During the turmoil of the Thirty Years’ War, Greek Orthodox officials sought closer ties with important Protestant institutions in Germany and beyond. At the 45th Metageitnia, an annual conference that brings together classical philologists from Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France, Tobias Heiss presented findings from his doctoral research. He linked an oration delivered in Ancient Greek at the University of Altdorf by the future Patriarch of Alexandria, Metrophanes Kritopoulos (1589–1639), to the local academic practice of delivering Greek orations on ceremonial occasions.
