LIFE & CULTURE
XpatAthens
Together We Thrive In 2025 & Beyond: A Journey With Valia Radiant Hearts
🌟 Practice Your Innate Wisdom and revive your intuition.
🌟 Rise Above Your Limitations and thrive with purpose and joy.
Together, let’s connect and celebrate the possibilities of 2025 and beyond!
Valia Radiant Hearts | Heal Your Life Greece
📧 valiazack@gmail.com
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The Stories Behind Athens' Suburb Names
1. Marousi: In Honor of Artemis
2. Kifisia: A Connection to the Kifisos River
The lush northern suburb of Kifisia owes its name to the Kifisos River, which flows through the region and historically played a vital role in the life of ancient Attica. The river, referenced in texts by ancient historians like Philochorus, served as a key water source and influenced the development of the surrounding area. Kifisia’s name reflects this geographical and cultural connection, emphasizing its historical ties to the natural landscape of Attica. Today, Kifisia is renowned for its verdant streets, elegant homes, and vibrant shopping districts, blending its natural heritage with modern sophistication.
3. Nea Smyrni: A Refugee’s Tribute
The name Nea Smyrni means "New Smyrna," a homage to the city of Smyrna (modern İzmir, Turkey) that was the homeland of Greek refugees who settled here in the 1920s following the Greco-Turkish War and the Asia Minor Catastrophe. The suburb preserves their rich cultural traditions through festivals, cuisine, and architecture, making it a lively and historical area.
4. Piraeus: The Ancient Port
Although often seen as a city in its own right, Piraeus is deeply intertwined with Athens’ identity. Its name comes from the word "Peiraeus," meaning "the place beyond the passage." This refers to the narrow land bridge that once separated the port from the mainland. Piraeus has been Athens’ gateway to the sea since antiquity, serving as a vital hub for trade, travel, and naval power.
5. Petralona: Stones & History
Petralona gets its name from the Greek words "petra" (stone) and "aloni" (threshing floor), a nod to the agricultural heritage of the area. It was once a rural region where threshing floors were a common sight. Today, its cobblestone streets, neoclassical houses, and proximity to the Acropolis make it a favorite for locals and visitors seeking a taste of old Athens.
6. Glyfada: From Salty Waters to Cosmopolitan Charm 
Glyfada, a prominent suburb along the Athens Riviera, derives its name from the Greek word "glyfo," meaning "salty" or "brackish." This nomenclature reflects the area's historical association with brackish water sources, particularly wells that produced saline water. YOUR ATHENS GUIDE In the 19th century, these brackish wells were notable landmarks in the region, influencing the naming of the area. YOUR ATHENS GUIDE Today, Glyfada has transformed from its humble beginnings into a vibrant, cosmopolitan suburb. Often referred to as the "Miami of Athens," it boasts upscale cafes, renowned restaurants, boutiques, and lively summer clubs, making it a central hub of the city's southern suburbs.
7. Zografou: The Artist’s Suburb
The suburb of Zografou owes its name to the Zografos family, whose name means "painter" or "iconographer" in Greek. The family owned much of the land in the area during the Ottoman and early modern periods. Today, Zografou is a lively area, home to major university campuses and a youthful population that contributes to its vibrant energy.
8. Kalithea: A Beautiful View
The name Kalithea means "beautiful view" in Greek, and it is believed to refer to the suburb’s panoramic vistas of the Saronic Gulf. Founded in the late 19th century, Kalithea quickly developed into a bustling urban area while retaining its picturesque charm.
To discover the stories behind even more suburb names, CLICK HERE!
Jim Kassavetis Quartet & Gilad Atzmon Live At Theatre Of The No
Note: The theatre features a bar with affordable prices (beer €3, spirits €6).
Blues Diffusion Live At Theatre of the No
Event Details
Date & Time: Friday, January 17th at 22:30
Tickets: €10
Note: The theater also offers a bar with affordable prices (Beer: €3, Drinks: €6).
Social Media: Kallia Gerakianaki
Press & Communication: Eleftheria Sakareli
Stegi Radio Takeover 2025: A Celebration Of Sounds & Stories
Two days, four stages, more than 30 artists from all over the world.
The Wonder Wanderers Retreat
For more info CLICK HERE!
About Elpida
Elpida Trizi brings to coaching more than 20 years of experience in corporate communication and international relations, of which 10 years abroad. Curiosity, growth mindset and her own self-discovery quest led her to coaching. Her coaching focuses on the whole person, heart and mind, body and soul, through a unique blend of storytelling, wellbeing practices and a compassionate presence. Elpida creates a safe space to explore deep emotions, allowing everyone to express themselves and choose from the heart -not only the head. She loves working with people who find themselves burned out or at a crossroads, inspiring them to create a life they love. Her own life experiences taught her the power of slowing down to awaken new possibilities and aligning who we are with what we do. Passionate about people and their stories across the globe, Elpida believes that connection is at the core of who we are and what we do. We all long to connect with ourselves, another person or group, even with something greater than us. More information about Elpida is available here.
About Tania
Tania Teixeira is a life leadership coach with approximately 20 years’ corporate experience, including public health and international relations. She has a passion for people, for experiencing deeper fulfillment and meaning in life, and the power of connection. Through travel, yoga and mindfulness, she discovered the value of slowing down and breathing, the strength in wandering and wondering, and getting "found" in the midst of something bigger, that lives at the heart of all of us. A believer in the gentleness of allowing and becoming, she loves to work with people seeking to be present in their lives, to embrace themselves fully and lead with intentionality and responsibility. Tania holds that everyone is a leader, and we can awaken to embrace our whole selves, especially the parts cast in shadow, with courageous kindness. She brings this integration to coaching and invites people to live their truest expression in the world with lightness and joy. More information about Tania is available here.
For more info CLICK HERE!
Miranda Verouli Quintet “Brazilian Romance” At THEATRE OF THE NO
Event Details
Miranda Verouli: voice, George Tsiropoulos: tenor saxophone/guitar
George Tsolis: piano, George Roulos: double bass, George Maniatis: drums
Credits:
Poster Design: Sotiria Bramou
Social Media: Kallia Gerakianaki
PR & Communication: Eleftheria Sakareli
Performance Date
Saturday 11th January at 22.30
Tickets: 10€
Note: The theatre also offers a bar with affordable prices (beer 3€, drinks 6€)
About THEATRE OF THE NO
Αn international performing arts centre, creating a colourful and multicultural hub for internationals and locals in the heart of Athens by curating a unique repertoire of artistic productions and performances in English including theatre plays, operas, comedy and music concerts.
Homer & The Continuing Adventure: Conversations With Paul Cartledge
What makes the Iliad and Odyssey so pivotal to the ancient Greeks, and to world culture in general now? Why so enthralling?
All human life is there. The Greeks being non-dogmatic polytheists didn’t have an equivalent of the Christian Bible or Islamic Qu’ran. But they recognized in the two monumental epic tales not just as entertaining stories (they contain plenty of those!) but also as sources of ethical instruction.
Does The Iliad have a lot to do with the anger of Achilles?
The Iliad’s guiding narrative thread or theme is the anger of the semidivine (his mother was the goddess Thetis, his father a mortal) warrior hero Achilles. Was Achilles justified in feeling so angry with his commanding officer at Troy, angry enough to withdraw from the fighting (and skulk in his tent) thereby endangering the whole operation to recover the stolen Spartan queen Helen of Sparta? Probably not. But he had a good death!
What are some of the lessons of Odysseus’ seemingly endless journey?
And what did the travels and travails of the hero Odysseus, king of a small rocky isle off western Greece, avail – avail either him (he lost all his men on the way back home from Troy) or his readers? What they did was teach the poem’s listeners and later readers what it meant to be Greek (as opposed to a non-Greek ‘barbarian’) and how to behave towards each other, not least in the matters of marriage, hospitality and sexuality. Odysseus is seduced and seduces more than once along the way back – one reason the journey from Troy to Ithaca took him ten whole years was that he ‘dallied’ for seven of them with a goddess called Calypso on her private island!
What an ending to the Odyssey! It’s triumphalist, ritualistic and very violent. Was it overkill, so to speak?
The poem’s climax – after Odysseus takes a singularly bloody, surely excessive (see above) revenge on the 108 suitors (who’d been vying to wed his presumed widow Penelope, another Spartan woman) – is his final reunion and reconciliation with his longsuffering, steadfastly loyal wife. And the poet is careful to remind us that Odysseus’s aged father Laertes is still alive and needs looking after – his mother Anticleia had sadly died during the 20 years her son was away from Ithaca; the only reunion he could achieve with her was with her bloodless shade, deep down in the Hades underworld. So the essentially family saga of the Odyssey perfectly complemented the martial derring-do of the Iliad.
Richard Marranca is an author who teaches ancient world, myth, and religion at Montclair State University. He writes for various print and digital publications, and his upcoming book, "Speaking of the Dead: Mummies & Mysteries of Egypt," will be published by Blydyn Square Books. Richard has had the honor of receiving a Fulbright to teach at LMU Munich and spent a semester in Athens during his doctoral studies at New York University. In his career, Richard has had the privilege of interviewing esteemed classicist Paul Cartledge on topics ranging from Alexander the Great to Greek philosophy.