Comments on: Girl-on-Greece: The Incredibly True Adventures of a Gay History Nerd in Love with Mount Olympus

By: John

John — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:48:16 +0000

Very resourceful and informative post!!! Elda Hotel is a family hotel and one can come here with the entire family to spend some quality time with them. The warm hospitality and friendly nature of the Pelion hotel staff let one unwind in an unknown environment with a feeling of security and being pampered at the same time.

By: foist

foist — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:20:11 +0000

Looks like we’re neighbors – I live and work in Birmingham, AL. Ha, but yeah, I know what you mean about their own words and phrases that they use. Random fact I came across recently: only after rereading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince did I look this up and realize that “er,” “erm,” and “eh” aren’t pronounced like they’re spelled, at least in American English. In American, it’s the same as “uh,” “um,” and “aye.” They’re transcribed different in British English but both ways make the same sounds. Anyhoo…

By: MsNJS

MsNJS — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:15:40 +0000

My tour guide was Gabriella. She was a great guide from Italy. What cruise ship were you on? I was on the Aegean Pearl

By: erin

erin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:35:42 +0000

foist: ohhh your town looks amazing. and i’m sure we passed that general area–in which case, i probably told people i wanted to buy a house in your town.

i’m from georgia but have absolutely no accent; something i’ve worked very hard at. but you know how americans are when they get around brits/aussies. at this point we know they say things like ‘loo’ and ‘tosser’ and ‘pissed’, but we still can’t help ourselves.

By: foist

foist — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:25:58 +0000

I meant to continue the thread and reply to your comment – see below.

By: foist

foist — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:44:45 +0000

Erin: Frank is the American equivalent for Fotis. Everyone calls me Fotis though and frankly, Frank sounds like the name for an old, senile grandpa. It never appealed to me as a nickname. Anyway, my family is from Agia Paraskevi – a small village (population less than 500) approximately 100 miles NW of Athens: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=agia+paraskevi&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=38.582727,22.742987&spn=0.016539,0.038581&t=h&z=15. Also, the tidbit about accents was funny but you never mentioned where you’re from.

By: Alex!

Alex! — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:01:21 +0000

Eeek I’m jealous. I’d love to visit all those places, but my next trip has already been set to Toronto in August. Maybe next time… I’d kill to visit the Theatre of Dionysus, go back in time and do the City Dionysia (festival.) I’m such a sucker for ancient Greek plays. Looks like fun! Thanks for sharing. (:

By: erin

erin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:37:22 +0000

foist: thanks so much! and what a fun name you have. do you go by a variation of it? ’cause i know a ‘panagiota’ and she goes by ‘penny’, ha. where abouts is your family from?

kaye: i’m learning so much from you two! also, w/r/t the museum/history femotions thing: right?!

By: foist

foist — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:47:25 +0000

Don’t hold me to the transliteration but in modern Greek, “omofilofilos” means homosexual but you seldom hear that when speaking. “Anomalos,” which I don’t take as being politically correct, is more akin the the word queer. It’s considered slang and often used in reference to men even though it can apply to both sexes. Then there’s “lesbia” for lesbians. There’s your usual derogatory terms as well, which I won’t go into detail here. As far as Ancient Greek, I’m pretty sure there was no real word for homosexual. Dr. Bonnie Zimmerman’s “The Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures” has a pretty good take on it, Plato, and Classical literature in general if you’re into that kind of stuff. Thanks for the reply – it’s not everyday you come across someone who’s read Plato.

By: Kaye

Kaye — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:14:34 +0000

The trip sounded fantastic. You took such lovely photos!

I had an attack of the sentimental while standing in the British Museum once … all of that history has a certain amount of emotional weight.

@foist The Ancient Greek term for a female homosexual was “hetairistriai,” according to my copy of Plato’s Symposium … but it would probably sound a bit pretentious to use it in a contemporary setting. (That, and way too many people are traumatized by philosophy classes to even consider Plato an interesting read …) Compared to the various Ancient Greek words, the feminine of “anomalos” seems so boring.

By: foist

foist — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:01:28 +0000

I’m a first generation Greek American (foist is an anagram of my first name – Fotis) and I just want to say that I really enjoyed your post. That and I’m unbelievably jealous that I can’t visit this summer. I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to Greece and hope you consider going back someday. I’ve been 5 times for what has been a total of over a year of vacation and still have only skimmed the surface of what Greece has to offer. Next time I go (plans are currently in the works), I’ll be climbing (or hiking is probably more accurate) Mount Olympus. And not to be a downer but as a cultural FYI, someone who is gay is more often than not referred to as “anomalos” – it’s from the same Greek root we get the English word anomaly.

By: erin

erin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:00:37 +0000

lynne: gooooo! bite the bullet and make yourself–if even for the food alone. mmmm cheese pie.

msNJS: ummmm were you on my tour?! that was my tour exactly. jk, i would have known and we would have hung out but was your main tour guide a little bitty named joanne?

IN emily: it was really incredible. unbelievable at times. for example, i looked through the same hole where the oracle gave her predictions (and was on tons of acid!) in the temple at delhi.