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Το μοιρολόι της Παναγιάς (Πόντος)
…
Do you not see that naked man, forlorn and sore afflicted,
who wears a garment steeped in blood,
a thorny crown upon his head?
That man is your beloved son and he’s my teacher too.
…
Translated by John Leatham
...
Βλέπεις εκείνον τον γυμνόν, τον παραπονεμένον,
όπου φορεί πουκάμισο στο αίμα βουτηγμένο,
όπου φορεί στην κεφαλή ακάνθινο στεφάνι,
εκείνος είν’ ο γιόκας σου και ’μέ ο διδάσκαλός μου.
...
The Moirolóϊ or Lament of the Virgin, very widely known throughout Creek lamb, is a long medieval rhyming poem of literary origin, but impressively familiar to broad sections of the populace. Influenced by relevant passages in the Gospels and by Church hymnography, it is an anthropocentric narrative lament for the sufferings of Christ on the way to his crucifixion and death, as observed through the eyes and felt by his tragic mother. Chanted by women around Christ’s tomb in the manner and style of the mundane dirges they know so well, it expresses their compassion and identification with the maternal, human nature of the Virgin. Nonetheless, the. way in which it is ritually performed lays bare the custom’s pre-Christian origins.
While there are local differences in some features of the song or in its melodic treatment, the structure and form of the moirolóϊ as well as its performance bear impressive .similarities to those sung in lands as far apart as Lower Italy, Pontus, and Cyprus. The continuity of its narrative flow is clearly evinced in the sequence we have dared to select here of passages occurring in versions of varied provenance. Miranda Terzopoulou (1998)
Studio recording, 1978.
