Ioannis Kondylakis was a Greek writer and journalist who was born in Viannos, Heraklion in 1861. His work echoed the dramatic history of Crete, especially during the period from 1866 to 1898, a period of rebellion of the inhabitants of Crete against the Ottoman Empire and was enriched with humor that makes it, even today, a pleasure to read. The most famous novel by Kondylakis is ‘Patouchas’.
Kondylakis relied on real people and his memories of them to write ‘Patouhas’. Manolis Saitonikolis, or Patouhas, was an antisocial young man, who, fearing the village teacher because he beat him when he was young, decided to become a shepherd and live in the mountains. When, after years, he decided to return to the village, his rude ways made him a laughingstock in the village among his fellow villagers. He was called ‘Patuchas’ (big feet) because of his big feet and large build.
Patouhas had to adapt to village life and understand the unwritten laws of society. For Patouhas, love was a driving force for his integration into society, but his spontaneity kept getting him into funny situations and trouble.
The first girl he met and fell in love with was Pigi. His father promised to build a house for him to marry Pigi. But, building the house took time and Patouhas could not wait. He tried to convince Pigi to elope, but her brother did not like it and shot him in the bottom. Patouhas got angry and broke off his relationship with Pigi. Then he met Marouli, who told him she didn't want him because she thought he was crude. Her widowed mother convinced him otherwise and he insulted the girl, angering his father.
At a feast, Patouhas and his company screamed and shouted with enthusiasm. When some young Turks wanted to party too, his group beat them up and, in order to avoid arrest, they fled to the mountains. Three months later, Patouchas came down from the mountains and decided to elope with Marouli. Drunk as he was, he captured her widowed mother. In order to escape the scandal, he decided to announce that he would marry Pigi.
Patouchas was written in 1892 using the Cretan idiom in the dialogue parts. It is one of the most delightful classic works of Greek ethnographic prose. The author's simple style, his psychographic acumen and his cataclysmic humor make it delightful even today.
The novel has been adapted for the theater and the radio. In 1972, the film ‘Patouchas’ was shot, starring Tassos Giannopoulos, Dionysis Papagiannopoulos and Zozo Sapundzaki.
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