Hymn to Liberty

• 1. Rigas Feraios wrote a hymn based on the french Marseillaise calling Greeks to arise, the hymn was also translated lyrically in english and augmented by Lord Byron
• 2. At the time the Ionian Islands were a federation (United States of Ionian Islands) protectorate of the United Kingdom
• 3. England feared Russia would expand at the expense of the Ottomans
• 4. Prince Metternich of the Austrian Empire
• 5. Every defender over the age of 14 was drafted
• 6. The city, Tripoli, didn't have any castle, only a citadel call Big Tapia
• 7. The fall of Tripoli was the first great victory for the revolted and ended up in the largest by far massacre of the war committed by the greek side because, as the poet tries to rationalise, the attackers were driven by a vengeful rage over the loss of dear ones and the hatred accumulated over years of oppression
• 8. The yellow crescent moon was the symbol on the Ottoman flag, while the white cross on a blue background was the Greek flag, the Greek flag was first raised in Corinth
• 9. Stanzas 83 to 86 are inspired from the 3rd canto of Lord Byron's Don Juan, and "I see them too" refers to Lord Byron, so the translation is adapted to both texts. The "shadow" is a reference to Psalm 23 "even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." since Liberty is walking through the valley of death in the previous stanza. The use of first person is a reference to Pindaric odes
• 10. Missolonghi (pronounced Miss-o-ló-nghi) was sieged on Oct.1822 by sea and land by the Ottoman army, it's the city where Lord Byron left, one and a half year later, his final breath and heart literally since it was buried there at his request while his body was sent back to England
• 11. Isaiah 35:1 - Thrills the barren desert with rejoicing; the wilderness takes heart, and blossoms, fair as the lily.
• 12. Only the lower clergy openly supported the war of independence
• 13. The Ottoman army sieging Missolonghi planned an attack on the early hours of Christmas, expecting that most of the besieged would be in churches, but they were informed about this and the churches were empty
• 14. Book of Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13 - I am the Alpha and Omega
• 15. Achelous (pronounced Akh-e-ló-ous) is a large river the Ottoman army, sieging Missolonghi, tried to cross while retreating and suffered heavy losses due to its rushing waters
• 16. Hagia Sophia (pronounced Ha-gheé-ah Sho-pheé-ah OR Ha-ghiáh Sho-phiáh which is the case here) is the orthodox christian cathedral, seat of the patriarchate of Constantinople. Constantinople apart from the centre of orthodox christianity was considered the capital from Byzantine times.
• 17. Brother of the Sun and Moon was one of the titles of the Ottoman Sultan
• 18. Exodus 14: The Crossing of the Red Sea
• 19. Exodus 15: The Song of Moses and Miriam
• 20. Mansur al Liwa 84 cannon 2 decker was destroyed by fireship Oct. 29 1822 near Tenedos. Another two-decker was destroyed by fireship near Chios Jun 1, 1822, in both cases the admirals were killed. The greek fleet was composed of converted light merchant ships, and lighter boats used as fireships.
• 21. Patriarch Gregory V was hanged by order of the Sultan on Easter Sunday (Apr 22,1821) in liturgical vestment for 3 days and then his body was desecrated and dumped in the Bosporus sea
• 22. Laurel leaves are used by greek orthodox christians instead of palm leaves on Palm Sunday
• 23. Referring to the three great powers of Europe at the time, Russia, United Kingdom and France which intervened in favour of Greece a few years later (after the Hymn to Liberty was written) when Egyptian forces started to tip the scale in favour of the Ottomans. Greece was constantly trying to raise support from other christian nations even before the revolution (as the hymn implies earlier) but was unsuccessful since only Russia responded while the rest of the european nations scared from the Napoleonic wars tried to maintain the status quo.
• 24. After the first victories there were strong disputes between Greek factions trying to form a goverment about who's in charge and the way forward
• 25. Referring to the Concert of Europe that was influenced strongly by Prince Metternich