Greek folklore

The business world's "Black Friday" hype has now begun to engulf consumers in Greece, who are eager to take advantage of the special sales offered annually by retailers. The Black Friday phenomenon began in the United States, as the day...

The tsarouchi, the flat, hard-soled shoe with the famous large pompon at its end, is an iconic part of the Greek traditional costume, especially for the Greek soldiers known as evzones. The shoe also plays a large part in the...

Residents of the mountainous village of Antia on the idyllic island of Evia, Greece "speak" a unique whistling language called "Sfyria." The villagers of Antia use different whistled tones corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. By putting each whistled...

The story of Maria Pentagiotissa contains all the elements of an urban legend, yet she was a real person -- and some consider her to be the first femme fatale in Greece. Maria Daskalopoulou is said to have been born...

Like the Anglo-Saxons consider Friday the 13th a bad luck day, Greeks have branded Tuesday the 13th as a day you'd rather stay home and avoid everything that might cause an accident. The main reason Tuesday the 13th is not...

August 27th marks the celebration of St. Fanourios, and, to honor him, Greek women typically bake a Fanouropita, or Saint Fanourios Pie, in hopes of finding something they have lost. The martyr is known for helping the faithful find lost...

The eastern slopes of Mount Helicon have been known as the Valley of the Muses since ancient times. They were the site of an ancient Greek sanctuary where, since the 3rd century B.C., the Thespians would organize Mouseia festivals...

Pentozali is a gravity-bending traditional dance from Crete, where traditional ways of life still hold strong in many areas of the island.

Hundreds of people descend on the town of Langadas near Thessaloniki each year in late May to participate in the ancient ritual of "Anastenaria" in which barefoot people walk on glowing coals. The communities which celebrate this ritual are descended...

Rizitika songs are the oldest type of Cretan music, originating from the western part of the Greek island, but now heard in central and eastern Crete as well.