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| “ | They know my name. But my name is not my name. | „ |
| ~ Spiros Vondas |
Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos is a supporting antagonist in the HBO series The Wire.
He is the right-hand man of The Greek, the enigmatic leader of the Greek Crime Syndicate, responsible for the smuggling of heroin, prostitutes, and stolen goods. He serves as a supporting antagonist in seasons two, four, and five.
He is portrayed by Paul Ben-Victor, who also played Clarence Teal in Metro.
Personality[]
Vondas is shrewd and calculated, and is known for showing little emotion when conducting business. He is shown to have little to no empathy, as he was not one bit saddened at the death of Proposition Joe by the hands of Marlo, even though his partnership with Joe had been ongoing for over 5 years. He is known for his cool-headedness, and has an ability to manipulate others around him to do his bidding.
Biography[]
Background[]
Vondas acts as an intermediary between The Greek and his illegal activities, much like Stringer Bell does for Avon Barksdale. These include the importation of stolen goods, sex workers, and heroin into Baltimore. He is typically the one to deal with the local stevedores that he bribed, keeping himself between The Greek and those that can put him at risk. He is assumed to be Greek and speaks fluent Greek. His real name is unknown, as Spiros Vondopoulos is just one of many aliases he has assumed.
Season 2[]
Vondas manages all aspects of The Greek's illicit shipping business, but keeps a low profile, and is very surveillance-conscious. He is Frank Sobotka's point of contact for his smuggling with The Greek. He is even-tempered and patient, shown when he had to soothe an increasingly angry and stressed Frank Sobotka after he found out his union was under investigation by the Major Crimes Unit. He also handled much less savory tasks: when a sailor in The Greek's employ, Sam Choksey murdered fourteen girls meant for work as prostitutes, Vondas killed the man once The Greek had interrogated him. Vondas managed The Greek's drug dealing through their Israeli lieutenant Eton Ben-Eleazer. His own personnel involved in the smuggling operation included driver and enforcer Sergei "Serge" Malatov and fence George "Double G" Glekas.
He often met with Nick Sobotka, who frequently served as Frank's go-between, and Vondas took an almost paternal interest in the younger man. Impressed with Nick's intelligence, he gave him the task of stealing a shipment of chemicals. He intervened in a dispute over a debt between Nick's cousin, Ziggy, and a drug dealer supplied by The Greek, Cheese. Despite a personal dislike for Ziggy he ordered Serge to argue his case to Proposition Joe, Cheese's uncle and superior. Vondas' distrust of Ziggy was proved correct when Ziggy killed Double G in an argument over payment for stolen goods. Ziggy was arrested soon afterwards and Vondas distanced the murder from the rest of the operation by removing all evidence of the business from the warehouse.
When Lieutenant Daniels' port detail began investigating The Greek's activity, Frank Sobotka realized and tipped Vondas.
The detail finally got a photo of Spiros when he was meeting drug lieutenant Eton on the waterfront of Baltimore. The Detail then surveilled his home and followed him to meetings at hotel rooms and the diner where he met with associates.
The Greek ordered Vondas to shut down the smuggling temporarily and replaced all of his personnel's telephones. The Greek withdrew from their meeting place at the cafe and began meeting with Vondas in hotel rooms.
Vondas escaped arrest when the detail began rounding up the members of the Greek's smuggling ring. When Frank Sobotka was arrested, Vondas suggested that they could broker his loyalty by having a witness against Ziggy change his story. He put the proposition to Frank through Nick. Frank had already agreed to testify against the Greek's crew, but decided to meet with them for Ziggy's sake. The Greek learned of Frank's agreement through his inside man at the FBI, Agent Kristos Koutris, and had Vondas murder Frank.
Following the murder Vondas left the country under a fake passport with the Greek. Before Vondas left he met with Proposition Joe to ensure him that the Greek's operation would continue to supply him using new personnel after a short break to avoid the investigation.
Season 4[]
Vondas had returned to Baltimore some time after the Major Crimes investigation of the docks had ended, and that he had resumed his working relationship with Proposition Joe. After a shipment from The Greek to a retail co-op of Baltimore drug kingpins was stolen by Omar Little, Joe set up a meeting with Vondas and Marlo Stanfield in order to assuage Marlo's suspicions that Joe had set him up in order to make him pay twice for the same shipment. While Marlo was satisfied with Vondas' explanation, he placed a tail on him in order to learn more about his role in importing the shipments into Baltimore.
Season 5[]
Vondas had continued his business with Proposition Joe, even after the the drama of him getting robbed. Marlo Stanfield and Felicia "Snoop" Pearson visit Little Johnny’s diner, a known hangout of The Greeks. Stanfield delivers a suitcase of cash to Andreas, the counter man, telling him that he was sent by Sergei Malatov and that the money is a gift for Vondas. Andreas claims not to know Vondas and Stanfield tells Andreas that they will return the next day. When he comes back Vondas refuses to take the money because of its poor condition.
Stanfield returns to the diner and meets with Vondas. Vondas tells Stanfield that everything runs well through Proposition Joe. Stanfield again approaches Prop Joe for help and Stewart agrees to exchange the money for clean bills. Marlo later returns back to the Diner and gives the clean bills to Andres, insinuating that he wishes for another meeting with Vondas.
Marlo Stanfield later meets with Vondas at Johnny’s Diner having delivered a gift of clean money to try and ingratiate himself with Vondas and usurp his business relationship with Prop Joe. Vondas explains that he has to return the clean money just as he did earlier with the dirty money. He tells Stanfield that he can see that he is an honorable man, but he does not want to make new street level contacts in Baltimore or undermine their relationship with Prop Joe. Chris Partlow observes the meeting, and unbeknownst to Stanfield, The Greek himself sits at the counter. Stanfield counters by reminding Vondas that Prop Joe was robbed by Omar. He suggests that having contact with him would act as an insurance policy against future robberies for all parties. The Greek reveals himself by interrupting and telling Vondas that Stanfield has a good point. He tells Stanfield that they will accept his offer of insurance as they live in volatile times and cannot predict the future. Stanfield leaves the case and asks Vondas to put it towards their expenses.
After Marlo leaves, The Greek tells Vondas that Stanfield has demonstrated that declining his offer would not prevent him from coming back. Vondas remarks that Stanfield is not Joe, and The Greek agrees, with a smile on his face.
Vondas inducts Marlo Stanfield into the The Greeks heroin smuggling organization to replace Proposition Joe as their Baltimore distributor after he was murdered by Marlo Stanfield and Chris Partlow. Vondas describes the qualities that he valued in Prop Joe to Stanfield including his dependability. Vondas gives Stanfield a phone causing him to question the use of phones when Prop Joe taught him not to talk on the phone. Vondas tells him that he should use the phone for personal calls as much as possible to give the impression of no criminal activity and then also teaches him how to make contact without talking or sending text messages. Vondas instructs Stanfield that only he and Chris are to know how to contact The Greeks.
Vondas appears one last time in the show's final cutaways. Fat-Face Rick and Slim Charles, representing the Co-Op, meet with Vondas, who appears to give them an identical speech to the one he gave Marlo when agreeing to supply him. The Greek takes his usual position at the bar, listening to the conversation incognito.
External Links[]
- Spiros Vondas on the Wikipedia
- Spiros Vondopoulos on The Wire Wiki