Greek President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Thursday inaugurated an academic forum at the University of Athens on noted 20th century Greek poet Kostis Palamas, who is best known as the author of the Olympic Hymn.
Pavlopoulos referred to the national poet’s works, especially poem “The Twelve Lays of the Gypsy”, while underling the significance of the early Church Fathers in consolidating the Christian Faith, as well as the millennium-long Byzantine Empire.
As he said, “…Byzantium was the trust bearer of ancient Greece and ancient Hellenic spirit, values and principles…there was never a Dark Ages for Byzantium.”