(Intro & piano music)

Plato wrote 'Our salvation depends on the correct choice between pleasure and sadness, that is the choice between more, or less.' The ancient Greek verb Αιρώ (aero) has been completely claimed by Christianity and turned on its head with regards to the original meaning and perception of the word. In 380 AD, the Roman emperor Theodosius the 1st , legally tied the word to anyone not Christian (at the time the division between the Catholic and the Orthodox church didn't exist. In fact, Theodosius was the last emperor before the split.) So he drafted 'The Edict Of Thessalonica' which he fought tooth and nail throughout his life trying to enforce in the empire . And he succeeded. The original word means 'the right to choose/the right to a different belief' and it was commonly used up until that point. 'We order the followers of this law to embrace the name of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics...' The word was written down and passed on in all religious texts and that's how it arrived in England . The word also became a crime in 1401 and was decriminalised in 1677 putting a stop to the punishment which was death by burning at the stake and giving people back the freedom to choose (well, sort of) ΑΙΡΕΣΗ/HERESY

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(Intro & piano music)

In ancient Greek mythology there are three women (sometimes more) , daughters of Zeus (sometimes of the Sun or of Dionysus) that are responsible for organising all the feasts in Mount Olympus and making sure that everything is beautiful, joyous, healthy and sexy. No, they're not the Muses although, they were all good friends. They are Aphrodite's followers and they are The Graces! Χάριτες (Charites) in Greek. Their names Αγλαϊα (Aglaea-Radiance), Ευφροσύνη(Evfrosini-Joy) and Θάλεια (Thalia-Boom). They were worshiped all around Greece but they had their own temple in the mainland where three rocks fell from the sky (yes ,rocks) and were worshiped until people carved and made statues of them. There was a big art festival dedicated to them and archaeologists have discovered plaques with names of musicians and poets and artists that have won the competition. Although their English name is The Graces, their touch to a human's life has the same name as an offering from the gods in Greek. It's a ΧΑΡΙΣΜΑ/CHARISMA

Twitter @yourgreeksunday ,
Instagram @emmanuela_lia ,
email yourgreeksunday@gmail.com

(Intro & piano music)

I have a three combo word for you today, yup, that's as Greek as it gets! And it seems to have been distorted a little in English in order to single out personality traits but: Ιδιος (idios) in ancient Greek meant 'one's own', we could say 'one's self' but... mmm... ok let's go with that! Συν (sin) means 'with' and κράση (krasi) means 'a mixture' . So the combination of all the things that make someone themselves. From your personality, to your mannerisms, to the way you carry yourself. That singular combination and not one personality trait, that makes you, you is your ΙΔΙΟΣΥΓΚΡΑΣΙΑ/IDIOSYNCRASY

Twitter @yourgreeksunday ,
Instagram @emmanuela_lia ,
email yourgreeksunday@gmail.com