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PARNASSOS
Issue No. 9. Pages 172-190
1967
Articles and Studies in Modern Greek Literature
Department Head: Professor George T. Zoras
OSSIAN IN GREECE1
BY
NASSOS VAGENAS
TRANSLATED BY KATHLEEN A. O’DONNELL-KASSIMATIS
Towards the close of the l8th century, Ossian’s poetry appeared to
influence the European literature of the time. The publication of this
poetry by Macpherson gave a strong push to the pre-Romantic
movement, shaping its later gradual development.2
Disputes, however, arose over the authenticity of the poems, which
gave rise to intense debate. But the debates quickly ceased to be of
1 The writer of this study is extremely grateful to Mr. K. T. Dimaras for the valuable information, who I
warmly thank.
2 For Ossian and the Ossianic question see P. Van Tieghem, “Ossian en France”, volume 2, Paris 1817
(with a rich bibliography). G. F. Black, “Macpherson’s Ossian and Ossianic Controversy”, London,
1926.
1
general interest; on the other hand the poetry, with its primitiveness and
gentility, seemed as though it would help consolidate a romantic trend.
From England “Ossianism” crossed into Europe, contributing much to the
shaping of its own literature.
A chronological account is in order here, so that one can ascertain the
interest and emotions aroused by the first published translations of
Ossian. In 1760, Macpherson published excerpts from the first Ossianic
poems; in the following year “Fingal” appeared, an ancient epic poem in
six lays. Following in l763 was “Temora”, and the remainder of Ossian’s
work in l765. Translation began almost simultaneously with the first
publication by Macpherson, even as early as 1760 in the “Journal
Etranger”; entire editions of Ossian’s work by Le Tourneur appeared in
France in 1777. It Italy, Cesarotti completed his celebrated translations in
1772, while all of Ossian’s work appeared in Spanish in 1788, translated
by Ortiz. In Sweden, Knös translated Ossian from 1794 to 1800; many
extracts were translated into German in a complete edition by Stolberg
(1806).3
The emergence of Ossian into European literature served to rescue it
from the impasse into which the classicism of the time had driven it. His
3 For the appearance of Ossian in foreign literature see: P. Van Tieghem, “Ossian et l’ossianisme dans
la literature Europeenne au XVIIIe siècle, Groninque, 1920. R. F. Horstmeyer, Die deutschen
Ossianubersetzungen des XVIII, Greifswald, 1926. B. Scanabel, “Ossian in der schönen Literature
Englands bis 1832, Munich, 1896. E. Allison Peers, “The influence of Ossian in Spain” (Philological
Quarterly, Volume IV (1925) No. 2, pp 121-159). Th. Hasselqvist, “Ossian in den svenska dighten
och litteraturan, Malmo, 1895.
2
poetry emphasized the world of emotions, which was suffocating under
the intolerable weight of didacticism. One of the first priorities of artistic
creation, it is pointed out, is the release from the rational. In Ossianic
lyricism one finds many of the elements that make up the emotional aim:
faithfulness to tradition, a melancholic mood, love of liberty, chivalry,
self-sacrifice, courteous love and pessimism.
Ossian was discovered in France at a time when anti-social instincts
were awakening there, demanding a release from the tyrannical weight of
a stagnant literature and representing nothing more than the romantic
bursting out of the spirit. In a society under strain, one naturally finds
corresponding voices, which hanker after the virtuous life of the historical
past. Hugo, Lamartine, Musset, Merimé and other French romantic
writers took to Ossian enthusiastically.
Ossian found even more suitable ground for influence in Germany.
For Herder, Ossian confirmed his preference for the primitive poetry as
distinct from the dry poetry of the schools. Herder translated the famous
“Songs of Selma” and thus made Ossian available to Goethe who was
attracted to the bard’s poetry immediately. Ossian, together with Young,
is considered a main contributor to the awakening of German lyricism.
Ossian’s work made a triumphal appearance in Italy thanks to the
amazing translation by Cesarotti. In transforming the lilting English
prose into Italian eleven-syllable stanzas, the abbot of Padua introduced a
3
remarkable work as a counterweight to Italian neoclassicism. Cesarotti’s
translation, in fact, was deemed superior to the original. Its effect was
formidable; in l784 Ossian won enthusiastic acceptance in Rome’s
Arcadian Academy.
The “Songs of Selma” found an eager adherent in Foscolo. D.
Floris, Pindemonte and F. Galeani Napione appreciatively welcomed the
bard. Opposition to this impetuous entry of Northern Romanticism,
which helped forge Italian thought, proved ineffective. Testifying to
Ossian’s popularity in Italy4 were the successive editions of Cesarotti’s
translation. Leoni translated new works of Ossian, published by John
Smith.5
After halting for a time in Italy, Ossian’s work moved also to Greece.
His name first appears in 1802 in a translation entitled “Letters of
Apology” by Frangiskos Alvergatos Kapakellos. The book is a reply to
one Abbot, Compagnono who had written about the similarities between
the Jews and the Greeks. Kapakellos, wishing to demonstrate the impiety
of the comparison, and being an eager philhellene, made an extensive
ethnological and historical study of the two peoples. Describing his
travels in Greece, Alvergatos told of something he had heard in
4 For Ossian in Italy see Arturo Farinelli, “Il romanticismo nel mondo latino, Turin 1927, Vol. C page
98, (whatever bibliography). See also Arturo Graf, “L’Anglomania et l’influsso inglese in Italia nel
seculo XVIII”, Turin 1911. Guilio Mazzot, “Il gran Cesarotti, Saggio sul preromanticismo Italiano”,
Florence 1949.
5 Michele Leoni, “Nuovi Canti di Ossian publicati in inglese da Giovanni Smith e
recati in Italiano da”, Florence 1813.
4
Akarnania; it was the tale of an incident in the heroic struggle of the
Souliotes against Ali Pasha, worthy of being immortalized even by a
Homer or Ossian:
“This story is worthy of having been written by Homer
and Ossian, and the events it describes are similar to the
story of the soldiers of Achilles and the Caledonian soldiers
of Fingal……”6
Mention of Ossian’s name beside that of Homer should not come as a
surprise. It is this inclination that worked towards the celebration of the
works of Homer towards the end of the l8th century, finding in original
primitive poetry the expression of unadulterated folk virtues. Thus,
comparing Homer and Ossian is not unnatural; it was repeated often in
that period.
Alvergatos most probably was following Cesarotti, who was
particularly preoccupied with the subject and did not hesitate to place the
Caledonian bard7 higher than the Greek.
This early mention of Ossian has no actual historical significance; it
was a mere citation of an Italian text translated into Greek. It would be
more accurate to say that Ossian entered Greece much later, about 1817,
6 “Letter of Apology” by Markionos Frangiskos Alvergatos Kapakellos to the letter
of Monseigneur Abbot Compagnono in association with the similarities recently
discovered by him, between Jews and Greeks. Greek translation from the Italian I
into demotic Greek. Venice 1802, page 40. Under the ‘nom de plume’ Kapakellos
is hidden the Corfiot historical philosopher John Donas Pascalis. (See D. Ginis-B.
Mexas “Greek Bibliography (1800-1863)” Vol. A. editions Athens 1939 page 21,
No. 123).
7 See Melchior Cesarotti, “Poesi di Ossian figlio di Fingal antico
Poet celtico […..], trasportate in verso Italiano dall’abate –“, Bassano, 1795, edition C, Volume A,
XLIV.
5
when for the first time we find him in a purely Greek text. Such a delay
is not entirely unjustified; up to the first decade of the 19th century very
little Greek literary work was produced, and only after the second decade
did there begin to emerge an efflorescence, with original works and
translations.
Introducing Ossian into Greece was Dimitris Gouzelis. At one point
in his “Judgement of Paris”, Gouzelis feels inadequate to describe
Aphrodite’s beauty, and so refers the reader to the works of famous poets
including Ossian:
“Talented Dantes, Wise Petrarchs and Ossian
of Caledonia never should be left out ……
Could not, with their verse and keen effort
Above the skies place her throne,
Could not make others perceive the charm
Of her beauty….”8
Gouzelis added in a footnote:
“Ossian, a great old Celtic poet. His poems were
discovered a short time ago and translated into
English prose by James Macpherson, and then
into wonderful Italian verse by the Abbot Melchior
Cesarotti, the superb translator of Homer. Long live
The Poems of Ossian.”
See “Le poesie di Ossian”9
8 “Judgement of Paris”, a mythological poem of love and morals by Dimitris Gouzelis of
Zakinthos. In Trieste 1817, pages 280 and 286.
9 Ibid, page 298.
6
This man of letters of the Ionian or Heptanesian Islands* did not go
into any more detail. However, he was obviously informed of Ossian
through the Italian translation. The bard’s status among poets of the
stature of Dante and Petrarch indicate the sacred esteem in which he was
held.
It was remarkable how Ossian became known to Greece from the
Heptanesian Islands. Writers of these islands were the transition for the
beginning of Ossian’s presence in this country. We can unreservedly say
that the Heptanesian Islands were the exclusive vehicle for the presence
in Greece of Ossian’s works.
As the following study shows, not only in the Heptanesian Islands but
also in independent Greece and romantic Athens, the men of those islands
(the Heptanesians) were those who took the lead in translating the bard.
The phenomenon is understandable if one considers that English
literature found suitable ground in the Heptanesian Islands after 1815,*
and that the translations of Cesarotti could have influence there. But
*[* ‘Heptanesian’ or ‘Seven Islands” defines a group of seven islands in the Ionian Sea consisting of
Kephalonia, Lefkada, Corfu, Paxos, Kythera, Zakinthos and Ithaca: and ports on the mainland. These
islands and ports on the mainland were under Venetian Rule for nearly four centuries. The Turks
occupied them for a very short time (excluding Kythera): only Lefkada was occupied for any length of
time from 1500-1684. Napoleon liberated them in 1797 after which they were controlled by a Russo-
Turkish treaty. They then became part of the French Empire in 1807 and finally were occupied by the
British from 1810-1864.]
*[*English rule was ratified after the Treaty of 1815, which was signed in Paris by the authorisation of
England and Russia and by other powers. Like that the united states of the Ionian Islands came into
existence by the “direct and exclusive protectorate of Great Britain”. On 23 September, 1863 the XIII
Parliament of the Heptanesian Islands declared Union with Greece, which was legalised definitively by
the Treaty of l7-29 March, 1864. On 2lst May, l864 the Greek flag was hoisted at the citadel on Corfu.]
7
Gouzelis’s reference is important for another reason. It coincides with
other events of that year, which typifies the first romantic period in our
literature. In Corfu, in 1817, Plato Petridis published his translation of
the English work “Hours” by Thompson, and in this way introduced one
of the most important pre-romantic figures into this country. That same
year, K. Economos made enthusiastic mention in his “Grammar” of a
Greek translation of the work of another pre-romantic, the Swiss Gesner’s
The Death of Abel”. He also urged the necessity of translating into Greek
another important pre-romantic work, Young’s famous “Nights”. Also in
1817, we find some evidence of imitation of Young in George
Sakellarios’s “Sonnets”, the first methodical attempt to import western
pro-romanticism into Greek literature. Gouzelis’s reference to Ossian,
therefore, confirms that observation that the above-mentioned year saw
important examples of Greek romanticism come to light.10
Two years later, Ossian appears again, together with an assessment of
his poems. In an introduction to a German work, borrowed from the
French, “The Scholar Hermes” writes:
“A little while ago the lovers of poetry donated a
beautiful metric translation of the misty poems of
Ossian.”11
10 See K. T. Dimaras “Prerequisites and Experiments of Greek Romanticism”, Athens
1947 pp 23-26; “Nights” by Young in Greece in 1817, Athens, 1944 page 10, by
the same author. Page 10.
11 “The Scholar Hermes”, 1819. “Summary of the present state of culture in Germany” translated
from the condensed study in the Bibliotheque Universelle and sent anonymously to the magazine,
page 894.
8
In this era we find substantial echoes of Ossian. Some of the early
poems of Solomos, for example, contain elements typical of Ossianic
poetry. In “Ode to the Moon” one easily detects his knowledge of
Ossian, and the respect of our national poet from the Caledonian bard;
also, in “Shadow of Homer”, where the Greek epic vision is borrowed
from the somber depictions of the northern epic writers, whose
psychological base is dominated by the Ossianic experience. Solomos’s
Italian sonnet, “La Luna,” a passionate hymn to the moon, brings to mind
the celebrated apostrophe to the moon with which he starts his poem
“Dar-thula”.12
If for Solomos the influence of Ossian explains the presence of
certain elements in his early works, then Ossian is rightly considered to
have been a constant source of inspiration.13 This observation takes on
more importance when one considers the romantic power of the spirit of
Calvo.
In 1816, this poet was in London. At that time the works of Young
and Ossian were being discussed a great deal in England. The
contribution of Young’s “Nights” to the romantic works of Calvo has
been proved without a doubt. Even if in some places, for examples the
12 See Nassos Vagenas, “Solomos and Ossian”, Parnassos, Vol. H. (October-
December, 1966), pages 517-522.
13 See K. T. Dimaras “Sources and Inspiration of Calvo”, “NewEstia”, Special Issue on Calvo [A],
Volume M. (1946), page 122. (= “New Estia” (Dedication to Calvo [B] Volume
NG (1960) page 289).
9
“Odes”, Ossian’s influence is less pronounced, no one can deny that
Ossian influenced the mode of Calvo’s expression.
Many of his lyrical inspirations, where the heroic element leans
towards a somewhat epic style, have their origins in the Ossianic Poems.
“And in these (poems of Ossian) we have the moon, the
clouds, the pleas to the elements of nature, but next to
these we have abundant pictures of sea life, and the sea
generally, and heroic representations. The analogy of the
many sea images one meets in Calvo, if they are to be
interpreted along with the poet’s deeper spiritual analysis,
do have an evident connection with Ossianic poetry.”14
Ossianic poetry also influenced Typaldos, who translated two
poems from Ossian’s “Nights”. The term “translation” may not be a
precise one, however, for Typaldos translated and adapted very freely.
His selection, however, is worthy of praise. He picked two of Ossian’s
most beautiful pieces, characterized by a style close to his own lyricism.
We see how the poet follows Cesarotti,15 in that work whose original title
is “The Singers”. (I Cantori). Five bards who were invited to their tribal
chief’s home each had the chance to sing in his own style for one night.
The scene described is an October night somewhere in the north of
Scotland. Typaldos freely translated two of the five songs, in particular
the first and the fourth.
“Black is the night, totally black
Mist rises in the dark
A star of the sky does not appear; in the
14 Ibid, page 122 and 289 respectively.
15 Melchior Cesarotti, ibid, Vol. G. page 57.
10
Lake there is trouble with blur and terror.
I hear the air groaning among the branches of the forest.
Very far away, like a doleful complaint, the
Torrent is heard, springing from the top of
The mountain. From the tree which guards the
Desolate grave of the night,
The unsightly bird of the night laments.”
(Night I (“Cantore I”) )
“Look at the joyful night;
Stars shining from above, and
Flying clouds like white doves,
Softly blow the winds and the
Shining moon reflects itself in the
Ever even waters of the lake. [….]
Draw near, daughter, draw near so
That I can see your beauty.
The air blows and she becomes invisible instantly.
“The air carries up a clear cloud and
Covers the light of the sky:
And more brilliantly appear there the stars.
The sky is more brilliant, the night sweeter.
Look, the joyful night, the stars
Shining from above,
The flying clouds like white doves.
From the dawn more beautiful is the sunset.
Don’t wait, my brothers, I will not return.”
This is one of the more beautiful instances of Typaldos. The poems
remained unpublished until 1915.16 Had they been published in their time
they would certainly have created a sensation. We cannot date them with
exactitude, but we can be fairly certain they were translated before 1856
16 Published by M. Sigouros in the periodical “Noumas”, Year II, 19 December, 1915, page 412.
11
at which time Typaldos published his poems. In fact, the line from his
poem “Rigas”:
“Desolate the night appeared,
The stars shining high….”17
contained in his collection, has an unquestionable connection with the
verses of the second “Night”:
“Look, what a joyful night,
The stars shining high….”
This supports the view that “Rigas” and “Nights” were written in the
same period.
In Typaldos we also find the substantial presence of Ossian. An
extract from his poem “Happiness”, which remained unpublished until
recently, 18 is nothing less than a transposition of a composite Ossianic
image reminiscent of a similar reference by Solomos in “Ode to the
Moon”.
“Sitting down, a blind old man at the
Edge of his yard told the troubles of
His soul to the quiet night.
“The mysterious beam of the moon
Blanketed nature and slowly like the
Voice of the old man a fountain whispered.
“And I, in the bloom of youth with
Nature shining in front of me, I longed to
Find happiness of the joys of the world.”
17 Typaldos, “Complete Works”, revived by Dinos Konomos, Athens, 1953, p. 40.
12
The comparing of the voice with the murmuring spring and the river is a
basic motif of Ossianic poetry.19 The blind old man is none other than
Ossian as he is introduced in many of his poems, and mainly at the end
Of the third song of “Fingal”, where he mourns for his sight and his lost
youth.20
To close the chapter on the link between Ossian and the principal
representatives of Heptanesian poetry, one must mention a reference by
De Viazi. In a prologue to an edition of the complete works of Matesi,
De Viazi refers to Ossian in his mention of the translations of the author
of “The Basil Plant”. Oddly enough, however, while he mentions all
Matesi’s translations, he omits to include those of Ossian.21
The presence of Ossian in the works of representative Heptanesian
poets attests to the romantic basis on which a great part of their work
rests. Ossian became accepted by them and was most likely a subject of
the discussions over their work. The romantic element of Heptanesian
lyricism resulted in the acceptance of Ossian’s poetry.
In independent Greece aesthetic trends outgrew their formative stage.
I believe that the three editions of Panayiotis Soutos’s “Voyager” (1831,
1842, 1853) purged the language of all demotic expression. (This
tendency reached a peak with the “New School” of 1853.) The parallel
19 See James Macpherson, “The Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal” translated by -, Glasgow 1799,
Vol. B, page 28,53, 53, 55, 57 etc. Also see above Verses 304 of the first “Nights”.
20 Ibid Volume A. page 38.
21 Matesi, “Collected Works”, Zakinthos, 188l, page 14.
13
crystallisation of his poetry proves a view of the searching for Greek
romanticism.
If we are to seek out the almost exclusive sources of our romantics’
inspiration, we must naturally look at European romanticism. Careful
investigation reveals that many poems by P. Soutsos are merely free
translations of French poems.
French literature was the main source of inspiration for our romantics.
The Italian contribution is smaller (Dante, Foscolo, etc.). England is
represented mainly by Byron, whose success is in great part, attributed to
his special bond with Greece.
Ossian still remains unknown in our country. It is an inexcusable lack
when one considers the popularity of Ossianic poetry throughout all
Europe. Of course the disputes surrounding him have ceased, as the bard
was victorious and was recognised in a way as a classic. As early as 1847
and 1850 two small translations appeared to signal the discreet entry of
Ossian into Athenian pre-Romanticism. Christos Parmenidis, in his
translation of Villemain’s “Lascaris”, added Ossian to some of his poems
as well as his translations: it includes the “Hymn To The Sun According
to Ossian”, dedicated to Ilias Tantalidis. This hymn, among the most
moving of Ossian’s poems, comprises the closing verses of the poem of
Carthon. Parmenidis translated very freely into purist Greek:
14
“You, Sun, who proudly drive your chariot in the
space of the vast heaven and shed abundant light
there.
Where is the eternal source of your light?
How your eye in full gleam rejuvenates us in your
Stream of waves.
And the radiance of the stars of the night fades away.
And the black Ocean welcomes the cold and pallid disc
Of the moon.
But you are the only one who gives motion to the
World and perpetually you move and indefatigably
You run.
Having time on your side.”22
“The Death of Calmar and Orla” by Ossian, which was published in
“Evterpe” in 1850, was also in purist Greek but in prose. The translator is
one G.I.:2323
“Beloved are the days of youth! In its memory old age stops
its glance through the mists of time and recalls in the
twilight of life times that are illuminated by the morning sun
with a trembling hand he raises his spear and shouts:
‘With a steadier hand I used to wave my weapon
to protect my fathers.’
The heroes no longer exist but their fame echoes through
The harp but their souls flying on the wings of the air
Hear through the sighs of the tempest the hymn of glory and
Are delighted in their cloudy kingdom.”24
These translations went completely unnoticed. The translators of
Ossian are perhaps to blame because either they never mentioned the poet
at all, or the legend, to which he, Ossian, owed much of his success. We
22 “Lascaris or the Greeks during the XV Century” translated by Villemain, patrician
of France and a member of the French Academy. And various poems by Christos A. Parmenides,
Athens, 1847, page 136.
23 Probably I.E. Giannopoulos or I.G. Giannopoulos, regular contributors of “Evterpis” of that
period .
24 .“Evterpi”, Volume D. (1850-1851) page 127
2
2
2
15
have arrived at 1862. It would take a native of the Ionian Islands to boost
the presence of Ossian in romantic Athens. Thus Panayiotis Panas,25 the
well-liked yet unfortunate Kephalonian man of letters and scholar,
published his translations of two great poems by Ossian, “Dar-Thula” and
“Lathmon”.
Panas added a prologue referring explicitly to Ossian and the
disputes over his work, the Ossian Question. Of his translation he wrote
that it was his desire to make the work of the bard known to the Greeks
“who are ignorant even of the name of Ossian”.26 He is correct in saying
that the Greeks, among them the reading public of the Heptanesians, were
ignorant of the name of Ossian. The poems of Solomos and the
adaptations of Typaldos remained unpublished.
Panas translated from Cesarotti. The translation is fairly faithful.
Noteworthy is his attempt to accentuate the “demotic” character of
Ossianic poetry, in which he uses the fifteen-syllable stanza, trying to
adapt it to the style of popular songs. Compelled to stretch the Italian
eleven syllables to Greek verse, he often adds arbitrarily certain
adjectives, which allow him to strengthen the demotic flavour of his
25 For P. Panas see “Zakinthos Muses” year 5 (lst December1896) page 637-638, Ilyias Tsitselis,
“Kephalonian Miscellany” Volume A, Athens 1904 pagae 507-510; P. Liberatos, “Panayiotis
Panas, “The Heptanisian” (dedicated to the hundred years of union), Athens, 1964, pages 293-295,
Christo Theodoratos, “Panayiotis Panas”, “New Estia” Volume LXXVI (Christmas 1964)
[dedicated to the Seven Islands] pages 168-176, Dimitris S. Loukatos, Heptanesian Folklore
Writers before the Union”, “New Estia”, ibid, page 197. A biography of this
remarkable personality has not been done yet.
26 “Darthula, Lathmos, poems of Ossian” translated by Panayiotis Panas, Kephalonia, 1862, i.
16
expression. The plot of the poems comes first. At the end of every poem
there are some comments by Macpherson as presented by Cesarotti in his
translation, also comments by the Italian translator as well as a few by
Panas.
The first poem (Dar-thula) relates the adventures and tragic death of
Dar-thula, daughter of the sovereign of Selama, Colla. After the death of
her father, Dar-thula is forced, through torture, to follow Cairbar, the
leader of a neighbouring clan. During a campaign against Cairbar,
Nathos, son of Usnoth, prince of Etha, sees the daughter and falls in love
with her. The feeling is reciprocal and the daughter follows him. Cairbar,
through guile, succeeds in killing Nathos. Dar-thula, desperate, commits
suicide on top of the body of her lover.
The beginning of the poem is the celebrated hymn of Ossian to the
moon:
“Beautiful daughter of the heavens
In your face shines
Sweet, sweet silence, enchanting [you] appear,
And the stars of the East follow your Footsteps.
You appear and the clouds are gladdened
And happy, dress their dark breasts with shining light.
Daughter of the night, who, high in the Heavens,
Resembles you?
The stars are shamed by your face and
Elsewhere their withered glances timidly turn.
But tell me beautiful light,
Where do you hide and leave your path,
When your clear aspect disappears?
Do you also have rooms and shut yourself in,
Like me? Or do you leave and rest in the
17
Shadow of sorrow?
Have your sisters fallen from above? Or
Are they not those who were no longer happy
With you at night?
My moon they are extinguished and you often
Retire and you hide to mourn them when you
Will fall from the sky forever and you will
Abandon, unfortunately,
Alas, your blue path. 27
In “Lathmon” the heroic element is more powerful. Fingal is
preparing to attack Lathmon, prince of Dunlathmon. Before the battle
Fingal’s son, Ossian, does battle on his own with the chief of the enemy.
When death was ready to claim Ossian, his faithful friend Gaul
intervened selflessly and saved him. Lathmon, beaten by the bravery of
Gaul, abandoned the battle and surrendered. And Fingal set him free.
I cite a characteristic piece:
“Such achievements in your first battle, son of the
Old Morni, you accomplished
But at your side the sword did not
Remain idle and chained.
Oh, of the clan of the king you are the last remains.
You rushed, you rushed with your naked sword
On your path the soldiers of Lathmon were falling
Like grass, which the little boy, with
His stick, hurls as he passes
Whistling, without turning back.”28
In the following year (1863) Panas in his collection of poetry
“Memnon”, published in Alexandria, presented yet another piece by
Ossian, the “Dreams of Cathmor and Sul-malla” from the fourth song of
27 Ibid, page 1.
28 Ibid, page 47.
18
“Temora”.29 He astonishes us somewhat because, though he was a
fanatic demotic writer and a follower of Solomos, he translated into
purist. But Panas also imitated Ossian. Like him, he started his poem
“The Daughter of Lykavetos”30 with a hymn to the moon, which brings
immediately to mind the beginning of “Dar-thula”.
The translations of Panas drew the attention of Greek romanticists. As
we see, their elements fairly live up to the preferences of the epoch. In
the same year Gerasimus Mavroyannis,31 an Heptanesian, who lived in
Athens and whose poetry flirted more with Athenian romanticism, also
published Ossianic translations in “Chrysalis”. Before the translations, he
pens a forward that is an extensive study of the Ossian question and
Ossianic poetry. Mavroyiannis translated a piece from the first song of
“Temora”, in prose from the English, also inserting six four-versed
stanzas in amphibrach with crosswise rhyme, a piece of the Fourth Song
of “Fingal” in prose inserting two four-versed stanzas in iambic fifteen
syllables with cross-wise rhyme, as well as a part of the first song of the
29 “Memnon” or Collection of Several poems by Panayiotis Panas, Alexandria 1863 page 37-44.
30 Ibid, page 5 and 6.
31 For G. Mavroyiannis see P. Markakis “Gerassimus Mavroyiannis”, “Heptanesian Letters” No. 1
(8) September, 1950, pages 28-32, No. 2 (9) October, 1950, Pages 60-61, No. 3 (10) November,
1950 pages 85-88, No. 4 (11) December, 1950 pages 121-122, No. 5 (12) January, 1951 pages
154-155, (where there is a relevant bibliography). See Phaidon K. Bouboulidos. “The recent
translations of classic works by Heptanesians”, Scientific Academic peridical by the
Philosophical School of the University of Athens. Book 14 (1963-l964), pages 492-540. Markakis
is mistaken when he writes that “Mavroyiannis is the first who presents to the Greeks this
excellent and strange English epic.” (“Heptanesian Letters” ibid, January, 1951, page 154.)
19
same poem in verse (forty eight four-versed stanzas in metre conforming
to the verse of “Temora”).32
Mavroyiannis particularly emphasizes the demotic character of the
Ossianic work, which, however, did not prevent him from translating it
into purist Greek. The Ossianic poems are, as he says, like someone who
undertakes to write a whole poem borrowing elements from the folk
songs. This is something similar to what Valaoritis had done in “Mrs
Frosini”. Continuing, he refers to the influence of Ossian in European
countries, adding that Greece is also included, since the epic parts of the
work of Zalakosta sufficiently resemble the poems of Ossian. Probably,
in this observation of his, that Zalakosta’s work resembles that of Ossian
because they area written in amphibrach metre. But this was not verified
and was probably the result of the translation of Mavroyiannis. I cite two
characteristic points. Ossian narrates the death of Oscar to the son of
Alpin:
“Great bitterness, son of Alpin
What do you want to open a closed wound for?
Do you want to learn about the death of the one who
Has given me so deadly a wound [….]
“Alas he fell like the moon or
Like the sun’s disc when the sea
Sheds the clouds on rocks
And on forests.33
32 G. Mavroyiannis “About Ossian and the Poems attributed to him.” “Chrysalis” Volume A. (1863)
pages 417-420 and 525-531.
33 Ibid, page 527.
20
“Oscar you fell, he cried out again, you fell powerful in the
middle of your march. The heart of the old men throbs from
above forecasting your future triumphs. But alas! Death
already robbed these from your story. Thus when will
happiness be restored upon the palace of Selma. When will
the plaintive songs end? The half-dead Oscar then seeing again
around him his heartbroken friends he raises his white breast
with a sigh:
‘The sad voices, he then said, of my old faithful
warriors, the full sobbing of the hounds and the
echo of the lamenting songs softened the soul of
Oscar into which softness was unknown, my
soul resembling the steel of my sword. Come
near, Ossian! Bring me to my dear hill, in the
narrow abode of my rest and deposit my horn of
the deer and my sword.’ ”34
Six years later, in l869, another man of Kephalonia, Gerasimus Voltairos35
published the whole of “Fingal”.36 The translation was faithful to the
English prose of Macpherson. With “Fingal” Voltairos also published “A
critical diatribe concerning Ossian” - an extensive exposition of the
ancient clans of Caldeonia, Ossian and his poetry. Voltairos translated
into prose and into purist:
“The clouds of the night descend, the darkness covers
the slopes of Cromla. The northern stars are lit above
the waves of “Ierne” showing the fiery heads through
the passing mists of the sky. Hollow wind bellows in
the forest. Silent and gloomy is the plain of death.
Serene the voice of Carril is heard in my ear over Lena,
chanting the feats of the friends of our youth, the
Lovely days of our first years, as we are sitting upon
the banks of Lego full of mirth.”37
34 Ibid, page 527.
35 For G. Voltairos See Ilias Tsitselis ibid page 846.
36 “Fingal”, epic poem by Ossian translated by G. Voltairos, Athens, 1869.
37 Ibid, page 103.
21
We have four translations of poems of Ossian during the seven years
between l862 and l869. It was the time when Greek Romanticism took
its opposition seriously. After the first anti-romantic manifestations it
was forced to compromise.38 The Romantic expression stopped looking
down on the demotic Muse, whom it had spurned with indifference years
before. In demotic expression the Romantics discovered elements similar
to their own interests. In the Voutsinos Competition of l862 the demotic
language was accepted and understood.39 In the competition D.
Vernardakis tried to connect Modern Greek poetry with its sources, that is
to say, with demotic song.40 So we see that the tendencies of Ossianic
poetry were not inaccessible to the climate of Greek lyricism of the
period. Conditions existed for a narrower approach of the psychic world
of Greek romanticism and Ossianic poetry.
However, this favourable expression of Athenian poets towards
demotic poetry was manifested very late. Worn-out romanticism, which
had begun to approach its end, did not seem willing to continue the
attempt in vain. The Romantic poets merely expressed admiration for
demotic songs and nothing more. Vasiliadis expressed his enthusiasm for
demotic song,41 without taking a stand in his poetry. Paraschos, who
38 See Costis Palamas “Anti-romantic Stagnancy of the poetic chorus, The Diary of Greater Greece,
1935” page 37-52, G. Valeta, “Academic Criticism and its Influence on recent Greek Poetry,”
“New Estia”, Volume 22, (1937), pages 1,819 and following pages.
39 See Essays of poems for competition in the year 1862, Athens 1862 page 7.
40 See Essays in the year 1863 Kl. Voutsinas, Poetry Competition Athens, 1863 page 16.
41 S. N. Vassiliados, “Athenian Nights”, Athens 1884, second edition Volume 1, page 41.
22
recognized the advantages of the demotic language, after some
experiments, returned to his beloved purist. For Ossian, whose
relationship with Greek demotic poetry was accentuated, somewhat
excessively,42 it was too late. Certainly he was unreservedly accepted, but
only regarded from a distance as an object of admiration. His immediate
entry without objection placed him among the classics. And when
Panayiotis Synodinos43 in l867, wanting to try the credulity of the public,
published (in the “National Library”)44 some excerpts of his poems saying
that they were translations of poets, he cited the name of Ossian alongside
those of Goethe, Schiller, Foskolos, Kornaros, Young and Byron.
So the related references of Ossian were not lacking. P. Synodinos
himself, in his poem singing of his daughter, says:
“It is a buried star in the cloud
It is the hidden idea of Ossian.”45
Paraschos, who had also translated “Colma” by Ossian,46 in his
poem “The Remnants of Love”, thus describes his Henrietta:
“Like an Ossianic dream, she appeared before me
Half angel half spirit.”47
42 Spiro Zambelios recognizes the Ossianic style in our demotic poetry. See S. Zambelios, “From
where the common word I sing?” Athens, 1859 page 33 (= about Solomos, “Contemplation”
edition, Athens, 1925 Volume A page 53) and Goethe compares demotic songs with Ossianic
poetry. See also K. T. Dimaras, “Nights of Young” Ibid page l8, 4.
43 For P. Sinodinos see [N. Spiridonos] B [assiliados], P. Sinodinos, “Illisos” Volume A. 91868-1869)
page 246-247 (= “Athenian Nights” ibid Volume A. page 401-406). Ilyia Tsitselis ibid page 613-
6l4. K. Triantaphillos, “Historical Dictionary of Patras”, Patras, 1959 page 612. Dimitris S.
Loukatos ibid page 205, Takis Lappas, “A Literary Trial” in 1859, New Year Literature 1966 page
205-208.
44 “National Library”, Vol. B. (July 1867) page 320. See also N.[Spiridonos] B. [assiliados], ibid,
pages 246 and 405 respectively.
45 P. S. Synodinos, “The Shooting Stars of National Poetry.” Athens, 1877 page 232.
46 See Achilles Paraschos, “Unpublished Poems”, Athens l904 Volume B. page 174-178.
47 Ibid “Poems” Athens 1881 Volume C. page 192.
23
Besides, the youthful Nicholas Politis derived folkloric elements of
the Caledonians from Ossianic poetry and compared them with the
corresponding Greek elements in one of his first studies.48
We meet Ossian again in the “Ethical World” of Spiro Melissinos:
“You who gave grace to the song of the 1821
Greek warrior.
You who were the divine inspiration of Ossian
When from the Highland slopes, the old man, with tears,
Watered the dead flower,
Remembering the heroes, remembering the battles.”49
Also the young Papadiamantopoulos, [Jean Moreas], presenting
timidly the first of his creations published in 1873 in “Parthenon”, an
extract from one of his poems comparing his passions with those of
Ossian’s:
“[…] Come, lyre my friend,
Your pleasant tones blunt the bitterness
In you the heart of Ossian searches for
A cure for his wounds [….]
He mourned the grave of his son
On the chords he plucked his fingers
Lamentation of my sighing breast
Mourns so many of my former desires.” 50
These are the echoes of Ossian to the (already-to-be-influenced) Greek
romantics, disproportionate to the successive translations, which
continued until the end of the l9th century.51
48 N. Politis “Superstitions about vampires by the people of Greece, “Illysos” Vol. B. (1869-1870)
page 453-453.
49 “Moral World” epic poetry by Spiridonas Mellisonos, Corfu, 1879 p. 79
50 “Parthenon” Volume 3 (1873) page 152.
51 P. Panas is presented as the most systematic translator of Ossianic poems. In 1876
he translated “Oinamorul” (“Byron” Vol. 2 (1876), pages 119-124) and later in
“Ebdomas” he published “Dar-Thula” (Vol. B (1885) pages 438-440 and 451-453)
and “Oithona” (Vol.A. (1884), pages 253-255) and “Death of Cuchullin” (Vol. D.
(1887), issue no. 45 page 405 and issue no. 46 page 4). Another Heptanesian, A.
24
For the acquaintance of Greeks with Ossian the contribution of the
Italian translation of Cesarotti was decisive. The Heptanesian poets, who
found in Italian literature sources similar to their own aims, welcomed
Ossian with eagerness, discovering in his poems the contact points with
their own lyricism. The Heptanesians introduced Ossian to Athens. The
Athenian Romantics welcomes him with interest, which changed to
admiration. But it was far too late. Greek romanticism approached its
end and Ossian and nothing to offer it.
April, 1994
Copyright 20th November, 1996
S. Livathinopoulos published in “Byron” (Vol. 3 (1878) page 354-358) the episode
“Oscar and Dermot”. We have two independent translations from the Cephalonian
A.N. Kephallinos: l) Ossian, an essay on translation “Oinamourul, Oithona”, Turin
1880 and 2) Ossian, an essay on translation: “The Songs of Selma” Corfu 1882.
Spiros Manginas in 1886 and in 1887 published an extensive study on Ossian as
well as his translation of “Arson of Touras” (Spiridon Manginas, “Caledonian
Customs and Morals and Poets by them”. “Athenian Calendar, Irenaios Aesopios,
1886 pages l48-l73 and 1887 pages 327-349). “The Hymn to the Sun” by Carthon
was translated again by Menos Philidas, (“Muse” Vol. A. (1920), page 94), and S.
Chrisomallis, (“Art”, Vol. A. (1898-99) page 328). For the second one Irene
Dendrinos informs us that he also wrote a four-act play for a Corfu composer
Rodotheatos, taking his theme from “Oithona” by Ossian. From this melodrama,
which did not succeed in being performed in its entirety only the first two acts
were presented during the theatrical period 1880-1881 in Corfu by an Italian
melodramatic theatre company (See Irene Dendrinos, “Corfu School” Corfu, 1953,
page 94). The Ossian echo returned in a rather removed epoch from the Romantic p
period. In the magazine “Akritas” which was edited by Sotiris Skipis, a pure neo-
romanticist, we face a discreet but systematic attempt of Ossianic recollection. M.
G. Limberakis with the “nom de plume” ‘Fingal’ published in prose imitations of
Ossian (“Akritas” Vo. B. 1905-1906 page 169). See also page 11-12, 170-171).
Romos Philiras with his “Songs late in the Night” reminds us of Dar-Thula (Ibid
pages 312-313), while Skipis in his poem “The Symphony of the Leafy Wood”
becomes the rhapsode of the bard of the north (Ibid pages 140-141). Thirty years
later Stelios Spiliotopoulos gave us his most complete Greek translation of Ossian
“Ossian, poems Fingal, Comala, Colna-Dona, Croma, The Songs of Selma), Athens,
1936. (See also the critique of K. Paraschos in “New Estia” Volume K. (1936 page
1165). K. Karthaios who prefaced the Ossian poems observes how that book comes “to
enrich Greek Letters with the translation of a work, which is almost unknown in
our country”. (page i). This opinion does not seem exaggerated if we think when it
was expressed. From the first decade of this century Ossian started to be forgotten.
25
National Library of Greece,
Athens.
26
27