GREEK CARNIVAL - APOKRIES - GLENDI - CELEBRATION

The origin of the Carnival traces back to the very past and is closely linked with the history of the Greeks. It seems that it is a festivity related to classical antiquity: the Dionysiac festivals called Dionysia, during which a contest was taking place amongst the three great tragedians of ancient Greece: Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles, the three dramatists of our history.

In ancient times, as far as we know and from what we read, the actors used to bear masques during the dramatic spectacles and comedic performances. It is obvious that the modern way of disguising oneself during the carnival festivities derives from this habit.

The word Carnival comes naturally from French and Italian and means the end of the meat-eating period. It is for us, the Greeks, what we call "Apokria", which is celebrated by the whole population, independently to their social or any other status.

In 2008 Apokries runs from February 17th to March 9th 2008.

Clean Monday ('Kathara Deftera' or 'Kathari Deftera') falls on March 10th 2008..

First Week

Apokries starts with the opening of the book of the Triodion, the 3 holy sacraments.

Second Week- Meat week

Officially the last week of eating meat until after Lent.
Tsiknopempti - Thursday of meat week.
Tsikna is the smell of burning meat. It was the custom on Tsikonpempti for everyone (including the poor) to charcoal grill meat and to melt fat over it so the smell of 'burning' meat permeated whole villages.
It is still the tradition to eat meat on Tsiknopempti, although nowadays it is usual to go to a taverna for the meat feast. You'll find that tavernas everywhere are packed and many have live music too. Another glendi!

Third Week - Cheese Week

This week was also called 'White Week' as people ate mostly dairy products and eggs. Meat was forbidden from Monday of cheese week until after Lent. Many people still adhere to this.
Women never washed their hair during this week as it was said it would turn white if they did.