🎭 The Carnival of Corfu! Bright colors, a wide variety of masks, and a feathery, elaborate dressing style!

Tuesday March 5th: Old Town Hall Square, 18.30: Corfu Dance Club and Lefkimmi Dance Association "FAETHON". 🤹

Καλό τριήμερο είπαμε;;

loosely based on this article of Aggeliki Koti (2019) 

In ancient Greece, the purpose of the Karnavali (carnival) was not entertainment, but the magical assistance of the earth for vegetation with the help of dances, disguises and various popular events, in order to appease the evil spirits. Modern scholars initially thought that the custom came directly from Dionysian worship, but today most conclude that this ritual is older than Dionysus. It is considered an act of the religion of primitive farmers of the region.

"The Karnavali (in the sense of disguise) has existed since prehistoric times and is found on almost all continents," notes George Hatzikyriakos. "It dates back to the time of totemism, when people worshiped animals and considered them their protectors. Later, animals gave way to anthropomorphic gods, who either continued to have some beastly traits (legs, head, horns, wings) or appeared to humans in the form of the animal that corresponded to them. In any case, animals continued to be worshiped and to be symbols of cities, peoples and cultures. In related ceremonies, people disguised themselves as animals, wearing their skins and imitating their features, thus seeking identification."

Alexis Totsikas mentions the events of the Karnavali have their roots in ancient Greece and in the worship of Dionysos, "[Karnavali] is considered primarily a period of relaxation, during which people escape from everyday life and externalize their passions with the help of disguise."

He continues, "In ancient Greece, from mid-winter until spring, the Dionysian or Bacchic festivals were held in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus. On the days of the rituals, the followers of Dionysus disguised themselves as wearing animal skins, smearing their faces with tartar (wine dregs) or covering their faces with various masks, in order to keep their identity unknown, they were crowned with ivy, the evergreen of Dionysus, and tried to take the form of Satyrs, resembling goats."

For the Greeks, the Karnavali happens during the Apokria period. Karnavali and Apokria are synonymous for them. Apokria means “abstinence from meat” (από + κρέας), which prepares one mentally and physically for the period of Easter and the Resurrection. In Latin the word corresponds to carnival, which comes from the Italian carnevale (carn- ‘flesh’ + levare ‘put away’).

The meaning of Karnavali/Apokria is found for the first time in the processions that took place in ancient Greece during the Eleusinian Mysteries. But because of the strict secrecy we do not know exactly what they did during the ceremonies, as no ancient writer mentions anything relevant, but the Eleusinian ceremonies can be considered the ancestors of today's Karnavali.

Carnival, Piraeus 1907. Photo by Anastasios Gaziadis