April 26, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Boris Johnson spoke at the UN in ancient Greek and decided to change his name

Ancient Greek phrases in the speech of the British Prime Minister at the UN General Assembly sounded yesterday in the context of environmental protection.

Calling on humanity to mobilize in its defense, he used a phrase from Sophocles’ “Antigone” as a quote, his words are conveyed to the ERT:

“Sophocles said:” πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ κοὐδὲν ἀνθρώπου δεινότερον πέλει. ” The person “suffers” and the word “fearful” is not the correct translation of the word “suffering”. Sophocles meant that the human species is beautiful. It’s scary, but admirable. “

Johnson used Antigone’s phrase “many are terrible, but there is nothing more terrible than man” to indicate that we are all capable of both evil and good. During his speech, he made a somewhat unexpected statement:

“We have created huge forests from wind turbines in the North Sea between Britain and Holland. We generate so much energy from the wind that I even thought to change my name in honor of the god of the north wind and become Boreas Johnson. “

The British Prime Minister then called on all states to participate in the 26th United Nations Conference on the Environment. It will take place in Glasgow at the end of October.

The prime minister’s love for ancient Greek philosophy and literature has been known for a long time. And the bust of Pericles in his residence is not at all a tribute to fashion or a desire to “show off”. Boris Johnson studied Classical Philosophy and Classical Literature at the Humanities Department of Balliol College, Oxford. And now, as he assures, he regularly and with pleasure immerses himself in the mysteries of ancient books.





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