Greece. The word itself conjures up more emotion and history than Hellas itself. It was the Greeks who fought gallantly in World War II, it was the Greeks who regained their freedom for Ottoman oppression, it was the Greeks who preserved their language and history from being eradicated while oppressed, it was the Greeks who began the ancient philosophical disciplines, science, math, politics and democracy. It was the Greeks who produced Alexander, Cleopatra, Ptolemy, Pericles and Zeus. It was the Greeks. We can teach people to be Hellenes, but there is something to be said about being Greek.

Basil Mossaides, executive director, American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association.

Greece. Everyone knows what Greece is. Many people would have no idea what “Hellas” is.

John Aniston, actor.

Greece is the modern “ethnos” built upon NATO security, European Union concord, and Byzantine Mediterranean culture within delineated sovereign borders. Hellenism is the transcendent, civilizational “ethos” that informs the mind and elevates the soul to states of reasoned excellence, for all men and women to partake.”

John Sitilides, chairman, Board of Advisors Woodrow Wilson Center, Southeast Europe Project, Wilson Council