Not to long ago I went to the Casa Italiana cultural center in Los Angeles, California. There was this Italian American
guy who's parents were from Sothern Italy there. He was going on and on about how southern Italians are not really Italians but Greek.
He seemed so set on this. He didn't want to listen to reason. He seemed so surprised when I told him the Greeks were in Spain too.
The Romans themselves were not just Roman as you know but Greco Romans. But he said apart from this the southern Italians are more
Greek than Italian. Actually he said Greek and not Italian.

Of course southern Italy was known as Magna Græcia. Magna Græcia (Latin for "Greater Greece", Greek: Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, Megálē Hellás)
is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy and Sicily that was extensively colonized by Greek settlers in the eighth century
BC, who brought with them the lasting imprint of their Hellenic civilization.

Que ne dici?

There is an influence of the Greek culture on southern Italy. Napales alone was a town founded by the Greeks and the cities name deprives from the Greek Nea Polis which means New City and whithin the city they spoke Greek until the 9th century. Also taking a look at the southern landscape there is no doubt that there has been Greek influence. Also if you listen to the southern dialects you can still here the Greek influence as well in the music. Even within the food for example the Greek moussaka is very similar to the Italian parmigiana. Only one can say there has been many influences whithin the south for example there are also Albanian descendants in Italy they are called Arbereshe and they moved there when Skenderbeg died and the ottoman empire gained control of Albania.

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Fra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare!!!

Yes s.Italy was named Magna Grecia. The Romans,Normans & the arabs were there too. S.Italy has a fascinating history.

Not too long ago I discovered that Dimitri is Greek for James and With a last name like 'Demetri' I'm asked all the time if my name is Greek or Russian. They don't call Sicily the "Crossroads of the Med" for nothing...

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Essex Shipbuilding Museum

huh?? an example??

i have listened to greek and italian music, too. But i cannot find any similarities, though. Italian music is very romantic and greek music is refeared more to break ups. Here we have the...zeimpekiko music

one example,

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Fra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare!!!

yeah that's a good example!! But i'm talking about the modern music in these countries. The song in your example it's kind oldie.

something a little more modern,



Just to explain it a little further have you ever listen to music in dialect such as Nino D'Angelo? Greek, Arabic and Spanish influence on Southern Italian music can be heard from listening to various pieces of music and songs, both modern day and traditional. An example could be the song Mari by Nino D'Angelo. Traditional Southern Italian and Greek music both use similar instruments such as the mandolino which is similiar to the bouzouki and tamburello a.k.a. tambourine. The 'tamburello' was originally introduced via Greek influence in South Italy, and also through the Arabic influence in Sicily.
As to Italian music being about love you are right but there are so many songs about pain and break ups and hard life situations.

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Fra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare!!!

Yes, Southern Italy has an incredible history which many book authors do not write about. We know that the true builders of the Roman Empire were Greek Slaves and those of us who have had the experience of traveling to Greece can identify the Architectural similarities found in Italy with those in Greece. The most interesting is the fact through the traces of “Human presence” in many Calabrian territories are dated medium “Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.” Starting from VIII century B.C. and on my video there are historical Calabrian towns along the coastal region that formed the most famous nucleus of the Magna Grecia “Greek Empire“. Of course then came the Romans and under Augustus… Calabria became part of the roman regions.

At the fall of the Empire, the territories were again divided between the Bizantini and Longobardi, but in the X Century the territories were again joined and were populated by Greeks. Then came a period of so called “decay” which is not truly covered in our Italian or English history books offered in School. This period of decay also caused by the numerous raids of the “Saraceni”. The region of Calabria flourished once again under the Norman rule, which was followed by the dominion of the Svevi, Angioini, Aragonesi and Borboni with an historical development that saw the establishment of the “Feudal Society” . (look that up and good luck!)
Wow! It’s amazing how desperate the Greeks, Romans, Spanish, French and the rest of the so called first civilized world were so horny to control the Calabria region. Why? Geographical and Demographical importance…” lumber “ being what I believe to be the key as it was used to make most of the war weapons used in those days along with its rich natural earth for agricultural purposes. It is a land so blessed by mother nature that very few of us can understand and will only understand by visiting Calabria and discovering it’s ancient secrets. Yes, the presence of the varied people and domination’s have given a particular mark to our Calabrian (Italian) culture not only in the folklore and customs, but in the language and art as well but above all we must acknowledge and respect the Greek presence, which is the most ancient one of the colonists who founded the cities of the Calabria region but also the Roman Empire. The history of Calabria originally called “Italia” and now shares its true name with the whole country. It has a remarkable culture, natural habitat that offers an unbelievable different traveling experience to the attentive visitor. Remember this “Italy did not start in Rome”!

Join me on my Calabria Riviera Tour someday and you will forget about the commercial tourist traps of northern Italy only to be finally educated about our true roots of our Italian Culture while relaxing “Under the Southern Sun” in Calabria the Soul of Italy.


Salve
Franco

hahaha never saw it put that way but I do agree that Calabria is full of Greek influence and has rich culture. Southern Italy is gorgeaous, mystical and amazing. Rich with several cultures and history. It's my passion!

By the way Frank I think I wrote you for information on your tours... just to let you know!

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Fra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare!!!