Greece National Anthem
Ύμνος εις την Ελευθερίαν
Imnos eis tin Elefterian
Hymn to Liberty
1823
1865
Dionysios Solomos
Nikolaos Mantzaros
🕊 Freedom ⚔ Battle / War 💪 Resilience 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage |
Key Facts
- 1. Greece and Cyprus share the same national anthem; Cyprus adopted it in 1966.
- 2. Solomos wrote the poem on Zakynthos, and Mantzaros came from Corfu; both islands then belonged to the United States of the Ionian Islands, a British protectorate that was united with Greece only in 1864.
- 3. Mantzaros dedicated his setting to King Otto, who awarded him the Silver Cross of the Order of the Redeemer; yet during Otto's reign (1832-1862) Greece used an anthem sung to the tune of 'God Save the King', and the Hymn to Liberty was adopted only after Otto was deposed.
Greece National Anthem Lyrics
The text shown here is an excerpt, not the complete poem or lyrics.
Σε γνωρίζω από την κόψη
του σπαθιού την τρομερή,
σε γνωρίζω από την όψη
που με βία μετράει τη γη.
Απ' τα κόκκαλα βγαλμένη
των Ελλήνων τα ιερά,
και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμένη,
χαίρε, ω χαίρε, Ελευθεριά!
Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals
Analysis
EditorialWritten by Dionysios Solomos in 1823 during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. Nikolaos Mantzaros set it to music in the late 1820s, and it was officially adopted in 1865. The full poem contains 158 stanzas, the longest text of any national anthem.
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