National Identity
Defining National Identity in Greece
What are the components that make up national identity? Following the arguments of Anthony Smith, national identity is defined as “a named human population sharing an historic territory, common myths and historical memories, a mass, public culture, a common economy and common legal rights and duties for all members” (Smith, 1991, p. 14). National identity can be analyzed through “nationalism [which] is defined as the ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity on behalf of a population deemed by some of its members to constitute an actual or potential nation” (Smith 1991, p. 73). National identity is essentially built around the contrast between other nations and identifying these differences that bring out the uniqueness and sense of pride within a nation.
I will be discussing the elements that define Greece’s national identity. Greece, a country in Southern Europe, is home to a group of people who identify as Greek and speak the oldest Indo-European language, Hellenic, now known as Greek. Characteristics that make Greece unique is its history of “significant others,” religion, and language.
While modern-day Greece follows a monotheistic religion, believing in one God, ancient Greece was known for its polytheistic beliefs through the stories written about the gods, heroes, rituals of the ancient Greeks collectively known as Greek mythology (Britannica, 2018). The ancient Greek religion was about believing in the existence of these gods and performing rituals and sacrifice (Britannica, 2018). These stories about gods and heroes overcoming adversity for the nation contribute to Greek pride, specifically for Greece, because it contributes to their history. Religion was important to the Greeks, because worshipping these gods applied to everyday life and they believed the gods would answer their prayers whether it was about protection or even weather (History, 2008).
According to the CIA World Factbook (2019), 81-90% of Greece’s population identifies as Greek Orthodox Christians. Byzantium, (now Istanbul, Turkey) was the center of Eastern Christianity and the capital of the Byzantine Empire. In 1054 CE, the Schism between Rome and Byzantium led to the spread of the Eastern Orthodox religion throughout the Middle East, Balkans, and Russia (Britannica, 2019). In 1453 CE, Byzantium fell to the Ottoman Empire, whose people were known as the Ottoman Turks.
Under Turkish rule, the Sultan turned the center of religious life for Greek Orthodox believers, Hagia Sophia, into a Muslim mosque. The Turks believed that if the “Christians submitted to the dominion of the caliphate and Muslim political administration and paid appropriate taxes, they deserved freedom of worship” (Britannica, 2018). Greece did not want to submit to the caliphate – the person who is considered the Islamic prophet – because that did not fit with the beliefs of the Christian religion.
This change of rule from the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire plays an important role in Triandafyllidou’s concept of “othering.” A significant other is defined as “another nation or ethnic group that is territorially close to, or within, the national community and threatens, or rather is perceived to threaten, its ethnic and/or cultural purity and/or its independence” (Triandafyllidou, 1998, 600). As somewhat of an internal significant other minority group in a multinational state wanting to set themselves apart from their ruler, it is their “duty...to cultivate [their] own peculiar qualities and not mix or merge them with others” (Triandafyllou, 1998, p. 596). The Muslim religion was perceived as a threat to Greek Orthodox. After hundreds of years under Ottoman rule, the Greeks had a strong desire to become independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. The Greek revolution lasted until 1830 when Greece became its own nation.
Throughout history, the Greeks were categorized as Greek Orthodox Christians. Greece now had the power to practice their religion freely, influencing who they were and still are as a nation. Since the Byzantine Empire, Greek Orthodox played a profound role in the lives of the Greek nation. Their strength and endurance in pursuing their faith amidst the adversity faced during the Ottoman Empire show how important religion is to the Greek community even today.
Another critical contribution to Greece’s national identity would be the Greek language. As one of the groups in the ethnically-diverse Ottoman Empire, the Greek-speaking population survived three centuries of Ottoman Rule, continuing to carry on the Greek language. During the Ottoman era, most of the Greek community was typically poor and illiterate, so they spread their knowledge through the language (Babali, 2011, p. 1). The language continues to be an important aspect of Greek culture because of how long the Greek language has been around dating back to 4th century BCE. Of course, over the thousands of years, the Greek language has been altered and modernized, but the language stems from its own Indo-European branch, Hellenic (Sundberg, 2015). It is important to note that Hellenic is the longest of any Indo-European language to survive specifically, 34 centuries (Britannica, 2018). As a sense of national pride, the Greeks can proudly say that their language has carried over for thousands of years which gives their nation uniqueness and sets them apart from others.
In conclusion, the main idea was to define Greek national identity. While there are more aspects that signify Greek nationality, religion and language are key aspects that have laid out the foundation for Greece. Language and religion (whether monotheistic or polytheistic) have always been prevalent throughout Greece’s history, as seen with the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, and remains to be a defining factor in Greece’s national identity. Using Anna Triandafyllou’s concept of “othering,” the Ottoman Empire was perceived as a threat to the Greek community, because of religious differences furthering the desire for Greek independence. Significant others exist “during the phase of nation formation when national identity is still in the making” and in the case of Greece, the Ottomans “strengthen[ed] the sense of belonging” within the Greek community because, as a minority group, they had no one else to relate to but themselves (Triandafyllou, 1998, p. 603). Contesting the power of this “other”, Greece was able to re-define itself not only as a community, but also as one nation making their independence symbolic and the center of Greek pride. While Greece faced significant others in history, there are current disputes with FYR Macedonia. In current news, Greece and FYR Macedonia have disagreements in determining what aspects of one another’s culture belong in its own history. However, at the time of writing, the disputes between FYR Macedonia and Greece are still being defined and cannot fully be identified and discussed without further news as to what their compromise will look like.
Word count: 1095
Greece in a Nutshell
Here is a three-minute briefing on Greece:
Resources:
Babali, A. (2007, June). The construction of the national identity of modern Greece and
its impact on music. Paper presented at the 3rd Hellenic Observatory PhD Symposium on Contemporary Greece: Structures, context and challenges. London, UK. Retrieved from
Britannica. (2018, April 13). Greek language. Retrieved
Britannica. (2019, January 25). Eastern Orthodoxy. Retrieved
Britannica. (2018, February 08). War of Greek Independence. Retrieved
Central Intelligence Agency. (2019). Greece. The World Factbook. Retrieved from
History (2009, December 02). Greek Mythology. Retrieved from
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/greek-mythology
Smith, A. D. (1981) The ethnic revival in the modern world. Cambridge, United
Kingdom: Cambridge Press
Sundberg, M. (2015, January 23). The Indo-European and Uralic language families. The
Guardian. Retrieved from
Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the `other.’ Ethnic & Racial Studies,
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