The term “Philhellene, friend +Hellene” is initially found in Herodotus who describes
it as denoting “the friend of Hellenic civilization and classical studies.”
We find it also in Plato’s work “ a good Greek is a good philhellene’’ but in this case
it has to do with patriotic Greeks who are interested in the promotion of their country
and civilization. The contemporary form of philhellenism as an idea had originally
begun to be cultivated during pre-revolutionary times, a direct result of observations
made in diaries, letters and chronicles by the various European travellers to the
ancient sites and temples of the land, enthusiastically describing the glorious past of
ancient Greece and Greeks. This new-found interest in the country arose from the
various travels during the 17th and 18th century, amply supported by the
revolutionary spirit and liberal ideas of the times as espoused by the French
Revolution. One dark underside of this awareness was, however the realization made
by them, that the devastation of the country was a far cry from its ancient splendour
and glorious past.

The struggle during the revolution of 1821 was catalytic in changing philhellenic
sentiments from a passive love of antiquity to a more active form
of identification with the Greeks and their fighting for freedom. This changing
attitude becomes a rising wave of philhellenic ideas and sympathy spreading
throughout Europe and United States.
A multitude of enthusiastic students, romantics, battle-hardened veterans of the
Napoleonic wars flocked to Greece volunteering to fight alongside the Greek
revolutionaries. Societies and committees were formed to handle the vast amounts of
contributions for the war chest. It is surprising the high amounts of monies donated by
societies and well-known personalities of the time. It is the first time that a revolution
was preserved and supported materially and morally to such a high level by private
initiative. It is certain that philhellenism, becomes the salvation and strength of the
Greek Revolution. This identification with the Greek cause was not however, shared
by the governments of the big powers of the time who initially maintain a hostile
policy as espoused by the Holy Alliance. It is only due to pressure by public opinion
that they are forced to change their stance.
The wake of events in 1821 transforms Messolonghi to the political and strategic
center of the Revolution. As a strategic center the city becomes the citadel of western
Greece and the outpost of rebellious Morea. As a political one it becomes the seat of
the “Senate of the Western Lands of Greece” with Alexandros Mavrokordatos as head
of its Administration.
It is in this political and military environment that the first philhellenes arrive in
Messolonghi. In February of 1822, the German Major General Karl Albert Norman
forms the first Corps of Philhellenes in Corinth and comes to Messolonghi taking part
in the “military operations” of Mavrokordatos in Epirus. He distinguishes himself in
the battle of Koboti, is wounded in the battle of Peta and dies in Messolonghi in
November of 1822.

In the same year, the liberal Swiss John Jacob Mayer also arrives and participates in
the organization of a hospital in Messolonghi and becomes the political communicator
of the revolutionaries. With the assistance of a printer from Thessaloniki, Demetris
Mestheneas, he publishes the newspapers “Ellinika Chronika” and “Telegrafo Greco”.
In May of 1825, Mestheneas is the first to print in Messolonghi, the Hymn to Liberty
of Dionysios Solomos. The publication of “Ellinika Chronika” continues throughout
the second siege of Messolonghi stopping its operation on February 20th, 1826, when
the printing shop is bombarded. During the night of the Exodus both Mayer and
Mestheneas heroically fall in battle.
On December 12, 1823, Colonel Leicester Stanhope arrives in Messolonghi as the
representative of the Philhellenic Committee of London bringing with him medicines
and three printing presses. He meets with Mayer who had familiarized himself with
the Greek alphabet and language and works with him in the publication of
newspapers. In February, 1825, William Parry also arrives accompanied by eight
armoury experts and the appropriate supplies to operate a gun manufacturing plant.
They also bring educational material, books, and musical instruments.
Messolonghi is also the city of the most famous of Philhellenes, the English poet Lord
Byron whose literary reputation and personality transcended the borders of his
country. This living symbol of romanticism arrives with great fanfare in Messolonghi
in January, 1824, as a representative of the London Greek Committee. For four
months Byron chooses to live as a simple soldier showing through example his
unwavering support for the Greeks and their revolution. Totally committed to the
defence of his ideals and identifying his destiny with that of the besieged city, he
leaves his last breath on April 19, 1824. His last words are about Greece: “I gave her
my time, my fortune, my health – and now I give her my life”. His early death has
such an international impact that it awakens consciences and becomes the banner for
the philhellenic movement in the Western world.
The sage of Weimar, the great Goethe, in one scene of Faust B, has Euforion, the hero
who represents the spirit of courage and freedom, shouting in excitement in
Messolonghi: “Always climb higher!” “Always look farther!” He exults in Lord
Byron’s sacrifice in Messolonghi transcending it to an ideal, an eternal act of courage
and self-sacrifice.
The climactic moment in the history of the struggle of the Greek war for
independence takes place in Messolonghi on April 10, 1826, the fateful night of the
Exodus. The last act of the drama of the Free Besieged is not a daring act of bravery
in the heat of battle, nor is it heroic rage of a brave man in a state of madness or
despair. The Exodus is the pinnacle of a conscientious stand on life and struggle,
fermented in the intellect, calmly and steadily in silence during a very long period of
famine. It was cultivated in the soul and conscience of the starving armed and
unarmed revolutionaries who remained steadfast to the end, to all that was sacred in
their religion, nation, liberty and human dignity.
The ancient philosopher Plato has said that philosophy is the study of death. The
marginal accomplishment of man to transform his death to an ecumenical act of
freedom rarely happens in the world. Consequently, the Exodus at Messolonghi is not
just another page of history; it is a major intellectual act which beyond admiration
also demands philosophical contemplation.
When the torch of Christos Kapsalis shatters the darkness of struggling Greece, the
twilight of its brightness impacts world communities. The tombs of the people of
Messolonghi awaken consciences aiding in the rise of philhellenism, especially after
the disappointments caused by internal conflicts. Messolonghi becomes the hearth of
an incomprehensible wave of solidarity expressing itself in multitude ways of support
and assistance.
When the French newspapers report the fall of Messolonghi, the liberal French press,
as they call themselves, immediately react to the barbaric suppression in various
ways. In a large and impressive demonstration outside the palace of King Charles I,
they demand that he assist and support the Greek struggle.
On April 18, 1826 a concert is given at the Parisian hall Tivoli, in support of the
Philhellenic Society with maestro Rossini conducting. The musicians have decorated
their instruments with white and blue silk ribbons. The members of the Society
receive the public wearing white and blue armbands. The ladies have attached white
and blue badges to their gowns. The program ends with Greek songs and a collection
in support of the Greek War of Independence.
After the fall of Messolonghi, Paris collects 1,630,000 francs in contributions, while
the sum collected in 1825 and 1826 totalled 3,000,000. These events are ample
evidence of how “the defence, the patriotism and the Exodus of Messolonghi, jolted,
stirred and awakened the world.”
The Geneva Committee becomes another important philhellenic center gathering
contributions, not only from Switzerland but from throughout Europe mostly because
of Swiss banker Johan Gabriel Eynard who, as research has shown , personally
donated 2,500,000 francs to the Greek cause.
Even in Berlin, the capital of authoritarian Prussia, when every philhellenic deed was
prohibited since the outbreak of the Revolution, Dr. Hufeland, deeply stirred by the
fall of Messolonghi, personally asks the king and the prime minister to be allowed to
support the Greeks through various supportive events and contributions. Permission is
granted and on the 25th of April, fifteen days after the Exodus, an announcement in
the press is published signed by important personalities of the time. This immediate
and earnest response raises the amount of contributions to 500,000 francs which are
sent to Greece through the banker Eynard. Even Metternich, who despised the Greeks
for their rebellion, was forced to communicate to the Sultan: “We can no longer assist
you as before your Majesty because the fall of Messolonghi interceded.
A parallel fodder of philhellenism in Europe is literature and art. The death of Lord
Byron in Messolonghi is catalytic for the romantic souls of Europe. The feats of
bravery and self sacrifice become eternal verses, narratives, images.
The tragic events at Messolonghi were quickly reflected in drama. ‘The Annihilation
of Messolonghi’ by Emil Souvestre, is written immediately after the event and
accepted by the theater of French Comedy only to be rejected through censorship.
Two years later, April 10, 1828, D’Ozanou’s drama. ‘The Last Day of Messolonghi’
is performed. Some of the lyrics were put into music by the celebrated Herold, while
‘The Song of a Fighter’ is sung by the famous Dupree.
The elegy of Camille Pagganel, ‘Messolonghi Is No More’ is especially significant in
poetry. The poetical collection, “Oriental’ by Victor Hugo, is momentous as he is one
of the very important writers in Europe.
This collection is written between 1826 and 1828 and published in 1829. Of the 41
poems in the volume, ‘the Heads of Seraglio’ is about Messolonghi. Its first edition
referring to the fall circulates in the popular form of pamphlets in June of 1828,
immediately after the fall of the Sacred City. Hugo has the three separated heads of
the fighters of the Revolution, Kanaris , for whom a rumor circulated that he was
killed trying to help the besieged people of the city, of Marcos Botzaris, and that of
the bishop of Rogon, Joseph, narrating the last moments of Messolonghi.
The German philhellene, the poet Wilhelm Muller, is also well known for the familiar
couplet with which he begins and ends his ‘Greece and the World’:
Without freedom, what would you be Greece?
Without you, Greece, what would the world be?
In 1826, Muller writes four poems inspired by the holocaust of Messolonghi: ‘The
Citadel of Heaven’, ‘The Ascension of Messolonghi’, ‘Messolonghi Has Fallen’, ‘The
New Messolonghi .’
Mssolonghi dominates in the philhellenic painting and lithographic scene as well,
increasingly becoming the major theme again in later years. Painters such as:
Delacroix, Flandrin, Francois-Emile de Lansac, Colin, Ary Scheffer, Dupre, Louis
Benjamin Devouze, Cheritiene, Plattele, Rossignon and many others immortalize
scenes of the last moments of the besieged city and its inhabitants prior to the Exodus
and the massacres which followed after the fall of the city. In their majority, these
paintings are beyond the limits if historical depictions, they arc more symbolic and
represent the totality of philhellenic iconography of the struggle of Greece for liberty,
a representation of the struggle of the two civilizations involved.
Historical writings also have their place in the philhellenic movement as much ink has
been used in writing about Messolonghi. A distinguishing work is that of Augustus
Fabre, “History of the Siege of Messolonghi” which was published in 1827 and
translated for the first time in 1857 by the Messolonghian law student S.A. Zorba. A
second translation, from the complete text of the volume was also undertaken in 1983
by another Messolonghian writer, a woman this time, Akakia Kordosis.
Intense philhellenic activity is also evident in the United States of America with the
declaration and recognition of the Greek struggle for freedom by President Monroe in
1823, as the high point of public acceptance of the Greek Cause. Many other
personalities of that time take the opportunity of offering their help, as the Everett
brothers, especially Edward Everett, professor of Greek Literature at Harvard. It is
Edward Everett who receives a letter from Adamantios Korais in 1821 asking him to
help with the American government. Moved by philanthropic feelings, Americans, by
the end of 1923, establish Committees in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, in
addition to other cities. They collect large sums of money and send ships to Greece
loaded with humanitarian aid, food, clothes and medicine.
Proportionally, such activities are also organized in Holland, Belgium, Denmark, even
in Sweden. In Stockholm, “The Society of Friends of Greece,” is established, with
P.A. Wallmark, the journalist and newspaper owner as the secretary. In May 1826, he
undertakes a national collection campaign through the newspapers of his country
soliciting funds for the Greek Cause. In other Swedish towns, artistic events and
painting exhibitions are organized to financially assist the Greek War of
Independence.
Russian philhellenism is also present, expressing itself with the pre-revolutionary
founding and operation of The Society of Friends in Odessa. The Russians participate
by organizing missions to Moldovlachia of volunteer corps and supplies. They also
translate and circulate revolutionary manifestos and essays and contribute with their
own philhellenic literature as the poet Alexander Pushkin’s rousing work, “Arise
Hellas”, their most important representative.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Philhellenism was without a doubt one of the most important supporting factors and
contributor to the Greek War of Independence. Various other forces were also
instrumental to its formation and development. Historical research however, has
shown that the ultimate sacrifice by the people of Messolonghi had made it
synonymous with liberty. This sacrifice served as a new impetus to the philhellenic
movement, took it to its peak of popularity and played a definitive role in persuading
European governments to help in creating a New Greek state.
In our days when human values are retreating because of globalization, living as we
are trapped in the square logic of numbers, as prisoners of sensitivity we need to reexamine the miracle of Messolonghi so we can better understand Time, our World,
our own Humanity. Those who hold peoples destinies in their hands can best serve by
understanding that Messolonghi is a symbol of lofty values, much needed in our
times. We should all identify with its high ideals and timelessness.
By Rodanthi (Rosa) Florou
President of the Messolonghi Byron Society
Translation: Professor Peter Myrian