It's everywhere, the evil eye. Today, we find it on jewelry, house decor, souvenirs, etc., but what is the history of this iconic cultural symbol? BBC explains...

"In essence, the curse of the evil eye is not a complicated concept; it stems from the belief that someone who achieves great success or recognition also attracts the envy of those around them. That envy in turn manifests itself as a curse that will undo their good fortune. The concept is well captured by Heliodorus of Emesa in the ancient Greek romance Aethiopica, in which he writes, 'When any one looks at what is excellent with an envious eye he fills the surrounding atmosphere with a pernicious quality, and transmits his own envenomed exhalations into whatever is nearest to him.'"

"The belief in this curse spans cultures as well as generations; to date one of the most exhaustive compilations of legends regarding the evil eye is Frederick Thomas Elworthy’s The Evil Eye: The Classic Account of an Ancient Superstition. Elworthy explores instances of the symbol in a number of cultures; from the petrifying gaze of Greek gorgons to Irish folktales of men able to bewitch horses with a single stare, virtually every culture has a legend related to the evil eye."

"Belief in the evil eye has transcended mere superstition, with a number of celebrated thinkers attesting to its veracity. One of the most notable examples was the Greek philosopher Plutarch, who in his Symposiacs suggested a scientific explanation: that the human eye had the power of releasing invisible rays of energy that were in some cases potent enough to kill children or small animals. What’s more, Plutarch claims that certain people possessed an even stronger ability to fascinate, citing groups of people to the south of the Black Sea as being uncannily proficient at bestowing the curse. More often than not, those said to be most adept at delivering the curse are blue-eyed, likely due to the fact that this is a genetic rarity in the Mediterranean area."

To read this article in full, please visit: BBC

Symbolizing love and liberty, the most popular opera in the French repertoire is being brought back to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus Theater by the GNO, directed by the famous British director, Steven Langridge, currently Artistic Director of the Gothenburg Opera.

Langridge’s Carmen was first staged at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus Theater in 2016 and is a contemporary, pointed, timely version set in a Europe of closed borders and poverty. Working with Giorgos Souglidis who designed the impressive sets and costumes, Giuseppe di Iorio who created the otherworldly lighting and Thomas Bergman who devised the ethereal video projections, Langridge has created a modern but also timeless setting for Carmen’s tale; “a tale about borders and poverty, freedom and slavery. A tale about today,” as the director himself put it.

One of the most iconic operas around, Carmen continues to provoke even today, just like when it first saw the light of day 142 years ago. An unconventional storyline, expressed through the then equally unconventional, but now extremely popular, music of Georges Bizet. The heroine of the piece defends her freedom and right to choose her lovers, not for them to choose her. She is a threat to male-dominated, patrrchal societies. Her choices threaten their very foundations. The only solution: get rid of her. The love-struck, ‘betrayed’ Don José takes on the task.

In French with English and Greek surtitles.

Within the framework of the Athens Festival!

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens opens its "home" to the general public and invites you to get to know the Propylaea, one of the most iconic places of remembrance of the Greek capital. Part of Athenian Trilogy, the most well-known and important Neoclassical buildings’ cluster in the city centre,the building of Propylaea founded in 1839, in drawings of the Danish architect Hans Christian Hansen.

Its halls constituted spaces for education, association, and protest. In its premises you can find the Greek Parliament, the National Library, numerous museums and workshops. In the interior and its precinct you can visit a series of ceremonial events (statues and column erections, anniversaries celebrations, etc.), while in the city geography, it constituted the eminent place of action, demonstrations and mergers.

The building decoration, with more characteristic mural in the interior façade of Propylaea, is one of the most important iconographic programs of the Greek 19th century. The architecture and painting served a narrative framework that closely connected the historical periods of Greek national history, while the sculpture program focused on recent history: Statues of important persons of Modern Greek history and columns of fallen in wars, works of Greek sculptures.

The tours include acquaintance with the Athenian trilogy and the visit to the Propylaea building. The tour duration is about 60' and will be made by Art historians of the Department of History and Archaeology , Michalis Giochalas and Pavlos Gkoygiannos, under the scientific supervision of the Associate professor of history of art in the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Athens Dimitris Pavlopoulos.

For the tours there is a symbolic price of €2 for adults and €1 for minors and special categories (includes special information brochure).

For reservations visit the Guided Tour Calender HERE!

 

The relation of ancient Greeks with technology was studied systematically only in the last decades, and it proved that besides achievements in art, philosophy and literature, ancient Greeks were exceptional in technology, as well.

The exhibition’s main thematic axe develops around “human activities”, focusing on man as body and intellect, as creator and user, as thinker, religious and social being, as measure of all things -as criterion and means of comparison.

The exhibition’s objects are life-size or scale models, reconstructed after the descriptions by ancient Greek authors and Arab translations; with the exception of architecture, ancient Greek technology constructions or tools could not be preserved for posterity as they were made of perishable or recyclable materials.

It should be underlined that many -if not all- of the technical achievements of ancient Greeks remained intact to our time, at least at their basic concept.

The Ancient Greek Technology exhibition is an effort to record, study and present the huge treasure of technical knowledge, which has been accumulated through centuries of continuous prosperity and development, in ancient Greece.

It concerns knowledge, which totally changed man’s life in all fields: from food production and consumption, clothing and conditions of living, to science and culture. Sometimes, it concerns knowledge which is now remembered by very few people as originating from that historic period (such as the automata, the steam-generator, etc.).

This Technology, so decisive for the ensuing progress of the world, is presented within the Ancient Greek Technology Exhibition. It is an interesting attempt, since Technology is part of the foundations of all aspects of civilization. Art, techniques, legends, political theories, fundamental philosophical queries and countless other aspects of the human spirit.

Days & Hours:

11 European partners with the same goal: to support up-and-coming media artists in order to create new works.

The OCC continues to support artistic practices positioned between art, science and technology through its participation, along with ten other partners, in The European Media Art Platform - EMAP which provides up-and-coming media artists working in the visual arts, design, film, music and sound with the chance to participate in residencies and to create new works to be presented at festivals and other events in partner-countries.

The platform's members are: Werkleitz Centre for Media Art (Germany), Onassis Cultural Centre (Greece), Ars Electronica Center (Austria), Bandits Mages (France), Foundation for Art & Creative Technology / FACT (UK), IMPAKT (Netherlands), Kontejner (Croatia), LaBoral Centro de Arte y Creación Indstrial (Spain), M-Cult (Finland), RIXC (Lithuania), WRO Center for Media Art Foundation (Poland)

Every Friday, the Restaurant on the second floor is open until 12 midnight offering special gourmet choices and beautiful night views of the Acropolis. The Restaurant renews its menu with seasonal dishes, using the finest products from every region of Greece, prepared in traditional methods.

Other than the special dishes based on traditional recipes, every Friday night the Acropolis Museum restaurant presents famous jazz music ensembles (musicians include Spyros Rontogiannis, George Tsiropoulos, George Mikros, Arionas Gyftakis and Christos Koromilas). Like every Friday, the restaurant is open until 12 midnight, offering a dinner menu from 8 p.m. onwards. 

For reservations, please contact the restaurant during Museum opening hours on +30 210 9000915. Visitors not wishing to dine at the restaurant are welcomed for a cold dish or dessert in a special restaurant area without reservation.

Athens & Epidaurus Festival is Greece’s foremost cultural festival and one of the oldest performing arts festivals in Europe (1955). Each year presents performances from acclaimed artists in theatre, dance, and music and attracts large audiences from around the world.

With a legacy that spans more than sixty years, today it incorporates a full programme of music, theatre, dance and visual arts. Performances at the two ancient theatres of Odeon Herodes Atticus and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus are highlights of the festival. Both are famous for their exemplary acoustics and many of the great works of classical playwrights such as Sophocles who premiered at the Epidaurus theatre in ancient times.

Other venues that the festival takes place include EMST, Megaron, Epidaurus Theater, Little Theater of Ancient Epidaurus, Ancient Stadium of Epidaurus, Odeon of Herodes, Benaki Museum, National Acheological Museum, Benizelos Mansion, the Athens Conservatory and more.

Click HERE to find out information on the events taking place this year!

As if we needed any more excuses to visit (or live in) Greece! From CNN Travel, here are their picks of the most beautiful places of Greece.

The largest island of the Cyclades, Naxos, combines Caribbean-looking sugar-sand beaches for sun-worshippers and a 3,000-foot mountain for hikers.

This island's wild landscapes are only matched by its unique ethnic culture. The village of Olympos is so cut off from the rest of the island that women still wear traditional embroidered dresses.

Andros is a green, lush island close to Athens and the birthplace of 20 ship-owning families who have endowed it with museums and art collections. Today in Andros, it's easier to navigate around the island by boat than car.

Knossos, according to tradition was the capital of the Minoan civilization, the first in Europe, and was inhabited from the Neolithic period (7000 BC) until Roman times. One of the few archeological sites in Greece to be partially restored, its big draws are the Throne Room and the remarkable frescoes still adorning the walls.

Mycenae, setting of the Homeric epics, became one of the first excavated sites in Greece when archeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered several grave mounds in the 1870s.

To read this article in full, please visit: CNN Travel

Read about the fascinating story and memories of an American girl visiting her beloved Athens after12 years, pay a visit to some of the city's many outdoor cinemas and discover the reasons behind the first Greek cultural center in Shanghai, China!

It is sometimes impossible not to love Greece and a couple from abroad proved it by moving to Lesvos and creating TrustedHousesitters.com, in order to look after pets while their owners are away. Anthony Bourdain explains his love about a particular Aegean island and a handy Greek phrase book will make your trip to Greece much easier!

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