The Great Three (now The Great Four)
Today I watched "Never on Sunday", a 1960 film starring Melina Mercouri and Jules Dassin. It reminded me of something I saw in Athens years ago.
I have been to Athens three times. The first time was in the late 1970s. At that time, long before the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and before EU membership for Greece, Athens was a dirty, smog-filled, dusty city with not much to recommend it. The trek up to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon and other monuments was difficult. The tourist sights of importance could all be seen in one or one-and-a-half days. Athens was a city rich in history but not rich in much else. I remember my hotel was just off one of the main avenues in Athens, Leoforos Syngrou. At the bus stop on this avenue there was a small pedestrian plaza that prominently displayed large busts of Greece's BIG THREE philosophers: Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. Of course I felt I needed to purchase souvenir copies of these busts and did so. These little copies sit prominently on the top of my desk at home.
I have been to Athens three times. The first time was in the late 1970s. At that time, long before the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and before EU membership for Greece, Athens was a dirty, smog-filled, dusty city with not much to recommend it. The trek up to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon and other monuments was difficult. The tourist sights of importance could all be seen in one or one-and-a-half days. Athens was a city rich in history but not rich in much else. I remember my hotel was just off one of the main avenues in Athens, Leoforos Syngrou. At the bus stop on this avenue there was a small pedestrian plaza that prominently displayed large busts of Greece's BIG THREE philosophers: Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. Of course I felt I needed to purchase souvenir copies of these busts and did so. These little copies sit prominently on the top of my desk at home.
A lot happened in Athens between that first visit and my second visit in 2010. The city was cleaned up considerably. They paved the street up the Acropolis to the Parthenon so that now it is safer to walk. Impressive new buildings and avenues were built as well as an efficient subway system. The Euro replaced the Drachma. The military dictatorship was dissolved and a new republic formed. 
And next to the busts of Aristotle, Plato and Socrates has been added a fourth bust, that of actress/singer/activist/politician Melina Mercouri. I thought it very strange that she was given such prominence. The Big Three were now The Big Four.
And next to the busts of Aristotle, Plato and Socrates has been added a fourth bust, that of actress/singer/activist/politician Melina Mercouri. I thought it very strange that she was given such prominence. The Big Three were now The Big Four.
Mercouri was Oscar-nominated for "Never On Sunday" and a very popular Greek singer in her day. She was also a political activist who loudly opposed the then military dictatorship. Once the dictatorship was overthrown and the Third Hellenic Republic formed, Mercouri gave up acting and was elected a Minister of the new Greek Parliament. Later she was named Greek Minister of Culture by Prime Minister Papandreou. She took up a new cause which kept her in the international spotlight: campaigning the international courts (and world opinion) for the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens. Her popularity soared. She was considered a Greek heroine and placing her bust next to those of the Big Three definitely shows how important she is in the hearts of the Greek populace. It is tantamount to adding the face of Obama or Reagan to Mount Rushmore, an idea that might have been accepted at the peak time of their political popularity - but would be looked upon by historians only a few years later as populist overkill. Nevertheless, that is what the Greeks did.
I don't believe I will add a miniature of Mercouri's bust to my personal desktop collection. But she is definitely a Greek icon.
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