Giorgos Skandalaris in Call Me Athena: Character Analysis

Overview

Giorgos Skandalaris is a pivotal figure in Colby Cedar Smith’s verse novel Call Me Athena, though his presence in the story is filtered through memory, historical reconstruction, and poetic imagination. As Mary’s great-grandfather, Giorgos’s journey from Greece to America forms the foundational immigrant narrative that shapes the family’s identity. Smith explains in the Author’s Note that she never knew Giorgos directly; his character is built from a few historical documents, oral family stories, and research. The author also includes a photograph of the RMS Olympic manifest where Giorgos and his wife Jeanne appear, grounding his character in documented history. In the novel, Giorgos’s life intersects with major themes of immigrant experience, legacy and memory, and identity.

Note: Because the novel is a literary reconstruction, this analysis distinguishes between explicit textual evidence (where available) and informed interpretation based on the author’s stated methods and common immigrant narratives of the early twentieth century.

Plot Role

Giorgos Skandalaris is introduced through the Author’s Note and later appears in Mary’s memories and family lore. His primary plot function is to represent the first generation’s sacrifice and endurance. He and his wife Jeanne travel from Greece and France to the United States (the novel sets the year at 1918, though the real manifest from the RMS Olympic is dated 1920). Their passage is a direct catalyst for the family’s settlement in Detroit’s Greektown, the setting of Mary’s childhood. Although the chapter outline for “Listen Up!” (Chapter 3) provides no narrative content, the title suggests a moment where Giorgos’s voice or story commands attention, perhaps during a family storytelling scene.

Beyond the note, the novel’s present timeline (1934 Detroit) centers on Mary, but Giorgos’s legacy influences her struggle for independence and her navigation of gender roles. His memory is a thread that connects the family’s past to Mary’s present.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Because Giorgos is not a point-of-view character, his motivations must be inferred from the few explicit references and from the context of the immigrant journey:

• Desire for a better life: The decision to leave Greece for America, documented by the RMS Olympic manifest, speaks to a classic immigrant drive for economic opportunity and escape from hardship.
• Resilience: Undertaking an intercontinental voyage in the early 1900s, especially during a period when the Olympic was used for troop transport, required courage and adaptability.
• Family loyalty: Traveling with his wife Jeanne indicates a commitment to keeping the family unit intact. The author’s inclusion of the manifest—listing both his and Jeanne’s names—reinforces that Giorgos’s journey was a shared one.
• Potential stoicism: The cultural context of early Greek immigrants often demanded a quiet endurance of poverty and labor. In Mary’s story, his presence may be felt as a strong but unspoken foundation.

Interpretation vs. fact: Smith explicitly states she changed events “quite a bit.” We cannot assign specific personality traits from the evidence alone. The traits listed above are plausible projections based on documented behavior (the ship manifest) and typical immigrant narratives, not direct textual quotes.

Chronological Arc

The available evidence does not provide a full chronological arc for Giorgos within the novel’s plot. However, we can outline what is known:

• Pre-1918: Giorgos lives in Greece. Specific details are not given.
• 1918 (in the novel): He and Jeanne sail from Europe to the U.S. aboard the RMS Olympic. The author chose this ship for its historical significance, even though the real manifest dates to 1920.
• Post-arrival: They settle in Detroit, presumably in Greektown, where the family experiences poverty and the challenges of industrialization.
• 1934 (novel present): By this time, Giorgos is deceased? The novel’s opening chapter focuses on Mary’s grief over a loss—possibly her father or another relative. The brush-fire metaphor in Chapter 1 suggests the loss happened before the story opens. The author notes that Mary’s grandmother (Jeanne) was a successful businesswoman and storyteller, but does not specify Giorgos’s fate.

Interpretation: It is reasonable to assume Giorgos plays a role in Mary’s childhood memories, and his life story is recounted through family oral tradition, much like the historical documents Smith used.

Relationships

• Jeanne Skandalaris (wife): The manifest shows them traveling together. Their relationship is the core union that produces the next generation. In the novel, Jeanne may be a more vocal character, as Smith notes she based her on the great-grandmother Jeanette. The couple’s dynamic likely reflects the immigrant partnership of survival.
• Mary (great-granddaughter): Giorgos is part of Mary’s heritage. Although Mary never knew him personally (Smith says “I never knew my great-grandparents”), his story is passed down. Mary’s own independence and success can be seen as a fulfillment of the sacrifices Giorgos made.
• Children (Gus, John, and Mary’s mother?): The photograph mentioned in the Author’s Note includes their children Gus, John, and the grandmother Mary. Giorgos is the patriarch of this family tree.

Key Decisions and Consequences

The most significant decision attributed to Giorgos is leaving Greece for America. Its consequences are the entire narrative:

• Decision to immigrate: This choice sets the family on a path of acculturation, economic struggle, and eventual upward mobility.
• Consequence for Mary: Mary grows up in a bicultural household, caught between Old World expectations and New World possibilities. Her fight for independence, as described by Smith, is directly connected to the immigrant family dynamics.
• Consequence for legacy: Giorgos’s journey becomes a foundational story that Smith recovers and retells. The author feels “called” to write it because her name appears on the same manifest—a serendipitous link that underscores how one decision can echo for generations.

Interpretation: No additional decisions are explicitly mentioned in the evidence.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Giorgos Skandalaris is a vessel for several major themes in Call Me Athena:

The RMS Olympic itself is a symbol: a sister ship to the Titanic, representing both grandeur and disaster, much like Giorgos’s hopeful journey that led to struggle.

Key Questions and Answers

1. How does the author know the details of Giorgos Skandalaris’s life?
   Colby Cedar Smith never met Giorgos. She reconstructed his journey from historical documents (such as the RMS Olympic ship manifest), research trips to Greece and France, and oral stories from her grandmother Mary and other relatives. She explicitly states that she “changed the actual events quite a bit” to create a compelling narrative.

2. Why did Giorgos leave Greece for America?
   While the novel does not give his exact reasons, the decision fits the pattern of early 20th-century Greek immigration: seeking economic opportunity and escaping poverty or political unrest. The manifest provides evidence of the voyage, and the author’s note implies that poverty shaped the family’s life in Detroit.

3. What is Giorgos’s role in Mary’s story?
   Giorgos’s journey is the foundation of Mary’s family history. His memory appears through family stories and serves as a backdrop for Mary’s own struggle for independence. In the novel’s present (1934), Mary’s grief over an unspecified loss may connect to Giorgos’s death, though this is not confirmed by the provided excerpts.

4. Is Giorgos based on a real person?
   Yes. Giorgos is modeled on the author’s great-grandfather George Skandalaris, whose name appears on the RMS Olympic manifest. Smith draws from family records but invents dialogue, emotional arcs, and specific events to create a literary character.

5. How does Giorgos relate to the theme of legacy?
   Giorgos’s life story survives only through documents and oral tradition. His legacy is reinterpreted by Mary and later by the author, showing how memory transforms identity across generations. The fact that Smith found her own first name on the same manifest underscores the idea that legacy weaves past and present together.

For further analysis, see the ending explained page and the comprehensive questions and answers section.