Thermopylae

Until now, we knew that Greeks were fighting like heroes. From now on we shall say that the heroes fight like Greeks.”-Sir Winston Churchil 1940.

During my gorean roleplay days, many people regarded me as a hardcore, by the book, roleplayer or even a Gorean lifestyler. And though i could always understand why the first was happening, i always supported firmly that if we wanted better gorean roleplay we had to keep our roleplay as close to the books as possible, i had no idea why someone would look at me as a Gorean lifestyler.

You see, i had always been just a roleplayer, meaning, i would create a character and try to build storylines around him. I was never involved in the BDSM lifestyle and i dont plan to in the future, i always rejected Nietzschean ethics, basically the outcry of a dying world against the rising of a new industrial era, i always laughed with John Normans ramblings about how men had been driven away from their true nature and all. I read the books because even though Norman is a talentless writer, the world he created, apart from his swallow characters, boring dialogues, frustrating at times plot, the world it self, judged on its own terms is beautiful. I wasnt reading the books because i would like to live in such society or because i agreed with Normans ideals, i read them because they were about a detailed fantasy world. For me the world of Counter Earth had always the same place in my head, like Tolkien’s Middle Earth, that of an alternative reality but not an escape from reality. As i never wanted to be Legolas, though i adore Tolkiens Elves (death to Peter Jackson btw), i never also wanted to be Tarl Cabot or Marlenus or whatever Gorean.

So why people thought many times i was Gorean to the core? Well at first i thought that it was happening cause, i indeed defenced with ferocity the idea that we had to keep gorean roleplay as close to the books as possible. My idea had always been, that though details dont really matter (the use of swords vs bows from the Red Caste for example), what should have been always kept pure was the basics of Gorean culture and its most crucial part, male dominance. And when on an individual basis, someone can fail to be dominant, as it indeed happened in the books sometimes, when that trend is allowed on a macro level, Gorean gold dust was doomed to fade away. Take male dominance out of Gor and whats left of it? A medieval setting, combat and random cybersex. And though i did enjoy combat alot and cybersex too, that only cant be the purpose of the entire roleplay.

Here i go again preaching. See my point? I defend my arguments with passion even when i dont plan to do so.  So yeah, for many months i thought that if some people took me as a Gorean lifestyler, that had mostly to do with my defence of the by the book based roleplay.

But the other day a close friend told me something like *you’re a true Gorean warrior* and i was left wondering again. I mean, i left Gorean roleplay months ago, smartest thing iv done lately, im not posting in gorean forums anymore, hell, i even changed the focus of this blog from gorean-only to anything-goes.  So why would my friend think of me even now in terms of a member of the Red Caste?

I thought i had to look a little deeper to answer that. And the answer was that it had to do with my country of origin.

It is hard to understand for a non-Greek, Greek nationalism (or patriotism for more sensitive ears). Children here learn in school about the ancient glory of the Greek nation but its something beyond that. Greek nationalism isnt a state or media driven nationalism. Its a history driven one. Consider it for a while. This part of the world has a history of…4.000 years. And that history is everywhere. Its in the ancient monuments you see everywhere, its in the books counting hundreds years of age, scholars are studying, its in people’s cultural songs, its in the cultural dances, its in your family member’s stories. This troubled piece of land, Greece, has a history of 4000 years and the wars fought through out those years are numerous. So many stories, so many heroes, so much blood.

In Greece history weights on our shoulders way too much. People, foreigners especially, have a real hard time to understand the impacts of that fact. And history weights so much not because a President says so, not because we feel its our *duty*, history weights so much simply because, its everywhere around us. People watched *300 Spartans* and thought that was ancient history, truth is, there are numerous examples, exactly like *300 Spartants* spread all over greek history. Outside my house in Crete, inside another’s house yard, there is a small statue of a guy, who during Crete’s revolution of 1866 against the Turks, after a long fight against the Turks he and his comrades and many women and children, blew up them selves inside a church they had been defending for days, not wishing to surrender. And if someone travels all along Greece, he is bound to find many many such historical examples. They are everywhere.

In Greece we are not taught history at school, we are raised in our history. And though school might provide a more accurate and scientific information about history, the living part of history, that which is present in our everyday lifes, forms an emotional bond with the ideals all our ancenstors stood up and fought for, hard to understand for a foreigner.

On October 28th 1940 Italy attacked Greece. The ultimatum that had been presented on early morning to the greek prime minister was rejected.

In the months to come, wave after wave, the superior Italian army was crashed by the greek fierce resistance. Greek army was able not only to stop the Italian attack but even to advance in Albanian soil, pushing Italians back, for weeks. It was the first time during WWII when forces of the Gernan-Italian-Japaneze alliance were defeated in the combat field. Germany rushed in to save its ally and Greece was attacked by a second front, from the northern borders of Bulgaria. With 3/4 of the Greek army fighting the Italians deep in Albania the remaining divisions in the Greek-Bulgarian borders were now facing the worlds best army.

The greek forts stood, wave after wave and repailed the enemy. It was the first time the german army was forced to retreat during WWII. Finally, germans opened a third front, invading Greece from Yugoslavia too and the war was pretty much lost cause of it. There was simply no way to defend three fronts against Italy and Germany at the same time.

But there was still time for glory. While the greek high command signed a sieze of fire and surrendered the men in the forts in the Greek-Bulgarian forts were still fighting, disobeying their orders. When they were asked to surrender, a famous since then, commander of a fort answered: “Forts do not surrender, forts get conquered“.

Those forts are stationed 30km away from my home town in north Greece. Tomorrow, on October 28th, we the Greeks honor the memory of those men and women, who during the WWII, fought against all odds, vastly outnumbered, doomed from fate to lose, to preserve their honor and dignity. Its not a day for great heroes, its the day when we honor the unknown soldier. The one who fought to the very end and was never remembered in a story, in a bookor in a movie.

“This is a great city,” said Cabot, “and yet it is not loved. “How many are there here who would die for this city? How many who would defend to the death its perimeters? How many who would submit to torture on its behalf?” – Outlaw of Gor

“The time has come for Greece to fight for her independence. Greeks, now we must prove ourselves worthy of our forefathers and the freedom they bestowed upon us. Greeks, now fight for your Fatherland, for your wives, for your children and the sacred traditions. Now, over all things, fight!” – Ioannis Metaxas, Prime Minister of Greece, 1940.

The truth is that if i remind many people the Gorean warriors from the books, its not because im Gorean to the core, its because im Greek. It is imposible you see, to throw out 4000 years of culture and history just to prescribe to a 26 poor written novel driven lifestyle. Simply because, that history is everywhere around me, those books exist only in my hard drive.

But thats alright you see because, Gor is more greek in some aspects, than you might imagine. When i joined Red Caste, i didnt just join any Caste. When i joined the Red Caste, it felt like coming home. Others try to immitate. I know how it feels. And no, its not a feeling you gain in the army  or you develop from a book, trust me.

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Notes:

Greek-Italian war on youtube and on wikipedia.

* Title of a National Geographic album that was published recently in Greece in memorial of the Greek 28th October of 1940.