Proceedings of the 6th Biennial International Conference of Greek Studies, 2005

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https://hdl.handle.net/2328/1736

The sixth Biennial Conference of Greek Studies held at Flinders University from 23 to 26 June 2005 marked an important step forward: it became an international conference, thus attracting a considerable number of specialists from Europe as well as academics and post-graduate students from Australia. Fifty-five papers were published in these Proceedings after being assessed as significant contributions to knowledge by scholars of international repute.

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Did Aristotle have a concept of 'intuition'? Some thoughts on translating 'nous'.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Baltussen, Han
In this paper Baltussen proposes to review existing translations of 'nous' in Aristotle in order to show that translating it as 'intuition' is problematic. A proposal to find a new direction for interpreting the term is given, based on a richer understanding of the modern notion of intuition in cognitive psychology. The paper ends by adding some passages to the usual set which deserve further investigation.
Zeno's Paradoxes.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Mortensen, Chris
In this paper Mortensen describes seven paradoxes, due to Zeno of Elea. He shows that they contain subtle arguments, not easily brushed aside. Resolution of the paradoxes in several cases requires nineteenth-century mathematics, which neither Zeno nor his contemporaries could have contemplated. In two cases, Mortensen contends that the paradoxes are not solved even today.
Linguistic Terms of Greek Origin in English and Bulgarian.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Shenkova, Svetla; Rousseva, Grozda
The Greek language has been the source of linguistic terms for centuries up to the present. Greek word-forming patterns, words and word elements were adopted and adapted into Latin (Neo-Latin) 1,500 years ago, and passed through Latin into many European and other languages, being used in the main for scholarly and technical purposes. The analytical study of language began in the second half of the first millennium BC in both Greece and India. The present day study of grammar descends from the Greek tradition and thus many Greek technical terms were converted into English (via Latin) and into Bulgarian (under more direct Greek influence — for historical and geographical reasons). The corpus of linguistic terms dealt with in this paper contains 696 English words and 248 Bulgarian words. They have been classified according to three criteria: the time they entered the language, the extent of their adaptation and the branches of linguistics they belong to.
Identity and Relations within Society: The Greek Experience in Australia.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Riak, Patricia
This paper is both introduction to and review of sociological insights that have contributed to understanding social dynamics that give definition to the social modelling of the Greek family in Australia. The paper concentrates on first generation Greek-born migrants and their children. It will explain the use of network analysis that has been researched for the Greek community in Australia. Network analysis will then be compared to systems theory. The comparison favours the relevance of network analysis in making social sense of migrant family structure in Australia.
Ancient Greece and the Origins of Science.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Gregory, Andrew
This paper was given as a public lecture to open the 2005 Conference of Greek Studies. It presents a case for locating the origins of science with the ancient Greeks. Although this was once a common view, it has come under fire in the latter part of the twentieth century. The main case is presented briefly, along with some new considerations in favour of the Greeks as the originators of science. There is then a discussion of some of the strategies that might be employed to counter some of the objections that have been raised, either relating to some of the weaknesses of Greek science or to some of the methodological issues involved in approaching ancient Greek science.
Tο γεγονός — η “ευεργεσία του έθνους”— η έκδοση
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Stathis, Gregorios
Please note: this article is written in Greek. In 1814, the Patriarchiate in the Fanari of Constantinople transformed the notation for religious chanting, from which came the so-called “new method”. In January 1815 there was founded a “new school” for teaching and disseminating this method. The new method of Greek music of Byzantine and neo-Byzantine melody, and the opening of the new school is the event which signifies an epoch in which there was a turning point in chanting in the Greek Orthodox Church. For the development and dissemination of the New Method and for the creation of the new school of music, around 1815, there circulated a Patriarchal Decree, in one page, sent as a Patriarchal Universal Message by the Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril the 6th, in the month of April or May of 1815. At the same time, an effort was made to translate all the Byzantine and Meta-Byzantine melodies into the system of the new method in a work which contains 62 “Exegitical Manuscripts”. This article, first, discusses the background history of notation and its use up till the transformation, and later discusses the exegetical work in the manuscripts.
O ίσκιος του ενδεχόμενου στο αφηγηματικό σύμπαν του Γ. Bιζυηνού
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Angelatos, Dimitris
Please note: this article is in Greek. This paper deals with aspects of fictional representation and modes of understanding reality in Vizyinos’s mature narratives. It maintains that Vizyinos’ writing broke with the 19th century modes of representation, namely romanticism (the historical novel) and the kind of “realism” which was developed under the premises of ethografia. Introducing new ways of delving into the characters’ inner life, Vizyinos’ narrative techniques challenged representation which rendered reality as either a transparent direct naturalness or a mediated reflective relationship between actuality and art (verisimilitude). Employing Genette’s narrative typology this approach argues that transparency is associated with zero focalization in which the omniscient narrator has an absolute authority and control over the character’s actions and inner thoughts. Consequently, in narratives of sorts, human existence is rendered transparent through the narrator’s penetrating viewpoint. Reversely, in Vizyinos writing the internal focalization manifests itself through the alleged incapacity of an autobiographic narrator to offer a complete account of events and thoughts of the past. To construct his retrospective representation the narrator draws upon the characters’ experience expressed through their personal and momentary testimony upon the thoughts and the actions of the past. The proximity between narrator and character and the latter’s subjective point of view set the terms of an ellipsoid narrative structure unsettling the tradition of naturalness and verisimilitude. Thus, contradiction and suspense become the main characteristics of this narrative in which subjectivity is unsettled, often reduplicated and opaque. Accordingly, the enigmatic titles, the intricate plot and the characters’ ambiguous presence in the narrative turn the quest for truth into an obstructed race. Dealing with the fluid and ambiguous consciousness of the inner world, representation, here, works for the moment of uncertainty; it enacts a multi-perspective world of potential versions of truth, putting at stake reality and verisimilitude. The shadow of contingency looms over this ellipsoid narrative and by revealing and concealing at the same time facts and thoughts it creates an enigmatic atmosphere reinforced by titles such as “Who was my brother’s killer” or “My mother’s sin” or “Moskof Selim”.
Éloge des larmes: Με λογισμό και δάκρυα
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Tsianikas, Michael
Please note: this article is in Greek. When and why do people cry? This is a very interesting cultural question, in particular if we are examining this topic throughout the development of different cultures. In this paper I will only try to focus on selective periods that will allow us to understand the cultural diversity of crying. At first, I will refer briefly to the ancient Greek culture when, for example, Plato, in his “perfect” Republic does not allow people to weep publicly. Later when a more “popular” Christianity arises, tears are more frequent than in the first period of Christianity. An important part of this paper will then focus on the Romanticism and especially the Modern Greek Romanticism with specific references to Kalvos and Solomos. It seems that in Solomos’ poetry tears are becoming less frequent in his late or “mature” period. Then I will examine Kariotakis’, Cavafis’ and Egonopoulos’ works. Finally, I will focus on Pentzikis’ “compositions” using references from various texts: in particular I will focus on Pentzikis’s text “With reason and tears” from his book “Water Overflowing”. This will allow us to interconnect Solomos’ mind and Pentzikis’ “inter-lect” and I will conclude that in Pentzikis’ “dictional” creation nothing separates tears and reason — and that spiritual or material bodies arise together in an un-cultural landscape full of waters and dry stones.
The Significance of Plato's Notions of Beauty and Pleasure in the Philosophy of Kant
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) McMahon, Jennifer
Plato conceived of the Form of Beauty as quite distinct from the Form of the Good. Beauty was a means to the Good. The ascent theory of the Symposium has suggested to some commentators that Plato envisaged two kinds of beauty, the sensuous and the intellectual, and that to reach the Good we must transcend our sensuous desires and cultivate an appreciation of intellectual beauty. However, in the Laws Plato presents us with a third notion of beauty, which is neither sensuous nor intellectual. To experience beauty we need to cultivate our pleasure in harmonious forms. This is where we find a theory of beauty that resonates in Kant’s aesthetic theory. According to the latter, the feeling for beauty is a feeling for harmony that takes us beyond the confines of a world marked out by self-interest. I conclude that Plato’s aesthetic theory anticipates the role that aesthetic judgment would play in Immanuel Kant’s system of the mind.
Committee.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007)
This item lists the names of the Organising and Academic Committees for the Sixth Biennial International Conference on Greek Research.
Plato's Ring of Corruption.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Spence, Edward H
Although corruption has been widely reported and is easily recognized, often unfortunately after the event, its nature and causes are usually not well understood and remain for the most part conceptually unclear. This conceptual lack of clarity concerning the nature of corruption helps perpetuate its reign. In order to provide a better conceptual and ethical understanding of corruption, I have developed a philosophical model that seeks to conceptually identify, explain and ethically evaluate corruption through first identifying and defining its characterizing features. To that end, the paper will provide a philosophical account of contemporary corruption by determining, through an analysis of the Myth of Gyges in Plato’s Republic, the essential features that characterize corporate and other types of corruption. The analysis will adopt an applied philosophical approach, one that will attempt to reveal the significance and relevance of Plato’s Myth of Gyges for an applied philosophical understanding of contemporary corruption.
Aristotle: Critic or Pioneer of Atomism?
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Chalmers, Alan F
Aristotle is typically construed as a critic of atomism. He was indeed a critic of atomism of the extreme kind formulated by Democritus, according to which bulk matter is made of nothing other than unchangeable pieces of universal matter possessing shape and size and capable of motion in the void. However, there is a weaker kind of atomism involving the assumption that macroscopic substances have least parts which have properties sufficient to account for the properties of the bulk substances that they are least parts of. Insofar as atomism has been vindicated by modern science, it is the weaker version of atomism that has proved to be profitable. The beginnings of the weaker version of atomism are to be found in Aristotle. Far from being an opponent of atomism, there is a sense in which Aristotle was one of its pioneers.
Modern Greek History Textbooks: Another Approach to Social Aspects of the Asia Minor Disaster.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Tirekidis, Chrysoula
The events of the Asia Minor Disaster have become a corner stone of Modern Greek historiography, while the social repercussions are neglected. This paper proposes to examine a sample of Modern Greek history textbooks regarding the information they provide on the social aspects of the settlement and assimilation of refugees in Greece post-1922. Since these textbooks have very little on this issue, possible reasons for this are offered, as is a feasible approach to teaching this topic in history textbooks. The overall aim of the paper is to open a discussion on the possibility of including this social history in Greece’s official history textbooks, through the addition of oral testimonies and fiction according to specific selective criteria.
Η αμφισβήτηση της αποικιοκρατίας σε κυπριακά πεζογραφήματα
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Herodotou, Maria
Please note: this article is in Greek. This paper examines the way in which two prose writings of Cyprus challenge the colonial thought and domination during a specific historical moment, i.e. while the armed struggle against the British colonial rule is being fought. It begins with a general introduction to the theme of challenging colonialism and then focuses on the examination of two specific literary works: "Liberty Street-Death Stop" (Kastaniotes, 1997) by Sophocles Lazarou and "My Brother the Traitor" (Kalendis, 2003) by Kostas Giorgallides. The aim of this examination is to add the paradigm of the Cyprus colonial experience to the general universal experience of colonialism. Today an increasing number of critics accept the view that the colonial experience is to a great extent a textual experience as well. Consequently, literary works can play a vital role in projecting contesting meanings, which are embedded in the colonial experience (rulers–oppressed, dominance–resistance, terrorism–heroism, nationalism–postnationalism, etc).
The Greek-Australian Unemployed Movement and the Construction of the Migrants' Rights Discourse.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Nicolacopoulos, Toula; Vassilacopoulos, George
This paper will present a brief history of the organised attempts within the Greek-Australian communities to address the problem of high unemployment in the 1950s. Focusing on the formation and work of the Greek Migrants’ Unemployed Committee in Melbourne, we will argue that the Committee’s appeal to migrants’ right to work initiated the social processes that were to draw the Greek-Australian communities into the emerging rights discourse of the times. The political campaigns for the rights of the unemployed consequently paved the way for migrant workers’ formulation of their future demands to the Australian state for equal rights and social justice.
Migration to Greece: A New Type and Emerging Problems.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Alipranti-Maratou, Laura
Greece is a country with an age-long tradition in emigration and population movements due to specific historical factors. In the twentieth century certain political, economic and family reasons caused a large outflow of Greeks and nearly one million emigrated to western Europe (mostly Germany) and overseas countries (USA, Canada, Australia etc). However, in recent years Greece has witnessed a major reversal of historical patterns and become the hosting country of a large number of immigrants. Since the early 1980s, immigration has increased considerably and Greece has become an immigration country and an attractive destination or transit point for illegal migration. Contemporary migrations are more likely to be of a transnational nature. Given that context, this study presents recent movements of foreign population in Greece which are though to have induced a 'new' type of migration. It will also refer to emerging problems.
Aristotle and the Eternal Caterpillar.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Couvalis, Spyridon George; Roux, Suzanne Raymonde
Design arguments are arguments from apparent purposiveness to the conclusion that there is an intelligent deliberating being who planned the order in the world. Socrates and Plato put such arguments. Empedocles, Democritus and Epicurus argue that all such purposiveness, except for the action of intelligent beings like humans or gods, is only apparent. We point out that both camps share the common assumption that all cases of working for the sake of something involve intelligent deliberation. Using Aristotle, we argue that this assumption is false. Unintelligent creatures can act for the sake of something. We use this argument and Aristotle’s further remarks to also argue that this shows that if there were a designer of the universe which acted for the sake of producing living things, it might well be an unintelligent designer, like an eternal caterpillar.
Darwinian Thought in Grigorios Xenopoulos' "Athenian Letters".
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Zaramis, Maria
While literary writers have responded creatively to Darwinism since its beginnings with "The Origin of Species" (1859), literary scholarship has reacted accordingly — but not within Greece. Literary scholarship which takes a Darwinian approach to the various genres of modern Greek literature is scant in proportion to the plethora of scholarship on non-Greek Darwinian literature. This paper is derived from a section of my doctoral thesis which examines Darwinian and other evolutionary thought in the early twentieth-century writings of Grigorios Xenopoulos. The paper provides a synoptic view of the Darwinian thought in selected letters written by Xenopoulos in the children’s magazine Η Διάπλασις των Παίδων ('The Children’s Guidance'), which was published between 1879 and 1948. It focuses on the gender issue, the issue of religion versus science and in particular creationism versus evolution theory; and finally Xenopoulos’ use of Darwinian concepts, such as gradualism, in discussing human character. The paper not only provides some insight into Xenopoulos but also reflects the impact of evolutionary ideas in society at the time, at a local and international level.
Military Recruitment and Selection in a British Colony: The Cyprus Regiment 1939-1944.
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Kazamias, Georgios
Between 1939 and 1945, several thousand Greek and Turkish Cypriots enlisted and served in the Cyprus Regiment, a colonial regiment of the British Army. Using archival material, this paper aims to examine the parameters set by the colonial authorities for the recruitment and selection of the personnel (Cypriot and other). Seen in this context, the selection of personnel for the regiment offers us an interesting vantage point from which to explore the relationship between the British authorities and their Cypriot subjects during the watershed years of the Second World War.
Η εξ αποστάσεως διδασκαλία σε τμήμα αρχαρίων: η τηλετάξη του Ντάργουιν: προβλήματα και προοπτικές
(Department of Languages - Modern Greek, 2007) Frazis, George
Please note: this article is written in Greek. In this paper the new programme of Modern Greek which is delivered through Flinders University (South Australia) to Charles Darwin University (Darwin) is described, analyzed and evaluated. The programme focuses on the delivery of Modern Greek to students of non-Greek background through a number of mediums including video teleconferencing. Within the scope of delivery there is marrying between, new technologies with synchronous and asynchronous communication as well as face to face instruction. This paper examines the results of a questionnaire given to students in the first stages of the programme.

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