Preface

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The story of Athanasios Diakos (Αθανάσιος Διάκος) is truly magnificent and culminates at a last stand in Thermopylae amidst the Battle of Alamana. This tale deeply parallels the struggle of Leonidas, King of the Spartans almost 2,000 years after the aforementioned event took place. I have chosen this Hellenic national figure as the subject of discussion due to the fact that he is a provincial legend who displayed the archetypical characteristics of a real hero during the Greek War of Independence and is virtually unknown outside of Greece for his grandiose feats. Naturally, I have biases when discussing history related to the Hellenes, however, I will try to remain as objective as possible when discussing the Greek revolutionary, Athanasios Diakos.

Episode #3 Convert or Die, The Ghost of Leonidas

By Dionysios Tsokos circa 1840

Early Life

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Athanasios was born in either the village of Ano Mousounitsa (now named Athanasios Diakos in his honour) or Artotina in the year 1788, approximately 33 years before the official onset of the Greek Revolution whilst the modern day state was still under the control of the then waning Ottoman Empire. Athanasios is believed to be the grandson of a local Klepht. For context on the social incubator for the revolution, please read about the Klephts who were not simply thieves as the name suggests. Moreover, It is known that Athanasios had an affinity towards religion and was sent to the Monastery of St John The Baptist for education upon entering his teenage years. He was officially ordained a monk (or a deacon for literal translation) at the age of 17 due to his piety and character. According to Greek folklore, it is said that a Turkish Dignitary visited Athanasios' monastery with a small troop. Consistent with the longstanding view of the Greeks (expressed as early 1470 by George Sphrantzes) that the Turks were sexual deviants, it is said that due to the pulchritudinous Athanasios, the Turk made slights and sexual advancements on him, which enraged and infuriated Athanasios. A conflict ensued resulting in the death of the Turk. Supposedly, this event was the impetus for Athanasios fleeing the monastery and becoming a Klepht. Moreover, after fleeing to the mountainside, Athanasios assumed the pseudonym 'Diakos', which literally translates to Deacon. Furthermore, it is said that Athanasios joined a band of Klephts and distinguished himself in several engagements with Ottoman soldiers. Additionally, Diakos formed his own band of Klephts and joined the clandestine and conspiratorial Filiki Eteria (literally, Friendly Society), whose aim was to establish an independent Greek-Orthodox nation state.

Life as a Revolutionary

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As tensions between the Christian peasants (mostly Greek and Slavic) and their Ottoman overlords precipitated, bands of Klephts sporadically revolted across the Balkan region with mixed success, ranging from the triumphant liberation of Kalamata to the dismal Wallachian Uprising. As the idea of an independent Christian state penetrated the Hellenic consciousness from the aforementioned events, tensions between the Hellenes and Ottomans seethed to almost boiling point and numerous revolts and uprisings occurred. Diakos and his band of Klephts capitalised on this civil unrest and helped coordinate an assault to liberate the town of Livadeia. A bloody three-day battle ensued resulting in the destruction of most of the town and Government structures, such as the Governor's house and harem. However, the Greeks of the town were liberated from Ottoman rule. The success of this revolt resulted in Ottoman General and Grand Vizier, Hurshid Pasha, sending a force of 8,000 troops to reinstate Ottoman authority in the region. In response to this news, Diakos and his men, reinforced by other Klephts and rebels, decided to halt the Ottoman army's advancement into the Peloponnese and take defensive positions at Thermopylae, the immortal battleground of King Leonidas and Xerxes The Great more than two millennia prior.

Diakos and his troop ultimately established defensive fortifications at the bridge of Alamana, which would become the namesake of the encounter. The Ottomans responded to the Hellenic rebels military positions brilliantly. They routed the majority of their force to the bridge of Alamana and split the remaining sections of their army to assault the defensive positions of the more exposed bands of Klephts in the region to halt any reinforcement of the Hellenes. Paralleling the last stand of King Leonidas, the other Greek soldiers had fled upon their positions being annihilated, but Diakos and his regiment still firmly placed in their defensive position, as if they had prepared for a last stand. Diakos was pleaded with by an other Hellenic general to retreat. However, he decided to stay with only a band of 48 volunteers to hold against the oncoming onslaught.

Banner of Diakos' band of Klephts.
Saint George slaying The Devil

The battle was horrific, however it exemplified Hellenic bravery. The conflict lasted several hours and concluded with arm-to-arm combat of muskets, bayonets and scimitars. The Greeks were swiftly overwhelmed once their general Athanasios Diakos was injured. Diakos was subsequently captured and brought before the Ottoman general, Omar Vironi. He was offered an ultimatum from Omar Vironi as an act of clemency. Impressed with Athanasios' military prowess, Vironi offered him a petty lordship, which would result in dominion over a Greek province as well as a high ranking position in the Ottoman army on the proviso he convert to Islam. Athanasios was immortalised in Hellenic folklore by refusing the offer presented to him without a second thought. His response to this day still permeates throughout the Hellenic psyche:

"I was born a Greek and I will Die a Greek"

Torture and Death

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Athanasios was subsequently sentenced to death. The torture he underwent varies from source to source with some imbuing his death with a Christlike mystique and others detailing the terrible suffering he underwent without any religious allegories. However, It is certain that he was impaled on a pike and paraded through towns where civil unrest between the Greeks and Ottomans were heightened. Diakos is said to have sang a ballad as he was taken away by Ottoman troops to his eventual torturing:

"Look at the time Charon chose to take me, now that branches are flowering, now that the earth sends forth grass."

In some of the more graphic depictions of his death, Athanasios Diakos was beaten to near death and subsequently impaled by a pike that pierced his intestine and diaphragm, avoiding any vital organs to prolong his suffering. Moreover, the pike that pierced Diakos was tethered to the ground facing West to expose him to the dreaded heat of the Greek Summer. The locals were purportedly horrified at the sight of Diakos and wouldn't answer his pleas for water.

Aftermath

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The Ottomans' public execution and torturing of Diakos was supposed to deter the Greeks from revolting by filling their hearts with fear by the sheer brutality of their overlords. Conversely, when word of Diakos' tale had spread throughout the Peloponnese and eventually all Greek-speaking lands, he invigorated a passion for the nationalistic cause. The martyrdom of Athanasios Diakos at the hands of the Ottoman Turk imbued him with mythical characteristics that were typical of the Ancient Greek Hero and thus a parallel was drawn amongst the population of King Leonidas and Athanasios Diakos due to his philotimo (Greek concept of honour, duty and responsibility - impossible to translate directly). Diakos, has been credited with being the impetus for the mass embracement of Hellenic nationalism by the Greek Speaking Christians of the balkan region as his tale had echoed the mythic virtues of their ancestors.

After the Greek war of independence was concluded Athanasios Diakos was posthumously awarded with the rank of General in the Hellenic army. He is now considered a national hero and numerous statues have been erected in his honour.

Statue of Diakos in Lamia, Greece

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Notes:

Spelling of Ottoman/Turkish names may vary

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Links:
Paroulakis, Peter H. The Greeks: Their Struggle For Independence. Hellenic International Press (1984)
Panagiotis Faklaris: A testimony of the burial of Athan. Diakos, Pthiotics Chronicles, 1987, pp. 85-88