Appeal to the Greeks | Why do you tarry, friends and brethren?

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by Rigas Feraios (1757 - 1798)

Translation © by Johann Winkler

Παρακέλευσις πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας

Language: Greek (Ελληνικά)

Our translations: ENG

Τί καρτερεῖτε, φίλοι καὶ ἀδελφοί,
τί δὲν κινεῖσθε μὲ γλῶσσαν, μὲ σπαθί;
Ἰδοὺ καιρός μας ἔφθασε,
ἠμέρα δόξης ἔλαμψε.
Λοιπὸν ὁρμᾶτε, κράζοντες
τὸ ἐλελεῦ, καὶ σφάζοντες.

Δοῦλοι σεῖς πλέον μὴ καταδέχεσθε,
μήτε νὰ ἦσθε, μήτε νὰ λέγεσθε.
Ἐλεύθερα φρονήσατε,
γενναίως πολεμήσατε,
καὶ τ᾽ ἅρματα ἁδράξατε,
ἐχθροὺς τῆς πατρίδος σπαράξατε.

Ὁ Λεωνίδας καὶ Θεμιστοκλῆς,
Ἐπαμινώνδας καὶ μέγας Περικλῆς
δικοί μας ἦσαν πρόγονοι
καὶ τοὺς Διὸς ἀπόγονοι.
Λοιπὸν ὀμῶστε, καὶ σπαθιὰ
γυμνῶστε, γιὰ τὴν πατρίδα.

Confirmed with Η Λυρα του Ἀπολλωνος, Athens, 1850.

Note provided by Johann Winkler: The text above doesn't quite match Randhartinger's melody in stanza 2, line 6, so the following substitution from another version of the poem might be useful here: "ἐχθροὺς κατασπαράξατε". (The score does not explicitly include the second and third stanzas.)

Show a transliteration: DIN | ISO 843

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Rigas Feraios (1757 - 1798) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Benedikt Randhartinger (1802 - 1893), "Παρακέλευσις πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας", note: the score includes the first stanza and then adds that stanzas 1,2, & 3 are from the book (unfortunately without indicating which book) [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Johann Winkler) , "Appeal to the Greeks", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2023-03-31
Line count: 18
Word count: 73

Appeal to the Greeks

Language: English after the Greek (Ελληνικά)

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Why do you tarry, friends and brethren?
Why don't you use your tongue, your sword?
Behold! The decisive moment has come to us,
the day of glory has shone!
Now arise, raise
the cry of war, and slaughter them!

Don't tolerate being their slaves
any longer, nor being called such;
be aware of your freedom,
fight bravely,
get your carriages moving too
and tear the enemy to pieces!

Leonidas and Themistocles,
Epameinondas and the great Pericles
were by right our forefathers
and offspring of Zeus.
Now take the oath and
draw your swords for your country!

Text Authorship:

Translation from Greek (Ελληνικά) to English copyright © 2023 by Johann Winkler, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Rigas Feraios (1757 - 1798)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-03-31
Line count: 18
Word count: 96