Hesiod reveals that they were called Muses or Mouses in Greek, as the Greek word “mosis” refers to the desire and wish. The word museum also comes from the Greek Muses.

The Nine Muses were: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomeni, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope.

All the ancient writers appeal to the Muses at the beginning of their work. Homer asks the Muses both in the Iliad and Odyssey to help him tell the story in the most proper way, and until today the Muses are symbols of inspiration and artistic creation.

Analytically the Nine Muses are:

1. Clio: The Muse Clio discovered history and guitar. History was named Clio in the ancient years, because it refers to “kleos” the Greek word for the heroic acts. Clio was always represented with a clarion in the right arm and a book in the left hand.

2. Euterpe: Muse Euterpe discovered several musical instruments, courses and dialectic. She was always depicted holding a flute, while many instruments were always around her.

3. Thalia: Muse Thalia was the protector of comedy; she discovered comedy, geometry, architectural science and agriculture. She was also protector of Symposiums. She was always depicted holding a theatrical – comedy mask.

4. Melpomene: Opposite from Thalia, Muse Melpomene was the protector of Tragedy; she invented tragedy, rhetoric speech and Melos. She was depicted holding a tragedy mask and usually bearing a bat.

5. Terpsichore: Terpsichore was the protector of dance; she invented dances, the harp and education. She was called Terpsichore because she was enjoying and having fun with dancing ( “Terpo” in Greek refers to be amused). She was depicted wearing laurels on her head, holding a harp and dancing.

6. Erato: Muse Erato was the protector of Love and Love Poetry – as well as wedding. Her name comes from the Greek word “Eros” that refers to the feeling of falling in love. She was depicted holding a lyre and love arrows and bows.

7. Polymnia: Muse Polymnia was the protector of the divine hymns and mimic art; she invented geometry and grammar. She was depicted looking up to the Sky, holding a lyre.

8. Ourania: Muse Ourania was the protector of the celestial objects and stars; she invented astronomy. She was always depicted bearing stars, a celestial sphere and a bow compass.

9. Calliope: Muse Calliope was the superior Muse. She was accompanying kings and princes in order to impose justice and serenity. She was the protector of heroic poems and rhetoric art. According to the myth, Homer asks from Calliope to inspire him while writing Iliad and Odyssey, and, thus, Calliope is depicted holding laurels in one hand and the two Homeric poems in the other hand.

The Nine Muses have been inspiring artists since the antiquity and there countless paintings, drawings, designs, poems and statues dedicated to them. All artists of the Renaissance acknowledged their importance in artistic creation,  dedicating their works to the Muses.

Today, the most famous depiction of the Muses in sculpture is in Greece, in Corfu; the Empress Sissi of Austria had their statues made for her, in order to ornament the garden of her retreat house in Corfu, the famous Achilleion.

The program does not possess a magical or miraculous power. What it does have is a sensible curriculum, a consistent method of teaching and, an incredible organization of each lesson. If the program is applied methodically, systematically and consistently, it will produce excellent results.

Prior to outlining the program a summary of its background, conception, application and evolution is necessary.

When I started teaching Greek, at a very young age, I immediately realized that soon I would be confronted with a very difficult situation : teaching third and fourth generation Greek Americans, or students who had no connection to Hellenism or to the Greek language, with the methods available. Therefore, I decided that I had either change profession or work diligently to find a way that would help me teach Greek, as a foreign language, productively without stress and disappointment. In addition, keep my students motivated enough to want to learn the language and feel pride for a job well done.

I began an intensified effort for that purpose. The conception and development of the program took two years. During the next five years that followed, the program was tested,  reviewed, modified and transformed many times over. Finally, when it was proven suitable to respond to the needs of the students, taking Greek as a foreign language, it was adapted..

The application of the program began in the late sixties.  Students, involved, were from various universities and were taking Greek for the first time. I announced to them that there were three programs available. The first one (Group A), was brand new and although it was tested, had not as yet been applied. No books were available (Xeroxed copies were used as text books).  The other two (Groups: B and C) were going to have materials that had been used for years in many schools. Only four (out of 22) courageous students accepted the challenge. The courses began and the same effort and enthusiasm applied in teaching all three groups.

Very soon, however, the progress that Group A was demonstrating was obvious not only to students involved, but also to the students of the other two groups, who wanted to switch and join Group A. That was not possible of course, so we continued as scheduled. At the end of the five weeks, the attitude of Group A was amazing. All four students, unlike the students of Groups B & C, were anxious to go to the next level. The survey and the tests done among the students of all three groups overwhelmingly showed that the methodology used with Group A, was definitely: most effective, most successful and definitely most encouraging.  They all urged me to use only that way of teaching.

The great support and exhortation, however, came about, few years later, when a university professor was taking the course.  Enthused by her rapid progress she raved about the course to her friend, a renowned linguist. She told him that although she had taken several languages before, never she had understood the fundamentals and mechanism of a language in such a short time.  The linguist was impressed by the precision and order of the lessons and told her “if we had workable methods like this, foreign languages would have not been difficult to learn” and he continued by telling her “encourage your instructor to publish her work.” I thanked him writing a letter to him and I asked if he could endorse my program. He very politely replied : “My endorsement is not necessary, .Your students will be your best public relations representatives.” He was right. That’s how it happened, by word of mouth it gained the reputation, popularity and success that the program has enjoyed..

This program requires –and this has to be emphasized- greater organization and consistency on the part of the instructor than even the students themselves. Following the program, however, and with the aid of the “Grammar and Exercise” book (which offers orderly and systematically all the grammatical elements, exercises and drills necessary for consolidation and mastery), their job is very easy.. With such organization and arrangement, the teaching of the Greek language becomes a wonderful experience.

The Program was based on three basic points:

a) What to teach
b) When to teach it
c) How to teach it

a) What to teach :

The curriculum consists of the: elements requisite for the learning a language; grammatical structures necessary for better comprehension of the mechanics of the language; extensive vocabulary, essential in order to use the oral and written speech with relative ease; short, interesting stories which read and translated invigorate the students and motivate them to read and study further. Achieving all the above is easy when the well organized lesson plan of the program is followed with consistency.

b) When to teach it

The priority, importance and the necessary drill, allowed on each grammatical element, play a very important role. The objective case, for example, due to its usefulness in the application of the vocabulary in sentences and conversation, is taught almost immediately to facilitate the student in the use of the new words. We let the plural and other cases for subsequent lessons. This way the class gains confidence by being in a position to correctly apply whatever they have learned.  The same applies to verbs. Every conjugation is taught separately.

The three most commonly used tenses (present, simple past and simple future), are taught first along with each conjugation. The exercises and drill involve around that.

When the student masters the conjugation and formation of the three tenses then we are ready to proceed to the imperative, the negative imperative and the subjunctive. All that given in the simplified, comprehensible manner that The Psyhogeos Program stresses, gives the students something concrete and tangible to work with. Thus, they become encouraged and the knowledge they acquire becomes the motivating force that propels them to advance.

c) How to teach it

In order to teach everything is needed, without making the learning of the language a nightmare, the approach you take is very important. Even though all the grammatical rules are given in an intensified way, by following the methodical, systematically simplified approach of the program, in conjunction with the English equivalent, the students achieves fluency. This is accomplished due to the fact they comprehend what they learn and not only assimilate it but, most importantly, they retain what they learn.

Every element, every rule that it is taught is isolated and we are involved exclusively with that particular segment. For example when we deal with verbs of the first conjugation, the entire lesson will revolve around this particular subject (i.,e., exercises, drilling, and conversation contain only verbs of that group). The students become confident and motivated when they discover that they are able to conjugate, form the tenses and apply all they learn while acquire the ability to converse fairly well. For this reason we try very hard to avoid verbs belonging to the second conjugation or in the passive voice. Soon enough, the rest of the categories will be taught and the students will benefit enormously by the isolation
and they would have been spared confusion..

Simplification; Intensity; Isolation and Elucidation in English, are the most important characteristics of The Psyhogeos Program.  I do disagree completely with those who maintain that English should not be used. It is an outdated point of view. If the students do not absorb what they are taught, in their own language, they become overwhelmed, confused, lose their interest and enthusiasm and in the end, what it was learned superficially, cannot possibly be retained.

A parenthesis is needed here to express my personal experience in learning a language under such methodology. One of the principal factors that contributed to my effort to develop a more effective teaching, a foreign language, program, was precisely the fact that such an immersion method had failed me. Although I thought I was progressing well, while I was studying French, not having had a sound understanding and concrete foundation of what I was taught, I, not only failed to become proficient, but also, a few years later, I had totally forgotten all that I had superficially memorized.  Immersion programs do work when students live for long periods of time in the country of the target language.

I strongly believe that the most important impetuses for someone studying a foreign language are: enthusiasm and interest for the language. Bringing these forces forth you succeed
in motivating and inspiring them to strive for a successful outcome. This thrust is cultivated by presenting the language in an encouraging and not in an intimidating manner. Having that as an objective one can be assured of success.

My original objective was to: teach Greek by motivating my students and instill in them love and appreciation for the language and culture and raising their expectations for greater achievement.

The strict criterion of The Psyhogeos Program is that, the techniques and principles be presented simply, methodically and strictly in the order each segment is introduced.

All the books and materials of the program are geared to teach the student, in an intensified, yet simple and concise manner, the fundamentals of the Greek language. Everything, even the most complex aspects of the language, is presented simply yet orderly, plainly but with a well organized plan. and that’s what makes the difference for the student to consider the learning of the language a very pleasant participation. The secret of its success is the fact that, besides the simplified rules and basic presentation, the written and oral exercises (ranging from simple manipulation to structural and idiomatic usage), strive for controlled response to an open communicative interaction.

The students, seeing their progress, soon become very competitive and do their best to write the best essay, the most interesting speech and exhibit their best possible performance in order to become fluent.

The objective of this Course is to teach the beginner the fundamentals for better comprehension of the Greek language. It is an intensified course of study, yet the techniques and principles of the curriculum are presented in such a simple manner that makes it very easy to follow. Everything is presented systematically in a cumulative progressive way. The strict criterion of the whole process is that even the most difficult aspects of the language are taught simply and methodically.

The Mini-Course for Beginners consists of fifteen lessons. Each lesson is divided into three parts:

Part One: Teaches reading, writing, vocabulary.
Part Two: Offers the simplified rules of grammar and the mechanism of the language.
Part Three: Contains additional vocabulary and conversation which progressively becomes more difficult and complicated .

The course was offered to hundreds of students, prior to being established as the basis of the Psyhogeos Program – the simplified Greek Language Series, for the teaching of Greek as a second language in a comprehensive manner. The outcome of the 15 lesson course was always overwhelming.

MINI-COURSE FOR BEGINNERS

Book/CD – Price: $49.95
Book/Tapes – Price: $39.95
Book/Video – Price: $50.00
CDtext/AudioCD – Price: $29.95

Learn to Read and Write Greek, is the Beginner’s book in a series designed to teach Modern Greek in a simple, progressive and cumulative manner. It is an expansion of the intensified Fifteen Lesson, Greek Mini-Course for Beginners: on which the Psyhogeos Program, the simplified Greek Language Series, for the teaching of Greek as a second language -in a comprehensive manner- is based:

The objectives of the book are to:
· teach one to read and write Greek;
· acquaint the beginner with the basics and mechanism of the language
· introduce very extensive and commonly used vocabulary
· instruct the student in the use of the oral and written speech.
· enable him/her master what is being taught by introducing relevant to the lesson exercises

The book could be purchased as a separate unit or along with the accompanying CDs or cassettes (which are highly recommended to help with sounds and pronunciation). If you’re studying on your own without an instructor or the CDs/tapes, you should pay close attention to the phonetics and learn each sound very carefully or you could ask a native to help you with the most difficult sounds. For example, “G”, is pronounced as a “y” at the beginning of a word, such as: year, yet, yard, etc. In other words it is a very soft g (gh).

Each letter of the Greek Alphabet has only one sound. When you master each sound you are in a position to read a Greek text.

While you’re studying you should:

· repeat each sound, each syllables and finally the word, many times.
· place the emphasis where the accent is.
· read the sentences and, with the help of the vocabulary, translate them
· make your own sentence with every new word you
learn and complete all the exercises.

The book is divided into three parts:

Part One: Teaches reading, writing, vocabulary, the basic elements of grammar and exercises.
Part Two : contains an extensive list of vocabulary (over 40 categories/lists of words), along with regular and irregular verbs, adjectives, adverbs, regular and irregular nouns and so forth. You could study each list of words simultaneously with every lesson, or each segment separately. For better comprehension, especially if you are studying without an instructor, the latter is recommended.

Part Three: Consists of the additional grammar: declension of regular & irregular nouns, adjectives and pronouns, conjugation of regular and irregular verbs and so forth.

Everything is simplified and easy to comprehend.

The main characteristics of the Psyhogeos Program :

Simplification; Intensity; Isolation and Elucidation in English,
are the most important exponents of The Psyhogeos Program

LEARN TO READ AND WRITE GREEK – THE BASICS OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE

Old Edition/Book – Price: $25.00
Book/Cassette – Price: $30.00
Book – Price: $19.95
CD’s – Price: $49.95

…You are planning to visit Greece. That is great! A most fascinating and splendid experience awaits you. Come and live not only the glory that was Greece, but also the infinite variety of the landscape ranging: from snowcapped rugged mountains, to sun-drenched idyllic shores; From the beauty and serenity of the Aegean and Ionian Seas – where over one thousand five hundred incredibly beautiful islands are scattered – to the forested mountains, icy lakes and tumbling rivers of Northern Greece. The land is blessed with temperate climate, sunshine and the beautiful blue sky of the Mediterranean. All that, intertwined with an unsurpassed history, culture and tradition….

Summer Festivals
…Do not miss (if you have the chance) a performance at the Odeon of Herod Atticus in Athens. It is an experience to be treasured. Imagine this: you’re listening to a modern/classical symphony or watching an ancient tragedy, performed – in a 2500 year old amphitheater-by first-class actors, while you’re looking-up towards the Monument of Monuments the Parthenon and the marvel of the Acropolis. That is indeed one of the most up-lifting lifetime adventures.

Price: $20.00

Book Description
The serene life of the irrepressibly optimistic little girl was disturbed. Child-play and fantasies gave way to fear and anguish. Wild thoughts were going through her mind while the German bombs were falling nearby her picturesque retreat:

How dare they disturb my peaceful space? Who are these people who want to conquer the world? Why aren’t they satisfied with their own terra firma, their own hideaways and retreats, their own Camelot? Why would they bother my magical surroundings and the environment of all the other children of other lands? Don’t they have dreams, other than destroy other people’s dreams? Weren’t they ever children themselves, or better yet, don’t they have children of their own? Don’t they know that, above all, children need to feel safe and secure, warm and loved?

Only three chapters were completed with the anticipation that the conclusion of this book would be optimistic and cheerful, along with the fervent wish that never again would children have to live through the horrors of war and its dreadful consequences.

The dreadful morning of September 11, 2001, however, changed the mood of us all. The devastation of the horrific events in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania will haunt us forever.

Reaching for the Sky

Softcover – $13.95

Hardcover – $23.95

The Olympic Games: Past, Present & Future

The objective of the book is not to dwell on specific events, chronicle the Summer or Winter Olympics, focus on individual athletic achievements, nor refer to distinct athletic achievements by Olympians (too numerous and too significant for just a mere reference).

Marios Kallitsis, an outstanding artist, designed the cover of the book and so accurately captured the connotation of the title. Having Past and Present represented by Myron’s Discus Thrower rising above the contemporary runners, and the Future so beautifully portrayed by the colors of the five links -which symbolize unity and continuity.

Its intent is:

The Olympic Games: Past, Present & Future Price: $25.00