Was Santa Greek? From gift giving to red clothes, Nikolaos of Myra was a model for the modern Santa

gogreece ^ | December 25, 2001 | gogreece

[Pericles]

KALLA XRISTOUGENIA!!! to everyone.

[Cacique]

Bump for another Christmas Thread

Merry Christmas to one and all on Freerepublic!!

And a Very Happy New Year!!

As a tradition I always design a Christmas page at this time. This is my 8th, you are all welcome to visit.

Cacique's 8th Annual Christmas page

Merry Christmas to one and all on Freerepublic!!

[codeword]

Nicholas, Saint

Encyclopædia Britannica Article

Flourished 4th century , Myra, Lycia, Asia Minor [near modern Kale (Demre), Turkey]; feast day December 6; also called Nicholas of Bari, Nicholas of Myra, Santa Claus; one of the most popular minor saints commemorated in the Eastern and Western churches, and now traditionally associated with the festival of Christmas. Nicholas' existence is not attested by any historical document, so nothing certain is known of his life....

[xm177e2]

Was Santa Greek? From gift giving to red clothes, Nikolaos of Myra was a model for the modern Santa

Ha! We get one article posted saying he was Turkish, so Pericles has to post one saying he was Greek :-)

Will the rivalry never end?

[Redcloak]

I always thought that Santa wore a red suit with white trim because of a certain company's ad camapigns...

[Pericles]

I posted this as a X-Mas day fun fact post. I do not know what post you are talking about. I did not know that the 1) Turks were Christians, 2) Named themselves with Greek names (Niko-Victory / Laos-World), 3) Or arrived into Asia Minor 800 years earlier than history records.

[Pericles]

Christian saints and marketing mascots go hand in hand.

[knighthawk]

Well, Sinterklaas is not Scandinavian (they don not do Sinterklaas) , but from the Netherlands and the Dutch speaking part of Belgium (Vlaanderen/Flanders). I think that you mixed up the "Dutch version" part with Danish (Denmark). Dutch is the language from the Netherlands (also called Holland).

Sinterklaas was taken over by the English colonists after they kicked out the Dutch from New Amsterdam, also renaming it New York. The English colonists changed it's name to Santa Claus because they cannot say Sinterklaas. But they also replaced the white horse with reindeer and some other things from the old Scandinavian believes, like the Christmas tree. In the Nordic counrties after a pillage tour they hung the things of value in a (pine)tree.

Also in the Netherlands Sinterklaas comes from Spain every year bringing with him his black helpers, called Zwarte Pieten (zwart means black, from when the Moors where still ruling Spain).

[LarryLied]

Ha! We get one article posted saying he was Turkish, so Pericles has to post one saying he was Greek :-)

Santa was German. In same way that Columbus discovered America. People were here first but Columbus developed the place. Greeks and the Turks have a claim to Santa but Germans were the ones who did something with it: Yule logs,Tannenbaum, Christmas trees,Kris Kringle,Stille Nacht and snow, lots of snow.

[Pericles]

Turks??? What claim?? Not ethinc and you cant claim a saint in a religion no Turk ever belonged to or becuase the area this Greek Saint came from was run over by nomadic Turkic hordes 800 years after the death of the saint in question.

[Pericles]

The many myths for St. Nick no doubt were added on as time went by by the cultures of various peoples (note that these nations have a maritime tradition, for St. Nick was patron saint of sailors), but the origins of the man and the foundations of the myth are to be found in the Eastern Roman Empire of the Greeks.

[LarryLied]

Notice I said Turks and Greeks "have" a claim. Didn't say I made the claim or am taking sides :-)

Now I got to get back to my Glühwein und Stollen.

[Pericles]

I do not know what the two of you are talking about. I can not even imagine anyone claiming Santa Claus was a Turk. I have read in old articles that say Santa's original home was in what is now Turkey, which is correct. But that is not the same as saying he was a Turk by far and again I could not imagine anyone claiming as much other than being ignorant/sloppy about the events of the past, etc.

[Pericles]

By the way, I was only puzzled by your statements not angry. Merry Christmas!!!

[LarryLied]

The thread to which we were referring was posted last week:

Turks Revere an Ancestor: Ol' St. Nick

[Pericles]

Larrylied thanks for that link. I never had read it before. That linked article has to be one of the funniest things I have ever read. Maybe the Turks will take up Christianity next!! :)

Merry Christmas and a happy comming new year to all!!

[Fiddlstix]

Thanks for the Ping

[Captain Shady]

Maybe Saint Nick can bring some goodwill to Turkey and Greece . Let the lovefest begin.

[a_Turk]

That linked article has to be one of the funniest things I have ever read.

Here, I'll make a target for you:

To be a Turk is similar to being an American. We come from many ethnic backgrounds. Are you assuming that the inhabitants of Myra were replaced? They are still the ones that used to be there before the Turks showed up.

Also, check with your school books (probably not the ones printed in Greece): There is such a thing as an indigenous Anatolian population. You favor a way of thinking that makes the whole area Greek. Do you consider the Amazons to be Greek too? How about the Phrygians? And the Lydians?

If you want, I'll put you in touch with Professor Stephen Miller, one of America's most eminent classical archaeologists, who will set you straight.

Anyway, hope you had a merry Christmas and that we'll all have a happy new year.