Who wouldn’t like to visit Greece?! A beautiful country of Zorba and tzatziki! Greek islands are popular amongst (wśród) tourists! Corfu, Crete, Santorini, Rhodos… and others are holiday destinations (cele wakacyjnye) for thousands of people!
Greece is a very attractive place. Its history, old buildings like the Acropolis, a long list of philosophers and of course poets make the place magical. Ancient Greece is often called ”the cradle (kołyska) of Western civilization”!
Greek people are known all over the world as well, and I don’t mean only ancient (starożytni) poets. Everyone has heard of Kojak! The series detective was Greek and so was the actor Telly Savalas.
Apart from (oprócz) beautiful views, incredible history, fantastic warm climate Greece also has its mythology, there were many different gods and goddesses (boginie) but do you know what the official religion of Greece is nowadays? Over 98% of Greeks are baptized (ochrzczeni) into the Greek Orthodox Church and… ancient Greek religion has reappeared (pojawiła się ponownie) but only about 2000 people actually celebrate it.
Ważne…
• Who would not like to visit – kto nie chciałby odwiedzić would like to + czasownik w formie podstawowej – chcieć, by; pamiętaj, że po tym zwrocie nie użyjesz innej formy czasownika jak tylko podstawowej. ‘would like to’ wygląda tak samo dla każdej osoby; pytania tworzymy przez inwersję (would you like?), przeczenia zaś przez dodanie ‘not’ do ‘would’ (he wouldn’t like to see that again).
• attractive – atrakcyjny; przymiotnik; pamiętaj, że przymiotniki w języku angielskim są nieodmienne! Bez względu na osobę czy liczbę przymiotnik jest zawsze taki sam!
• poets make the place magical – dosł. poeci robią to miejsce magicznym; tutaj ‘make’ przetłumaczymy jako ‘sprawiają, że’: poeci sprawiają, że to miejsce jest magiczne. Pamiętaj: to make something big – sprawić, że coś jest duże; I made this flat beautiful. – sprawiłam, że to mieszkanie jest piękne.
Gdy mówimy o osobie ‘make’ wykorzystujemy inne znaczenie tego słówka ‘zmuszać’, np. My mum made me clean the room. – mama zmusiła mnie, żebym posprzątał pokój.
• ‘the cradle of Western civilization’ – jest to idiom, który ma dosłowny odpowiednik w języku polskim: „kolebka zachodniej cywilizacji”.
• Everyone has heard… – Każdy słyszał… – Present Perfect: coś wydarzyło się w przeszłości (ktoś usłyszał) i ma skutek w teraźniejszości (teraz wie). Pamiętaj, że słowa typu ‘everyone’, ‘someone’, ‘nobody’ – są traktowane jak 3 osoba liczby pojedynczej, dlatego powiesz: Nobody is here. (Nikogo tu nie ma); Everybody has a good time. (Każdy/Wszyscy się dobrze bawi/bawią).
• gods and goddesses – bogowie i boginie; w języku angielskim zazwyczaj nie ma różnicy między nazwami męską a żeńską zawodu: doctor, teacher, shop assistant – określenia zarówno dla kobiety jak i mężczyzny. Są jednak wyjątki: waiter – waitress (kelner – kelnerka); actor – actress (aktor – aktorka); podobnie jest z ‘god’ (bóg) i ‘goddess’ (bogini).
Zadanie
True or false
Przeczytaj tekst, a następnie zdecyduj, czy zdania są prawdziwe czy fałszywe.
Greek Gods and Goddess
The ancient history of Greece is known all over the world! But how much do you know about the ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses?
Zeus was the principle god. He was also the god of thunder and lightening. Zeus had a brother, Poseidon – god of sea, horses and earthquakes. Hades – god of the Dead and Lord of the Underworld was their brother, too. Beautiful goddess of marriage, family and motherhood, Hera was Zeus’s wife.
Zeus’s children and other gods and goddesses were taking care of every little thing in the world. Artemis was a patron of hunting and archery. Her twin brother Apollo was more artistic. He was god of music and poetry. He also was supposed to help to heal. He was god of the sun (light), and his sister was goddess of the Moon.
There were also gods responsible for love and anger, for peace and war. Athena was goddess of wisdom and crafts but also defensive warfare. She was the patron of the city of Athens as well. Ares was god of war, anger and vengeance. Hephaestus, son of Hera, made armour for the gods and other heroes. He was also god of fire and iron makers. He had a gorgeous wife, goddess of love and beauty – Aphrodite, who was made to marry him.
The unhappy marriage of the queen of beauty and her ugly husband is not the only sad story in the gods’ world. Demeter, goddess of agriculture, grain, harvest and earth, lost her daughter who had to marry Hades and disappear under the ground. Demeter is responsible for changing the seasons! When her daughter was with her, Demeter was happy – so people could enjoy the spring and summer. Autumn and winter is when mother and daughter were apart.
At the end we mustn’t forget gods who were taking care of people when they were staying at home like Hestia, goddess of the hearth and domestic life, and of course Hermes – god of travel, thieves and commerce. He was a messenger of the gods and also helped dead souls to travel safely to Hades’s world.
1 Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are brothers. True False
2 Artemis and her twin brother Apollo were gods of music and poetry. True False
3 Aphrodite and Hephaestus had a beautiful love story. True False
4 Demeter was taking care of a daughter of Hades’s. True False
5 The patron of the city of Athens was a goddess of wisdom. True False
6 There is no main god in Greek mythology. True False
Did you know that?
The Acropolis of Athens
- ‘acropolis’ literally means ‘the edge of a town’ or ‘a high city’.
- There are many other acropoleis in Greece but the Acropolis of Athens is the best known one.
- You can say ‘the Acropolis’ and everybody will know you mean the one in Athens.
- The Parthenon and other main buildings were built by Pericles in the fifth century BC as a monument to the cultural and political achievements of the people of Athens.
- It took 15 years to build the Parthenon and it was completed in 438 BC. It is probably the most recognizable structure in the world.
- You are not allowed to bring any bags or backpacks to the Acropolis. So if you are visiting this place, make sure you have big pockets for your private things.
What is… Zorba
Everybody knows this word ‘zorba’. But what is it really?
1. ”Zorba the Greek” – a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1964.
2. ”Zorba the Greek” – a 1964 film based on the novel, directed by Michael Cacoyannis. The title character was played by Anthony Quinn (he wasn’t Greek but Irish Mexican).
3. Zorba dance – a Greek dance starting with a very slow step then growing faster and faster.
Before Zeus and his brother started ruling the world, there were other gods:
Aether – god of the upper air
Chaos – non-gendered deity of the nothingness from which all else sprang
Chronos – god of eternal time
Erebus – god of darkness and shadow
Eros – god of love
Gaia – goddess of the Earth (Mother Earth)
Hemera – goddess of daylight
Nyx – goddess of darkness/night
Tartarus – lives in the pit of tartarus in the darkest deepest part of the underworld controlled by Hades
Uranus – god of the heavens (Father Sky)