How do I explain that while—yes—Greeks do exist, the vast majority (and of course I’m including the diaspora) either (a) don’t care about, or (b) even know modern Hellenic polytheism is practiced today.
I agree with the base sentiment that “when engaging with Greek culture (ancient or modern), it is good to be aware of + respectful towards Greek people.” That’s awesome! 👍🏻 It's so awesome that I encourage applying this same sentiment to all other cultures you’re able / invited to engage with! :)
That same base sentiment can be and has been twisted into a pretzel and salted with straight-up ethnonationalism, though.
Be aware of + respectful towards Greeks when engaging with Greek culture. But also be aware of the fact that there are ethnonationalists running in Hellenic polytheist spaces.
They will twist seemingly innocuous ideas in order to declare indigeneity and primacy over Greek culture. They will deny Greeks their ethnicity because—according to them—“true Greeks can’t be Christian/Muslim/Jewish/mixed/etc.” And they will deny non-Greeks the opportunity to engage with the culture, especially if it’s in a way that even slightly diverges from their very sad idea of ““““true”””” Hellenism.
Being aware and informed goes hand-in-hand with being respectful.
Newly exhibited photos from the project Ένδυμα Ψυχής - Raiment of the Soul, collaboration of photographer Vangelis Kyris and Bulgarian embroidery artist Anatoli Georgiev who present Greek traditional costumes, which are exhibits of the National Historical Museum of Greece. The exhibition is currently hosted in the Acropolis Museum, until March.
Attire of King Otto of Greece, 19th century.
Dress from Nisyros island, 19th century.
Dress from Zakynthos (Zante) island, 18th century.
Attire of Dimitris Mavromichalis, aide-de-camp of King Otto.
You a good fan and appreciator of Greek culture and mythology is going on a long trip, it will be hours inside a bus, because of something you have to change sits and sat next to a person, you two start talking and you eventually mentions your love for Greek mythology, the person smiles excitedly saying:
"You like Greek mythology, I love Greek mythology I'm a huge fan of..."
(Xena the warrior princess wasn't added because anyone still fan of it in 2023 is a cool lesbian, Disney's Hercules wasn't added because they are self aware enough and the Hades games wasn't added for reasons of I never played so I don't know how accurate it is)