Orthokostá (34 page)

3.
The Torture: This practice, known in Greek as
fálanga
(the rod), became particularly prevalent during the 1960s and 1970s when Greece was ruled by a military junta. Allusions to it would still resonate with readers when the novel first appeared in 1994.

4.
The Karyés Monastery: Located on Mount Parnon, it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

5.
Name day: Greeks traditionally celebrate not their birthdays but the feast day of the saint they were named after—in this case Saint John, January 7.

6.
Partisano
: Italian word for “partisan,” widely used in Greece to denote Communist Resistance fighter.

7.
Mávri Trýpa: Literally, “Black Hole.” See note 1 to
chapter 14
.

1.
Okás: An oká is a measure of weight equaling 1,280 grams or 45 ounces.

2.
Laundering trough: Water mills—to this day, when they are not grinding grains—launder heavy fabrics, blankets, rugs, etc., which the mill will also store for the clients.

3.
Yiannákis: Variant of the common first name Yiánnis. Other variants include Yiannakákis, Yiannoúkos, and Yiannákos.

1.
The Salutations: The Salutations of the Virgin Mary, sung during the vespers of the first five Lenten Fridays of the Greek Orthodox Church.

2.
Saint Peter's Day: June 29.

1.
Saints Constantine and Helen are jointly celebrated on May 21.

2.
Triatatikós
: A made-up word, from the three initial
T'
s in Τηλέφωνο, Ταχυδρομείο, Τηλέγραφος. He was a Telephone, Mail, and Telegraph Service employee.

3.
EPON: Ενιαία Πανελλαδική Οργάνωση Νέων (Unified Panhellenic Youth Organization), an extension of EAM. EPON was founded on February 23, 1943.

4.
Ilisós: A neighborhood in central Athens named after the stream Ilissus (see
chapter 9
) that used to run through it.

5.
ΚΟΒΑ: Κομματική Οργάνωση Βάσης (Local Party Chapter), a neighborhood-based office of the Greek Communist Party.

6.
Palaiá Anáktora: Old Royal Palace, the present-day Parliament building, in the center of Athens.

7.
Goudí: District to the northeast of Athens that served over the years as a base for military and gendarmes.

1.
Saint Nicholas's Day: December 6.

2.
Loukoumádes: A traditional Greek sweet. Spoonfuls of white flour dough are deep fried until golden brown and served with honey and a pinch of cinnamon.

3.
“Pinned some basil on them”: Pinning basil on a couple was a sign of public approval of their relationship.

4.
“He had no sisters”: It was customary for a man to find husbands for his sisters before getting married himself.

5.
Fez: A red fez is part of the popular Greek costume worn by National Guards, or Evzones.

6.
Foustanélla: A man's white pleated skirt. Part of Greek popular costume worn by Evzones.

7.
“State of mourning”: A year-long period during which no weddings could be performed in the village.

8.
Katharévousa: The purist, archaizing idiom in which all official documents of the Greek state were written. It was also the formal spoken language of conservative politicians, army officers, and educated clergy, among others.

9.
Stremmata: Plural of
stremma
, an area of measurement equaling one thousand square meters or a quarter of an acre.

10.
“Protopapadákis's notorious law”: Pétros Protopapadákis (1860–1922) was a minister of finance who devalued the state currency in 1919–22 to meet the expenditures for Greece's disastrous military campaign in Asia Minor.

11.
Brooklyds: From “Brooklyn,” financially successful emigrants returning from the United States.

12.
Elefthérios Venizélos (1864–1936): An important Greek statesman, supporter of the Entente Cordiale, and opponent of the policies of the Greek palace. A charismatic leader who also encountered fierce personal and political opposition, Venizélos was elected no fewer than seven times to the premiership of Greece in his lifetime. It was during Greece's military campaign in Asia Minor (1919–22) that the Greek Parliament decided to withdraw its support for the campaign and hold elections in November 1920. Venizélos lost and chose to leave Greece. He was elected prime minister again and served from 1928 to 1932.

13.
Agrarian Reform Law: Premier Ioánnis Metaxás instituted the Agrarian Reform Law in 1936, whereby large landholdings were redistributed to benefit poor rural populations.

14.
Alexandros Svólos (1892–1956): A Greek academic and parliamentarian active—primarily as finance minister—both during the Occupation of Greece and immediately afterward. Svólos is mostly remembered for his 1944 legislation that drastically devalued stock issued by Greek banks from fifty drachmas to one.

1.
ETA: Επιμελητεία του Αντάρτη (Revolutionaries' Commissary).

2.
“A date not easily forgotten”: October 28 is Óhi Day. See note 4 of
chapter 13
.

1.
The Feast of the Elevation of the True Cross: High holy day celebrated on September 14.

1.
The ancient tragic playwright: The quotation is from Sophocles'
Antigone
.

1.
Turks: Derogatory term used for Communist guerrillas.

2.
Drobólitsa: Folk pronunciation of Trípolis.

3.
Megaloúpolis: Colloquial variant of Megalópolis.

1.
Tsirígo: In country parlance, another name for the island of Kýthira.

2.
Farkó: Mispronunciation of “Fargo,” a vehicle originally manufactured by the Fargo Motor Car Company and produced, under different ownership, until 1972.

3.
Bulgarian: Like “Turk,” “Bulgarian” was part of the anti-Communist vocabulary to designate a die-hard Communist.

1.
Tsivéri: Local variant for the village of Kyvéri.

1.
Pláka: A picturesque neighborhood on the eastern slopes of the Acropolis in Athens.

2.
Zonar's: A fashionable café in the center of Athens, established by the Greek-American businessman Károlos Zonarás in 1939.

3.
Syntagma Square: Also known as Constitution Square, it is the central square in Athens, across from the Parliament, and was often the site of demonstrations.

4.
Exárheia: A middle-class neighborhood near the center of Athens.

5.
UNRRA: The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, founded in 1943, was especially active in 1945 and 1946. Forty-four countries contributed to funding, supplying, and staffing the agency, of which the United States was the chief donor.

6.
Kefalári: Central square in Kifisiá, a well-to-do northern suburb of Athens.

1.
Iconomachy: A period of theological and political strife that divided eastern Christendom, from 726 to 842, into icon worshippers and iconoclasts. It ended with the restoration of the icons in public worship and in church decoration.

T
HANASSIS
V
ALTINOS
was born in Kastri, Kynourias, in the Peloponnese. He has written novels, novellas, short stories, and film scripts and translated ancient Greek tragedies for the theater. His work has been translated into many languages and has earned him numerous awards, including Best Film Script for
Voyage to Cythera
(Cannes Festival 1984), the Greek State Prize for Best Novel (1990), the International Cavafy Prize (2002), the Petros Haris Prize conferred by the Academy of Athens for Lifetime Achievement (2002), the Gold Cross of Honour of the President of the Greek Democracy (2003), and the Greek State Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012). In 2008 he was elected a member of the Athens Academy and served as its vice president in 2015.

J
ANE
A
SSIMAKOPOULOS
is an American writer and translator living in Ioannina, Greece. Her translations from the Greek and French include novels by award-winning writers as well as poems and stories in literary journals and anthologies in the United States and in England. She is currently employed by a Greek publisher as translation editor in charge of a series of books by Philip Roth.

S
TAVROS
D
ELIGIORGIS
is a University of Iowa professor emeritus in English and Comparative Literature. He holds degrees from the National University of Athens, Yale University, and the University of California at Berkeley. His publications include books and articles in literary theory as well as poetry and prose translations from the Greek and Romanian.

S
TATHIS
N. K
ALYVAS
is Arnold Wolfers Professor of Political Science at Yale. He is the author of, among other books,
Modern Greece: What Everyone Needs to Know, The Logic of Violence in Civil War
, and
The Rise of Christian Democracy in Europe
.