The "Hymn to Liberty", or "Hymn to Freedom" ( el, Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν, also ), is a poem written by Dionysios Solomos in 1823 that consists of 158 stanzas and is used as the national anthem of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. It was set to music by Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros in 1865 and is the longest national anthem in the world by length of text. It officially became the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

in 1865 and

in 1966.

History

Dionysios Solomos wrote "Hymn to Liberty" in 1823 in Zakynthos, and one year later it was printed in

Messolonghi Missolonghi or Messolonghi ( el, Μεσολόγγι, ) is a municipality of 34,416 people (according to the 2011 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis ...

. It was set to music in 1865 by the Corfiot

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

tic composer Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros, who composed two choral versions, a long one for the whole poem and a short one for the first two stanzas; the latter is the one adopted as the national anthem of Greece. "Hymn to Liberty" was adopted as the national anthem of Cyprus by order of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...

in 1966.

Lyrics

Inspired by the Greek War of Independence, Solomos wrote the hymn to honour the struggle of

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...

for independence after centuries of Ottoman rule. "Hymn to Liberty" recounts the misery of the

under the Ottomans and their hope for freedom. He describes different events of the War, such as the execution of Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople, the reaction of the Great Powers, extensively the

Siege of Tripolitsa The siege of Tripolitsa or fall of Tripolitsa ( el, Άλωση της Τριπολιτσάς, Álosi tis Tripolitsás, ), also known as the Tripolitsa massacre ( tr, Tripoliçe katliamı), was an early victory of the revolutionary Greek forces ...

and the Christian character of the struggle.

Greek original

The following are the first eight verses of the poem. Only the first two constitute the national anthem of Greece.

Uses

An adapted version was used during the short-lived Cretan State as the Cretan Anthem. The "Hymn to Liberty" had been the Greek royal anthem after 1864. "Hymn to Liberty" has been the national anthem of

since 1966. "Hymn to Liberty" has been performed at every closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, to pay tribute to Greece as the birthplace of the Olympic Games. The version commonly played by military bands is an arrangement composed by Lieutenant Colonel Margaritis Kastellis (1907–1979), former director of the Greek Music Corps.

Notes

References

External links

*
Short 30 min VersionFull version
Versions of the Hymn at

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The Greek Presidency
– The website for the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic has a page about the National Anthem, including an instrumental file.
Michał Bzinkowski
''Eleuthería ē Thánatos!'': The idea of freedom in modern Greek poetry during the war of independence in 19th century. Dionysios Solomos’ “Hymn to Liberty”
Neugriechische Volksgesänge
Johann Matthias Firmenich

From the Official Website of the Greek Presidential Guard

The Greek national Anthem
(in mp3) {{Authority control Asian anthems Cypriot music Greek music Greek patriotic songs National symbols of Greece National symbols of Cyprus Heptanese School (literature) European anthems Works about the Greek War of Independence National anthems National anthem compositions in F major Songs about freedom Dionysios Solomos 1823 in Greece