The famous Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy

written by Konstantinos Z.

 Cavafy was born in 1863 in Alexandria, Egypt, to Greek parents, and was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church. His father was a prosperous importer-exporter who had lived in England in earlier years and acquired British nationality. After his father died in 1870, Cavafy and his family settled for a while in Liverpool, England. In 1876, his family faced financial problems due to the Long Depression of 1873, so, by 1877, they had to move back to Alexandria.

  Almost all of Cavafy's work was in Greek. He is known for his use of metaphors, his brilliant use of historical imagery, and his aesthetic perfectionism.

  His poems were the subject of study worldwide and have been translated into French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and many other languages.

   2013 is the  anniversary of 150 years since the birth of the leading poet.   The Greek Ministry of Education, Religion, Culture and Sport proclaimed 2013  “Year of Konstantine Cavafy” . 

   Here it is his poem “Ithaka”, which Kavafy wrote inspired by the Homeric  return  journey of Odysseus to his home island, as depicted in the Odyssey. The poem's theme is the enjoyment of the journey of life, and the increasing maturity of the soul as that journey continues. The translation was made by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard.( (C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems, Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992)

 

Ithaka

As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you. Hope the voyage is a long one. May there be many a summer morning when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors seen for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars. Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for. But do not hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich. Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Sources

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_P._Cavafy

http://www.tovima.gr/culture/article/?aid=489697

http://www.cavafy.com/poems/list.asp?cat=1

 

Alexander the Great

written by Chris Liv.

Alexander III of Macedon (356 - 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of Macedon, a state in ancient northern Greece. The son of King Philip II of Macedon and Queen Olympia, daughter of Neuptolemus I, king of Epirus, Alexander was born in Pella, the capital of the Ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia.

Alexander was a student of the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle, by whom he was taught the classical Greek literature, philosophy, art and science, and developed a great passion for Homer, and especially his work Illiad.

Left to right: Alexander at a young age, Philip II and Olympia

At the age of ten, Alexander managed to tame a wild horse which was told to be a descendant of the legendary horses of Diomides, in front of the Macedonian generals and his father, after none of them was able to do so. Alexander named this exceptional horse Boukephalas (ox-head) and the horse would take him as far as Pakistan, becoming his loyal battlefield partner. Alexander joined the Macedonian army at the age of 18, when he suppressed the Thracian Revolution and impressed everyone with his bravery and his ability in the battlefield. In 336 BC, his father was assassinated and Alexander became the new king of Macedon. Soon he started successful campaigns against the southern Greek kingdoms, such as the Athenian, and the neighboring Balkan kingdoms, and soon started his great dream: to take over the Persian Empire and spread the Greek culture and language to the “end of the world”.



Left to right: Aristotle, mosaic detail with Alexander and Boukephalas and statue of Alexander

With an army of 48.000 soldiers, 6.000 cavalry and 120 ships, Alexander marched through minor Asia, ruling several ancient Greek cities which were now under Persian occupation and then reached Syria, where they gave one of their most important battles. The Battle of Issus saw the significantly smaller Macedonian army easily defeating king Darius’ Persian troops, and after this success Alexander was called king of Asia. Alexander and the Macedonians then conquered Levant and Egypt. In Egypt, Alexander was crowned Pharaoh and founded the most famous of his cities, Alexandria.

 

Alexander the Great’s journeys of conquest

The Macedonian Army then again marched eastward into Mesopotamia but his last campaign would be the invasion in India. Alexander had also been planning a new campaign against the Arabs, which, however, he would not live to start, as he died on 10 or 11 June 323 BC from fever in Babylon. However, Alexander is one of the most historic figures in the World History, as he managed to create one of the greatest empires in history, and spread the greek art, wisdom and language throughout Asia. He is also symbolic for his military ability, and became the measure against which military leaders compare themselves, while military academies throughtout the world still teach his tactics. Last, what is sure is that Alexander the Great will always be one of the most famous, important and beloved figures in Greek History.

The death of Alexander the Great (painter Karl T. von Piloty)

Mother's Day, Poland

On the 26th of May we celebrate Mother's Day in Poland. On this day we give our Mothers little gifts. We are sending our best wishes to all Mothers. We also want to say Thank you for our mom's love, patience and understanding.

The famous Greek writer Kazantzakis Nikos

written by Anna

"I am a weak, ephemeral creature made of mud and dream. But I feel all the powers of the universe whirling within me."

"We come from a dark abyss, we end in a dark abyss, and we call the luminous interval life"

   The top writer of Modern Greek literature, Nikos Kazantzakis was born in 1883 in Heraklion, Crete, and studied law in Athens, which became a university lecturer with a dissertation on the Fr. Nietzsche, from whom he was influenced a lot. Kazantzakis was a cranky guy who liked to travel, so he visited many parts of Europe and Asia. He recorded many of the travel experiences in his later books. In 1948 he went to Antibes, France, where he devoted himself entirely to literature and in that time he wrote his most important works. His works, with inspiration and historical depth, characterized by anxiety about redemption and passion for life, of faith in man and admiration in the separate personalities.

He worked with newspapers and magazines, and was established in 1927 with the "Ascetic" expressing metaphysical ideas. Then the huge task of translating "Odyssey" (1938) comes and in 1946 a novel-hymn to life: "The Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas" was published. A whole new world and an era of Hellenism were represented brilliantly in "Captain Michael" (1950), in "Jesus Recrucified" (1948) and 'Aderfofades "(1954). The "Last Temptation" (1951) is a singular perspective on the divine drama. The picture of the work of Kazantzakis closes with the posthumous publication of his autobiography "Report to Greco" (1961).

In 1957 he became seriously ill and in October of the same year he died in a clinic in Germany. His body was transported and buried at the Venetian Castle of Heraklion, as requested by him. He was buried with all the values ​​he should be, and on his grave was written the words "I expect nothing, I fear nothing, I am free."

Georgios Papanikolaou a famous Greek doctor

                                                                                                                    written by Anna
Georgios Papanikolaou (1883-1962) is a famous doctor and biologist, professor of medicine at Cornell University in New York and inventor of the homonymous cytology method for early diagnosis of cervical cancer.

At a 1928 medical conference in Battle Creek, Michigan, Papanikolaou introduced his low-cost, easily performed screening test for early detection of cancerous and precancerous cells. The test called Papanicolaou test, commonly known as the Pap smear or Pap test, is used worldwide for the detection and prevention of cervical cancer and other cytologic diseases of the female reproductive system.

Georgios Papanikolaou was born in the Greek island of Evia. He finished the Athens Medical School and from 1907 until 1910 he continued his studies in Germany. In 1912 he took part in the Balkan Wars as a reserve army assistant surgeon and then he went to the USA, where he was appointed as an assistant at the Pathology Department of  New York Hospital. Afterwards, he went to Cornell University as an assistant in the anatomy lab, where he began his research. In 1957 he became a professor emeritus and in 1961 director of the Cancer Research Center of Miami, which was named after him.

Sirtaki Dance Performance by Turkish Team

A Great Italian Musician born in Ortona

Francesco Paolo Tosti’ biographic adventure begins from Ortona, hearth of the abruzzese cost  on the 9 of April  1846.  He lived exactly 70 years in Ortona, Napoli, Londra, Milano and Rome as the protagonist of the european  musical life.

Francesco Paolo Tosti understood that was unusefull to write melodrama because there were lots of other Italian writers  which invented them such as Verdi,  Puccini, Leoncavallo, Mascagni... so he did 

“ romanza da salotto “ which at the time was new and trendy. He wrote a lot and very well.

He teaches to sing to big artists  in London at Covent Garden.  He had also an elegant voice of light tenor and could sing and play for hours in the musical evenings of London Aristocracy.

In London he could earn a big prestige, in fact he became a teacher of the most prestigious school like Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music. Puccini, Mascagni and Leoncavallo asked him  to introduce them in the royal English  Court. For all this,  there is a rich amount of letters and pieces of magazine in the Museum in Ortona.

 

Francesco Paolo Tosti died in 1916,  in the middle of the Great War that would sweep all of a sudden the world in which the musician  had tailored his place. The cinema and the radio would soon also completely changed the habits of Europeans, setting new costumes for social gatherings. The romance of Tosti  moved easily from the living room to the aristocratic concert halls and to the disk and the attention on the  Tosti' Romanza da salotto never changed.

We recently went to  the National Museum Tostiano in Ortona to celebrate and  see a  film about the life of our Great Author 

Posted by students from classrooms the third  D and F
images made  with the program "Illustrator"

O.S.

Click here to see the official website

http://www.istitutonazionaletostiano.org/IT/Francesco_Paolo_Tosti.asp 

Just a Glance at our Project :)

Wordle from Poland

<a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/6706324/Traditions_" title="Wordle: Traditions "><img src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/6706324/Traditions_" alt="Wordle: Traditions " style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"></a>

Open Day, Gimnazjum nr 14, Ruda Śląska (Poland)

On 8th May Gimnazjum nr 14 in Ruda Śląska organized the Open Day. Students who visited us could see our school, the equipment, could talk to the teachers and students. They could see that studying can be an interesting and creative experience. Group running our project BLOGTORTTERS AXCROSS EUROPE presented the idea of eTwinning projects, too. Here are some photos.

Poland got the National Quality Label

Dear friends!

We're happy to get the Naional Quality Label. Thanks for your great coopearion! Looking forward to good news from you:-)

3rd May in Poland

3rd May is Constitution Day in Poland and marks the signing of the Polish Constitution on this date in 1791. It is generally regarded as Europe's first and the world's second modern codified national constitution. However, the constitution was to last for just a year as Poland was then partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria. Banned during the partitions of Poland, it was again made an official Polish holiday in April 1919. After the 1946 anti-communist student demonstrations, May 3 Constitution Day lost support with the authorities, who replaced it with May 1 Labor Day celebrations; in 1951, May 3 was officially removed from the list of national holidays. May 3 was restored as an official Polish holiday in April 1990, after the fall of communism.

For the occasion state representatives and top brass from the Polish armed forces take part in celebrations in Warsaw - they attend a ceremony by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

On 3 May we also celebrate the feast od Mary, the Queen of Poland. Main religious celebrations always takes place in Częstochowa. For Poles, the Black Madonna of Częstochowa is a fount of miracles. The Holy Virign was acclaimed the Queen of Poland in 1656, after Sweden's invasion of the country in 1655. For 40 days, as the Swedes surrounded the monastery, the monks prayed to the Virgin for deliverance. The siege failed, and the Poles subsequently drove the Swedes out of the country. In gratitude, the reigning Polish monarch, Jan Kazimierz, dedicated his throne and the country to "the Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland."
As for the painting itself - its origins are unknown, but it may date as far back as 6th century Greece or Byzantium. The icon arrived in Poland in 1382 with a Polish army fleeing the Tartars, who had struck it with an arrow. Because of the icon of Black Madonna, Częstochowa is regarded as the most popular shrine in Poland, with many people making a pilgrimage there every year.

Mine Brass Orchestra in our school (Poland)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxM8xnL8jUc


http://www.youtube.com/embed/RIXdR3pT1MY