Φίλιππος

"Together, we cry out in lamentation, for alas, I say, sons of the Greeks! Who is this, who, like a firebrand against our race, has arisen, leaving us desolate of education and learning...". Either in Cyprus, Corfu or Macedonia and Constantinople a Greek throughout the centuries, would share the same agonies, undertanding of his common history and identity. Centuries before the rise of the nationalisms in Europe and beyond. Cyprus, by definition in the verge of the Greek world, was the first to experience the fate that the rest of the Greeks will follow. Below the Cypriot monk Matthaios Galatianos (Ματθαίος Γαλατιανός), expressing his agonies, for the losing of the wisdom of the ancient and the authority and basileia of the medieval Greeks, writes in 1603 (my translation to english): "Certainly, we, having reached such an age, still find ourselves acquainted with the notable sayings of our ancestors. Through the consequences of our own mistakes, we have fallen grievously and been devoured unjustly. Together, we cry out in lamentation, for alas, I say, sons of the Greeks! Who is this, who, like a firebrand against our race, has arisen, leaving us desolate of education and learning? For losing the rule and authority, and being unable to bear such things from those outside, we are reduced to silence, lamenting instead." "Οὕτω τοίνυν θ' ἡμεῖς ἐς τοσοῦτον εἶδη τῆς ἡλικίας ἦξαντες, οὕπω τὰ τῶν προγόνων τρανῶς λεχθέντα ἡμεῖς εἰδέναι ὡήθημεν καὶ, διὰ τῆς τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀμπλακημάτων ἐφέσεως, δεινῶς πεσόντες ἀλόγως ἐτρώθημεν, καὶ τὸ οὐαί, ὁμοῦ βοῶντες, ολολύζομεν, φεῦ μὲν γὰρ λέγω, Ἑλλήνων παῖδες, τίς γὰρ, τίς οὗτος, ὁ τῶν ἡμετέρω γένει πυρσός τῶν κακῶν ἀντεισήχθη, καὶ παιδείας καὶ μαθήσεως ἐρήμους ἡμᾶς πεποιηκώς; Τὸ γὰρ βασιλείας καὶ ἐξουσίας ἀπολέσαι καὶ ἕτερ' ἄττα τῶν ἐκτός, ἐφ' ἡμῖν τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ μὴ δυναμένους ἡμᾶς φέρειν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον σιωπητέους εἶναι δεῖ." The pic below, a Greek priest in Crete, 1767, by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein.

The mysterious ancient language...: μνῆμα Διλίπορις Ἄπφου ζῶν κα- τεσκέουασεν {²⁶κατεσκεύασεν}²⁶ ἑαυτῷ         ἀνεξοδίαστον 5σὺν ταῖς οἰκίαις καθὼς περιείληπται. κἢν σπεύδῃς, ὦ ξεῖνε, καὶ ἢν εὔκαι- ρος ὁδεύῃς, / στῆθι παρ’ οὑμὸν σῆμα καὶ εἴσῃ τοὔνομα τοὐμόν, / οὐκ ἀσό- φως ζητηθὲν ὑπὸ ζώοντος ἐμεῖο· / ἐν- 10νέα γράμματ’ ἔχω, τετρασύλλαβός εἰμι, νόει σύ· / αἱ τρεῖς αἱ πρῶται δύο γράμματ’ ἔχουσιν ἐκάσ- τη, / ἡ λοιπὴ δὲ τὰ τρεία καὶ εἰσὶν ἄφωνα τὰ πέντε, / ἐστὶ δ’ ἀριθμὸς πένθ’ ἑκατοντάδες <ἠ>δὲ δὶς ἑπτά. / ταῦτ’ οὖν ζητήσας καὶ γνούς, ὅστις περ ὁ γρά- 15ψας, / γνωστὸς ἔσῃ Μούσαις καὶ σοφίης μέ- τοχος. / μνῆμα δ’ ἐμὸν τόδε χεῖρες ἔτι ζώ- οντος ἔτευξαν / λαΐνεον γαίης Τέρβοιο,                ἣν κατέχω. / inscriptions.packhum.org/tex…