It's All Greek to Me

By William Falloure

We’ve been taught that Greece is the foundation of western culture and the birthplace of democracy. That’s not quite the truth. Few realize that as a nation, Greece didn’t exist until 1832. The term "Greece" is a neo-geographic expression of what we have come to call a collection of city-states located on a peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean. What’s more, our image of Greek culture stems from classic icons like architecture, philosophy, science, and art. And more often than not, many of those examples are Athenian. That’s not to say that none are available from places like Thesbia, Arcadia, or any other city-state. It’s just that Athens is one of two dominant polises of the Greek region.

By the way, the proper name for Greece is actually Hellas. The origin of that name is a minor mystery — nobody seems to definitively know how that came to be, except that the term took hold somewhere around the time Homer was writing the Iliad.

Until modern times, if you were Greek, or a Hellen, you thought of yourself as Athenian or Spartan or Thesbian. Greeks had this tendency to be very tribal. In fact, that’s how they started back in the day when they migrated from the areas of the Ukraine somewhere around the second millennia BC. So even though most of the people of all the city-states in Greece shared a common ethnicity, they were subdivided from various tribes, like Doric, Attica, Ionian, etc. They further diverged in terms of religion, dialect, and customs developed within their own city-states.

Just look at the differences between Athens and Sparta. Athens was the seat of early democracy and a mecca for philosophy and art. And the Athenian dialect was considered the more prestigious among the Greek language (and which is most closely identified with modern Greek). On the other hand, Sparta was a pure military state that enslaved the indigenous populous of its region as farmers and laborers.

Athens and Sparta were in no way buddy-buddy. But don’t be fooled by Athenian pretense of academia. Tribal status trumped everything else and their roots were also in a warrior culture. So they liked a good fight now and then.

There were a couple of brief stints where city-states joined up to present themselves as a whole people. The most famous of which was the Battle of Thermopylae where King Leonidas led 300 Spartans against a million Persians. What is often overlooked is that there were actually 7000 Athenian, Arcadian, Thesbian, and Phoecian soldiers at the back of the Spartans. Equally passed over, and criminally so, is the fact that Athens had a navy of about 200 ships keeping the Persian fleet at bay. And that fleet was led by the Athenian, Themistocles.

Most did not care, but knew that the Persian invasions could rightly be blamed on actions taken by Athens a few decades earlier. While the primary target of the Persian invasions was Athens, they fully expected that the Persian king at the time, Xerxes, would likely move on after sacking Athens to tear up the entire peninsula ... just to make a point.

Rather telling in this brief moment of nationalism is the attitude of Leonidas, the Spartan king having led his 300 against Persia at Thermopylae. Xerxes offered Leonidas governorship and control of all Greece if he submitted to Persia. According to Plutarch, Leonidas said, “I would rather die for the liberty of Hellas than be a monarch over my countrymen.”

Considering that Sparta and Athens were bitter rivals, that says a lot of Leonidas' regard for fellow Hellens. In fact, so much so that he and his men held Persia at bay while Athens was evacuated. You could look at Greek politics this way: it’s like you and your siblings; you beat the crud out of each other and that’s okay. But if somebody outside the family messes with them, you team up against them to protect each other. To paraphrase Plato in his work, The Republic, he argued that when Hellens fight among one another, they are in a state of disorder and discord. But should Hellens fight those outside, such as barbarians or Persians, this shall be called war.

So many scholars agree that Thermopylae was a turning point in Greek politcs. If that’s true, what happened? Why didn’t it stick? You have to go back to their roots in the Ukraine. As warrior tribes, the core of their belief was survival of the fittest. This theme was repeated during the Peloponnesian war, and every other seeming civil war in the region. Resources were scarce and by the gods, your city-state better command control over most of them or die!

It boils down to the Greeks themselves having a problem developing a real brand identity. Who are they? Athenians, Spartans, Ionians, Dorians, Hellens? Similarly, Americans have splintered tribal identities, such as Southern or Northern, Texan or Californian, west coast or east coast. What’s more, and especially now, the American conglomerate has little common shared ethnicity. So why should the Hellens be any less able to unite on a permanent basis then the American melting pot?

Perhaps the answer is as basic as the ability to set aside tribal differences and develop a desire to adopt core common beliefs and culture for the common good. In short, for Greece, it was the inability to take the unity from Thermopylae — a Greek brand identity from that moment ... and live the brand.

             ________________

William Falloure is the producer of the award winning student documentary, The Hellenic Revolution.   He is a National Junior Honor Society member, as well 1st Place medalist in the Houston ISD National History Day competition for Documentary (2010/2011). 

The Fast and the Furious

Alexander the Great conquered a big chunk of the known world in ancient times, and he did it quick. During his 13-year reign he went from prince to general to king, and he spread his empire from Macedon to the Indus River.  Along the way he totally deconstructed the most powerful empire of the day—Persia. And while he was known for dabbling in local Persian customs, Alexander also wound up with the unearned reputation for being the single greatest telegraph of Hellenic culture. Cities named for him pepper the map throughout the near east. His brand endures as being undefeated in battle, so he is the yardstick by which all commanders are measured. In his day, however, the Alexander brand ran much deeper.


As a man, he was born Alexander III of Macedon and lived from the year 356 – 323 BC. He started off by inheriting his father's kingdom of Macedon, which is just north of what is now Greece proper. Alexander's father was Philip II. His mother was Philip's fourth wife, Olympias, the daughter of Neoptolemus I. This is huge to the Alexander brand but more on that shortly.

Olympias is a central character in the Alexander brand—and she was naughty. You need to know that while Philip had several other wives, Olympias was his principal wife. And by all accounts she was a whacked out lady. She had a thing for sleeping with snakes and practicing something like witchcraft. The snake thing is a real kicker because the supreme god, Zeus, was said to have often appeared as a snake, especially when he was in a randy mood and had a vixen in his sights. So by association, if Olympias liked to sleep with snakes in her bed, then it is possible Zeus could have slithered in ahead of Phillip and fathered Alexander. Phillip was never really sure. Even the ancient historians debated it. True or not (obviously not to modern readers) it made for a strong sound byte.

In reality, Alexander didn't need the Zeus mythos. He had some serious lineage that gave him epic brand attributes. Those came from his mother's side, as she was a descendant of Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. That alone infused Alexander with some serious heroic blood. While Zeus was a "god" who may have fathered Alexander, Achilles was accepted by ancients as a real person with a traceable bloodline.

When Alexander was thirteen years old, Philip chose Aristotle to tutor his son. The context of the teaching was within the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza. The place is really only important to the Alexander brand because it was there Alexander would meet some of his closest advisers. They were the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy (think Cleopatra in a few centuries), Hephaistion, and Cassander. Aristotle taught these future leaders about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. That's also when Alexander developed a passion for the works of Homer, and in particular the Iliad; and that helped further Alexander's identity with Achilles. He even slept with an annotated copy. His nickname among his fellow students was "Achilles."

All this adds up to no surprise that Alexander had an overdeveloped sense of ambition. In all honesty, understanding Alexander requires a lot of study time. Complex family dynamics, touchy politics between Macedon and the Hellenic League (alliance of Greek city-states), his mother's overarching position that Alexander ran with the blood of gods and immortals—combined with his Achillian identity, and you have a guy convinced he deserves an empire stretching to the ends of the world.

Most importantly, he understood brand acceptance within targeted audiences. He wielded bloody power amongst the Greeks to hold down revolts, and he presented himself a god king to Persians who believed kings were of the gods. Alexander was incredibly conscious of his brand.

Therefore, submitted for your approval...

1. Determine the most appropriate brand-positioning attribute.

Alexander carried the shield of Achilles

Alexander kicked off his brand rollout with everything going for him—rumors of Zeus as his father, the Achilles bloodline, his intellect and study under Aristotle. And he did have military skill. By the time he took over Macedon, Alexander had already fought in battle and led an army. But there is one attribute that, in truth, was his greatest weapon, though never seemingly discussed. Alexander repeatedly did the unexpected.

Example one: The city of Phrygia is in modern Turkey and was known to have a knot guarded by priests. It was called the Gordian Knot. Legend held that the knot was so complex that whosoever undid the knot would be king of all Asia. What is true is that Alexander undid the knot. It's the how he undid it that is debated is now—although either recorded solution works. Rather than try what all others tried Alexander did either of the following:

 1. Drew his sword and sliced the knot with confidence and the knowledge that he undid the knot with a single bold stroke. Or, 

 2. Removed the knot from the staff it was on, thus exposing the two ends, allowing him to undo the knot. 

The first is more fun and the one of legend and befitting the brand.

Example two: Alexander's route to conquer Persia was atypical. His initial course was south along the Mediterranean coast. Rather than sack a few towns and turn east to chase down opposing armies inland, he captured the critical port cities between modern day Turkey and western Egypt. And since the Egyptians saw Alexander as a liberator from Persian rule, they covered his southern flank. All in all it prevented Persian armies from getting behind Alexander and trapping him or cutting off his supply lines. That's when he turned east and swept across old Babylon to Pakistan.

That was out-of-the-box thinking in those days.

Example three: One of those port cities was Tyre, which was built on an island off the coast of modern day Jordan. Tyre had high walls, too. Alexander simply constructed a causeway from shore to the island so he could get his army and siege machines onsite. From there he wore down the walls and its defenders.

Seriously, that's bridging the gap!

Surely only the gods inspire such original thinking! And surely such a man is destined for greatness.

Destined for greatness.

2. Devise a distinctive way to articulate the brand position. 

On the day that Alexander was born, Philip was preparing himself for his siege on the city of Potidea. On the same day, he received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and that his horses had won at the Olympic Games. It was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus—one of the Seven Wonders of the World—burnt down, leading to the headline that it burnt down because the goddess Artemis was attending the birth of Alexander. 

Combine his skill and out-of-the-box thinking and these events with a possible bloodline from Zeus and from Achilles, and it would be apparent to the ancients that Alexander was "favored by the gods."

"Favored by the gods." 

3. Develop a focused brand personality that customers can use to recommend or introduce your brand to others.

Alexander the Great—what else do you need from an epithet earned while alive? Never having lost a battle, his success as a commander was unparalleled. He was constantly outnumbered. But it was through his creative strategies, use of terrain, mastery of the phalanx, and cavalry tactics that combined with bold strategy and ability to inspire fierce loyalty among his troops—these made him great. 

4. Establish graphic standards. 

Alexander cultivated his graphic standard through a reputation of being hansom and of pleasant presence. In reality he was around 5'3", short for even then. He was not unattractive according to Plutarch, nor was he the classic Greek hood ornament of the day. But statues represented him as such. And his coinage showed him as fair and powerful. 

5. Implement internal branding programs to reward employees for behaving in ways that are consistent with the brand personality

Do or die. In no way did Alexander tolerate opposition. He wiped out the entire city of Thebes for revolting when he first took power. And his taking power was very likely a result of his ordering the assassination of his father. He preferred diplomatic solutions, but if it came to blows, you were toast. And on the flip-side, it was fortunate Alexander's reign was short-lived—his hold on the empire was not sustainable. The Persian campaigns severely drained Macedonian treasuries and manpower, opening the door for Roman conquest in the centuries to come.

6. Consistently and uniquely execute the branding program.

It is recorded that Alexander eventually exhibited signs of megalomania and paranoia. Some of it is derived from his extraordinary achievements combined with his sense of destiny, and the propping up by his companions. Some of his delusions are evident in recorded history. Did he really believe himself a deity?  

Olympias strongly suggested he was the son of Zeus, something confirmed to him by an oracle. And he did begin to identify himself as the son of Zeus or Ammon (Egypt's version of Zeus). However, Alexander was a pragmatic guy who well understood the challenges of ruling a vast array of culturally disparate subjects. Some of their cultures stated that the king was divine. In reality, it may have been a strategic marketing decision playing to the demographic of his subjects. Rather than megalomania, it may have been a practical attempt at shoring up his rule and keeping the empire intact.

Alexander moved into history as fast as he did across the plains of the near east. He was a quick moving storm hitting everything in his path with fury. But it has to be said that in many ways his true test was never held. No one really saw him coming in the way that he did. Many armies surrendered before the fight even began. He was turned back at the Indus River by his own men, not the great army amassing to fight him. Had he lived, he may have been an epic fail. But shortness of time saved him. And like many bright lights that burn out quickly, they leave an indelible mark.

Up to His Ankles in Legend

Achilles slays Hector of Troy.

Achilles is a truly legendary brand from the ancient world. He is written as the invincible hero in Homer's Iliad. And yet his brand was very well established long before Homer wrote his epic tale and the Achilles brand remains strong to this day.

But was he real?

Possibly, and probably—not that it impacts the Achilles brand. Although you have to set aside the scholarly debate about fact and fiction in Homer's work. Like all ancient scribes, and even the venerated historians, Homer included embellishments in his characters, wrote of the gods intervening in human affairs, and so on. That doesn't disprove the essential Achilles. Not unlike the Iliad and accepted ancient historical accounts, contemporary historical fiction similarly stretches the truth all the time. That even happens in supposedly objective modern journalism.

So number one on the ignore list is the whole "Achilles heel" concept. That was conjured up by a poet in the 1st Century AD to explain why Achilles seemed to be so invulnerable (see more on this below in the Sidebar by Wayne Rowe). The ancients had no such element in their original Achilles traditions. In fact, Homer writes of Achilles being wounded during a fight with Trojans.

Once you pull the fantastic out of the equation, a couple of things stand out about the potential reality of Achilles.  Item one is that he was not an original creation of Homer. Oral traditions featuring Achilles long predate the Homeric epics and, in fact, he appears in other stories by Homer's contemporaries and on into the early Christian era. That much press might suggest a real Achilles who was a brave warrior fighting with the Greek armada at Troy.

Replica of Achilles' shield.

His exploits were so important that Alexander the Great aspired to be like Achilles; and it was written by historians that he even visited the tomb of Achilles and took his shield from the temple of Athena. Alexander was convinced the shield is what helped him win his campaigns into the Middle-East. He then took it a step further and believed he was a descendant of Achilles from his mother's side. Oh yes, it is written that Achilles had offspring.

Still, who was Achilles? Legend says he was the son of the nymph, Thetis, and Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons. Along with that are a lot of naughty antics over Thetis by the gods Zeus and Poseidon. Again, set those aside and go with the idea of Achilles' mother being a nymph. Mythology describes them as nature spirits appearing as beautiful young women. Well, men in rutting stages still think of attractive women this way. So let's just call Thetis an "it" girl with whom a king fell in love, resulting in a child—Achilles, who would have been a prince. Ultimately he would have been a king, which justifies him being part of Agamemnon's coalition of kings as described by Homer.

All that said, Achilles was born in a region of Greece known as Thessaly (that's where legend puts the home of the Myrmidons). The exact when is a mystery and always will be. However you could say it happened a long time ago in land far, far away.

According to Plato, Achilles was the Brad Pitt of his day, but without mention of Mr. Pitt. What a coincidence, right? Pitt starred as Achilles in the film, Troy. Also in the time of the ancients, Achilles was the deadliest warrior—practically invincible.

A huge source of that invulnerability, at least on the battlefield, was his armor. Although he should have warn it more often, having finally been killed when not wearing it. Okay, he was pretty, he was tough, just not necessarily bright.

After his death, Achilles' armor was coveted by other warriors and sparked an epic feud between a few of them. Eventually the armor was passed to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. Yep, there's mention again of that offspring. This leads to a direct connection with Alexander, beyond bloodlines. Achilles' bronze-headed spear was said to rest in a temple of Athena on the acropolis of Phaselis, Lycia, (breath) a port on the Pamphylian Gulf. And that city was also visited by Alexander in 333 BC, though he did not confiscate the spear, which remained there until it disappeared in the 2nd Century AD.

Whatever his true deeds may have been, they must have been of such note that Achilles made a lasting impact not only on ancient Greece, but also Persia, Egypt and beyond—and into our modern brand awareness.

Therefore, submitted for your approval...

1. Determine the most appropriate brand-positioning attribute.

Achilles was a fierce, seemingly invulnerable warrior. Apparently he never lost a fight—or at the very least just a few. He is the winningest, deadliest warrior in the annals of time. The keyword here is “warrior.” The mention of the word in western culture brings Achilles to mind. Alexander thought so. As a result, we can position Achilles as the ideal warrior.

2. Devise a distinctive way to articulate the brand position and develop a brand personality customers can use to introduce the brand.

In the case of Achilles, we can combine two normally separated components of the analysis. Because the answer for both is the same. Here the brand is the category and the category the brand. Mention Achilles and the ideal warrior comes to mind, embodying the traits of ferocity, invincibility, and heroism.

Achilles ... enough said.

3. Establish graphic standards.

Achilles was and continues as the picture of a supreme warrior. His armor is symbolic of his fighting prowess, in particular the spear and shield. Rarely is Achilles depicted without, at least, either or both.

4. Implement internal branding programs to reward employees for behaving in ways that are consistent with the brand personality

A warrior king, Achilles commanded what was considered at the time Greece's finest army, although primarily mercenary in nature. They were staunch in their loyalty to Achilles, no doubt because the rule of war in the day gave much of the spoils of war to the fighter. And with Achilles at the lead, there were a lot of spoils won. Homer also wrote of Achilles being noble in his nature and with high regard for his men. This is illustrated by the moment in which Achilles sends his men home so as not to be dishonored by the slaughter at Troy.

5. Consistently and uniquely execute the branding program.

The power of the Achilles brand and its endurance for at least three millennia says something about living the brand. Who ever he really was, whatever he really did, left us with the indelible expectation that he was the supreme, ideal warrior.

Sidebar: by Wayne Rowe

Brand re-vitalization can be tougher than new brand development... Market perception is sticky and stubborn. Is the exercise to see if you can take a brand 180 degrees or overcome a brand perception issue?

Although the heel concept came along later, (very disappointing to learn) it is single handily responsible for the longevity and popularity of the legend. How do we ignore that? It's a very powerful concept that has come to define the brand. To change public perception I think we need to tackle that head on, not ignore it.

Achilles - no more weak spot™

Wayne Rowe is Creative Director at Communicatos in Toronto, Canada.