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Ritsos
Yiannis Ritsos ( ; 1 May 1909 – 11 November 1990) was a Greek poet and communist and an active member of the Greek Resistance during World War II. While he disliked being regarded as a political poet, he has been called "the great poet of the Greek left". Life Born to a well-to-do landowning family in Monemvasia, Ritsos suffered great losses as a child. The early deaths of his mother and eldest brother from tuberculosis, his father's struggles with a mental disease, and the economic ruin of his family marked Ritsos and affected his poetry. Ritsos himself was confined in a sanatorium for tuberculosis from 1927 to 1931. Literary start In 1934, Ritsos joined the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He maintained a working-class circle of friends and published ''Tractor'' in 1934. Kostis Palamas, the well known and respected poet, impressed by his talent, praised him publicly. In 1935, he published ''Pyramids''; these two works sought to achieve a fragile balance between faith in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epitaphios (Ritsos)
"Epitaphios" (Greek language, Greek: Επιτάφιος, "Epitaph") is a poem by Yiannis Ritsos published in 1936. Inspiration In May 1936, Ritsos had read about the great strike and demonstration of the tobacco workers of Thessaloniki in the newspaper ''Rizospastis''. The peaceful protest had been drowned in blood by the dictatorial government of Ioannis Metaxas, with a total of twelve dead workers. The article included a photograph depicting a mother mourning over her dead child. This photo had a huge impact on Ritsos, and inspired him to write the poem: ''I was locked in the attic of my house for two days and nights and I was writing, without eating and sleeping, on the third day, I couldn't stand it, I started to collapse...'' He then delivered the first three poems to Euthyfronas Iliadis, who published them in ''Rizospastis''. Editions The poem first appeared as a work of 44 verses in ''Rizospastis'' on 12 May 1936, with a dedication to the workers of Thessaloniki. Soo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |