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Oct 23, 1553
Publication of Les observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées
Published in 1553, Pierre Belon’s Les observations de plusieurs singularitez represents one of the first modern ethnographical portraits of Greek society. Belon crafted a portrait of discontinuity between modern Greek men and their ancient ancestors. Belon revered “the [ancient Greek] authors of all knowledge and discipline", but was struck by the "amazing state of ignorance" of modern Greeks and their language, which was a "corrupted idiom of the ancient language." http://bit.ly/1dKgi9Q -
Creation of the Society of Dilettanti
The Society of Dilettanti is believed to have been founded as a London dining club in 1734 for those who had embarked upon the Grand Tour. This organization was particularly relevant, as it typified the types of individuals who embarked on the Grand Tour during the 18th century— wealthy, Oxbridge educated individuals such as Nicholas Revett and Richard Chandler. -
Travels of Lord Charlemont in Greece and Turkey
James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont typifies the common traveler of this period— wealthy, “Oxbridge” educated Britons. Writing approximately two-hundred years after Belon, Caulfeild still maintains the theme of degeneration, stating that Greek men have “from want of education to give them their proper direction and from a sad dereliction and perversion… have degenerated into low cunning and knavery.” (Charlemont, 114) -
Publication of William Gell's Itinerary of Greece
Published in 1819, William Gell’s Itinerary of Greece provides one of the final examples of Dilettanti travel in Greece prior to the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence. As Helen Angelomatis- Tsourgarakis posits, “Gell believed that the debasement of the Greeks was too far gone for any hope of their former status and the Greeks were altogether rejected”. -
Beginning of the Greek War of Independence
Beginning on 6 March 1821, the Greek War of Independence erupted as the Greeks sought self-determination from the Ottoman Empire. The revolution began when the leader of the Filiki Eteria (the Friendly Society), Alexander Ypsilantis, entered the Danubian Principalities by crossing the River Prut. The war fundamentally altered the trajectory of Greek history, and critically, the way in which British travellers perceived Greek men. -
Percy Bysshe Shelley Pens Hellas
In 1821 renowned poet Percy Bysshe Shelley penned his critical work Hellas. The poem was crafted to gain moral, political, and monetary support for the Greek quest for independence. Shelley’s work is significant as it represents one of the most important public expressions of Philhellenism in Western Europe. Unlike Belon, Shelley stresses a theme of positive continuity between Greeks and their ancestors, opining “The world’s great age begins anew/ The golden years return". http://bit.ly/1cUfwlw -
Death of Lord Byron
Along with Shelley, Lord Byron was a seminal figure in altering the perception of Greek men among British travellers. Byron died in Greece in 1824. Recounting his time in Greece with Byron, Count Peter Gamba notes that the “obstinate and determined defence of their native rocks, their noble resolution of preferring exile to slavery, had for some time disposed [Byron] in favour of that brave and unfortunate tribe [the Greeks].” (http://bit.ly/1eNTROj) (31) -
Francis Galton Coins the Term Eugencis
In 1883, after being inspired by Darwin’s The Origin of Species, Francis Galton developed the theory of eugenics. This theory gave credence many of the intellectual undercurrents, which posited that Westerners were biologically superior to those in the Orient. -
Virginia Woolf's Orientalism
Renowned Victorian author Virginia Woolf typifies the "Orientalizing" tendencies of British traveller in her 1906 travel diaries, stating, “you must look upon Modern Greek as the impure dialect of a nation of peasants, just as you must look upon the modern Greeks as a nation of mongrel element & a rustic dialect of barbours use beside the classic speech of pure bred races.” (Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf, 229). -
Mrs. R.C. Boasnquet publishes Days in Attica
At this point, women were increasingly involved in the production of travel narratives. Bosanquet’s Days in Attica is important as it shows that the custom of the dragoman often prevented true interaction with the locals: “the most honest dragoman inevitably slides into the role of assuming that he is your protector and that all the country people are rogues… you find yourself posing in lonely isolation as the English lordos.” http://bit.ly/1dKqDCF -
Publication of Orientalism
Said provides an immensely useful paradigm through which to analyze the perception of "Orientals" by tourists. Said states “When a learned Orientalist traveled in the country of his specialization, it was always with unshakable abstract maxims about the “civilization” he had studied; rarely were Orientalists interested in anything except providing the validity of these musty “truths” by applying them, without great success, to uncomprehending, hence degenerate natives." (Said, 52) -
Lawrence Durrell Pens The Greek Islands
Lawrence Durrell’s travel narrative The Greek Islands demonstrates the continuation of tropes levied against Greek Men from the nineteenth century. Indeed, Durell refers to the “peasant dress [as] magpie-sombre in the north”. Commenting on a companion, Durrell states that he regarded him as “an educated peasant, for he knew his saints, his trees, and his sea.” http://bit.ly/1b7IPTt -
Greek Dance
In Dancing Fear and Desire, author Stavros Karayanni posits that the Tsifiteteli, a Balkan rhythmic dance, was perceived by western travellers as a demonstration of Greek male femininity. On a lighter note, please see an instructional video for the dance: http://bit.ly/1fXXK6g
