| Greek To Me |
| A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Parthenon |
| by Michael Raysses |
| Hello and welcome to my column. I know you have a million other places you could be right now, so thanks for stopping by. |
The column’s title—“Greek To Me”—is something I chose for a couple of reasons. Growing up, I heard people use that phrase to refer to things they didn’t understand or things that were foreign to them. It always struck me as funny because I’m Greek –American. I knew when they used that phrase the ‘Greek’ was something they had no relationship with. But being Greek and being raised in a household that was steeped in Greek traditions, the ‘Greek’ was all I knew. So that which was strange to most was familiar to me. There was a duality that I embraced.
That duality is in total alignment with Greece, its geography, its people, and most importantly, its history. Geographically, Greece sits between east and west, so it is and has been influenced by both regions. It makes for an interesting national character. Culturally, Greeks started out with a bang. They ruled the roost for a time, and even when they fell to another empire, their culture was forcibly imported by their conquerors, so great was its impact. But let’s face it—in modern times they have been less than remarkable. The memory of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle has given way to Telly Savalas, John Stamos, and Yianni. In a word, “Ouch!” Thankfully, we have made a small comeback of sorts—it turns out that Jennifer Aniston is Greek. Hey, the longest journey begins with a first step, right?
It’s this sense of inherent duality that I bring to this column. You want duality? Try being an ex-lawyer-turned-writer/actor/National Public Radio commentator who happens to wait on the occasional table or two to make a regular buck like myself. I am from the Midwest but live in Los Angeles. I see duality in most everything around me. Hell, my life is nothing but yin tossed atop yang, leaving me to reconcile the two. Which is exactly what I try and do here—reconcile life’s dualities, all in the space of this column. Consistent with my forbears, the results are sometimes tragic, and oftentimes comic. Which, ironically enough, is Greek to me.
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