[MichaelMoser123]

I don't see any condescension (it doesn't diminish the present greatness of the great capitals at all), it is a factual observation (also you might need a sense of humour to see the irony on the part of what used to be a persecuted minority, after all - and I used to be in east Berlin before the frigging wall came down)

[oblio]

Could be. What I do know is that I have Greek friends who express the same feeling and they weren't a persecuted minority. There's a certain hubris about nationalities with a rich past.

It's not necessarily bad, but it's still hubris :)

[jjgreen]

"The people of Crete unfortunately make more history than they can consume locally"

Saki, The Jesting of Arlingthon Stringham

[lardo]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Greece

[oblio]

Dude, I’m Romanian, I know about the Ottomans.

Greeks were still the majority in Greece and they were a well regarded minority in the empire. They were persecuted after WW1 (see the population exchanges and the Smyrna massacre).

But Greeks don’t view themselves as a persecuted minority, historically. It’s all about the mindset and self-perception.