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In the spirit of Solomos and the Hymn to Liberty.
Solomos wrote the Hymn to Liberty on the Hill of Strani, Zante -
and some early draft sketches for The Free Besieged
He spent two or three summers staying at the Villa Strani (destroyed by the earthquake of 1893), which belonged to his close friend Loudovikos Stranis, who published and introduced Solomos' first volume of poetry, Rime Improvissate.
and some early draft sketches for The Free Besieged
He spent two or three summers staying at the Villa Strani (destroyed by the earthquake of 1893), which belonged to his close friend Loudovikos Stranis, who published and introduced Solomos' first volume of poetry, Rime Improvissate.
Hill of Strani, Aglaia Papa (Solomos Museum, Corfu)
References to the name Strani, as a place-name, first appeared in Zante towards the end of the fifteenth century, according to Dinos Konomos.
As a family name it was first recorded in Zante in 1519, according to other historical sources.
From "Zakynthos, Volume Two", by Dinos Konomos (Athens 1979)
WE knew thee of old,
Oh divinely restored,
By the light of thine eyes
And the light of thy Sword.
From the graves of our slain
Shall thy valour prevail
As we greet thee again—
Hail, Liberty! Hail!
(from Rudyard Kipling's translation of the Hymn to Liberty)
From Zante, Archduke Ludwig Salvator (1904)
From "Zakynthos, Volume Two", by Dinos Konomos (Athens 1979)
From Corfu Reading Society
Finally, an extract from a long historical Resistance poem, "To Corfu, Enslaved", written under Italian Occupation during World War II (and distributed in secret, at great risk to his life) by Dionysios Stranis (1899, Zakynthos-1967, Corfu).
Dionysios Stranis
It is a poem which condemns all the invasions and occupations suffered by the people of Corfu, and Greece generally. This short extract is most relevant to the period of British Protection, the Unification of the Ionian Islands with Greece, and the Celebrations of May 21st.:
Stefanos Sgouros, The Monk Disturbed, Ochi Day, 1940
Μέριασε, βράχε, νὰ διαβῶ!
Τοῦ δούλου τὸ ποδάρι θὰ σὲ πατήση στὸ λαιμό...
Ἐξύπνησα λιοντάρι!
Τοῦ δούλου τὸ ποδάρι θὰ σὲ πατήση στὸ λαιμό...
Ἐξύπνησα λιοντάρι!
See also, this webpage
Στὸ συμβολισμὸ τοῦ ποιήματος, βράχος εἶναι ὁ κατακτητὴς Τοῦρκος καὶ κῦμα ὁ ὑπόδουλος Ἑλληνισμός.
Strange: I always understood that "the rock" represented the British. For more about this poem and its allegorical meaning, see page 50 of my book "The Ionian Islands and Epirus, A Cultural History".
On Doukaris and Vrettakos
A 19th Century British History of Corfu - Henry Jervis White-Jervis
"History of the Island of Corfu, and of the Republic of the Ionian Islands"
On Doukaris and Vrettakos
A 19th Century British History of Corfu - Henry Jervis White-Jervis
"History of the Island of Corfu, and of the Republic of the Ionian Islands"
Πολύ ωραία ενημέρωση. Δυστυχώς, δεν ξέρω με ποίο σκεπτικό, κάποιοι ταύτισαν την Οικία Στράνη με την Οικία Σολωμού αφού υπεξαίρεσαν τις φωτογραφίες από το διαδίκτυο και άρχισαν να προκαλούν σε υποθέσεις για το πώς ... μπορεί να διέθετε περιβόλι, αν και ως γνωστόν και οι δύο οικίες, αυτές που γεννήθηκε, και αυτή που εγκαταστάθηκε μετά την επιστροφή του μετά τις σπουδές στην Ιταλία δεν διέθεταν κάτι τέτοιο. Εσείς πολύ καλά κάνετε και παραθέτετε την εικονογράφηση παραπέμποντας στις πηγές σας.
ReplyDeleteAs said in Greece I congratulate you on the well written post. The picturs of Stranis House were reposted as Solomos House and then these, that they reposted the pictures, begun to provoke arguments on how a garden was attached to the house. Both the houses that Solomos occupied in his life in Zante, that in his early years, and the other one, that he occupied after returning from his studies in Italy, were lucking a garden.
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