Hulk Hogan Meets Aristotle

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 Heppa four two one Chapter of North Miami in
partnership with the Annunciation Greek Orthox Church of North Miami.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
What would you say if I asked you what has
been the best day of your life? And someone posed
the question to Hulk Hogan, the famous pro wrestler that
tragically died of a heart attack in clear Water, Florida,
last week, He was quick to answer, September twenty second,
twenty twenty three was the best day in my life.
It was the best day that my wife Sky and

(00:48):
I were baptized. He continued by saying that now that
I am one with God, the main event theme of surrender,
service and love makes me the real main event. I
can now slam any giant of any size through the
power of My Lord and Savior. No worries, no hate,
no judgment, only love even now. Brother Amen, Good afternoon,

(01:12):
and welcome to another broadcast of Frankly Speaking. And as
I always tell my producer Brian Mudd, thank God my
programs are on later in the day because I don't
think anyone would want to listen to anyone ramble on
for thirty minutes on the influence of the ancient Hellenic ideals, values,
and faith in our contemporary culture and most especially today
on this extremely warm afternoon in southern Florida, when my

(01:35):
focus will center on the topic of physical, intellectual, and
spiritual wrestling. Hulk Hogan, whose name was Terry Bolea, was
baptized about eighteen months before his death. His sports entertainment
career spanned nearly a half century. He was inducted into
the World Hall of Fame in two thousand and five,

(01:56):
but in April twenty twenty three, he admitted that while
he had accepted Christ as his savior at the age
of fourteen, he had derailed. He said he derailed for
a long time in his faith, throughout school and into
wrestling career that began in nineteen seventy seven, but fortunately
he continued. I finally broke down that fourth or fifth wall.
I was baptized and was willing to tell people the

(02:18):
truth about my Lord and Savior. It was a major
pivot in my life. In ancient Greece, wrestling was the
most widely practiced sport wherein competitors sought to throw, to grapple,
to pin, and make their opponents submit to their tactics.
In fact, Plato the philosopher established an academy that included

(02:39):
a garden and gymnasium on the outskirts of Athens. Because
of his emphasis on the value of the sport, it
was not long before it became well known as a
hub for wrestling as well as a center of intellectual debate.
Plato himself was not just a philosopher, but also a wrestler,
and a good one at that. He participated in the

(02:59):
isthma In Games, a competition comparable to the Olympics. In fact,
the historian Diogenes tells us that Plato, whose actual name
was Aristoclis, was his wrestling name, meaning broad shouldered. Between
his lectures in the original academy, Plato liked to spar
with his pupils and practiced throwing techniques that he in

(03:20):
turn learned from his coach, Socrates. Plato records many of
his famous mentor's dialogues as taking place at the edge
of the wrestling mat, where Socrates philosophized with many young students.
Historians affirm that Socrates Plato and later Aristotle recognized and
emphasized a parallel between wrestling and philosophy. They understood wrestling

(03:45):
as a physical dialectic, a somatic manifestation, if you will,
of the philosophical arguments. As such, Plato framed many of
his Socratic dialogues as if they were wrestling matches, some
friendly and some hostile. In turn, Aristotle characterized the tactic
of debatus pinning down an opponent by contradictions. He and

(04:06):
of the philosophers stressed that the maneuver of pinning was
not solely for debater's own glory, but for the betterment
of their opponent, who would learn not to fall for
that move. Again. Aristotle argued that the strategy would force
opponents to improve their arguments so in both philosophy and wrestling,
and opponents cooperation and resistance, who understood as vital to

(04:28):
their own physical as well as intellectual maturity. Aristotle believed
that the best wrestlers were often the best philosophers. In fact,
he emphasized that the combination of philosophy and athletics is
the best method for equipping young men and women with
the virtues required to discover and then contemplate truth, although

(04:49):
philosophical discussion lacks a truly physical aspect and nonetheless requires
similar virtues. He said, it takes courage to put one's
own beliefs half naked into the arena. One must be
willing and prepared to lose honorably and to be honest
about whether an argument has withstood the barrage of takedowns,
and one must have the discipline to study and then

(05:11):
to fully understand the arguments that must be grappled with
in the arena of ideas. It should therefore not come
as a surprise to learn that ancient philosopher's cultivated virtue
through athletics. Plato called such athletic training a helper for philosophy. However,
he also warned that too much emphasis on athletics produces
an excessively uncivilized type, while a purely literary training leaves

(05:36):
men indecently soft. He said, when athletic training is separated
from intellectual education, it is predictable that the excessively uncivilized,
he says, will disrespect the indecently soft, and that the
indecently soft will seek to undermine the power of the
excessively uncivilized. In many ways, we can unfortunately observe these

(05:58):
categories at work in the extremes of our own modern
political dialogues. In contrast, Aristotle saw wrestling as a way
to cultivate virtues like resilience, discipline, self control, which are
essentially set for philosophical inquiry and contemplation political debate. He
believed that physical education, including wrestling, fostered a healthy body

(06:22):
in mind. He therefore placed wrestling alongside other forms of
physical training, as he considered them as significant components of
what he called a holistic education aimed at cultivating well
rounded individuals. He considered physical, moral, and mental education as
interconnected and essential for producing individuals who could effectively contribute

(06:44):
to the betterment of society. The ancient Greeks understood well
that wrestling and philosophy are interrelated and intrinsically good, even
if the competition yields no external benefits. Wrestling provided the
opportunity to discover deep and fascinating truths about oneself. For
in the end, the wrestler and the philosopher have not

(07:07):
accomplished their objectives by ascending the podium or accepting an award.
They receive their true rewards in the act of contemplating
and discovering truth on its own. How strange, then, that
our contemporary schools, our colleges, and universities have shifted away
from both philosophy and true athletics. Did you know that

(07:29):
wrestling is the most cut athletic program of the last
fifty years? And recently there has been several well known
philosophical departments that have been eliminated. What does this say
about our contemporary understanding of holistic education? Do we care?
In a famous episode described in the thirty second chapter

(07:49):
of the Old Testament Book of Genesis, the patriarch Jacob
is described as wrestling with a powerful stranger that he
later concludes God like Hulk Hogan. It was the major
turning point in Jacob's life. In fact, the nation of
Israel received its name from Jacob, whom God renamed Israel,

(08:10):
and the name literally means he who struggles, he who grapples,
he who wrestles with God. Aristotle believed that contemplation was
man's highest activity, and that the virtues developed in other
aspects of life prepared one for this activity. If Plato
was right in thinking that the mind cannot die, then

(08:32):
perhaps like Jacob and Halkogan, We too will continue to
wrestle until we discover the themes of surrender, service, and love,
the truths that will produce the most important day of
our life. When we return, we will be speaking with
Helen nicosisis a noted Greek American philanthropist and prominent advocate

(08:53):
of Orthodox Christian missions. I look forward to learning how
her Hellenic heritage has influenced her personal as well as
perfect We thank you.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
I have a four to 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 higher education. A HEPPA
supports other organizations including the Saint Basol Academy in New York,

(09:27):
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 North Miami at gmail dot com.

Speaker 2 (09:42):
Well, welcome back to Frankly Speaking. Apart from introducing the
greater public to the rich history, the culture, and the
faith heritage of the ancient Greeks. Each broadcast also includes
an interview with a noted Greek philanthropist, a successful personality
of the local Greek community of South Florida and the
United States. Today, we're fortunate to have Helen Mcallis nicosisis

(10:03):
a longtime friend as my guest. Welcome to frankly speaking, Helen.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
Thank you so much, nice to be here.

Speaker 2 (10:10):
Your resume is just full of awards, achievements, honors. You're
such an accomplished woman, and I'm proud to be called
one of your friends. And it really is a privilege
to have you here so that the greater public can
hear a little bit about who you are and what
you've done. So as the focus of the program is

(10:33):
to talk about your background and how the Hellenic the
Greek culture has affected your life. So let's start when
you were a child. You grew up in New York.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
Yes, I grew up in New York City and uptown Manhattan,
in an area called Inwards. I attended the Saints Spun
Greek Orthodox Church. My parents were both immigrants from Greece.
My dad, God Resistol, came in nineteen oh seven, a
long time ago.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
It's amazing. I've never and never met your father. He
must have passed away much much earlier then I met you.
You were a little child. I understand when he passed.

Speaker 4 (11:15):
Yes, I was twelve when my father passed away, and yeah,
but we stayed close to the church, and that helped
sustain my mother and I who were living in the
apartment in Manhattan.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
So what did he do for a living.

Speaker 4 (11:30):
He was a furrier. He came from the city of
casta Riagh, Greece, which is in the northern part of
Greece where the fur industry was very prominent in All
the furriers who came to America emigrated from Castaia, Greece.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
So you must have some nice furs.

Speaker 4 (11:50):
Well, you know, when I was twelve, I had a
little rabbit muff and a little rabbit hat, and then
later on collected one or two pieces. My brother was
a furrier, as well as all my uncles and relatives.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Oh my, your favorite would be what which one? And
what color?

Speaker 4 (12:13):
Oh, my goodness, gracious, probably a white making out.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
I was going to say, wit would look great on you.

Speaker 4 (12:21):
Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
And living down in South Florida, living here, you never
get a chance to wear.

Speaker 4 (12:26):
It, do you That's right? No, I don't, but that's okay.
That's why we left the North.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Now, your mother, I had the opportunity to meet and
got close to her before she passed away. She was
a character. She was.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
She was a dynamic woman and taught us much about life.
She had some extremely hard knocks in life, being a
widow at fifty two, and I won't go into all
the details after that, but one thing she taught us
so well was no matter what life throws at you
pick up the marbles and you keep playing the game.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yeah. And that's the kind of woman she was.

Speaker 4 (13:06):
Yeah. She lived to be ninety seven.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Yeah, yeah, wow. I mean we all have that opportunity
and be healthy in doing that. So do you think
picking up the marbles and continuing to play the game
is a Greek ideal?

Speaker 4 (13:19):
I think we Greeks never give up. We are focused
on our religion and our heritage, and if you look
at both angles, they do propel us forward no matter
what is happening in our lives.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
You met your husband.

Speaker 4 (13:41):
At what is I met him I was about sixteen
and a half and at a mutual friends sweet sixteen party.
He's four years older than I, and I saw him
across the room and said, I'm going to marry that
man someday, and I asked him out for our very

(14:01):
first date and the rest is history. We've been married
for sixty two years.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Wow. It's interesting because he does describe your meeting as
you reaching out to him, that you invited him out
on a day And is that correct?

Speaker 4 (14:17):
That is correct? In my senior high school dance, Yeah,
have you married? Then we married. I was eighteen plus
and he was twenty two. And here we are, three
children later, but all three happily married, and seven grandchildren.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
And they're accomplished too. Everyone's accomplished in your family.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
Thank God, the Lord has been very good to us.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
No complaints, no complaints. Your husband, Lou a character in
his own right. Tell us a little bit about him.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Well, he was in the carpet in the both phases
of it, from manufacturing to sales through retail. He owned
a chain of carpet stores of what would be described
today as a big box operation like Best Buys a
home depot, and he was the first one to do

(15:16):
that with carpeting all racked up and on display. The
buildings were about half the size of home depot. He
did his own TV commercials, which made him a personality
in lancasterire, Pennsylvania, with fan clubs.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
And.

Speaker 4 (15:34):
It was just it was a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
So we actually had the opportunity, my wife and I
had the opportunity to visit one of those stores. So
he truly was a noted personality in Lancaster as well
as throughout the eastern part of the country. Correct, and
those of us who know you, and we know both
of you, not to take anything away from him that
we know that you have had a lot to do
with all his success as well. I know his slogan

(16:00):
was he would give the carpet away, but his wife
wouldn't let him.

Speaker 4 (16:03):
That's right, that's right. But you know, I like to
read phrase that most people use behind every successful man
is a woman, and I really felt that lu and
I have been partner since the beginning, so I like
to say that alongside every man is a woman.

Speaker 2 (16:23):
No question, no question. You studied accounting. You graduated from
the City College of New York.

Speaker 4 (16:33):
I graduated from the Bronchigh School of Science in New York,
attended City College for two years, became a mother and
stayed home and then in Lancaster, PA. I attended Franklin
and Marshall College in accounting and that night school. So

(16:54):
I have an accounting background, but never sat for a
CPA exam or anything like that.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
I'm sure you gave a lot of important counsel to
Louis as your as his business was growing, or your
business both of you.

Speaker 4 (17:06):
Yes, yes, yeah, we've We've been partners and everything and
just complete soulmates.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
So who's the better Greek dancer?

Speaker 4 (17:16):
Oh, Papa, Now you're We both like to dance a lot,
and at this stage of our life, I think lou
gets up more than I do because I'm always I
had knee surgery and I'm afraid somebody will knock me over.
Uh So I would say Louis got the rhythm and

(17:39):
we both had it as younger people.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
Now your Greek is better than his language wise, or
is it?

Speaker 4 (17:44):
Yes? Yes? I well, first of all, I was raised by,
as I said, two immigrant parents, and Greek was the
only language allowed in the homes. And I also went
to a Greek parochial school in the Bronx, New York,
where I for eight years, where I was given my

(18:06):
classes in Greek, like the geography classes, religious classes, whatever.
They could teach us for three hours in the Greek language,
and then the other three hours were English, like you know,
math and science or whatever. So my Greek is as
fluent as my English, and I read and write it,
and on occasion I can give a speech in it.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
So I know you can, and I'm very fluent in
it and proficient in it. Yes, let's go back to
Greek dance for a minute. Does Greek dance a symbol
for the Greek people? Does it symbolize the way we
approach life at all?

Speaker 4 (18:46):
Yet there are a lot of songs that the Greek's
quote emmet Oloya, which would I guess would be defined
as Greek blues folks about the hardships, And those dances
and songs are a little flower and have a lot
of pot wrenching sentences in them.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
I mean, we created tragedy, of course, you know, drama,
you know, in the in the dancing, you know, I see,
you know, everybody passes on the handkerchief to one another,
and no one really owns owns the dance. Everybody becomes
the leader. We hold hands, we share, we stand next

(19:33):
to each other. I think there's so many parallels to
our culture in the way that we approach life.

Speaker 4 (19:40):
Yes, we're very supportive of each other, not only within
the family the structure of the unit, but we have
other connections that we make like our godparents of our children,
godparents of our grandchildren, of people we stand up for
in their math marriage. We call that the Greek version

(20:04):
of best man or best woman would be combata for combardi,
and we stand by each other for the rest of
our life. And it's a great thing.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, my wife and I have privileged so you have baptized.
There would be the godparents of Elena, your first granddaughter.

Speaker 4 (20:25):
Yes, yes, yes, and.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
She's an accomplished woman in her own right. I want
to invite her to be on the show as a
young aspiring Greek American.

Speaker 4 (20:36):
Oh, that would be wonderful. I know she would love it.
She holds all sorts of conferences and as a moderator,
so she would do well. And she's a graduate from
the Ohio State and also Stanford University, so I'm sure
she would add to your program.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
I can't stop the interview until we talk about missions
in philanthropy, because for you, that's really at your heart.
Of who you are, at least the way that I
approach you and understand you. Tell us a little bit
about how did you get involved in mission and how
do you feel about missions? You know, the evangelical aspect

(21:17):
of Christianity.

Speaker 4 (21:19):
Well, my husband and I moved to Lancaster, PA in
January of nineteen seventy two, and we became very involved
in a dynamic parish there, the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church,
whose priest was Father Alexander Varonas. The parish was seeped

(21:39):
in mission mindedness and it was just an incredible experience.
So I'd say since maybe nineteen seventy four or seventy five,
not only myself, but my whole family has been involved
in missionary work and in some way, whether it's be

(22:01):
financially supporting it and sending missionaries or digging wells supporting orphanages.
But my interest was parked with my mentor, Father Alexander Veronas,
who has since gone home to the Lord. When I
heard the great commission of go and make disciples of

(22:22):
all nations kind of grabbed at my heart, and I've
been involved in missions. I chaired an international organization, the
Orthodox Christian Mission Center, in nineteen and two thousand and
two thousand and one, and I've been on that board
since nineteen eighty two.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
You were honored as a member of leadership and for
the Orthodox Christian Mission Center. The Ball sent them on
ball at the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, New York City
not too long ago. A few years back. They acknowledged
all the work that you have done over the years
of the Missions.

Speaker 4 (23:02):
Yeah. Then that acknowledgment I shared with those who share
my life because it wasn't for others. You know, we're
all together in this so anyways, and kind of like
a special moment was recently in the end of June,
our local parish built a sister church in Kenya, and

(23:27):
our son Philip went to represent the family and for
the consecration of the Saint Mark's Church in Elderot, Kenya,
and two thousand people were there for the consecration and
to watch it on live stream. I felt I was
there and it was just a very beautiful experience. And

(23:50):
like any of us who do anything, I really we
are prompted about what the Lord wants us to do.
So missions has been my thing and I'm so grateful
for it because it's taught me so much. Our missionaries
have enriched our lives so much.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
And you've supported mission priests.

Speaker 4 (24:12):
Oh, yes, supporting mission priests. In fact, our organization, you
also Dot Mission Center supports over four hundred mission priests
across nineteen countries currently.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
And yes, if somebody wants to donate, Helen, if somebody
wanted to donate, could you give out the website.

Speaker 4 (24:31):
Sure, it's www dot OCMC dot org. And we're located
in Saint Augustine, Florida, right off ninety five. And I'd
like to invite everybody to go to our center. It
sits on twenty acres and our whole enterprise is right

(24:51):
there in that building, from our missionary directors, to our
finance department, to all our ministries out of that wonderful
little twelve thousand square foot center.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Yeah, I'm sure that some people will go out there
and they'll contact you through the website before we leave.
And I thank you very much for being on the show.
I have to tell you that, and you're a very
humble person that you and your husband your family donated
the bell tower on Yamata Road in front of Saint
Mark's Church, that beautiful church on Yamata Road. And every

(25:28):
time I pass that bell tower, I think of you
and your family, most especially you through missions because the
bell tower, you know, is a mission tool, always has been.
And whenever I think of that, I think of the
work that you've done for missions. So you continue to
ring out the faith for our community and for our heritage.

(25:50):
And I thank you very much for being on frankly speaking, God.

Speaker 4 (25:53):
Bless you my pleasure, God bless you.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
Thank you for joining me today on frankly speaking. And
since a major scientific descis discovery occurred yesterday, that is,
on August the first, seventeen seventy four, two hundred and
fifty one years ago, I thought it would be appropriate
to examine the etymology of the theory that made the
discovery possible. The English chemist Joseph Priestley made this most

(26:17):
famous discovery during an experiment in England, during which he
aimed a twelve inch wide burning lens, as he called it,
at a lump of mercuric oxide placed in an upside
down glass container in a pool of mercury. The gas
that his experiment emitted was five to six times better
than common air. He called it deflogisticated air. The term

(26:41):
fologiston originates from the Greek word floeustos means burnt up
or inflammable, so deflogisticated air essentially means deprived of phlogiston,
or that from which phlogiston has been removed. Consequently, priestly
called his air deflogisticated there because you believe that it

(27:02):
was air from which the substance of phlogiston had been removed.
This air was later referred to as oxygen. So, as
mister Gusport to call us 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 today on Frankly Speaking, a show that
seeks to provide frank talk and lively interviews about the

(27:24):
influence of ancient Hellenic ideals, values, and faith in our
contemporary culture to help make America Greek again. If you
would like to share a question or suggest the future
guest or topic, I'd love to hear from you, but
Frank at franktalkradio dot com