Beiträge

 Who is Dionysis Savvopoulos?

Dionysis Savvopoulos is one of Greece’s most influential muscians, since he sings, writes lyrics and composes his own songs.
Born in Thessaloniki in 1944, he became known for blending Greek folk music with rock and poetic lyrics, creating a unique sound that marked the cultural awakening of the 1960s and 1970s.  For many Greeks, Savvopoulos is not just a musician but a storyteller who captures the spirit of modern Greece through his words and melodies. He began his career in 1964, appearing in nightclubs together with Maria Farantouri and Manos Loizos.
Savvopoulos was imprisoned twice during the Greek dictatorship. People fell in love with him straight away, making him and his music very popular in Greece and abroad.
In some of his songs, he combined the music of American musicians such as Bob Dylan with folk music from Macedonia, northern Greece, and lyrics about current political affairs. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Department of Philology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Ο Διονύσης Σαββόπουλος θεωρείται ο πρωτεργάτης της σχολής των Ελλήνων τραγουδοποιών. Τραγουδοποιοί ονομάζονται όσοι γράφουν μουσική, στίχους και τραγουδούν οι ίδιοι τα τραγούδια
τους. Άρχισε τη σταδιοδρομία του το 1964, και έκανε εμφανίσεις σε νυχτερινά κέντρα με τη Μαρία Φαραντούρη και τον Μάνο Λοΐζο.

Κατά τη διάρκεια της δικτατορίας φυλακίστηκε δύο φορές. Γνώρισε πολύ γρήγορα τεράστια επιτυχία και σύντομα έγινε πολύ δημοφιλής στην Ελλάδα και το εξωτερικό. Είχε συνδυάσει τη μουσική Αμερικανών μουσικών όπως του Μπομπ Ντίλαν με μακεδονική λαϊκή μουσική και στίχους πολιτικού περιεχομένου. Έχει ανακηρυχτεί επίτιμος διδάκτορας στο τμήμα
Φιλολογίας του Αριστοτελείου Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης.

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If you’re learning Greek and love Greek music, the film Eftihia is a must-see! This moving biopic offers a unique opportunity to discover the life and legacy of one of Greece’s most influential female lyricists, Eftihia Papagiannopoulou. Watching this film is not only a great way to enjoy Greek cinema but also to deepen your understanding of Greek culture and enrich your vocabulary.

Who Was Eftihia Papagiannopoulou?

Eftihia Papagiannopoulou (1893–1972) was one of the most important female figures in the Greek music scene. She wrote lyrics for hundreds of laika and rebetika songs, many of which remain popular today and are still performed in tavernas, concerts, and festivals all over Greece.

She was born in Aydin, near Smyrna (modern-day Izmir) in Asia Minor, and fled to Greece after the destruction of Smyrna in 1922. Arriving in Athens with her two daughters, she would eventually become a beloved, though often underrecognized, figure in Greek music history.

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Ώρα για χορό και Ζωναράδικο! Ανυπομονούμε να ξαναδούμε από κοντά τους μαθητές μας και να χορέψουμε όλοι μαζί ελληνικούς παραδοσιακούς χορούς! Παρακάτω θα διαβάσετε για έναν αγαπημένο μας χορό από την Θράκη (βόρειο-ανατολική Ελλάδα).

 Είναι γνωστό ότι στους Έλληνες αρέσει πολύ να χορεύουν και έχουν μεγάλη ποικιλία παραδοσιακών χορών, ανάλογα με την περιοχή. Οι νησιώτικοι χοροί είναι συνήθως ρυθμικοί και χαρούμενοι σαν να ακολουθούν την κίνηση της θάλασσας. Οι χοροί από την Κρήτη είναι γρήγοροι και δύσκολοι. Οι χοροί από τα βουνά της Ελλάδας είναι αργοί με βαρύ ρυθμό. Μία ιδιαίτερη ποικιλία χορών είναι οι χοροί από τη  Θράκη.  Ένα καλό παράδειγμα είναι ο ζωναράδικος.  Weiterlesen

Learning Greek vocabulary through music is not only useful,  it’s also a lot of fun!
Below, you can enjoy a beautiful and popular Greek song by Rena Morfi, while reading along with the lyrics.

So turn up the volume, sing along (even if it’s just the chorus!), and let your Greek improve.
One song at a time!


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A Greek song by Machairitsas is also ideal to learn Greek vocabulary.
Let’s enjoy beautiful Greek music,  while improving your Greek.
The song  “What do I ask for?” “Τι ζητάω;”, is a very known song, every Greek can sing along..
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A Greek Rebetiko song by Tsitsanis, brings us some decennia back in time, but stays also very contemporary.
Greeks, whenever they were facing difficulties, which is still something happening very often, have found a way to overcome and even to celebrate!
The following Rebetiko song,  by known composer Vassilis Tsitsanis, is an example of how Greeks deal with difficulties!

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Since 2005 Omilo welcomes every summer many students from all over the world on the island of Syros.
Our students have three things in common: they love Greek culture, they want to learn the Greek language and they want to explore the „real Greece“.
For that reason, we chose to organize our summer courses in Syros.  

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Yiannis Ritsos is one of the most famous and internationally acknowledged Greek poets, with many of his works having been translated and published in many languages.
He worked tirelessly and his output was enormous; he has published more than one hundred poems and poetry collections as well as some novels, plays, articles, and translations.
Today, Ritsos is considered one of the great Greek poets of the twentieth century, alongside Constantine P. Cavafy, Kostas Kariotakis, Angelos Sikelianos, Giorgos Seferis, and Odysseas Elytis. Let’s have a closer look into his life and work.

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Do you like Greek music?  Σας αρέσει η ελληνική μουσική;

Maybe this is not an easy question to answer, since there are so many different genres of Greek songs and music.
Ίσως να μην είναι τόσο εύκολο να απαντήσετε σε αυτή την ερώτηση, αφού υπάρχουν πολλά είδη ελληνικής μουσικής.

You might like one particular genre, like Rembetiko, Pop, Rock, but maybe not another genre like Laika, Entechna…?

So a better question might be;
Which genre of Greek Music do you like? Or, do you like Greek entechna songs ?
But  with those questions,  many non-Greeks will not be able to answer them, since they do not know the names or the difference between the various musical genres, neither the time-period that particular music was created in Greece.
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Manos Eleftheriou , is a famous Greek author and songwriter. He  wrote poems as well as short stories.
Since he was born and raised on the island of Syros (1938-2018), the Omilo students often hear his name while attending a course on the island.
Manos Eleftheriou loved Syros and edited books about his island, specifically about Markos Vamvakaris and Syros society, about theater in Ermoupolis in the 20th century, and about Ermoupolis in Greek literature.


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