Golden Dawn fell victim to its own proclivity for violence. But it will be harder to stamp out the ideas that fuelled its meteoric rise.
“Far-right nationalists will want to regroup and may well be boosted if the pandemic’s corrosive effects are overly felt and migrants and refugees begin landing en masse on Greek shores again.”
A stark warning from a correspondent who has clearly seen and reported on some of the more striking issues in Greece.
