The Series of Celebrations for the 2,500-year anniversary from the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Salamis, were opened on Wednesday, October 16, at the Zappeion Mansion.
The event was attended by his Excellency, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni, the Minister of Interior Panagiotis Theodorikakos and the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Marianna Vardinoyannis. The event was organised by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Interior and the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation.
The President of the Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, who inaugurated the series of events commemorating the 2,500-year anniversary since the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Salamis, congratulated the “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation” and the Ministries of Culture and Sport and of the Interior for their exceptional inspiration and initiative to jointly organised this series of festivities, of historical importance, and stressed: «Greece, faithful to its historic legacy, remains – during in fact a time of raging conflicts in our broader region – a kind of ‘outlying border’ of the West toward the East, representing through its Free Spirit and Culture, a genuine and altruistic defence of peace, freedom and democracy. The main bridge being that of an equal and constructive Dialogue of Civilisations, since for us Greeks there is no “clash” between real Civilisations […] we need to rebuild bridges and show how our own civilisation supports dialogue”.
Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister, spoke about “an important event by which we, the Greek State, with the support of the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation, set in motion the events by which we will commemorate all the great things that took place in this country 2,500 years ago”, and he continued by saying: “The anniversary therefore, which we will soon be celebrating, is not just a historical event which belongs to the long Greek tradition. It is one of the most critical turning points in the course of humanity […]. Greece, of course, is called upon to renew the role it always had: A symbol of Democracy and Culture and a meeting point of the people on the pathway of progress. I would therefore like to thank from the bottom of my heart the International Organising Committee, the chairwoman Ms. Marianna Vardinoyannis, for her active contribution towards the best possible and well thought-out, I dare say, opportunity provided to us to celebrate this important anniversary. And I would like to personally thank Ms. Vardinoyannis because she has been working on this important date for a number of years. Perhaps way before the Greek State realised its importance. And I would also like to stress how important it is, to be able to meet during such actions with the civil society. The organised state itself, the Local Authorities, represented today by all the Mayors who will have their own distinct role to play in these celebrations and the official State through the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Interior, in a fruitful combination… It is our duty therefore to make these 2500 years since the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Salamis a starting point for taking a reverse route towards a national self-realisation”.
Ms. Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture, noted that the Ministry of Culture, under the Prime Minister’s instructions, is preparing for the celebration of this important anniversary and spoke in detail about the importance of the Battle of Salamis and the Battle of Thermopylae: “Therefore, after Thermopylae fulfilled the moral prerequisite by serving as the sacrificial altar required for establishing the “virtue”, Salamis became the place where this virtue was transformed, taking on its other, complementary sense of ‘freedom’. By embodying virtue, Greeks achieved what was seemingly impossible, a miracle: They went beyond the human limits, they beat the logic behind the numbers and they marked that turning point in their struggle, which would enable them in the Battle of Plataea, having had their faith and hope renewed, to fight as equals in order to recover and solidify their freedom. For the past 2500 years, the Western World and Hellenism have recognised in the miracle of Salamis an event which played a decisive role in saving and consolidating their emerging civilisation, which was a catalyst in the philosophical, political and artistic explosion that followed under the physical and intellectual leadership of the Athenian democracy. The triumph of Salamis on the one hand saved Hellenism and on the other hand made these cultural achievements possible”.
Ms. Vardinoyannis on her side thanked the President of the Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, for taking these celebrations under his auspices, as well as the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the great honour, and she underlined that the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation sets as its goal to make this important anniversary the property of the younger generation:
“I feel deeply honoured and would like to warmly thank the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for entrusting me with this important mission. It is a duty and a great responsibility for me to work for my country and I will gladly cooperate with Lina Mendoni, the Minister of Culture and Panagiotis Theodorikakos, the Minister of Interior to jointly organise this celebration. This is a celebration that needs to mean something in our modern era. It needs to speak in modern terms about the age-old values which are indeed the only values that can guarantee the future of Democracy which is everyone’s responsibility. Thermopylae and Salamis continue to exist today and as concepts are more current than ever. That is why I believe that we need first and foremost to put an ideological and national stamp on this 2500-year anniversary , while also formulating a policy for promoting the historical regions where history was written. The goal for our Foundation is to familiarise the younger generation through these Anniversary Events with the history of these battles and their significance. By organising a series of actions in schools across the country we intend to give students the opportunity to analyse history and be inspired by its symbolisms. To reinforce their national awareness and to create in their own language and imagination the future democracy […] Greece has always been a place of dialogue. I wish that our events will launch such a dialogue on Democracy, which by being based on the past will contribute towards understanding the present, having as its objective Democracy itself and to build a better Future for all the people of the world. So let’s start with “Forward, sons of the Greeks” as Aeschylus once said.
The event was coordinated by the Art Director of the National Theatre, Dimitrios Lignadis who closed the event by reciting an excerpt from “The Persians”, the ancient Greek tragedy of Aeschylus.
The event was attended by representatives of all political parties, representatives of the Armed Forces, the Church and Local Governments, as well as Ambassadors and foreign dignitaries such as: the former President of Bosnia-Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic, the former President of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev, the Former President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko with his wife Katheryna Yushchenko, the former Prime Minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdzija and the former Prime Minister of Croatia Jadranka Kosor.
