Magna Græcia (Latin meaning "Great Greece", Greek: Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, Megálē Hellás) is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Croton, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north.^[1] The colonists, who began arriving in the 8th century BC, brought with them their Hellenic civilization, which was to leave a lasting imprint in Italy, particularly on the culture of ancient Rome.

History[link]

Antiquity[link]

In the eighth and seventh centuries BC, for various reasons, including demographic crisis (famine, overcrowding, etc.), the search for new commercial outlets and ports, and expulsion from their homeland, Greeks began to settle in southern Italy (Cerchiai, pp. 14–18). Also during this period, Greek colonies were established in places as widely separated as the eastern coast of the Black Sea, Eastern Libya and Massalia (Marseille). They included settlements in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the heel of the boot of Italy Magna Graecia (Latin, “Great Greece”), since it was so densely inhabited by the Greeks. The ancient geographers differed on whether the term included Sicily or merely Apulia and Calabria — Strabo being the most prominent advocate of the wider definitions.

With this colonization, Greek culture was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the Ancient Greek language, its religious rites and its traditions of the independent polis. An original Hellenic civilization soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic civilisations. The most important cultural transplant was the Chalcidean/Cumaean variety of the Greek alphabet, which was adopted by the Etruscans; the Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the Latin alphabet, which became the most widely used alphabet in the world.

Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful, like Neapolis (Νεάπολις, Naples, "New City"), Syracuse, Acragas, and Sybaris (Σύβαρις). Other cities in Magna Graecia included Tarentum (Τάρας), Epizephyrian Locri (Λοκροί Ἐπιζεφύριοι), Rhegium (Ῥήγιον), Croton (Κρότων), Thurii (Θούριοι), Elea (Ἐλέα), Nola (Νῶλα), Ancona (Ἀγκών), Syessa (Σύεσσα), Bari (Βάριον), and others.

Following the Pyrrhic War in the 3rd century BC, Magna Graecia was absorbed into the Roman Republic.

Temple of Hera in Metaponto, Matera, Italy

The Middle Ages[link]

During the Early Middle Ages, following the disastrous Gothic War, new waves of Byzantine Christian Greeks came to Southern Italy from Greece and Asia Minor, as Southern Italy remained loosely governed by the Eastern Roman Empire. The iconoclast emperor Leo III appropriated lands that had been granted to the Papacy in southern Italy^[2] and the Eastern Emperor loosely governed the area until the advent of the Lombards then, in the form of the Catapanate of Italy, superseded by the Normans.

A remarkable example of this influence is the Griko-speaking minority which still exists today in the Italian regions of Calabria and Apulia. Griko is the name of a language combining ancient Doric, Byzantine Greek, and Italian elements, spoken by few people in some villages in the Province of Reggio Calabria and Salento. There is a rich oral tradition and Griko folklore, limited now, though once numerous, to around 30,000 people most of them having become absorbed into the surrounding Italian element. Some believe that the origins of the Griko language may ultimately be traced to the colonies of Magna Graecia.

Modern Italy[link]

Although most of the Greek inhabitants of Southern Italy became entirely Italianized during the Middle Ages (as Paestum had already been in the 4th century BC), pockets of Greek culture and language remained and survived into modern times. This is because the "traffic" between southern Italy and the Greek mainland never entirely stopped.

Thus, for example, Greeks re-entered the region in the 16th and 17th century. This happened in reaction to the conquest of the Peloponnese by the Ottoman Turks. Especially after the fall of Coroni (1534) large numbers of Greeks and Albanians sought, and were granted, refuge in the areas of Calabria, Salento and Sicily. The Greeks from Coroni - the so called Coronians - belonged to the nobility and brought with them substantial movable property. They were granted special privileges and given tax exemptions. Another part of the Greeks that moved to Italy came from the Mani region of the Peloponnese. The Maniots were known for their proud military traditions and for their bloody vendettas (another portion of these Greeks moved to Corsica; cf. the Corsican vendettas). These migrations strengthened the depopulated Italian south with a culturally vibrant and militarily capable element.

Quotations[link]

...since the land of Italy was Greater Greece.
Ovid - Fasti, IV

See also[link]

• Greeks in Italy
• Graia
• Graiki
• Names of the Greeks
• Graecus
• Griko people
• Griko language

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Luca Cerchiai, Lorena Jannelli, Fausto Longo, Lorena Janelli, 2004. The Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily (Getty Trust) ISBN 0-89236-751-2
• T. J. Dunbabin, 1948. The Western Greeks
• A. G. Woodhead, 1962. The Greeks in the West

External links[link]

• Map
• Italy rediscovers Greek heritage
• Gaze On The Sea Salentinian Peninsula, Greece and Greater Greece (in Italian, Greek and English)
• Oriamu pisulina, traditional Griko song performed by Ghetonia
• Kalinifta, traditional Griko song performed by amateur local group

The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking.^[1] The Greek is a mysterious figure involved in numerous criminal activities. His given name is never mentioned on the show, and though he is known only as "The Greek", he has stated (in the episode Port in a Storm) that he is not actually Greek. A quiet and unassuming man, the Greek prefers to keep a low profile, operating all of his business through his lieutenant Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos. His smuggling organization operated from a small diner in Baltimore for years, and while Vondas would conduct business the Greek would listen in quietly at the counter. Nick Sobotka, upon seeing the Greek identify himself, was amazed that the shadowy figure had been in plain sight the entire time.

Despite his calm appearance, the Greek is cunning and ruthless, and only interested in facts that make him more money. Series creator David Simon has said that The Greek is an embodiment of raw unencumbered capitalism.^[2] Anyone interfering in this process is eliminated immediately, and he prefers to leave victims headless and handless to hinder identification.

The Greek's smuggling operation includes importing sex trade workers, illicit drugs, stolen goods and chemicals for drug processing. He bribes union stevedores to move containers through the Baltimore port for him and uses his muscle, Sergei "Serge" Malatov, to run containers back and forth from the port to his warehouse, a front managed by "Double G" Glekas. The Greek supplies the major drug dealers in East Baltimore with pure cocaine and heroin, using Eton Ben-Eleazer to move his drugs. His chief client is Proposition Joe, but he is also affiliated with smaller drug dealing organizations like those run by "White Mike" McArdle. His sex trade interests in Baltimore include a brothel run by a madam named Ilona Petrovitch, bringing in girls from eastern Europe. He manages to avoid prosecution for his crimes because an FBI counter-terrorism agent named Kristos Koutris tips him off if a criminal investigation gets too close. It is suggested he and Vondas may serve as federal informants.

Biography[link]

Season 2[link]

The Greek began to draw police attention in Baltimore when his contact at the docks, Frank Sobotka, became the target of an investigation. At the same time a container of thirteen dead young women intended for the sex trade was discovered at the docks, triggering a high-profile homicide investigation. The container belonged to the Greek and the girls were killed by a crewman onboard the vessel that had delivered them. The ship's crew had been paying the girls for sex and when one of the girls refused, she was killed. The crewman responsible dumped her overboard and collapsed the air pipe to kill the remaining women. The Greek had Sergei track the crewman down, interrogated him personally, and had Vondas kill him.

As the investigation continued the police were able to link Eton and Sergei to the drug smuggling operation. When police began tracking containers as they left the port, The Greek and Vondas began to close down the operation temporarily by dumping their cell phones and stealing "clean" containers. Persuading Sobotka to keep the smuggling operation going he bought further protection from Agent Koutris by betraying a load of Colombian cocaine, giving him time to destroy incriminating evidence in the warehouse and Glekas' store.

The Greek recognized that the investigation was too extensive to stop and made plans to leave, sending Vondas to assure Proposition Joe that supply of drugs would continue albeit with new faces. He attempted to buy Sobotka's silence with promised legal aid for his son, but when he learned from Koutris that Frank was planning to turn informant he had the union man killed. Although Frank's nephew Nick Sobotka was able to identify The Greek in a photo and Sergei was pressured to give up the location of his hotel suite, Vondas and the Greek had already boarded a flight to Chicago. Aware that the Greek and Vondas were gone, the police left the investigation behind and moved on to the drug dealers he supplied.

Seasons 4 & 5[link]

The Greek continued to supply "Proposition Joe" Stewart, who formed an organization with other drug dealers called the New Day Co-Op to provide The Greek's product to them in exchange for reduced violence and sharing of territory. When Omar Little steals an entire shipment of heroin from the Greek's men as it is being delivered to Stewart's people, Marlo Stanfield demands a meeting with Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos in order to allay his fears that Stewart was responsible.^[3][4] Once Stanfield is satisfied, he waits for the Major Crimes Unit's investigation into his activities to cease and then moves to establish a direct relationship with Vondas and the Greek. After getting in communication with Vondas through former soldier Sergei,^[5][6] Marlo eventually sells himself as Joe's replacement by convincing the Greek that he requires an insurance policy in the form of a replacement for Proposition Joe, in the event that anything should happen to him. Realizing that Stanfield will move against Stewart regardless of his approval, the Greek accepts Marlo's proposal to act as an "insurance policy," knowing that it will mean Joe's death.^[7][8]

After Stewart's murder, Stanfield meets with Vondas to initiate their new business relationship.^[9][10] Stanfield's tenure proves short lived when he is forced into retirement by an investigation, and the other Co-Op members purchase the connection from Stanfield. In the closing scenes of the series finale, Slim Charles and Fat-Face Rick take over meeting with Vondas while the Greek listens quietly in the background.^[11][12]

References[link]

Giorgio Albertazzi (born August 20, 1923) is an Italian actor and film director.

Born in San Martino a Mensola Albertazzi joined the Italian Social Republic and reached the rank of lieutenant. After their defeat, he spent two years in prison for collaborating. After the amnesty by Palmiro Togliatti he changed from studying architecture to acting.

In the theater Albertazzi debuted in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, and played in the following decades in a number of classics, many of them for television. From the early 1950s he was also seen on the big screen - he played in more than 50 films. Since 1969, he directed several television films, including the miniseries George Sand in 1981. Since 2003 he is director of the Teatro di Roma.

He had a close friendship with fellow actress Anna Proclemer who appeared with him for many years. In 2007 he married his long-standing partner Pia de Tolomei.

In 1988 he wrote his memoirs.

Selected filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Album[link]

• 1961 - D'Annunzio - Brani scelti da la figlia di Jorio (La voce del padrone, QELP 8045, LP) with Anna Proclemer
• 1963 - Eliot - La terra desolata (Stereoletteraria, SPM 103, LP)
• 1974 - La solitudine (Cetra, LP) with Vittorio Gassman
• Dante - Inferno (Sansoni Accademia Editori, SLI 03, LP) with Tino Buzzelli, Tino Carraro, Ottavio Fanfani, Davide Montemurri
• Dante - La divina commedia - Paradiso (Nuova Accademia Del Disco, BLI 2005, LP) with Ernesto Calindri, Tino Carraro, Anna Proclemer, Ottavio Fanfani
• Eluard (LP) with Gerard Philipe
• Leopardi - Canti (Cetra, CLC 0829, LP) with Arnoldo Foà, Vittorio Gassman, Alberto Lupo
• Neruda - 20 poesie d'amore e una canzone disperata (SPM 101, LP)
• Pasternak - Poesie (SPM 102, LP)

Singles[link]

• 1955 - Petrarca (Cetra - Collana Letteraria Documento, CL 0418, EP 7")
• 1957 - Solitudine (Cetra - Collana Letteraria Documento, CL 0434, EP 7")
• 1961 - Lettere d'amore (Cetra - Collana Letteraria Documento, CL 0477, EP 7")
• 1965 - Discorso della montagna (Cetra - Collana Letteraria Documento, CL 0419, EP 7")
• 1969 - Questa cosa che chiamiamo mondo/Tema di Linda (Carosello, CL 20222, 7") from the television series Jekyll
• 1969 - Ti amo... ed io di più/Sospendi il tempo (Boradway International, 7") with Anna Proclemer
• 1970 - Miraggio d'estate/Miraggio d'estate (Carosello, 7") with Penny Brown
• I fioretti di S. Francesco (Istituto Internazionale Del Disco, SIL 4001, EP 7") with Antonio Baldini
• Giorgio Sacchetti - Tre novelle lette da Giorgio Albertazzi (Istituto Internazionale Del Disco, SIL 4096, EP 7")
• Neruda, Barcarola e altre poesie (Nuova Accademia Disco, DP 6008, EP)

Awards[link]

• Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1996)
• Benemeriti della cultura e dell'arte (2003)

External links[link]

• Giorgio Albertazzi at the Internet Movie Database

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