Greek Culture Research Articles

Closed Fracture Treatment in Adults, When is it Still Relevant?

INTRODUCTIONFracture treatment has been documented since the times of ancient Egyptian and Greek civilization, with fracture reduction techniques and the apparatus for immobilization developed over three millennia. Over the last 150 years, aseptic technique, anesthesia, antibiotics, and internal implants have changed how orthopedic specialists approach fracture care. More recently, there has been an increased promotion in the medical literature to evaluate the clinical outcomes of nonsurgical treatment of common upper and lower extremity closed fractures.METHODSIn this paper, the authors review the history of closed extremity fracture treatments, outline contemporary studies regarding treatments of non-displaced fractures, and discuss the recent literature that has informed orthopedic surgeon-patient decision-making discussions regarding closed fracture management.CONCLUSIONSBased on the results of this literature review, orthopedic providers should consider the preferable outcomes associated with nonoperative fracture management such as lower infection rates, the possibility of rapid functional improvements and lower healthcare costs. Nonoperative methods for closed fractures can sometimes be more safely delivered even with more difficult fractures. This may be of particular benefit to patients with higher surgical risks, minimizing exposure to treatments that are not only more invasive and expensive, but that can impose greater postoperative risks.

Christian Intellectuals and the Roman Empire: From Justin Martyr to Origen. By Jared Secord

In this valuable and stimulating work, Jared Secord argues that Christianity was not the most important consideration when a Christian intellectual interacted with non-Christians, particularly imperial authority. He writes that ‘they depicted themselves as full participants in the intellectual culture of the Roman Empire and were judged on this basis’ (p. 2). He draws support for this from both Christian and non-Christian figures. As Romans appropriated Greek culture, ‘in the first century bce, Greeks and Romans imagined a future that was based on Greece restored to its classical past, with Romans as its leaders, who proved to be much more Greek in their ancestry than had previously been believed’ (p. 19). This was possible due to a concept passed to the Romans through their Greek education, eugenia. The idea that a thinker was subject to the benefits and limitations of their intellectual ancestry, much as was a statesman, meant that the ‘lineage’ of an intellectual dictated their networking success in Roman society (pp. 11–19). The Greek perspective that the Asiatic world was barbarous and in need of taming became a mission passed to the Romans, and celebrated by writers such as Dionysius and emperors such as Hadrian. This drove Christian intellectuals to define themselves in terms of their Greekness, as attempted by Justin Martyr and attained by Clement, Julius Africanus, and Origen, or in terms of their rejection of Greekness, as in Tatian, less successfully. Although Tatian famously rejected the received rules of the game and insisted his thought was superior by virtue of his avoidance of Greek philosophy, Secord points out that in so doing, several aspects of his rejection betray rather Greek assumptions.

Professionalism and Amateurism in Modern Olympic Sports

The Olympic Games were not the only major sporting event in ancient Greek civilisation. The Nemean, Pythian and Isthmian Games were held simultaneously. After the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, modern Olympic sport has passed a difficult, albeit not so long-term path. But even earlier, around the middle of the XIX century, professional sports began to form in the developed countries of Europe and the United States. The appearance of professional athletes, both in the ancient world and in modern history, was essentially the result of those significant changes that occurred in the economic, social and political aspects of human life at the stages of its development and the evolution of sports competitions. It can be argued that professional sports (both in ancient and modern times) arose as a particular human activity, the content of which was sports. However, the problem of amateurs and professionalism in modern Olympic sports and the Olympic movement was one of the most significant in the context of introducing Olympic ideals into the life of society, solving the problem of “fair play” and allowing athletes to participate in major international competitions (Olympic Games, World Championships, etc.).

World demographic policy: origins and evolution

The article reveals the fundamental principles of the origin and development of world population policy on the example of the earliest civilizations in the history of mankind. Contrary to the popular stereotypes about the emergence of the first practices of this policy during the period of ancient Chinese and ancient Greek civilizations, the article provides a reasoned justification for the earlier origin, formation and dynamic development of the practice of political and legal regulation of family and demographic processes. The authors pay special attention to the terminological foundations and the specifics of the interpretation of key concepts in the context of the subject field of the article. Using a wide range of sources, including historical evidence, works of art, statements of ancient authors (poets and historians), teachings, treatises, codes of laws, etc., the article concludes that the normative regulators of marriages, divorces and reproductive behavior were fully formed during the period under review. Analysis of the primary normative practices in the field of regulation of family and demographic processes show the clear link of ancient methods of influencing the components of demographic dynamics with the modern understanding of the essence and content of population policy in its global international meaning. Demonstrating the systemic nature of the ancient samples of this kind of state policy, the authors come to a structural presentation of its basic principles, the history of which dates back to the emergence of the phenomenon of statehood.

The Symbol of the Phoenix in the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome and Its Transformation in Early Christianity

The presented study deals with the oldest Christian depiction of a phoenix found in the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome. Since catacomb art is a narrative depiction of biblical stories, it is important to incorporate the motive of phoenix into historical context. The study performs analysis and comparison the links and connections of the phoenix symbol in pagan and Christian thought. As Christian iconography is associated with allegorical symbols, the intention is to anticipate the meaning, origin and etymology of the phoenix symbol. The article therefore summarizes how the symbol and position of the phoenix found in the catacombs evolved from Egyptian myths through Greek and Roman culture to the transformation in Christian literature and Christian thought, especially in the Gospel of John, which connects the symbol of the phoenix with the palm and Lazarus.

Reclaiming the Classics for a Diverse and Global World Through OER

In the 2019–20 academic year, I redesigned a course on the classics to make both the texts and the context in which they were taught more accessible for and relevant to the predominantly female students of Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame. The course was re-centered on the dialogue between the ever-evolving and diverse cultures within Greece and the Roman empire and surrounding regions such as Egypt, Ethiopia, and Persia; issues caused by slavery and economic inequality; conceptions of gender roles and sexuality, race and ethnicity, and migration and citizenship; the troubling appropriation of classical motifs and texts by fascist groups in the twentieth century and some alt-right groups and sexual predators in the twenty-first century; and on recent initiatives meant to demonstrate the diversity of both Greek and Roman cultures through documentary, artistic, and archaeological evidence (particularly in the digital humanities and in museums and libraries). I also wanted to make the course close to zero cost for students and to shift to digital texts which lent themselves to interactivity and social scholarship. Our librarian, Catherine Pellegrino, obtained multi-user e-books for modern reinterpretations of classical works still in copyright. A LibreTexts grant enabled the co-authors of this article—the course instructor (and lead author) and two paid student researchers—and a team of summer-employed student collaborators to edit, footnote, and create critical introductions and student activities for various key texts for the course. Many of these texts are now hosted on the LibreTexts OER platform. Beta versions of enriched OER texts and activities were user tested in a synchronous hybrid virtual/physical classroom of twenty-five students, who were taking the course (HUST 292) in the fall semester of 2020.

Greek High Culture in Hellenistic and Early Imperial Bithynia

Abstract The article attempts to set out evidence for various forms of Greek high culture in Bithynia from the fifth century BC to the middle of the third century AD, taking as a cut-off point the tetrarchic period in which Diocletian’s choice of Nicomedia as a capital had a marked impact on its and other Bithynian cities’ cultural life. The preliminary prosopography lists representatives of Greek culture by city, subdividing into the categories doctor, grammaticus, historian, philosopher, poet, rhetor or sophist, and scholar (with a sprinkling of other performers). Only Nicaea, with 30 names, makes a strong and persistent showing; of other cities only Nicomedia musters more than 10 names, though Prusa and Prusias ad mare produce several doctors. Prusias ad Hypium, by contrast, can boast only a single philosopher, perhaps a rhetor who moved to Nicaea, and a visiting tragic performer.

Revisiting the Natures of War: Aegean Islands and the Ecologies of Displacement during the Civil War (1946–1949)

Military geographies have engaged with the subject of nonhuman nature in diverse and fruitful ways, mainly under the analytics of environment, landscape, territory (and terrain), and the more-than-human. Despite the diversity of contexts studied, spaces of displacement have not drawn scholarly attention within this literature. Starting from the position that human–nonhuman relations are emplaced, we offer an exploration into the natures of forced displacement during war. Specifically, we show that by extending our vision to spaces of displacement, we can see militarized nature under new, including more hopeful, lights. Drawing empirical material from the published memoirs of women and men displaced to the islands of the Aegean archipelago during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949), we make a twofold case. First, spaces of displacement should be seen as key in the study of militarized geographies, as they explode the ways militarized nature is understood to be reproduced. Second, nonhuman nature, in the context of the spaces of displacement, can act as a vector of emplacement, resistance, resilience, and reworking against the violence of the post–World War II liberal state.

Wronged bodies: gendering human rights abuses in contemporary Greek poetry

ABSTRACT This article surveys the ways in which contemporary Greek poetry unveils human rights abuses in Greek society in order to push for law and social policy reforms that protect gender identity, expression, and freedom as well as holding governments and institutions accountable for their enforcement. In the context of feminist, anti-fascist, and queer rights activism in Greek culture and society, this analysis discusses how poetry that exposes femicide and queer violence challenges the provisions of both Greek law and the universality of human rights. Stemming from post-human feminist and queer critiques of dominant ethno-patriarchal structures, poetry becomes a medium of collective mourning, public commemoration, and justice-seeking for victims of hate crime, homophobia, racism, and misogyny. For the past decade, such interventions have reinforced the formation of a counter-archive of poetry responding to the aftermath of violence and hatred levelled at LGBTQ communities, women, and immigrants in Greece. Aiming at rendering visible the lives and deaths of victims of gender-based violence such as Zak Kostopoulos/ Zackie Oh, Eleni Topaloudi, and Vaggelis Giakoumakis, this article seeks also to examine how the horizon of poetry can be reformulated as one of social sustainability that interrogates the crisis of biopolitical survival.

A House of One’s Own: Greek Culture in The Fatal Three and One Thing Needful

ABSTRACT In many of her works Mary Elizabeth Braddon alludes to ancient Greece for various aims. By focusing on One Thing Needful (1886) and The Fatal Three (1888), two novels that include references to Greek culture, this essay investigates Braddon’s negotiation with the classics. Whereas in The Fatal Three Braddon gives a mythical framework to a story that takes inspiration from topical issues such as the Deceased Wife’s Sister Marriage Act and reconfigures Sappho’s story, in One Thing Needful she reflects on female genius and on the proper education for women (related to the importance of studying classical literature) by way of indirect allusions to her own struggle for success at the beginning of her literary career. Both texts demonstrate Braddon commenting on the challenges women faced to gain equality.

Do Jews Have Nature?

This essay concerns the idea of nature in Judaism. It is a part of my ongoing reflection on the relations between our ecological concerns and the various cosmological, anthropological, and ontological conceptions in our different intellectual traditions, such as Jewish traditions of text and thought. I examine how contemporary philosophy has interpreted the meaning of nature in Judaism, in contrast with Greek civilization, focusing on the works of Martin Heidegger, Hans Jonas, and Emmanuel Levinas. There are three different and competing constellations of the Greco-Jewish contrast, as defined by what is criticized and what is affirmed: one is pro-Greek and anti-Jewish; another is pro-Jewish and anti-Greek; and another, the most complex, is anti-Greco-Jewish and pro- some other alternative. This essay does not simply attribute each of the three constellations to Heidegger, Jonas, or Levinas; rather, it shows how a careful hermeneutics can reveal more than one constellation in each thinker, depending on the text or reading.

Didática do Inferno: teatro, pandemônio, tradução

ABSTRACT This paper examines the word didactics, starting from its vernacular usage and moving towards its genesis in Greek culture. Against the philologists, it wants to know the usage values that are inside the word. When the current use of the term is investigated, obtained from dictionaries, the choice of the Greek word from Christian texts is identified as much more of the first use, inscribed in the archaic Greek theatre. This forgetfulness, like repression, reveals the instinctual investment that the subject contains. Hence, the hypothesis of this text is that, despite its efforts from the second half of the 20th century onwards, didactics holds in the field a metaphysics of presence that finds an ideal of human being. In order to distance itself from this conception, it choses to follow Sandra Corazza’s philosophy of hell towards a didactics of the infernal that considers, on the one hand, the fractures of a diabolical thought and, on the other hand, its assumption as a transcreation of didactics.

Soviet-Greek church relations as a factor of post-war stabilization in the world (1946–1953)

We consider the role of religion and religious leaders in the Soviet foreign policy towards Greece. The reasons for the conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Greek Church were not rooted in religion, the cultural divide between the two autocephalous churches was transferred into the sphere of political regulation. On the issue of Russian monasteries on Mount Athos, we considered the Soviet-Greek church relations from 1946 to 1953. The events described took place during the Greek Civil War – 1944–1949, and the first years after it. Based on the documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the letters of Patriarch Alexy I to the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, which are stored in it, the nature of the actions of Soviet representatives on the issue of Russian monasteries on Athos, we analyze and made an assessment of the actions of church representatives of the USSR in the line of external church relations. Based on the analysis of the source documentary material, we concluded that the USSR projected ideological dogmas on its foreign policy in the Orthodox world as well. Greek Civil War 1944–1949 showed the dependence of the confessional sector of Greek society on the political component. The political confrontation between the USSR and the USA turned out to be decisive in the adoption of the pro-Western state course of Greece, including in the religious society. It is shown that the peculiarities of the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches, as participants in international relations, are the close coordination of their international activities with the work of the relevant state political institutions. The role of church diplomacy for establishing communications between the two states regarding the deplorable situation of Russian monasteries on Mount Athos is shown, and we make a conclusion about the peacekeeping potential of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is emphasized that based on the centuries-old experience of cooperation between politics and religion, we can talk about the existence of similar positions in the field of regulation of social activity.

THE INFLUENCE OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY ON ISLAMIC CULTURE AL-TAWHIDI IS A MODEL

The East, with its ontological history, is full of religions, and the spirituality of the eastern mind is evident in its love for the literature of proverbs and wisdom that it was able to formulate, and its sanctification of the word is only due to its magical impact on himself; It is his consolation for his painful reality! It deals with its concepts and religious and worldly matters, and that he did not digest Greek philosophy until after the writers presented it with short sentences with wise meanings from the sayings of its philosophers! It is known that wisdom and proverbs are advice, guidance, advice and exhortation, expressing a subjective experience, length of contemplation and insight into life matters, and they often have moral dimensions and that they are suitable for all human societies in a time and place. The concept of culture is so complex that it includes all human aspects. Speaking about the impact of Greek culture on Arab culture or even the presence of multiple connections, it stems from the phenomenon of influence and influence. Greek philosophy was mixed with Islamic thought and culture in the Abbasid era in general, and Arabic literature in general. In particular, it became one of the tools of expression, and the Greek philosophical culture penetrated into the Arab culture (its terms, concepts and sayings of its philosophers) until it spread in its three types: pure philosophical culture, literary philosophy, and philosophical literature. Islamic Society As the names of Greek philosophers gained popularity among members of society in all its classes! The research focused on the issue of the impact of Muslim writers on the dissemination of Greek philosophical culture in the Abbasid era, taking from Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. 414 AH / 1023 AD) as a model; Although al-Tawhidi was not unique in mixing literature with philosophy; But it is a typical example of the writers of the Abbasid era who were influenced by Greek philosophy and whose literary culture was mixed with Greek philosophy. Greek philosophy has spread among members of the Islamic community by publishing the wisdom, proverbs and sayings of Greek philosophers and scientists. The research was divided into three sections that dealt with the first topic: the relationship between literature and philosophy, while the second topic: the reasons for monotheistic influence on Greek philosophy, and the third topic: it follows the impact of Greek philosophy with the works of monotheism.

Translating in Spite of Stereotypes: On the First Comprehensive Poetic Translation of Seneca’s Tragedies into German

The first complete poetic translation of Seneca’s tragedies into German was made in Bohemia, at the time part of the Habsburg monarchy, in the years 1821–1830 by the Czech national revivalist poet and philologist Václav Alois Svoboda (1791–1849). His translation of the Roman playwright raises several important questions. It is not only interesting that the author was strongly influenced by the “Sturm und Drang” movement and wrote radical freethinking poems in the group of patriotic students. One must also consider the influences of Neo- Humanism, which promoted Greek culture, since Svoboda translated Schiller, Goethe and the poetry of German Romanticism and corresponded with de la Motte-Fouqué, Goethe, and Wilhelm Humboldt. Why did Svoboda fight against contemporary contempt for Seneca’s tragedies? Why did he not choose some Classical Greek plays in accordance with the general preferences of the period and current stereotypes about “perfect Greece” and “decadent Roman culture”?

Святоотеческий «Предвечный совет» в литературе XIII–XXI вв.

The article discusses three options for understanding the term “ Council” by the Church Fathers and secular poets who echoed them. Maximus the Confessor, John of Damascus, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, G. R. Derzhavin conceived this “Council” as an eternal plan for the creation and salvation of the world. Athanasius the Great and Milton spoke of the Son’s consent to atone for Adam's sin. Filaret of Moscow interprets the “Eternal Council” as a meeting of the Persons of the Trinity. Attention is focused on the word game κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν… πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου “according to the Council… before the creation of the world” from the Epistle to the Ephesians, which is hinted at by Eusebius of Caesarea, and it is noted that the use of the phrase “Eternal Council” is typical for the authors of Greek culture.

Judaizm hellenistyczny a antropologia

Antagonism and convergence seem to be two basic options in Judaism's relation to Hellenism. Hellenism influenced a Jewish culture and religion. This influence was characterized by philosophical content and mentally religious, the Greek culture of concepts and thinking. In anthropology it manifested itself in the form of, inter alia, dualistic antagonism, but preserving the Hebrew holism. The Septuagint faced the Hellenistic concept of man, especially Wis. and 4Mac. These writings took into account the pressure on Judaism of Hellenic rationalization of thought, as well as Hellenistic universalism and cosmopolitanism. Anthropological issues in Hellenic Judaism indicate the attractiveness and usefulness of Hellenic anthropology for understanding the biblical vision of man.

“Demonic, Ecstatic Antiquity”: On the Interpretation of Myth in the Opera “Elektra” by Richard Strauss — Hugo von Hofmannsthal

The opera “Elektra” is of particular significance for Richard Strauss. It opens an ancient line in his musical and theatrical legacy and is at the same time the culmination of expressionist tendencies in his work. It also marks the start of Strauss’s collaboration with H. von Hofmannsthal as librettist. The tragedy of Hofmannsthal focuses on trends typical of the new understanding of antiquity in the second half of the 19th century. An interest in the archaic, in ancient cults and rituals representing the irrational aspects of Greek culture, is brought to the forefront. Hofmannsthal’s “Electra” was one of the first literary works to embody the new image of Greece. In the course of work on the opera, a particular role played the treatise on matriarchy in the pre-Hellenistic era “Das Mutterrecht” (1861) by J. J. Bachofen. It acquired unexpected relevance at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries when matriarchy was anxiously perceived as a resurgent world order. Hofmannsthal’s “Electra” appears as the realm of matriarchy. The concentration on the image of the title character, the embodiment on the stage of a short but key segment of her life, the raging of dark passions make Elektra a characteristic phenomenon of expressionist theatre. In Strauss’s opera the role of Elektra is further expanded. With the help of sharp stylistic contrasts in the musical characterization of the heroine, Strauss conveys the dissociation of her personality, her loss of identity. For Strauss, “Elektra” was the culmination of extreme emotional states that demanded the use of the most daring, within his style, compositional means. “Elektra” marks a turning point in the composer’s work. His next opera is “Der Rosenkavalier”, written in an entirely different style. Strauss’s subsequent operas on ancient themes are also very far from the irrationalist and innovative pathos of “Elektra”.

Affirming the Pandemic or Aversion to Life? A Nietzschean Assessment

This paper is a reflection on the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on social life and draws on Nietzsche’s views on pessimism, will to power and affirmation. The question that lies at its centre is what it means to experience the pandemic with an affirmative or a life-negating attitude. It aims to open up a space for discussion for how the pandemic actually is or can possibly be experienced affirmatively. In order to do so, first of all it provides an outline of Nietzsche’s analysis of the ancient Greek culture and the Greek myth of the wisdom of Silenus and secondly Nietzsche’s critique of the ascetic ideal. Lastly, putting the two topics side by side, it explores reactions towards the current pandemic on a scale of economy ranging from preservation to enhancement.

К ВОПРОСУ О ДУХОВНОСТИ (Была ли древнегреческая культура классического периода духовной?)

This article puts forward the thesis that the ancient Greek culture of the classical period was not spiritual, thus treating it as “the childhood of mankind, where it developed most beautifully” (K. Marx). The latter statement should be further explained. For this purpose, we defined the meanings of the concept of spirituality stemming from our more profound understanding of the concept of spirit. Our findings reveal that spirituality is the human ability, i.e., a reflection of spiritual culture in an individual overtaken by it. However, spirituality can also have a negative meaning and turn into quasi-spirituality, the essence of which was uncovered as part of our analysis. It was shown that quasi-spirituality (similarly to the lack of spirituality) manifests the disintegration of culture involved in the process during which an individual creates themselves, as well as a form of inferiority of life, its simplification. Such “spirituality” is an abstraction of life and a sublimated spirit that replaced the lack of spirituality, vulgarity that rules “below”, “eternal” and “exalted” spirit. As an airy, stilted, broken, and pretentious, it is a ghost spirit, a surrogate spirit. Viewed from this perspective, the culture of the ancient Greeks was not spiritual. The above conclusion was confirmed by appealing to the concept of soma (body) as denoting the integrity of a personality, a unity of body and spirit (on the mental level).