CARNIVAL
FROM ANTIQUITY TO TODAY
During carnival, the whole world is dancing. One version of the origin of the word "carnival" is that it means "goodbye to meat", but there is another according to which it originates in the term
carmus navalis , which means a "boat carriage". During antiquity, the parades bringing the Sacred Veil from Elefsis to the Parthenon along the Sacred Way also brought with them the model of a sacred boat. On ancient pottery there are depictions of Dionysos sitting on such a "boat carriage" ("karro-navale"). The floats used in the carnival parades we see today and the effigy of the Carnival have evolved from Bacchanalian festivities.
Carnivals were also held in ancient Egypt during the rites of Isis, at the Dionysian rites in ancient Greece and the Purim of the Jews. All these rites included the wearing of disguises.
In Greece, the carnival customs are a continuation of the rites in honor of Dionysos. During these revels, the people wore animal skins, anointed their faces with the deposits from wine barrels and wore ivy wreaths on their heads, as ivy was the sacred plant of the god Dionysos. These disguises generally gave them the appearance of satyrs. The rites were followed by the dithyramb, a choral hymn. Many elements from these devotional rites were incorporated into ancient Greek tragedy.
So the Bacchae of the ancient Greeks and the Romans' Saturnalia with their dancing and tumultuous celebrations were the beginnings of Carnival. At first these celebrations lasted just one day, then Caesar established a three-day festival. Later they were extended to seven.
The Saturnalia began in early January. The slaves were given the right to be free and make fun of their owners - some of the latter disguised themselves as slaves and served their own slaves. These celebrations ended in orgies. After the Romans conquered Gaul, they absorbed the local customs and new festivals and ways of celebrating appeared.
During the Roman and Byzantine periods, Carnival was celebrated at the hippodrome, where the emperor organized the festivities. Everyone, nobles and ordinary folk alike, took part. Under Turkish rule, the Greeks celebrated Carnival disguised in sheepskins.
In the Middle Ages, the Church unsuccessfully tried to abolish Carnival. The tradition of "Days of fools and innocents", which was not in line with Christianity, was the subject of many Church Synods
The form Carnival takes today emerged in Italy during the Middle Ages. The customs spread to other countries and acquired a distinct character in accordance with local customs and traditions. But everywhere there is a float bearing the King of the Carnival and people wearing a disguise.
At most Greek carnival celebrations, tradition prevails. First the masked revellers appear and the dancing and partying begin, like everywhere else from the canals of Venice to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, where the effigy of the Carnival is set alight at the end. Across the ocean in Rio de Janeiro, there is reggae and salsa music, unique celebrations that are a blend of traditions and superstitions.
Greek sheepdogs in antiquity
According to ancient Greek mythology, dogs were tamed by the god Apollo to accompany the goddess Artemis on the hunt. The origin of Greek word for the verb "to hunt" comes from the ancient Greek term meaning "to lead dogs". Artemis was accompanied by dogs as well as other animals.
There are a number of references in historical texts to the Greek sheepdog in antiquity, in two main categories - hunting dogs and sheepdogs. The latter were called "Molossians" or Epirots, after their place of origin (Molossia was the ancient name for the area now known as Epirus). Nicander wrote that Epirot dogs, large and strong, were created by Hephestus, the god of fire. According to Plato, the sheepdog of Epirus had been used by Greeks since Homer's time and were greatly valued for their abilities. In his book "Kynology", Oppian described the Greek sheepdog as being so brave and fearless that it would attack bulls and wild boards, even lions.
Nomadic shepherds brought this breed of dog into Macedonia; because of its special abilities, the Epirot dog was used on the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, used them as fighting dogs in battles.
The breed as we know it today has evolved from the ancient breed of Molossian or Epirot dogs that lived in the isolated regions of the Pindos Mountains.
KOMBOLOI
You still haven't got one?
Perhaps one of the most important symbols of traditional Greek life is the komboloi, or worry beads. "I'll throw out my watch and get a komboloi" went a popular song that indicated the komboloi's symbolic importance. Today both young and old people can be seen in Athens, their hands behind their back playing with these strings of beads, or men sitting at cafe tables, arguing and playing with the beads, more and more furiously as the talk becomes more heated.
These are not religious objects, not a kind of Orthodox rosary, although you will see many priests playing with them. They are simply a way of passing the time, of keeping one's hands occupied; that is one reason why they are recommended for people who want to quit smoking. More and more women are picking up the habit, a very new development and a reason why more and more are being produced in a more decorative form.
The komboloi has come down through the ages, has featured in songs and become a symbol in religions and traditions over hundreds of years. And in Nafplio's Komboloi Museum, they have finally been given the place they deserve.
Every komboloi tells its own story, a story of a journey through time, stories of joy, prayer, loneliness, pain, expectation, of ordinary people, powerful people and humble, with one thing in common: that string of beads that slip rhythmically through their fingers, sometimes old and valuable, made of amber, coral, ivory, bone, horn, ebony or mastic, sometimes new shiny and transparent, but which still have a great story to tell.
Costas Soukas
I was born in Komboti, Arta, on December 20, 1944, and have been playing the guitar since I was 10 years old. I come from the great Soukas family of musicians and am self-taught. I learnt from listening to my brothers, especially Vasilis, who played nearly every instrument there is. After listening to my brother play the guitar and the cembalo, I created a cross between the two instruments and was also influenced by an other great musician, Gerasimos Lalos, who was fantastic on the mandola. Listening to my brother Vangelis on the clarinet, I worked out an unusual and very special sound on my guitar.
Vasilis Soukas
We remember a great soloist....
A unique individual who wrote his own history with boundless zeal, love and harmony on recordings of Greek traditional music and much more, was that great soloist, the clarinet player Vasilis Soukas. It is a name that none of us should ever forget and one that deserves to be recalled repeatedly as an gesture of respect and appreciation. He was a person who struggled hard to preserve the centuries-old traditions of the music of Epirus alive in our memory at a time when music is under sustained attack from monotonous, stark sounds - without harmony.
Born on March 25, 1931 in Komboti, Arta, an area that had developed its own musical idiom within the Epirot music tradition, he was a member of one of the greatest and most well-known families of musicians in the region. It was only natural that Vasilis Soukas would become a gifted interpreter of traditional music, as the Soukas family tradition has been carried on for over 150 years, with a family tree that includes over 20 members.
The Evil Eye
The Greek word for evil eye ("vaskania") means a malign influence brought to bear on either a person or an animal, even a plant or inanimate object, when a person who has an innate ability simply looks at one. That person does harm without actually making any gesture or saying anything, and usually without actually intending to or even being aware of the act. By simply admiring or drawing attention to, or being jealous of someone or something is enough to let loose the evil eye.
It is believed that the evil eye is the result of a malign or simply a magnetic influence which is quite strong in some people. In other words, the evil eye is nothing more than the unconscious transmission of a low magnetic force of great intensity. The perpetrator is usually a very strong-willed person who can only act on weaker individuals who are somewhat weak in spirit. It is believed that people of a high moral calibre, who are psychologically and spiritually strong, who live honorably and in accordance with the laws of nature, are impervious to the evil eye, as are people born on a Saturday.
It is also believed that people who can put the eye on others have specific external characteristics, such as green or generally light-colored or small eyes, or close-knit eyebrows.
Arcadia's Plane Tree and Eleni of Hameri
Dear Editors,
I heard about your magazine in an advertisement and immediately went out to buy it as I love traditions. Not just any traditions, but those that are real, authentic.
Listening to the song "Arcadia's Plane Tree" I decided to send you my own research into that particular song. I spent 15 months I looking into the background for a small tribute. I believe I got quite close to the truth, but I have certain reservations. It is through excellent magazines such as your own that we should look to find authentic traditions so as to pass them on to our children.
Thank you.
As long as I can remember, both in my own village and the surrounding area, that lovely Tsamiko song "Arcadia's Plane Tree" has been played on those old-fashioned gramophones, a balm to the soul, uplifting in its spirit of Greek heroism, bringing euphoria to our hearts.
Later when I first left the village for Athens, I found out that the song was being played and sung all over Greece, on the state and regional radio stations and then later on television.
The reason I decided to look into the relationship between this song and Eleni of Hameri was a program on tradition broadcast on the Larissa local radio station presented by George Papageorgiou. Also in the studio that day the song was broadcast was Dr. Georgios Antonakopoulos, a professor at Thessaly University's medical school.
I was asked to talk to listeners about the circumstances surrounding the song's origins and the identity of the Eleni of the song. I must say athat I was very pleased to be invited, because when I had been at primary school, I lived in the neighborhood that is the fortress of Arcadia, near the plane tree and the house of Hameri.
: