tagged: A Greek zeibekiko, Evdokia, Giorgos Koutouzis, Greece, greekmusic, Manos Loisos, Nikos Koemtzis, paraggelia, Pavlos Tassios, unwritten laws, zeibekiko, zeibekiko dance

Zeibekiko:Unwritten Laws for a Man’s Honor! Part II (Videos)

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Music

The Zeibekiko, as means of expression for the feelings of a real man, has its own unwritten rules. A Greek “man’s honor is written on his forehead”, people used to say. A clear forehead, i.e. name, was everything. In 99% of the cases, the clear forehead was attached to a narrow minded head thought. 

In the conservative society being a honorable man is  often translated with being extremely possessive towards women and enjoy the absolute respect by other men. Symbolically speaking, every zeibekiko dancer is “a unique warrior and a proud hawk”. And a bird has to follow the unwritten laws both in society and in nature.

I have picked up two  characteristic examples of  a “man’s insulted honor“,  while someone is dancing the Zeibekiko. Both  examples have been etched in two outstanding Greek films legendary in the local movie industry. Both films are authentic in performance and in catching dramaturgically the zeibekiko subculture and etiquette,  the subtle balance of a male’s code of honor  in the conservative working class of  the Greek society of the 70′s.

“Evdokia”

Thou shall not dance Zeibekiko for the shake of another man’s girl friend, even if she is a prostitute!

Evdokia is a film drama of passion whose main characters are a sergeant and a prostitute who get married after a brief passionate idyll. Very soon, however, the influence of their environment strains their relationship, and the man tries to break away, but without success.  The petit bourgeois environment, the lumpen elements, the social fringes and petty interests stifle the young couple, which appears to want to rebel, but doesn’t succeed. Violent sensuality, cruelty, coarseness , heroes in inner struggle, conflicts of desires and values (source wikipadia).

And the most beautiful instrumental Zeibekiko written by Manos Loizos, the most popular Greek Zeibekiko!

“To Zeibekiko tis Eydokias” – Eydokias’s zeibekiko (1971)

Dancer : Giorgos Koutouzis

Nikos Koemtzis – the real Bloody Zeibekiko

Thou shall not  dance Zeibekiko, if another man has already ordered  the song!

As zeibekiko is a personal dance, only one man at a time may dance it. It is a common practice that the dancer “orders” his favorite song from the musicians and dance alone. A “paraggelia” is an order, nobody should violate! Should another man get up and dance with, would mean humiliating and insulting the manhood of the orderer. A cause for conflict and possible violence.

The real story of Nikos Koemtzis, who killed 3 people and injured another five with a knife, when they danced to the Zeibekiko-song he had ordered.

On February 25, 1973, Koemtzis has just come out of prison serving a punishment for theft . He goes with friends and his younger brother  in a nightclub, in Athens. His brother orders his favorite song from the musicians and gets up to dance the zeibekiko. Another guy, from a company of men who are policemen in plain clothes, stands with him  suddenly on the dancing floor. The singer  announces that the song is an  “order”. There is a scuffle among the men. Nikos Koemtzis gets up and starts to attack the men with a  knife. Later he argues that his mind was blurred because he thought the men would kill his brother.

 Nikos Koemtzis

He gets arrested and is sentenced to death three times and seven times to life imprisonment. 1977 his death sentence is commuted to life. In 1996 he is grandted grace and comes out of the prison.

The press of the time described him  as “Beast”.It is the time of dictatorship in Greece. Nikos Koemtzis has a long criminal record, his father was a communists and he personally refused to snitch for the police. He belongs to Greek working class of the time, that believes “honor“, “insult” and “humiliation” can be washed out only with blood. There is a political aspect thought then it is believed that the whole incident was provoked by the policemen. Later many speak  of Koemtzis as “a man with courage”. 

In 1980 Pavlos Tassios directed the film  “Paraggelia” (the Order), based on the real story.

The Bloody Zeibekiko ( watch to the end)

Schocked?  These are the zeibekiko unwwritten laws, my friends, fists and blood are the only way to punish the law-breakers…