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Zakynthos celebrates one of her children, Dionysios Solomos, Poet, who is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty, which is now the National Anthem of Greece.
Zakynthos the 8th April, 1798 Dionysios Solomos was born, an illegitimate child of Nikolaos Solomos a wealthy count and his house keeper Angeliki Nikli. As the story goes the young boy’s mother married his father a day before his father’s death on 27th February, 1807 making him along with his other half brothers Heir to their father’s estate. The poet spent his childhood years on Zakynthos until 1808, under the supervision of his Italian tutor, Abbot Santo Rossi. After his father’s death, count Dionysios Messalas gained Solomos’ custody, whereas his mother married Manolis Leontarakis on 15 August 1807. In 1808, Messalas sent Solomos to Italy in order to study law, as was customary with Ionian nobility. By the end of 1815 he enrolled into the University of Pavia’s Faculty of Law and graduated two years later. He was fluent in Italian and his first poems were written in Italian. One of the most important poems being the Ode per la prima messa and La distruzione di Gerusalemme. He made many influential friends within the Italian Literature circles, one of them being Ugo Foskolo, who was also from Zakynthos.
On returning to Zakynthos after ten years of study in 1818, he decided to start writing his poems in Greek but in a style more popular, that of which was spoken by the common people of his Island. The turning point for Solomos was in 1822 after meeting with Spyridion Trikoupi, who has visited Zakynthos that year, invited by Lord Guilford. Solomos was already well known and it was Trikoupi’s wish to meet the young Solomos. During their meeting Trikoupi had listened to the poem of Ode per la prima messa and was impressed by saying “Your poetic aptitude reserves for you a select place on the Italian Parnassus, However, the first places there are already taken. The Greek Parnassus does not yet have its Dante.” Solomos explained that his Greek was not fluent enough, so it was Trikoupi that helped him with his studies.
The Greek Revolution in 1821 and the Exodos of Mesolongi was what inspired Dionysios Solomos to write the Hymn to Liberty. Sitting on the Hill of Strani he could hear the war across the seas in the distance. There are 158 stanzas to the poem, which began to inspire others when it was published in 1824. In 1825 it was translated into French and then later into other languages, it became the flag bearer of Solomos’ greatest piece of writing. It was then set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros in 1865. It also later became the official National Anthem of Greece and in 1966 of Cyprus. It still stands as the longest written Anthem in the world.
A financial dispute with his relatives saw Solomos move to Corfu, where he found the Ionian Island perfect for his inspirations, needless to say he was well loved and his writings were admired among noblemen. During his final years Solomos began to write in Italian once again. He died at the age of 58 of a stroke on the 9th of February, 1857.
Yesterday, two Zakynthian choirs, the men’s choir of Faneromeni and the only women’s choir Rodambelos under the direction of Stamatis Filiakos and Andrianna Lykouresi paid tribute to our Poet and sang the Poem of Dionysios Solomos, the first two stanzas that became the National Anthem of Greece, in Solomos square, Zakynthos town. With the Statue of Solomos in front of the choirs the voice of Solomo beaconed across the square “As we greet thee again, Hail Liberty! Hail!”
