North Carolina

I lived in Carsboro North Carolina from ’69 to ’70 and attended an elementary school at Chapel Hill. As a matter of fact, that time also marked my very first crush on a young redhaired girl name Julia (we were both 5).

I recall overhearing a discussion between my father (who at that time was 2nd viola for the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra) and an old man named Athas.
Athas (original name Athanasopoulos from Tripoli,Peloponese Greece…not to be confused with Tripoli Lybia…) had imigrated from Greece to the US and had settled in Durham. After doing odd jobs he managed to talk his way into Duke into a Pol. Sci. program which at that time was usually attended by students of exceptional wealth.

Anyway, during one of the lectures the professor queried the students regarding their backgrounds since most of them were from known Carolina and American families. So you had so and so say he was the son of Vanderbuilt (for example), and so and so say she was the daughter of Spencer…or in more proper language, she was a Spencer.
So coming up to Athas, (who had never met his father, his old man having died in the Balkan wars..and who had left his mother …a tired village woman,back in Greece ) the prof goes to him in a wee bit of a sarcastic tone (after all the class was indeed filled with the at that time creme dela creme of american society)) :
“So Master Athas, and who may your father be?”

And Athas answered:

ZEUS!

Afternote: Athas did graduate with a degree in Pol. Sci. and did attain exceptional social status amongst the North Carolina Elite. He ended marrying his classmate, young miss Spencer who was indeed a ravishing Carolina Beauty (and Athas being a 6 feet perfect shape blue eyed curley haired dude did strike it well generally with the fair sex) and since his mastery of ancient Greek was near perfect (including the very difficult Ionic dialect) many classics maitres sought him out just to engage in classical discussions with the mother of all languages. Athas had two daughters, Daphne and Rachel.