Heracles and the Labours of Our Lives
By Eugenia Manolidou From gods and heroes to monsters and labours, Greek mythology has always offered humans a way to speak about themselves, with Heracles remaining the most recognisable figure of struggle, trial, and transcendence. There is a precious inheritance that Greek civilisation gave us long before school textbooks, organised theories and scientific interpretations of […]
When Metallica Bowed to Pythagoras
By Eugenia Manolidou At Metallica’s concert at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Kirk Hammett, the legendary guitarist of the band, made a brief but meaningful reference to the Greek contribution to music theory. Speaking before thousands of people, he said that every time he picks up his guitar and plays scales, he is using names […]
Ancient Greek as a Path to Education
By Eugenia Manolidou Two Homer lessons, two non-Greek teachers, and a reflection on what is lost when a language becomes trapped in ideological conflict. Within a single week, I experienced two of the most moving moments of my educational journey. The first took place at the Accademia Vivarium Novum, where the Mexican scholar Gerardo Guzmán […]
Ancient Greek on the International Stage
By Eugenia Manolidou The growing international momentum around Classical Education reveals a clear movement towards its meaningful renewal, beginning with a redefinition of how Ancient Greek and Latin are taught in contemporary educational systems. A few days ago, I participated in the Jornadas de Cultura Clásica conference in Écija, Spain. What is now becoming […]
The Greek Language: The Algorithm of Thought
By Eugenia Manolidou At a time when many studies warn that younger generations in several countries are showing a decline in basic cognitive skills, it is worth remembering that the Greek language, with a history that reaches back at least to the 14th century BC and the Linear B tablets, represents a unique phenomenon of […]
Isn’t It Time We Rethink Ancient Greek in Our Schools
By Eugenia Manolidou A recent study in the UK (British Council Language Trends 2025) highlighted something that should give us pause: in England’s state schools, Ancient Greek is almost absent, while it remains strong and vibrant in private schools. Organisations like Classics for All are fighting hard to support public education by providing teacher training, […]
Back into the Arms of Socrates
By Eugenia Manolidou Recent international assessments reveal a silent crisis: children struggle to comprehend, to interpret, to think. Have we all, in this age of information, somehow “forgotten” how to learn? A few days ago, I attended the international educational conference “Education and the Great Challenges of the 21st Century,” organised by Athens College as part of […]
When Did We Stop Speaking Ancient Greek?
By Eugenia Manolidou A Renaissance schoolbook page circulates online: Dialogus I. Two students, Andreas and Balthasar, exchange greetings. Bonus dies.καλὴ ἡμέρα. Each Latin phrase is followed by a Greek equivalent. The structure is elementary. The pedagogical implication, profound. Students were not memorising declensions, but they were engaging in dialogue. The page belongs to a well-established […]
Teaching Greek as a Living Language: An Experiential Approach to Ancient Greek Education
The two-day seminar Hellenizontes Didaskomen took place in Athens and Thessaloniki from 4 to 7 September 2025 with remarkable success, bringing together teachers from across Greece, both primary and secondary, from public and private schools alike. See more…
Thirty Years of Elliniki Agogi: The Timeless Power of the Greek Language
In 2024, Elliniki Agogi marked thirty years of uninterrupted educational activity, dedicated to the teaching of Ancient Greek language and Classical education in general. Founded in 1994 as an ambitious educational endeavor, its aim was to bring children and adults into a living, meaningful contact with the language, thought, and values of Greek civilization. Today, it is […]