The Toronto-based Hellenic Heritage Foundation has launched a seven-part podcast called “The Idea of Greece” exploring the Greek Revolution of 1821. The series’ release coincides with this year’s 200th anniversary of the revolution.

Produced by the the foundation’s award-winning history committee, each episode of “The Idea of Greece” podcast addresses a part of the revolution and formation of the Greek state while transcending stereotypes and providing a clearer, more complex account of the events.

The series examines the motivations, battles, warfare tactics and the male and female heroes who participated in the revolution. “The Idea of Greece” also discusses how foreign nations became involved in the cause how the modern Greek state evolved after the fighting ended. 

“Most diaspora Greeks learned a very rudimentary version of the Greek Revolution in Greek school. It was a very black and white version of events from a dated curriculum steeped in nationalism,” the Hellenic Heritage Foundation wrote in a statement. “Drawing on the expertise of various academics and researchers, ‘The Idea of Greece’ strives to present a more fulsome account of what life was like in the 1820s and what motivated people to join the revolution.”

Journalist Georgia Balogiannis and professor Sakis Gekas, the Hellenic Heritage Foundation’s chair in modern Greek history at York University, host the podcast.

“I teach about the 1821 revolution in a more thorough manner at the modern Greek history program at York University,” Gekas said. “But this podcast series is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the public history of the Greek Revolution and engage as many people as possible.”

“The Idea of Greece” is sponsored by Agape Greek Radio with original music by Toronto musician Demetri Petsalakis. The project falls under the auspices of Greece 2021, the Greek government’s global project to mark the 200th anniversary of the country’s war for independence against Ottoman Turkey.   

Episodes release every other week on Mondays and are available for listening and download via Spotify, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts.

The Hellenic Heritage Foundation is a charitable organization committed to the preservation, promotion and advancement of Hellenic education, culture and heritage in Canada. In 2018, the foundation’s history committee launched the year-long commemoration of the 1918 Anti-Greek Riots in Toronto. That campaign won the Heritage Toronto 2019 Community Heritage Award.