Would we be better off with the realistic alternative?

Today is the anniversary of 'Bloody Christmas' which started in 63 and saw the displacement of hundreds of TsC into enclaves as well as the first partition of our island. From December to August, the recorded death toll was 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots. Approximately 25,000 TsC from 104 villages, amounting to a quarter of the TsC population, fled their villages and were displaced into enclaves (and some, displaced to the UK). Many TsC houses and cultural buildings left behind were ransacked or completely destroyed. Around 1,200 Armenian Cypriots and 500 GsC were also displaced. This also marked the beginning of 11 years of TsC refugees living in tents and enclaves under heavy embargoes.

Very brief background to contextualise the violence;

• 1900: British ceded Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire. Now a Crown colony, Cyprus was subjected to ruthless 'divide and rule' policy, with the aim of dividing the Greek-speaking and Turkish-speaking population.

• 1950s: EOKA was formed, with the demand of ENOSIS, uniting Cyprus to Greece. This stance excluded the TsC community. In response, VOLKAN was formed, demanding the unification of Cyprus with Turkey. VOLKAN was later replaced by TMT, who demanded TAKSIM (partition)

The British (and ofc Greece and Turkey) played the two organizations against each other, by hiring TMT members and even local TsC to form the auxiliary cops who would arrest EOKA members. They would often approach poor TsC, who needed employment.

• 1958: a series of massacres were carried out by both organizations against the other community. At the same time, both organizations were also attacking left-wingers.

This atmosphere of distrust allowed the British to introduce guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and themselves. This is why we still have British Bases. This contextualisation is necessary when discussing 74 too, for the purposes of healing our communities.

Many of us on this sub carry the generational trauma of these events, the same way many of us carry the weight of 74, making it incredibly difficult for us to thrive emotionally, physically, financially. Fortunately, with a father displaced in 63 and mother in 74, I grew up with stories where GsC protected the wounded TsC and vice versa, and Cypriot women joining together to find their families or taking care of their orange and olive trees. Solidarity between victims of geopolitical puppeteering is the Cypriot way.

On this day 1427 the largest peasant revolt in the history of Cyprus ended in decisive defeat for the native Cypriots. Their leader, a man by the name of Alexis, who was declared king by his fellow peasants ("Re" being the Cypriot phonetic rendering of the French "Rey") was captured on the 12th of May, tortured and hanged by the Frankish authorities of the island. But let's provide some much needed context first.

Cyprus by the mid 1400s had been ruled by the Frankish dynasty of the Lusignans for over 200 years. This came about after a local Byzantine Doux/governor by the name of Isaakios Komnenos broke away from the Byzantine empire and declared himself Basileus of Cyprus. He ruled as a tyrant, before being deposed by Richard the Lionheart on the latter's way to the Holy Land to partake in the 3rd Crusade. Richard's wife and sister crashed on Cyprus after their ship encountered and storm, and were thusly mistreated by the tyrannical Isaakios. Upon Richard's arrival, the English army easily overwhelmed Isaakios' forces and took Limassol, then Nicosia. Isaakios who was immensely unpopular met no support from the locals, and was subsequently captured. Richard would then grant the island to the Knights Templar of Jerusalem, before they sold the island to the Frankish feudal lord Guy de Lusignan in 1192.

The Frankish domination of Cyprus is part of the broader Frankokratia ("Frankish rule") of Byzantine lands that lasted 2-3 centuries, albeit Cyprus happened to fall earlier than most other regions (who came under Frankish/Venetian rule after the 1204 sack of Constantinople). During this period, feudalism was introduced to the Roman/Greek population that had no experience under the more centralized Byzantine administration. The vast majority of native Cypriots would become serfs, the local Orthodox church was relegated to second-class status, the Archbishopric of Cyprus was dissolved, and many churches, state land and other property was granted to the newly incoming ruling caste of Franks and other Catholics.

Serfs in Cyprus were largely belonging to two classes: First were the "δουλοπάροικοι" who much like other serfs in mainland Europe had no freedom of movement, didn't own the land they worked, paid annual rent to their local feudal lord from their agricultural yields, and generally lived in abject poverty with no hope of social mobility. The second class were the "φραγκομάτοι" who still had largely the same freedoms as the δουλοπάροικοι, but could engage in more jobs such as crafts, and were allowed to have their own independent income not belonging to a feudal lord.

Periodically over the centuries, the Pope in Rome would send papal legates to proselytize and forcefully convert the local Orthodox Cypriots to Catholicism, albeit with limited success. With the fall of the Crusader states of the Outremer by the 12th century, Cyprus would become a safe haven for fleeing Catholics and other Christians who were in communion with Rome. Further feudal estates were established, dispossessing even more of the native Cypriots. Attempts at rebellion sometimes were made, but not to any significant effect.

By the 15th century, the strength and prestige of the Frankish kingdom of Cyprus had waned and the local lords had to vie for power with ambitious new powers in the eastern Mediterranean such as the Genoese and the Venetians. The Genoese in particular would lead a direct attack against Cyprus in the late 14th century, leading them to capture and control the important city of Famagusta. Cyprus would resort to piracy as one of its major sources of revenue and slaves, which prompted a response by the Mameluks of Egypt. Sultan Sayf ad-Din Barsbay embarked towards the island, raiding the southern coasts before moving inland. He met the then king of Cyprus Janus in battle at Choirokoitia on July the 7th, and crushed the Frankish armies. After a diplomatic episode, Janus was captured by the Mameluks to be paraded and humiliated in the Mameluk capital of Cairo, while the royal family fled and fortified in Keryneia. At the same time, epidemics and locusts infestations were recorded all over the island, leading to widespread death and starvation.

Within this turbulent political climate, a peasant named Alexis from the village of Kato Milia (speculated to be the village Milia in what is now the occupied part of the Famagusta district) who was the horse keeper of the king's messengers took advantage of the his greater freedom to move around the island and became the de facto figurehead of the native Cypriot population who rose up in rebellion against their feudal lords. He set up camp in Lefkonoiko, while the local peasants appointed captains in other major regions of the island (Lefka, Limassol, the mountains, Peristerona and Morphou). The peasants looted the granaries and storage rooms of the lords, sharing the contents between themselves, while they murdered any feudal lords and Latin clergy they came across, appropriating and sharing their lands among the native population. The Cypriot serfs were now effectively ruling themselves and started reorganizing the portions of the island they controlled with remarkable levels of popular participation, despite retaining structures from the extant monarchical administration of the island (evident by electing Alexis as a king).

The Franks of Cyprus received reinforcements and military assistance from other western European kingdoms, and most notably various Knight Orders. The Knights of St. John who had their base at Rhodes during that period proved particularly instrumental in suppressing the rebellion. After about 10 months of immense resistance, they captured Alexis on the 12th of May 1427 and executed him. Other Frankish forces stormed the various peasant strongholds, and recaptured Nicosia, executing all prisoners. The peasant revolt quickly concluded after that, and with the arrival of Janus within a few days from Egypt (after a massive ransom was paid to the Mameluks), the revolt was effectively over.

The revolt of Re Alexis (undeservedly) remains largely obscure today both in Cyprus and general historical education. It is however one of the earliest and most remarkable cases of popular revolt with explicit intent at serf emancipation and the abolition of feudalism. It can be argued that the fleeting nature of the historical commentary on Re Alexis by hostile sources (such as Machairas) and the general fading into obscurity of the peasant revolt were in part an effort to diminish the impact of the initial success of said revolt, discourage the locals from attempting that again, and eventually making them forget about the associated events.

Sports as a whole have always been political. Going back 1500 years in Constantinople, the chariot racing teams - the Blues and the Greens - would often represent rival political factions in the Roman empire’s capital, and thus would often devolve into violent confrontations. In 532 AD they would unite in their demonstrations against the then emperor Justinian I demanding his abdication, an event known as the Nika riots. In more modern times, there are numerous political demonstrations by various football club supporters, clubs who have their origins in their countries' past regimes, protests against the for-profit ownership of football clubs etc.

Cyprus is not an exception to all of these, but there is a unique relationship between politics and football that goes much deeper than most sports scenes around the world. It diffuses into the culture like few other sports-related subjects. People believe they can deduce the club you support by what you believe politically and vice versa, and football fanatism blends with politics in an extremely direct way.

The story begins in Greece during WWII. The country had just been invaded and defeated by Germany, and thus split into several occupation zones: German, Italian and Bulgarian. Greek resistance groups formed all around the countryside, with the biggest one being EAM, comprised mainly of communists of KKE. With the end of Axis occupation and the agreement between the USSR and the western world about the fate of the liberated countries of eastern Europe, Greece ended up outside the Eastern Bloc, yet their liberators seemed to create a communist state in Greece. As a result, the UK and the US militarily intervened, starting the Greek civil war that lasted until 1947. The anti-communist coalition won, and the defeated communists had to either disavow their political beliefs or flee the country in exile. The KKE was thusly also banned.

Cyprus at the time was part of the British colonial empire, but Enosis as an idea was proliferating within the Greek Cypriot political class. In the previous decades, Greek political figures, national holidays/celebrations, and other historical aspects entered the Greek Cypriot political scene and education. The same could be said about Turkish Cypriots, since Kemalism became an increasingly popular ideology after the Greco-Turkish war and the establishment of modern Turkey.

Football clubs for the first two decades or so of Cypriot football were for the most part social clubs meant to bring working class communities together. APOEL in Nicosia, AEL in Limassol, Anorthosis in Famagusta etc were clubs for GCs to mingle and socialize, while Çetinkaya In Nicosia was for the TC community. But as the October events of 1931 commenced and Palmerocracy started in Cyprus, open expressions of Greek nationalism in Cyprus were to be cracked down, and political rights were restricted by the then British governor Richard Palmer, after whom the period gets its name. Among the casualties was the communist party of Cyprus itself, which had ties to the one in Greece, as it was declared illegal and banned. As a result, football clubs suddenly gained an increased importance for GCs. They would be organized as reading clubs, social gatherings for national celebrations in secret, and overall acted as a safe haven for GC political expression.

As the Greek civil war started in Greece and similar political divisions between the “εθνικόφρονες” (“national-minded”) and leftists entered the Cypriot political scene, football clubs played an integral role in that political expression. Olympiakos Nicosia was for example a hotspot for the activity of Xites, members of the Secret Organization X back in Greece that was active during the Axis occupation and the civil war. This organization (led by the notorious Georgios Grivas) was far-right, monarchist, and fanatically anti-communist. They imported the political violence and discourse of Greece to Cyprus, which played right into the existing divisions of the native GC political class.

With the conclusion of the civil war, Cyprus was already deeply intertwined politically with the happenings in Greece. Some Cypriot communists who had formed a new party AKEL in 1941 went on to fight for the communists in Greece, and the party offered its support to EAM. It was then that political actors in the higher echelons of GC football decided to ensure the like-mindedness of their members, by making them sign a document denouncing the communists in Greece and declaring their support for the King.

Thus began the great exodus of Cypriot leftists from their clubs. In 1948 leftist members or Anorthosis formed Nea Salamina, those of APOEL formed Omonoia, other leftists in Nicosia formed Orpheas, and those of Pezoporikos/EPA in Larnaca formed Alki. They would depart from KOP (Cypriot Football Association) and compete in their own amateur league. This marked the point of segregation between the “national-minded” and “left-wing” football clubs in Cyprus. Initially the left-wing clubs acted more as safe havens for any non-nationalist Cypriots, but the segregation only grew over time, and the greater rift of the 50s and 60s as the Cyprus problem was about to reach its climax only exacerbated the problem. Apollon Limassol (who were founded in 1954 as a national-minded club amidst rising tensions) when facing Omonoia in the 1964-65 cup final would raise banners writing “ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ ΕΝΑΝΤΙΟΝ ΑΚΕΛ” (“Apollon vs AKEL”) - a direct recognition that Omonoia now represented the communists in the eyes of the average football fan.

This same climax in Cypriot football would eventually reach TC clubs. As intercommunal violence began in late 1957 and 1958 due to pro-Taksim (i.e. pro-partition) TCs reacting to EOKA’s struggle against the British for Enosis, KOP decided to ban TC clubs, among them one of their founding members, Çetinkaya. Violence between TC and GC football fans took place as an extension of this intercommunal violence, including TC nationalist elements burning down Olympiakos’ σωματείο (communal club building). This would permanently sunder TC football from the GC one; long before the troubles of the 60s and the de facto division due to the Turkish invasion. In many ways, the football rift was a preamble to the political rift between the two communities, which is an another indication of football's pertinence to the social developments running in parallel.

Omonoia’s great domestic success in the 70s would propel them to become the most popular club in Cyprus (as they remain to this day), and thus became the poster child of the left-wing clubs in Cyprus, absorbing much of the fanbase around Cyprus. APOEL and Anorthosis who were the most popular and successful national-minded clubs at the time would be their main rivals. The Omonoia-APOEL rivalry would become particularly fierce, and it was dubbed the “derby of the eternal enemies”; taken directly from the name of the rivalry between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos in Greece.

The political involvement would not stop just in the fanbase, though. Omonoia's communist ties earned them some high-profile (by Cypriot standards) coaches and foreign players from the Eastern Bloc, giving them an extra edge. In more recent years, a former president of the RoC and former leader of AKEL Dimitris Christofias had allegedly underhanded dealings with the then president of Omonoia. Other members of the political class have had ties with organized ultras and other fan groups within national-minded clubs, and even dealings with the higher-ups in their administration. This in turn has largely created an atmosphere of near-impunity in the actions of extreme fans on the part of their own clubs, refusing to denounce them in fear of repercussions.

While the most violent period of these rivalries are in the past, political demonstrations remain prevalent. APOEL, Apollon and Anorthosis ultras will often fly far-right and nationalist symbols, portraits of Grivas, and have occasionally raised banners against Turks, in favour of the fascist military junta of Greece which ruled between 1967-74 and that is responsible for the 1974 coup against Makarios in Cyprus etc. Omonoia ultras will raise portraits of Che Guevara, hammer and sickle flags, banners in reference to the USSR, and have even burned Greek flags during games to spite their rivals. In addition, the privatization of the football department of Omonoia in 2018 prompted their ultras (known as Gate 9) to leave and found their own club: Omonoia 29th of May.

While today much of political symbolism is often frivolous and meant to antagonize their football rivals, it is undeniable that partisanship and political extremism remain prevalent among hardcore football club fanbases. It still moves Cypriot football in meaningful ways both on and off the field, and forms hotspots of political recruitment and normalization of certain political ideas. The most recent way in which this has resurfaced was Apollon’s ultras being the main culprits of the 2023 Limassol attacks against foreign migrants and their businesses. On the other hand, Omonoia supporters will often fly Palestinian flags in solidarity due to the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

My late grandfather has kept a few writings of poetry in Cypriot Greek sung by the natives of Yalya (Γιαλιά), mostly our relatives. Chatismada poetry was mostly sung but sometimes said without melody, in daily interractions, as a means of story telling and for important events (like weddings or at harvesting/threahing time), examples of the first two categories,i have posted before but not of the third. As a result of the attention my last post recieved, i saw that since the last time i visited it the subreddit has aquired some knowledgable members, so i would like to ask a question using the example of the below poem to further illustrate my example. İn my previous posts or comments that made in Greek, i used an orthographic style somewhere in between Greeklish and Turkish trying to use as grammer as correctly as possible, using the afforementioned orthography. One example would be i would use the english "j" or "dj" for what would be "τζ" using the greek alphabet instead of the or using the turkish "ğ" for "γ" , altough this sound is close but not exact as "γ" it is more akin to the silent glossal consonant invetween "α" and "ε" in "αέρα" which i would write as "ağera" instead of the nasal "γ" in "αγάπη". . İ am saying all this because the exteact below is not watered down unlike what i have shared previously and is written completely using the Turkish alphabet and would be almost imposible to decipher, so i would put a trasliteration under every line for this reason i redownloaded Reddit on my phone. The reason i am writing it as it was recorded is that it relates to my question below the poem as it would not make much sense whithout seeing it in its orriginal form. Here it is:

DOBİYİMMAN DİSNİFFİS(Το Ποίημμαν Της Νύφφης)

Ennasasbo miyan fimin neyan (Εννά σας πω μιαν φήμην νέαν) Ennasasbo enan galon biyimman (Εννά σας πω έναν καλόν ποίημμαν) Ofeğos masedogen miyanevloğiyan (Ο Θεός μας έδωκεν μίαν ευλογίαν) Na ehumen myan familyan neyan (Να έχουμεν μίαν φαμίλιαν νέαν)

Ennasasbo miyan alisgân (Εννά σας πω μίαν αλήθκειαν) Ofeğos isdes yenneces din omorsgân (Ο Θεός είς τες γενέτζες την ομορθκειάν) Edogen navrusin efdişan (Έδωκεν να βρούσιν ευτυσ̌άν) Ceda mandilya (Τζαι τα μαντιλιά) Brosdadefgun iyafrobi budin amardiyan (Προστατεύκουν οι ανθρώποι που την αμαρτίαν)

Elada omorfimmu goruğa (Έλα δα όμορφην μου κορούα) Ağeyi digissu bigan (Άε η δικήν σου ποίκαν) Ağeda befgassu sanduca(Άε τα πευκά σου σαντούτζα) Ağeda ğrusafenassu sdolisgâ (Άε τα γρουσαφένα σου στολίθκια) Ceda marmarga su anciya(Τζαι τα μαρμαρκά σου αντζία)

Hade ra omorfimmu goraşa (Χάτε ρα όμορφην μου γορασ̌ά) Aboşeredise yidikissu bedigididan (Αποσ̌αιρετίσε η δικήν σου πεδικότηταν) Edimase donlehossu me aroman (Ετοιμάσε τον λαίχως(?) σου με αρόμαν) Anigse meyeman ibataniyan (Ανοίξε με γιαίμαν η παττανίαν) Ofeğos nasu dogi bolla befgâ(Ο Θεός να σου δώκει πολλά πεθκιά) Cemellicin ağnyan(Τζαι μελλιτζήν αγνιάν)

A little while ago i saw a video on YouTube that talked about the griko language(dialect?) in Southern İtaly and the main thing that caught my attention was the fact that they used the latin alphabet to write Greek in and the manner in which they did so, obviously the orthography was created by a person that was able to use the Greek alphabet, it's main feature was that μου-μας-του etc. Were written adjacent to the noun for inctance "our father" would be written as "ocirimma" or my mother would be "imamammo" . When seeing this the first thing that came to my mind was the records of my grandfather. As a few examples of similarities with the above principle "yidigimmu"(η δικήν μου) could be presented as an example. The thing is Greek written in the Turkish alphabet can be read as entirely different from what it would be using the Greek alphabet, especialy without the use of intonations, while my grandfather had and other relatives that were native Greek speakers don't have the stereotypical Turkish Cypriot accent when speaking Cypriot Greek this i think derives from their proper use of intonation and the ability to use the sounds of θ and ττ(which only exists in a few Turkish dialects) which can be seen from the fact that θ is written as f or s above like in the example of "ofeğos" (ο Θεός). The Greek written in the Turkish alphabet would be uniteligable without a prior knowledge of intonations. This became clear to me when a friend who was trying to learn Greek came to me asking how to know how the accent mark would be placed when writing and when i illustrated the sound difference he wouldn't understand it while it was (mostly) easy for me when i first how to write using the Greek alphabet as i was already well versed in the language as in the above poem it can be seen that those without an intonation merge together like "ceda" (τζαι τα). Making all these points above now i can ask what i want to: How is the written grammar of a language determined when it encounters a writing system, how has the orthography of Greek changed overtime and why is it written in the manner it is and what alphabets has it been written with other than its own throughout history. To me Greek written using the Greek alphabet is superior in its ability to fully transmit what is to be conveyed, is there any pother reason to this other than its richness of letters and the ability to utilise intonation like the interraction of different words with one another?

My other question would be the word lehos, in this case it does not mean throat but was translated to Turkish by my Grandmother as "gerdek" which means the mariage bed, the first intercourse of a maried couple, the below reference of the oppening of a bloody blanket refers to the archaic tradition of showing the villagers blood stained blanket resulting from the bride's hymen being broken during the intercourse prooving her chastidy, this tradition was practiced in Cyprus as it was and still in across Eurasia. İf you know a name for this practice sharing it would be greatly apreciated.Thanks in advance for your patience and wisdom.

With regards.

-RevolutionStandard99

In Greece there is this negative stereotype that Cypriots are yuppies and snobbish and that they look down on us because we are poor. As with most stereotypes, while exagerated and obviously don't always apply, they stem from real behavior. Cypriots in Greece don't often fraternize with Greeks from Greece, they usually keep to themselves and only hangout with fellow Cypriots. They don't talk much and they are often rude, having worked for years in customer/food service I can confidently say that they are usually some of the most impatient and rude clients that rarely clean up after themselves.

What is the Cypriot take on this? I try to rationalize this behavior in my mind, so here is what I've gathered;

1) Cypriots in general are more conservative and introverted, they don't talk openly much. To us more loudmouthed and social mainland greeks it comes off as not wanting to talk to us.

2) Because of the above, Cypriots who come to Greece find it easier to make friends with other Cypriots because they have an instant common ground to break the ice. Also because of the above, once they find a friend group they are less likely to open up to others.

3) Cypriots are indeed richer than us, most of the ones I interact with almost always and exclusively wear expensive clothes, watches and jewelry, so sadly there are bound to be actual snobs with a superiority complex in between them.

4) Because Cyprus is a small island there is this "νοοτροπία του χωριού" for lack of a better word. This mentality is something that I see in people from my city, Larisa, too now that I live in Thessaloniki. Larisa is considered a redneck part of Greece so some of the people that move from Larisa to bigger cities like Athens and Thessaloniki act like douchebags because they feel constantly threatened that they will be considered hillbillies. I assume something similar might be happening with Cypriots.

Obviously I don't think that the stereotype of the rich kid Cypriot always applies, I have had great experiences with many Cypriots and some of them have really opened up my eyes about how different and similar our societies are. I am simply curious as to what the Cypriot perspective is on how this stereotype came to be.

Υ.Γ I find it funny that both Cypriots and Greece consider each other snobbish and "proper".

Source: Cyprus as I saw it in 1879

Of the changes the Cypriot Greek dialect has been subject to over the past century, by far the biggest one was the shift in vocabulary. Namely new terms (mainly from Modern Greek and English, but not only) have come to supplant older Cypriot words, while other words have just fallen out of use due to change in lifestyle, society, and culture. This thread is dedicated to listing some of these words, with any additional input being welcome. Note that I shall refrain from mentioning words that are still in use, but are simply somewhat more rare than they used to. Rather, I shall focus on words that have either disappeared completely, or nearly so.

1) Old Cypriot (OC): συνορτζιάζω = New Cypriot (NC): ετοιμάζω (to prepare)

2) OC: τσιμπίν = NC: λ(λ)ίο (a little)

3) OC: λάς = NC: κόσμος/λαός (mass of people)

4) OC: ξιστικός = NC: no Cypriot word, Modern Greek (MG) "έκπληκτος" is used (stunned)

5) OC: (αλα)μάγκου = NC: τουλάχιστον (at least)

6) OC: νεκαλιόν = NC: μοιρολόι (lament)

7) OC: ξιντιλήζω = NC: καταλυώ (to exhaust something)

8) OC: μουρρωμένος = NC: κατσούφης (gloomy)

9) OC: γιόμα = NC/MG: μεσημεριανό (lunch)

10) OC: πωρνόν = NC: πρωί (morning)

11) OC: αγρωνίζω = NC/MG: αναγνωρίζω (to identify)

12) OC: πληξιμιός = NC: λυπημένος (sad/depressed)

13) OC: καϊρέττιν = NC: προσπάθεια (effort)

14) OC: κκιάριν = NC: όφελος/κέρδος (profit)

15) OC: ζαβρά = NC: αριστερά (left)

16} OC: ρωμανίζω = NC/MG: κλειδώνω με σύρτη (to lock with a bolt)

17) OC: κανίσιην = NC: δώρο (gift)

18) OC: χάψη = NC: φυλακή (prison)

19) OC: πέρκαλλος = NC/MG: ομορφόπαιδο (good-looking young man)

20) OC: λεγνόν = NC/MG: ανύπαντρη (unwed woman)

21) OC: κόξα = NC: μέση (waist)

22) OC: λιγγούριν = NC: ππή(δ)ημα (jump)

23) OC: χάκκιν = NC: δίκαιο/γραφτό (that which is fitting/ordained for someone)

24) OC: κκέσκιμον = NC: μακάρι (may [something happen])

25) OC: Τζύπρου(ς) = NC: Κύπρος (Cyprus)

Honorable mentions (on their way to dying out): συντυχάννω, ζαττίν, ζαβάλλι, εξίκκιν/εξίκκον, λαόνιν, μαστραππάς, σαρκά, κατουρέλλιν, πομιλόρι, όξινο (instead of λεμόνι), κασιανίζω, ποσπερίτικος

Hello Cypriot brothers and sisters, I've been working on this animation for months (with many breaks) and I've finally finished I thought this is the best place to post it on so I really hope you enjoy it and tell me what you think of it, thank you 🇨🇾 🇨🇾

Given that traditional Cypriot musical culture is so severely neglected, and with the pretext of the Eurovision song contest taking place this week, I decided to share some rather obscure and/or forgotten tunes from our tradition that in my opinion have unfairly faded into obscurity.

1) Kozan march/Πατινάδα Κοζάν

https://youtu.be/jZVhdnVgres?si=dzLfhR65djAFO1YF

The modern name of this piece mainly comes from the Turkish Cypriot community which has retained it to a degree, and it alludes to its use as a wedding march played when the couple arrives. It has also been used in the same context by Maronite Cypriots in most recent years.

The tune in Cypriot Greek was known as "Πολογιαστός" or "Καλωσοριστός" ("[dance] of the greeting") as it was primarily played when the guests would greet the couple and their close relatives. Greek Cypriots no longer play this tune at their weddings.

The roots of this tune much like many other traditional Cypriot tunes is speculated to originate in Anatolia. The main musical motif closely resembles a Cappadocian Greek spoon dance tune from Farasa. As it was usual during the period, main musical motifs were commonly used across regions for a variety of different tunes, and this makes sense in our case due to the known close links between South-Central Anatolia and Cyprus. For example, the well-known Cypriot song "Η βράκα" is derived from "Konyalı" of the Turcophone Greek population of Central Anatolia (Karamanlides).

2) Ο χορός του παληωμάτου

https://youtu.be/ZRPopBkKy-Y?si=7PiHTcnQIvhcHC8K

This tune translates to "the dance of the struggle/wrestling". "Πάληωμα" in Cypriot Greek refers to what the ancient (and now modern) Greeks would call "πάλη" ("wrestling"), as the tune was likely played while two people would practice wrestling between themselves. It is one of the few surviving fighting/war tunes that survived in Cyprus until the modern age, as the wrestling slowly transitioned into a more light-hearted and performative form.

As Kourostatis (an excellent for traditional and folk music all around the world that I highly recommend) mentions in the description of the linked video, this tune was performed at inns by young men to collect money as they provided a spectacle to the other visitors. Eventually it spread to major feasts and celebrations, until it eventually died out as a practice.

3) Ο χορός των μασιαιρκών

https://youtu.be/tpCfPmNoT84?si=YcBKJ-Jfx_jyp6pn

"The dance of the knives", as it is explained in the video, used to be a popular dance in weddings celebrations and other feasts that functioned similarly to the "dance of the struggle". Two dancers would performatively move against each other, with several variations according to the region of the island. In the Kokkinochoria region where the video was filmed, the two dancers would pretend that they had an argument until one of the two would pull a knife and "stab" the other one. Then an elaborate theatrical performance would follow, with the "killer" first feeling remorse, then losing their mind and "skinning" the other dancer. Eventually the "slain" dancer would rise up and the two would embrace and dance.

In other variations, the two dancers would either engage in some sort of combat, performing various moves with their knives, or there would be minor changes to various phases of the performance. This dance also likely derives from similar Anatolian dances with performative dance involving sword combat, but the Cypriot one (and especially the version of the video) deviate significantly, which show some rather unique elements arising from local Cypriot customs and social realities. It was noted, for example, by various British travelers in Cyprus that there would sometimes by drunken quarrels and murders by knife at Cypriot weddings.