Cypriot love poem
Ο καθρέφτης
Η οσιά σου στον καθρέπτην
εν το καλύτερο μου ποιήμαν
βιάστου έν πα τζέ χαεί
εν το τελευταίο μου αγαπό σέ
→ French poem ←
Cypriot language
The Cypriot love poem (Cypriot, Autonym : Κυπριακά / Kypriaká), in its Greek version, for the inhabitants of Cyprus island.
The Cypriot dialect, derived from ancient Greek (Koinè), is spoken by 0.6 million people!
Related to the Pamphylian and Arcadian, the Cypriot was undoubtedly brought from the Peloponnese at the Dorian invasions epoch. It is indeed very close to the ancient Mycenaean.
Piece of history
Inhabited from the 4th millennium BC, Cyprus was colonized by the Mycenaeans, then by the Phoenicians, before becoming part of the Roman Empire.
It is near Limassol, the second city of Cyprus that will run aground in the 12th century, during the third crusade, the boat of Richard the Lionheart. A little later, he will conquer the island, and cede it to the Templars ... It's in Cyprus that he will marry Berengaria of Navarre.
Then, Cyprus will become Frankish, Venetian, Ottoman and British, before regaining its independence and be divided into two communities, after a Turkish invasion ... the Turkish community in the northeast and the Greek community in the southwest.
We cannot talk about Cyprus without mentioning the famous limestone rock of Petra Tou Romiou which attracts lovers from all over the world. It is at the foot of this rock, that according to Homer, was born from "the foam of the sea", Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love, beauty and spring.