In Zitouni (Lamia), where he was taken after being captured by the men of Omer Bryonis after the battle of Alamana, Athanasios Diakos, one of the pioneers of the national uprising in eastern Central Greece, died a martyr’s death on April 24, 1821.
In his memoirs, General Makrygiannis wrote: “He took the initiative with a few people and responded to the first rush of the Turks, he and the late Despot of Salonou. And so the brother of Diakos, and Bakoyannis, and Kalyvas, and the brother of the Despot, and other officers, with their few soldiers, broke into battle with such a multitude of Turks at the Giofiri of Alamana.
“And the famous brave Iakos, after he finished the tzebihane [σ.σ. πολεμοφόδια], stricken and half-killed, the Turks received him alive and beat him. In the place where you died, Leonidas, with your thralls, they also died for religion and country”.
Athanasios Diakos was born in 1788 in Ano Musounitsa of Fokida (today the village bears his name); according to others he was born in neighboring Artotina, where his mother came from. His real name was Athanasios Grammatikos.
His father, Nikolaos Grammatikos, known in the area with the nickname “Psychogios”, unable to bear the burdens of his large family, sent him probationary monk at the nearby monastery of Agios Ioannou Prodromos, at the age of 12. Five years later he was ordained a deacon, but quickly abandoned the monastic life when he killed a Turkish aga because, according to some tradition, he touched his manhood, dazzled by his beauty.
The young Athanasios joined the corps of chieftain Goula Skaltsa as a first lieutenant, continuing the family tradition, as his grandfather and uncle had been thieves. Then he also received the nickname Diakos, with which he became famous and went down in history.
In 1814 he went to Ioannina and joined the bodyguard of Ali Pasha, whose head was Odysseas Androutsos. When Androutsos was appointed leader of the chariotry of Livadia, Diakos followed him. After the departure of Androutsos, Diakos was proclaimed captain of the kaza (religious minister) of the city in October 1820, while at the same time he was initiated into the Society of Friends.
On March 27, 1821, he led the proclamation of the Revolution in eastern Sterea (Monastery of St. Loukas), after consultation with the Achaeans, who had revolted a week earlier.
Having received the permission of the Livadeia voivode Hasan Aga, he managed to recruit 5,000 villagers, under the pretext of repelling Androutsos.
On March 30, Livadia fell into the hands of the rebels and then Diakos organized the capture of Atalanta (March 31) and Thebes (April 1), while a little later he conquered the strong fortress of Boudunitsa (Mendenitsa). He then attempted to capture Zitouni (Lamia), the administrative center of the region, and Patratziki (Ypati), but without success, as the local chief Mitsos Kontogiannis refused to help, because he considered the uprising untimely.
Alarmed, the Ottoman administration ordered Omer Bryonis and Kiose Mehmet to suppress the revolution both in Roumeli and in the Peloponnese. On April 17, the two pasades with 8,000 men camped at Lianokladi, a few kilometers outside of Lamia. The danger is now great for the rebellious Greeks.
Three days later the chiefs of the area gathered in the village of Kambotades and decided to defend all the crossings of Sperchios (Alamana), so as to cut off the access of the Turks to Salona (Amfissa) and Livadia.
On the morning of April 23rd the Turks attacked simultaneously throughout the Greek front. Diakos with his few men defended the wooden bridge of Alamana. The battle was heroic, but he was eventually wounded and taken prisoner.
The epilogue of the battle of Alamana was written the next day – Athanasios Diakos was taken in irons to Lamia. The Ottomans offered him to worship and cooperate with them. He is said to have proudly declared:
“I was born a Greek, I will die a Greek.”
Omer Vryonis, of Greek origin, did not want to kill him, since he knew him very well from the court of Ali Pasha and appreciated his abilities. However, Halilbeis, an important Turk of Lamia, insisted, who convinced Kiose Mehmet, hierarchically superior to Omer Bryonis, that Diakos should be punished exemplarily because he had killed many of their own.
He was sentenced to death by hanging and was executed the same day. According to tradition, before passing out he exclaimed the improvised quatrain:
For a long time he chose
may grace take me
now that the branches are blooming
and the earth brings forth grass.
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Watch the documentary from the ERT Archive Athanasios Diakos in art:
Tags: day April Athanasios Diakos martyred
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