A NATIONAL HOLIDAY OF DEFIANCE IN GREECE

Today is a national holiday in Greece. While other peoples celebrate the end of World War 2, the Greeks are keeping this day in commemoration of the Prime Minister of the day, Ioannis Metaxas (link) rejecting the ultimatum issued by the dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini to surrender, by a resounding "no" (ochi, in Greek, hence the nick name ochi day; historically Metaxas' words were: "it is war then"). Personally I know too little about World War 2 to fill an entire posting, so we'll  let the historians take on that role today. 


May 7, 20234 The Front: Why the Greeks HATED the German Occupation More Than Any Other Country in WW2.

What we do know something about, is the Greek trait of defiance in the face of threats, wars and extinction. In known history the character trait goes back to the time of the second Persian War (480-479 BC) in which Persian King Xerxes I launched a second effort to invade Greece, seeking to avenge his father’s defeat in the first failed attempt. 

The Persians were defeated for  second time at the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small force of Spartans led by King Leonidas, fought valiantly against overwhelming odds. The Persians were ultimately defeated at the Battle of Plataea.

King Leonidas of Sparta defied Xerxes' ultimatum with the words μολὼν λαβέ (molon lave - meaning, come and take (it)) before the Battle of Thermopylae. This battle was technically lost by the Spartans when the Persian army of 10,000 men ordered the token Spartan army of 300 men to lay down their weapons.


Playlist by Hoc Est Bellum: Second Persian Invasion of Greece.

However, it was a moral and tactical victory for Sparta. It allowed several days advance time for the Athenians to evacuate to the island of Salamis. Later the Greeks would go on to defeat the Persians at the Battle of Salamis and crush them a year later at the Battle of Plataea. 

We know King Leonidas said these words because it was written down in a book called Moralias (The Morals), a collection of essays and speeches by the Greek philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest,  Plutarch. 

Given this history of defiance the reaction of PM Ioannis Metaxas to Mussolini prior to World War 2 was not out of character. Metaxas message to the Greek people was: "The time has come for Greeks to fight for her independence. We now must prove worthy of our ancestors and the freedom they gave us". 

- The Greco-Italian War (Threadreader page)
- The story of the Immortals or The Sacred Band in WW2 (video)
- The Greek Secret, by the Washington Ochi Day Foundation (video)


The great, but gravely underestimated composer, Christos Leontes has given us two songs in commemoration of the heroism during World War 2 echoing the trait of defiance uttered by Greeks facing a firing squad by the Nazis. 


Sep. 26, 2023 Γιάννης Κότσιρας - Δεν θέλω να μου δέσετε τα μάτια. (Yannis Kotsiras - Den thelo na mou desete ta matia). 

Δε θέλω να μου δέσετε τα μάτια

Συνθέτης: Χρήστος Λεοντής 
Στιχουργός: Κώστας Βίρβος 
 
Δε θέλω να μου δέσετε τα μάτια 
τον ήλιο π’ ανατέλλει να χαρώ
κι αν κάνετε τα στήθια μου κομμάτια
εσείς πεθαίνετε κι όχι εγώ.

Δε θέλω να μου δέσετε τα μάτια
δεν σκιάζομαι τα βόλια τα σκληρά,
πηγαίνω στα ουράνια παλάτια
να στείλω στους ανθρώπους τη χαρά.

I don't want a blindfold 

Conposer: Christos Leontes
Lyrics: Kostas Virvos 

I don't want a blindfold
I will enjoy the rising sun 
and if you tear my breast apart
you'll be dying, not me.

I don't want a blindfold
I don't hide from the hard artillery
I go to the heavenly palaces
to send people joy.


Sep. 26, 2023 Μίλτος Πασχαλίδης & Γιάννης Κότσιρας - Τούτες τις μέρες.  (Miltos Paschalides & Yannis Kotsiras - Toutes tis meres). 

Τούτες τις μέρες 

Συνθέτης: Χρήστος Λεοντής (1964)
Στιχουργός: Γιάννης Ρίτσος 

Τούτες τις μέρες ο άνεμος μας κυνηγάει, μας κυνηγάει
Γύρω σε κάθε βλέμμα το συρματόπλεγμα
γύρω στην καρδιά μας το συρματόπλεγμα
γύρω στην ελπίδα το συρματόπλεγμα
Πολύ κρύο, πολύ κρύο, πολύ κρύο εφέτος

Πιο κοντά, πιο κοντά
μουσκεμένα χιλιόμετρα μαζεύονται γύρω τους

Μέσα στις τσέπες του παλιού πανωφοριού τους
έχουν μικρά τζάκια να ζεσταίνουν τα παιδιά
Κάθονται στον πάγκο κι αχνίζουν
απ’ τη βροχή και την από στάση
Η ανάσα τους είν’ ο καπνός ενός τραίνου
που πάει μακριά, πολύ μακριά
Κουβεντιάζουν
και τότε η ξεβαμμένη πόρτα της κάμαρας
γίνεται σαν μητέρα που σταυρώνει τα χέρια της
κι ακούει

Πιο κοντά, πιο κοντά
μουσκεμένα χιλιόμετρα μαζεύονται γύρω τους...

In those days

Composer: Christos Leontes (1975)
Lyrics: Yannis Ritsos 

These days the wind is chasing us, chasing us
Around every look there is barbed wire
barbed wire is around our heart
barbed wire is around hope
It's very cold, very cold, very cold this year

Closer and closer
wet kilometers gather around them

In the pockets of their old coat
they have small fireplaces to warm the children
They sit on a bench, steaming
from the rain and the distance
Their breath is the smoke of a train
that goes far, far away
Talking
and then the faded paint on the door of the room
becomes like a mother who crosses her arms
and listens

Closer and closer
wet kilometers gather around them...


Playlist or (warmly recommended) full concert celebrating Christos Leontes' career of sixty years on Sep. 26, 2023 at the Odeon of Herod Atticus in Athens. The vantage point and the sound quality is also better in the full concert. 


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