Libro Ikarian Panigiri 97-2003 17x23 Cm

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…knowingly joined the same perpetual circle of life…

To Umì and the Alchemist, to Jina and the Cognack.

To all “my people” that are always beside me, with the heart and the soul,

supporting my dreams.

<< yacqua i rarrieri e vientu i ravanti, ma u suli ca n’asciuca nun’ha mancari

mai >>

…to the sun.

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INDEX

Introduction

Chapter 1 Ikaria and the panigiria, an historical reconstruction

1.1 The raising of the Artemis temple, the linkages with the myth

of Icarus and Dionysus

1.2 Dyonisian symbols and the taurobolium

1.3 Ikaria, exile island

1.4 Some events connected to the panigiria during the Ottoman

Empire

1.5 Contemporary Events

Chapter 2 Ikarian Panigiria

2.1 Organization and structural components

2.2 Music and dance

2.2.2 Description of the ikariotiko dance style

2.2.3 Some reflections

2.2.4 Symbolism in the ikariotiko

Chapter 3 Other components

3.1 Introductions

3.2 Goat and wine

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3.3 Communitary and identitarian role of the panigiria

3.4 Representing conflicts

3.5 Reflections on the fieldwork

Final observations

Bibliography and site links

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Introduction

The intention of starting a research about Ikarian panigiri has grown since

summer 2007, after seeing and participating to theses celebrations in the

village of Vrakades. I then decided to study these festivals from an

anthropological point of view.

Ikarian panigiri are orthodox Christian festivals dedicated to the saint

patron of each village. I immediately noticed the communal character of

these celebrations and the symbolic elements refering to the Greek

mythology, religion and history. Because I had never seen that kind of

celebration, I decided to start a research that will try to rebuilt the historical

and cultural context. More precisely, I started this research with the will to

understand the symbolic and material relationship between all elements that

make the panigiri what they are: Ikarian community, music, dance, goat

meat and vine. My main purpose was to understand why these festivals are

so important for the whole Ikarian community and to describe

the roles that panigiri have in the Ikarian society.

I used different methods of research to study these celebrations from

different points of view.

Using the participant observation I was able to understand aspects that

couldn’t be understood with distant observation.

I decided to use the participant observation because it enables to grasp most

of the aspects that couldn’t be understood with only distant observation.

Then I used a more detached observation technique which enabled me to

see performances that I have already observed with the previous technique.

With this technique, I could get rid of the emotive component that is

inherent to the participant observation. Furthermore I was able to catch

elements that I wouldn’t have noticed with the participant observation. It

was then easier to understand the structure of the festivals and the ritual

elements that are part of it. I compared all the panigiri I took part in to

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extract the symbolic constancy. I alternated these two kinds of observation

even during the same panigiri and I believe that they are complementary and

essential because each one help to throw light on different elements.

I have integrated my observations into notes, pictures, videos, audio

recordings and interviews to try and evaluate the actual knowledge of the

local people and more importantly to know what they think about panigiri.

With most of the people I interviewed, I had a conversation that went further

than a simple interview and that gave me a wider

vision about Ikarian culture and history. A book written by Miliadis d.d. and

Tripoulas c.h. (2006), “The Ikarian Voyage” contributed a lot to my

research.

To give a sense to the actions that I studied , I used the theory of Smith,

Durkeim, Rappaport and Cazeneuve to give a meaning to studied ritual

actions. The theory of Gluckman and Di Bernardo helped to understand the

conflicts inside the rituals. And finally I used the ideas of Hertz to explain

the polarity inside the sacred domain area.

I thought that it was necessary to recall the history of the island to

understand the events that marked the life of those societies.

I tried to understand the value of the vine and goat meat that were and still

are important for the Ikarian community.

What emerged from the historical introduction is a huge degree of

attachment of the Ikariotics to Panigiri that still today continue to play an

important part in their life.

In the second and third chapter I analysed the temporal structure of Panigiri

and the two couples of elements around which the festivals are constructed :

goat and vine, music and dance.

This book is an attempt to preserve the Ikarian culture by explaining what

the ikarian panigiria means to anyone who is interested in .

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Chapter 1 - Ikaria and the panigiria, an historical

reconstruction

1.1 The raising of the Artemis temple, the linkages with the myth of Icarus

and Dionysus

An historical introduction to the ikarian panigiria1 is needed to begin with

my research. A social factor as these feasts are, has to be contextualized in

the historical evolution of a people, with an eye to the subsequent

encounters and clashes with other cultures. Thus, what follows is an outline

of the island's history, necessarily summarized, that introduces here and

there the panigiria, in order to stress their presence in the ikarian history,

trying to understand the space that these festivals occupied in the lives of the

inhabitants of Ikaria.

From the bronze age on, Ikaria, thanks to its geographical position, was

included in the routes that linked Greece to what now is Turkey. Many

adventurers and explorers traveled alongside the coast, but only few of these

reached the land.

1 The panigiria are religious festivals that take place all over Greece, mostly from March

to October. These festivals are organized to celebrate the different patron saints in

several cities or villages. The ikarian panigiria, many Greeks say, are different from

those organized in continental Greece, as they are characterized by a peculiar musical

style that is not played elsewhere, by the exaggerate consumption of goat meat and

especially wine, in addition to their duration, often extended till late morning.

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The Greeks appeared in the Aegean sea towards the 1500 B.C. and since

1200 B.C. they had already taken control of the majority of the Aegean

islands. Nevertheless, it seems that Ikaria stayed out of the Greek control;

the reasons for this isolation are probably to be connected with the physical

conditions of the island, covered with thick woods and steep mountains,

surrounded by the ikarian sea – mentioned by Homer and known and feared

everywhere for its streams and frequent storms. Besides, the few brave

sailors that dared to face the whirls, were driven away by the lack of wharfs

or bays where it was possible to shore the boats (Papalas A. J., 1992).

In 750 B.C. Ikaria was colonized by the Greeks of Miletus, a coastal city in

Anatolia (today part of Turkey), that founded a colony in Therma and one in

Oenoe. The reason why they were interested in Ikaria was probably its

strategic position in order to foster the naval trading route from Miletus

towards its major colonies.

The sources to piece together the early history of the events that involved

Ikaria consist in a series of referrals left by such authors as Herodotus (480

B.C.), Strabo (58 B.C.), and many others that had passed through the island

or that wrote chronicles based only on what they heard and on tales that

traveled from one island to the other, from one mouth to the other and that

were often modified and emphasized. This is not to say that these sources

are not reliable or that they should be excluded from the historical account

of Ikaria. On the contrary, we should read them with an eye to the social

context and trying to understand the reason why only some specific

accounts survived. We should try to understand why the communities in the

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near islands have always emphasized some aspects of the ikarian lifestyle, in

a way that they became elements through which identifying and often

devaluate Ikaria, its population and its lifestyle, largely different from the

ones that characterized the other Greek communities (Georgernees J., 1677;

Stamatiades E., 1864).

Eparchis, born in Oenoe (one of the first cities in the island), around 350

B.C. wrote a history of Ikaria, that seems more to be made to promote the

ikarian wine. Besides, only few fragments of Eparchis' work survived

(Miliadis D. D. e Tripoulas C. H., 2006). Oenoe was mythologically

considered as the place in which the wine appeared for the first time in

human history, given as a present by Dionysus

«it is exactly in this village that, so is believed, grapes appeared

for the first time, by the site of Ta Bra, previously called the

“Pramnia rock” and subsequently named Oenoe that, translated,

means wine» (Miliadis D. D. e Tripoulas C. H., 2006, p. 31).

The wine is one of the key elements around which ikarian panigiria are

shaped and, together with goat meat, it constitutes the main course of the

common meal in these festivals. Furthermore, among the island's

communities, these two elements have a focal position in the dynamic

process of identity building.

In the 6th

century B.C. Ikaria was taken over by Samos, a neighboring

island, becoming in this way a part of Policrates' maritime empire.

It was in that time that a temple dedicated to Artemis was raised in the

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North-West coast, by Nas bay (Papalas A. J., 1992), (see image n° 1).

This bay had always been a highly important point, as a sacred site for the

pre-Hellenic dwellers of the Island or as last rest stop for those who dared

heading to the dangerous Ikarian sea. Travelers used to sacrifice there to

Artemis, that, among the other roles, was believed to protect their crossings

(Papalas A. J., 1992).

From the 5th

century B.C. the creation of the island begun to be linked with

the myth of Ikarus (Papalas A. J., 1992). In the first decade of the same

century an expedition of Persian forces reached Ikaria that, after the Greco-

Persian wars, joined the Delian League, meant to restrain Persian

expansionist aims. During this period the island experienced an

unprecedented development.

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Oenoe became renown in the Greek oikoumene for its wine called Pramnio,

mythologically considered to be the first wine in the world. Some assume

that it was a dark, heavy and soporific wine, but it’s only a guess. By sure,

anyhow, it was very expensive, considering the high taxes imposed from

Athens. In fact taxes were imposed depending on the economic situation of

the area.

Hence we can understand that Ikaria was going through a flourishing

development based on the production of wine, as it was one of the most

charged territories in the documents: Ikaria was enlisted among the 30% that

paid the highest taxes (Papalas A. J., 1992).

Still nowadays there are several tales concerning the paternity of the original

wine, all of them meant to discredit one or another place in favor of one’s

own, but this debate is not central to my research. Way more important are

Ikarians’ mythical beliefs linked to their Island and, thus, the subsequent

behaviors in wine growing, production and consumption –both ritual and

not.

Up this far it is not possible to confirm the presence or the celebration of

panigiria on the Island, but I believe that at least there were rites connected

with Artemis, together with sacrifices, that have connections with the later

history of the panigiria. I assume this considering the building date of the

temple dedicated to Artemis that, being the last relief post on the dreadful

Ikarian sea, was by sure the cult centre of the goddess, to protect the

travelers.

Besides, as in that period wine became the main gaining means in the island,

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I believe there were propitiating rituals to summon a good crop and win the

benevolence of the wine and crop gods, particularly Dionysius. To sustain

this hypothesis there is the marble mask representing Dionysius, that was

discovered in the island, which was part of a wider statue (Versnel H. S.,

1990).

Around 440 B.C., Athens founded a military settlement in Oenoe to be able

to overlook Samos, that rose against the empire.

At that time Euripides visited the island and mentioned a peculiar uneven

condition between the two main cities in Ikaria, Oenoe and Therma (Papalas

A. J., 1992). The latter had not a central role in the production of the local

and much renowned wine, whereas its prosperous economy was built on the

thermal springs of the area, considered to be highly beneficent and known

all over the Aegean sea. It seems that the two cities had almost no contacts

and this seems likely to depend on the steep mountain that divide the two

areas. This division survived till the contemporary age, when in 1912 the

two ikarian provinces almost fought a war to establish the island’s capital.

That period, one of the richest in which 13000 inhabitants could be

estimated living in the island, ended soon with the break out of the

Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 B.C.).

Twice the spartan admirals brought their fleets in Ikaria. After the war, the

Aegean sea became less controller as the power of the Greek fleets grew

weaker and weaker and this favored the pirates’ assaults that did not spare

the coastal villages (Papalas A. J., 1992).

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1.2 Dyonisian symbols and the taurobolium

The situation got better by 387 B.C. when Ikaria became a member of the

second Athenian confederacy. This time Samos did not join the alliance,

thus making of Ikaros’ island an important border outpost in need of strong

fortifications. Its strategic position, as in the past, was used by the Athenian

Empire to supervise the Aegean traffic.

Many ikarians had a part in Alexander the Great’s campaign against Persia.

The war that followed Alexander’s death, in

323 B.C., saw Ikaria turning into an

important military settlement. In that period

the tower and the nearby fortress in Dracano

(today Fanari) was built and nowadays it is

the better preserved Hellenic military tower

(see image n° 2). In the third century B.C.

Theocritus referred in his writing to the

fortified citadel as “Dyonisus’ home”,

showing the evolution of the stronghold,

from military outpost to walled settlement

with his own wine production (Papalas A. J.,

1992).

This tower was a fundamental interest point to all the reigns that wanted to

control the Aegean sea; in fact, being positioned in the outmost tip of the

Immagine n° 2

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island, overlooking nearby Samos, it was the best point to supervise the

passage of the ships heading towards continental Greece or Anatolian coasts

(Papals A. J., 1992).

Furthermore, from the tower it was possible to communicate with nearby

islands and passing ships through a sort of Morse alphabet, which used light

signals made with mirrors reflecting intermittently the sunlight.

Still nowadays it is not uncommon to see this ancient communication

system; the islanders, as ships pass by, keep communicating through their

houses’ windows, using sunlight reflections2. This, besides being another

survival of the century old traditions of the island, probably caused by the

will to preserve these peculiarities, shows us Ikarians’ attachment to their

traditions.

The 2nd

century B.C. was a declining period for all the Aegean islands, and

also the Ikarian population rapidly fell by 50%. This wasn’t the result of any

particular event, but the outcome of a gradual process that began in the

centuries that followed the death of Alexander the Great, and continued till

the entrance of the Roman Empire in the Aegean area (Papalas A. J., 1992).

As Tolomeus I took control over the Sporades Islands in the East, he

absorbed also Ikaria that, under his dynasty, saw a rich and steady

flourishing period based, as usual, on the production of wine.

2 I personally assisted to this peculiar custom during my crossing from continental

Greece to Ikaria, during the last summers. Often, while talking to Ikarians that were

heading home, this narrative was confirmed.

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It was in that time that Oenoe began forging coins with the image of

Dionysus, grapes, Artemis and a bull, symbolizing the rituals and the

sacrifices that took place in the temple in Nas. In fact it represented the

taurobolium, a ritual based on the gesture of pouring of the blood of a

sacrificial bull either in a sacred place or on a priest. This ritual was

executed with a propitiating intention, to bring health and wealth to the

community. Later on, it was meant to regenerate the followers of the cult

making them “reborn for eternity” or simply as a vow to the goddess

(Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum VI, 510512).

As I tried to date this cult, I referred to the period in which the taurobolium

was celebrated in ancient Rome (from the 15th

to the 28th of March), to

honor the Anatolian goddess Cybele, patron of nature, animals and wild

places (Paladini V., 1952). Also in Ikaria the ritual of the bull’s blood

pouring was celebrated, for Artemis that, besides being the hunting goddess

was also the protector of wild animals and woods (Papalas A. J.,1992).

The cults and the characteristics of the two goddess were very similar and it

is not unlikely to say that this ritual survived for many centuries in the

culture and the practices of the island. Nowadays in Ikaria, precisely in the

village, if it may be called like that one that has only three inhabitants, of

Mavriannos3, close to the ruins of Artemis temple, the annunciation of

Gabriel to Virgin Mary on the incarnation of Jesus Christ4 is celebrated with

a panigiri on the 25th of March.

3 http://www.mlahanas.de/Greece/cities/armenistis .html

4 http://www.armenistis.net/festivals.html

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Trying to track the same date back to the pre-christian times, the 25th of

March represents the day in which, during the taurobolium, the resurrection

of the god Attis (unlucky husband of the goddess Cybele) was celebrated.

This holy day was characterized by the presence of joyful parades on the

streets (Fishwick D., 1966, Vol. 97). Furthermore, it is interesting to notice

that this date also evokes the declaration of the Greek independence war

against the Ottoman Empire (25th March 1821).

It seems that the term panigiria, literary meaning all joined together, was

used to indicate the different, although similar, way to celebrate a pagan

god, a Christian saint or an historical event that had an importance on the

local identity. A way, hence, through which it was possible to regard oneself

as Ikarian.

This is where the “institution” of the panigiria starts shaping throughout the

history of the island, a history that, from the early moments of Ikarian

history up to these days, sees this ritual as a means through which the

individuals can establish a contact with the holy. Besides, being a cultural

product, it is also a vehicle through which Ikarians consciously reaffirm year

after year the fundamental characters of their economy, that have a central

part in the formation of their symbolic and identitarian language. I’m

referring to wine and goats, that are their main economic and symbolic

resources.

Going back to the coins that were forged in Oenoe, representing grapes and

its patron god, or those that showed Artemis and the bull, they show the

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symbols through which Ikaria was known throughout the Aegean sea.

As the historical reconstruction of the island past goes on, it seems always

more clear to me the presence of Dionysian cults connected to the wine

production, main pillar in Ikarian economy and identity.

During the second century B.C. many Aegean communities set off festivals

and erected temples dedicated to various gods of the pantheon (Papalas A.

J., 1992). It looks like in Ikaria these kinds of approaches to the gods were

already present since a long time, considering the dating of Artemis temple

– way back in the 6th century B.C. – and the various activities carried on in

it.

Furthermore, the production of wine, dating back to the 5th century B.C.,

lets us think that in the Island there were already – if not festivals – at least

rituals through which Ikarians thanked Dionysus for the good crop and the

“miraculous” transformation of the grape juices into the sacred drink.

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1.3 Ikaria, exile island

At the end of the second century, Romans began to appear in the area, even

if they weren’t able, yet, to control it all. In 129 B.C. Samos was included in

the roman province of Asia and so it was, probably, for Ikaria. A Roman

general was appointed to repair Artemis temple in Nas bay, that during the

3rd

century B.C. was left ruined, probably due to the frequent pirate

plunderings (Papalas A. J., 1992).

But the Roman control over the Aegean sea was not meant to last for long:

in the first century B.C. they had to turn back to internal problems and left

the Aegean area under the control of groups of pirates.

In this period all the coastal villages in the island were abandoned and the

few inhabitants escaped towards the inland (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C.

H., 2006).

The situation meant the rising weath price and a spreading food scarcity for

all the islands that – as Ikaria – had to import most of the resources essential

to their survival.

Emperor Augustus reestablished order in the Aegean sea during the period

going from the 29 B.C. to the 14 C.E. and encouraged Samos inhabitants to

put their efforts in the development of Ikaria (Papalas A. J., 1992). It was a

precise interest of the Roman Empire to repopulate abandoned towns, in

order to collect, as they started again to flourish, tributes.

Soon, the Roman Empire began using the Aegean islands as a place where

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political opponents were exiled. Most probably Samos, having control over

Ikaria, chose the island as one of the main destinations of some of those

exiles (Papalas A. J., 1992).

At that time Strabo (58 B.C.) passed through the island and wrote a very

negative description, representing it as a mostly deserted place, where only

two small towns were still inhabited, Oenoe and Therma. From his writings

it appears that the island was only used from Samos cattlemen that exploited

the vegetation as a large graze for their herds. In fact, during the Roman

dominion, the most largely commercialized good from Ikaria were goats.

We cannot be completely sure of the testimony of Strabo, as of that of

several explorers that pretended to have visited the island. Many of the

sources of the islanders’ history and culture were produced by people that

have never visited Ikaria (Papalas A. J.,1992). They usually relied on the

tales heard during their travels in other islands – like Samos – where the

population saw Ikaria as a place that had only to be exploited, a land with no

history and where the inhabitants had no culture and were far from being

civilized (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

In the tales that reached us5, partly for the envy caused by the myths that

gave the patronage of the wine and its god to Ikaria, partly for hegemonic

desires, the picture of the island is often an uneven one, that discouraged the

travelers that arrived in Samos from verifying personally if the stories were

true, leaving them with negative descriptions.

Also Plinius the Young, during the first century C.E., passed through the

5 As those of Georgirnees J., Epaminondas S. & Plinius the Young.

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island and was struck by the way in which its inhabitants lived, a lifestyle

that he describes as “rural” (Papalas A. J., 1992).

From the end of the 5th

century C.E. Ikaria fell into the control of the

Byzantine Empire that ensured the protection from the pirates plunders.

In the 6th century the raids of the Slavonic populations and then of the

Arabs damaged the coastal villages, but from the 1035 the Byzantine fleet

regained the control over the Aegean sea.

The first Christian Church that was built in the island seems to date back to

the first years of the Byzantine Empire; furthermore, the exile of Saint John

in Patmos and the formation of the first Christian communities in the

Aegean marked the arrival of the early Christianity in Ikaria (Papalas A. J.,

1992).

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1.4 Some events connected to the panigiria during the

Ottoman Empire

Since the end of the 12th century C.E. the Byzantine Empire loosen the naval

defense in the Aegean sea, making way, once again, to pirates and Italian

adventurers. In this period Ikarians built fortresses in order to prevent every

possible attack (Papalas A. J.,1992).

A document preserved in Patmos monastery, on the nearby island, tells of a

pirate ship that, after a storm, shipwrecked on Ikaria coasts where the whole

crew was executed by the islanders.

The Norman invasion (XII century) touched Ikaria that by 1190, when the

invaders left the Aegean sea, became part of the Venetian lands. They used

the island as a strategic point to convoy their merchant ships towards Chios

and Constantinople.

In the 14th century C.E. Ikaria became part of the Genoese Empire, that

aimed at Dracanum fortress (nowadays Fanari) to be able to control the

commercial activities on the Aegean sea. During this period, most of the

islanders took refuge in the village of Langada, on the opposite end of the

island (Papalas A. J., 1992).

Up to now, a popular song survived that recalls the way in which the

Genoese took control of the island and how they treated the local

population. Eventually, as usual, the maritime republic forced the locals to

offer work and military services. Hence, the hate for the conquerors that the

21

Ikarians expressed through popular music was shaped.

The Giustiniani dynasty from Genoa, in particular the Arangio family, hold

the title of Ikaria barons (the island, at the time, was also known as Nikaria)

from the 1362 to the 14816.

When the Turks drove the Genoeses out of the Aegean, around 1450, Ikaria

was set free until 1521, when it was annexed to the Ottoman Empire.

The sultan sent to the island a tax collector and a group of islanders was

ordered to carry him on a sedan chair. But, when they were close to a cliff,

they intentionally threw him down, killing him7 (Papalas A. J.,1992).

Altough a cruel punishment was expected for such a dare, the sultan granted

his pardon to the Ikarian delegation that was called in front of him. Some

sources put this clemency in connection with the way in which the Ikarians

were dressed, with battered rags and a shabby look, enough to cause pity in

the sultan for their deprivation (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

Some other tales present the islanders under the Ottoman dominion as the

most deprived in the whole Aegean, lacking proper clothes and

characterized by an unusual way to sleep. Eventually in Ikaria, since long

time, there were no beds (Georgernee J., 1677 & Stamatiades E., 1864).

This unusual habit was seen by most of the outsiders as a symbol of the

backwardness and of the barbarity of the Ikarians, a people so rough that

6 www.giustiniani.info

7 I was told about this episode during an interview with E. L. and I subsequently found

out more about it in Papalas A. J., Ancient Ikaria.

22

would refuse a bed even when offered one while traveling outside their

homeland.

A tale that survived the stresses of history tells about an Ikarian that, after

several years outside his island, got used to sleep in a bed so much that,

when he got back to Ikaria, he brought one with him. His fellow islanders

could not stand it, as they thought that the novelty he brought was

unacceptable; so they broke into his house, took the bed and, once they

brought it out, they burnt it in the central square of the village, as a warning

for those who wanted to follow the example of the innovator. From that

moment up to the late 19th century no one moved away from the stark

simplicity that characterized the Ikarian lifestyle (Miliadis D. D. &

Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

The explanation that was give for such an habit was that they wanted to

sleep close to “their mother”, mother earth that every day gave them the

means to survive.

The Turks, after the killing of the tax collector, never sent again any official

in Ikaria, loosening the control and limiting the taxation to a fee called “one

of ten” that consisted in a crown for each ten inhabitants to be given to the

archbishop of Samos together with the normal taxes (Papalas A. J., 1992).

But, as no one could really check the conditions on the island, the payed

taxes were meager. Furthermore the tax collection was not entrusted to some

imperial official that could actually check the economic situation of the

islanders, but a delegation of Ikarians was to bring directly the money to the

archbishop, as usual with stark clothing in order to justify the poor amount

23

gathered for the taxes.

To check the real conditions on the island, the bishop of Samos Georgirnees

J. was sent to Ikaria (Papalas A. J., 1992). And he wrote probably the best

description of the island in that time. By 1677 he found that the island was

inhabited by more or less a thousand islanders, depicted as the poorest in the

Aegean sea.

In his writings he described Ikarians as not wearing appropriate shoes and

not using beds, but also as happy, careless and long-lived. Besides, they

believed to be direct descendents of a royal byzantine family, thus, to avoid

their “noble blood” to be corrupted by the union with commoners all

marriages with foreigners were forbidden.

During his stay in Ikaria, he noticed that the wine was stored in long pots or

jars, that were buried underground, so that when someone needed some

wine, he’d get it through empty canes (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H.,

2006).

In the 19th century Artemis temple was sacked and raped by the villagers of

Christos Raches to use its marble to build the local church (Papalas A. J.,

1992).

In an interview, I was told the pretext used by the priest to persuade the

inhabitants to sack the temple.

«The temple in Nas was in a perfect state up to 1860s, but, after a long drought, the

Church persuaded the villagers that the fault was to be charged to Artemis’ statue, still

preserved in the temple, that caused God’s wrath. So it was destroyed and the temple

stones were used to build up churches» (Interview with Y. B., 25/08/08).

24

By 1827, Ikaria broke the few links that kept it under the control of the

Ottoman Empire, but after a few years it was forced to accept once again the

Turkish legislation and to host some imperial official, becoming once again

a part of the Empire (Papalas A. J., 1992).

In 1864 Epaminondas Stamatiades, an official in Samos, visited Ikaria and

some years later published a book titled Ikariaka, in which he confirmed the

picture of Ikarians as a backward people, uncivilized and wild. As a

reaction, the islanders, considering the writing offensive for their culture,

collected all the copies they could and they burnt them down in the public

square (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

Once again we find an element which I consider very important. Twice8

during this historical reconstruction of the island’s past we see a violent

collective reaction against those who discredited their “culture” or

introduced “westernizing” elements in their lifestyle.

Both the reactions are meant to show publicly what is accepted and what is

considered a threat to the integrity of the Ikarian community. These highly

symbolic actions take place in the central square of the village and I think it

is not by chance that the same square also hosted, year after year, ever since

remote times, the celebration of many panigiria.

8 I’m referring to the tale about the bed brought in the island by an Ikarian traveler and

subsequently burnt in the public square and the one about the books considered

offensive for the island’s culture, that were burnt as well in the square.

25

I believe that the panigiria are events during which is explicitly shown what

the community accept and what, on the other hand, forbids; for example, the

immoderate use of wine, allowed during these festivals as it is publicly

done, but criticized when the abuse takes place in the everyday life.

And this is how the panigiri becomes a “place” characterized by a particular

value, a borderland in which all the characteristic behaviors of the

community are shaped, together with the ones that are not meant to be done,

as a relief valve that legitimizes the principles on which the “culture” and

the “identity” of the island are built.

26

1.5 Contemporary Events

The 20th century was an important period from an identitarian perspective.

The 17th July 1912, relying exclusively on their own strength, the local

population gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, chasing away

the few Turkish officials present on the island (Papalas A. J., 1992).

This date, besides its importance for the independence gained by the island,

is useful for my attempt to place the Ikarian festivals, known as panigiria, in

the historical evolution of Ikaria. Eventually, the 17th July of that year, as

still nowadays, Saint Marina is celebrated in Ikaria. From May to October,

actually, Ikaria sees the almost daily celebration of several saints.

From some interviews I collected in Ikaria (Y. B., 25/08/08 and E. L.,

22/08/08), I learnt a fact that lets me associate the date of the independence

with the panigiria, a presence already stable enough9 to be felt as essential.

So essential that, when – the 17th July 1912, day of Ikarian independence –

the islanders were about to drive the Turks out, while heading towards the

dock they passed through a village where a panigiri was taking place to

celebrate Saint Marina.

«The delegation stopped for the whole duration of the panigiri. They untied the Turkish

officials, gave them a table, let them eat, drink and dance. The day after the tied them

again and head again towards the dock» (Interview with Y. B., 25/08/08).

9 As I will say later, Ikarian panigiria were already well established during the pirates’

raid. Some sources allow us to date their presence as far as the period of the foundation

of the village of Langada, in the Byzantine time.

27

The importance of the celebration of the panigiria is made clear from this

tale, that points out that its compliance was so essential to Ikarian

population that it stopped for one day the ongoing revolution.

Going back to official historiography (Papalas A. J.,1992; Miliadis D. D. &

Tripouas C. H., 2006; Vaccarino G., 1988), the years that go from the

independence from the Ottoman Empire to the Balkan war saw Ikaria

showing in the Aegean sea as an independent nation, even with a flag, an

anthem and an army.

Independence lasted until November of the same year, when Ikaria was

annexed to the Greek state. Five months of independence were hard enough

for the island population, that was short on food and cut off from the rest of

the world for the absence of transportation and mail (Papalas A. J., 1992).

In that period, Ikaria was also considering the opportunity to be annexed to

the Italian lands in the Aegean sea. Throughout the years that go from the

annexing to Greece till the last decades of the 20th century, the Greek

government’s policies did not satisfy Ikaria.

The missing investments on the island development caused the

backwardness in which the island is still nowadays. Ikarians looked for

economic help in order to build streets, schools and to buy medicines, but

the lack of responses pushed them, from 1890 on, to emigrate to the United

States where some of them had luck in the mills industries or as

businessmen (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

Even the panigiria represented (and still represent) some sort of solution.

28

They were occasions in which it was possible to collect small amounts of

money to be used in the construction of important infrastructures. During

these festivals such goods as wine and goat cooked in different ways, that

were the product of the hard work of the village families (Miliadis D. D. e

Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

When people gave their own goods for the panigiria, they did not want any

other income, whereas “their own things” were gave to the whole

community. Besides, in this way, they allowed the celebration of these

festivals, so important and so loved by Ikarians. These celebrations were a

kind of catalyst of sacred and profane, material and inner elements.

During World War II and German and Italian occupation, the island went

through one of the worst moments in its history, characterized by deaths and

lootings. There are no clear evidences to help us estimate how many people

starved, but only in the village of Karavostamos more than a hundred people

died for this reason (MIliadis D. D. e Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

Afterwards, the condition got worse with the damages and killings of the

Greek Civil War (1945 – 1947), that burst between the nationalists and the

philo-communists. The Greek government decided to use the island to exile

more or less 13000 comunists10

, from 1945 to 1949 (Y. B., 25/08/08 & M.

G., 24/08/08).

Even after this date, most of the population kept a certain sympathy for

communism, so that Ikaria i salso known in Greece as “Red Island” or “Red

Rock” (Miliadis M. M. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

10 From Papalas A. J., 1992.

29

Also for this reason the island went through moments of hunger and despair,

as the land could not produce enough for everyone.

The quality of life started increasing only after the 1960s, when the Greek

government began to invest in the island infrastructures, promoting tourism.

Notwithstanding this, economic help before reaching Ikaria were always

passing through Samos administration, that deducted a “charge” from the

total amount of money (Papalas A. J., 1992).

This sort of bribe that Samos applied to Ikaria money is still common and

obliges Ikarians to satisfy some of their needs through the money gathered

in the panigiria, perpetuating the twofold aspect, both symbolic and

material.

30

Chapter 2 - Ikarian Panigiria

2.1 Organization and structural components

The aspect that I want to underline and analyze in this chapter is the

socializing character of the panigiria and the role that they have in the

Ikarian community11

.

In doing this, I think it is important to analyze separately the various

elements that constitute these festivals, stressing mostly the relations

dance/music, food/wine and the interpersonal relationships that are shaped

during the celebration.

These elements characterize the Ikarian panigiria, as they differ from the

ones in the whole continental Greece, as some informants told me

«Ikarian panigiria are unique, full of youth, with music and dancing till late morning and

the Pipperi closes all the panigiria, whereas it happens rarely in the rest of Greece»

(Interview with J. P., 17/08/08).

I believe that, above all, it is important to propose an explanatory framework

for the Ikarian panigiria, so that, even those who have never celebrated one,

can figure them out, in order to understand them better.

11 As I’ve already explained in the footnote 8, by Ikarian community I mean the whole

group of islanders born in Ikaria that, even if the reside somewhere else, each year go

back to their village to celebrate the panigiria.

31

Ikarian panigiria are festivals meant to celebrate important events in the life

of certain saints, remember the dead or the anniversary of highly

representative events that have a sense of “collective identity”, as the Ikarian

independence from the Ottoman Empire (17th July 1912).

There are festivals throughout the year, but they are more frequent between

May and September. The panigiria follow a definite ceremony formed by a

series of ritual actions, as the dance or the common meal, in which

individuals seem to perform, ritually, the values that are shared by the

community. The awareness of doing something that is approved by the

group necessarily leads to positive ends, verified or believed to be so

(Destro A., 2009).

«By the term ritual I mean a performance with more or less

invariable sequences of formal acts and enunciates not totally

codified by their executors» (Rappaport R. A., 1999, p. 36).

After taking part in a ritual, individuals are in a condition that differs from

the starting one. At the end of a ritual, the participants are not the same.

At the end of the panigiri the community will be partly different: its union

will be made stronger, during the ritual the community itself will be born

again (Destro A., 2009).

Basing on what I saw, I divide the panigiria into two fundamental moments:

The first one begins in the early morning and ends in the early afternoon.

Each family in the village contributes to the common banquet bringing goat

32

meat, if they have any, some wine, if they produce it, or some money. Those

who can’t contribute economically nor materially help out in some other

way, for example working in the preparation of the square where the

panigiri will take place.

In the early morning the whole village goes to the church to remember the

dead and celebrate their own patron saint. At lunch time a big tableful will

be ready in the central square, where everyone will eat together and then go

back to its own house. This first part of the panigiri is closed to those who

are not from the village.

The second moment begins in the evening, around eight or nine p.m., when

the village, and everyone who wants to join in, meets in the main square

where several tables are placed on the perimeter, leaving the center free for

the dances and a group of Ikarian musicians. The dinner and the dance are

not divided. Panigiria are characterized by an alternance, better said a

concomitance, of food and dance, all washed with abundant Pramnio wine.

The main course eaten in these festivals is goat meat, variously cooked. As

the time passes by, the food becomes less important, whereas the wine and

the dance become the heart of the party.

The speed of the rhythm grows proportionally as the time goes by, so that

around one or two in the night the panigiria show a face that during the day

is hidden, characterized by frantic dances, joined in by the whole

community, that merges all individuals in one dancing spiral.

33

.

34

The end of the festival, often in the late morning, the day after, depends on

how tired the participants or the musicians are; thus, often a certain

challenge between the two parts takes place, with the musicians pushing up

the rhythm and the dancers inciting them with booing and hisses typical of

these moments.

Observing the ritual processes, we can understand the ideological asset of a

specific community (Destro A., 2009). For example, looking at the gestural

language in the panigiria we can understand whether there are strong

hierarchies or not.

Considering the festivals’ dynamics, it is possible to notice that Pan and

Dionysus12

share the day in a way that prevents the contrast between them.

Pan prefers the first hours of the afternoon, as Dionysus prefers the night.

There is another analogy between the religious and the everyday domain:

indeed, as we said before, also the panigiria are divided in two parts. The

first one characterized by a calm lunch without music or dances; the latter

consisting in a dinner, followed by frantic dances, driving rhythm and large

quantities of wine.

This is how the panigiria become the metaphorical place where several

forces come into action, belonging to different spheres. The two souls of the

12 Pan, goat shaped god. Connected with the soil and the fertility, wanders through the

woods, followed by nymphs, playing the flute and dancing. He is mainly considered the god of the fields and the woods during the day. He protects the cattle and holds sacred

the mountains peaks. He is a quiet loving god and does not like to be bothered.

Dionysus, linked to the vegetation, was responsible for the ripening of the crops. Often

represented as a chaotic god. The main plants with which he is represented are ivy and

grape, through which he gave the wine to the mankind. He is usually associated with the

night.

35

religious sphere, Pan and Dionysus, beat the rhythm of the panigiri,

regulating the actions that take place in the festivals. The calm of the day

precedes the chaos of the night.

As I’ve already said, to better understand the various elements and aspects

of which the Ikarian panigiria are composed, I will split my analysis, in this

and in the next chapter, looking at music/dance and food/wine as separate

moments for practical reasons, but being aware of their mutual

interdependence.

36

2.2 Music and dance

I think it is appropriate to present a synthesis of the different musical styles

and related dances present on the island. The main styles I found in Ikaria

are:

• The ballroom dancing, present in Europe from the 20th century.

«Ballroom dancing was imported in Ikaria through the nearby Smirni (ancient Greek town,

nowadays part of Turkey), considered the Greek Paris. It was from there that all the latest

fashions came, among them ballroom dancing, one of the more common dance styles in

Europe at the time» (Interview with Y. B., 25/08/08).

• The rebetiko, a decidedly masculine dance, defined as a sort of “Greek

blues” the contents of which recall the hard life of the emigrants.

• The tsifteteli, a traditionally feminine dance, similar to a sort of belly

dance with clear Turkish origins.

• Several dances performed in circles, as the nisiotiko (literary music of the

islands) that usually focuses on tales about the sea.

• The ikariotiko, a dance exclusive to this island.

An element that I regard as important is the lack, in the practices I was able

to observe in Ikaria, of forceful sexual discriminations in dancing, as

opposed to what happens in continental Greece or elsewhere, where it is not

37

allowed for a woman to lead the dance circles or spirals or to dance a music

traditionally associated to the other gender, for example for a man to dance

the tsifteteli or for a woman to dance the reberiko, as I was told during an

interview

«one thing that I like here in Ikaria is that even women can lead the circle and design their

own figures, something that in Greece is not accepted as girls have and are meant to keep

a prudish role» (Interview with M. G., 24/08/08).

Indeed, only in this Greek island it is allowed for women to dance rebetiko

and lead ikariotiko13

(masculine dance), as much as the men can enjoy the

tsifteteli (feminine dance). I believe that women still hold leading and

important positions in this communities. Above all, from this peculiarity we

can understand that these roles are credited a high importance and

represented also on a choreographic and ritual level.

A source that seems to confirm this analysis of the Ikarian society comes

from the pen of the Spaniard Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo that in 1403 C.E.

affirms:

«Ikaria is a populous island and it’s full of well cultivated fields.

It is ruled by a woman that owns her own jail» (Miliadis D. D. &

Tripoulas C. H., 2006, p. 42) .

13 Ikariotiko is a dance style characterized by a series of basic codified steps, among

which the one called “Ikarus fly” or “Ikarus step”, representing his mythical fall and the

island formation, is mostly noticeable.

38

The panigiria, being a sort of medium for identitarian elements, to my

advice fundamental for Ikarian culture, could not avoid representing the

women position, that in Ikaria was a key role even in the political arena.

The dance, and the related music, on which I will focus, as I consider it to

be the most representative medium for the symbols that Ikarian

communities express through this kind of language, is the ikariotico.

This peculiar dance style translates the images and the behaviors that seem

to be part of the “Ikarian identity”, as the islanders themselves consider it. In

its steps it tells the story of the birth and growth of Ikaria, with the mythical

fall of Ikarus and the formation of the island; eventually, since the 5th

century B.C. the island was known as Ikaria, which means “Ikarus island”

(Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

The basic steps seem to be codified and standardized since a long time, even

if every single person used to characterize its own dance with unique forms

and circles, «intertwining the repetitive characters with more

extemporaneous and personal attitudes» (Destro A., 2009, p.64).

Observing the dance, listening to the music and considering the context in

which these two elements appear, it is possible to seize and piece together

the socio-cultural processes that characterized that territory.

Often, studying a social phenomenon as a festival and the performances that

take place during it, in areas “ethnically” and linguistically homogeneous, it

is possible to distinguish more permanencies in some places and more

disintegration in others.

A research that starts from these forms of cultural expression, through which

39

are conveyed, expressed and renewed the collective values, brings

inevitably to relate to other aspects of the local culture and history.

Dance and music, in a festival that acts as a case in which “everything”14

can take place and be shaped, often hide some practical needs of the

community itself.

Dance has an autonomous character; it can be performed without music or it

can even produce sounds itself (Leydi R., 1991).

Starting with elements like this one, it is possible to go back in time and to

question ourselves on the reasons that gave birth to certain habits and

consolidated them, necessarily running into meaningful historical events

that marked the whole community, shaping the individual lifestyle,

including the habits and the rituals.

For a long time Ikaria was prone to lootings from groups of pirates that

infested the Aegean sea (Papalas A. J., 1992). This formed the lifestyle of its

inhabitants, in which both work and leisure had to face this constant threat.

Thus the panigiria changed in response to these events

«when pirates approached the coasts, the inhabitants took shelter in the mountains, for

example in Langada, and continued to celebrate panigiria, but, as they were afraid that the

music would reveal them, they beat the rhythm clapping their hands» (Interview with E.

L., 22/08/08).

14 Rituals are the “places” and means through which the traditions of a community are

made clear, together with some characters of the identities of the individuals and

therefore of the community itself. Besides, the conflicts and the solutions to these are

shaped in the rite.

40

Thereof we can gather two important information. The first one concerning

the movements from the coastal villages to the refuges in the mountains and

the subsequent changes in habits for the population15

; they had to work

during the night, not to be seen by the pirates that waited on the shores.

The second one, on the other hand, shows the moldable and yet durable

aspect of these festivals, that were celebrated even without the music. These

ritual celebrations, therefore, have changed following the historical and

social needs; the musical panigiria became silent festivities, in which the

only melody was created by the rhythmic clapping of the hands that gave

the beat to the dance and by the dancing itself.

Many ritual celebrations, notwithstanding the formal and codified character,

undergo transformations, caused by the adaptation to the new contexts that

the historical and social evolution continuously create (Destro A., 2009).

After this historical parenthesis, going back to the elements that constitute

the panigiria, I think it is necessary to look into the dance language.

The gestures that are present in it are codified from the society, that hands

down from generation to generation the basic steps, but, far from being a

fixed repetition of choreographic codes, it is, as all the elements that

permeate social life, subject to the appropriation of the individuals. So the

basic step is enriched by peculiar forms representative of a community, that

are shown during the celebration as a identity card in which the village from

15 Moving from the coasts to the mountains they inevitably had to change their lifestyles

and their livelihood.

41

which the dancer comes, recalling the attention of the collectivity to the

history and the identity of the community itself. During my fieldwork I

often found myself in front of the ikariotiko led by individuals coming from

different villages; it was easy to distinguish them from the forms they were

performing.

The dance, a fundamental element in the panigiria, actually varies from

place to place, depending on the geographical position and on the peculiar

history that the particular community faced and that is affirmed, time to

time, in each festival, through its identitarian characters, showing what is

accepted and what is not.

42

Dance uses a gestural language that the ethnomusicologist Roberto Leydi

(1991) divides, considering the main function of the event – social dance,

ceremonial dance and therapeutic dance.

I believe that the analysis of these three kinds of dance is useful to

understand the role that the ikariotiko has in the island’s communities.

The main function of social dance is an aggregative-recreational one, as it

allows the strengthening of the interpersonal communication through the

gesture within the group (Leydi R., 1996). Are part of this category

courtship dances, game dances and educational dances that are meant to

teach and train specific skills.

The gestural language used, that differs from one community to the other,

constitutes what we call “style”. It reflects the behavioral rules that form the

gestural habitus of an individual in a community. As I said, the set of

gestures varies from community to community, even in adjacent territories

and in groups that share the same dance repertory; furthermore, it varies

with age class, social role and gender (Leydi R., 1996).

As I was able to observe in Ikaria, masculine gestural language seems to be

characterized by movements with a stronger visual impact. For example in

“Ikarus step” men keep their legs open wider and jump or walk with longer

steps than the women do.

The ritual, being a human activity with formal characteristics, is learnt and

passed on, leaving space for the individual spontaneity (Destro A., 2009).

43

Dance is learnt through imitation and direct transmission adult-child or

child-child, and the basic step is built since the first children’s plays. These

practices are real educational practices needed in order to keep the tradition

alive (Leydi R., 1996).

Social dance is what is more subject to evolution, transformation and

decadence if the community loses chances to gather. The presence in Ikaria

of these festivals, very similar to the ones that took place in the last century,

seems to raise some questions – according to some of my informants (Y. B.,

25/08/08 & E. L., 22/08/08) – like: why these festivals survived up to these

days? Maybe for some sort of identitarian recognition16

? For touristic

reasons or because they still satisfy the community needs?

I believe that the local inhabitants were always reluctant to stop these

practices17

and the reason for that should be found in the role that the

panigiria had in Ikarian communities. They represented the moment in

which different groups in the island met not for work or trade, but in a

festive atmosphere.

Ceremonial dance is shaped during ritual events in which choreographic

groups offer to the community a ceremonial performance with a ritual,

cathartic character and charged with symbolic meaning related to the

16 By identitarian recognition I mean the need to be recognized in the rest of the country

as a community with its own origins, traditions and values; something that has been

denied to Ikarians for a long time.

17 As it is made clear in the various events and adaptations through which Ikarians kept

the tradition of the panigiria; for example in the above mentioned case of the silent

festivals during pirates raids.

44

boundaries and the purification of the territory, together with an exorcistic-

propitiatory function (Leydi R., 1996).

Considering what I’ve seen on the field and the literature on the issue, I

think that in Ikarian panigiria there is no internal partition within the

community. Rather, the whole collectivity is charged with this role and this

honor through dance and the related symbolism.

The knowledge of this repertory is not the legacy of a narrow number of

“specialists”, but it is collective. In the panigiria I took part in, I’ve never

seen a group of “specialists” performing a special dance closed to the other

participants.

As I said, most of the panigiria take place in the period that goes from May

to October, with a larger frequency in summer.

«From the 9th February to mid October more than 96 panigiria are celebrated» (Interview

with Y. B., 25/08/08)

This characteristic may have several practical reasons. Actually, many

recreational and aggregative events are organized in summer, the season in

which it is possible to relax from winter hard work. But, as in Ikaria winter

is very severe and the economy is mainly based on wine production and

cattle breeding, the hardest work takes place from spring, when the sowing

and the pruning take place, to autumn, the season of the grape harvest. Thus,

it is more reasonable to justify the summer panigiria basing on their

propitiatory character, as that is the period just before the harvest, a

45

fundamental step in the island economy.

The island receives scarce economic aid from the Greek government

(Papalas A. J., 1992). Ikarian population, therefore, relies also on the

production and the commerce of wine for the maintenance and construction

of several infrastructures; wine that is exported to Greece and, above all,

sold during the panigiria that have an importance also on the economic side.

«The Greek government does not support us economically and the few money we get are

managed by Samos, that deducts some of the money. Therefore the gains collected during

the panigiria are used to build schools, churches and streets in the villages. Time ago we

didn’t even received the little we have now from Greece. In my village we are celebrating

panigiria to build a big common hall to celebrate marriages, baptisms, dance and so on. All

the basketball courts that you saw were built with the money from the panigiria» (Interview

with E. L., 22/08/08)

Therapeutic dance is meant to obtain a collective wellness through the

attainment of altered states of consciousness; many circular dances from all

around the world fall within this category (Leydi R., 1996), from the

Sardinian “ballo tondo” to the ikariotiko.

The will to aim to that peculiar state of consciousness through dance is

sometimes made explicit through the lyrics of the songs. I remember a song,

sung over a rebetiko melody, that said: “let your clothes fall and dance,

jump, let yourself go, live this moment as you never know how long you’ll

live”.

The peculiar association of dance, music and wine found in Ikaria, famous

46

in Greek mythology for its qualities, brings the participants to alterd states

of consciousness, desired and sought after during these festivals from the

collectivity, with the will to renew the unity of the community itself and

obtain a collective wellness.

«if you listen to this music for the whole night, drinking that wine, you’ll become like

Dionysus or Pan, you become crazy, but in a good way. This is the meaning of the

panigiria» (Interview with Y. B., 25/08/08).

Going on what I experienced on the field, I think that these three kinds of

dance, social, ceremonial and therapeutic, far from being divided elements,

are merged together in the panigiria, shaping its peculiar gestural language.

Typical characters of the social, ceremonial and therapeutic dance take place

in the same dance style, living together in the same time, contributing

altogether in the satisfaction of the Ikarian communities needs. By needs I

mean both the decidedly material ones, as meeting other people, socializing

and renewing social linkages, and those more subconscious, as the need to

let go oneself to certain behaviors like frantic dance and party. And I believe

that this is a key need for human beings.

47

2.2.2 Description of the ikariotiko dance style

Ikariotiko dance is characterized by a rhythmic, measured step, beaten by

the foot against the ground, as to establish some sort of connection with it

and all that it represent.

The circle then becomes a spiral, in which the leader dictates the forms of

his community, that are followed by everyone. He will not take the lead for

the whole duration of the dance; after some time he will leave his place to

someone else autonomously.

The feature of this dance is that the positions are continuously changing, so

that the one that leads in the beginning is often closing the spiral in the end;

and the spiral itself gets tighter and tighter with time, till the bodies of the

participants touch each other. At this point the musician, often the violinist,

can decide whether to stop the melody or to let the dance continue.

If the dance goes on, the leader has to get out of the circle, through the arms

of the dancers, taking the whole spiral with him and leading it towards

wider spaces, for example heading towards the nearby streets. The longer

the song is, the bigger is the number of dancers that will join the spiral. The

musicians, led by the violinist, decide the rhythm and the execution of the

various songs. Only the violin player can decide when to stop a dance, when

to make it frantic or slow it down.

The violinist, together with the mpouzouki18

player, has this special position

18 String instrument of the same family as the lyre. Similar to a mandolin, with a swollen

48

in the panigiria and is therefore highly estimated and respected. It is not

unusual, in the first hours of the morning, as the sun becomes warm, to see

someone taking an umbrella and putting it above the violinist, to protect him

from the sunbeams and the heat, while the rest of the band goes on

playing19

.

A characteristic of the ikariotico is that it has no clear, definite ending; it can

even go on for thirty or forty minutes. When this happens, the melody goes

on and on causing some sort of alienation from reality, losing the sense of

time, concentrating on the dance and giving the sensation that hours of

music are just minutes.

As the time goes by, the melody becomes faster and the dance more

measured and frantic. Often, the dance and the music reach their peak

during late night, when everything seems to change, revealing a hidden side

of the panigiria, charged with Dionysian elements.

Wine is central to this, as it helps the performers to let themselves go into

the music, overcoming personal resistances and letting the individuals

express their feelings better.

«Wine is important, it makes you feel comfortable, it lets you dance and talk to others,

reduces your logic, lets you have fun till the ecstasy» (Interview with M. G., 24/08/08).

It is in this moment that the therapeutic character of the dance starts

body and a high pitched sound, it comes from Asia Minor.

19 I myself saw this peculiar form of respect towards the violinist during a panigiri in

Amalou; besides this habit was later confirmed through the interviews.

49

working, channeling stress, frustrations and the “instinctive/wild” side of the

dancers in the unbridled dance.

«Ikariotiko is a music with no fixed beginning nor ending, it is just a melody that can be

reproduced on and on with some small variations, the sound is high pitched, andante and

leads dancers to let themselves go fully» (Interview with E. L., 22/08/08).

And it is exactly this “letting oneself go” without any restraint (to one’s

instincts and drives, channeling them in the dance) that is beneficial for the

participants of the panigiria.

50

2.2.3 Some reflections

To me, panigiria are important moments of sociality: channeling stress and

frustration through dance, they influence individuals and their way to relate

to others.

During the day in the island there is a very relaxed atmosphere, the time

seems to follow a course of its own. Each action, even the easiest and most

common one, seems to be carried out according to a ceremony, focusing on

each single gesture.

People seem to be prone to relate openly with everyone, sharing – even if it

is only for a moment, only for a dance – their emotions.

I believe that this behavior, this way of being and relating comes or anyhow

depends highly on the panigiria themselves, that contribute to shape the

individuals, preparing them to this kind of relations.

«The impact of the ritual is closely linked to the sensations that it

produces», as «the ritual brings results only as far as it is understood»

(Destro A., 2009, p. 71).

In this process the character of the festivals and the elements that compose

them – dance/music, food/wine and interpersonal relations – are

fundamental.

Joining the circle, during an ikariotiko, you feel accomplice of something,

as if in that precise moment everyone is struggling to overcome, to achieve

the same aim. This is made clear by the looks and by small gestures that the

51

participant let us see: channeled in such a way in the flow of the dance, you

feel carried away and sustained by the others, part in a flow.

As I said, you don’t dance only to be seen by the collectivity20

, but you do

it, especially in the night, to reach that something I was saying before. This

something is not easy to define and it would be restrictive to try to represent

it only by one concept: merging all together, becoming one single dancing

body, being accomplices, feeling a mutual communion, are some of the

concept that can evoke that something.

It is not unusual to see someone losing the rhythm and stopping; promptly,

the others sustain him and carry him to the circle once again, because, as

one of my informants suggested me

«the important thing is that everybody dances together, tighten in the same circle to give

and share the Energy. To be able to feel the circle as if it was one single body» (Interview

with E. L., 22/08/08).

This is the meaning of the term panigiri itself, “all merged together”; it is

thus extremely important that all those who start dancing an ikariotiko finish

it, because, to reach that something, the energy and complicity of every

single one is needed. To reach union and complicity among all the

participants, to feel like being part of21

, everyone should join in the main

20 By collectivity I mean a group of individuals formed by every participant in the

panigiri, both locals and foreigners.

21 Part of a community, even if in this case, we mean a provisional community that is

shaped in each panigiri. To join in something that is socially accepted, this is another

important feature of the panigiria.

52

aggregative features, the common meal and the dance.

53

2.2.4 Symbolism in the ikariotiko

Beginning from the consideration that «within every ritual are present

crossed notions and messages, like those of solidarity, conflict, violence and

pacification» (Destro A., 2009, p. 67), I think that a perfect starting point to

analyze Ikarian panigiria will be the deciphering of the symbols within

them.

A feature that I consider highly important and that is expressed through

ikariotiko dance is the life and death symbolism.

Indeed, as I said before22

, panigiria are also moments to commemorate the

deceased; as individual commemorate their own dead fathers and relatives,

the whole community, through the ikariotiko steps, representing the fall of

Ikarus, commemorates its mythical father.

«In ritual practices, ideal implications need the symbolized action of the rite

to be made clear and to be useful» (Destro A., 2009, p. 86), so the step that

stages the falling of Ikarus is to be considered as the symbol of the mythical

descent of all Ikarians from their forefather and therefore strengthens the

union between individuals, contributing to the renewal of their identity23

.

This is the moment in which the myth enters and acquires a place in the

ritual.

22 See page 27.

23 By this I mean the identification of Ikarians with their mythical father, Ikarus. The

belief of sharing a common descent, having common origins, leads to a sort of union

and communion between individuals that identify in Ikarus mythical character, shaping

in such way Ikarian identity.

54

In Ikaria dance has a “sacred” dimension: no one should over indulge in it,

to the point that Ikarians warn everyone «not to execute the steps without

music» (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006, p. 23).

In many Greek dances it is possible to find the symbolism of the human

struggle against death: also Ikarian dance expresses, with the spiral turning

right, the perpetual circle of life (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006), as

the dance going towards the right has a precise meaning (Hertz R., 1978).

Eventually, religious views among mankind usually develop through the

dichotomy between sacred and profane: this view usually brings humans to

structure their own universe on a bipolar principle, in which dry and humid,

right and left, as ultimately every antithetic couple reproduce the division

between sacred and profane.

In particular, right embodies the sacred, the life, the concepts of strength,

ability, rectitude and morality, whereas the left represents opposite concepts

(Hertz R., 1978).

And this is the reason why most of the collective dances, including the

Ikarian ones, are characterized by the rotation of the circle or spiral formed

by the participants towards the right (as the Sardinian ballo tondo, the Greek

nisiotika, the ikariotiko, the sirtaki and the Sicilian tarantella).

In the ikariotiko individuals express the perpetual circle of life, by

performing the death: indeed, the steps that recall the fall and death of

Ikarus, also represent the foundation of the island. The performing of Ikarus’

death is channeled in a dance that goes towards the right.

As the right represents life in religious polarity (Hertz R., 1978), Ikarians, in

55

the same moment in which they perform and remember their founding

father’s death and their ancestors’, affirm the union between the community

of the deceased and the communities of the island. It seems as if the

panigiria represents moments in which these twofold communities, the

livings’ one and the ancestors’ one, meet and renew their ancestral union.

In approaching death, each «group needs acts that orientate its members’

imagination towards a defined sense, that suggest to everyone a certain

belief» (Hertz R., 1978, p. 91) and this is also a reason why dance and

panigiria themselves are occasions through which account for death and its

sphere to reaffirm life and its continuity among Ikarian communities.

Ikarian dance is also charged with heroic features; for example the leader of

the spiral, putting all his efforts and passion in his movements, shows to the

participants what he is able to do, “what he’s made of”. The figure of an

individual that leads, with his body and his original steps, a whole group of

people, even if only for a short time, so that everyone can see he’s able to be

a leader but also that others are able to do that, is an interesting and heroic

one. Besides, the frantic dance, the jumping, the beating the foot, the wine

and the promiscuity of the bodies, produces an excitation that is hard to

control (Miliadis D. D. Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

The style of the dance, featuring the endless loop of the same musical

pattern and the same steps, together with the wine and the whirl of the

spiral, brings the paticipants to an altered state of consciousness.

56

«if you listen to this music all night long, drinking this wine, you become like Dionisos and

Pan, you get crazy, but in a good way» (Interview with Y. B., 25/08/08);

«when you dance it, you feel like you are a wave or a seagull in flight, you have this

feeling, this is how you have to feel to dance this music the right way» (Interview with M.

G., 24/08/08);

«when I dance in a panigiri I feel like I go backward in time, to my youth»;

«the Ikariotiko doesn’t have a precise beginning neather fixed ending , it is composed with

a riddim that can be indefinitly repeated, the sound is sharp, rhythmic and allow the people

to free them self»;

«let’s go togheter, unity, jump, dance and let’s that you clothes fly away in the air. We don’t

know when the end will come, sp enjoy the present moment. This is how we feel the

Ikariotiko, the more you dance the more your mind is light and free» (Interview with E. L.,

22/08/08).

My informants describe themselves in this moment, excited and full of

“wild” Energy, as if the body moves by itself, as if those steps were always

part of their subconscious, while the mind seems empty, careless. This is the

moment in which the distance from the human and the godly world is

cancelled.

Now the right hand of the leader, that is free as it does not have to sustain

anyone, begins to move on the right and on the left, up and down, as to

remove imaginary obstacles from the path, clearing it and making it safe for

all the others in the spiral.

From time to time the leader puts the right palm behind his neck, as to

57

protect from some danger that could hit him in that defenseless point. The

leader protects the whole spiral from the dangers of the “sacred” and

“dreadful” approach with the other world (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H.,

2006).

Music is a magical element that introduces to symbolic forms of knowledge

and behavior, that make sense only from ritual perspectives and in ritual

times, alien to the “normal” logic of the everyday (Leydi R., 1991).

There are features that remember us the cults that once surrounded the

figure of Dionysus. One of these is the certified presence, in 1951, of a

primordial prototype of a drum, symbol of the Dionysian cults, as Euripides

himself affirms in his work Bacchae, when Dionysus orders «take your

drums, invention of Rea mother and myself» (Scazzoso P., 1983, p. 84). The

testimony of the existence of this drum, survived till the 20th

century C.E.,

comes from the Ikarian lawyer Christos Makkas, that says that

«in an Ikarian village, they had the base of a hollow tree, covered

by a stretched piece of gout skin, that they beat with a stick of

wood» (Miliadis D. D. e Tripoulas C. H., 2006, p. 30).

The village of Akamatra is where this ancient musical instrument existed.

And the same village is where grape is thought to have appeared for the first

time, in the nearby site of Ta Bra, previously called “Pramnia rock” and

subsequently called Oenoe that means “wine” (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas

C. H., 2006).

58

Furthermore, the 15th of August, each year, the biggest panigiri in the island

is celebrated in Akamatra. The drum was probably the first musical

instrument that was played along with the Dionysian festivals. Soon,

anyway, another instrument followed, one that is still nowadays present in

local culture: the bagpipe.

This new instrument was produced by adding a flute to the skin filled with

air (Leydi R., 1991), symbol of the Askolia festival (Miliadis D. D. &

Tripoulas C. H., 2006), so that also to a figurative and ritual level the voice

was given back to the sacrificed animal. Askolia festival was celebrated

predominantly in Attica, in the second day of the spring equinox, when

goats were sacrificed for the gods and, inflating their skins, bags were made

and people danced over them. Moreover, the dances and the challenges that

took place during that festival often had to do with the skill of dancing or

standing on only one leg (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006). There is

a similarity between the ikariotiko steps and the games that took place

during Askolia.

As I said before, nowadays one dance is the most typical of the island’s

panigiria, ikariotiko, which is based on “Ikarus step”, consisting in a left

heel beat on the ground, then turning the feet after the standing leg and

keeping balance for a while.

The step clearly stages the mythical episode of the fall of Ikarus, that

originated the island, but in the same time it shows similarities with the

dances and games performed during askolia. Ancient Dionysian dances

featured the jump; as «Dionysus is the jumping god, the kid god» (Detienne

59

M., 1986, p. 69), jumping is a fundamental character of Dionysian trance.

«When the push of the jump pervades the body, removing it from its own

control, carrying it away overwhelmingly» (Detienne M., 1986, p. 70).

There are no documented sources that let us confirm the presence of these

festivals also in Ikaria, but it is likely that such events were diffused by

travelers and this hypothesis seems to be strengthen the diffused union, in

Hellenic culture24

, between Dionysus and Ikaria.

If, instead of looking at the single dancers, we consider the whole spiral, it

seems to be moving toward the center with several jumps. I believe that this

dance style, characterized by jumping and beating steps, together with the

particular music and the wine consumption, drives the participants to altered

states of consciousness, «it’s not to be doubt, Dionysian trance begins with

the feet, with the jump» (Detienne M., 1986, p. 70).

By altered state of consciousness I mean a not ordinary state of

consciousness, characterized by modified perceptions and by uncommon

feelings coming from them.

«Altered states of consciousness are means to know ourselves

and the other levels of perception that are normally unknown to

us» (Bettelli O., 2003, p. 38).

24 Many of the Greeks I had a chance to talk to associated Ikaria and its wine with

Dionysus. Furthermore, even Homer talks about the habit to associate Ikaria as the

god’s birthplace when, narrating the birth of Dionysus, he discredits some of the places

that pretended to be his homeland; the first two are Dracano, a village in Ikaria, and

Ikaria itself.

60

The bagpipe and the drum, symbolic instruments of the askolia, both built

with goat skin, still hold an important role in Ikarian culture and the players

of these instruments have with them a humble and ceremonial relation, in

which playing them together means giving them back to life.

Musicians have ritual attitudes, like preparing the instrument before playing.

The drum player will spend the minutes before the exhibition stroking and

caressing the goat skin of his instrument, in order to warm up the skin and

making it more flexible; the same will do the bagpipe player. Furthermore,

the belief that, when played, the instrument will give the voice back to the

animal that sacrificed to produce it, is pretty diffused. A special relation is

made between the musician and his instrument; the instrument acquires an

important symbolic value that removes it from its simple material nature.

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Chapter 3 Other components

3.1 Introduction

Through historical analysis and fieldwork observation, I believe I can say

that goat and wine are two fundamental features that define and shape

Ikarian social life. These two elements seem to have an high importance in

several social spheres, from sacred symbolism25

, to material and economic

issues26

. In Ikaria culture and, subsequently, religion were built around

them.

On the one hand, there’s the goat, representation of the god Pan, half man

and half goat, protector of calm, nature and animals. On the other side

there’s the wine, image of Dionysus, standing for chaos, irrationality,

instinct. But also beneficial god, as it represented that natural energy that

helps ripen the fruits, above all grape, from which the god taught men how

to extract one of the most important and “culturalized” drinks, the wine

(Dalby A., 2005).

Furthermore, goat is competing with wine in a power relation; the goat eats

grapes, going against Dionysus’ creation, but also Dionysus himself has

often goat-like semblance and his rituals often featured the sacrifice of

25 The symbols of goat and grapes are engraved on several tombstones in Akamatra grave

yard. Moreover goat and wine are essential in the panigiria common meals.

26 Goat and wine are central in the livelihood of Ikarian population, and even trade

revolves around them.

62

goats. This two elements, therefore, seem to be linked by an ancient tie.

There are also documents that stress the conflict between goat and wine,

solving their peculiar relation in the sacrificial banquet, as Leonidas of

Taranto’s work.

«In a vineyard, an adult, hairy male billy-goat ate all the tender

tendril. But from the ground the grape said: Come on, eat the

fertile tendril, you wicked! Anyway, the stump is solid and it will

produce so much sweet nectar, that will be poured on you when

they’ll sacrifice you» (Pontani F. M., 1980, book IX-99).

In the same way as a chain where all the rings are welded together, the

conflict started by the goat’s action is balanced by its sacrifice made by men.

And this is how these two elements, representing the two gods, Pan and

Dionysus, live together in the island, now as a long time ago.

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3.2 Goat and wine

Trying to go back in time to find special linkage between Ikarians and goat,

we have to look at the birth of the island’s communities.

Ikaria was formed around 12000 B.C. when the sea flooded the nearby

territories, originating the archipelagos of the northern Aegean sea.

At that time, as it is easy to suppose, men were not used to live in the

mountains; thus, forced by the rising sea levels to take shelter on the high

peaks, they had to adapt to a different life, on the mountains, with all the

hardships it involved (Miliadis D. D. & Cristopher C. H., 2006).

The vegetation was different from the one they were used to, so thay had to

rebuild their own experience on what was edible and what wasn’t.

In this context the beneficial figure of the goat appeared, showing to men

what to eat and what to avoid. Indeed, it was through the observation of this

“guide animal” that men found many plants that we still eat nowadays.

Furthermore, another positive aspect of the goat is the result of its habit of

eating grapes: eventually, considering Ikaria as a balanced ecosystem in

which man, goat and grapes were part of the same food chain, there was an

equilibrium between the species that allowed their presence and their

survival. The goat, eating the grapes, do not damage the vineyards; we could

even say that it helps the plant to produce more fruits. It is known that

grape-vine needs to be pruned, and the goat action can be compared to that

of the pruning. This seems to be confirmed by the ancient Greek name that

64

was used to refer to the goat, tragos. Its connection with trigan, which refers

to the pruning of the vine (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006), seems

self evident; in this sense the etymology seems to confirm that the pruning is

the goat role in the wine production.

Thus, if the goat showed the man which plants and fruits were edible, we

can believe that it also showed the man the grape-vine, bringing us back to

the historical and cultural connection between goat and wine.

As the centuries passed, through the historical and social evolution of the

island, the relation with the goat grew deeper and deeper: from guide, to

food and milk production, it became central in Ikarian diet. Moreover, men

began to use its skin and its wool to produce clothes and, as other people

entered the Aegean sea, it also became a trading good, helping the island’s

economy.

Another element that allows us to focus the importance of this animal in

Ikarian culture and symbology, is connected to the granting of the juridical

pardon (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

The historian Melas Ioannis recorded this ancient practice

«the mayor had the privilege of granting the pardon, if he

believed that the punishment was inappropriate or if the convicted

moved him, he could decide at the last moment, to pardon him by

throwing his cloak made of goat skin» (Miliadis D. D. &

Tripoulas C. H., 2006, p. 31).

65

The wine, another important element in Ikarian culture, appeared in remote

times. To date its production on the island we need to refer to several written

sources that attest its presence, and above all its high quality known in a vast

territory, dating back to the 5th century B.C. (Papalas A. J., 1992).

Is to be considered that the sources that can be used to track the production

back before the 8th century B.C. don’t talk about Ikarian wine, but about

Pramnio wine.

On the real meaning of this term there are still open discussions: some

believe in the Ikarian descent, as they see a link with the Pramnio mountain

on the island (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006), whereas others hold

that it is an adjective used to refer to a dark and strong wine, typical of

Aegean islands in general.

Anyway, we can see how common the referrals to this wine were in the

antiquity, considering that even Homer said: «exotic charm-ladies prefer

pramnio wine» (Turolla E., 1929, p. 93).

Another example that seems to associate wine and Ikaria comes from a

significant extract from the Hymn to Dionysus27

that starts stating that

«For some say, at Dracanum; and some, on windy Icarus; and

some, in Naxos, O Heaven-born, Insewn; and others by the deep-

eddying river Alpheus that pregnant Semele bare you to Zeus the

thunder-lover. And others yet, lord, say you were born in Thebes;

but all these lie. The Father of men and gods gave you birth

remote from men and secretly from white-armed Hera. There is a

27 This Hymn is attributed to Homer. Cassola F., 1994.

66

certain Nysa, a mountain most high and richly grown with woods,

far off in Phoenice, near the streams of Aegyptus. » (Cassola F.,

1994, p. 5).

In this passage there are two peculiarities: the first two places where “some

say” that Dionysus was born refer to Ikaria. The first is Dracanum,

nowadays Fanari, a village in North-Eastern Ikaria, that represented a

strategic position during the island’s history to overlook sea trades.

The second one is the island itself, Ikaria. Having the first two places of the

list of the places that were thought to be Dionysus’ birthplace both in Ikaria

lets us understand how strong the connection between the island and the god

with his sacred drink was.

For many Ikarians and Greeks the birth of the wine god was to be associated

with Ikaria; I believe that wine was hold more than sacred in the island. This

would have led to the institution of some rituals and festivals filled with

symbolic elements that referred to Dionysus’ birth and the drink he gave to

mankind. To back this hypothesis there seems to be the finding of a mask,

«the marble mask representing Dionysus, found in Ikaria (530 B.C.)»

(Versnel H. S., 1990, p. 147) that subsequently, thanks to the contribute of

the researcher Romano I. B.28

, was discovered being part of the head of a

marble statue of Dionysus, found on the island as well (Versnel H. S., 1990).

I believe that the finding of the statue helped adding a piece in the puzzling

identity of the island.

28 Researcher in the Archaeology Department in Bryn Mawr College (Pennsylvania).

67

«The quite childish explanation that was given to the cult, that it was forged

on the myth, is certainly inadequate» (Otto W. F., 1997, p. 72), as there

were, even before the birth of Dionysus’ myth, ceremonial behaviors and

rituals through which man related to mysterious natural forces, as, for

example, the “magic” fermentation process. Besides, all the features that are

represented in Dionysus are nothing more than the mirror of a side of human

life. Even before coming from Thrace or Asia Minor, Dionysus was already

present in the mind of each man (Otto W. F., 1997).

Nowadays a new theory is taking shape concerning the mythical origins of

Dionysus: it commits the cult to Greece itself, tagging the post-Homeric

excitement for this god as a mere reawakening of primordial cults (Otto W.

F., 1997).

In the 2nd century B.C. Athenaeus tells us, through a passage of the first

book of the Deipnosophists, that grapevine was called «sacred from

foreigners and Dionysian from the inhabitants of Oenoe» (Athenaeus, 2001,

p. 98). Oenoe was the name of the ancient Ikarian city where it was said that

grapevine was grown for the first time and was therefore linked to the first

wine production.

Eustatius of Thessalonica, eloquence professor in Constantinople and

archbishop in Thessalonica, wrote in his commentaries to the Iliad that

«in Ikarus’ island, grape emerged from within the ground for the

first time, and its wine is called Pramnio» (Miliadis D. D. &

Tripoulas C. H., 2006, p. 8).

68

Source after source, the connection between Ikaria and Dionysus birth,

grape appearance and, subsequently, wine production is getting stronger and

stronger; but, as I said before, I don’t want to use these testimony to prove

whether the god and its sacred plant appeared in one place or another.

The element which I believe is very important is, instead, the imaginaries,

what individuals think about the practices and beliefs that they produced and

still produce around grapevine, the drink obtained from it, the god linked to

its growth, its ripening and its transformation in holy drink.

Another element that confirms the connection between Dionysus and

Ikarian culture is to be found in Apollodorus

«as he wanted to move from Ikaria to Naxos, Dionysus rent a

trireme owned by Tyrrhenian pirates. They embarked him, but

passed Naxos and headed towards Asia, willing to sell him as a

slave. Thus Dionysus transformed the mast and the oars in

snakes, filled the ship with ivy and made the flutes play. The

pirates, gone mad, threw themselves into the sea and were

transformed in dolphins» (Scarpi P., 1996, III, 5.38).

This myth, originated in the Aegean islands, always subject to the pirates

raids, lets us know the importance of Dionysus in the islanders’

communities. The experiences of these communities nourished the mythical

apparatus, thus pirates, the main menace for them, were also enemies for

their protector god (Otto W. F., 1997).

69

The last element that I want to consider is the wine trade from Ikaria and the

rest of Greece. Since there are no finds that can lead us to affirm that Ikarian

wine was present in the rest of the Hellenic market, this hypothesis could be

sustained or proved wrong by two different assumptions:

The first one, that should confirm the presence of a commercial trade of

Ikarian wine, is the high taxation that Athens imposed to the island. These

fees were too high for such a small village as Oenoe was, thus leading to the

conclusion that the commerce of the local wine (as we already saw, most

probably a famous one) was the only way for the islanders to pay the taxes

(Papalas A. J., 1992).

On the other hand, the second assumption, that seems to promote the sacred

character of the wine for the Ikarian population, suggests that there was not

such trade, as it was considered a gift from Dionysus and not a good to trade

(Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006). To sustain this hypothesis, besides

the absence of archeological finds that could prove the wine trade, there are

some testimonies of travelers that, visiting the island, were surprised by the

unusual attachment that the locals had with wine itself. First of all the

bishop of Samos, J. Georgirnees, that wrote that «Ikarians are the only

islanders that don’t sell their wine» (Miliadis D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006,

p. 39).

Furthermore, there are several ancient writers29

that talk about Ikarian wine

as a famous and sought after drink, but none that talks about ships

29 Athenaeus in the Deypnosophists and Homer in the Odyssey.

70

transporting it, or selling it (Papalas A J., 1992).

«In Turi oil, in Gela lentils, Wine from Ikaria, dry figs from

Kimolos» (Athenaeus, 2001, p. 92).

Hence we can assume that wine was only bartered in small amounts, in

order to let its fame diffuse among wide distances, but keeping it elusive,

almost mythical to the most.

Homer talks about ships loaded with wine intended for trade, that was

bartered with iron, bronze, leather, animals and prisoners (Turolla E., 1929).

Several factors combine to testify the absence of money in the wine trade, as

if such a sacred drink was not meant to be bought with artificial coins or

gold, but with other goods coming from mother Earth and, sometimes, even

with people.

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3.3 Communitary and identitarian role of the panigiria

The panigiria, considered as religious festivals in which several ritual

actions and behaviors are shaped, represent

« a group of acts which effectiveness, real or imagined, does not

end in an empiric concatenation of cause/effect. If they are useful,

it is not just for natural reasons, and in this there is the difference

between ritual and technical practice» (Cazeneuve J., 1971, p.

17).

For this reason I will analyze the various practices and attitudes separately,

trying to see, where they exist, the effectiveness and the effects of certain

ritual acts.

Nowadays panigiria represent a way to feel safer for the Ikarian

communities. Many islanders migrate to look for a job, in continental

Greece or somewhere else; in this way communities are hit strong, at their

grassroots, losing their life blood.

This is where the panigiria comes into action, assuming its invigorating

character on a social and identitarian level, as it strengthen the union

between individuals coming from a community, both if they live in Ikaria

and if they migrated elsewhere. Eventually, the latter have the “moral

obligation” to come back to their homeland at least for the panigiria.

In other words, the Ikarian village communities gather together annually

72

during the panigiria, that have the role of social coagulant.

This value of the panigiria was confirmed by the words of one of my

informants

«we dance in circle, we become one. This have a strong communitary value, even the crazy

man of the village, the poorest, the oldest and children, have to be in the dance circle»

(Interview with Y. B., 25/08/08).

Thus, in understanding the Ikarian panigiria, I believe it will be appropriate

to use the definition of communitarian rituals promoted by W. R. Smith. The

fundamental feature of these religious festivals is their collective dimension

that, revealing the social nature of religion, stresses their role as cohesive

element in society (Fabietti U., 2001).

The bloody sacrifice present in some rituals, or in this case the animals

killed for the common meal, represent, for Smith, a communion between the

community and the divinity, that, as Durkheim said later, symbolically

embodies the unity of the society itself, acting as a social coagulant.

Individual, identifying themselves in the sacrificial animal, celebrate the

social union (Alessandrini R. & Borsari M., 1999).

The saints that are celebrated during the panigiria are meant to gather the

believers around the village church and in this way they strengthen the ties

between individuals, stressing the common origin of the community.

This vision of the god or the saint as tutelary deity of a group, gives to

religion the possibilità to regulate social relations as, «through the

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compliance of the public rituals, presses individuals to conform themselves

to the collective standard behaviors» (Fabietti U., 2001, p. 23), following

the rule that: taking part in a collective rite, you accept the rules, written or

not, of that community.

The panigiria, by gathering together individuals during spring and summer,

strengthen among the participants the sense of belonging to only one social

body.

Basing on what I said, I believe that these festivals are celebrated to renew

the social bonds and bring wellness to the society itself.

During the panigiria there are no gestures that directly confirm the

immediate identification of Ikarians with wine and goat, but, by sure, this

identification is present since Ikaria entered in Greek historiography. It

differs from these the third element, ikariotiko dance with its characteristic

“Ikarus step”, through which individuals stage the forefather’s fall and the

subsequent formation of the island. The whole community, taking part in the

dancing spiral, identify itself with Ikarus, the mythical father, thus fixing

through the performance the common and archaic kinship of all Ikarians;

besides identifying themselves in Ikarus, they are also identified through

him in the rest of Greece. The character of Ikarus is promoted and staged

time after time in the main ceremonies for the island’s community, the

panigiria: being the common denominator of all the festivals, it identifies

under its one banner all the communities.

As to the identitarian “banner” of the goat and the wine, it is interesting to

notice, even though not directly represented in the panigiria, the custom to

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engrave on the tombstones, near the name of the deceased, the image of a

goat or grapes, as it is still possible to see in Akamatra graveyard (Miliadis

D. D. & Tripoulas C. H., 2006).

This symbolize the tight union between the Ikarians and the two elements,

almost sacred, that beat the rhythm of their lives, so much that they are used

even in the last journey. Thus goat and wine, the embodiments of the

islanders’ identity, together with the ikariotiko dance, the performance of

Ikarian descent through “Ikarus step”, work as vehicles through which it is

possible to perpetuate, each time renewed, the mutual connection between

the islanders and their identity, their past.

Identity is shaped by the opposition to alterity, by the dialectic between self-

awareness and awareness coming from outside. If others identify us with

one or more elements, in Ikaria case these are the goat, the wine and the

myth of Ikarus, these elements will become what we ourselves use to

identify us.

In ancient Greek rituals, goat was often used as sacrificial animal: its meat

was often boiled and a regenerative function was connected with this

process (Detienne M. & Vernant J. P., 1982).

In Greece sacrifices could be found also in orthodox Christian ceremonies;

often some goats offered by a believer or bought by the whole community

were sacrificed to a saint, in order to help the whole village. This bloody

sacrifice is called «kourbani» (Detienne M. & Vernant J. P., 1982, p. 184)

and it was characterized by a series of prayers through which the community

asked the saint to accept the sacrifice and help the village.

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«Most of the kourbania take place from April to October. It is

an open air event, were even hundreds of participants are

gathered. It is an event that, for some villages, constitutes the

most important event in the year, a source of prestige and

economic advantages for the community and its church»

(Detienne M. & Vernant J. P., 1982, p. 185).

«Nowadays, for several reasons, the ritual is mutilated, amputee

of some elements that once constituted its core and its meaning»

(Detienne M. & Vernant J. P., 1982, p. 184).

It is likely that, once, Ikarian panigiria included also the sacrifice of the goat

(kourbani). I personally never assisted to any feature that could let me

affirm the presence of ritual sacrifices in the panigiria, a part from the habit

of boiling the goat meat that is eaten in the common meal. One of my

informants once told me that in the panigiria

«in the past, goat meat was always boiled. Now it is also roasted» (Interview with D. V.,

12/08/08).

The sacrifice, being a cultural practice, adapts to social changes and

evolutions. In different cultures

«eating meat coincide with sacrificial practice; every meat eaten

equals a victim ritually killed, and the butcher that spills the

blood has the same functional name of the celebrant near the

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blood-stained altar» (Detienne M. & Vernant J. P., 1982, p. 9).

From what we have said, we can now understand the value of the meal

during the panigiri. From the presence in Ikarian panigiria of an hypothetic

sacrificial meal, nowadays we witnessed a meal that, even if it lost its

“classical”30

bloody sacrificial features, it still holds its role as a social

coagulant, as the sacrificial victim itself, the goat. All of this in a socially

accepted and shared ritual context.

Thinking about the shapes that a sacrifice could take in a contemporary

societya, there could exist rituals that still have sacrificial actions but these

are not boasted nor showed off through ceremonial and bloody practices,

even if the whole group is aware of the importance of the animal or plant for

their own survival. Radcliffe Brown suggested

«the ritual behavior towards plants and animals was dictated by the

importance that these elements had on the economic life of

certain groups» (Fabietti U., 2001, p. 153).

Around the goat, the wine and the ikarioriko dance its formed and shaped

most of the social life, the ceremonial symbolism and the economy of the

island.

30 The animal sacrifice meant as ceremonial choice of the victim, its preparation to the

sacrifice through prayers, symbolic decorations and, finally, the sacrifice itself, with the

bloodshed in a defined place.

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3.4 Representing conflicts

Another element represented in the ritual, which I believe is present also in

the panigiria, is the concept of conflict as expressed by Gluckman,

according to which the rite stages a both individual and collective conflict,

always directed towards the solution and thus the reestablishment of the

social order (Gluckman M., 1973).

The rite acts in a cathartic way. Observing a ritual it is possible to notice

certain tensions, performed in a symbolic, or sometimes realistic, way

(Bernardo B., 2006).

This was confirmed by an informant

«often, in the panigiria there are quarrels between the participants, they get drunk and they

solve their problems fighting» (Interview with D.V., 12/08/08).

In my opinion, in the panigiria there are two different kinds of conflicts, one

between individuals and a second one within the individual himself.

The first conflict, between the components of the society, is enacted in the

dance, in which the continuous changing of leaders in the spiral shows the

“healthy rivalry”31

internal to Ikarian communities.

A second kind of conflict is the one within each individual, that rise from

31 By healthy rivalry I mean a rivalry ruled by the common sense of each individual, in

which the individuals compete to show to the whole society their skills in leading and

defending, in a simboli way, the whole community.

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the mismatch between one’s instincts, one’s needs and everything that is

socially accepted or not allowed. I’ll consider, as an example, the excessive

wine consumption and the altered states of consciousness that it provokes.

The panigiria are events in which it is possible to perform behavior that are

normally considered unseemly in the ritual frame, thus avoiding the social

critique. In some rituals behaviors normally not allowed in everyday life are

accepted, not – as it may seem – as a protest against the social order, but as a

practice strengthening and confirming that order (Gluckman M., 1973).

They are therefore meant to stage those conflicts that are shaped in the

individuals’ subconscious, acting as a relief valve for certain “needs”. Thus

the excessive consume of wine and whatever it implies is accepted during

the panigiria but blamed in normal everyday life.

Ritualized conflicts, both between individuals and in the individual himself,

have a key role in the production of the balance that constitutes every

society (Gluckman M., 1973).

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3.5 Reflections on the fieldwork

A feature of my research that I like to stress and that gave me the energy to

conclude it was the enthusiasm that those who knew the reason of my stay

in Ikaria and of my research passed on to me.

Everyone, in a way or another, tryed to help out. So I often found myself

together with Greeks that translated for me or helped me supervising the

interviews.

Many gave me useful suggestions concerning the questionnaire, others

showed me elements that I failed to notice. To each one I asked their opinion

on the panigiria and the element that they thought was the most important,

so that many aspects that I could not notice in the beginning were then made

clear.

Through this experience I understood that the research is not only made by

the researcher that goes in an unknown place, but rather all those who come

into its orbit and its framework, in different ways, take part in it.

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Final observations

Tracing back the various steps through which I developed my work, I think

it is right to say that Ikarian panigiria, far from representing a folkloristic

event, have still nowadays a key role in the island’s society.

Analyzing the different aspects of the panigiria and confronting myself with

history, mythology and anthropology, many features that require a deeper

study. I kept a limited and aware point of view to avoid the risk of getting

lost in the deviousness of certain traks.

To be clearer, I will consider the results I obtained analyzing the constitutive

features of the panigiria (music-dance, goat-wine).

Regarding music and dance, it is worth mentioning the Ikariotiko, with its

characteristic “Ikarus’ step”, that represents a key element in shaping what

they consider “Ikarian identity”. Ikaria island has the same name of the

mythical character, as to celebrate the birth of the island that followed the

fall of Ikarus from the sky. Ikariotiko, danced from panigiria to panigiria,

recalls the event, now ritualized, of the island’s formation.

Ikarians identify themselves and are identified in the rest of Greece in the

image of Ikarus that is advertised time to time in the main festivals in the

island, the panigiria.

This is the constant; actually, even if in each panigiri the celebrated saints

are different, the element that is always present and thus coagulates and

identifies under the same banner all Ikarian communities is the character of

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Ikarus, ritually staged through the ikariotiko dance.

Ikarian panigiria can be classified as commemorative rituals, as – through

the performance of the ikariotiko – they «insert in history the mythical

models that are situated outside time, in some sort of eternity, that is the one

of the sacred world of the descendants, or if you prefer, of the eternal

restarting» (Cazeneuve J., 1971, p. 35).

The panigiria are divided in two moments, during tha day: the morning,

characterized by the gathering of the community in its church to remember

the dead, immediately followed by a lunch – this one is a moment open only

to the inhabitants of the village and do not include music nor dance; and the

evening, that is open to anyone and includes an abundant meal of goat meat

and wine, several musical styles and the corresponding dances, among

which, for fame and clamor, ikariotiko stands out. This is the most felt dance

and also the most participated, and includes the performance of Ikarus

death, to remember the “forefather”.

Thus, besides the goat and the wine that constitute two of the features that

shape the islanders’ identity, ikariotiko dance is a vehicle through which the

connection between the islanders and their forefather, the community of the

living and the one of the dead, is perpetuated and renewed from time to

time.

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This strengthens the union between individuals in the communities, that

identify themselves as Ikarians, inhabitants of Ikaria, the island mythically

originated from Ikarus’ death and all these have a strong identitarian value.

Another elements that emerges analyzing the Ikarian panigiria is the

rapresentation of the social conflicts in the ikariotiko. Observing a ritual it is

possible to see the tensions that characterize the group’s social life, that can

manifest in a symbolic way or even in a real way (Bernardo B., 2006). This

understanding of the ritual was confirmed by an informant interviewed on

Ikarian festivals

«often, in the panigiria there are quarrels between the participants, they get drunk and they

solve their problems fighting» (Interview with D.V., 12/08/08).

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The ritual thus stages a conflict, both individual and collective, always

tending towards the solution and the reestablishment of the social order

(Gluckman M., 1973). The constant changing of the leader in the dance

spiral shows the “healthy rivalry”32

within Ikarian communities. I believe

that this ritualized conflict is a model through which society tries to solve

conflicts without worsening them.

32 See page 51.

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