Karagiozis

Traditional Greek shadow theater exhibition at Heraklion, Crete.

Karagiozis ( Greek Καραγκιόζης ) is the main character of the tales narrated in the Greek shadow-puppet theater. Shadow theater, with a single puppeteer creating voices for a dialogue, narrating a story, and possibly even singing while manipulating puppets, appears to come ultimately from the Indonesian Wayang Kulit.
Karagiozis is the Hellenized version of the Turkish shadow play “Karagoz and Hacivat”. It’s seems to have come to mainland Greece, probably from Asia Minor (Anatolia) in the 19th century, during Ottoman rule.

Karagiozis is a poor hunchbacked Greek, his right hand is always depicted long, his clothes are ragged and patched, and his feet are always bare. He lives in a poor cottage with his wife Aglaia and his three boys, during the times of the Ottoman Empire. The scene is occupied by his cottage in the left, and the Sultan's Palace (Sarayi) on the far right. Because of his poverty, Karagiozis uses mischievous and crude ways to find money and feed his family. There are three types of Karagiozi plays, including comedies inspired by every day life, those influenced by fairy tales and traditional folklore and heroic themes inspired by the years of the oppressive Ottoman rule followed by the Greek War of independence in 1821.

Kevrekidis Photography

© 2009 Jordan Kevrekidis

Minotaur

August 2009. Ano Setta – Evia, Greece.
Setta Amphitheater. The theatrical play “The Minotaur” by Matina Papageorgiou, directed by Dimitris Papakonstantinou.

Photo: Actors, Giorgos Mpasiakos as Theseus and Matina Papageorgiou as Ariadne.

The scenario of this play is based on the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Dionysus falls in love with Ariadne. He offers her immortality and makes her his wife. Three days after their marriage and while Dionysus is absent in Naxos, Ariadne, without the fear of death, is hurrying to meet her brother; the monstrous Minotaur. There, in the front of the gate of the Labyrinth, Ariadne will meet with Theseus who has just arrived in Crete from Athens, in order to fight and kill the beast. There will be love at first sight… The writer, Matina Papageorgiou is setting up a complicated structure of relations and conflicts, around the central erotic triangle; and all together a colourful and enchanting fairy tale.

Αύγουστος 2009. Θέατρο Άνω Σέτας, Ευβοίας.
Θεατρικό έργο της Ματίνας Παπαγεωργίου «Μινώταυρος», σε σκηνοθεσία Δημήτρη Παπακωνσταντίνου.

Photo: Οι ηθοποιοί, Γιώργος Μπασιάκος ως Θησέας και Ματίνα Παπαγεωργίου ως Αριάδνη.


Kevrekidis Photography

© 2009 Jordan Kevrekidis

UEFA Europa League

Toumba Stadium – UEFA Europa League qualifying round – August 06, 2009.
PAOK FC Thessaloniki (Greece) – Valerenga Fotball Oslo (Norway)

The UEFA Europa League evolved from the UEFA Cup. The UEFA EC decided that from 2009/10 the competition would become the UEFA Europa League. This reflected a change to the format previously agreed, with the group stage expanding to 48 clubs, who would play six matches on a home-and-away format similar to the UEFA Champions League.

Kevrekidis Photography

© 2009 Jordan Kevrekidis

PAOK

Gate 4 – Toumba Stadium – Thessaloniki, Greece.

PAOK FC ( Greek: ΠΑΟΚ ) is based in Thessaloniki, Greece. According to a 2008 research, about 21% of all active Greek football fans support PAOK, with the club’s strength being mainly in Thessaloniki and the rest of Macedonia.

PAOK is the historical continuation of the Hermes SC (later Peraclub) from Constantinople (modern Istanbul) established by Greek residents of the city in 1875. In 1923 following the Asia Minor Catastrophe the Turks expelled countless Greeks from the coastal regions of Turkey. Those who fled settled in Thessaloniki and in 1926 established PAOK (which translated means the Panthessalonikian Athletic Club of Constantinople), retaining the symbol of the twin-headed eagle of the Byzantine Empire combined with mourning black to symbolize their tragic history and white, the color of optimism. This club’s history is stretching back to the 19th century in effect makes PAOK one of Greece’s oldest athletic clubs but also means that it shoulders a heavy historical burden.

PAOK is also known to have one of the most fanatical supporter bases in the world.
It is estimated that PAOK fans are totally about 8 million worldwide (2 million in Greece and 6 million in other countries such as Germany, Australia, USA, Russia and more). The best known PAOK supporters are in “Gate 4″ (Thira 4) as seen in this picture…

Kevrekidis Photography

© 2009 Jordan Kevrekidis

Knossos

Knossos – Crete, Greece.
West Bastion of Knossos Palace. Relief wall painting of the sacred Bull.

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. It was the first European civilization and claims to be the “cradle of Western civilization”. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 2700 to 1450 BC; afterwards, Mycenaean Greek culture became dominant. Knossos was the capital of Minoan Crete. It is located south of the modern port town of Heraklion (Iraklio). Knossos was inhabited for several thousand years, beginning with a Neolithic settlement sometime in the seventh millennium BC, and was abandoned after its destruction in 1375 BC which marked the end of Minoan civilization. The first palace was built around 1900 BC on the ruins of previous settlements. It was destroyed for the first time at 1700 BC, probably by a large earthquake or foreign invaders. It was immediately rebuilt to an even more elaborate complex and until its abandonment was damaged several times during earthquakes, invasions, and in 1450 BC by the colossal volcanic eruption of Thera (Santorini), and the invasion of Mycenaeans who used it as their capital as they ruled the island of Crete until 1375 BC. Arthur Evans, the British Archaeologist who excavated the site in 1900 AD restored large parts of the palace in a way that it is possible today to appreciate the glory and complexity of a structure that evolved over several millennia and grew to occupy about 20,000 square meters. Walking through its complex multi-storied buildings one can comprehend why the palace of Knossos was associated with the mythological Labyrinth. According to Greek mythology, the palace was designed by famed architect Daedalus (Dedalos) with such complexity that no one placed in it could ever find its exit. King Minos who commissioned the palace then kept the architect prisoner to ensure that he would not reveal the palace plan to anyone. Daedalus, who was a great inventor, built two sets of wings so he and his son Icarus (Ikaros) could fly off the island, and so they did. On their way out, Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun because the wax that held the wings together would melt. In a tragic turn of events, during their escape Icarus, young and impulsive as he was, flew higher and higher until the sun rays dismantled his wings and the young boy fell to his death in the Aegean Sea. The Labyrinth was the dwelling of the Minotaur in Greek mythology, and many associate the palace of Knossos with the legend of Theseus killing the Minotaur. Representation of the Bull at the palace of Knossos is a widespread symbol in the art and decoration of this archaeological site. The bull-leaping (taurokathapsia) was a ritual sport or performance in which human athletes literally vaulted over bulls as part of a ceremonial rite. A version of the sacred “bull games” is still extant in Iberian (Spain - Portugal) culture, the Bullfighting.

More images at: Kevrekidis Photography

©2009 Jordan Kevrekidis