Greek Cultural Exhibit - The Yiasou Greek Festival features one of the largest collections of reproductive ancient Greek artifacts in the south. The collection consists of bronze statues, frescos, busts, vases, models of Greek temples and a museum quality replica of an ancient Greek war ship. Also included in the collection are ancient Greek, Greco-Roman, and ancient Egyptian statues, wall reliefs, swords, spearheads, vases, marble stones, daggers, coins, and videos of ancient Greece.

Warriors of Greece - A Living History reenactment group dedicated to preserving the memory and ideals of the brave Greek Warriors who have defended Western Democracy and freedom for over 4,000 years. The Warriors of Greece and affiliates have been seen in parades, festivals, movie promotions and other public appearances all over the United States as well as on the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, Spike TV, the Military Channel, the BBC and others. They are also available for school presentations for audiences of all ages! Come see live Spartan Hoplite Warriors from 500 B.C. dressed in their trademark blood-red cloaks & tunics patrolling the festival grounds wearing authentic bronze armor and guarding the gates carrying real iron weapons. Ask them questions or even have your picture taken with one! Come to the Culture Room downstairs and learn more about how their courage and skill in fighting saved Greece and all of Western Europe from tyrannical enslavement under the mighty Persian Empire of the East at the famous battles of Thermopylae, Marathon, Salamis and Platea during the Greco-Persian War. Freedom and Long Live Greece! Molon Labe.

Evzones - Marching in the traditional Greek military costumes of the 18oo’s, witness the Ezvones (Presidential Guards) as they reenact the Changing of the Guards and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This popular tourist attraction takes place in Athens daily in front of the Greek Parliament Building at Syndagma Square and commemorates all of the anonymous Greek soldiers that have fallen in battle.

Short Films - Documentaries of modern day Greece.

Treasures of Orthodoxy - Experience Orthodoxy and its Byzantine roots.

Mount Athos Lectures:

Reverend Father Michael Varvarelis - Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral will be presenting a series of lectures on the history of Mount Athos. Mount Athos is the center of Eastern Christian Orthodox Monasticism. It is home to 20 Orthodox Monasteries and only monks are allowed to live on Mount Athos. Mount Athos is also known as the Garden of the Mother of Jesus. Many Saints from each generation have lived on Mount Athos. At the lectures Father Michael will elaborate on the above topics and answer questions from the audience.

Mount Athos Lectures Schedule

Classical Greek Culture Lectures:

Dr. Keyne Cheshire

B.A., Carleton College
M.A., Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Associate Professor of Classics Keyne Cheshire has taught at Davidson since 2002. He teaches a wide variety of courses in Greek and Latin language and literature. Having recently published a textbook on Alexander the Great, he is currently writing a book on Callimachus' Hymns and translating one of Sophocles' tragedies, the Trachiniae, as a musical Western.

Dr. Peter Krentz

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Yale University

W. R. Grey Professor of Classics and History Peter Krentz has taught Greek and Roman history at Davidson since 1979. He held the E. Craig Wall, Jr., Distinguished Teaching Professorship in the Humanities 1997-1999, and was Elizabeth A. Whitehead visiting professor at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in 2000-2001. His research interests focus on archaic and classical Greece. He has just published another book, this one on the Battle of Marathon.

Dr. Michael K. Toumazou

A.B., Franklin and Marshall
M.A., Loyola University of Chicago
M.A., Ph.D. Bryn Mawr

Professor of Classics Michael K. Toumazou has taught at Davidson since 1987. He specializes in art and archaeology. A field archaeologist, he has directed the Athienou Archaeological Project on his native island of Cyprus since 1990. He won the Hunter-Hamilton Teaching Award in 2003.

Mr. Larry Peroulas

B.A., Athens School of Economics
M.A., New York University
APC, NYU, Graduate School of Business Administration

Larry Peroulas is the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral Greek School Principal and has been teaching Modern Greek as a foreign/second language to K-12 students and Adults since 1997. He is also the director of the Examination Center for the Certification of Attainment in Modern Greek, authorized by the Greek Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs. The successful candidates of the Examination Center’s formal Greek Exams are awarded the internationally recognized Certificate of Attainment in Greek available at various levels of proficiency. Mr. Peroulas is the cofounder and President of the Board of Directors of the Greek American Public Charter School “Socrates Academy” in Matthews, an Honor School of Excellence for the past three consecutive years.

Mr. Chris Pangalos

B.A., Keene State College
U.S. Marine Corps Infantry Sergeant

Chris Pangalos, a life-long history enthusiast, is the founder of the Warriors of Greece, a Living History Reenactment Group dedicated to preserving the memory and ideals of the Spartan Hoplite Warriors from the 5th Century B.C. The Warriors of Greece and associates have toured the country participating in parades, festivals, public appearances, etc. and have been seen on The History Channel, Spike TV, The Discovery Channel, the BBC, the Military Channel and others.

Classical Greek Culture Lectures Schedule

Artist Pete Zographos - A featured artist of past years’ festivals, Yiasou Festival 2010 is pleased to present to you once again the collections of Pete Zographos. Mr. Zografos was born in Athens, Greece into a family with a long tradition of producing fine artists. He has taken the name of his paternal grandfather, a renowned iconographer. Both of his parents were professional artists, and he spent much of his youth in their studio in Greece. Mr. Zographos is well known for his use of watercolors to depict colorful landscapes and seascapes of Greece. He is the creator of several Yiasou Festival posters in past years, and he also created the cover artwork for the Holy Trinity cookbook ‘A Taste of Greek Tradition.’ Mr. Zographos exhibits and sells his work at shows in many cities throughout the United States.