 Les Femmes souliotes by Ary Scheffer | |
| Date | 1803 |
|---|---|
| Location | Epirus, Greece |
| Cause | Souliote War (1803) |
| Casualties | |
| 60 dead mass suicide | |
Dance of Zalongo Greek: Χορός του Ζαλόγγου, Horos tou Zalongou) refers to the mass suicide of Souliote women and their children that is said to have occurred in the aftermath of the invasion of Ottoman troops on Souli on December 16, 1803. The event is commemorated in Greece in the context of the Greek War of Independence. About 60 women were trapped at Mount Zalongo in Epirus during the period of Ottoman control. Rather than submit to the Ottoman troops chasing them, they decided to turn towards the cliff's edge and die with their infants and children. According to tradition, they did this one after the other whilst dancing and singing.[1][2][3] A number of Greek theatrical dramas and a song in folk style commemorating the event are also named the Dance of Zalongo.[4]
The story of the Zalongo women became so popular within the Greek community that more Greek women chose to commit suicide rather than to suffer rape and enslavement. During the Greek War of Independence, after a long siege of the city of Naoussa by Ottoman forces, thirteen women and their children took refuge in a hill above the waterfall of the river Arapitsa, in Stoubanos. The Ottoman forces set fire to the city, and much like the Souliote women of Zalongo, they jumped to their deaths with their children in the Arapitsa of Naoussa. In the 1950s, the city of Naoussa was given the title of Heroic City, and a monument was erected at the site in the 1970s by Greek sculptor Katerina Halepa Katsatou in their honour.[5][6]
- ^ Nikolopoulou, Kalliopi (2013). Tragically Speaking On the Use and Abuse of Theory for Life. Lincoln: UNP - Nebraska Paperback. p. 239. ISBN 9780803244870.
- ^ Karanikas, Dr. Alex. "The Dance of Zalongo". Hellenic Communication Service. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ Tzanelli, Rodanthi (30 May 2011). Cosmopolitan Memory in Europe's 'Backwaters': Rethinking Civility. Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-136-74159-3.
- ^ Royal Society of Canada 1943, p. 100; International Folk Music Council 1954, p. 39.
- ^ Staff Writers (March 17, 2024). "Place of sacrifice of Naoussa women". Macedonia, Greece: Region of Central Macedonia Managing Authority. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
- ^ Staff Writers (August 20, 2020). "Arapitsa River". Epiros, Greece: YouInGreece. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2024.