Greeks

:For other uses of the name "Greek", see Greek (disambiguation)

Identity of the Greek people

Classical and Roman

Herodotus states that the Athenians declared, before the battle of Plataea, that they would not go over to Mardonius, because in the first place, they were bound to avenge the burning of the Acropolis; and, secondly, they would not betray their fellow Greeks, to whom they were bound by:

Related Topics:
Herodotus - Athenians - Battle of Plataea - Mardonius - Acropolis

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• A common language¹ (the use of one of the dialects of the Greek language)
• Common blood² (descent from Hellen, son of Deucalion)
• Common shrines, statues and sacrifices (practice of the ancient Greek religion)³ and
• Common habits and customs. 

This notion that the Greeks had a common descent was then comparatively recent. As Thucydides observes, the name of Hellas spread from a valley in Thessaly to the Greek-speaking peoples after the formation of the text of Homer (the Panellenes of Il. 2.530 are the troops of Thessaly, contrasting with the Achaeans), not long before his own time. This places the idea in the Archaic period, when Greek-speakers discovered that the world was wider, wealthier, and more cultured than they had hitherto imagined. Homer's Trojan War is, indeed, a conflict among Greeks: the Trojans speak Greek, bear Greek names, and worship the Greek gods; and Priam is descended from Zeus (see Alaksandus). The Carians are the only people Homer considers barbarophonoi.

Related Topics:
Thucydides - Hellas - Thessaly - Homer - Il. - Achaeans - Archaic period - Trojan War - Trojans - Priam - Zeus - Alaksandus - Caria

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Nor did the late and schematic myth of the sons of Hellen ever convince other mythographers to comply with it. Theseus is descended from Erechtheus, son of the Earth; Oedipus from the Phoenician Cadmus; Agamemnon from Phrygian Pelops; Heracles and Perseus from Egyptian Danaus. Whole cities were not descended from Hellen: Athens, Lemnos, and the Cretans were Pelasgian; and 1 Maccabees 12:21 attests that the Spartans are children of Abraham.

Related Topics:
Mythographer - Theseus - Erechtheus - Earth - Oedipus - Phoenicia - Cadmus - Agamemnon - Phrygia - Pelops - Heracles - Perseus - Egypt - Danaus - Athens - Lemnos - Cretans - Pelasgian - 1 Maccabees - Sparta - Abraham

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The myth of Hellen combined into one group the smaller tribes that participated in the Delphic Amphictyon, such as the Aeolians, the Achaeans, and the Dorians. Traces of the older distinctions remained; Dorians were forbidden in the Parthenon; although the Spartan king Cleomenes I claimed this did not apply to him — as a descendant of Heracles, he was an Achaean. (As in this example, the Greeks almost always reckoned descent only through the male line.)

Related Topics:
Hellen - Delphic Amphictyon - Aeolians - Achaean - Dorian - Parthenon - Cleomenes I - Heracles

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So the exact nature of Greek identity has been an open question since ancient times. It has not become clearer with time: descent is at best a matter of tradition, and the Greeks have altered their language, religion, and customs since Herodotus. Nevertheless, there has been, in practice, a continuous Greek identity since ancient times, containing at least those who chose to be Greek and who had citizenship in a Greek city, or membership of a Greek community.

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As early as the 5th century BCE, Isocrates, after speaking of common origin and worship, says: "the name Hellenes suggests no longer a race but an intelligence, and... the title Hellenes is applied rather to those who share our culture than to those who share a common blood". .

Related Topics:
5th century BCE - Isocrates

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After the 4th century BCE, Greek became the lingua franca of the East Mediterranean region and was widely spoken by educated non-Greeks. After the 4th century CE, Greeks became Christian. (In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Greeks are descended from Javan, son of Japheth).

Related Topics:
4th century BCE - Lingua franca - Mediterranean - 4th century - Judeo-Christian - Javan - Japheth

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Byzantine and Ottoman

After the creation of the Eastern Roman Empire, Greek culture shifted from Hellenic (Greek pagan) to Romaic (Greek paganism fused with Christianity), and the word "Hellene" became associated with the pagan past. All Roman citizens, and thus all subjects of the Byzantine Empire, were Romaic. Distinctions between nationalities among the citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire did not become extinct, but became secondary to religious considerations as the renewed Empire used Christianity to maintain its cohesion. It was religion that divided the Empire from the Muslims; and, along different lines, it came to divide the Empire from the Franks, Armenians, Copts, and Syrians.

Related Topics:
Eastern Roman Empire - Paganism - Byzantine Empire - Muslim - Frank - Armenians - Copt - Syrians

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Greek nationalism was reborn after the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and the establishment of a number of Greek kingdoms (such as the Empire of Nicaea and the Despotate of Epirus). When the empire was revived in 1261, it became essentially a Greek national state. Adherence to Greek Orthodox rites became the defining characteristic of the Greek people.

Related Topics:
Constantinople - Crusade - Fourth Crusade - 1204 - Empire of Nicaea - Despotate of Epirus - 1261 - Greek Orthodox

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During the Ottoman rule of Greece, Greek Orthodox Christianity was the only Greek community; the Ottomans considered religion to be the defining characteristic of "national" groups (millet). Greeks who adopted Islam during that period were considered 'Turks'. Following this definition, Alexander Ypsilanti expected the Moldavians and Wallachians, being Greek Orthodox, to rise for Greek independence; but they did not.

Related Topics:
Ottoman - Millet - Islam - Alexander Ypsilanti - Moldavia - Wallachia - Greek independence

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Modern independence

This strong relation between Greek national identity and Greek Orthodox religion continued after the creation of the modern Greek state in 1830, and when the Treaty of Lausanne was signed between Greece and Turkey in 1923, the two countries agreed to use religion as the determinant for ethnic identity. However, in many important respects, the Greek state adhered from its founding to remarkably secular principles. For instance, Jews were granted full citizens rights in 1830, the year Greece's independence was formally recognized, thus making Greece the second state in Europe (after France) with an emancipated Jewish community.

Related Topics:
1830 - Treaty of Lausanne - Turkey - 1923 - Secular - Jews - Europe - France - Emancipated - Jewish

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Today, the deeper integration of Greece into the Western strategic system and the effects of migration (both emigration from Greece in the 1950s and 1960s, and immigration into Greece in more recent years) have led to a perception of Greek national identity similar to that of other Western European nations. The Greek Orthodox faith is now only one of a variety of factors that yield Greek identity.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1960s

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