Many of our Greek Untourists comment on the extraordinary warmth of the Greek people they meet. (To be clear, many Untourists comment on the warmth and friendliness of the people they meet on all their UnTours. We try to structure all UnTours in a way that makes it easy to meet and interract warmly with local residents.)
But there’s no doubt about it. The Greeks have something special. If I was being flippant, I would say the Greek people offer hospitality on steroids. But there’s an underlying aspect of the Greek culture that might explain why Untourists, after a week or so, often say, in some version or another: “Woah, these people are crazy nice!”
You may remember that Ancient Greece held hospitality as a sacred responsibility. So, could it be that that value simply is carried over to the modern culture in some ways? Perhaps, but a little research on the Greek culture, uncovers a particular word, over and over again: Philotimo. And that word seems more salient in modern Greek culture, and also, seems to have a particular flavor to it that explains the intensity of kindness that visitors often experience in Greece. Here are how a few sources define it:
- “Literally it means the “love of honor,” and carries a very special sense of honor, obligation, self respect and teamwork. It was considered as an “extremely sensitive region of men’s souls that gives forth gallantry, nobility and moral pride; it is the sense of honor and dignity.”Unfortunately, neither the word nor the idea has any English equivalent” The best description of Philotimo I have ever read is the following: “Philotimo is that deep-seated awareness in the heart that motivates the good that a pe
rson does. A philotimos person is one who conceives and enacts eagerly those things good.” Source: http://www.philotimo.net/
- ‘It is the feeling of not being able to “give back” enough. It can mean gratitude for anything from a small gift someone might have given you (or the small act of kindness someone may have shown you) to an appreciation for one’s heritage and ancestors (to one’s own parents). At another level, it means “responsive gratefulness.” ‘http://www.sfakia-crete.com/forum2/read.php?3,103,138
- “Philotimo (also spelled Filotimo) (Greek φιλότιμο) is a Greek noun translating to “friend of honour” or “love of honour”. However, Philotimo is almost impossible to translate sufficiently as it describes a complex array of virtues. Philotimo is considered to be the highest of all Greek virtues which determines and regulates how someone should behave in their family and social groups. In its simplest form it means “doing good”, and it ensures your behaviour will make you stand out from others. It will tell others what kind of a person you are and about the way you were raised by your family. Philotimo to a Greek is essentially a way of life.
Children are said to have Philotimo when they display unconditional love and respect towards their parents, grandparents and friends. It can mean gratitude for a small gift someone might have given you, or a small random act of kindness someone may have shown you. It is an appreciation and admiration for heritage and ancestors – Philotimo is honour and pride.During the Second World War, strong bonds were formed and still exist in places like the Greek island of Crete where the locals would risk their own lives to hide and shelter Australian and British soldiers from the Nazi occupying forces. The locals felt duty-bound to help, their Philotimo urged them on – If caught, they risked facing a firing squad.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philotimo
- [When the Greek Prime Minister visited the White House in 2010] “President Obama highlighted the Greek concept of Philotimo – literally, the “love of honor.” But practically, Philotimo means so much more. It is the sense of love for family, community and country. It is the sense of nobility and morality enshrined in Greek mythology. And it is the sense of right and wrong and the duty to do what’s right. While the English language offers no direct translation of Philotimo, American citizens uphold this essential concept every time they volunteer in their local community, dig deep into their pockets to donate to charity, or generally go out of their way to improve the life of their neighbor.” Source; http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/15/philotimo
- To have the virtue of philotimo, you need societies where forces such as the feeling of obligation, of duty, etc, are not very important, compared with the demands existing in love and friendship. What a ‘mechanical’ society achieves through discipline, sense of duty, ideologies, etc., a society in friendship achieves even stronger through philotimo. This is why Plutarch said that lovers are the greatest fighters, because they avoid by all means to appear to their beloved ones as cowards or as anything inferior and unworthy of their expectations”. Source: http://www.ellopos.com/blog/?p=1169
It probably sounds like we are tooting our own horn, but we think that this concept of philotimo goes a long way towards explaining why year, after year, our UnTours staff person in Greece, Christos, gets the highest marks, of all our staff, for his customer service for Untourists when you are there. We have so many wonderful employees throughout all of our Untour regions that getting the highest marks of all; that’s really something!
The difference seems to be, with Christos. is that he seems to thinks we’re doing HIM a favor –that he is lucky and grateful to have the opportunity to do any of the wonderful things he does regularly, on our clients’ behalf. When I first encountered him, I am ashamed to say, there was a brief moment where I asked myself, “Is this man sane?” That’s how nice he is. And that sounds like Philotimo. It’s not crazy, it’s just not something I have encountered before.
When invited to his family’s house for dinner, (picture above shows the meal we were offered), I realised every family member seemed that “crazy nice”. What I believe I was encountering was philotimo and how it is threaded throughout all of Greek life. It seems the rest of the world might consider catching a case of philotimo. Why not come on a Greek Untour, and see if it’s contagious?
PS: Thanks to Kurt Sturckmeyere for the photos…..I was lucky enough to dine with Christos with two of our favorite Untourists, the McKinleys and the Struckmeyers. That’s Jill and Jean in the photo with me.