EMBORIOS  for the culture of kasos

The name mantinada is generally regarded as being derived from the Italian matinata (morning song or serenade) which suggests that it was the Venetians who brought it to Greece. Whilst this may be true it was during the Byzantine period that the mantinada as we know it today became the dominant form of Greek folk poetry.

This map shows the Byzantine empire at its
greatest extent in the 6th Century AD

At that time the mantinada was more or less the only form of Greek poetry that used rhyme but it is worth noting that this rhyming form was not exclusive to Greece; it was a common and natural rhythm used in folk poetry generally and was, for example, similar to the verses hurled by Roman Soldiers as insults.

Whilst a single couplet, a mantinada, can be independent, containing the whole message in its two lines, it can also be part of a series of couplets that, when taken together, form a narrative verse. As such these mantinades were used extensively in Greek conversation, in a provocative way, to comment on or satirise various aspects of daily life.

So, in essence, a mantinada is a short rhyme about almost anything, which can be responded to by another mantinada which in turn can be responded to by another and so on until there is nothing more to be said.

This photograph of lyra and lute being tuned
was taken at the festival of Eleros

The first mantinada to be recited may be one of the traditional ones that everyone knows, perhaps about how beautiful Kasos is or about one of the island's patron saints, or it may be about something that happened during the day. Taking it in turns, verses will be added and a story will unfold. Often it will become competitive with each participant trying to add the next and most clever verse.

At Taverna Emborios there are many such gatherings, not just at formal festivities but also at other times, for entertainment, late at night at the end of a hard days work. Michael, George and whoever else is there might tell of the olive harvest, of making cheese high up in the mountains or maybe taking the boat out to collect salt and Kritama from Nissos. Anyone can join in so long as they have the wit and quick mindedness to keep up.

Don't forget that a mantinada must be two lines, each containing fifteen syllables and must rhyme. It should also be balanced with beautiful words and be part of the life of the person who composed it. This is what makes a good mantinada that can be recited over and over again.

Here we present to you a small collection of mantinades from Kasos, firstly in Greek, the language in which they were created, in which they nearly all conform to the rules and in which they are best read, and then translated into English. A close and faithful translation can mean that the rhythmic drive of the original is lost. We have chosen to take a free approach keeping as much of the exact Greek as possible but rendering them into English rhyme. We believe it is worth sacrificing a little accuracy in order to get closer to the feel and spirit of the original verse.