Heroes are made not born...

This country of ours, Greece, is a land with a history that goes back to the depth of time. Since ancient times, the Greeks have passed down their wisdom to the human race, and have been famous for their values, their patriotism, their courage and their heroism.

Over time, the country experienced many vicissitudes. It lived through golden epochs of great glory and brilliant prosperity. It also endured dark years of hardship, full of fear and despair, violence and death, years of subjugation. One of these grievous periods was under Ottoman rule. For almost 400 years the Greeks patiently endured all the afflictions imposed on them by their occupiers, waiting for the moment when they would resolve to unite in the cause of 'Freedom or Death', and once more take the fate of their country and their own life in their hands. For a life lived in slavery is no life at all.

The last Emperor of Byzantium, Constantine Palaiologos, fought tirelessly to keep the Ottomans out of Constantinople. Unfortunately, however, he was hindered in his efforts by conspiracies and various special interests. On the 29th May 1453 Constantinople, fell into the hands of the Ottomans, after being attacked by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror and his army. The Emperor died heroically on the battlefield, trying to defend not just a city but an idea, a centuries old-civilization, a history that had been written in letters of gold on the hearts of men.

The darkness and years of slavery which followed never succeeded in erasing from the hearts and minds of the Greeks those glorious years of their history. Their religious faith was a great source of strength throughout those difficult years.

There had been a fair number of small and larger attempts at rebellion over those 400 years to shake off Turkish rule. They did not succeed, however, because they were not properly organised.

The right moment arrived around the start of the 19th century.The idea of liberty had by now matured in their hearts and the circumstances were being created which triggered the start of the Revolution.

That was when modern Greek history gave birth to heroes and heroines, men and women saints, ethnomartyrs and new martyrs, educators, people who without hesitation gave all they possessed for the liberation of Greece: their fortunes, their welfare, even their lives. Each of them, men and women, were people like you and me, like the rest of us. But they did not sit and wait passively for a miracle. They stood up straight, grasped their weapons and took the initiative. They became heroes, they wrote a glorious volume of history, inscribed with their blood and tears and bound in the blue and white of the Greek flag.

Enriching my vocabulary by learning unknown words...

Εμπλουτίζω το λεξιλόγιό μου με άγνωστες λέξεις...

Λεξιλόγιο

Pass down = κληροδοτώ

Wisdom =  σοφία 

Values = αξίες

Courage = θάρρος

Vicissitudes = σκαμπανεβάσματα

Prosperity = ευημερία

Endure = ξεπερνώ, αντέχω

Hardship = δυσκολίες

Despair = απόγνωση, απελπισία

Subjugation = υποδούλωση

Grievous = θλιβερός, σημαντικός

Afflictions = δοκιμασίες

Imposed on = επιβάλλομαι

Resolve = επιλύω

Tirelessly = ακούραστα

Slavery = σκλαβιά

Conspiracies = συνομωσίες

Hindered = καθυστερώ

Succeed in = επιτυγχάνω

Attempt = προσπάθεια, προσπαθώ

Rebellion = επανάσταση

Hesitation = δισταγμός

Initiative = πρωτοβουλία