Can I (a male) wear shorts when visiting a Greek Orthodox Church?

How about two light-weight , long scarfs you can wrap around your waist, and shoulders, if necessary ? They wouldn't take up much room in a day pack. Enjoy your adventure!

EDIT - sorry, I missed the male part. Safe travels!

How about taking a pair of convertible pants with zip-off legs?

https://www.rei.com/c/mens-convertible-pants

Everything I’m reading is that men are required to wear long pants, absolutely no shorts especially in monasteries. We were there in early spring so it wasn’t an issue. There are quite a variety of lightweight hiking pants available that can be zipped on and off to create shorts.

They generally don't like it, but in some places they have given up in the face of the tourists' recklessness.. However, this does not apply to the monasteries, at least not to those where there are real monks and not just candidates for the priesthood who are doing their compulsory year there.

Just our anecdotal experience, we recently returned from a RS Greece tour combined with some independent travel in Greece. On tour, some of the men wore shorts - not the athletic type, more of the longer golf type. It was not an issue, as we popped into different churches during off hours of the day, not during services. We also visited a monastery as part of the tour, and I just looked back through my pictures and several of the men were wearing shorts. No advice, just what we experienced.

We just returned from Athens and my husband wore longer shorts the entire trip. He had no problems entering even the smallest churches along with the Cathedral. However, we did not visit a monastery in Athens so I don’t know whether this would have been an issue.

In churches not in service like you might find during hikes, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you don't need to plan anything, and they are generally open.

Regarding churches in service, for women it is best to avoid shorts and Bermuda shorts as well as tank tops, and to have their shoulders covered. In some churches or monasteries they lend skirts at the entrance because (in principle) pants are prohibited for women, but I have seen tourists in shorts with their breasts half exposed who had no problem! For men they may require pants but I have never seen a man in Bermuda shorts being taken out

So there is no absolute rule.

Some orthodox churches post pictorial signage depicting acceptable and unacceptable attire. All the signs I've seen made it clear that legs are to be covered. The most recent such sign I encountered, in Albania (which shares a border with Greece), also explicitly forbade flip-flops and what looked like bedroom slippers but I guess was meant to represent clogs.

Regardless of the ambiguous answers you are receiving, how about just showing respect for the country you are in and wearing long pants in churches and monasteries. It is custom, and to not, shows the arrogance and disrespect as a tourist. You certainly wouldn't see a Greek man in shorts in church. That should be your deciding factor.

Thank you all for the advice. I just ordered some convertible pants from Amazon. That way, I can wear shorts walking around and hiking, and just carry the “legs” of the pants in my lunch bag to have on hand as needed. I do want to err on the side of being respectful, and not be “that guy” who just does whatever I can get away with. Learning about and respecting other cultures is WHY I love to travel, so again…sincere thanks for the input.

Oyveyismir. I’ve been entering churches in Italy and Greece for years wearing shorts and NEVER had a problem even in severely rigid Orosei in Sardinia. It shouldn’t be a problem. Heck, even on Sifnos I entered the churches in shorts and we even asked if it’s ok and they were fine with it. Wife can speak a little Greek so it helps.