Lesson: Modern greek literature of the 20th century 1ST LYSEUM OF THESSALONIKI - GREECE Topic: Odysseas Elytis, the poet of the Aegean Sea and the Greek spirit.

subject Odysseas Elytis poem, “Marina of the rocks” The emotions of adolescence

search for the summer in poetry Poetry and the Aegean sea What is Greece for Elytis

the nobel prize, 1979 (CLICK ONCE TO THE VIDEO BELOW)

The Aegean islands inspire elytis

targets The relation among poetry, music and theater. A great poet may inspire students not only to read poetry, but also to write their own text. Interaction among students must be encouraged. Focus on fullfilment through literature. Poetry and philosophy. Poetry and psychology.

Teaching strategies Team-centered project Brain storming with informations about poetry and especially symbolism and surrealism. Study of a variety of Odysseas Elytis poems Listening the poet himself reading his poems Screening of film abstracts, concerning the poet’s life and work Dramatization Music and poetry The students write their own poems about adolescence.

the students Worked in four groups The first group presented the poet’s personality and a summary of his work. The second one found information about the Nobel Prize for Elytis in 1979. The third group worked on the poem “Marina of the rocks”, trying to find the connection between two different generations, that of Elytis and this of our modern times. The forth group found all the music written on Odysseas Elytis poetry, by Mikis Theodorakis, the great Greek composer.

Good practices Students took initiatives. Those who didn’t care about poetry, are inspired and try to express themselves . They wrote their own texts about adolescence and the problems of this part of human life. They played roles (those of parent, son, daughter, friends, boyfriend of the girl, named “Marina of the rocks”) They wrote their own poems. All members of the class became active.

Odysseas elytis Odysseas Elytis is one of the greatest Greek poets and was awarded with a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1979. He was flooded by surrealism and he based his art on the power of the emotionally charged images and words. He used powerful fantasy, in order to express a universal poetry vision. w

The poet who reconstructed a modernist mythology, approaching the mystery of the light: The metaphysics of the sun Poetry and philosophy

Elytis and his love for greece ( CLICK ONCE TO THE VIDEO BELOW)

poetry, music, collages Mikis Theodorakis the composer of Odysseas Elytis lyrics One of the famous photo collages of Odysseas Elytis

music by mikis theodorakis (CLICK ONCE AT THE VIDEO BELOW)

The poem “Marina Of The rocks” “ You have a taste of tempest on your lips, but where did you wander all day long in the hard reverie of stone and sea? An eagle- bearing wind stripped the hills stripped your longing to the bone and the pupils of your eyes received the message of chimera spotting memory with foam. But where did you wander all night long, in the hard reverie of stone and sea?”

Where is the familiar slope of short September On the red earth where you played, looking down at the broad rows of the other girls the corners where your friends left armfuls of rosemary. But where did you wander all night long in the hard reverie of stone and sea? I told you to count in the naked water its luminous days On your back to rejoice in the dawn of things or again to wander on yellow plains whith a clover of light on your breast, iambic heroine.

Listen, Speech is the prudence of the aged And time is the passionate sculptor of men And the sun stands over it, a beast of hope With a bitter taste of tempest on your lips. It is not for you, blue to the bone to think of another summer, For the rivers to change their bed And take you back to their mother For you to kiss other cherry trees Or ride on the northwestwind.

Propped on the rocks, without yesterday or tomorrow Facing the dangers of the rocks with a hurricane hairstyle You will say farewell to the riddle that is yours.’’

The sentimental and physical changes for an adolescent girl, named marina(< mare= sea) Elytis celebrate the splendours of the nature, while affirming to embrace hope over despair.