Hellenic Literature Society

GREECE IN PRINT, November 15, 1996

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

This year marks the 225th anniversary of the birth of Laskarina Bouboulina, the first female admiral of modern history, and of the 175th anniversary of the 1821 War of Greek Independence. An artistic tribute to the Greek heroine will be presented from November 23-30 in Los Angeles. Los Angeles artist Calliope Caloyera Babu-Khan has collected the great stories of the Greek heroine and has incorporated them in a ten-foot biographical painting which will be the centerpiece of an exhibit of paintings and artifacts depicting the historic part played by Bouboulina in the successful struggle for Greek independence. The exhibition will include maps, costumes, letters and flags of that era, and photographs of her personal objects and of her mansion on Spetses. The exhibit will be at the AT&T Building, 42nd floor, Penthouse, 611 West 6th Street, Los Angeles. Admission is free. For hours, call 310-454-4151.

**** GLORY OF BYZANTIUM ****

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will mount a landmark exhibition "The Glory of Byzantium" from March 11 to July 6. The exhibition focuses on the four centuries from the end of iconoclasm in the 9th century to the sacking of Constantinople in the 13th century during the crusades that began 1n 1204. The exhibition comprises over 350 works culled from 110 different institutions and private collections in twenty countries. About 10% of the works loaned to the Metropolitan for the exhibition are from Greece. "The Glory of Byzantium" is unique because it marks the first opportunity museum visitors will have to explore in depth Byzantium's great Second Golden Age and its impact beyond its borders.

**** HANNAH SEEGER DAVIS POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN HELLENIC STUDIES 1997-98 ****

Princeton University, Program in Hellenic Studies invites applications for the Hannah Seeger Davis Post-doctoral Fellowship in Hellenic Studies, awarded annually to a young scholar in Hellenic Studies, with special emphasis on Byzantine and/or Modern Greek Studies, including their relation to the Classical tradition. The stipend for 1997-98 will be $32,000 and the term of residence will be September 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998. Fellows will spend an academic year in residence at Princeton for the purpose of revising their dissertation for publication as a book or for another research project specified in their application. Eligibility: candidates who do not currently hold a tenure-track academic appointment at another institution and who have completed all the requirements for the doctoral degree by June 1, 1997, but not earlier than June 1, 1995. Candidates from all humanities and social science disciplines will be considered. Fellows will be selected by the Committee on Hellenic Studies. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, samples of their scholarly work, a detailed description of their research project, and three letters of recommendation. Deadline for application materials: January 1, 1997. The Committee also requires a letter from the candidate's departmental chair confirming the date of completion of all of the requirements for the doctoral degree. This letter should be received by June 1, 1997. The Committee will announce its decision by early June, 1997. Applications should be sent to: Princeton University, Committee on Hellenic Studies, HSD, Joseph Henry House, Princeton, NJ 08544-1019.

**** SOUTH AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON PATRISTIC AND BYZANTINE STUDIES ****

The South African Society for Patristic and Byzantine Studies will hold a conference from 27-29 August 1997 in Pretoria. The registration fee is US $30 (non-refundable) and must be received before January 31, 1997 together with the proposed title of a communication paper and personal information. All other information regarding the conference will only be sent to those whose registration fee has been paid. Please note that no other fees will be payable at the conference (the banquet is optional). Please make your cheque payable to the University of Pretoria and send it to Prof. Hendrik F. Stander, Dept. of Ancient Languages, University of Pretoria 0002 Pretoria South Africa, Tel:(27) (12) 420-2691 (W), (27) (12) 47-3638 (H), Fax: (27) (12) 420-4008 (W), (27) (12) 47-3638 (H). e-mail (under the heading "S.A. Conference") at <STANDER@LIBARTS.UP.AC.ZA>. Ms. Anne Barkhuizen, Assistant Manager of Glenwood Travel Agency P.O. Box 36058, Menlo Park, 0102, South Africa, telephone: 27 12 348-8131, fax: 27 12 47-6785, will be handling the following arrangements: Accommodation in either standard or first class hotels or guest houses. Transfer from and to the Johannesburg International Airport. Car rental. Leisure program for spouses. Pre- and post-conference tours such as: - Eastern Transvaal Game Lodges - Zimbabwe - Garden Route - Cape Town and wine farms - City sightseeing (Pretoria and Johannesburg) - Kruger National Park - Sun City.

FEATURE ARTICLE

On August 16, 1972 archaeologists off the southern Italian fishing village of Riace swung two muscular bronze men out of the Ionian Sea and eased them to the deck. The Bronze of Riace immediately caused a worldwide sensation. Among the most exquisite sculptures of classical antiquity, they are vivid reminders of the glory of Magna Graecia, the necklace of Greek cities that arose along the shores of southern Italy in the eighth century B.C., burned with a cultural brilliance that rivaled Athens itself, and faded while Rome was still young. Yet the Bronzes of Riace, so handsome and lifelike, seemed more than sculpture. It was as if two sexy inhabitants of a lost civilization had awakened from a watery sleep of 25 centuries. Few people who admire the Bronzes in the Museo Nazionale of Reggio Calabria, a major city in the region, dream that the real descendants of Magna Graecia are still very much alive. Just 20 kilometers inland, in the wild, wolf-infested Calabrian mountains, are a few isolated villages where the older inhabitants still speak Greek. Not modern Greek, nor medieval Byzantine, but a form of ancient Greek - the language of the Bronzes and their sculptor, the language of Homer. The songs, customs, and religious traditions of these impoverished farmers are a priceless cultural inheritance, unique in the world. They call themselves "Grecanici" and are a living link to more than 2,500 years of uninterrupted history. A link that, barring a miracle, will soon be broken forever. This is the Deep South, the extreme tip of the Italian boot, a place known as Aspromonte, or "Harsh Mountain." At first glance, the name seems to fit: Steep, forbidding mountains advance almost to the coast and rise away inland as far as the eye can see, a parade of sun-scorched peaks and deep gorges of eternal shadow. For most Italians, Aspromonte is synonymous with brigands and grinding poverty. Yet driving south from Reggio along the sinuous Ionian coastline down Highway 106, I begin to see that the landscape, at least, is anything but harsh. To the right, smooth expanses of pebble and white-sand beaches are punctuated by steep-sided coves of startling aquamarine. To the left, the lush mountain vegetation spills down almost to the road: Chestnuts, holm oaks, and quaking aspen mingle with silvery olive trees and fruit-laden oranges above a carpet of wildflowers. Here and there grow incongruous tropical imports: date palms, banana, rubber, prickly pear. At Bova Marina I turn off the highway onto a narrow road that switchbacks its way up into the mountains, climbing 1,000 meters in 14 kilometers. In the distance, set on a rocky promontory, is the town of Bova, doorway to the Grecanico region. Like other Grecanico villages, Bova occupies a perfect defensive position. For very good reason - the Grecanici have been under siege for the last 2,500 years. In the fifth century B.C., warlike Italic tribes forced many inhabitants of Magna Graecia to abandon their prosperous coastal cities and take refuge in mountain hill towns. The domination of the Roman Empire brought a measure of stability, though Magna Graecia lost its freedom as well as its economic and artistic stature. When Rome fell a millennium later, southern Calabria came under the control of the Byzantine Empire. This ensured the continuity of Greek language and learning, but offered little protection from the wave upon wave of Germanic warriors, Saracen raiders, Norman knights. Turkish crusaders, and Bourbon troops that ravaged the area. Other invaders wielded not the sword, but a chalice and a cross. The Papacy systematically persecuted the Grecanici for their Greek Orthodox faith, driving them deep into the mountains to worship in hidden chapels. Bova, the last holdout of Orthodoxy, was forcibly converted to Roman Catholicism in 1573. In the snug central piazza of Bova, I meet Carmelo Nucera, a native Bovese and the town's former mayor, who has agreed to be my guide in the Aspromonte. He leads me through the town's maze of cobbled alleyways and small cottages that seem to have sprung directly from the granite slopes. Street signs are bilingual, both in Greek and Italian, an initiative Carmelo took to emphasize the proud history of Bova - or "Vua," the Grecanico name, which he prefers. He points out churches dedicated to saintly Greek Orthodox monks. From the sixth century on, these black-robed holy men from the East founded churches and monasteries throughout the area, in which they preserved intellectual treasures of the Byzantine Empire that had long since disappeared from Western Europe. The greatest treasure of all was their language, key to the knowledge of ancient Greece, which catalyzed the Renaissance. When Petrarch and Boccacio wanted to learn Greek, they hired Calabrian monks as tutors. In those times, southern Calabria was rich in worldly as well as spiritual goods, renowned for its silks, honey, minerals, and fertile farmlands. Now Calabria is the poorest region in Italy, and the Grecanico area is the most destitute of all Calabria. Though they have withstood countless hostile invaders, the Grecanici now falter before their most unforgiving enemy: the modern world. Mass media has steadily eroded the Grecanico language and culture, which the Italian government - despite Article 6 of the Italian Constitution that mandates the preservation of ethnic minorities - does little to protect. Since World War II, most young Grecanici have moved to Reggio and the North of Italy in search of work, losing touch with their past. Signs of this slow hemorrhage are visible in Bova. Despite their current poverty and desolate future, the people are famous for their hospitality. Before heading back into the mountains, I get my first taste of Grecanico customs: lunch in a local home. When we arrive, the table is already laden with the appetizer, a smorgasbord of homemade salamis, ruby-red tomatoes dried in the sun, ugly little olives with a refined, complex flavor, marinated porcini mushrooms eaten one by one on a toothpick, and creamy "musulupo," goat's cheese molded into five neat domes to resemble a Byzantine church. Then, riding on a luscious breeze from the kitchen, comes the main course: "capra alla pecurara," a whole yearling goat slow-cooked in its own skin on a pit fire. Dessert consists of fresh figs, cottage cheese blended with orange blossom honey, and an enormous "'ngute," a rich pastry with six boiled eggs cooked - unpeeled - inside. This last dish appears to have a long history: Vases discovered in nearby Locri Epizephyrii, one of the capitals of Magna Graecia, portray women in graceful robes carrying trays of pastries with eggs imbedded in them. Certainly the "philoxenia" (sacred hospitality) of the ancient Greeks continues among the Grecanici. With the bitterness of the crowning espresso on our tongues, we climb aboard a battered Fiat 4x4 and drive uphill out the back end of town. The gravel track loops and tightropes along sheer precipices. Carmelo stops occasionally to explain points of interest, which show the intimate tie between the Grecanici and nature. We encounter clumps of coarse green grass sprinkled with fragrant yellow flowers. This is "ginestra," a species of broom that a few old women still weave at the "argalio" ("loom," a Homeric word), miraculously producing wedding dresses and silky soft blankets from its rough stalks. There are enormous rock monoliths with fantastical shapes, which are enshrouded in centuries of folk legend. We see Pentedattilo, Greek for "Five Fingers," a granite outcropping in the shape of a giant hand where, on the night of April 14, 1686, the noble Alberti family was ambushed in their castle by a rival clan and slaughtered. (Tradition has it that their bloody handprints are still visible on the stone.) As we proceed, the gravel road deteriorates to clay, and the clay to mud. Tiny, precariously perched villages appear above us. Their names - Condofuri, Galliciano, Ghorio - are pure Greek, for this is the heart of Grecanico territory. Though most residents speak Italian or the Calabrian dialect, their first language remains Grecanico, a close relation to classical Greek. We stop briefly in each town and climb a rutted track to the main piazza, under the watchful eyes of the villagers. A small group of men is always waiting silently in the square. The Grecanici are solemn and reserved, with a hint of melancholy about them and a hesitance to make eye contact that at first seems mistrustful. Yet after Carmelo's slow, formal introductions, they flash a brief smile of unmistakable warmth and candor. Someone invites us to his home, and the village escort us to the door. We all enter a cramped but immaculate dining room and find seats around a low table. Our host's family drifts in, and he introduces them one by one. Coffee and wine are served, and the family and village drink to our health. Then our visit begins in earnest. Someone brings out a "tambureddu" (a drum strung with cat skin) and an "organetto" (a species of accordion), and people begin in pairs to dance the Tarantella. At my request they recite poems in Grecanico, shyly and reluctantly at first, then with a growing rush of confidence. It is a sharp, impenetrable language, with hidden melodies and gentle simplicity, like the landscape in which they live. On the walls are images and icons of saints: San Rocco, San Pantaleone, and especially San Leo, patron saint of Aspromonte. The saints of the Grecanici are those of the Greek Orthodox Church, some of whom do not figure in the Roman Catholic calendar. The Grecanici remain fiercely loyal to their ancestral protectors, nonetheless. On feast days, they hold elaborate processions, bearing three-ton reliquaries in silver and gold up and down the hilly streets. Some of their ceremonies have even older, pre-Christian origins. On Palm Sunday the Grecanici come to church with life-sized dolls woven from olive branches, evident holdovers of pagan fertility cults. During marriage rites, the women of the village process from the bride's house to the groom's, balancing the objects of the trousseau on their heads; identical scenes appear in "pinakes" friezes of the fifth century B.C. excavated in Locri. The next village on our route is Roghudi, on the Amendolea River. We stop at a widening in the road that overlooks the town and the surrounding river valley. The broad stony bed of the Amendolea rolls through misty mountains to the coast, clearing a gap in which we glimpse the unearthly blue-green of the Ionian Sea. Beyond is the snow-covered cone of Mt. Etna, on nearby Sicily. Smoke trails from its active crater. Directly beneath us is Roghudi, whitewashed houses distributed along a knife-sharp ridge. In the streets and squares there is no movement, no sound except the whistle of swifts, the lonesome bray of a donkey somewhere on the opposing cliff, the roar of the river. Looking closer, I see that many windows are broken, their torn drapes flapping in the wind. Carmelo explains that the village was abandoned in 1973 when a catastrophic flood put an end to a century-long battle against depopulation and the elements. We walk down into the town, past colorful doors thrown open to reveal scenes of domestic life suddenly stilled: tables set with dusty crockery, kettles rusting on the stove. Word is that someone still lives in Roghundi, an octogenarian who cannot bear to leave his native home. There is no sign of him, only swooping swallows, bats fluttering in the darkened houses, and a one-eyed sheepdog that watches us warily from a distance. In the small main square, identical to the others we have visited, a grapevine climbs fresh and green up a rotting wooden trellis. Carmelo stops a moment to look. This is the fate that awaits all Grecanico villages, his beloved Bova included, unless something is done to halt the demographic decline of the region. In the last 30 years alone, five Greek-speaking villages have been abandoned. Though no one knows exactly how many native speakers remain, they cannot number much above 2,000. We drive past the last village into the wilderness of Aspromonte, where even our sturdy 4x4 struggles on the crumbling grade. Eventually we come upon a lone house set back in a grove of chestnuts. A squat, powerful man with the face of a Renaissance "condottiero" emerges, his worn work clothes smeared with a glistening substance, and offers me a hand as hard as a horn. He is Don Domenico, who cultivates bees in these isolated mountains, continuing a tradition of apiculture that has existed here for thousands of years. He shows us his hives, then, in typical local fashion, offers us copius quantities of homemade sausage, packs of honeycombs, and cupfuls of a delicious wine made from fermented honey that, he explains with a twinkle in his eye, will let us live 100 years. Afterward, we tour some of the ruined Orthodox monasteries and churches near his home. Some we enter, only to find moldering altars and battered and forgotten saints. All around us stands one of the densest and most pristine forests in Europe, which two years ago became a national park, the Parco Nazionale dell' Aspromonte. We pass tall, silent groves of beech, fir, larch, and Phoenician juniper - the primordial vegetation that the Greeks and Romans would have found. Wild boars, otters, peregrine falcons, and Bonelli's eagles live here; in the winter, Don Domenico hears the lonely howl of wolves that descent from the peaks in search of prey. As evening approaches, we take our leave and head for the sanctuary of San Giovanni Theristis. Though it is only 40 kilometers to the north, no roads lead over the mountains, so we have to return to the coastal highway. We drive along in the failing light, the blue of the water shading slowly into purple, then dusky gray. Carmelo is less talkative now. When we turn back into the mountains at Monasterace, I ask about the church we are to visit. What makes it different from the others we have seen? Carmelo smiles faintly, then looks quickly away, Calabrian fashion. "This one is different - you will see," he says. "It is a new beginning." He does not explain further. When we arrive, the full moon sits like a round of goat's cheese on the far mountains. In its milky light we see the ruins of a church. A figure in a full black gown and skullcap stands beside it, waiting. He is Father Kosmas, a Greek Orthodox hermit who moved from Mount Athos, the spiritual heartland of his religion, to this secluded place two years ago. When I ask him why, he smiles and strokes his grizzled beard, his dark eyes amused, then glances wordlessly away - just as a Calabrian would do, evidence of enduring parallels between the two races. Instead of answering, he suggests a tour of the church, dedicated to St. Giovanni Theristis, a Greek saint venerated for centuries in this area before the Vatican exterminated Orthodoxy. Once this was a dignified church in clean yellow sandstone, with an adjoining monastery housing dozens of monks. All that remains today is the ruined, roofless shell. Father Kosmas steps through a hole in the east wall and turns into the apse. It is like entering another world. In the shadowy bowl of the apse, which I now see has been carefully restored, candles burn beneath dozens of glowing golden icons, giving the church the warmth of a hearth. An owl watches with black liquid eyes as we speak. Lighting another candle, Father Kosmas holds it up to the central icon of Giovanni Theristis. The priest-artist who painted this icon, he says, prayed and fasted for a week, then let the Holy Spirit guide his hand in successive applications of egg yolk, wine vinegar, ochre, and animal bladder. Greek Orthodoxy was restored in this sanctuary on February 24, 1995, and Father Kosmas now worships here daily. I imagine the haunting polyphonic chorus of the Orthodoxy liturgy echoing once more in the rough stone apse after a silence of four centuries, then spiraling upward with the candle smoke like the incense and hymns of a Greek temple into the open sky above. This is what Carmelo means by a new beginning. Despite the precarious condition of the Grecanici, a few determined people like Father Kosmas have started to rebuilt the Grecanico culture and are fighting to preserve it. Filippo Condemi, a successful big-city psychiatrist born to a poor Grecanico family in Galliciano, has written a grammar of the language and is working to have it introduced in elementary schools. Bruno Casile, a farmer from Bova who became a self-taught poet, continues despite his advanced years to sing the rage and determination of his forgotten people in their ancient tongue. Carmelo Nucera himself has devoted his life to the Grecanici, among whom he grew up. He organizes music festivals, forges ties with Greek sister cities, and campaigns for legal recognition of the Grecanici as an ethnic minority. Even a few of the younger people are beginning to take pride in customs and traditions that have long been a source of shame to them. Mimmo Cuppari and Pasquale Valle lead tours of the Grecanico region, during which participants stay with local families and learn about their crafts and foods. Leo Zindato heads a new agricultural cooperative that grows the prized mushrooms of the Aspromonte. Each of these lone defenders is working with desperate energy, knowing that the Grecanico culture is on the verge of extinction. In the silence of the darkened church, Father Kosmas speaks. "You asked why I came here. I came at the direction of my spiritual adviser, whom I assisted at his deathbed in a cell on Mount Athos. For hours at a time he lay silent, his eyes closed, barely breathing. Just before he joined the Father, however, light returned to his eyes. He began to celebrate our glorious saints who lived and died in Calabria, the many miracles they worked here. Southern Calabria, you see, is a holy land for us. Father Kosmas is watching me now, with a look as searching as the owl on the wall, as powerful as the icons that surrounds us. His voice has a new intensity. "Suddenly he grasped my hand. 'Go!' he said, 'Return to the land of our saints. Begin a new life there. For darkness now reigns in Aspromonte, but it is from Aspromonte that the sun will rise again.'" This is what Father Kosmas believes. It is what the other people who are fighting for the Grecanico way of life, in one way or another, hope some day to see. Time will tell whether the sun will indeed rise once more for the Grecanici or whether they will slip, as they seem on the verge of doing, into a final, lasting darkness. For maps and general tourist information on the Grecanico region, the Aspromonte National Park, and the fabulous beaches of southern Calabria, visit the provincial tourist office (IAT) in downtown Reggio Calabria, Corso Garibaldi 329, 89100 Reggio Calabria; Tel: 39-965-892012. Nuove Frontiere Ecotursismo organizes superb tours of the Grecanico interior, including stays with Grecanico families. Contact Pasquale Valle at Nuove Frontiere Ecoturismo, Via Argine Destro Calopinace 3, C.P. 252, 89127 Reggio Calabria; Tel: 39-965-898295. In Bova, ask for Mimmo Cuppari. For details on the national park, contact Gruppo Escursionisti d'Aspromonte, Via Castello 2, 89125 Reggio Calabria; Tel: 39-965-332822. For further information about Grecanico culture and the effort to preserve it, write Apodiafazzi, the Grecanico Cultural Association: Via Vescovado, 89033 Bova (R.C.). There is no telephone. The spectacular joint feast of San Rocco and San Leo in Bova is August 15-17.

(Comments on reviewed books or featured articles may be discussed at the Greece In Print discussion forum on the Internet. Please mail your comments to hls-d@hri.org)

NEW PUBLICATIONS

THE CLASSICAL COOKBOOK, by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger This is the first book of its kind to explore the cuisine of the Mediterranean in ancient times, from 750 B.C. to A.D. 450. The authors draw on a mass of fascinating sources beyond the familiar recipes of the Roman gourmet Apicius. All types of food are represented here, allowing the modern cook to re-create the varied diet of the classical world, from the banquets of the rich to the simpler meals of soldiers, farmers, and slaves. Each chapter provides a historical outline, with translations of the original recipes followed by versions for the modern cook. The book is illustrated throughout with delightful scenes of food, hunters, and revelers from wall paintings, mosaics, and Greek vases. 144 pages, 8.8x8.8 inches, cloth

THE COOKBOOK OF THE JEWS OF GREECE, by Nicholas Stavroulakis This book comprises representative recipes from the Romaniot and the Sephardim Jewish communities, taken from all over Greece. It is divided according to holidays and rites of passage, and the recipes are preceded by material that focuses on the unique character of each community and their traditional customs. The book, in addition to the 287 recipes, some unique and others unusual variations on familiar Persian, Arab, Turkish, and Greek dishes, it is lavishly illustrated by the author with over sixty drawings of Jewish life throughout Greece, and documented with descriptions of local customs and traditions that are settings for a rich and varied cuisine.

DIVINE HEIRESS, The Virgin Mary and the creation of Christian Costantinople, by Vasiliki Limberis The author examines the cult of Mary in the context of the religious culture of the Mediterranean world and the imperial Christianity of the Roman Empire. She looks at all the evidence for the cult but pays particular attention to the early hymns to the Virgin. These hymns preserved the strong indigenous goddess traditions of the old town of Byzantium. These were devotions to Tyche, Rhea, Demeter/Persephone, Isis, Hecate and Athena. By studying them the author places the cult of Mary in its historical and cultural context. 199 pages, 5.7x8.7 inches, cloth

GREEK JEWRY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 1913-1983, by Joshua Eli Plaut This book examines the events among Greek Jewry prior to and during the Second World War, and then ventures into a neglected scholarly area of recent history - the post-Holocaust years as experienced by the Jews living in the small Jewish communities in the Greek provinces. Including untapped archival documents, as well as oral histories and photographs from his fieldwork in Greece, the author focuses on individuals, their stories and struggles, to describe how the smaller Jewish communities adjusted to the new realities imposed on them by the Holocaust. 220 pages, 6.4x9.5 inches, Cloth

**** GREEK ****

EINAI KATI KARABIA FANTASMATA, tou Giavvn Rngopoulou Evas elkustikos titlos pou tha tairiaze se keimevo pointiko, alla pou kribei suvtoma sxolia kai eleuthero dokimiako logo me stoxo tnv koivwvikn kritikn. Mikres eidnseis kai kathnmeriva gegovota, pou apotelouv aformn sxoliasmou prosapoktwvtas euruteres diastaseis nesw evos logou pou flertarei me tn logotexveia. Keimeva pou suvavtas ev eidei logotexvikns arthografias se eparxiakes efnmerides, alla kai stn sxoliografia logotexvikwv periodikwv, kai pou elkouv tnv osn aksia tous apo tnv trexousa epikairotnta tou gegovotos. Ta edw sugkevtrwmeva kaluptouv mia eikosaetia. 96 selides, 1996

THRONOS A, by B. Basikexagioglou Buthismevos sta egkata tns avthrwpivns mvnmns, o Throvos A eivai n "arxaiologia" tou pathous. Sumbola nsiodeiwv katabolwv sumplekovtai me arxaio-aiguptiaka snmeia avaforas, theoi kai anthrwpoi summetexouv s' evav avelento avtagwvismo. Skoteives vomoteleies kathorizouv tnv poreia tou kosmou kai n isorropoia katorthwvei va diatnrnthei me timnma to aima kai tov povo. O suggrafeas epixeirei va plasei to prosxedio mias tragwdias, sumfwva me to aisxyliko protupo tou "upsous". Lambavouv meros oi arxegoves duvameis tou sumpavtos pou sugkrouovtai dramatika me to avthrwpivo peisma. To keimevo eivai ermntiko kai duskolo, oi kwdikes tou ergou dev apokaluptovtai eukola kai n prosbasn katalngei dusxerestatn. Pavtws to egxeirnma eivai ovtws filodokso kai to apotelesma deixvei pws aksize pragmati tov kosmo.

H XAMENH SYNEXEIA, tou I. D. Iwavvidns Tria prosfugopoula, duo agoria ki eva koritsi, prwtoemfavizovtai se suvexeies stis selides evos ebdomadiaiou periodikou priv apo polla xrovia. Ystera apo tn megaln xara tns kukloforias tous ksexviouvtai fulakismeva s' eva sevtouki. Kai tote parousiazetai n megaln eukairia tns zwns tous: va ksavatupwthoun kai va ksavagurisouv stn sugxrovn epoxn. Omws ksafvika parousiazetai eva megalo empodio pou moiazei avuperblnto; xavetai musthriwdws mia suvexeia tous kai xwris autnv dev eivai duvatov va ksavadouv to ekdotiko fws. Etsi arxizei mia megaln ki alnthnvn peripeteia, n peripeteia tns avazntnsns tns xamevns tautotntas. To biblio tou Iwavvidn, grammevo me to ameso, glafuro kai proswpiko tou stul, perikleiei polla autobiografika stoixeia tou suggrafea kai biografika stoixeia tritwv. (Gia vearous kai gia megalous avagvwstes) 112 selides, 1996

BEST SELLERS IN GREECE

BEST SELLERS OUTSIDE OF GREECE

GIVE TO YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS, TO GREEKS AND NON-GREEKS ALIKE, A GIFT THEY WILL NEVER FORGET .... A BOOK OF GREEK LITERATURE

UPCOMING EVENTS

November 14-16 * New York, NY - DANCE CONCERT XIPoLYTOS Dance Theater and Lynn Brown will share an evening of New Dance at Context Theater, located at 28 Avenue A. XIPoLYTOS Dance Theater was conceived by Mariza Vinieratou and David Hinchcliffe and is based in New York's East Village. Showtimes are 8:00 pm, with an additional show at 2:00 pm on the 16th. Tickets are $10, and reservations may be made by calling 212-924-0077.

November 15-16 * Washington, DC - CONFERENCE The Hellenic American Women's Council will hold its annual conference "Empowerment Through Unity," at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Pentagon City. For further information, call Dora Hancock 703-685-7442; Barbara Pope 301-229-1748; Stacey Savva 201-944-6432.

November 16-17 * Seattle, WA - GREEK DANCE INSTRUCTION The Greek dance groups of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption, 1804 13th Ave., Seattle, are once again organizing a Greek Fest. Instruction Saturday and Sunday with Yvonne Hunt teaching dances of eastern Macedonia and the islands and Aris Yiortzidis teaching dances of eastern Thrace. Saturday night dinner/dance with both live and recorded music. $35 (US) includes all instruction sessions and dinner/dance. For more information or registration contact: Yvonne Hunt at bg901@scn.org or June Samaras 103655.1004@compuserve.com.

November 17 * Cambridge, MA - LECTURE AND DEMONSTRATION The Helicon Society will sponsor "A History and Demonstration of Greek Stringed Instruments" by Chris G. Pantazelos. The program begins at 3:30 pm at The Greek Institute, 1038 Massachusetts Avenue. Admission is free. For further information, call 617-338-0001.

November 17 * San Francisco, CA - ELYTIS MEMORIAL PROGRAM The Center for Modern Greek Studies, Nikos Kazantzakis Chair at San Francisco State University, in cooperation with the Modern Greek Program of UC Berkeley, will present a memorial program honoring 1979 Nobel prize winner Odysseas Elytis who died last March. The program will include comments on the poetry of Elytis by Professor Martha Klironomos and by poet Nanos Valaoritis, recitations of Elytis' poems in Greek and in English translation, and poems of Elytis set to music by contemporary Greek composers, including Mikis Theodorakis and Yannis Markopoulos. The program will begin at 3:00 pm at the UC Berkeley International House, Golub Homeroom (Piedmont and Bancroft Streets). The public is invited. Admission is free. For further information, call the Center for Modern Greek Studies at (415) 338-1892. (e-mail: modgreek@sfsu.edu)

November 21 * Hempstead, NY - LECTURE The Hellenic Armenian Law Student Association at Hofstra Law School will present a lecture on the current status of Cyprus and related legal issues. Guest speaker will be Eugene Rossides, chairman of the American Hellenic Institute. The lecture will be held at Hofstra Law School, Room 238 at 6:00 pm. A wine and cheese reception will follow. RSVP by November 15 by calling Irene Costea at 515-243-3136 or Jammy Drakos 516-935-3571.

November 23 * Bayside, NY - CONCERT The Queensborough Orchestra at Queensborough Community College will present 15 year-old Karina Canellakis in a return engagement performing Mendelssohn's "Violin Concerto" in QCC Theater at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $14; senior citizens $12. For further information, call 718-631-6311.

December 1 * Cambridge, MA - LECTURE The Helicon Society will sponsor "Elements of Enterpreneurial Success" by Chris Tsaganis. The program begins at 3:30 pm at the Greek Institute, 1038 Massachusetts Avenue. Admission s free. For further information, call 617-338-0001.

NOTES

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