Very interesting, as always! I love these folk tales, but unfortunately no one in my Greek family is much into storytelling, so my children only know ones from me from the north of Europe. I will tell them some of the ones I am reading on here!
There’s something rather magical about knowing that!! These have never been translated (except for a few in university textbooks). Your kids are lucky to have a mum so interested in the other side of their heritage… it’s such an honour to feel like a link in a chain passing them on. A lot of the traditions I write about (stories included) were lost in more urban areas, a lot also stopped during WWII. I was trying to ask my elderly aunt about them (my parents are gone now so I can’t ask my mum)… my aunt told me that as they grew up in wartime “there was no time for stories, too much hunger and running for shelter when the bombs fell”… so a lot of this was lost at that time. But they do still survive in many villages.
It is so sad when heritage is lost like that. It makes me sad when I ask my husband about the traditions here (I always want to know why!) and he doesn't know. I'm so glad I found your site because I would never be able to find the sources you share here - or translate them properly! Thank you for being a link in the chain!
Only village people or those with close ties to a church parish will remember these days, unless they’re folklore enthusiasts or scholars (like me). There seems to be a movement to revive the knowledge, I’m finding frequent news articles dedicated to stuff like this, but they need careful handling. They’ll survive, but may have to change form to do so (theatre, film, writing rather than oral traditions).
Very interesting, as always! I love these folk tales, but unfortunately no one in my Greek family is much into storytelling, so my children only know ones from me from the north of Europe. I will tell them some of the ones I am reading on here!
There’s something rather magical about knowing that!! These have never been translated (except for a few in university textbooks). Your kids are lucky to have a mum so interested in the other side of their heritage… it’s such an honour to feel like a link in a chain passing them on. A lot of the traditions I write about (stories included) were lost in more urban areas, a lot also stopped during WWII. I was trying to ask my elderly aunt about them (my parents are gone now so I can’t ask my mum)… my aunt told me that as they grew up in wartime “there was no time for stories, too much hunger and running for shelter when the bombs fell”… so a lot of this was lost at that time. But they do still survive in many villages.
It is so sad when heritage is lost like that. It makes me sad when I ask my husband about the traditions here (I always want to know why!) and he doesn't know. I'm so glad I found your site because I would never be able to find the sources you share here - or translate them properly! Thank you for being a link in the chain!
Only village people or those with close ties to a church parish will remember these days, unless they’re folklore enthusiasts or scholars (like me). There seems to be a movement to revive the knowledge, I’m finding frequent news articles dedicated to stuff like this, but they need careful handling. They’ll survive, but may have to change form to do so (theatre, film, writing rather than oral traditions).