There are authors who describe a city. Giannis Xanthoulis, however, deconstructs it, satirizes it, rebuilds it—and ultimately, conquers it. “The Conquest of Athens by the Gargara Sisters” (published by Dioptra) was the inspiration for his interview with George Evgenidis on the show Direct on protothema.gr, but the conversation could not stay only there…

For him, Athens in his life is not just one; it is many. The city of the early days, when he came “for his kidneys.” The city of cemeteries, which fascinated him more than museums. The city of theater, of apartment buildings, of his veranda that turned into a forest from all the plants and eventually collapsed, as he recalls. “I had a lush green veranda, but it fell. I returned home and saw the Fire Brigade. The forest I had on the fifth floor had fallen!”

He describes himself as a “migrant” in the city and states: “I always dreamed of the conquest of Athens,” referring to his new work, where the Gargara Sisters overturn the city’s status quo. “I like to return to places I primarily create myself,” he adds, emphasizing his need to craft imaginary worlds.

The interview flows from memories of a different Greece — “we were waiting for the ’60s,” he recalls, “we weren’t even close to being rich” — to commentary on today’s reality. “Superficial wealth and adopting trends are our Greek neurosis,” he notes, adding: “Everyone today looks alike. The uniformity disgusts me.” He also describes how he perceives some young people of his time, sarcastically saying they look like calves and that he thought it was a heresy, the heresy of white socks.

Giannis Xanthoulis does not have an Instagram account. Facebook tires him out; “I keep seeing Happy birthday and some aphorisms,” he says. He avoids TV panels, and before sleeping, he watches old movies.

His new book

His book, The Conquest of Athens by the Gargara Sisters, published by Dioptra, is a satirical fresco of modern Athens through Xanthoulis’s subversive perspective. The Gargara Sisters invade the city and unfold their story in a country with historical amnesia, comedic morals, and imposing dissonances. Imagination is used as a tool of denunciation, and satire becomes the ultimate consolation.