Erica MerlinoCultural Foundation III Section 103-025Dr. Paliwoda2 November 2017
Midterm I - Prompt IThe “Women of Suli” and the Definition of War “Women of Suli,” a poem by Theoni Cracopolou and translated by Rae Dalven, best illustrates what war is really like. It’s not a poem of violence and destruction, soldiers and weapons — it’s a tale of the true effects of war and the decisions and sacrifices it causes those to make. During the Greek War of Independence of 1821, all the women of Suli leaped to their death with their children in their arms from the cliffs of Zolango in Eprius, rather than surrender to the Turks. The poem covers the true, nitty-gritty details, the stories of lone survivors, and the people and stories that slip through the cracks that history books seldom delve into. It unapologetically addresses the meaning and the dignity of death, and how these women decide to declare their own fate. War is an endless cycle of the aggressors marching towards their next victims whilst past victims lie in ruin and scarred with immeasurable pain, both physical and emotional. “Women of Suli” epitomizes the deep-rooted effects of war –- not solely through battle, but …show more content…
How are they not slipped through the cracks, like many other unfortunate, unmarketable details of war? The memorial left to the women is described, “Women of Suli! Where your bodies are one with the rocks, the stony earth is adorned with wild flowers, but on the peak there blooms a single lily to honor the last Suli woman, foam of your fragrance.” Another contrast between beautiful imagery and a horrible fate: essentially, only a single lily represents all the casualties of this war — the women and children who jumped to a new life in eternity, the loss of a country and freedom, the loss of innocence and purity, the loss of light and hope. So much is loss in war, and the end of history truly is the birth of
Midterm I - Prompt IThe “Women of Suli” and the Definition of War “Women of Suli,” a poem by Theoni Cracopolou and translated by Rae Dalven, best illustrates what war is really like. It’s not a poem of violence and destruction, soldiers and weapons — it’s a tale of the true effects of war and the decisions and sacrifices it causes those to make. During the Greek War of Independence of 1821, all the women of Suli leaped to their death with their children in their arms from the cliffs of Zolango in Eprius, rather than surrender to the Turks. The poem covers the true, nitty-gritty details, the stories of lone survivors, and the people and stories that slip through the cracks that history books seldom delve into. It unapologetically addresses the meaning and the dignity of death, and how these women decide to declare their own fate. War is an endless cycle of the aggressors marching towards their next victims whilst past victims lie in ruin and scarred with immeasurable pain, both physical and emotional. “Women of Suli” epitomizes the deep-rooted effects of war –- not solely through battle, but …show more content…
How are they not slipped through the cracks, like many other unfortunate, unmarketable details of war? The memorial left to the women is described, “Women of Suli! Where your bodies are one with the rocks, the stony earth is adorned with wild flowers, but on the peak there blooms a single lily to honor the last Suli woman, foam of your fragrance.” Another contrast between beautiful imagery and a horrible fate: essentially, only a single lily represents all the casualties of this war — the women and children who jumped to a new life in eternity, the loss of a country and freedom, the loss of innocence and purity, the loss of light and hope. So much is loss in war, and the end of history truly is the birth of