Is Santa Claus Greek?

[MarinaEllas]

Is Santa Claus Greek?

There's a nasty old saying "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts", probably an allusion to that unfortunate incident involving the Trojan Horse...which should have ended forever another phrase, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!"
At Christmastime, don't be beware of anyone bearing gifts, and don't look too closely at their teeth, either. Some people don't want to look too closely at Santa Claus, for fear he'll melt away like a snowflake.

But fear not - Santa does exist..and he's a Greek. His alternative name, St. Nicholas, reflects his true identity. From gift-giving to red clothes, Nikolaos of Myra was a model for the modern Santa Claus.

In Asia Minor at the Greco-Roman city of Myra in about AD 300, a pious young man named Nikolaos was born. He was one of the youngest men to ever become a priest, and his devotion and piety were renowned. So was his practicality. In a time when extra daughters might be sold into slavery if the family couldn't afford a dowry for them, Nikolaos stepped forward, providing funds to destitute women and men, sometimes to assist in their marriages, other times to just relieve their crippling poverty. Some tales have him throwing bags of gold down the chimney, a precursor of the modern Santa's travel down the chimney.

His generosity was born of an understanding of the potential pain of those he chose to help - Nikolaos was persecuted and imprisoned for his faith, so his compassion for the potential loss of freedom for those he helped was a very real and personal one.

Nikolaos later became a bishop, helping to set up the formative Council of Nicaea which decided many points of orthodox Christian practice. Bishops got to wear dramatic red robes, and some images of Nikolaos depict him with a flowing white beard, though others show him clean-shaven.

Later, he became a patron saint of Russia, which reaches above the arctic circle into traditional Santa territory. While in the Far North, he may have acquired an association with reindeer, as he is known as the patron saint to another arctic animal, the wolf. Or images of him riding on a horse carrying his bishops' crook may have been misinterpreted as him riding or being accompanied by an antlered animal.

St. Nikolaos became the Dutch Sinterklaas, which then evolved into the modern "Santa Claus". The most renowned depiction of Santa Claus comes from "Twas the Night Before Christmas", when all through the house - whoops, sorry - whose original title is "A Visit from St. Nicholas".

His "Name Day" is December 6th, the anniversary of his death, which is still a gift-giving date in many countries, though most have conformed to the 25th as the date for distributing presents.

After Nikolaos' death, he was made a saint, patron of sailors and children, butchers and bakers, and judges, to name just a few. Part of the saint-making process requires attested miracles, and he accumulated plenty. While those miracles don't list traveling around the world in a single night, dropping gifts everywhere, once miracles can be managed, why should anything be impossible?

In the present day, St. Nikolaos the Wonderworker of Myra is called upon to preside in spirit over Orthodox meetings seeking to unify the churches.

[Megale]

I'm pretty sure that Santa Claus originated in Scandanavia. There are elves in the story, sleighs, reindeers, very cold, North Pole, etc.

[Prokomenos]

Thats a good one for a debate. I was raised obviously believing that St Nicholas was Greek. I heard he was Russian, Scandinavian like Megale said and so on.....

[Psaltis]

O Santa Claus einai Greek opos o Kolombus pou vrike tin Ameriki.

[Ellinida2006]

Originally Posted by Psaltis
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O Santa Claus einai Greek opos o Kolombus pou vrike tin Ameriki.

Come on guys Santa is not Greek like Megale stated it was Scandinavian. Also Colombus was not Greek he was Spanish. Psaltis you can not be serious?
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[MarinaEllas]

Some obviously on here need a history lesson. St. Nicholas who Santa Claus is Greek and also Colombus was a Greek from Xios.

[DespoThessalo]

Guys Santa was nothing but a myth for children no need to bicker of it. :)

[pankration]

For reasons known only to him, Columbus NEVER revealed his orgins, even to his family. I do know that the island of Chios (?) in Greece celebrates him as their own. His sailing logs show many trips to that area but was he going home or simply doing jobs, who knows? We'll probably know the origin of Santa Claus before we know Columbus'.

As far as St. Nicholas is concerned, not important. We Greeks always celebrated the season with a song about St. Basil (Ayios Vassilis) followed by gifts of money on New Year's. That's Greek not some fat guy in a suit.

[Ellinas]

The Greeks never referred to the gift sharer saint as Agios Nikolaos (Santa Klaus). They are always referring to him as Agios Baseilios and they dedicate the Basilopita to him. The modern Santa Klaus of the West was merged with him and he is called Agios Baseilios too in Greece. The gift bearer and the one basilopita is dedicated to are the same person in Greek tradition, Agios Baseilios.
The whole story originates from Agios Baseilios of Caesaria. You can find more information about his life and how the basilopita tradition came up in these links:

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Now, regarding the Santa Klaus of the West. Indeed this myth has roots to Agios Nikolaos, as Marina mentioned. However the myth was mostly developed in Scandinavian and Dutch tradition, since they adopted the saint's story when they became Christians and turned his name to Saint Nicholas. The modern Santa Klaus who is wearing a red and white uniform originates from an advertisement of Coca-Cola in the early 20th century. They the saint in their advertisement "dressing" him with the official colors of Coca-Cola, red and white.

[Greece4Ever]

Who cares he is only a myth. Christmas is about the celebration of our lord Jesus christs. Santa Claus is nothing but a money maker for corporates.
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