“Why Greece?” A Greek Miracle…

Edited:Katerina Nakou

Sources:

http://www.doctv.gr/page.aspx?itemID=SPG3451

http://pedroolalla.com/

 

An Audiovisual Conference by Pedro Olalla Gonzalez de la Vega

“What frightens me most is the level of disorientation of my fellow-citizens. What I fear is that most people are afraid to act. During the recent history of Democracy, politics has been devalued: it has become a private affair, whereby some networks, helped by their Governments, condemn entire nations to destitution so that they themselves can gain profit. People who are able can hardly get involved. This hurts Democracy , for Democracy is by definition a polity grounded in the virtue of citizens, without that element it lacks its foundations. Democracy presupposes a “demos”, people that are free and responsible, people with self- consciousness and self-respect, people who are determined to put them in practice. Where is that “demos” to be found today?”

Pedro Olalla González de la Vega, is a man of multiple virtues. He is an author, Hellenist, professor philologist, translator, photographer and filmmaker. He regularly collaborates in these fields, with publishers, universities and cultural institutions from various countries around the world. After twenty eight years, his relationship with Greece remains strong. Since 1994 he lives in Athens dealing with research, creating and teaching.

Last November, during the Classical Culture Day of Sagunto, by occasion of the New Spanish Educational reform that reduces the presence of humanities and particularly the study of Greek and Latin , Pedro Olalla gave an Audiovisual Conference on the importance of the Greek element in shaping culture.

“This humanistic attitude is not exclusively Greek-and it is repeatedly betrayed by the Greeks themselves. It was undoubtedly, however, conceived, cultivated, supported and retrieved again and again in the course of history, looking especially at the Greek element.

Greece as an ideal is a home eternal spiritual youth, an open challenge that runs through the story like a permanent revolution or as an enduring fascination for the better ... ".