LES 40 BRAVES (40 Pallikaria) [40 young men]
[40 young men form Levadeia go to conquer Tripolitsa. In their way they meet an old man.]
- "Good day to you, old man"
- "Welcome, my youths; where are you going, young men?
"Where are you going, my youths?"
- "We are going to conquer Tripolitsa"
[This is one of the best-known traditional songs, and refers to an incident during the last years of 18th century or early 19th; Lebadeia is in central Greece, Tripolitsa in the center of the Peloponnese. The geography does not make sense, but I have read that the song refers to a small village near Lebadeia, called Drombolitsa, which is abandoned now and only confused with Tripolitsa because of the similar names. The poem is longer: The 40 were caught by the authorities, and when the old man heard it, he went to the bey of the place and demanded their release:]
- "I am Tzavellas, the leader of the klephts, and if you don't give them to me, I will burn your village"
[Klephts were the guerilla fighters against the Ottomans]
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