For the Greeks, the West's obsession with the image of classical civilization presents a painful dilemma: to what extent should they strive to meet its demands? In any case, there are two competing interpretations of Greece. One, the "Hellenizing," based on the accumulated material of European science, appeals to those who supported the Greek cause abroad or presented it in the service of various elite interests.

The other, the "Romanian," relates to self-awareness, the sense a Greek has of what it means in practice to be Greek. This is not so much a distinction between "ideal" and "reality," but rather a contrast between two "realities," two historical and cultural constructions of Greek identity.

To highlight their conflict, Michael Herzfeld analyzes them in all their manifestations - ethnographic, linguistic, historical, literary - without attributing bad faith to their creators. The central theme of the study is the ways in which a sense of national identity was constructed in the newly established Greek state, particularly the influence of competing ideologies on the selection of relevant ethnological material.

Thus, it is a history of history, but also an ethnography of the theory of culture. [Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]