Roderick Beaton

As we celebrated Greek Independence Day on March 25th, we took a deeper look at one of the crucial figures of the Greek Revolution of 1821, Lord Byron. 

Aside from his status as a world-renowned poet at the time, he was also perhaps the most famous philhellene to travel to Greece and ultimately give his life for Greek independence in 1824, 200 years ago. 

Prominent professor and Hellenist Roderick Beaton took the oath to become a Greek citizen at a ceremony held at the Bank of Greece on Tuesday.

The year 1896, following the first modern Olympic Games, was defined by a widespread sense of optimism in Athens, a rather insignificant city of just 130,000. It was a time when "little Greece" began cultivating aspirations of victory, reaching out to realize the Great Idea by reclaiming the territories of the Byzantine Empire - including Constantinople, the center of Hellenism.

With two cruise liners anchored in the port of Argostoli, the streets of Kefalonia's capital were packed with tourists. "Thankfully it's a bit quieter here," Professor Roderick Beaton said as we walked into a seaside restaurant on the Ionian island where he was on holiday with his wife.

Roderick Beaton, an acknowledged authority on modern Greek literature and culture and the author of a biography of Greek poet-diplomat George Seferis, begins his latest book, "Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation," with a provocative question: "Who are the Greeks?