Hello fellow redditors!
My wife and I are on vacation in Greece to celebrate our 15th anniversary this week!
We attended a show last night and I noticed some peculiar decorations on the wall of the restaurant that I’d love to learn more about.
They appear to be depictions of a war or uprising against the Ottomans who occupied Greece for many years. The thing that struck me as strange is that the Ottomans are depicted with normal proportions, clothing, etc. The Greeks are pictured with cartoonish features, patchwork clothing, are not wearing shoes and in some pictures are shown getting smaller in size towards the back of the line, almost like children. The Greek in the front is also bending his arm over his head in a very strange way.
Can anyone share any historical context that would help explain these decorations to me? I’m very interested in local culture and history!
by BurtJebsen
5 comments
It’s from a classic children’s play Karagiozis.
These aren’t depicting the war. These are from Karagkiozis, a type of figure play theater. The central figure, the one you see with the big hand it’s like that so the player behind the scene can move it and make the expressions of the character more noticeable. The other figures are more human like cause they only come back and forth.
It’s shadow puppet theater.
more info here [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karagiozis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karagiozis)
LMAO