Erasmus | Epiphany for the Greek left

Spreading his wings

Greece's firebrand prime minister in waiting shows a more spiritual side

By B.C.

FOR GREEKS (and generally for those eastern Christians who observe the new calendar) today is a day of warm public togetherness: a time when Hellenes of all classes, generations and ideological persuasions put aside their differences and join in an enjoyable public ritual. For the religiously-minded, it is a commemoration of a primordial scene in the Christian drama: the moment when Jesus was baptised in the river Jordan, with a dove flying overhead to represent the Holy Spirit, and the voice of God the Father declaring Himself "well pleased" with His progeny. When ordinary mortals are baptised, their sins are said to be washed away; with Jesus the process is reversed, and instead of him receiving blessing from the water, his immersion brings blessing to the whole of material creation.

Even for the less theologically-inclined, this is a stirring communal event when a seafaring, island-hopping nation remembers its deep connection with all things aquatic. And wherever it is possible for them to do so, from Florida to the English Channel to Hong Kong, Greek men and boys give the occasion an added touch of colour by diving into some newly blessed stretch of water and competing to retrieve a cross which has been tossed in by the presiding cleric.

All that poses a dilemma for Alexis Tsipras, the fiery leader of the left-wing Syriza party whose possible imminent election as Greek prime minister is sending shock-waves through the euro zone. Although he has cultivated some clerical friends (from Pope Francis to the Orthodox Patriarch, Bartholomew I) he makes no secret of being an atheist. Religious baptisms are not his thing. He and his partner Peristera (her name happens to mean "dove") have called one of their children Ernesto, after Che Guevara; this was offically proclaimed in a secular name-giving ceremony, not a church christening.

But at today's ceremony by the chilly, murky waters of Piraeus harbour, the port of Athens, with brass bands playing and uniformed generals and police chiefs in attendance, Mr Tsipras more or less had to play his part, as leader of the official opposition. He was given a dove to clasp and told to release it at the moment when the words "...the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove" were intoned. He duly obliged, and the resulting snapshot will do his electoral fortunes nothing but good.

More from Erasmus

A high-noon moment for Pope Francis over the Amazon

Ideological rifts widen as Catholic bishops ponder endangered forests and married priests

Why American Muslims lean leftwards for 2020

Islam’s followers are not so much firebrands as nomads in search of a home


Taking sides in the Orthodox Church’s battles over Russia and Ukraine

Conflicts within Slavic Orthodoxy are having some strange side effects