The Epsilon Team (In Greek: Ομάδα Έψιλον, Omada Epsilon) is an urban legend about a probably entirely imaginary secret society consisting of an elite team of Greek engineers, academics, pilots, powerful businessmen and politicians etc. manufacturing and piloting UFOs and supposedly working for major international forces or even secretly ruling the United States of America. For the 2005 hurricane, see Hurricane Epsilon. ... Urban legends are a kind of folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them (see rumor). ... A secret society is an organization that requires its members to conceal certain activities—such as rites of initiation —from outsiders. ... UFO redirects here. ...

First coined by a Ioannis Fourakis, this term was then used by Anestis Keramidas, Nikos Kalogerakis, Kyriakos Velopoulos and a few other imaginative writers in a series of eschatologist, racist, messianic books, which have now formed a complex mythos. Anestis Keramidas (Greek: Ανέστης Κεραμιδας or Ανεστης Κεραμυδας) is a greek writer and researcher. ... Albrecht Dürer - Four horsemen of the Apocalypse Look up eschatology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that Racism in Mass Media be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Messiah. ... Mythos can mean: A collection of myths A web-based comic and video game series created by Variant Interactive; see Mythos: the Demon Hunters A brand of Greek beer; see Mythos (beer) A Canadian music project; see Mythos (musical project) An Origins Award-winning card game released in 1996 by...

Symbols

Their symbol is a Delphic Epsilon, looking like two Epsilons connected back to back and considered to appear on their "UFOs" and on ancient Greek and Inca monuments as well. Their "UFOs" are also supposed to have the word "Ελευθερία" (Freedom, in Greek) on them. For the 2005 hurricane, see Hurricane Epsilon. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... A view of Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas, now an archaeological site. ...

Coincidentally, in modern Greek, "Epsilon" is also the first letter of the words "Ελλάδα" and "Έλληνες"—Greece and Greeks (Hellenes), respectively—and generally of anything having to do with Hellenism and Greece. The Greek Alphabet in its current form (the ionion union-alphabet) was adopted in Athens in 403, in different places at the latest in hellenism. Some different alphabets, as the original Athenian one, had a unique letter for the spiritus asper, namely H (spoken He), making H the first letter for Hellas in these Alphabets. So any criticism stating that E only became the initial letter for Ellas in modern times is simply not correct, although the notion of something like an ethnic symbol is truly absurd enough for those times. The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance... The spiritus asper (rough breathing) or dasy pneuma (Greek: dasu, δασύ) is a diacritical mark used in Greek. ...

Principles and purpose of the Epsilon Team

As stated by people proclaiming themselves as members or representatives of the Epsilon Team, they are briefly:

• Spreading the influence of Greek culture all over the world.
• Projecting and promoting all "positive aspects" of Greece and Greek arts, culture, language, civilization, etc. all over the world.
• Restoring the ancient Greek moral values and way of life.
• Uniting all of the people's world under the Apollonian Light (sic).
• Pursue of perfection under the perspective of Apollonian Aesthetics (sic).
• Military defence of Greece through secret, proprietary and exclusive science and technology.

Sic is a Latin word meaning thus or so, used inside brackets — (sic) or [sic] — to indicate that an unusual (or incorrect) spelling, phrase, or other preceding quoted material is intended to be read or printed exactly as shown and is not a transcription error. ...

Who believes in its existence?

Their existence is promoted by (mainly Greek) pseudohistorians and mystical nationalists as well as some ufologists. Pseudohistory describes claims about the past, which purport to be historic or supported by archeology, but which depart from standard practices of historical method and historiography to reach conclusions outside the domain of mainstream history. ... This article is about National Mysticism of all cultures. ... Ufology is the study of unidentified-flying-object (UFO) reports, sightings, and other related phenomena. ...

Their Greek supporters like to present the "Epsilon Team" as a proof of the superiority of the Greek race and culture above all other cultures, by claiming that Ancient Greeks were of extraterrestrial, Hyperborean origins and had extremely advanced technology, now secretly discovered and studied by the "Epsilon Team", which is, if not of Greek origin, at least using "forbidden" and "top secret" Greek technology, either the result of rediscovering "ancient" technology or the work of scientists, members of the society. In Greek mythology, according to tradition, the Hyperboreans were a mythical people who lived to the far north of Greece, near the Ural Mountains. ...

History of the Epsilon team

No clear timeline of the Epsilon team can be traced, mainly because people who support its existence or claim to be members, connoisseurs or even its representatives all give very different and incoherent versions of the story. A connoisseur (Fr. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ...

Some of them claim that the Epsilon team has existed in some form since the first forms of Greek civilization, and that its members included ancient philosophers, historians, scientists, and politicians like Plato, Aristotle, Pericles, Socrates, and so on. Plato Plato (Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn) (c. ... Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Aristotelēs 384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, who studied with Plato and taught Alexander the Great. ... Pericles (ca. ... This article is about the ancient Greek philosopher, for all other uses see: Socrates (disambiguation) Socrates ca. ...

Others don't dwell into antiquity but claim that the "contemporary" form of the Epsilon team as a secret society dates back to the post World War II period, founded as a secret society by Greek scientists working in the United States and economically backed up by people like Aristotelis Onassis and others (mostly people already deceased at the moment of "acknowledgment"). Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others. ... Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Onassis (Αριστοτέλης Ωνάσης) (January 15, 1906–March 15, 1975) was the most famous Greek shipping magnate of the 20th century. ...

An interesting view is that of the journalist G. Palmos, who dismisses any attempts at providing a definite timeline or description by simply stating that the Epsilon Team is more of an "eternal common Greek spiritual brotherhood" than a secret society or organized company of sort and thus has no timeline or traceable structure.

One of the few common points is however that the Epsilon team has always helped and protected the Greek People and culture through the centuries, yet all supporters fail to give a satisfactory answer and use elusive statements when asked where the Epsilon team was when hardships such as the persecution of Greek pagans by the Christian church (which is well-documented in both Patrologia Graeca and Patrologia Latina, as well as the sermons of many ecclesiastical figures of a very high stature), the fall of Constantinople and the subsequent 400-year Ottoman dominion was imposed on Greece, when the burning of Smyrna took place in 1922 and when other minor or major ethnic problems like the Cyprus dispute or the Imia-Kardak crisis took place. Pagans may mean: Paganism, a belief in natural religion. ... The Patrologia Graeca is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers in the Greek language in 161 volumes, produced in 1857–1866 by J.P. Migne It includes both the Eastern Fathers and those Western authors who wrote before Latin became predominant the West in the 3rd... The Patrologia Latina is an enormous work published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1844 and 1855, with indices published between 1862 and 1865. ... Map of Constantinople. ... Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (the Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power (1683) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Sogut (1299-1326), Bursa (1326-1365), Edirne (1365-1453), İstanbul (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanlı Dynasty... İzmir, the third most populous city of Turkey and the countrys largest port after İstanbul, is located on the Aegean Sea near the Gulf of İzmir. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Cyprus Dispute is the conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and also Republic of Cyprus and Turkey over Cyprus, an island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. ... The Imia-Kardak crisis was a conflict that arose between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea in 1996. ...

Possible reasons behind the legend

One possible explanation for the creation of the "Epsilon Team" story is to be found in the ultra-nationalistic exaggerations promoted by a part of the Greek occultist/mysticist press, which on one side fuel irrational fears of an emerging worldwide anti-Greek sentiment and on the other side obstentate, magnify and exaggerate the achievements and the "superiority" of all Greek civilization, people and culture, by mixing historical data with crypto-nationalistic, anti-Semitic and occultist elements. Anti-Hellenism (in Greek: Ανθελληνισμός) is hostility toward the Greek people, culture and country. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

Among those circles, the "Epsilon Team" is presented as the Greek equivalent of the Jewish Golem, a sort of secret weapon meant to "protect" the Greeks from all "enemies", like a discrete but tireless and powerful Guardian ready to smite the "barbarian hordes" which secretly lurk over the Greek people, in the best of cases. In part this idea was a response to Anti-Greek ideologies that apparently seem to be spreading throughout the world - see Anti-Hellenism - especially in North America and Israel. More specifically, the historical (or, rather, traditional) Israelo-Greek rivalry might be a major reason. In Jewish folklore, a golem (גולם, sometimes pronounced goilem) is an animated being which is crafted from inanimate material. ... A secret weapon is either a concealed weapon, or a weapon that is not officially confirmed by the owner. ... Anti-Hellenism (in Greek: Ανθελληνισμός) is hostility toward the Greek people, culture and country. ...

In the worst case, the "Epsilon Team" is viewed as a secret retaliation weapon meant to attack and destroy, for example, Turkey and Albania and anyone "threatening" the Greek people. Also, since there are some Anti-semitic ideas among those circles, the Epsilon Team is also viewed as a counterpart/competitor to the "Jewish lobbies" which supposedly rules the world, meant to estabilish the Greeks as the "chosen people".

Relatively recent indications that Anestis Keramidas happens to be very close to the Greek Orthodox Church (TV appearances where he claimed that the Greek Orthodox Church is the continuation of the Greek pantheon, attempts he made to identify Jesus with the Argonaut Jason), etc offer us another possible explanation: In recent years, some Greeks have started questioning the way in which Christianity was accepted by their ancestors (or imposed on them, if we study the historical documentation provided by Ostrogorsky, Gibbon et al), and the identification of Hellenism and Orthodoxy. These persons have sometimes sought to revive the ancient Greek pagan religion, while others have become atheist. The Vladimir Icon, one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the Virgin Mary. ... The Vladimir Icon, one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the Virgin Mary. ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE – 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene, is the central figure of Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ, where Christ is a Greek title meaning Anointed, corresponding to the Hebrew term Messiah. The... Argonaut may refer to: The Argonauts, a band of heroes who sailed on the ship Argo with Jason in Greek mythology. ... Jason (Greek: Ίασων, Etruscan: Easun) is a hero of Greek mythology who led the Argonauts in the search of the Golden Fleece. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life, teachings, and actions of Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as Jesus Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. ... Genera Hylobates Hoolock Nomascus Symphalangus Gibbons are the small apes that are grouped in the family Hylobatidae. ... The term Hellenistic (derived from Héllēn, the Greeks word for themselves) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of various ethnicities, and from the political dominance of... The word orthodoxy, from the Greek ortho (right, correct) and doxa (thought, teaching , Glorification), is typically used to refer to the correct theological or doctrinal observance of religion, as determined by some overseeing body. ... Paganism (from Latin paganus) and Heathenry are catch-all terms which have come to connote a broad set of spiritual/religious beliefs and practices of a natural religion, as opposed to the Abrahamic religions. ...

Keramidas (followed, later, by Kalogerakis and Yannis Fragoulis) took the term "Epsilon Team" and concocted a messianism and racist theory, on a "Judaeo-Christian" foundation, splattered with a sheen of ancient glory and ancient gods' names, and an outlook on the nature of the Greek pantheon derived from the texts of Euemerus, a minor and obscure philosopher who coined the idea that the Greek Pantheon was nothing but ancient kings and leaders, deified and worshipped, in an effort to convince others that it is perfectly all right for people to worship their leader as a god. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Messiah. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

Epsilon Team in popular culture

Being an urban legend, the Epsilon Team has of course supporters and detractors, with the latter being far more numerous. The Epsilon Team is sometimes mentioned in conversations as a means of sarcasm or, when listening to alarming news about war, terrorism etc. At least one mockery song has been written about it, by a Greek music project named "Κόντρα" (Kontra), the lyrics clearly stating that the Epsilon Team is just bogus and nonsense. Also, Greek pagan circles are strongly opposed to the proliferation of this theory, which they consider nonsense, since they feel it bastardizes and distorts their ancestors' beliefs into a ridiculous mongrel. Urban legends are a kind of folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them (see rumor). ... Sarcasm is sneering, jesting, or mocking a person, situation or thing. ... A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. ... Nonsense is an utterance or written text in what appears to be a human language or other symbolic system, that does not in fact carry any identifiable meaning. ... Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism[1] is any of a heterogeneous group of new religious movements, particularly those influenced by ancient, primarily pre-Christian and sometimes pre-Judaic religions. ...

People and publications

Most publications and people openly supporting the existence of the Epsilon team are currently found in Greece, and usually their interests are either mystical, nationalistic or both. A brief list of related publications:

• The Greek "Ελληνόραμα" (Hellenorama) magazine, a monthly magazine featuring articles on the existence of Greek Language elements in Hawaiian or Australian Aboriginal languages (a claim made by a German linguistics professor named Nors S. Josephson in his book "Greek Linguistic Elements in the Polynesian Languages - Hellenicum Pacificum") and various pseudoscientific articles with no bibliographic references. While some of their claims are true, they are usually mixed and adulterated with irrationality.
• The Greek "Τρίτο Μάτι" (Third Eye) monthly magazine, mostly focusing on mysticism, National Mysticism and conspiracy theories.
• Several books, usually marketed only inside Greece and only by some particular bookstores.One of them is a book issued in 1998 by the publisher Dion (Thessaloniki) called "Omada Epsilon" (The Epsilon Team), by Anestis Keramidas. Some other books related to National Mysticism are published by the Greek publisher "Georgiades books" (see external links). Another epsilonist writers are Nikos Kalogerakis and Yannis Fragoulis.

Hawaiian is the ancestral language of the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands, the Hawaiians, a Polynesian people. ... The Australian Aboriginal languages comprise several language families and isolates native to Australia and a few nearby islands, but by convention excluding Tasmania. ... Phrenology is regarded today as being a classic example of pseudoscience. ... Mysticism from the Greek (muo, concealed) is the pursuit of achieving communion or identity with, or conscious awareness of, ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight; and the belief that such experience is an important source of knowledge or understanding. ... This article is about National Mysticism of all cultures. ... This proposed logo for the US Information Awareness Office was dropped due to fears that its pseudo-Masonic symbolism would provoke conspiracy theories. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about National Mysticism of all cultures. ...

External links

• The website of writer Ioannis Fourakis who was the first to use the term 'Epsilon Team'
• Epsilon team is viewed as an Anti-Semitic conspiracy
• Greek publisher specializing in books of historical and nationalistic content (in Greek)
• The English version of the website of The Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes - the most serious movement of the Greek Pagans