Lord Byron and philhellenism, in poetry
Event at Odeon of Herodes Atticus features readings by Lina Nikolakopoulou, Victoria Hislop and Alicia Stallings, music by Tom Smail
The city’s cannons sounded 37 times in Messolonghi on the day that Lord Byron breathed his last, one for each year of his short life. The news of his death was reported in the Greek Chronicles newspaper, with the announcement being among a selection of texts and poems that acclaimed Greek poet and songwriter Lina Nikolakopoulou will be reading at a concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on Thursday, organized by the Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism and the Philhellenism Museum in Athens to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of the romantic British poet.
“The announcement in the Messolonghi newspaper captures the shockwaves caused by his death. It is very moving that despite the dire situation in the city at the time, the custom of firing the cannons was observed. This is something we wanted to shine a spotlight on because while we often revisit his poems and actions, it is also nice to refresh our memories about how the Greeks honored him,” says Nikolakopoulou.
‘Byron loved Greece, he absolutely adored it, and I think that’s what philhellenism is, it’s a love of somewhere that’s not necessarily rational’
The Greek songwriter, who is also the artistic director of the performance, will be sharing the stage with British author Victoria Hislop and poet and Oxford University professor Alicia Stallings to recite poems by Lord Byron and other Greek and philhellene poets, such as Alexander Pushkin, Vittorio Sereni, Kostis Palamas and others. The recital will be accompanied with music by another British artist, composer Tom Smail.
Kathimerini reached out to the Britons taking part in this interesting performance and asked them to comment on the show and Byron. What stands out is how differently he has become imprinted on the collective conscience in the two countries.
“We grew up from our school days with Lord Byron. He’s one of our great poets, he’s very much on the curriculum,” says Hislop.
“In Greece I think he is known foremost as a hero who drew attention to the country’s needs in the liberation from the Ottomans. But in Britain the two other aspects of his reputation live on too – he was well known as an infamous seducer, as well as being known as a great poet. It’s almost the first thing that comes up when you look online. He was a very rounded but also very complex human being – like a superman with flaws. The most famous quote about him was that he was ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know,’” she adds, quoting a phrase used by Lady Caroline Lamb (1785-1828) to describe her lover Lord Byron.
“Ι think we don’t appreciate how famous he was. I mean, he was rock star level famous. He writes that ‘I awoke one day to find myself famous.’ I think ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’ sold out 10,000 copies almost immediately in its first run. A book of poems now, if it sold 10,000 copies, would be the biggest selling poem in a decade. Basically everyone who could read, everyone who was literate, got a copy of this book,” says Stallings.
“Obviously he also invented the sexy author photograph – with the open shirt, the poet’s blouse – on book covers,” she adds. “Women and men found him sexy, I think by our standards, he’s certainly bisexual, and he influences this idea of the romantic hero.”
Hislop agrees on his incredible sex appeal and popularity. “Women just fell at his feet, you know, fainted. He was like a pop star, like Harry Styles. When he arrived in Messolonghi for the first time, people were just swarming, you know, in this big crowd to try and see this person, and he obviously did have great charisma.”
In Greece, however, what he is most remembered for is his support for the Greek people and their struggle for liberation.
“He’s clearly wrestling with some of the issues of the time, some of them very similar to things we might say today. Take Palestine, for example, where you have people saying: ‘Are the Palestinians ready to govern themselves? I don’t think they are.’ Byron says the same kind of thing, that any people under occupation can’t be judged for what they would do if they were free,” says Stallings.
She also notes that Byron was the only British romantic poet who did not try to “make the Greeks be the ancient Greeks. He sees them for who they are.”
Byron’s life, words and decisions have elevated him to the status of the ideal philhellene in Greece. To what degree, however, has he influenced modern-day philhellenism?
“This very romantic image of classical Greece that he paints, that incorporates the place, the beauty, the landscape, as well as Greek heroism, classical Greek heroism, with battles and gods, those are the key ingredients that to some extent do still define many people’s idea of what Greece is, and that relationship between Britain and Greece is still, you know, to some extent it is sort of romantic with a capital R,” says Hislop. “He lived in a period where literature could still have such a huge influence on your emotional idea of what a place was, and Byron loved Greece, he absolutely adored it, and I think that’s what philhellenism is, it’s a love of somewhere that’s not necessarily rational.”
“That feeling, that feeling of going somewhere ancient and modern at the same time and feeling free and feeling at home and feeling happy, I think is what philhellenes feel, which is why there’s such a special place for Byron in our hearts,” says Smail.
For Stallings, “a modern philhellene would not put their life on the line. You have to give him credit for doing that.” She also believes that Lord Byron “would enjoy getting to know contemporary Greece in all of its complexity.”
“I expect him to, you know, join protests in the streets in Syntagma. Sure, yeah. He could write some protest slogans,” says the Athens-based poet.
“I think he’d probably be more shocked by what’s happened in the country of his birth than Greece,” says Hislop, adding that he would probably be a social media user. “In some ways, he was an early influencer,” she says, adding, “I think he’d be quite furious that the Parthenon Sculptures were still in the British Museum.”
Admission to the event is free of charge, by invitation via [email protected]
