

Photo by George Higgins Closes 



THE SHIP OF ULYSSES IN THE HARBOR OP CORFU 



There is a tradition that a ship invading the harbor of Corfu was turned to stone by 

 Poseidon, the god of the sea, and that the little rock-bound island in the Corfu harbor is 

 the remains of that ship. 



come back from leave, the great bouses 

 of the city open, the hotels and summer 

 gardens close, the Levantines betake 

 themselves home, and the winter season 

 begins. Entertaining in Athens travels a 

 somewhat narrow circle. State dinners 

 at the palaces, reciprocal entertainments 

 at the legations, few receptions, and still 

 fewer dinners at Greek houses form the 

 backbone of the winter's enjoyment. 



STRANGERS RARELY INVITED 



Greeks rarely invite a stranger to their 

 board, although among themselves ex- 

 ists a society which the foreign colony 

 knows of chiefly by rumor. Among dip- 

 lomats, entertaining generally follows 

 fixed forms — a dinner followed by a re- 

 ception, ball, and the inevitable bridge. 



Most Greeks are expert card-players, 

 and bridge tables are generally made up 

 well in advance of the evening of play. 

 The play is rapid and brilliant and such 

 as I rarely dared venture into. I own 

 myself a "duffer at cards and my table 

 was generally made up of the same per- 



sons, and always among them the charm- 

 ing wife of one of my colleagues, who 

 made an agreeable partner because we 

 both played, as she was wont to say, "by 

 inspiration." 



There is much conversation in Athe- 

 nian salons, and always of a high order. 

 In no capital of Europe, I believe, can 

 be found a more cultured society, and in 

 no drawing-room that I have known does 

 conversation flow so smoothly and at 

 such a high level. Art, politics, and the 

 drama are all well known in Athens, and 

 the Greeks are such accomplished lin- 

 guists that any foreigner may use his 

 own speech without hesitation. French, 

 of course, is the prevailing foreign 

 tongue, with English pressing it hard for 

 first place. 



ENGLISH THE ROYAL FAMILY LANGUAGE 



English, indeed, is the family language 

 of the palaces in Athens. The Royal 

 Family in my day was made up of many 

 nationalities. The King was a Dane ; his 

 Queen a Russian ; the Crown Princess a 



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