Frankly Speaking with Paul Kanakas

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to Frankly Speaking, your weekly destination for insight and inspiration,
with your host, Frank Morangos. Frankly Speaking is sponsored by
a HAPPA four two one chapter of North Miami in
partnership with the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of North Miami.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, thank you Brian Mudd for that great introduction, and
let me also personally welcome my listeners on this early
Saturday afternoon and beautiful Southeast Florida to another broadcast of
Frankly Speaking, the weekly talk show sponsored by the American
Hellenic Educational Progressive Association and of course the Annunciation Greek
Orthodox Church of North Miami. I am your host, Frank Morangos,

(00:49):
and for the next thirty minutes, I will provide you
with frank Talk and a lively interview with a noted
business and faith based leader of the Greek American community
concerning the influence of the ancient Hellenic ideals, values and
faith on our contemporary culture. To do my part to
help make America Greek again. During last Saturday's broadcast, I
shared some trivia about the fourth of July Independence Day

(01:11):
celebrations and the importance of commemorating the prudence and courage
of our nation's founders. I emphasized that we should ever
forget the historical treasures of our past, nor allow our
festivities to overshadow the true purpose of federal holidays, namely
the far sighted wisdom of those who have gone before
us that have provided the benefits that we often take
for granted. And so later in the day, I was

(01:33):
thrilled to come across a fascinating news article about a
man who was intent on protecting what it called the
cultural treasures of nineteen seventy five. The title of the
story was world's largest time capsule opened in Nebraska. Fifty
years later, according to the Associated Press, last Friday, selected
treasures from nineteen seventy five that were sealed inside the

(01:55):
world's largest time capsule went on display in Seaward, Nebraska.
Officially designated by Congress in nineteen seventy nine as America's
Fourth of July City, The event drew hundreds from across
the nation to catch a glimpse of relics from the past.
The concrete time capsule weighed forty five tons, measuring twenty
feet long, eight feet wide and six feet high. It

(02:18):
contained over five thousand items from nineteen seventy five, including
pet rocks, a Kawasaki motorcycle, a Chevy Vega, a Teal
leisure suit, and old photographs. One man traveled from Virginia
in order to uncover a note from his mother penned
fifty years ago, while another man discovered his nineteen seventy
five wedding invitation still intact. According to Trish Davison Fisher,

(02:41):
her father, Harold Davison, wanted his grandchildren to remember what
life was like in nineteen seventy five, and so he
devised the enormous vault with a ventilation system to keep
moisture out. For half a century after his death, a
family added a pyramid atop the concrete container to capture
the tidle of the world's largest time capsule. Despite the

(03:02):
thousands of letters that needed to be sorted, Trish actually
found one from her mother. I hope you had a
good education, The message said, A happy and successful life,
rich in many ways. Although at the time I thought
my dad was crazy, Trish said, I now realized that
you need to be pushing forty five to recognize how
fast time goes, how little time we have to make
memories with those that we love, and that is what

(03:25):
my dad was trying to do. Trish now plans on
creating a permanent display for the time capsule to help
future generations remember and appreciate nineteen seventy five. The article, however,
ended with the following quote, The message of the time
Capsule goes deeper than the artifacts, Trisch said, It's not
about what's inside of it. It's about what's inside of us.

(03:45):
Who we were back in nineteen seventy five, and who
we are today. What a great message. Who were we
in nineteen seventy five, who are we today? And more importantly,
what's inside of us? Located in the Picture Collection gallery
of the New York Public Life Ivory is a famous
wood engraving that may provide a method for answering Tricia's questions.
Created in eighteen eighty five by the word engraver Charles

(04:08):
Laplant and artist Franz Ferjas, the image depicts a seated
teacher gesturing towards a thoughtful student dressed in classical attire
inside a decorated ancient interior. The engraving captures a timeless
moment between two figures engaged in deep conversation. The elder
adorned in traditional robes, holds an ancient manuscript, gesturing towards

(04:30):
it as if explaining a crucial point. The younger individual,
attentively listening, embodies youth and curiosity suggests an exchange of
valuable intellectual heritage. I would suggest that the engraving is
an artistic time capsule that memorializes one of the most
influential relationships in all of history. The teacher is Aristotle,
the philosopher whose ethical framework is the primary focus of

(04:53):
my frankly speaking monologues. The student is none other than
Alexander the Great. The artwork captures one of the most
importan cert moments in ancient history, when the venerable philosopher
became the teacher and mentor of one of the greatest
military commanders who has ever lived, a man who actually
shaped an empire that changed Western civilization forever civilization. I

(05:13):
would add that we have the privilege of enjoying today.
But how did one of the greatest of Greek philosophers
come to tutor this most important and influential Greek general?
And during their time together, what lessons did Aristotle in
part to this young Alexander. Alexander the Great was born
in the summer of three point fifty six b C.
He was the son of King Philip the Second and

(05:34):
Queen Olympias, ruler of the then Kingdom of Macedonia. From
his earliest days, Alexander was groomed for greatness. However, while
his royal lineage instilled in him a sense of destiny,
it was his inherent qualities of curiosity, ambition, and courage
that set him apart. Fortunately, Alexander's education began at an
early age, reflecting the importance that his father placed on

(05:56):
learning and personal development. The name of Alexander's first tooth or, however,
was Leonidas, a relative of his mother and a strict disciplinarian.
Under Leonidas's guidance, Alexander was introduced to mathematics, reading, writing, music,
horse writing, archery, and other military exercises, reflecting the warrior
culture of ancient Macedonia. In fact, the story of how

(06:19):
he tamed a wild and unruly horse called Bucephalus when
he was only twelve years old is often cited as
an early indication of Alexander's extraordinary character and potential. Aristotle,
on the other hand, was born thirty years before Alexander
and a small town in northern coast of Greece. Orphaned
at a young age, he was sent to Athens as

(06:39):
a team to study at Plato's academy, a decision that
would set the course of his life's work. At the academy,
Aristotle quickly distinguished himself as a brilliant student and thinker.
Under Plato's guidance, he immersed himself in a wide range
of subjects, from philosophy, ethics, to natural sciences and politics.
It was during this time that he began to formulate
his own philosophical ideas about human behavior that laid the

(07:02):
foundation for what would become known as Aristotilian philosophy. King
Philip recognized the importance of molding his son into a
capable leader, and so he arranged for Alexander to be
tutored by Aristotle. This appointment marked a significant phase in
Aristotle's life, allowing him to apply his philosophical principles to
the education of a future king. The teacher's student relationship

(07:24):
lasted for almost twenty years, and with this teaching started
when young Alexander was only thirteen years of age. Alexander
the Great is considered one of the greatest military leaders
in history. His life and legacy have been the source
of many legends. One of these stories, attributed to Suleiman
the Magnificent, underscores the influence that Aristotle had on his life.
The story concerns the three wishes that Alexander had allegedly

(07:49):
insisted for his funeral. What is indeed fascinating is that
the same tale is found in different civilizations with minor changes.
According to the legend, upon returning home after conquering his
final kingdom, Alexander the Great fell severely ill. Realizing that
death was undeniably staring him at the face, he summoned
his generals to his bedside. I will be departing from

(08:10):
this world very soon, he said, and so I have
three wishes. Please carry them out without fail. My first
is that my physicians alone carry my coffin. Secondly, I
desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave,
the path leading to the graveyard be strown with gold,
silver precious stones, which I've collected in my treasury. And

(08:31):
my third wish is that both my hands be kept
dangling out of the coffin. O King, one of his generals, asked,
we assure you that all your wishes will be fulfilled.
But tell us why do you make such strange wishes.
At this Alexander took a deep breath and said, I
would like the world to know the three lessons I
have learned in my life. Lessons to be learned from

(08:51):
the last three wishes of King Alexander. So first, I
want only my physicians to carry my coffin, because people
should realize that no doctor on this earth can totally
cure the body. They are powerless and cannot save persons
from the clutches of death. So let people learn not
to take life for granted. The second wish of strown gold, silver,

(09:12):
and other riches on the path to the graveyard is
to tell people that not even a fraction of gold
will come with me. I spent all my life seeking power,
earning vast riches, but I cannot take anything with me,
So let people realize that it is a sheer waste
of time to chase after wealth. Finally, about my third
wish of having my hands dangling out of my coffin,

(09:33):
I wish people to know that I came empty handed
in this world, and empty handed I shall go out
of it with these words, According to the legend, the
king closed his eyes and breathe His last king, Philip
emphasized education in his kingdom to match the intellectual and
cultural achievements of the well organized and cultured Greek city states,
and so he summoned Aristotle to teach his son how

(09:55):
to apply his philosophical principles to mold the future ruler.
The relationationship between student and teacher became a dynamic partnership
of mutual respect that ended in three thirty six BC
when the young heir ascended to the throne after his
father was assassinated. When Alexander began his ambitious campaign in Asia,
the philosopher returned to Athens. However, the two men remained

(10:17):
in contact through letters, knowingly or not. Alexander became a
product of the Hellenic tradition, imbued with a sense of
cultural mission and a desire to spread Greek ideas', ideals
and values. So as Alexander moved throughout Asia, Minor Egypt,
and Persia, he promoted the fusion of Greek and local cultures,

(10:39):
a policy known today as Hellenism or Hellenization. Apart from
bequeathing Western civilization, the cultural treasures of Hellenism. Alexander the
Great left us a time capsule of wisdom that in
cases the following valuable lessons that were most certainly imparted
to him by Aristotle. One, while fleeting, health is in

(11:00):
our own hands, and since our bodies are a valuable temple,
we need to take care of it. Two, wealth is
only meaningful if we share and enjoy it with others
while we are still healthy and alive. And finally, three,
what we do for ourselves dies with us, but through
the practice of virtue, what we do for others will
live forever. When we return, we'll be speaking with paulp

(11:20):
and Agus, a longtime friend, a business and faith based
leader in the Greek American community. I look forward to
learning more details about the Hellenic upbringing of his childhood
and how this heritage of which he is so proud,
has influenced his personal and professional life journey.

Speaker 3 (11:41):
We thank the AHPA four twenty one North Miami Chapter
for their sponsorship of Frankly speaking, you know. They promote
the ancient Hellenic ideas of education, philanthropy, civic responsibility, family,
and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism. They offer
scholarships annually to support students seeking hire a education. I
Heppa supports other organizations including the Saint Basol Academy in

(12:04):
New York, iocc hurricane relief efforts, and the local Annunciation GOOC.
If you're interested in donating to help support these efforts,
email a Heppa four twenty one, Northmiami at gmail dot com.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
Welcome back to Frankly Speaking. Apart from introducing my listeners
to the rich history, culture, and faith heritage of the
ancient Greeks, is my pleasure each week to invite a
successful Greek American to be my guest. And this week
I have a good friend of mine, Paul Penagus, on
the line. He's calling from Scottsdale, Arizona. Welcome to frankly speaking, Paul.

Speaker 4 (12:39):
Oh great, great to talk to you from warm and
sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. It's about one hundred and five degrees
this morning.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
One hundred and five. Oh my god. So I've known
you for so many years, and frankly speaking, I'm sure
you've heard a lot of what I have to say,
but here we are an opportunity to talk a little
bit about your background and how the Hellenic background and
the heritage influenced your life. And what a wonderful segue
because we had Dean pole On a couple of weeks ago,

(13:08):
and I understand you actually worked for Dean when you
were young.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
Well, it was very interesting because you had Dean paul
On and you talked about Greeks working in the restaurant business,
and I, like, many Greeks worked in the restaurant business.
Where in Sheep said, Bay Brooklyn, New York, where my
entire family worked for Dean's father, Jim Paul at Papas
Restaurant in Sheep said, Bay Brooklyn. And my parents instilled

(13:33):
in me the restaurant business is great, but you're going
to go to school and you're going to be a
customer one day. You're not going to be serving people.
You're going to be a customer. And hence I became
became a CPA.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, so you were a waiter though when you worked for.

Speaker 4 (13:46):
Dean and for gym bus boy and waiter.

Speaker 2 (13:48):
Oh my, how many plates? Did you break? A few?
So did you leave on your own accord or did
they ask you to leave?

Speaker 4 (13:58):
No?

Speaker 2 (13:59):
I graduated, So education was an important part of your upbringing.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
Absolutely. I went to school at City, University of New
York Bernard Baruch and ended up with two degrees and
got into the CPA world. And I've never and I've
enjoyed it ever since. I've never worked a damn my
life because I enjoyed what.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
I did, and I know that you enjoy it. You
have to tell our listeners, how is it that you
chose to be a CPA. I know the story and
I love it, so why don't you share if you
don't mind.

Speaker 4 (14:28):
Well, we have a quasi uncle because all young certainly
in the Greek family called everybody uncle who was older
than you. And he was in a business that wasn't
exactly legitimate, and my mother didn't know how to describe
what he did. And my mother said that I was

(14:49):
about eight nine years old when uncle Jack brought home
a shopping bag full of money, and I asked, Mom,
what does uncle Jack do? And she kind of stumbled
a little bit, and then she said, he's a CPA.
Oh that's good. So I would go to school and
other kids wanted to be a fireman or a or

(15:12):
some other profession. I said, look, I don't know about
you guys, but you ought to be this CPA because
that's really a good job. They make a lot of
money and they don't work too hard.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
Then they bring it home in a shopping bag, and.

Speaker 4 (15:22):
They bring it home and a shopping bag. Little that
I know, you really work very hard and there's no
shopping bag. But my mother couldn't. My mother didn't have
the heart to tell me what Uncle Jack really did.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
But you have a talent for numbers anyway.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
I've always enjoyed it. I've always enjoyed I've always enjoyed mathematics.
But truly our business is more of a people business
than it is a numbers business. You have to you
have to understand your client, and I think that comes
from the Greek heritage. You know, Greek people. Let's have dinner,
Let's have a cup of coffee, let's go out. This
is how you get to meet people. This is how

(15:58):
you learn people. It's it's not how technical you can be,
because there's thousands, there's tens of thousands of CPAs, and
how you're selected by a certain client. It's not based
on your numbers, because most CPAs are all equally technically competent.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
So tell me a little bit about your childhood then,
was what was the temperament. The characteristics of your mother
and your father. Were they people? They must have been
people persons.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
My father was difficult because he worked in the restaurant business,
and my father would probably go to work at eleven
o'clock in the morning and come home at eleven o'clock
at night. So I did not see my father except
on his day off. Weekends were very busy. Didn't get
to see my dad too much, so I spent most
of my time with my mom. My mom took me
to Sunday school twice on Sunday, it took me to

(16:46):
Greek School twice a week. We went to church every Sunday,
so we were very close to my mom. And that
was the reason, was because she was there. She was
a stay at home mom and my dad was working,
so that's the influence. But my mom stressed upon me
at all times the benefit and the need for the church.

(17:09):
And my mom worked for the church until she was
probably eighty nine years old. She helped stuff envelopes and
mailers and things of that nature.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
And I had the privilege of meeting your mom and
knowing your mom. She passed aways a few years ago,
and I know you were a good son, you know,
taking care of your parents, respect and loyalty. I think
that's going to be the focus of one of my
shows One Saturday, is the influence of Hellenism and Alhentic

(17:39):
culture on the relationship between children and their parents. She
would have been great to have on the show, the
stories that she would be able to tell.

Speaker 4 (17:49):
My mother was not an educated woman, yet she was
the smartest person I've ever met. My mother gave me
the world's greatest advice, more than professors. In fact, I
was planning to leave New York and to go to California,
and I accepted a job to go to California. And
I came back home and I told my mother, and

(18:11):
she thought I was going to go to Mars to California.
I can't. I can't go to California. I don't know
how to call California. Long distance was a dollar a
minute then and airplanes. It was unbelievable. So she said,
I have been to Florida twice in my life. Why
don't you go to Florida. So I listened to my mother,

(18:32):
and I ended up with the same company, having a
job in Florida, and it turned out to be tremendously successful.
I did very, very well, and that was my mom.
I was not going to Florida. I was ready to
go to California. So I thanked my mom for that.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
And then from working for a company, you started your
own CPA firm.

Speaker 4 (18:51):
Yes, I worked three years for a large firm today
is called Ernston Young at that point, at that time
it was Ernston Winnie, one of the largest in the world.
And I well, I had that Greek entrepreneurial spirit, not
to work for somebody else, to work for yourself. And
I don't know if that's other cultures, but I know
it's in the Greek culture. Always work for yourself. And

(19:13):
that's exactly what I did. After three years of being
in Florida, I got my feet wet and I kind
of figured out what to do and I went out
of my own started out as practice for one year.
Then I took a partner, a great guy named Paul Salver,
and he and I had a great relationship, a great
partnership for over thirty years.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
That's amazing. And he was in Greek, he was Jewish.
Maybe that's why you had such a great relationship with him.
And you know, the City States.

Speaker 4 (19:41):
Because I was very instrumental, not patting myself on the back,
It was very instrumental. I pushed him to become president
of his temple and he said, but that'll take time
away from the office. And you sure, I said, no,
it's very good for you. I want you to go
out there and become president of the Low Temple. We
had a practice in western Florida and it turned out great.

(20:05):
It was very appreciated.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
He was. I remember Paul met him many times. Tell
us about this. I did not know that you were
the founder of Second Chance Society.

Speaker 4 (20:16):
I was not the founder. I had a client of mine,
a very wealthy older woman, who called me one day
and said, I want to make a charitable donation. Now,
this woman did not give a lot of money away,
and I was like, you want to make a charitable donation,
you don't need to call me. And I said, well,
what do you want to do? Pat So, I want
to put two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and establish

(20:37):
something called Second Chance to give people a second chance.
I said, wow, that she gave five hundred dollars a
year in charity. Now she's giving two hundred and fifty
thousand well, ilmost fell off my chair and I said really.
I said, well that's great. She said, but I'll only
do it if you do it with me. Interesting, Now,

(21:00):
how am I going to turn this down? I have
to do this. I have to do it. So we
worked together. She's not she passed. Pat Owen passed about
a year and a half ago, but she lived in
her early nineties and she the last twenty years of
her life. She dedicated her life to helping other people,
and I was her right hand man until I moved

(21:23):
to Scottsdale. At that point I said, well, we're going
to have to leave the board and you'll find we'll
find other people. But I did spend about a good
fifteen years with her. Wonderful lady.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
She's still living.

Speaker 4 (21:35):
No, she passed about a year and a half ago,
but in her early nineties. A very nice lady. And
I don't know what the count is now, it's in
Broward County. Probably have helped now over maybe three thousand
people that's given them a second chance. But we had
one rule. It's an interesting rule. This might be from

(21:55):
the Greek background. We never gave anybody money. We bought
tools for a carpenter we bought a computer or laptop
for someone who had an IT background. We did things
for people so that they couldn't take their money and
buy drugs and things of that nature. So we we
focused on things that you might need, might help you

(22:16):
build your resume, write a resume, and do those types
of those types of things, and I worked out very well.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
I definitely want to find out a little bit more
about that organization, and it sounds like it's very anyway.
It's based on many of the Hellenic ideals and virtues. Absolutely,
I was really interested to hear that. Aaron, who I
know your your wife? You were married in Miconos eleven
years ago.

Speaker 4 (22:40):
Yes we were, Yes we were, And we got on
the computer. We wanted a destination wedding and it was
either going to be Santorini or Mikinos, and the Meconos
people sounded better and we had a Greek or well
it's truthfully, it becomes it becomes quite scary when people
tad on the internet just wire this much money over

(23:02):
here and wire this and wire that, and you don't
even know who these people are. And we said, wow,
this is this is this is really crazy, even for me, so.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Do you go back.

Speaker 4 (23:14):
We have. We went back last year. We went back
last year and but Miconos has become We went to
the same little church where we got married. It was great,
but Miconos is a very crowded island. But we're happy
that we went back for our tenth anniversary.

Speaker 2 (23:29):
Your Greek must be getting better.

Speaker 4 (23:31):
No, as I as I tell people, I speak kitchen
Greek and the rest of my I could do that
pretty well. Other than that, not so good. In fact,
I had an opportunity one time to uh. They offered
me a position to become a tax manager for one
of the large CPA firms in Athens, Greece, and I

(23:52):
spoke at the recruit I said, I love my Greek heritage.
I would love to do that. There's only one problem.
I cannot say profit, I cannot say loss, I cannot
say taxes, balance sheet, none of those things. I said,
I speak kitchen Greek. And I said, oh, don't worry,
you could do this and that. But again my mother said, Paulie,
please please, you got to stay home.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
But no, Noly, maybe your language prowess isn't that good.
But you always talk about the Greek mind, especially to women.
You always said, oh, it's the man, it's the Greek mind.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
Well, I also, as you told Dean Paul, I also
watched my big fred Greek wedding, and that's what mister Portoc.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
That's fine. Give me any word and I'll give you
the Greek background to it.

Speaker 4 (24:39):
You said that.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
So before I say goodbye to you, I was talking
to my producer before you called in, and we were
talking about when the two of us went fly fishing
for the first time. You know where I'm going with this,
right to the Bahamas and we met our guide called Bully,
who just threw you overboard at one point.

Speaker 4 (25:03):
Yeah, well here I am. I'm a novice fisherman, and
he tells me to throw that fly thirty feet at
two o'clock.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
There was a lot more than thirty feet, I'll tell you.

Speaker 4 (25:13):
So there was fifty feet at two o'clock. So I
threw a twenty feet at one o'clock, which I thought
was pretty good, not so bad. He yelled it me.
He said, how did you miss that fish? He didn't
throw it properly. I said, buddy, I didn't even know
what fly fishing was until this trip, but.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
You've become quite a fly fisherman over the years.

Speaker 4 (25:33):
No, no, no, whatever, I fly fish. I fly fish
with you because you're a starred flyfish.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
I thank you very very much, Paul, but I appreciate
your calling in and speaking with us. I'm sure our
listeners enjoyed listening to your humor and to your background.
Any parting words you want to share from the Greek heritage, I.

Speaker 4 (25:55):
Just want to thank you for having a show like this.
I think it's important to keep the Greek heritage going
as I'm a little concerned down the road a lot
of our churches and other organizations are losing some of
their Greek heritage, and I really wish we could make
a comeback because I think it's very important, not just
for us, but for the world. The Greek people have

(26:15):
a lot to offer the world, and I think we
need to take advantage of that.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah. Well, my monologue was on Alexander the Great and
his influence on our Western culture. I mean everything that
almost everything that we're enjoying today we can attribute back
to him and the Hellenization of the East that actually
became the West for us.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
Unbelieved, I didn't know that.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
Yeah, So I hope you enjoy it, but thanks Paul,
give my left to Erin and we need to get
together next time I'm in.

Speaker 4 (26:46):
Florida, we will do that. My pleasure great talking to you.

Speaker 2 (26:50):
Thank you for joining me today. On frankly speaking, as
I mentioned in my monologue was Cphalis was the name
given by Alexander the Great to his beloved horse. The
Greek name is also the basis of the English word bucephalus,
which literally means ox headed. It is derived from two
ancient Greek words vus, which means ox, and kefali, which

(27:11):
means head. Apart from a formal title and a descriptor
for someone with a mercurial temperament, the English word bucepalos
is also used in biology to refer to a classification
of parasites found in the intestines of carnivorous fish. However,
the word bucephalos was originally used to refer to Alexander's
renowned black stallion with a distinctive white star on its forehead,

(27:35):
known for his strength and courage. According to the legend,
in three forty four BC, at thirteen years of age,
Alexander won the horse by making a wager with his father,
a horse dealer, named Phelonius of Thessaly initially offered the
untamed horse to King Philip for the remarkable high sum
of thirteen talents. However, because no one could tame the animal,

(27:55):
Philip was not interested, but young Alexander was, and so
he offered to pay for the horse himself should he fail.
Alexander was given a chance and surprised everyone by subduing
the ill temperate horse by speaking smoothly and turning its
head towards the sun so that it could no longer
see its own shadow, which everyone later realized had been
the cause of its distress. Alexander successfully tamed the horse,

(28:17):
and the incident so impressed his father that he turned
to his son and made the following now famous Greek statement,
obez zitis aftovasilian e si kyaksian makidoniagarasu ukhuti O, my son,
seek out for yourself a kingdom equal to unworthy of yourself,
for Macedonia cannot hold you. From that time forward, Alexander

(28:38):
placed a high value on Bucefalos, emulating his hero and
supposed ancestor Achilles, who claimed that his horses were known
to exceed all others. The stallion was Alexander the Great's
mount throughout his many conquests. Upon its death in a
fierce battle, Alexander promptly founded the city of Alexandria Bucephalus
in his honor. The horse's burial monuments still exists and

(29:01):
it is located on the West Bank River in modern
day Pakistan. So, as mister Gus Portocalos insists in my
big fat Greek wedding, there you go. Give me any
word and I will show you its Greek root. So
thank you for joining me once again on Frankly Speaking,
a show that seeks to provide frank talk and lively
interviews about the influence of the ancient Hellenic ideals, values

(29:22):
in faith on our contemporary culture to make America Greek again.
If you would like to share a question and or
suggest a future guest or topic, I would love to
hear from you at Frank at franktalkradio dot com.