What is a love dictionary? It is a selective dictionary, much like love itself, in which the author includes exclusively the words they choose, I would even say words they love. Precisely the opposite, that is, of an encyclopedic and didactic work.

The aim was to introduce you to a country, Greece in this case, making you love it. And conversely, to make it dear to you so that you can know it. Inevitably, a similar dictionary reflects the person who conceived and compiled it, as well as, for me, the country that after wandering through, I have shared and continue to share its places, streets, history, and authors over so many years.

Yes, a country that I wanted to share first with French readers, and today also with Greek readers: Greece as I experienced it from my first journey in 1947 and as I came to know it as a child from its ancient poets and writers: a Greece that spans from Homer to Seferis, from Orpheus to Tsitsanis through voices, poems, songs, and works that I have selected and translated over so many years.

A Greece that also goes from Alexander to the zeibekiko, from Sappho to Sikelianos, from the almond sweets to the breadsticks, from the border songs to the rebetiko. Passing through Herodotus, Digenis Akritas, Makrygiannis, and Angelopoulos. In short, a personal, poetic, historical, geographical, and... gastronomic journey in the land of endless knowledge and flavors, Greece.

(...) [Excerpt from the preface text]