290:. The men belonged to a terrorist group called Team Epsilon, which also possessed a large number of explosives and firearms, and had plans for further attacks. The arrested proclaimed themselves to be pagans and claimed that their group aimed to "take down the conspiracy inflicted on Greece by the banks and by Orthodox Christianity". They had spray-painted the recognised sign of the Epsilon Team, the Delphic double "E", at the locations of their bombings.
206:, which went on to become a bestseller. He claimed to be a member of the secret society and emphasised the racial, anti-Semitic and pro-Orthodox angle, and added that the Jews also were of extraterrestrial origin. In the 2000s, the phenomenon became the subject of various weblogs, websites and online discussion forums. The Greek politician and television personality
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154:. Lefkofrydis described the existence of a secret society of influential Greeks, who had extraterrestrial knowledge stemming from Aristotle, and who worked to protect the interests of the Greek people. Lefkofrydis' book was quickly withdrawn from publication, but its theories were developed further by others.
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milieu and popular culture. It is mainly popular within some right-wing anti-Semitic circles and as a fringe phenomenon among conservative
Orthodox Christians. It is also present within circles that seek to fuse Christianity with spiritual Hellenicity, notably the magazine
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The Club "E" Epsilon, led by the former professional marathon runner
Aristotelis Kakogeorgiou, does not want to be associated with the Epsilon Team conspiracy theories. According to Kakogeorgiou, his organisation was founded in 1962 and the E stands for
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The most prominent epsilonist writers in the 1980s and 1990s were
Ioannis Fourakis, Anestis S. Keramydas, Dimosthenis Liakopoulos and Georgios Gkiolvas. Fourakis is generally considered to have coined the name Epsilon Team
525:
Makeeff, Tao T. (2018). "Was
Aristotle an Anti-Semitic Alien? Conspiracy Theory, Ufology, and the Colonisation of the Past in Contemporary Greece". In Dyrendal, Asbjørn; Robertson, David G.; Asprem, Egil (eds.).
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was established as a term for the general phenomenon, and is usually used by people who disapprove of it. The
Delphic Epsilon, which can be found on ancient Greek monuments but also on objects from the
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Kourdis, Evangelos (2016). "The
Velopoulos-Liakopoulos Phenomenon. Α semiotic approach to the explosion of Greek conspiracy theories and urban legends in the economic crisis". In Leone, Massimo (ed.).
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Several groups and individuals have claimed to represent the
Epsilon Team themselves. The most publicised event occurred in October 2015, when five men were detained for the bombings of the
190:), and was also prominent in fusing epsilonism with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. In Fourakis' works, the Greeks are presented as being of extraterrestrial origin, associated with the
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is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, and has a modern history as a symbol for freedom and Greece. It was notably used in this capacity during the
298:" ("Greeks"). It is open to people of all races and religions, and does not subscribe to anti-Semitism or the eschatological beliefs of epsilonism.
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conspiracy theories, placing the
Epsilon Team in a cosmic battle against the Jews. The body of beliefs related to the Epsilon Team has been labeled
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78:. The team was first described in a 1977 book, and supposedly consists of prominent Greek people who possess secret knowledge of
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The conspiracy theory became better known in Greece around 1997 through a number of books and magazine articles. The word
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The originator of what became the modern
Epsilon Team mythology was the author George Lefkofrydis. Inspired by
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The phenomenon, although fringe, is relatively well known in Greece, and has had an impact on the
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origin. Beginning in the 1980s, literature about the society became infused with
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People who have been named in epsilonist literature as members include
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of high-ranking Greeks, working in secret to benefit their country.
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The
Delphic Epsilon is the purported symbol of the Epsilon Team.
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564:"Show me the money: Conspiracy theories and distant wealth"
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Handbook of Conspiracy Theory and Contemporary Religion
109:. A precursor to the epsilonists was Spyridon Nagos, a
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Spaceship Epsilon: Aristotle's Organon: The Researcher
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255:, the publisher Ioannis Passas, the mathematician
90:, and those who subscribe to it have been labeled
530:. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. pp. 361–388.
510:. Lexia: Journal of Semiotics. Vol. 23–24.
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117:who in the early 20th century envisioned a
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150:from the star Mu in the constellation
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547:"Το μέγα μυστήριο της Ομάδας Έψιλον"
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545:Newsbeast.gr (18 November 2018).
562:Rakopoulos, Theodoros (2018).
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660:Conspiracy theories in Greece
655:Ancient astronaut speculation
582:10.1080/02757206.2018.1458723
66:that appears in Greek modern
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200:Greek Orthodox Christianity
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645:Secret societies in Greece
640:Fictional secret societies
284:Constantine XI Palaiologos
239:Members and organisations
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107:Greek War of Independence
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569:History and Anthropology
267:, Alexandros Bodosakis,
212:Epsilonism: Epsilon Team
257:Constantin Carathéodory
650:Antisemitism in Greece
507:Complotto / Conspiracy
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214:in English in 2010.
152:Lagos (Lepus/Rabbit)
635:Conspiracy theories
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439:, pp. 372–373.
386:, pp. 236–237.
210:published the book
208:Kyriakos Velopoulos
72:conspiracy theories
308:Ancient astronauts
282:and the statue of
269:Dimitris Liantinis
253:Spyridon Marinatos
130:On the E at Delphi
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537:978-90-04-38202-2
517:978-88-548-9931-5
357:Newsbeast.gr 2018
265:17 November Group
249:Alexander Onassis
245:Aristotle Onassis
224:conspiracy theory
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164:Inca civilisation
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551:. Retrieved
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425:Makeeff 2018
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413:Makeeff 2018
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369:Makeeff 2018
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342:Makeeff 2018
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318:UFO religion
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176:Ομάδα Έψιλον
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84:anti-Semitic
48:Ομάδα Έψιλον
40:Epsilon Team
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630:UFO culture
591:10852/71362
553:22 November
92:epsilonists
619:Categories
549:(in Greek)
324:References
159:epsilonism
88:epsilonism
18:Epsilonism
608:150246266
600:0275-7206
181:romanized
138:Aristotle
115:socialist
111:Freemason
53:romanized
302:See also
280:Kalamata
231:. Among
196:religion
128:'s text
126:Plutarch
68:folklore
498:Sources
296:Ellínon
288:Mystras
204:Omada E
183::
143:Organon
103:Epsilon
98:History
76:ufology
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229:Daulos
218:Impact
604:S2CID
329:Notes
172:Greek
44:Greek
596:ISSN
555:2019
532:ISBN
512:ISBN
113:and
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38:The
586:hdl
578:doi
286:in
278:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
