Greece and Bulgaria at odds over mythical Orpheus

[Prokomenos]

Bulgarian and Greek tour operators have come at odds over advertising campaigns using the name of the mythical Orpheus, MPA reports.


Greek operators from the Evros region are working on an advert with the slogan “Come to the land of the mythical Orpheus,” but at the same time their Bulgarian colleagues voiced their disagreement with that campaign, as “it would be a twist of History.”


We are against that slogan, as it would deprive Bulgaria from its history and one of its greatest treasures, Donka Sokolova, chairperson of the Bulgarian Association of Travel Agencies (BATA) said. Sokolova also pointed out that there are several Bulgarian tour agencies using the same slogan in their brochures as well.


Experts say that Greece’s advertising campaign will rob Bulgaria of its chances to present Orpheus, Dionysus and Spartak as part of its rich history to the foreign tourists. In the words of Lyubomir Popyordanov, chairman of the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism Sofia should alarm the Greek authorities over that problem.


The mythical Orpheus is believed to have lived in the Rodophes mountain. Orpheus grave was unearthed in Bulgaria in the summer of 2004, but still, there is controversial information whether he lived in the Bulgarian or the Greek part of the mountain chain.


The MPA agency reported that the “Come to the land of the mythical Orpheus” campaign will be first launched at a special tourism conference in Moscow.


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How is that possible considering Bulgarians didnt exist back then.

[Ellinas]

It is true that in the past half of today's Bulgaria was a part of Thrace. The Bulgarian tour operators aren't wrong when advertising South Bulgaria as the "land of Orpheus".

The article says just this, not that they claim Orpheus for their own. They haven't reached the point of the unutterable Skopians yet.

[Prokomenos]

Originally Posted by Ellinas
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

It is true that in the past half of today's Bulgaria was a part of Thrace. The Bulgarian tour operators aren't wrong when advertising South Bulgaria as the "land of Orpheus".

The article says just this, not that they claim Orpheus for their own. They haven't reached the point of the unutterable Skopians yet.

Their is more to it besides that article I should of posted this article below.

Bulgarians rage over 'Orpheus and liars'
By Harry de Quetteville in Athens
(Filed: 07/03/2005)

One of the ancient world's most celebrated love stories has led to a modern-day argument after Bulgaria claimed that the "Greek myth" of the fabled musician Orpheus is not Greek at all.

The tale of love and loss between Orpheus and Eurydice is as famous as the tragedy of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. But more than two and a half millennia after the pair are thought to have lived, Greece and Bulgaria are fighting over the right to claim them as their own.

"Orpheus lived in Bulgaria," Prof Nikolay Ovcharov, a Bulgarian archaeologist, said yesterday. "Greeks say he was Greek, but it's not true, that is simply Greek nationalism."

Last summer Prof Ovcharov led an expedition in southern Bulgaria which claimed to have located Orpheus's burial site.

However, a new advertising campaign is to promote Greece as the "land of mythical Orpheus", sparking outrage in Sofia.

Donka Sokolova, the head of the Bulgarian Association of Travel Agencies, said the campaign was "a twist of history". But Alexandra Christopoulou, of Athens's National Archaeological Museum, hit back at Bulgarian "propaganda".

"Nations claim Greek heroes all the time," she said. "It happened with Alexander the Great and now with Orpheus. Bulgaria did not even exist at the time."

I originally read this at *****************.

[Apollyon]

Some questions to our beloved friends and neighbors Bulgarians

1) If Orpheus was not Hellen ,then what was his nationality?
2) If you claim he was Bulgarian, tell us when you poped up in this region you are inhabit now?
3)What was his language?
4)What was his father's name?
5)What was the name of the boat he traveled with?