Fifth Issue

completed the process of assimilation and hellenization into a Karagiozis of Modern
Greece. Karagiozis, finally, reflects the important period of modern recreation of Greek
Nation.
For many years after his coming to Greece,
Karagiozis was a spectacle full of dirty words, with a turkish
repertory, and under the vulgarism in jokes, with not even a
trace of social criticism or protest. It was a theatrical art
addressed to the popular class living in the periphery of
urban areas. It was the destiny of Patras, my hometown, the
city where some puppeteers of shadow theatre undertook
the difficult but charming work of hellenization of
Karagiozis, transforming a whole chapter of popular show
to a Greek art. Mimaros - a given name from the word
‘mime’ to a native of Patras – became patriarch of Greek Karagiozis. He purified the
obscenity, replaced the turkish ‘phallus’ with an excessive long hand and presented plays
with Greek myths, introducing nice local jokes and puns, famous local dialects and
characteristic songs for Karagiozis & Hatziavatis, which remain in the history of Shadow
Theatre for next generations. The first written piece of information we have on a
Karagiozis show is found in the daily ‘Tahipteros Fimi’ printed at the first capital of
Greece, Nafplion, in 1841.
The folk theatre of the Ottomans died with the Empire. The Greek Karagiozis,
free from the ottoman supervision, remains a popular comedy, faces the problem of
poverty and hunger, reflects the social relations, and represents a more earthy, secular
civilization with christian past instead of the islamic background.
The performances were inspired by
the every day Greek life, and embellished
with elements from the most beautiful
Greek fairy tales and traditions, while, at
the same time, the rich Greek history
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