No. 6, Kanaris (Constantine). Hero of the War of Independence; born in 1790, died in 1877. He was captain of a merchant ship when Greece rose against the Turks. In the night of the 18th to to the 19th of June, 1822, helped by a companion, he burned two Turkish vessels. In the following November he burned the admiral’s ship of the Turkish fleet in the port of Tenedos. He continued his work of destruction, always at the extreme peril of his life and the lives of his brave companions, at Samos and Mytilene, and during all the duration of the war fought valiantly at the side of Miaoulis. He is the hero of one of Victor Hugo’s celebrated “Orientales.”
No. 7, Souli or Suli. Site in the province of Jannina in Epirus; celebrated in the War of Independence for the heroism of its inhabitants and for the death-dance of its women who, on the approach of the Turks, danced for the last time their national dance on the plateau of the mountain of Zalongos, and then, one by one, flung themselves and their children over the precipice. Rennell Rodd in The Violet Crown has a beautiful poem about this episode called “Zalongos. The last fight of Suli.” The last words, as far as I remember, are:—
“… thus beneath Zalongos side
The mothers and the children died
That Suli ne’er might breed again
A race of less heroic men.”
The word “Suliote” is almost synonymous in Greece with hero or heroine. If anyone is asked to undertake any very daring or desperate deed, the answer often is, “Do you think I am a Suliote?”
No. 8, Diakos (Athanasius). A Greek hero before the War of Independence. Born 1788, died 1820. He led several successful attacks against the Turks but was at last taken prisoner by them and put to death by impalement.
No. 9, Oristé. Literally “Command me,” used in the sense of, “Yes, at once. At your service!”
No. 10, Tsourekia. Cakes, made principally for Easter, of flour, eggs, butter and sugar.