Yunan Şair Georgios Zalokostas ve 1826 Mesolongi Kuşatması Hakkındaki Şiiri: “To Mesologgion”
The Greek Poet Georgios Zalokostas and his Poem about the Siege of Missolonghi in 1826: “To Mesologgion”

Summary/Abstract: The Greek poet Georgios Zalokostas wrote a long poem, “To Mesologgion”, which deals with the siege of Missolonghi and the sortie of the besieged as a result of this siege and the fall of the city in 1826 as a historical event about. The poem in question is included in the First Athenian School, the first literary school of contemporary Greece, which was influential in Greece between the years 1830 and 1880. Indeed, after Greek independence, Greece’s main intellectual centers were the neighboring Ionian Islands and Athens, the capital of the new Greek Kingdom. During this period, while Greece was trying to create a new political, administrative and cultural life, the main element of the first literary school that emerged in the country was Romanticism. Some features of this school are the use of Katharevousa, the purest form of Modern Greek, the influence of French romanticism, pessimism and melancholy, rhetorical style, patriotic lyrical tone, and themes from the 1821 Greek Revolt. Georgios Zalokostas (1805-1858), born in Ioannina Syrrako, one of the poets of the First Athenian School, emigrated to Italy with his family due to the pressures during the reign of Tepedelenli Ali Pasha, where he studied Italian and Greek literature, and the law. He returned to Greece when the Greek revolt started in 1821. Zalokostas fought against the Turks and took part in the siege of Missolonghi in 1826. His participation in the siege of Missolonghi and his participation in the sortie to leave the besieged city also makes him a witness of this historical event and this testimony gives his poem a special quality. From 1851 to 1877, the intellectual life of Athens was dominated by poetry competitions, which became an important institution, proving the important place of poetry that occupied society. Zalokostas won the first prize in the “Ralleios” poetry competition organized by the University of Athens in 1851 with his poem “To Mesologgion”, which was about the Siege of Missolonghi in 1826. In this article, the Greek poet Georgios Zalokostas and his award-winning poem “To Mesologgion” will be examined within the framework of the mentioned literary school in the history of contemporary Greek literature. While the Siege of Mesolongi in 1826 is dealt with from a historical perspective, the geographical space, elements of Greek mythology, elements of Christianity, historical figures in the siege, and the “other” in the poem will be evaluated and discussed thematically.

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