Cognitive Model Of The Frame “Love Of Life” In The Greek Worldview

“Optimism” slot

In the dictionary Λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας (ed. by Μπαμπινιώτης) optimism/ αισιοδοξία has the following meanings: 1) tendency to see the good in everything and to hope for a favorable development of events; 2) philosophical position, which consists in the belief that good will triumph over evil, virtue will crow over, and the world, society, and life are moving in a positive direction (Babiniotis, 2002)

Optimism implies a positive attitude towards life, reflecting faith and hope for a positive or desired outcome of any events. This is a person’s tendency to see and emphasize the positive aspects of life and not become discouraged due to troubles.

Paroemias representing the “Optimism” slot are classified into two subslots:

1) Subslot “Positive attitude to the present”

One of the definitions of optimism/αισιοδοξία is the tendency to see the favorable side of everything (Babiniotis, 2002), that is, a positive attitude towards the present.

The positive attitude of the Greek to the present is manifested in sincere joy from every day lived: Μια καλή μέρα σκεπάζει έναν κακό μήνα – One good day covers one bad month.

In his thinking, there is a conviction that life is beautiful in all its manifestations:

Άνθρωπε, σκέψου και άφησε τα πάθη και τα μίση, γιατί στο θάνατο μπροστά είμαστε όλοι ίσοι – Man, think and leave all pains and hates, because we are all equal in the face of death.

Και με τα χίλια βάσανα πάλι η ζωή γλυκιά είναι. – And even with a lot of torment, life has its charm (Smyrniotaki & Ios, 1993)

Paroemias of the given group represent a positive attitude towards life through the opposition of “γελάω/laugh – κλαίω/cry.” In contrast to the stereotype of a Russian person thinking, which consists in the judgment “if you laugh a lot in the morning, then you will cry in the evening”, then in the view of the Greek, on the contrary, laughter brings laughter, and even troubles should be met with laughter and a smile. For instance:

Όποιος κλαίει τέτοιον κόσμο, μόνο τα μάτια του χαλάει – Who cries in this world, only spoils his eyes.

Όποιος δεν γελάσει το πρωί ούτε το μεσημέρι γελάει – He who does not laugh in the morning, he does not laugh in the afternoon.

Αν δεν γελάσεις το πρωί, μην καρτερείς το βράδυ – If you don't laugh in the morning, don’t wait for the evening.

Αν γελάς όταν σε δέρνουν, ποτέ δεν θα σε ξαναδείρουν – If you laugh when you get hit, you will never be beaten (Natsouli, 2011).

A positive attitude to the present is also determined by the ability to calmly relate to difficulties and believe that in the end everything will be fine anyway. For example:

Μην πεις ποτέ πως είν`αργά κι αν χαμηλά `χεις πέσει – Never say it's too late, no matter how difficult the situation is.

Όποιος πνίγεται στη πρώτη βουτηξιά, πάντα πνιγμένος θα είναι – He who drowns on the first dive will always go under.

Αν δε δούμε τα χειρότερα, δεν τιμούμε τα καλύτερα – If we don’t see the worst, we won’t appreciate the best.

Κάθε εμπόδιο για καλό – Every obstacle is for the best (Smyrniotaki & Ios, 1993).

Life difficulties and turmoil concretize such lexemes as πέφτω/ fall down, πνίγομαι/ drown, κατήφορος/ fall, descent, εμπόδιο/ obstacle, χιόνι/ snow, cold. Life itself is presented in the form of oppositions κατήφορος/ fall, descent – ανηφόρος/ ascent, τα χειρότερα/ the worst – τα καλύτερα/the best, nevertheless, there is a conviction in the positive outcome of any problem in PE:

Δεν υπάρχει χιόνι που να μην λιώνει με τον ήλιο – There is no snow that does not melt when the sun comes out.

Όποιος αέρας και αν φυσάει, ο μύλος αλέθει – No matter how the wind blows, the mill will work (Fragas, 2015).

2) Subslot “Hope”

Hope is associated with optimism as positive expectation of future events: the tendency to expect and hope for a favorable and positive development of events (Manolis Triantaphyllides Foundation, 1998). It should be noted that optimism may refer to the present and the past, while hope refers to the future. Hope is a special form of optimism, its component. From the point of view of an everyman, the antonym of optimism is pessimism, and hope is hopelessness, which is accompanied by fear. It is believed that hope is more emotional than optimism.

The conviction that “hope dies last” can be traced both in Russian and Greek paremiology:

Όσο υπάρχει ζωή, υπάρχει ελπίδα – As long as there is life, there is hope.

Ζεσταίνεται με τις ελπίδες και θαρρεί που έχει γούνα – Hope warms a person like fur.

In PE, life’s difficulties are presented by comparison with unpleasant natural phenomena – βαρυχειμωνιά/ harsh winter, συννεφιά/ cloudiness, bad weather, and hope is metaphorically presented as something warming and radiating light: καλοκαιριά/ summer, warm weather, ξαστεριά/ starry sky:

Η βαρυχειμωνιά θα φέρει και καλοκαιριά – Cold winter is followed by summer.

Η συννεφιά θα φέρει και ξαστεριά – When the clouds clear, the stars appear.

Hope is also associated with patience and the ability to wait, therefore it is compared to a seed planted, which takes time and patience to grow and bear fruit:

Στην γλάστρα της υπομονής φύτεψα την ελπίδα – I planted hope in a pot of patience (Natsouli, 2011).

The PE presented in the given slot objectify such conceptual features of the “Love of Life” frame as 1) positive attitude towards the present, 2) ability to treat life with humor, meet troubles with a smile, and 3) hope for a brighter future and overcoming any obstacles.

“Love of freedom” slot

Love of freedom is the desire for freedom and independence. Synonyms of the given lexeme are free-thinking, willfulness, and independence (Kartaslov, 2009)

Passionate love of freedom of the Greeks as a manifestation of love for life is closely connected with such a significant feature of their mentality as an extremely developed self-esteem.

The figurative component of “freedom” is syncretic images of wind, sea, bird, horse, open space, flight, breathing, etc. For example:

Βγάλε το χαλινάρι απ`το άλογο, αν θέλεις νά`ρθει πρώτο – Take the bridle off your horse if you want it to come first.

Κάλλιο ελεύθερο πουλί, παρά λιοντάρι στο κλουβί – Better a free bird than a caged lion.

Καλύτερα ελεύθερο πουλί, παρά σκλάβος βασιλιάς – Better to be a free bird than a king in bondage.

Καλύτερα ν`αγναντεύεις απ`το βουνό, παρά μεσά από τη φυλακή – It is better to look into the distance from a mountain than from a prison (Natsouli, 2011).

The conceptual component of “love of freedom” includes such conceptual features as the ability to act as one wishes, the absence of restrictions, the opposition of bondage, slavery, imprisonment, and captivity.

The love of freedom of the Greek is manifested in the rejection of power in any of its manifestations: he does not tolerate bosses and orders; he scorns the obsequious attitude towards authorities. This is reflected in the following PEs:

Άρχοντας και διάβολος, αδέρφια δίδυμα – The ruler and the devil are twin brothers.

Δύο άλογα στο ίδιο παχνί δεν κάνουν – Two horses can’t fit in one pound.

Όταν είναι δύο πλοίαρχοι, αναποδογυρίζουν το καράβι – Two captains on a ship – and it goes to the bottom.

Πολλόι μάγειροι μαζί, το χαλάνε το φαί – Many cooks spoil food together.

Τα πολλά κουμάντα, το καράβι με την πάντα – Many orders and the ship goes down.

Η προσταγή σου λάχανα και ο ορισμός σου αγγούρια – Your orders mean nothing to me.

Αν προσκυνήσεις άρχοντα, θε ν`αρνηθείς το Θεό σου – If you worship your boss, you will deny your God (Smyrniotaki & Ios, 1993).

In the presented PEs, the concept of power is objectified by lexemes άρχοντας/ chief, κεφάλι/ head, πλοίαρχος/ ship captain, κουμάντο/ crew, προσταγή/ decree, ορισμός/ order, dictate, and its rejection – verbs with the meaning of destruction: βουλιάζω/ drown, αναποδογυρίζω/ turn upside down, χαλάω/ destroy, demolish.

The most frequent unit in the series of presented PEs is the lexeme καράβι/ ship. The ship for Greece as a maritime power is a symbol of freedom. It demonstrates a craving for adventure, romance, interest in unexplored latitudes, the search for a life path, expresses calmness, peace. The ship also symbolizes life itself, its course, and the fact that “there is no place for two captains on one ship” means that the Greek strives to be the sole master of his life. This is how he understands personal freedom.

Love of freedom also implies the rejection of any kind of violence objectified in paroemias by lexemes βία and ζόρι, receiving a negative assessment:

/ force, violence, coercion:

Το πράγμα που έγινε με βία γρήγορα γεννά μετάνοια – Violence breeds remorse.

Η βία φέρνει μαζί της ατυχία – Violence breeds unhappiness.

/ violence, coercion

Με το ζόρι το σκυλί δεν φυλάει το μαντρί – A dog does not forcefully guard the sheep.

Το ζόρι βάζει το λαγό στην τρύπα – Coercion drives the hare down the hole.

The belief that any kind of violence against the free person's will leads to negative consequences and violates his right to freedom can be traced in the above proverbs.

Freedom is one of the priority life values of the Greek, which is reflected in the following PEs:

Προτιμότερο να είσαι ελεύθερος γιος φτωχού, παρά σκλάβος πλούσιου – It is better to be the free son of a poor man than the slave of a rich man.

Να χαιρετάς αλλά να μην προσκυνάς – Salute but don’t worship (Natsouli, 2011).

Three binary oppositions that oppose freedom to lack of freedom in the mind of the Greek are distinguished on the basis of the presented PEs: freedom-power, freedom-coercion, violence, freedom-slavery.

“Faith in God” slot

Greece is an Orthodox country in its culture, history, and religious choice. Modern Greeks consider themselves heirs of the traditions of Christian Byzantium. 98 % of the country’s population are Orthodox Christians. The Greek (officially Helladic) Orthodox Church is one of the most influential and the third largest in terms of the number of believers in the Orthodox world. The Church plays a crucial role in Greek society, and faith is an integral part of culture.

Faith (in the religious sense) is the belief in the existence of God, the recognition of the religion dogmas, religious traditions and rituals. Synonyms are belief, faith, confession (Academic.Dic, 2007).

The necessity of faith/ πίστη in human life is recognized in the following PEs:

Σαν έχασες την πίστη σου, τι άλλο έχεις να χάσεις – If you’ve lost faith then you've got nothing left to lose.

Με την πίστη και τα βουνά κάποτε ανταμώνονται – Mountains can be moved with faith.

Έχε πίστη στο Θεό και ας σου θέλουν το κακό – Have faith in God, even if you wish evil (Natsouli, 2011).

In these PEs, faith is presented as something that gives some certainty and a system of reference points, since there is “nothing to lose” without it. It gives the believer peace (you cannot be afraid of either evil or the enemy), strength (you can move mountains) and hope, and also helps love life.

The love of life in the Greek worldview acquires an additional conceptual sign – “love of God.” God in the view of the Greek is omnipotent and all-seeing, which is confirmed by the following PEs:

Ο Θεός βλέπει βουνά και ρίχνει χιόνι – God sees mountains and throws snow.

Ο Θεός αργεί, μα δεν το λησμονεί – God may be late, but he never forgets.

Το μάτι του θεού βλέπει πάντα και παντού – God’s eye sees everything and everywhere.

Χωρίς του Θεού βουλή ούτε στο βρόχι το πουλί – It does not rain without the will of God (Fragas, 2015).

Based on PE, we can highlight the role that God plays in the life of a Greek: he helps (βοηθώ), forgives (συγχωρώ), protects (προστασία, σκεπάζω), bears the truth (αλήθεια), and punishes (τιμωρώ):

Όποιος κάνει το σταυρό του, έχει το Θεό βοηθό του – God helps to the one who prays.

Το κεφάλι που φυλάει ο Θεός, ο κόσμος δεν το βλάπτει – The world cannot harm a person who is protected by God.

Η αλήθεια είναι του Θεού, το ψέμα του διαβόλου – Truth is from God, lies are from the devil.

Όποιος κλέβει το λαό, τιμωρείται από το Θεό – The one who robs the people is punished by God.

Δεν κρυώνει ο γυμνός, άμα τον σκεπάζει ο Θεός – The naked will not freeze if God covers him (Smyrniotaki & Ios, 1993).

In the paroemia Κατά τα ρούχα δίνει ο Θεός το κρύο/, a conviction is traced that God gives exactly as much as a person can endure, which means that all trials in life are fair.

Greek love of life can be called Orthodox hedonism, because life love for a Greek is not only to enjoy life, to “seize the day” and take everything from life, it is also to love the world beauty created by God, to be a humanist, to steadfastly overcome the difficulties of the present and hope for a better tomorrow, to live with conscience and honor (φιλότιμο), experience love and share it.