Transcript for the Piece Audio version of The Return of the Hellenes

Return to the Hellenes
Jon Miller

INTRO: In Greece, nationality and religion have been virtually inseparable since the 4th century, when Emperor Constantine declared Orthodox Christianity the official state religion. Today, Orthodox priests are government employees, and the church is widely seen as the guardian of Greek national identity. But some Greeks are challenging that notion. Among them is a small number of people who call themselves "Hellenes" -- intellectual and spiritual heirs not to the Christian tradition but to the Greek civilization of antiquity. Producer Jon Miller went to meet them. His piece was reported in 2004.

MILLER: For believers in the 12 gods, the biggest event of the year takes place on Mt Olympus, 6 hours' drive north of Athens. This year about 700 people have come to camp out on a sloping meadow, surrounded by tall cedars. There's a taverna on the grounds, like a rustic outdoor pub.

CLAPPING, TALK...

QUIETER MUSIC, CROSS-TALK runs under scene...

MILLER: The man who organized this convergence is a 61-year-old former philosophy professor named Tryphon Olympios. He says he doesn't actually believe in the 12 gods -- for him the "Return of the Hellenes Movement" is more about ideas, like freedom and reason, than it is about religion.

OLYMPIOS: If you want to be modern, try to understand what the philosophers and scientists, the Greek scientists, said. Use reason to explain scientifically the world.

MILLER: Greeks today, he says, are passive and superstitious, unwilling to think for themselves. He blames that on the Orthodox church.

OLYMPIOS: The church is against science. The church sees the development of science as a violation of the holy design.

GUITAR MUSIC, cross-talk...

MILLER: Some people here this weekend are pagans, others are rationalists, but EVERYONE'S mad at the church. Conversations on just about any topic quickly veer into complaints about the way the early Church burned libraries and replaced philosophy with dogma. Ioannis Psomiadis is a medical doctor.

PSOMIADIS: The Middle Ages did not happen by chance. Once these fanatics took power, if you said you were a Hellene, you would be killed instantly. Nobody talks about things like that anymore. Because they don't want to hurt the Church's feelings. Well tough. You know, time has come. People have to know the truth.

MILLER: For most Greeks, though, the truth is still what the Church says it is.

CLICKING OF BACKGAMMON TILES, TALK...

MILLER: At the foot of Mount Olympus sits the postcard town of Litohoro. On a shady square by the stone church old men play backgammon and drink coffee. A retired postal worker named Kristos says nobody here takes the people on the mountain seriously.

KRISTOS: In Greek...

TRANSLATOR: I think that those people are funny, and they're doing it for their own prestige. We are Christians the last 2000 years, and we are believing in Christianity, we have our saints here that we believe that they have done miracles. So they can say whatever they want. They just have to face the truth.

NEW AGEY MUSIC...

MILLER: The main event of the weekend on Olympus is a nighttime performance of the "Promethia" at the lower end of the meadow. It's the story of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods. Scores of people take part, wearing tunics, carrying torches, banging drums. The sound echoes off the mountain cliffs.

MUSIC, VOICES UP...

MILLER: The gathering on Mount Olympus ends the next morning with two pagan weddings and this baptism.

CALL & RESPONSE CHANTING -- hear word BAPTISMATOS, some drumming...

MILLER: About 15 people in tunics and headdresses stand in a circle as Tryphon Olympios symbolically cleanses them of their Christian names.

HEAVY DRUMS, baby crying...

MILLER: The new names won't be recognized -- and that's symbolic of the work still to be done. Greek pagans have been meeting in public for about 10 years now, but aside from some harsh words from a few vocal priests, the Church and the government have chosen to ignore them. Tryphon Olympios says his goal is to transform Greek society. His HOPE is that it won't take another 1600 years.

Sound runs, then fades under intro...

OUTRO: That piece was produced by Jon Miller for Worlds of Difference, a series on global cultural change.