Greek National Heroes

From Antiquity to Modern Times

Greece: Land of Heroes

• The word “Hero” comes from an ancient greek word. So, Greece and heroes are two inseparable things since antiquity !

The Age of Myth• Hercules (Heracles)(The Greatest of All)

• Theseus(He killed Minotaurus)

• Jason (Iasonas)(…and the Argonauts)

Classical Greece

In the beginning of the 5th. Century B.C. Greeks fought against Persian invasion.

Persian Empire was much bigger and stronger than the divided Greek cities, but Greeks finally won the war …with a little help from some great military leaders of theirs…

• Miltiades (led Athenians in their victory in Marathon)

• Leonidas (king of the Spartans, died fighting heroically with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians in Thermopyles)

• Themistocles (his plan helped defeating the Persian fleet in Salamina)

A Great King

• Although Alexander the Great was a King, his achievements were so astonishing that he became a legend not only in Greece but in most of the regions he conquered!

To Serve and Protect

• Years passed, Greece was occupied by the Romans for centuries and after that the Byzantine Empire was formed. In the Eastern borders of the Empire there were some great fighters protecting the Empire against the Persians and, later, the Arabs. They were called “Akrites”. The greatest of them all was Digenis Akritas.

1821 – A Nation Revolts

• In 1821, after almost 4 centuries of Ottoman occupation, Greeks revolted and managed to gain their freedom in a war that lasted 9 whole years!

• Everybody fought against the Turks, but again heroes emerged. Men and women that fought and –in some cases- died for Freedom…

• Theodoros Kolokotronis

(the leader) “Everybody thought we were fools…”

• Georghios Karaiskakis

(killed by a bullet just after a great victory)

• Odysseas Androutsos

(he fought with a handful of men against thousands of Turks for two days and finally got away!)

• Bouboulina (she was the captain of a small fleet!)

“Heroes fight like Greeks”Winston Churchill

In 1940, during World War II, Italy declared war to Greece and “tried” to invade in our country from the Greek-Albanian border. Greeks fought superbly, and they pushed back the Italians. A lot of anonymoys Greeks gave their lives in the mountains where the battles took place.

No Nazi flags Allowed!

Finally, Nazis helped Italy and Greece fell under German-Italian-Bulgarian occupation. Greek resistance was one of the most active in Europe during the war and helped towards the final victory.

• The first action of resistance in Greece was probably the boldest! Just a few days after Nazis occupied Athens and raised their flag on Acropolis, two young Greeks, Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas, climbed on the “holy rock” (as Greeks call Acropolis) and took down the nazi flag!

Greece throughout centuries had a lot of heroes, but the real hero of the country is the people who gave his life in order to have a

little piece of freedom for the and their children!