Odd Player

The heroine Eleni Gage (Gatzoyianni) was one of the many victims of the atrocities committed during the Greek Civil War. Many may be familiar with her story via the film Eleni. This book, however, tells the story of another Eleni Gage who, in accordance with the papponymous naming tradition of Greece, was given the name of her paternal grandmother. North of Ithaka reflects her personal quest to retrace her roots and visit the house where her grandmother was imprisoned before her execution. In seeking information about her grandmother, the author also discovers the culture in which she lived. Her account is not only a moving testimony, but also a treasury of folk custom and tradition.

In the village of Lia, just below the Albanian border, the author’s main purpose is to rebuild her grandparents’ ruined house. Her efforts are beset with interesting challenges that provide us with much information on folk customs. For instance, due to the negative associations of the house, she is warned not to proceed with any renovation and her aunts tell her that if she does so she will “be killed by Albanians and eaten by wolves” (pp. 15 and 19). Here one can see that historically the word “Albanian” (Alvanos ) has had similar connotations to the word Arapis (a pejorative form of “Arab”) and was invoked as a phovitro, or bogeyman, especially to frighten children.

The author hires stonemasons to rebuild the house, and at each phase in the construction interesting customs are shared. For instance, before building can take place the old stone foundations are unearthed. As in other parts of Greece, a cock is killed and its head buried in the stonework, while its meat is fed to the builders (p. 116). However, we are also told of another custom seldom encountered elsewhere whereby “masons would place a coin on the cornerstones of a house to make it siderenio, strong as metal” (p. 67). On completion of the house “the owner adorns a wooden cross with oranges and money-filled handkerchiefs, then plants it like a flag on top of her new roof” for the builders to claim (p. 11). This flag ( flambouro ) is met throughout the Balkans in the context of wedding ritual, and apples may replace the oranges. Indeed, one wedding wish, kalorziko or “good roots,” is also made to someone on moving to a new home.

Since the author is an attractive spinster, her aunts seem preoccupied with her marriage prospects. At a celebration she is wished “Next year, may you be here with a groom” (p. 284), which could also be said to single girls at a wedding. For the purpose of finding a groom, she is shown how to read coffee cups (pp. 287 and 354) by a flitjanou, literally a woman who reads the flitzani, or demitasse Greek coffee cup (elsewhere in Greece she would be called a kafetzou ). Dregs in the shape of a cross are regarded as particularly lucky and indicative of a husband (p. 279). For the same purpose women also “read the egg” by pouring the albumen into a cup of water (p. 306). Other rituals like combing one’s hair three times in front of amirror (p. 284) are confined to St John’s eve (23 June) and are forms of a custom known throughout Greece as the kldonas. Other love divination practices include taking flowers from the church during the festival of the Hairetismos and placing them under the pillow (p. 74). Alternatively, unmarried girls can make a fanouropita, or “pie of St Phanourios.” This pie is made in conjunction with the saint’s feast day (27 August) (pp. 285–6), yet it can be made at any time when something is lost or found. On this subject, little-known details are shared. For instance, like the twelve people who should eat the mince pies at Christmas, twelve should eat the fanouropita (pp. 286 and 351).

Other saints also feature in local folk religion. For example, in this region St Donatos performed miracles and killed a dragon (p. 291). He is thus comparable with the Orthodox saints Dimitris and George. Indeed, St George is also mentioned, since his feast day is regarded as a pivotal time at which summer begins and work contracts are renewed (p. 98).

Although the author does not say so, this is also the date when transhumance takes place.

Other noteworthy rituals described here concern the mati, or evil eye. Every region of Greece has variations of beliefs and practices concerning the evil eye, and Lia is no exception. Here hitherto unrecorded details on this subject are described, such as the belief that the power to remove the evil eye can be lost if the secret is divulged (p. 280). The ritual of pouring three drops of oil into water seems similar to practices elsewhere in Greece.

However, in Lia the size and shape of the drops indicate the sex of the person who cast the evil eye. It is to avoid the evil eye that bizarre cases of child mutilation are also reported.

Since the evil eye is associated with envy, a beautiful baby was often regarded as vulnerable. Thus, to avert the evil eye, one informant reports that her forehead was burnt in infancy (p. 282). The book contains several other fascinating customs connected with childhood, such as a man who introduced himself to the author with the words, “I was the boy whose umbilical cord your grandmother ate so she could have a son” (p. 120).

These are just a taste of what can be found. As an American citizen, the author modestly underrates her knowledge of Greek, yet the text is full of technical terms, most of which are correct. One obvious exception is the word kamaki, which is said to mean the foam on Greek coffee (p. 354) but which is really a slang term for “chatting up girls”. The author’s knowledge of her grandmother’s language gave her access to many fascinating details that a detached visitor could not have shared. Moreover, in talking to and befriending many of the locals, she was able to gain insight into their culture and traditions. Through such contact, for example, she was invited to witness the fascinating rituals of the anastenarides (firewalkers) which she describes in detail (pp. 105–9).

In addition to perfecting her Greek, the author also learned a considerable amount of vocabulary from the secret Alafiatika language once spoken “to survive under the Turks” (p. 63), notably by the kalantzides (“tin-smiths” would perhaps be better than “tinkers”).

The author’s skill as a journalist is evident and some of her prose is beautifully descriptive, sensitive, and even powerful. This book is not only a moving tribute to her late grandmother’s memory, but also to the people of Lia. It is a testimony to their life and history, as well as a unique record of their rich folk culture.