Philological Muse

The poems of this collection, published in Greek and English on facing pages, have the common characteristic that they all connect with, or generally refer to, the Hellenic language as a useful tool of literary, more specifically poetic, creation. Seen from this perspective, the Hellenic language appears to be unique among the European languages in that it has been cultivated continuously for more than three millennia, and that it is the mother and/or the nurse of all other European...
More Description

The poems of this collection, published in Greek and English on facing pages, have the common characteristic that they all connect with, or generally refer to, the Hellenic language as a useful tool of literary, more specifically poetic, creation. Seen from this perspective, the Hellenic language appears to be unique among the European languages in that it has been cultivated continuously for more than three millennia, and that it is the mother and/or the nurse of all other European languages. Accordingly, these poems praise in a lyrical manner the exquisite beauty and the creative power of the Hellenic language, or they eulogize those fortunate mortals who had the blessing of the gods to speak this divine tongue in their everyday lives and to create poetically with it, using the meters and the rhythms of a long and demanding poetic tradition. It is perhaps the only living language which can combine, in a simple yet harmonious way, right reason and logical consequence with lyrical flights and enthusiasm.