#erophile

[pretty-little-nightmare-xx]

I have long since walked out of the silent cathedrals, leaving behind the ghosts of gods who never spoke. I’m a heretic who found a different kind of grace; I’ve unlearned the language of the divine to master the dialect of the devoted. I am a wanderer whose only true pilgrimage is the journey toward another soul. My religion is written in the language of a lingering touch; my hymns are whispered in the heat of a shared breath. I find no divinity in the ancient and the abstract, only in the soft, fragile beauty of loving someone. If love is a heresy, then let me be burned by its light, for I would rather worship the memory of your smile than a god I have never met.

[gemsofgreece]

Which do you consider are the most famous love stories in Greece?

Literary ones, you mean? There is one that is on a whole different level than anything else.

That's Erotókritos & Aretúsa from the early 17th century epic romance Ερωτόκριτος (Erotokritos), composed by Vitsentzos Kornaros. It remains to this day the ultimate love story for us. It's for Greece like what Romeo and Juliet is for English literature. The poetry has been set to music and has given some of the most loved modern Greek songs but also even contemporary songs composed nowadays are sometimes inspired by these two lovers. 

Incidentally, another very famous love story was also from poetry composed around the very same time. This was the epic romance of Ερωφίλη (Erophile), with the love story of Erophile & Panáretos. But this one is an extremely dark and sad story, which is why it is not talked about as often.

Art inspired by Erotokritos & Aretusa, from a book edition of the poem. 

(I love it but wasn’t Erotokritos supposed to be blonde and Aretusa brunette? Anyway it’s too gorgeous to complain. Check also this fantastic artwork here)

This is a modern song inspired by Erotokritos and Aretusa. It’s not the original poetry set to music (which are classic enough to be considered almost folk at this point), it’s a new creation.

Now, other love stories we mention very often and have inspired our art and music come from antiquity and mythology: namely, Orpheus and Eurydice, Odysseus and Penelope are the most prominent.

[gemsofgreece]

Will you make a post about "Erophili"? Just asking because I'm already familiar with "Erotokritos".

I haven't read it yet but here are a few things.

Erophile is a tragic poem, following patterns of ancient tragedies, written by Georgios Hortatsis around 1595 in the island of Crete. It is inscripted to Ioannis Murmuris, a lawyer from Chania. It was first published in Venice in 1637.

The story takes places in Memphis of Egypt. Unlike Erotokritos the story is DARK.

It is the love story of Erophíle and Panáretos. Erophile is the daughter of the (horrible) king Philóghonos, who has killed his brother, the rightful king, and Panaretos is raised in the court, being an exiled prince of another country (probably Georgia) but his true identity is not known. The two grow up together in the court and their childhood friendship evolves into a strong romance. They get secretly married. At some point, the king decides to have his daughter married and he accepts only the wealthiest and most powerful suitors. The king forces Panaretos to inform Erophile that she is to get married. The couple is devastated and take oaths of eternal loyalty.

[SPOILERS]

The king finds out about the secret marriage. He decides to kill Panaretos, despite Erophile's desperate attempts to reason with him. Panaretos then reveals his identity as an exiled prince but nobody believes him. Philoghonos cuts his head, arms and tongue and cuts out his heart, which he offers to Erophile as a wedding gift, right after he pretends to accept her marriage to Panaretos. Erophile kills herself. The chorus, which is comprised by Erophile's ladies in waiting, murders Philoghonos.

There are also characters and themes inspired by ancient tragedies like Charon, a Chorus, a god - Sun and the ghost of the murdered brother king that it is suggested he causes these events as a revenge. The vengeful brother ghost reminds me of Hamlet and interestingly Hamlet was being written around the exact same time but it is unclear which was finished first. Hamlet was definitely published first though.

[coffeenewstom]

Kretisches Kaffeetagebuch: Hotel Erofili, Agia Galini - ganz nah bei den Göttern

Nach diesem ganzen gefakten “Hippie-Vibes” in Matala, begegnen wir doch noch einem echten Hippie. Zumindest vermuten wir das. Unser Gastgeber sieht nämlich ein bisschen nach Hippie aus, fährt ein ultracooles Karmann-Wohnmobil im Hippie-Style, ist anscheinend Musiker und betreibt eine “Jazz und Blues Bar”. Das Hotel ist bunt und weltoffen, man ist laut Inschrift ganz nah an den Göttern, auf dem…

Kretisches Kaffeetagebuch: Hotel Erofili, Agia Galini - ganz nah bei den Göttern

[staliaofatreides]

Not me thinking about renaissance tragedies again