Page 434 - Beholding Liberty!

ΙΙΙ.10.3
Andreas Kalvos from Zakynthos The Lyre, Odes
Geneva: Printing House of Guil.e Fick, 1824 Library of the Hellenic Parliament
THE POET Andreas Kalvos (1792-1869) from Zante, educated in Italy, was representative of neo- classicism and a supporter of political liberalism.
In 1824 in Geneva, he published The Lyre, a collec- tion of ten odes inspired by the Greek Revolution, in an archaic style with romantic elements. Their titles are indicative: “The Patriot”, “To Glory”, “To Death”, “To The Sacred Band”, “To The Muses”, “To Chios”, “To Parga”, “To Muslims”, “To Liberty”, “The Ocean”. Their success led to the publication of another ten odes, titled “Lyric Poems”, in Paris in 1826.
This edition of The Lyre is accompanied by a cover in French (La Lyre. Odes en Grec modern. Par A. Calbo. Avec un vocabulaire à la fin. A Paris, Chez Lecointe et Durey, Libraires, et À Genève, Chez Ab.m Cherbuliez, Libraire. MDCCCXXIV.). It was in fact published in
French in Paris during the same year (La Lyre patri- otique de la Grèce, odes traduites du Grec Moderne) by Stanislas Julien, the translator of Dionysios Solo- mos’ Hymn to Liberty [cat. no. III.10.4].
Kalvos’ language is utterly idiosyncratic – a mixture of ancient Greek diction and vernacular elements. Being aware of his idiosyncrasy, he added a brief glossary (Notes and index of words and phrases), as well as an explanatory Note about his peculiar sys- tem of prosody. His strophe is similarly distinctive, with five unrhymed lines in iambic metre, influenced by Italian neoclassical poetry.
In any case, Kalvos’ Odes constitute a unicum in modern Greek poetry; they established him as the pre-eminent political poet of the Struggle, who sang the praises of revolution and patriotism.
434 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!