Text, scholarly version, translated from the 1570 Latin(ABC), 1571 Latin, 1573 Latin(AB), 1574 Latin, 1575 Latin, 1579 Latin (AB), 1580/1589 German, 1584 Latin, 1588 Spanish, 1592 Latin, 1595 Latin, 1601 Latin, 1602 Spanish, 1602 German, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612 Latin & 1609/1612/1641 Spanish editions:
146.1. {1570L(AC){GREECE.
146.2. Greece, which at one time was as it were the mother and founder of all good learning and disciplines, a rich and wealthy country and one which by its valour and magnanimity was empress and prince of the better half of the world, has at this day fallen to a state (such is the fickleness and inconstancy of fortune) that there is no part of it or it is either under the yoke of the Turks in servitude, or else it is under the command of the Venetians, or tributary to them. The Turks possess the greater part, [whereas] the Venetians only enjoy [the command of] certain islands in their sea.
146.3. Those who are under the Venetian government are in a better state with respect to religion, than those who are subjected to the Turks. Those who are obedient to the Turks conform themselves to their manners, as likewise those who are commanded by the Venetians imitate the behaviour of the Venetians. Yet all of them live in such darkness of ignorant oblivion that in all of Greece there is now not one academy or school of liberal sciences. {not in 1580/1589G & 1602G{Neither do they desire to have their children taught as much as how to read and write}not in 1580/1589G & 1602G}.
146.4. And all of them generally do speak their ancient language, but much corrupted, although some speak [it] more purely than others. Yet, their modern language comes closer to the old Greek than Italian comes to the Latin tongue. Those who dwell in cities subjected to Venetian jurisdiction speak Greek and Italian, but the country people only [speak] Greek. Those who dwell in cities commanded by the Turks speak Greek and Turkish, [but] those in the villages and more interior places only Greek.
146.5. They also have at this day, as they also had in former ages, various different dialects. For the people of one province speak more purely, whereas those of another province [speak] more barbarously and rudely. Thus it happens in this country what also happens in other parts of Europe, [namely] that one scorns somebody else's pronunciation which to his ears sound rude and clownish. Thus, youngsters from Constantinople mock and laugh at foreigners whose pronunciation and accentuation of words is different from theirs.
146.6. Similarly, the Italian who speaks Tuscan, or the Frenchman who speaks good French, or the Spaniard who speaks Castilian, will despise those who are brought up in different regions of the same kingdoms.
146.7. But in order to describe in the best manner the whole way of life in this nation, I think it is necessary to distinguish [between] the nobility and the [educated] citizens [as being different] from their common people and more lowly kind of men. For those who have better income and credit do use the habits, and clothing fashions of those princes to whom they are subjected, so that those who are governed by the Venetians dress like the Venetians, whereas those who are subject to the Turks dress like the Turks.
146.8. But the common people, under the jurisdiction of whoever they may be, on the main land as well as on the islands, retain some of the old Greek customs. Most of them wear the hair of their head long behind, and short in front, and use large, double caps. {not in 1580/1589G & 1602G{As regards divine service, the islanders do not differ at all from one another in rites, ceremonies nor in ecclesiastical government}not in 1580/1589G & 1602G}. In general, all Greeks, in the Turkish manner, do not have much household materials or furniture.
146.9. They do not lie down on feather beds, but instead of those, they use certain pillows, stuffed with tufts or wool. All of them hate diluted wine, that is, wine mixed with water, and to this day they keep their old custom of carousing and drinking liberally, especially those from Crete. Yet they differ in this from the Germans. Those provoke one another to drink whole cups at once, while [the Greek] sip and drink in smaller draughts. [All the same, the term] Gręcari was then (and is still used now) [as a term] for Inebriari, {1606E only{to be drunk}1606E only}.
146.10. Because they use certain prescriptions or ceremonies in drinking, I cannot leave these undiscussed now. First, their tables are very low, and they drink in turn, no man being allowed to skip his turn. And if any man calls for wine out of order, that is to say when his turn has not yet come, this is considered as very unmannered behaviour. He that can pour wine most quickly holds the wine jar, and he alone pours for the rest in the order of which the course has been determined.
146.11. While drinking they use a certain small kind of glass without a foot, so that it cannot be set down unless it the user has drunk it empty, and he may not leave one drop in the glass. Sometimes they challenge one another to drink in the Dutch fashion, and then they embrace one another, and hold hands, and one kisses the right hand of him to whom he toasts, and holds [that hand] to his forehead, and then strokes and kisses both his cheeks, but in this kind of drinking they observe no order as [described] before. And because the wine they drink is very strong, and [since] they drink in small draughts, and so heat themselves very much, they have always at hand a great tankard full of water, of which they drink regularly in large draughts to cool themselves off, for otherwise they would hardly be able to quench their thirst.
146.12. No women may be present at their drinking [bouts]. An old custom used by the heathens to mourn their dead is today still observed all over Greece, and neighbouring countries, which is of a rather strange nature. As soon as someone is dead, the women meet in a certain place. And at the break of day, they begin a kind of lamentation or howling, striking their breasts, tearing their cheeks, twitching and pulling their hair, pitiful and rueful to behold. And to provide more solemnity to these ceremonies, they hire a woman above the others with a most shrill and loud voice, to lead the rest and guide their voices, so that their rests, or pauses as they call them, and the accents, may be better distinguished.
146.13. And in this mourning song, they recite the praises and virtuous qualities of the party deceased, from his very cradle to the last hour before his death, &c. This we have taken from the first book of Petrus Bellonius' Observations, where you may find many other things worth noting.
146.14. Amongst the older writers Strabo and Mela described this country, but Pausanias [did so] with greater diligence. Of the more recent writers, [there are] Nicolas Gerbelius and Wolfgang Lazius, who also cites one Antonius Vrantz, bishop of Agria, who has travelled all over [Greece], and has recently published {1580/1589G, 1588S, 1602G, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S have instead{will soon publish}1580/1589G, 1588S, 1602G, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S instead} a topical description of it, with the modern names and titles of places. To these you may add the Hodporicum Byzantium by Hugo Favolius, and the Oriental observations by St. N. Nicolaij, Andreas Thevet, Petrus Bellonius &c.
146.15. Petrus Gyllius has most exactly described the Bosphorus {1606E only{(the Romans call it Stretto di Constantinopoli, the Greeks now Laimon, the Turks Bagazin)}1606E only} and the city of Constantinopel}1570L(ABC), 1571L, 1573L(AB), 1574L, 1575L end here}. {1579L(A){Appianus also, in his fourth book of Civil wars, has many useful things for the description of Thrace}1579L(AB), 1580/1589G, 1584L, 1588S, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1609/1612/1641S end here}.
Vernacular text version, translated from the 1571/1573 Dutch, 1572/1573 German, 1572/1574 French, 1581 French, 1587 French, 1598 French and 1598/1610/1613 Dutch editions:
146.16. {1571/1573D{Greece.
Whoever knows from ancient histories how flourishing this country once was in all sciences and arts {1572/1573G{and experience}1572/1573G}, how far and wide it ruled, will now see a remarkable mirror of fickle fortune. For instead of having ruled over countries and people, it is now an obedient slave of the Turks, who seized most of it, and the Venetians, who possess some surrounding islands. And instead of being a mother or nurse of all scholarship, now nothing else is to be found there but rudeness and ignorance about all arts.
146.17. Only in their language and in some ways of life, they still resemble their forebears. For they still speak their old language, that is, Greek, though not completely, but to the extent that someone who has learnt the grammar from books in our schools, can speak with them, and understand them. Which is not the case with Italians, who have almost totally forgotten their old language Latin, so that one cannot communicate with them in Latin.
146.18. In their lifestyle they still retain their old custom of toasting to each other, not like the Germans, who toast to each other with large cups, but with little sips of good malvesey [wine from Crete], and that very often, from a small beaker without a foot, so that one cannot put it aside unless it is empty. And they take turns in this, for whoever demands to toast when it is not his turn would be considered very impolite. But they do trespass this rule, and toast to each other out of turn, in order to provoke, and then they embrace, hold each others hand, kissing, push each others forehead, kiss each other again on the right cheek, and then the left one.
146.19. And because of this frequent imbibing of these small sips of strong malvesey wine, they become very much heated up and dry, and therefore they have always a jar of water at their side, take a good swig from that to quench their thirst, because it is not their custom to mix wine with water. The women do not participate in these drinking bouts, nor in their banquets.
146.20. They still retain an old custom to mourn their dead, which proceeds as follows. When someone has died, these women gather at a prescribed place, and start very early in the morning to wail, beat their chests, scratch their face, tear out their hair, which is a pity to behold. And to do this thoroughly, they hire a woman with a good throat and a coarse voice, who is their main mourner, crying out load, then mumbling, and the others take a break and then join her again in the wailing {1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F only{and the gnashing of their teeth}1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F only}. Then they start relating stories, and they mention the virtues of the deceased, from his birth to the day he died.
146.21. It happens that they seriously beat themselves, and the young daughters will scratch their face. Men are also found in this company, to finally have a good look at their neighbours beautiful wives and daughters, who come there with loose hair and naked breasts, for it is not allowed to the men to see this at any other time, because women are not allowed to appear in the streets. And for this reason women long to participate in such an event, because it provides them with an opportunity to show their beauty. This we have collected from the Observations of Peter Bellonius, who should be consulted on this matter.
146.22. Generally the Greek tend to dress after the habits of the people who rule there, namely the Turks, in a Turkish manner, whereas those ruled by the Venetians dress in the Venetian way. Normally their head is shaved, but on the back they have long hair, and a large feathered hat. They do not sleep in beds with feathers, but on mattrasses, filled with wool or something else. They do not have much furniture or tools in their houses, just like the Turks}1571/1573D, 1572/1573G, 1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F, 1598F & 1598/1610/1613D end here}.