145 Fun Facts About Greece

Which ancient Greek poet is credited with the epics the Iliad and the Odyssey?

Homer is credited with both epics, though they were composed aloud and written down only later; even ancient writers argued over who he was and which other works were his.

Which hero of Greek myth beheaded Medusa while watching her reflection in a polished shield?

Perseus kept Medusa's severed head, which still turned onlookers to stone, and used it as a weapon against his enemies.

Which mountain is traditionally considered the home of the Greek gods?

Mount Olympus was the gods' home in myth, yet the first recorded modern ascent of its highest peak came only in 1913, when a local guide led two Swiss visitors to the top.

Which ancient Greek philosopher was the teacher of Alexander the Great?

Aristotle was hired by Alexander's father in 343 BC to tutor the thirteen-year-old prince; his own father had been physician to the royal family at court.

The Parthenon, the former temple on the Acropolis, was dedicated to which goddess?

The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena and housed Phidias's gold-and-ivory statue of her; in 1687 a Venetian shell blew up the gunpowder stored inside and wrecked the building.

Which currency, reintroduced in 1832, did Greece trade for the euro?

The drachma, revived in 1832 to replace the short-lived phoenix, was Greece's currency until the euro took over; it ceased to be legal tender in 2002.

The ancient world's most famous games were held every four years at which Greek sanctuary?

Olympia staged the games from a traditional start in 776 BC until at least AD 393; a sacred truce gave athletes and spectators safe passage to the sanctuary.

Which sea lies to the west of mainland Greece, separating it from Italy's heel?

The Ionian Sea lies between western Greece and Italy's heel; confusingly, ancient Ionia was on the opposite side of the Aegean, on the coast of what is now Turkey.

What is the largest island in Greece?

Crete, Greece's largest island, joined the country only in December 1913, after fifteen years as the self-governing Cretan State.

Which statesman led Athens during its fifth-century BC golden age and sponsored the Parthenon?

Pericles dominated Athenian politics from about 461 BC until his death in 429 BC, using the Delian League treasury to fund the Parthenon and the Acropolis building program.

Which half-human, half-bull creature of myth was kept in a labyrinth built by Daedalus?

The Minotaur had a name, Asterion; Theseus killed it and found his way out with the ball of thread given him by Ariadne, the king's daughter.

Which peninsula forms the southern part of mainland Greece?

The Peloponnese is a large peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece, separated from the central part of the country by the Gulf of Corinth.

Which layered Greek dish of sautéed aubergine and minced meat is finished with a béchamel topping?

Moussaka's béchamel topping is the Greek signature; across the Balkans and Middle East the dish takes many forms, some potato-based and served cold.

The Greek language belongs to which language family?

Indo-European kinship is why Greek pater matches Latin pater and English father: all three descend from one word in a long-lost parent language.

Which Greek god ruled the sea, earthquakes and, oddly, horses?

Poseidon, the 'Earth-Shaker', ruled the sea with his trident; in one telling he struck a rock with it and the first horse sprang out.

Which famous ancient Greek historian is often referred to as the 'Father of History'?

Herodotus was dubbed the 'Father of History' by the Roman orator Cicero; critics who doubted his taller tales gave him a second title, the 'Father of Lies'.

Which war for control of Greece set Athens against Sparta from 431 to 404 BC?

The Peloponnesian War ended in 404 BC after Sparta, its fleet paid for by Persia, destroyed the Athenian navy at Aegospotami and starved the city into surrender.

Greece's highest summit, at about 2,918 metres, has what name, meaning 'nose'?

Mytikas, Greek for 'nose', is the highest of Mount Olympus's peaks at 2,917 m; it was first climbed in August 1913 by the local hunter Christos Kakkalos with two Swiss companions.

Which historical empire ruled Greece for nearly 400 years until the Greek War of Independence?

Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years, from the mid-15th century until achieving independence in the early 19th century.

What is the official name of Greece?

Greece's official name is the Hellenic Republic (Elliniki Dimokratia); Greeks call themselves Hellenes, and the present republic dates from the December 1974 referendum that abolished the monarchy.

Under EU rules, feta is sheep's milk optionally blended with up to 30 percent milk from which other animal?

Goat milk may make up at most 30 percent of feta; the EU has protected the name since 2002, and a court challenge by Denmark and Germany failed in 2005.

Ouzo, the Greek aperitif that turns cloudy with water, is flavoured with which spice?

Anise gives ouzo its party trick as well as its taste: the anise oil anethole dissolves in alcohol but not in water, so adding water turns the clear spirit milky.

Greece became the tenth member of which organisation on 1 January 1981?

The EEC, the European Economic Community, took Greece in as its tenth member; it had been eligible only since 1974, when the colonels' junta fell and civilian rule returned.

Which island's massive eruption around 1600 BCE may have impacted the Minoan civilization?

Santorini's eruption emptied the volcano and left the sea-filled caldera that shapes the island today; it also buried the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri under ash.

Horiatiki, the classic Greek salad, takes its name from the word for what?

The village gives horiatiki its name, 'village salad'; the original has no lettuce, a leaf that slips in when the dish is made abroad.

Which rock formation in Thessaly is famous for Orthodox monasteries built atop giant natural pillars?

Meteora means 'raised in the air'; monks once reached its clifftop monasteries only by removable ladders or hoisting ropes, until steps were cut into the rock in the 1920s.

What was the capital of the Byzantine Empire?

Constantinople, founded by Constantine on the site of Byzantium, became the Roman capital in 330 and remained the Byzantine capital for over a thousand years, apart from the Latin occupation after the Fourth Crusade.

Which Greek god ruled the Underworld?

Hades was the grim king of the Underworld and ruler of the dead, receiving his domain after the three sons of Cronus drew lots for the division of the universe.

Greece's first modern king, Otto, was a teenage prince sent in the 1830s from which German kingdom?

Bavaria's King Ludwig I saw his second son Otto take the Greek throne at 17; Greeks forced a constitution on him in 1843 and deposed him in 1862.

Ancient Athens staged its tragedies and comedies at festivals held in honour of which god?

Dionysus was honoured at the City Dionysia, where playwrights competed against each other; the plays were staged in his theatre on the south slope of the Acropolis.

In what year did the Byzantine capital fall to the Ottomans after a 53-day siege?

The city fell on a Tuesday, which is why Tuesday has been considered an unlucky day by Greeks ever since.

Which letter comes last in the 24-letter Greek alphabet?

Omega means 'great O': Greeks in Asia Minor added it in the seventh century BC to mark a long O, setting it apart from omicron, the 'small O'.

The Greek flag's nine stripes are popularly said to stand for the syllables of which phrase?

Freedom or Death, 'Eleftheria i Thanatos', was the rebels' motto in the War of Independence; its nine syllables are said to match the five blue stripes and four white.

Greek Independence Day on 25 March coincides with which feast of the Orthodox Church?

The Annunciation was the day the rebels had planned to rise in 1821, though fighting broke out earlier; King Otto's government made 25 March the national day in 1838.

At which 1827 battle did British, French and Russian fleets destroy an Ottoman-Egyptian fleet?

Navarino, the last major battle fought wholly under sail, began as the allies were anchoring among the Ottoman-Egyptian ships inside the bay; within hours that fleet was wrecked.

Water carrier Spyridon Louis became a Greek national hero at the 1896 Games by winning which event?

The marathon made Spyridon Louis a national hero: two Greek princes ran beside him on the final lap, and he finished in 2 hours 58 minutes 50 seconds.

The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was a giant statue of which god?

The Colossus was a roughly 33-metre bronze statue of Helios, the sun god, completed about 280 BC; an earthquake in 226 BC snapped it at the knees after little more than fifty years.

At the Oracle of Delphi, the priestess who delivered Apollo's prophecies was known by what title?

The Pythia took her title from Pytho, the old name of Delphi, where Apollo was said to have killed the serpent Python; she gave his answers seated on a tripod.

What was the name of Alexander the Great's famous horse, which he tamed as a boy?

Bucephalus means 'ox-head'; Plutarch says the boy Alexander tamed the horse by turning it toward the sun so it could not see its own shadow, which had been frightening it.

Hippocrates, the 'Father of Medicine', was born around 460 BC on which Greek island?

Hippocrates was born on Kos, where a plane tree is said to have shaded his teaching; the Hippocratic Oath bearing his name was probably composed after his death.

Who scored the 1964 film Zorba the Greek, whose music popularised the sirtaki dance?

Mikis Theodorakis composed the Zorba the Greek score; the sirtaki was choreographed for the 1964 film rather than being a traditional dance, and the picture won three Oscars.

The earliest written form of Greek, found on Bronze Age clay tablets, was recorded in which script?

Linear B went unread until 1952, when Michael Ventris, an architect and self-taught linguist, showed that it recorded an early form of Greek.

Which hit film shot outdoor scenes on the Greek island of Skopelos?

Mamma Mia! found its beach and wedding chapel on Skopelos, yet Donna's villa was a set built at Pinewood Studios in England.

Which is Greece's second-largest island, separated from the mainland by the narrow Euripus Strait?

Euboea lies so close to the mainland that the Euripus Strait is only about 40 metres wide at Chalcis, where its tidal current reverses direction several times a day.

Which Greek-Swedish singer won Eurovision for Greece in 2005 with My Number One?

Elena Paparizou had already come third for Greece in 2001 with the duo Antique; her 2005 victory, the country's first, took the contest to Athens in 2006.

Turkey's 1974 invasion of which island made Greece quit NATO's military command?

Cyprus was invaded days after a coup backed by Greece's own junta; the fiasco brought the colonels down, and Greece returned to NATO's command only in 1980.

Which western port city is the largest in the Peloponnese?

Patras is where tradition says Saint Andrew was crucified, and he remains its patron saint; the port also stages Greece's largest carnival each winter.

Which member of the British royal family was born on Corfu in 1921 as a prince of Greece and Denmark?

Prince Philip was born on the dining-room table of the family's summer house, Mon Repos; he gave up his Greek and Danish royal titles in 1947, the year he married Princess Elizabeth.

Which Roman emperor began digging the Corinth Canal in AD 67, some 1,800 years before it opened?

Nero broke the ground himself and set thousands of Jewish prisoners of war to dig; work stopped when he died and resumed only in the 1880s, with the canal opening in 1893.

Who wrote the poem Hymn to Liberty, whose first two stanzas became Greece's national anthem?

Dionysios Solomos, raised on Zakynthos and educated in Italy, wrote his first poems in Italian; he turned to Greek for the 158-stanza hymn he finished in May 1823.

Which crop did Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greece's first governor, introduce to the country?

Kapodistrias brought potatoes to Greece in 1828 to relieve hunger after the war; legend says nobody wanted the free tubers until he posted guards around them, and locals then stole the lot.

In November 1973, the junta sent what crashing through the gates of the Athens Polytechnic?

In the early hours of 17 November 1973 an AMX-30 tank smashed through the Polytechnic's main gate, ending the uprising in bloodshed; the date later named the terrorist group 17 November.

Who headed in the only goal as Greece beat Portugal in the Euro 2004 final in Lisbon?

Angelos Charisteas headed in Angelos Basinas's corner in the 57th minute; Greece had also beaten hosts Portugal 2-1 in the tournament's opening game under coach Otto Rehhagel.

Which NBA team drafted Athens-born Giannis Antetokounmpo 15th overall in 2013?

The Milwaukee Bucks took Giannis Antetokounmpo 15th overall in 2013 from Greek second-division club Filathlitikos; he led them to the 2021 NBA title.

Opera legend Maria Callas, daughter of Greek immigrants, was born in which city?

Maria Callas was born in New York City in December 1923; in 1937 her mother took the thirteen-year-old to Athens, where she trained as a singer.

Greek composer Vangelis won an Academy Award for scoring which 1981 film?

Chariots of Fire is set around the 1924 Games, yet Vangelis scored it on synthesisers; the electronic theme went to number one in the United States in 1982.

Which Greek novelist wrote Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ?

Nikos Kazantzakis was nominated for the Nobel Prize in nine different years without winning; his grave in Heraklion bears the words 'I hope for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free'.

In Greek myth, whose wings of wax and feathers melted when he flew too close to the sun?

Icarus was fleeing King Minos with his father Daedalus, who built the wings and warned him to stay clear of the sun; the sea where he fell is still called the Icarian.

On which private Greek island did shipping tycoon Onassis marry Jackie Kennedy in 1968?

Skorpios was a bare island until Onassis bought it in 1963 and planted it with trees; in 2013 his granddaughter, his only surviving descendant, handed it to a Russian billionaire's daughter.

Which British archaeologist began large-scale excavations of the palace at Knossos in 1900?

Arthur Evans began digging at Knossos in March 1900 and named the civilisation 'Minoan' after the legendary King Minos; a local merchant, Minos Kalokairinos, had dug there two decades earlier.

In 2015 Greece became the first developed country to miss a repayment to which lender?

Greece missed the IMF payment on 30 June 2015 and made it 20 days late; banks shut for weeks and a referendum rejected further austerity.

Ohi Day, celebrated on 28 October, marks Greece's rejection of an ultimatum from which leader?

Benito Mussolini's ultimatum, delivered around 3 a.m. on 28 October 1940, demanded that his troops occupy parts of Greece; Metaxas refused, and the invaders were driven back into Albania.

The ancient poet Sappho came from which Aegean island?

Sappho was born on Lesbos, at Eresos or Mytilene, around 630 BC; an epigram attributed to Plato calls her the tenth Muse, and the island's name gave English the word 'lesbian'.

Pythagoras, of right-triangle fame, was born on which Greek island in the eastern Aegean?

Pythagoras was born on Samos around 570 BC and later founded his secretive community at Croton in southern Italy; the island town of Pythagoreio was renamed in his honour in 1955.

The poet Lord Byron died of fever in 1824 while supporting Greek independence in which town?

Byron died at Missolonghi on 19 April 1824, aged 36, having spent his own money equipping Greek forces; the town's siege and 1826 sortie became a symbol of the revolution.

What is the Greek dip of strained yoghurt, grated cucumber and garlic called?

Tzatziki combines strained yoghurt with grated cucumber, garlic, olive oil and often dill; its name comes from the Turkish cacık, a similar yoghurt dish.

Mastic, the aromatic gum sold as 'tears', is traditionally produced only on which island?

Chios grows mastic only in its south, where medieval settlements such as Mesta were built like walled castles; the gum has been used as a remedy for some 2,500 years.

Retsina gets its distinctive flavour from which ingredient, once used to seal wine jars?

Pine resin from Aleppo pines is said to have sealed ancient wine jars against the air; the taste it left stuck, and retsina has been made for at least 2,000 years.

What is a komboloi, a pastime object traditionally carried by many Greek men?

A string of beads, usually an odd number on a cord, the komboloi is flicked through the fingers to pass the time; unlike a rosary it has no religious purpose.

Guinness lists the Vikos Gorge in Epirus as the world's deepest by what measure?

Relative to its width is the catch in the record: Guinness lists Vikos at about 900 m deep but only 1,100 m from rim to rim.

The 2018 Prespa Agreement settled Greece's long naming dispute with which country?

The Prespa Agreement, signed at Psarades on the lake's shore in June 2018, renamed the Republic of Macedonia as North Macedonia, clearing its path into NATO in 2020.

The Spartathlon race retraces which ancient messenger's 246 km run from Athens to Sparta?

Pheidippides was sent to beg Sparta for help against the Persians in 490 BC and is said to have arrived the day after he set out; today's runners get 36 hours.

Actress Melina Mercouri became Greece's first female holder of which cabinet post in 1981?

Melina Mercouri served as Minister of Culture from 1981 to 1989, campaigning for the return of the Parthenon sculptures and proposing the European Capital of Culture scheme, first held in Athens in 1985.

Which Greek director made The Favourite and Poor Things with Emma Stone?

Yorgos Lanthimos first drew notice with Dogtooth, which won Cannes' Un Certain Regard prize in 2009 and earned a foreign-language Oscar nomination; Poor Things won Emma Stone her second Oscar.

Which empress had the Achilleion palace built on Corfu around 1890 as a summer retreat?

Empress Elisabeth of Austria had the Achilleion built after the death of her son Rudolf in 1889 and named it for the hero Achilles; Kaiser Wilhelm II bought it in 1907.

The Bay of Laganas on Zakynthos is one of the Mediterranean's most important nesting sites for which animal?

Loggerhead turtles nest on six beaches around the bay; a national marine park, set up in 1999, restricts boats and fishing off them.

The Cyclades take their name from forming a circle around which sacred island?

Delos, held to be the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, was the sanctuary the Cyclades were thought to encircle; today the whole island is an archaeological site reached by boat from Mykonos.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, was born in 1881 in which city now in Greece?

Thessaloniki was the Ottoman port of Selanik when he was born; in 1935 the city council gave his birthplace to Turkey, and it is now a museum beside the Turkish consulate.

Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC in which capital of ancient Macedon?

Pella was a port in Alexander's day, linked to the sea by a navigable inlet; the inlet has since silted up, leaving the ruined capital well inland.

Which Spartan king led the Greek stand against Xerxes at Thermopylae in 480 BC?

Leonidas I led some 7,000 Greeks, including his 300 Spartans, against Xerxes at Thermopylae while the fleet fought at Artemisium; a bronze statue of him was erected at the pass in 1955.

Which Athenian general persuaded the Greeks to fight the Persian fleet at Salamis in 480 BC?

Themistocles lured the Persian fleet into the narrow strait of Salamis, where its numbers counted for little; he had earlier persuaded Athens to spend the Laurion silver strike on 200 triremes.

The modern Olympic flame is kindled from the sun's rays using what device?

An actress playing the high priestess lights the flame at the Temple of Hera with a parabolic mirror that focuses the sun's rays; a backup flame from the rehearsal serves when clouds intervene, as in 2024.

The 4th-century-BC theatre at Epidaurus is celebrated above all for which quality?

Its acoustics let a performer on stage be heard in the back row some 60 metres away; a 2007 study found the stepped rows of seats filter out low-pitched background noise.

Heinrich Schliemann's 1876 gold funerary mask from Mycenae is named for which legendary king?

The Mask of Agamemnon, found by Schliemann in Grave Circle A at Mycenae in 1876, dates to about 1550-1500 BC, some three centuries before the Trojan War's supposed date; it is in Athens's National Archaeological Museum.

Sentenced to death in Athens in 399 BC, Socrates died after drinking which poison?

Socrates drank hemlock, Athens's method of execution, after conviction for impiety and corrupting the young; Plato's Phaedo describes his final hours discussing the immortality of the soul.

Which architect designed the Acropolis Museum that opened in Athens in 2009?

Bernard Tschumi, working with Greek architect Michael Photiadis, designed the museum; its glass top gallery is rotated to align with the Parthenon and leaves gaps for the sculptures held in London.

Which island yielded the Louvre's armless Aphrodite statue, found by a farmer in 1820?

Milos gave the statue its familiar name, the Venus de Milo; France bought it soon after a farmer dug it up, and it has stood in the Louvre since 1821.

The Louvre's headless Winged Victory statue was unearthed in 1863 on which northern Aegean island?

Samothrace gave up the statue in fragments; the ship's prow she stands on stayed on the island until her finder went back in 1879.

According to tradition, which book of the New Testament was written on the island of Patmos?

Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, records the visions John is said to have received in the Cave of the Apocalypse on Patmos; the cave and the Monastery of Saint John were UNESCO-listed in 1999.

Greece won its first European basketball title in 1987 by beating which team in the final?

Host Greece beat the Soviet Union 103-101 after overtime in Athens, with Nikos Galis scoring 40 points against the defending champions and heavy favourites.

The Old Royal Palace on Syntagma Square has housed which institution since the 1930s?

The Hellenic Parliament moved into the Old Royal Palace in the mid-1930s; the royal family had left after a fire in 1909, and in 1929 the government chose the building for parliament.

The omphalos stone at Delphi marked the site the ancient Greeks considered what?

Omphalos means 'navel': Zeus was said to have released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth, and where they met, at Delphi, he marked the centre of the world with the stone.

Rebetiko, the urban folk music UNESCO-listed in 2017, is built around which instrument?

Rebetiko is built around the bouzouki, with the smaller baglamas alongside; the music grew up in the hashish dens and poor quarters of ports such as Piraeus after Asia Minor refugees arrived in the 1920s.

Which material was used to build the entire Panathenaic Stadium, host of the 1896 Olympics?

Marble rebuilt the whole stadium for 1896, paid for by the benefactor George Averoff; Greeks call it Kallimarmaro, 'beautiful marble'.

The name of the Greek dish gyros literally means what?

Gyros means 'turn' or 'circle' in Greek, a calque of the Turkish döner, from dönmek, 'to turn', because the meat spins on a vertical rotisserie.

Friday the 13th worries much of the world, but which day do Greeks traditionally consider unlucky?

Tuesday belongs to Ares, the god of war, in Greek tradition, which makes Tuesday the 13th the unluckiest date of all. Spanish speakers share the same superstition.

At every Olympic opening ceremony, which place in the Parade of Nations is reserved for Greece's team?

First into the stadium since 1928, Greece leads the parade in honour of its role in the ancient Games. The host nation's team always walks in last.

At Easter, Greek families crack hard-boiled eggs together; which single colour are those eggs dyed?

Red stands for the blood of Christ in the Orthodox tradition, while the hard shell represents his sealed tomb. Cracking it open is a symbol of the resurrection.

Which bird, copied from a coin struck in the 5th century BC, appears on the Greek one-euro coin?

An owl was the symbol of the powerful ancient city that minted the original. Even the outline of the old coin is reproduced on the new one.

Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was born a prince of Greece and which other country?

Denmark gave Greece its royal house: Philip's grandfather George I, a son of Denmark's Christian IX, took the Greek throne in 1863. Philip himself was born on Corfu in 1921.

Which saint is honoured by the Greek New Year cake that is baked with a lucky coin inside?

Basil is the gift-bringer of Greek tradition, visiting children on 1 January rather than at Christmas. His cake is the vasilopita, and whoever finds its coin is promised good luck.

In Greece, a single upward tilt of the head, usually with raised eyebrows, signals which reply?

No is signalled in Greece by tipping the head up, often with a soft tongue click that Greeks call 'tsou'. A single downward nod, sometimes with the eyes closed, means the opposite.

Which institution holds the Parthenon sculptures that Lord Elgin's agents shipped out of Greece?

The British Museum has held them since 1816, when Elgin sold the collection to the British government. His agents had taken about half of the temple's surviving sculpture.

Souvlaki, the classic Greek street food, is named after a medieval word for which cooking tool?

Skewer is the meaning of the old word soúvla, and souvlaki is its diminutive: a little skewer. Greeks have been grilling meat on spits since the Bronze Age.

The blue glass 'mati' charms sold all over Greece are meant to protect the wearer against what?

The evil eye, a curse cast by an envious glance, is known in Greece simply as 'mati', meaning eye. The charm is itself an eye, made to stare the curse straight back.

On Clean Monday, the first day of Orthodox Lent, Greek families head outdoors to do what?

Fly kites is the answer: the custom is said to symbolise reaching for the divine. It comes with a picnic of shellfish and lagana, a flatbread baked only on that day.

Which Greek letter do mathematicians use for the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter?

Pi was a natural choice because it is the first letter of the Greek words for periphery and perimeter. It is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet.

In Greek myth, who opened a jar that loosed every ill on humanity, leaving only hope inside?

Pandora never had a box in the original myth: that word is a 16th-century mistranslation of the Greek for a large storage jar.

Which snake-haired Gorgon of Greek myth turned onlookers to stone until the hero Perseus beheaded her?

Medusa stayed dangerous even after losing her head: Perseus used it as a weapon before handing it to a goddess to set on her shield.

Which leafy vegetable is baked with feta between sheets of filo in a classic Greek savoury pie?

Spinach gives the pie its name, spanakopita: spanáki is Greek for spinach and píta for pie. The filling is bound with egg before baking.

Dolmades, a staple of the Greek meze table, are parcels of herbed rice wrapped in what?

Vine leaves have been used to wrap food in the region since late Roman and early Byzantine times. Greeks also call the little parcels dolmadakia.

Which Cycladic party island is known for its row of windmills and a waterfront quarter called Little Venice?

Mykonos is nicknamed the Island of the Winds, which explains the windmills: most were built by the Venetians in the 16th century to mill wheat.

Which Greek island was the home of Odysseus, whose long voyage back is the plot of Homer's Odyssey?

Ithaca is a real island off the west coast, generally identified with the one in Homer. Its ancient coins were stamped with the image of its legendary king.

Which Greek mathematician is said to have run naked through the streets shouting 'Eureka!' after a bath?

Archimedes had noticed the water rising as he sank into the tub, and saw that the same effect could measure the volume of a king's golden wreath.

At Epiphany each January, Greek swimmers dive into cold seas and rivers to retrieve what, thrown by a priest?

A cross is thrown in for the Great Blessing of the Waters, and whoever brings it back is promised good luck. The rite also marks the end of the old winter ban on sailing.

A Greek 'name day' is celebrated much like a birthday, but on a date fixed by what?

A saint's feast day decides it, so everyone who shares a name celebrates together. Greek babies are traditionally named after a grandparent, which keeps the same names running down a family.

In a Greek family, which family member do the children affectionately call 'yiayia'?

Grandmother is 'yiayia' in Greek, and her husband is 'pappous'. The word is written γιαγιά, with the stress falling on the final syllable.

At a Greek Orthodox wedding, the priest places what on the heads of both bride and groom?

Crowns are so central that the marriage service itself is known as the Mystery of Crowning. It follows a separate betrothal ceremony earlier in the same rite.

Which Bavarian prince, still a teenager, was chosen as the first king of modern Greece in 1832?

Otto was the second son of King Ludwig I and ruled at first through a council of Bavarian officials. He was deposed in 1862 and died in Bavaria five years later.

The military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974 is usually named after officers of which rank?

Colonels led the coup of 21 April 1967, striking a month before elections that a centrist party was favoured to win. Their regime lasted seven years.

In a December 1974 referendum, months after military rule ended, Greeks voted against keeping which institution?

The monarchy lost by more than two to one, with 69.2 per cent voting against it. The former king was barred from returning to campaign, but was allowed a televised address to the nation.

Which seaside town was the capital of the newly independent Greek state until 1834?

Nafplio was where Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first head of state, governed the new country. He was assassinated there in 1831, on the steps of a church in the town.

Which harbour city, laid out in the 5th century BC as a naval base, remains Greece's chief port?

Piraeus sends ferries to almost every island in the eastern half of the country. It was planned from the start as a single harbour for both trade and warships.

Which fruit's juice is whisked with eggs and hot broth to make a classic silky Greek soup and sauce?

Lemon is half of the dish's name: avgolemono literally means egg-lemon. The mixture is used to thicken soups and stews without any cream.

Which Greek island bans cars and motorcycles, leaving donkeys, mules and water taxis to move people around?

Hydra bans bicycles too, and rubbish trucks are the only motor vehicles on the island. Everything else travels by animal or by boat.

Louis de Bernières set his wartime novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin on which Greek island?

Kefalonia, spelled Cephalonia in the novel, was occupied by Italian and German troops. The story builds to the mass execution of the island's Italian division by German soldiers.

Which Greek island's Kastani beach was the main filming location for the ABBA musical 'Mamma Mia!'?

Skopelos hosted the shoot in the late summer of 2007, but the island in the story, Kalokairi, is fictional. Its name is simply the Greek word for summer.

Which Greek island, named for a mythical boy who flew too near the sun, is famed for its long-lived residents?

Ikaria is listed among the world's 'blue zones', alongside Okinawa and Sardinia, where people are said to live unusually long. Icarus was believed to have fallen into the sea just offshore.

What name is given to the kilted soldiers who guard Greece's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

Evzones form the ceremonial Presidential Guard, and their kilt-like garment is called a fustanella. They wear it with turned-up shoes known as tsarouchia.

The reformer Cleisthenes is remembered as the father of which system of government in ancient Greece?

Democracy in his city may also owe him ostracism, first used in 487 BC: a vote of at least 6,000 citizens could send a too-powerful man into exile for ten years.

Which hero of Greek myth performed twelve labours for King Eurystheus, from slaying a lion to capturing Cerberus?

Heracles was set only ten tasks in the account of Apollodorus, but Eurystheus refused to count two of them and added two more. The Romans knew the hero as Hercules.

In Greek myth, by which river of the Underworld did the gods swear their most solemn oaths?

Styx was a goddess as well as a river, and she earned the honour by taking the winning side in the war against the Titans.

Victors at the ancient Olympic Games received no medals, only a wreath cut from which tree?

Olive branches for the wreaths were cut from a wild tree growing at the sanctuary itself. Laurel, the popular guess, was the prize at the Pythian Games instead.

Fasolada, a soup sometimes called the national food of the Greeks, is built around which ingredient?

White beans and tomatoes both reached Europe from the Americas, so the soup as it is cooked today can be only a few centuries old.

Which of the classical Greek column orders is the earliest and plainest, with columns that have no base?

Doric columns drop straight onto the temple platform, and the Parthenon has long been regarded as the most perfect example of the order.

What name is given to the six sculpted maidens that stand in for columns on the Erechtheion's porch?

Caryatids carry a building's weight on their heads in place of columns. The Greek name literally means maidens of Karyai, an ancient town in the south of the country.

Which crusading order ruled Rhodes from 1310 to 1522 and rebuilt its capital as a walled medieval city?

The Hospitallers, formally the Knights of St John, held Rhodes for two centuries and left it with a lasting nickname: the Island of the Knights.

In 1923 Greece became the last Orthodox country in Europe to adopt which calendar for civil use?

Gregorian dates arrived with a jump of 13 days, the gap that had built up against the old Julian calendar. The change applied to civil life only, not to the church.

Which Swiss city gave its name to the 1923 agreement that made Greece and Turkey exchange populations?

Lausanne is where the convention was signed that uprooted about 1.2 million Orthodox Christians and up to 400,000 Muslims, sorted by religion rather than by language.

The 'Greek key' border pattern, common on ancient Greek pottery, is also known by which name?

Meander recalls the twisting path of the Maeander River, in what is now Turkey. 'Greek key' is a modern label for a motif that many distant cultures used long before.

Which Shakespeare play, first staged in 1599, popularised 'Greek' as an English byword for speech nobody can follow?

Julius Caesar gives the line to Casca, who is reporting a speech he could not follow because Cicero had delivered it in Greek.

Kozani, a city in northern Greece, is renowned for producing which costly spice, sold as 'Krokos Kozanis'?

Saffron from the area is grown around a nearby town that is actually named Krokos, the Greek word for the crocus whose threads make the spice.

Which nut became the signature crop of the island of Aegina after systematic planting began there in 1896?

Pistachios proved so profitable that by 1950 they had pushed aside most other farming on Aegina, helped by a pest that was threatening the island's vineyards.

On Holy Saturday, residents of Corfu's old town celebrate Easter by hurling what from their balconies?

Clay pots filled with water, known as botides, are smashed on the pavement below at exactly 11 a.m. in a noisy celebration called the Early Resurrection.

Which English summer sport, a legacy of British rule, is played on the main square of Corfu Town?

Cricket is unique to Corfu within Greece, a leftover from the years when the island was a British protectorate. The pitch is part of the Spianada, the town's vast main plaza.