Transcript Presentation about Greece by italian students

Greek, like most of the world
population, live a big economic crisis.
Since the end of 2009 the Greek
president George Papandreu,
immediately after his election, has
talked about the probable risk of
National bankruptcy. In 2010 due to
the strong growth of public debt
investors doubted that Greece could
respect its obligations. This caused a
crisis of confidence and a great
increase of the spread. In April
2010 the downgrading of the public
debt created alarm in the financial
market. After this the EU approved a
loan of 110 billion € to save Greece
but Greece had to follow the
implementation of austerity measures,
to restore the fiscal balance.
Music is found in every known culture, past and present,
varying wildly between times and places. Since all people in
the world, including the most isolated tribal groups, have a
form of music, it may be concluded that music is likely to
have been present in the ancestral population prior to the
dispersal of humans around the world. Consequently music may
have been in existence for at least 50,000 years and the
first music may have been invented in Africa and then evolved
to become a fundamental constituent of human life. A
culture's music is influenced by all other aspects of that
culture, including social and economic organization and
experience, climate, and access to technology. The emotions
and ideas that music expresses, the situations in which music
is played and listened to, and the attitudes toward music
players and composers all vary between regions and periods.
"Music history" is the distinct subfield ofmusicology and
history which studies music (particularly Western art music)
from a chronological perspective.
In ancient Greece the music occupied a very prominent role in the social and religious life. For the
Greek, the music was an art that included, in addition to the music itself, also poetry, dance,
medicine and magical practices. The importance of music in the Greek world is testified by many
myths . One is Orpheus’, the inventor of the music, who was able to convince the gods of Hades to
return to life his dead wife Eurydice. During the Archaic period the music was only practiced by
professionals: the bards and rhapsodies. These recited accompanied with a musical instrument and
the music was handed down orally. In the classical period developed the tragedy. The subjects of the
tragedy were taken from literary myths and consisted of dialogues between two or three characters
interspersed with choral singing. The actors were all men, they wore masks and performed
accompanied by music. The architecture of the theatre was made up of tiers in a semicircle to the
public who was in front of the stage where the actors performed and on the steps between the
orchestra and the stage there was the choir. The Greek used different instruments. The most
common were the lyre or harp, and the aulos. The lyre was a stringed instrument that was plucked
by a plectrum and was sacred to the god Apollo. The aulos was a wind instrument reed, sacred to the
god Dionysus. Percussion instruments were also used including the drums and cymbals, better known
as plates. At the base of the system was the Greek musical tetrachord The two extreme sounds
were fixed while the two intermediate ones were mobile . The Tetrachords distinguished themselves
in diatonic , chromatic and enharmonic . The union of two tetrachords formed a way that could be
Dorian , Phrygian and Lydian , depending on the type of union modes could in turn be joint or disjoint.
The rhythm of the music was based on the poetic . In Greek poetry the metric stemmed from the
length of syllables: long or short , the same was true in music. The short and long is equivalent to
today's crotchet quaver . The rhythm was the union of two or more notes or syllables , arranged in
rhythmic patterns called feet. In poetry the combination of several feet formed the line and the
combination of several lines formed the verse.
In the Hellenistic period we are witnessing a serious crisis in the foundations of Greek
Musikè , accompanied by the crisis of tragic genre . You will come across real performance
of actors who stage pieces of repertoire. The first is marked by a modest presence in
Rome of the music of Etruscan origin or Italic , also coupled resulting as indigenous
atellana and fescennino . The diffusion of metal military use dates back to the first
phase: the bugle of circular shape , the lituus , to bore straight through the roof folded
back , the tuba brass -barreled straight. The next was characterized by the fact that
the Romans conquered Greece and brought in large number of musicians, intellectuals,
artists and Greek philosophers to Rome. The whole system will be affected by Greek
culture, also from the musical point of view , with essential differences . From the
dramatic point of view there will be tragedies and comedies modelled on the Greek , but
called differently:e.g. coturnae for the Greek , because the Greek were actors in cothurni
( shoes ) , monodic and choral ritual character were considered essential in the public
solemnities such as districts , religious festivals , games , palliate ; in Rome they were
called the pallium because the Romans wore a dress . Compared to the simple elegance of
Greek music , performed with few instruments to accompany the singing , the music of the
Romans was undoubtedly the most vibrant and colourful , mixed with elements of Italian
origin , and performed with large bands in which was very important the massive presence
of wind instruments : the tibia , the bugle , the lituus , the tuba .The organ was another
main instrument and numerous ( and noisy ) percussion instruments. It can therefore be
inferred that the music was very popular in Rome and that it always accompanied many
shows including pantomime and shows of gladiators. As for the Greek , music was an
essential part of education, the Romans had an opinion much lower , associating it with
festivities and entertainment rather than to the formation of men .
Traditions in Greece are either of a religious
character or coming from paganism, in most
Greek traditions and festivals still celebrated
today they are religious. Many Greeks are very
superstitious people and believe in religion, as
well as in supernatural or paranormal
phenomena. Traditions and superstitions vary
from island to island from village to village and
region to region. Here are some of the many
Greek traditions still maintained nowadays.
Most Greeks have names from the Saints. The great
Greek tradition followed by the whole of Greece , is
that anyone with a name from a saint celebrated by
the Church, celebrates his own name. On that day,
his friends and family call on him without invitation
and offer their wishes (a long lasting life , etc. )
and small gifts . The head of the house offers
pastries, sweets ,appetizers and drinks to the
guests. In Greece, name days are more important
than birthdays .
An habit in Greece for people who get
engaged : The man asks to marry the woman
he loves to her father. When they agree on
the marriage, a priest is invited to bless the
engagement rings and place them on the left
hand of man and woman . The guests wish "
kala stefana " ( good crowns = the marriage )
and " I ora I kali" (that the good hour = the
marriage ) . This custom is mostly followed
outside Athens ( islands and the rest of
Greece , in the villages), but it tends to
disappear .
In some parts of Greece, the bride 's dowry is made by her
mother, grandmothers and aunts and consists of sheets , towels
and hand embroidery . The father of the bride offers a furnished
home to his daughter and son in-law as a wedding gift. Today in
Athens and other big cities, the bride does not have a dowry
anymore . On the wedding day the bride is helped by friends and
women of the family to wear her wedding dress and the groom is
kept out of the way because it is a bad omen for the groom to
see the bride before the ceremony.
During the marriage ceremony , the godfather and godmother (
cumbaro and koumbara ) give the wedding rings to the priest and
cross the crowns ( stefana ) over each other three times and put
them on the heads of the couple. During the dance of Isaia
( after the priest has married them ) , the guests throw rice ,
confetti ( ta koufeta ) to the new couple. After the ceremony the
couple stays in the church in a row and all the guests greet them
and kiss them wishing them "na zisete " (Long life to you) . Then
everyone goes to the party (usually at a restaurant ) where they
dance , eat and drink all night . After the wedding party the
The superstitions come from religion or paganism. BREAD:They vary from region
to region . In the villages , the bread is considered as a gift from the Lord ;
older women bless the bread and make the sign of the cross with a knife before
cutting it.
THE EVIL EYE .Some Greeks, especially in villages , believe that anyone can take
the evil eye , or " matiasma " from a compliment or someone’s jealousy. A person
who takes the evil eye usually feels bad, psychologically and physically. To avoid
the evil eye those who believe in it wear a good luck charm , a small glass eye
painted blue or a bracelet. It is believed that blue is the color that keeps away
the evil eye , but it is also believed that people with blue eyes bring the evil eye.
Garlic is another way to ward off the evil eye , so sometimes it is hanged in the
corners of the house. Many Greeks believe that garlic and onion have therapeutic
powers. If someone feels ill , he/she’s suggested to eat garlic .KNIVES: The
Greeks never give knives to anyone who asks for because they believe that if
they do, there will be a quarrel with that person sooner or later. They would
rather leave the knives on the table to allow the other person to take
them.PRIESTS: The Greek Orthodox priests are highly respected and custom
dictates to kiss the hand of the priest when you meet one , today this custom is
followed only in the villages. It is also believed that seeing a black cat and a
priest on the same day is bad luck .SPITTING: Some Greeks believe that spitting
keeps the devil and bad luck away , that's why when one speaks of bad news
(death, accidents, etc ... ) the other spits three times saying " ftou , ftu , ftou.
Greek cuisine is a Mediterranean
cuisine. In the Greek cuisine the
main ingredients are: olive oil,
vegetables and bread, wine, fish,
and different types of meat.
Olives, cheese and yogurt are very
important in the Greek diet. Greek
desserts are characterized by the
dominant use of nuts and honey.
WE ARE G.A.S.