c. Customs and Traditions

IES Ribera de Castilla, Valladolid, Spain
November 1st, the day of dead in Spain, by Lorena G.	The National Day in Spain (October 12th, Columbus' day) by Lorena G. And a quiz on the topic
The bonfires of Saint John's eve by Patricia	3 Internationally Well-Known Spanish Celebrations: San Fermín, Fallas and Tomatina by Daniel Mt	Some Spanish Customs that Surprise Foreigners by Álvaro
The Holy Week in Spain by Nayara	Brotherhoods in the Holy Week (Valladolid) by Diego H	Comparison between the Christmas celebrations in Poland, Greece, Ukraine and Spain by Sandra

Traditional Ukrainian Woman's Headwear, by Monastyryshche school 5, Ukraine

Traditions on religious holidays in Ukraine.

The Greek custom for “Tsiknopempti” by Chris Alexandropoulos.
4th Secondary School of Iraklion

Polish Christmas - by Malwina Morcinek:

Polish school system and school routine by Sonia:

A FAMOUS CRETAN LOVE STORY.

EROTOKRITOS AND ARETOYSA.

THE PLOT OF THIS TRADITIONAL STORY.

(4TH SECONDARY SCHOOL OF IRAKLION)

Erotokritos is a metrical story composed by

Vintzentzo Kornaros in Crete in

the 17^th century.

It has 10,012 verses. The main point at issue is the love between two young people, Erotokritos and Aretoussa, which is being implemented with other subjects as honour, bravery and courage.

The play takes place in Ancient Athens. The king of Athens Hercules and his wife manage to have a daughter after many years of marriage. The princess falls in love with the son of King’s loyal consultant, Erotokritos. As the latter cannot disclose his love for the princess, he goes under her balcony every night and serenades to her. The girl gradually falls for her secret singer. Hercules, when he finds out about the young singer, ambushes him in order to arrest him, but Erotokritos along with his dear friend kills the king’s soldiers. At the same time he realizes that the love story cannot have a happy ending, therefore he travels to Halkida in an attempt to forget. In the meantime his father gets sick and when Aretoussa pays a visit to Erotokritos’ father she discovers in his room a picture of hers and the lyrics of the songs she listened every night out of her window. When the young man returns ,he finds out in his turn that the songs and the portrait are missing and that only Aretoussa has visited their home. Because he realizes that his identity is revealed and that he might be in some kind of danger, he stays in pretending he is ill and the princess sends him a basket of apples to show him that the feelings are mutual. On 25^th April (the name day of Saint Marcus) the king organizes games (more specifically spear-throwing) and nobles from all the country participate. Erotokritos is also among them in disguise for fear they might recognize him since he belongs to a lower cast. Finally, Erotokritos is the winner. The couple starts meeting in secret under Aretoussa’s balcony. The girl urges her partner to go to her father and ask her in marriage. As anticipated, her father is infuriated by the young man’s audacity and exiles him. At the same time news arrive for a match making for the princess from Byzantine. The girl gets immediately secretly engaged with her beloved, before the latter abandons the city. Aretoussa refuses the marriage proposal and the king imprisons her along with her loyal nanny. Three years later, when vlachoi(a Greek tribe) besiege Athens Erotokritos appears in disguise. He saves the king’s life in a battle and he himself gets wounded. The king in order to show to the stranger his gratitude offers her daughter as his spouse. The princess refuses once again the marriage proposal and in a conversation with the undercover Erotokritos she insists on her decision. The young man puts her through a number of tests in order to get convinced for her loyalty and in the end she reveals his true identity after managing to solve the spells he was under. The king reconciles with Erotokritos and his father and the young lover gets the throne of Athens.