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| Statues marking the Dance |
As Greece faces another election the results of which could well decide it's fate within the Eurozone, any parallels drawn with perilous cliff tops and fatal jumps into the unknown are apt. None is quite as pertinent to me, though, as the "dance of the Souliot women" who, in order to escape capture and enslavement by the Ottoman ruler Ali Pasha, threw themselves off the mountains of Zalongo and committed suicide en masse.
Historically, the Souliot women are seen as brave heroines who threw themselves and their children onto the rocks below rather than succumb to a nasty fate. I admire the heroism and patriotism of the act but have often wondered if perhaps they weren't a bit rash and certainly a bit unfair on the children (who presumably had no say in the matter). That brave, almost reckless sense of 'give me freedom of give me death' that is so much a part of the Greek identity and character is now placing the country in a perilous situation with it's European partners.
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has captured the imagination of many Greeks with his campaign to end the 'enslavement' of the country to the international banking sector, the IMF and the EU chiefs who have called for austerity, austerity and more austerity. Voting Tsipras and his left leaning coalition into parliament would be a little bit like taking a leap into the unknown. And it could be a fatal one.
Watching Tsipras' speech before Greece's first parliamentary election was probably very much like watching the first Souliot calling on his companions to rise up against the Ottomans in 1803, a call for the 'Davids' to take arms against the 'Goliaths'. It was a call that resonates as much with modern day Greeks as it traditionally has throughout this small country's long history, and his party gained massively in popularity. But Tsipras is a young, untried politician who has, as yet, to offer a concrete solution to Greece's problems other than a refusal to accept the (already signed) memorandum.
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| "Les Femmes Souliot" by Ari Sheffer |
Greece is now dancing the dance of Zalongo with the rest of Europe, threatening to metaphorically throw itself off the cliff if the memorandum of austerity and cuts is not revised. EU leaders were shaken by Syriza's lead in the last election and concerned that Tsipras will achieve a governmental majority this time. He just might. Angry and frustrated by a succession of inept and corrupt governments, Greeks are refusing to give their votes to the old established parties, feeling that this is the one act of defiance and democracy that is left to them by an overbearing EU. Many would rather throw themselves into the unknown than accept what they perceive as a lifetime of endless servitude and bondage to the international banks.
This song is still sung while dancing the "Dance of Zalongo":
Farewell poor world,
Farewell sweet life,
and you, my poor country,
Farewell for ever
Farewell springs,
Valleys, mountains and hills
Farewell springs
And you, women of Souli
The fish cannot live on the land
Nor the flower on the sand
And the women of Souli
Cannot live without freedom
The women of Souli
Have not only learnt how to survive
They also know how to die
Not to tolerate slavery
I am so sad to report that after writing this post the next morning the newspapers were full of this story:
Mother and son jump to their death
