1 I. 'Gnothi Seautòn'
Julie was sure about it: the sentence engraved in a small stone tablet 'Gnothi Seautòn' was part of the house, of the kitchen, of the wall where it was hanging at the moment since she was born and even before.
In the house of her grandma, on the sunny island of Amorgos in the middle of the Aegean (Greece), Julie spent each summer of her life during the school holidays.
Lots of things changed since she got there, but not the stone tablet. It was still in the same place.
This summer Julie turned 15 years old.
She used to visit Amorgos alone; it became quite easy to take a flight from Paris, where she lived, to Athens and from there a nice ship to the island of Amorgos.
A few years before she was flying with her mom. Until Julie was 7, Greece was a traditional family trip together with mom and dad.
Her father was Greek and her mother French. They met during a hot summer in Greece on the island of Mykonos, enjoying their holidays. Both were young, pretty and free.
They felt in love and decided to make plans together choosing the same University in Paris, where Julie's mom came from.
They married some years later, dreaming to have a child and it happened: Julie was born.
Unexpectedly, Julie's father died, at the age of 48.
Julie only knew he was affected by a serious illness and disappeared.
The holidays in Greece, by her father's family, remained for Julie a tradition.
They were months of joy and relax and also a way to fix the father's image in Julie's memories; her greek grandma was used to speak about him every time that this was possible.
The old woman was the connection between the past and the present, a bridge that put Julie in connection with her father's family and history.
Julie's grandma had a wonderful greek name - Julie used to say - when she realized that Eirini in greek means 'peace'.
That peace was manifested in all Eirini person: the sun-bronzed smiling face, the posture tired from the age but still perfectly erect and calm, the arms always protended in a hug. She was for Julie the personification of the Peace, the 'Eirini' itself.
Julie used to learn greek as a child, hearing her first words here on the island of Amorgos during the summer, and now she spoke with her grandma Eirini in a very 'peaceful' authentic way.
Someone of the old writers said that greek was the language of gods.
For Julie, it was the language of Peace, family, of the white-blue island of her summertime.
In greek was the sentence on the little stone tablet hanging in the grandma's kitchen, 'gnothi seautòn', and it was for Julie as familiar as the smell of laurel coming from the pots.
Right there, among the silver and ceramic pots, Eirini-grandma was preparing meals all day long, even if she was preparing dinner for two.
'It takes time to cook', this was her motto, together with 'sigà sigà' that literally meant 'slowly, slowly'.
It was her way of approaching cooking.. and life.
Eirini-grandma spent all her entire life on the island of Amorgos and her family before her, too.
As far as she could remember she had never left the island except for her honeymoon to Athens, when she was 21 years old and her husband 23. Their marriage was a 58-year-long love through war, peace, kids, hard work, a lot of sea and sun.
Her husband Giorgos died three years before at the age of 81, due to a heart attack. Julie remembered how terrific was the moment when grandpa Giorgos died. He loved him much more than a grandfather, much more than she could even imagine.
From that day, Eirini-grandma began to dress only black clothes. As usual for people of her generation, the widow-status had to be easily recognized in the community and, as a norm, perpetuated every day. It was a pity - Julie thought- to see during the summer the grandma sitting in the sun with her black long vests.
When the grandpa was alive, they both used to wear cotton and linen white clothes during the summer and warm wool white clothes against the cold.
White was the colour of Julie's greek summer, family and childhood; white was the colour of Amorgos and, in a particular way, it seemed to be more than a colour, it was a 'white' warm feeling.
Typical as the black vests, Eirini-grandma had a very typical way to cook greek dishes along with typical smells coming from the kitchen.
Even if she cooked a large variety of food, including small rice rolls in vine leaves, salads with tomatoes and goat's cheese, 'pasticio' made of layers of pasta, eggplants, oil and tomatoes they all smelled similar to Julie: they smelled of laurel. She could figure out this intense sweet smell of laurel at any time of the year and wherever she was, just by closing her eyes for a while.
Julie was sure about it: this smell of laurel and the words 'gnothi seautòn' hanging on the kitchen will never go away from her.
When Julie was 5 years old, she asked for the first time the meaning of the 2 words, pointing at the stone tablet in the grandma kitchen.
Her father was still alive and he worked in France as a greek teacher. He loved greek, his mother tongue, and he loved to teach it to Julie, each day a little, through songs, poems and riddles.
They were often spending time together playing guitar in the living room, singing old romantic and poignant greek melodies.
Julie thought it was the type of music that all fathers sing and play with their daughters around the globe.
'Gnothi seautòn' - he explained to little Julie - 'comes from the past. The sentence had been engraved on the top of the wonderful temple of Apollo in Delphi, the place where we will go together at the end of August for mom's birthday.
Exactly in that place, in the ancient times, it had been one of the Seven Wise Man, one of them who knew the past, the present and the future of all generations of men.
To those who asked him 'How can I live a fulfilling life?' he answered 'There is only one way: GNOTHI SEAUTòN, know yourself'. In that way, little Julie, our Wise Man from the past revealed us that we are simply mortal, we have incredible characteristics and attitudes, we can build houses and temples, we can move around the globe and make scientific discoveries but we are full of imperfections and human limits. Uncovering the real nature of ourselves, understanding our mind and body, being conscious of our fragile condition could allow us to live a fulfilling existence. Julie, 'gnothi seautòn' is part of our family since I was a kid like you. Don't forget, it is part of who you are'.
