Karagiozis
Karagiozis (Καραγκιόζης) is a marionette and fictional character of Greek traditional folklore. He is the main character of the tales narrated in the Greek theatre of shadows. Karagöz in Turkish means 'black-eyed', and it is the origin of this character's name. The art of the Theatre of Shadows was originally oriental, coming to Greece during the 19th century. This art is also still performed in Turkey, especially during Ramadan celebrations, under the same name and it is believed that it was originated from real events involving two masonry workers named Karagoz and Haci Ivat (pronounced Hadji Ivat) working in the construction of a palace in the city of Bursa in early 14th century.
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The character
Karagiozis is a poor hunchbacked Greek, his right hand is always depicted long, his clothes are botched, and his feet are always bare. He lives in a poor cottage with his wife Aglaia and his three boys, during the times of the Ottoman Empire. The scene is occupied by his cottage in the left, and the Sultan's Palace on the far right.
Because of his poverty, he uses mischievous and crude ways to find money and feed his family. He is in closer relation to Hadji Ivat (Greek: Hadjiavatis) than any other characters, and often he is informed by him, sometimes they cooperate in business, but sometimes Hadjiavatis is a victim of Karagiozis' tricks.
Some of the regular characters that became a fixed part of almost all the tales of almost all the players:
- Kollitiria, Karagiozis' three kids
- Aglaia, Karagiozis' wife
- Uncle George, a vlach from mainland Greece, always depicted broad built with traditional outfit, is crude and very strong
- Stavrakas, a bully, who is the only character with a long indepedent hand, like Karagiozis
- Sior Dionysius, an Italian-bred man from Zakynthos, speaks the appropriate dialect with its accent
- Morfonios, a British-bred softie with an extremely long nose, considers himself to be handsome
- Jew
- Veli Gekas, an Albanian guard of the Sarai, often hits Karagiozis
- Vizier
- Vizier's daughter
Some players have introduced other characters, like Karagiozis' old father.
The marionette
Karagiozis, as well as all the figures that represent the characters of his tales, are two dimensional and designed always in profile. They were traditionally made from camel skin. The torso, waist, feet and sometimes the limbs, were separate pieces that were joined together with pins. Most figures were composed of two parts, torso and feet, with only one joint to the waist. Two characters, the Jew and Morfonios had joints in the neck, and had a flexible head.
They were moved with a stick attached to them, except in the case of the figure of Karagiozis and a few other characters whose arms or other limbs required separate movement. The 'scene' was a vertical white parapet, usually a cloth, called 'perde' (curtain). Between the figures and the player (who was invisible), were candles or lamps that shed light to the figures and made their silhouettes and colours visible to the audience through the cloth.
Modern incarnations
Conrad, also known as Karaghiosis, the protagonist of Roger Zelazny's ...And Call Me Conrad (also known as This Immortal), which won the 1966 Hugo Award for Best Novel, is partially inspired by this character.
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Categories: History of Greece | Greek culture | Puppetry