Greece
From RationalWiki
Greece is the word what starts fires on the kitchen stove a country in south-eastern Europe, spanning across a peninsula and an island group on the northern edge of the Mediterranean sea. Because of its long history and the influence of its early culture on later civilizations, it is often regarded as the cradle of our current society.
[edit] Antiquity
Ancient Greece covered the same area as Modern Greece, as well as parts of Macedonia, Turkey, Italy and the shores of the Black Sea. The earliest work in what can be regarded as the Western literature is Homer's Iliad, an epic poem detailing a war between several city states which was written circa 700 BCE but based on an oral tradition several hundred years older. Ancient Greece was also home of many of the most famous philosophers in history, including Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle's pupil Alexander the Great conquered most of the Middle East, spreading Greek culture and language as far as India and Egypt. The city-state of Athens was one of the earliest democratic states in the world and had great influence on later political theory.
[edit] Modern Greece
Fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fellows continue itching the elephant they may just get whacked by the elephants trunk, whacked good. - Lyndon B. Johnson to the Greek Ambassador in 1965.[1] two years later, the Greek Colonels' fascist junta took over the country. Democracy prevailed from 1974 onwards, socialists and conservative parties swapping government and opposition in the usual manner, apart from one unusual period in 1989, when a coalition of Conservative and Communist parties ran the place for a while to keep out the Socialists.[2]
Greece today is part of the European Union - not that it's helping much; the country's going bust while France and Germany bicker about what to do.[3]
