Celebration for the 2500 years from Battle of Thermopylae

Thermopylae and Salamis are the two battles that saved Greece, Europe, and what we today call the West and Western civilization.

Democracy and the anthropocentric political and social systems of governance would have never existed. Greeks stood up. We celebrate their 2500 anniversary aware that both battles are to our days referred to as the paradigm for valor, sacrifice, strategic thinking, and wisdom.

Based mostly on Herodotus, the father of History, and on Aeschylus’s tragedy “The Persians”, former Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to the United States Alexandros P. Mallias will offer his remarks from the premises of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture (Athens).

Short messages from:
– The president off HCC-SW Mr. Yannis Remediakis,
– The Professor Emeritus John Chrysoulakis, Secretary-General for Public Diplomacy and Greeks Abroad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
– The president of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture Mr. Nikos A. Koukis will be delivered before the main presentation.

This event is a production of:
– The World Hellenic Diaspora
a project of the Hellenic Cultural Center of the Southwest and its Member Organizations – Houston TX
– The General Secretariat of Public Diplomacy & Greeks Abroad of the Ministry of Foreign affairs  – Athens Greece
– The Hellenic Foundation for Culture – Athens Greece

In cooperation with:
– The Federation of Hellenic Medical Societies of North America – New York, NY
– The Hellenic Medical Society of New York – New York, NY
– The Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce of New York – New York, NY
– The Federation of Hellenic American Organizations of Illinois “Enosis” – Chicago, IL
– The Federation of Hellenic American Organizations of New Jersey – Voorhees,  NJ
– The Panhellenic Federation of Florida – Tampa, FL
– The International Hellenic Association – Claymont, DE

The event will be presented in English.

To attend the event, click the link: http://bit.ly/Thermopylae300

The platform will open 30 minutes before the event. The presentations will begin at 11:00 CST.

check your local time here: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20200829T160000&p1=tz_ct&p2=tz_et&p3=26&p4=tz_pt

Please sign up early to avoid any connection issues.

This event will be aired using Microsoft Teams.

In order to be able to attend, if you are not familiar with this system please take a look at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sign-up-for-teams-free-70aaf044-b872-4c32-ac47-362ab29ebbb1

All participants will be able to submit live questions through chat, that will be answered at the end of the presentation.

Short History of the Battle

The Battle of Thermopylae, was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas I of Sparta, and the Achaemenid Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae („The Hot Gates“). The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. By 480 BC Xerxes had amassed a massive army and navy and set out to conquer all of Greece. The Athenian politician and general Themistocles had proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, and simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium..

Both ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending its native soil. The performance of the defenders is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.

Source: Wikipedia.org