The "Hymn to Liberty", also known as the "Hymn to Freedom", is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

poem written by

Dionysios Solomos Dionysios Solomos (; ; 8 April 1798 – 9 February 1857) was a Greeks, Greek poet from Zakynthos, who is considered to be Greece's national poet. He is best known for writing the ''Hymn to Liberty'' (, ''Ýmnos eis tīn Eleutherían''), whic ...

in 1823 and set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros in 1828. Consisting of 158

stanzas In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

in total, its two first stanzas 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 European ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in 1864 and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in 1966.

History

wrote "Hymn to Liberty" in 1823 in

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

, and one year later it was printed in

Messolonghi Missolonghi or Mesolongi (, ) is a municipality of 32,048 people (according to the 2021 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis Mesolongiou (). Missolon ...

. In October 1824 it was published in London by the Philhellenic Committee, and an Italian translation was published in the Messolonghi newspaper '' Ellinika Chronika'' at about the same time. It was set to music in 1828 by the

Corfiot Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic composer Nikolaos Mantzaros, who composed a choral versions, in 24 parts, and dedicated it to the first

King of Greece The Kingdom of Greece was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach from 1832 to 1862 and by the House of Glücksburg from 1863 to 1924 and, after being temporarily abolished in favor of the Second Hellenic Republic, again from 1935 to 1973, when it ...

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

. Otto awarded Mantzaros with the Silver Cross of the

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state. Establishment The establishment of the Orde ...

as a token of appreciation, but during Otto's reign (1832–1862), an anthem based on

God Save the King "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is ''de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of national anthems of New Zealand, two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle ...

was used, with a text glorifying Otto. After Otto's ouster in 1862, the "Hymn to Liberty" was adopted as the national and royal anthem of Greece in 1864. The "Hymn to Liberty" was also adopted as the national anthem of Cyprus by order of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

in 1966.

Lyrics

Inspired by the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

, Solomos wrote the hymn to honour the struggle of

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

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

under the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

and their hope for freedom. He describes different events of the War, such as the execution of

Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople Gregory V of Constantinople (; 1746 – 10 April 1821), born ''Georgios Angelopoulos'' (), was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1797 to 1798, from 1806 to 1808, and from 1818 to 1821. He was responsible for much restoration work to ...

, the reaction of the Great Powers, extensively the

Siege of Tripolitsa The siege of Tripolitsa or fall of Tripolitsa (, ), also known as the Tripolitsa massacre (), was an early victory of the revolutionary Greek forces in the summer of 1821 during the Greek War of Independence, which had begun earlier that year ...

and the Christian character of the struggle. The following are the first eight verses of the "Hymn to Liberty," from the first edition of 1825.

Uses

An adapted version was used during the short-lived

Cretan State The Cretan State (; ) was an autonomous state governing the island of Crete from 1898 to 1913, under ''de jure'' suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire but with ''de facto'' independence secured by European Great Powers. In 1897, the Cretan Revolt (18 ...

as the Cretan Anthem. The "Hymn to Liberty" had been the

royal anthem The anthem for a person, office or rank is music played on formal or ceremonial occasions in the presence of the person, office-holder, or rank-holder, especially by a military band. The head of state in many countries is honored with a prescrib ...

since 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. Most renditions performed during the closing ceremonies are instrumental. Until the

2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony The closing ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis on 11 August 2024. As per traditional Olympic protocol, the ceremony featured cultural presentations from bo ...

, the Greek anthem was sung for three times during the

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Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

(as Greece was the host country), and

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. The version commonly played by military bands is an arrangement composed by Lieutenant Colonel

Margaritis Kastellis Margaritis Kastellis (Castellis) () (1907–1972Short 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 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

) {{Authority control Music of Cyprus Music of Greece 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 Songs about freedom Dionysios Solomos 1823 in Greece Compositions in F major