Page 446 - Beholding Liberty!

446 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!
EPILOGUE 5
Panagiotis Soutsos
Ode to the twenty-fifth of March. To which previously published fragments of poems are added, on the subject of the Greek struggle.
By Nikolaos D. Formanos.
Athens: By the Printing House of Chr. Anastatiou (Ermou Street, K. Pitaris House), 1843
Library of the Hellenic Parliament
THE PHANARIOTE PANAGIOTIS SOUT- SOS (1806-1868), a romantic writer of the Athe- nian School, is an important figure in Greek letters. Inspired by the historical events of the Greek War of Independence, he composed an Ode in his char- acteristic katharevousa, a heavily archaised form of modern Greek; related poetic compositions by the
lesser-known Nikolaos Formanos are also included in the same edition.
The poem which Panagiotis Soutsos composed in 1843 in commemoration of the 25th of March demonstrates the impact of the Greek War on the arts and letters only a few years after the introduc- tion of the holiday, in 1838.
EPILOGUE 6
Ioannis Karatsoustas
The Annunciation of Greece or the twenty-fifth of March, patriotic song
Hermoupolis: By the Printing House of G. Melistagous, 1843 Library of the Hellenic Parliament
THE POET AND TRANSLATOR Ioannis Karasoustas (1824-1873) from Ermoupolis, Syros, wrote romantic poems in katharevousa, a heavily ar- chaised form of modern Greek. Inspired by the Greek War of Independence and comprising 17 octaves, this patriotic song from his early period is dedicated
to “the venerated shades of the heroes who died for the resurrection of Greece”. The work title is indica- tive of how the Annunciation of the Virgin was close- ly associated with the proclamation of the War of Independence in the early decades of Independence, when the national holiday was introduced.