In the spring of 1821, at the moment when the first outbreaks of the Greek Revolution were igniting in the Peloponnese, the editors of the Enlightenment magazine "Melissa" from Paris, announced in the third and last issue of their publication a competition with unprecedented anti-clerical content.
The shocking historical presumption of this unfinished contest - the magazine suspended its operation due to the start of the Contest - marks the culmination of the multi-year ideological conflict between the Greek Enlighteners and the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
It is a fact that the bicentennial anniversary of the explosion of the Revolution of 1821 does not find the national organization in a state that would justify excitement and celebrations. However, the more unfavorably the state of the nation can be evaluated, the more imperative is the need for a deeper and more radical reflection on the messages that the national past has bequeathed to the actors who shoulder the responsibility of the historical justification of that heroic undertaking.
The Lux Orbis Book Series, in collaboration with the Movement of Greek Citizens for the Secularization of the State (KEPEK), decided to revive the "Melissa" competition and in this volume are presented the ten best works evaluated by the committee established for the this purpose.
This specific initiative is an action with a strong emotional and symbolic character, for all those who nowadays research and trace the origin of radical ideas in the Greek area, keeping in mind that nothing deserves to be placed above historical reassessment and revision, if the priorities of national survival, compatible with the times, possibly impose it. National identity cannot be fossilized. It is a re-composition under constant review and re-evaluation, in order to emerge functional and creative.
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