Nikos Konstandaras

The debate around Christopher Nolan’s version of “The Odyssey,” an excellent supplement on Odysseus in Kathimerini’s Greek edition on July 19, and the great number of people discussing their personal response to Homer, tempt me to say a few words about my own connection with the poet and his work.

Seldom does the anniversary of a defining moment in history bear such relevance for the present as today's 52nd anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Greece.

On Friday afternoon, as the nation's leadership prepared to assemble and mark the 52nd anniversary of the restoration of democracy, as heavy clouds stormed across Attica's sky, I thought of a town hall meeting that I attended a few months ago. I felt joy at the breadth and depth of our democracy, hope in its dynamism, and unease about the possible dead-ends it may face.

At proud and modest Gerakari, high on the slopes of Crete's Mt Kedros , guardian of one of the passes into the Amari valley, no one forgets the price of war.

The break in the heart of summer allows us to stop for a moment and consider where we are and where we're headed. It's not only because many of us are on holiday, while others work without pause to cover the tourist season's expanding needs, it's also that the midday sun forces us to find a shady corner and perhaps ponder the state of our country and the world.

How can we interpret the death of three important public figures within the space of a few days in an August that finds Greece mid-step in an unsteady world and the Greeks in search of identity and direction? “All passes! What's coming?” Stelios Ramfos asked at the end of his book, “Politics from mouth to mouth” (2016), in which, as he wrote, he presented his thoughts on “a society locked in its prejudices and stubbornly refusing to look into the mirror for its own good.”

Our region is changing rapidly and it is likely that Greece could find itself at the center of developments. The chronic difficulties in Greek-Turkish relations, in conjunction with the rising tension between Turkey and Israel, are leading to closer ties with Israel at a time when new alliances are tangled up with old ones in a shifting geopolitical landscape.

Both Turkey and Israel are revisionist powers. Even if the current tension between them eases, sooner or later they will again face off in the race for regional dominance.

Death may come in the terrifying roar of a fire or in a massive wall of water, mud and rocks swallowing all in its way, or with a sigh in a room in which the heat overwhelms a tired body. From Himalayan mountain valleys to the baking walls of Europe, to forests burning across the world, our planet is shaken.

Among Donald Trump's few good decisions, perhaps the best was his order to fly the national flag at half-mast across the United States for a week, in honor of Dolly Parton, the internationally renowned singer who died on Tuesday aged 80. Not because the US president clearly wants to appropriate some of Parton's glory, but because she symbolizes all that he is not – an America where people born in poverty could achieve great things thanks to their abilities and hard work. Trump was not only born rich, but became richer through a series of bankruptcies in which he offloaded his debts on others, and is now working decisively to shape a society of great inequality. His policies are intended to further strengthen the rich while condemning the rest – his supporters included – to a life of few possibilities.