Number 37 Greece 1984

Lesbos 1984

“What cannot be said will be wept.” - Sappho -

Around 630 BC the poet Sappho was born on the island of Lesbos. She is regarded as one of the great ancient poets and probably wrote about 10.000 lines of poetry, of which only 650 survive. Sapphos most famous work is the Ode to Aphrodite, which is the reason Sappho and her island became symbolic for the love between women. However, the lore has it that Sappho eventually married a ferryman, Phaon.

You could say Lesbos is symbolic for love.

Coutryside church and its interior

“Although only breath, words which I speak are immortal.”  -Sappho- 

On 10.9.2020 the island suddenly appeared in the frontpage headlines when fire broke out in the refugee camp of Moria holding close to 13.000 refugees. And this is not the only camp on Lesbos, but the biggest and the one with the most appalling conditions. The refugees had been trapped on the island after a treaty in 2016 between Europe and Turkey removed their route to the continent.

The news reports speculate that the fires in the camps were laid by refugees and some Afghan men were arrested for arson. But the question is why the refugees were held on the island in the first place without looking for a solution elsewhere.

“You will have memories
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes, we did many things, then - all
Beautiful...”
- Sappho -

I visited Greece with a girlfriend in autumn 1984. We wanted to visit some of the aegian islands. I had read a guidebook and what today would probably be called the bucket list was long. Far too long for a trip of 4 weeks. To Lesbos we came by chance…. after arrival at the airport in Athens it was the first and cheapest flight we could get. 

Taxis at the airport

If you look at the map you will see that Lesbos looks like it is going to be swallowed by Turkey. The strait separating it from the Turkish coast is only 5 km wide and the big Turkish town of Izmir is only 92 km away. The airport is at Mitilini, the island capital, which faces Turkey. In view of the relations between the two countries this is not a favourable location. 

Mythymna and its castle

Mitilini is a rather big place, so we took a bus across the island to Mithymna, a little town overshadowed by the enormous Molivos castle. A lot of people have passed through here, Greek settlers fought with the Persians over it, the Romans arrived, the Byzantines lost it to the Latin empire, later the Genuese were attacked by the Venetians, and eventually, the Ottoman empire conquered it in 1462. It only became Greek after the second Balkan war in 1912. In the second world war it was occupied by Italians, who set about to plant of what is left of forest nowadays. What the others left are three impressive medieval castles, a roman aqueduct, byzantine monasteries, neolithic sites and, of course, antique greek ruins – and there are fields of petrified wood.

About a third of the population of 86000 lives in the capital Mitilini, the remainder is spread out over all the little towns. Life back then was quiet. There were tourists on the island in 1984, mostly of the back-packing kind like us. There were few big resorts or hotels. Many people let simple rooms to the visitors. The waterfront had a couple of cafes and restaurants where you could enjoy the view of the sea and the fishing boats. At daytime the old men sat in the shadow and refreshed their memories. Old farmers came in from their isolated land in the countryside and sold fruit to the tourists. The beaches were unspoiled, empty and there were plenty of hidden coves even in walking distance to Mithymna where a young couple could have their privacy.

“What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful.” - Sappho -

Simple little motorcycles were for rent in the town. We did some excursions to the east to Skala Sikamineas and to the west to Sigri. The eastern part of the island is covered in forest and 11 million olive trees hundreds of years old. The western part of the island is rather barren. The Italians did not stay long enough to get the chance to also plant a forest here. Except of the main island thoroughfare to Mitilini most of the roads were unpaved and there were quite a lot of rocks in the middle of the track. This made driving with two people on the little bike a bit tricky, in particular at night, and since the light went on and off at random. However, the little mishap occurred on the paved road, when I had to leave the narrow pavement to avoid a car coming the opposite way. I was blinded by the light and did not see the little step down between the pavement and the shoulder. We were very slow but the bike still fell to the side and one of the utterly attractive legs of my friend was burnt on the muffler. It was not a bad wound, no reason for a hospital. If wearing long pants nothing would have happened at all, but putting that in words was a mistake.

“frequently
for those
I treat well are the ones who most of all
harm me”
- Sappho - 

Eventually we left the little town to go back to Mitilini by bus and look how to get to the next island. On the way we wanted to visit the little town of Agiasos. Lesbos has its own Olymp, the highest mountain, which towers over this historic town. We left the bus to look for a connecting ride since Agiasos is not on the main road. The bus had just left when I discovered that I had left my camera bag including a part of our money or traveller cheques (that was the time before credit cards and ATM’s) in the luggage rack of the bus. Fortunately we were able to flag down a taxi quite quickly and caught up with the bus in the main bus station in Mitilini. The bag including the valuables was still there. 

In the bus station in Mitilini

My friend, who had travelled around the world for a year without anything like that ever happening, could not understand such stupidity. It did not make sense to go back to have a look at mount Olymp and so we had to spend almost a day in ugly Mitilini. When looking for a room, an old guy approached us. He offered us a cheap room in an ugly building in the harbour. It was only for one night and so we accepted. When he handed us over the key he asked whether we would have any plans for the afternoon. We didn’t and so he invited us for a trip to show us this part of the island.

“If you are squeamish
Don't prod the beach rubble.”
- Sappho -

After a while he showed up in a battered but beautiful old three wheeled Mazda transporter. There was just enough space for two people next to the driver on the bench and SHE had to sit next to him. He drove us to some scenic sights around Mitilini and the more beautiful the places he showed us became, the closer he got to HER. When I put my arm around her back to claim my space he decided that her knee was a place better suited for his hand anyway. Again a thing much less urgent when wearing long pants, but I kept my mouth shut this time. When we arrived at a beautiful beach he suggested that we could go swimming here but we declined politely.

Eventually we got back to Mitilini without a fight. For the night we moved the heavy cupboard in front of the door. After we came back it turned out that the filmroll with the pictures of the trip with our old friend was overexposed or ruined during development. Like everything I kept it. Today's digital means do not make perfekt, but visible....  

The waterfront of Mitilini

“I want to say something but shame prevents me
yet if you had a desire for good or beautiful things
and your tongue were not concocting some evil to say
shame would not hold down your eyes
but rather you would speak about what is just”
- Sappho - 

More than 30 years will have changed even a remote island like Lesbos. However, from remoteness the island suddenly moved into the epicentre of the refugee crisis. Due to the proximity to the Turkish mainland and the Syrian and Iraquian conflict, several vessels full of refugees arrived daily.

I think it exceeds the level of tolerance which can be expected from a population of 86000 on a previously remote, almost arcadian island when it is overwhelmed with about 15000 strangers in a short period of time. Moria became Europe's biggest camp. As comparison: it amounts to a bit more than 1% of the population when a country like Germany accepts 1 million refugees. In Lesbos it summed up to almost 20%. People started to complain about vandalism, looting and burglary. 5000 of the ancient olive trees were cut for fire wood. Makeshift extensions of the camp started to mushroom into the surrounding hills into what became known locally as the Moria jungle.

In those years since 1984 the islanders have become utmost dependent on tourism. As early as 2016 tourism had dropped by 70%. Hotel rooms were empty, flights were cancelled by tour operators.

 

“their heart grew cold, they let their wings down” - Sappho - 

village band playing the syrtaki

Now, after the camp burned down, politicians suddenly cry out for solutions. There were initial offers to accept at least a part of the unlucky refugees of Moria and relieve the islanders. But they drowned in a sea of bureaucratic discussions between governments and different levels of administration. Eventually a replacement camp has been set up in a remote bay – on Lesbos. A week ago the number of corona cases amongst the refugees had risen to 240. The problem is left with Greece and with the inhabitants of the island.

My friend of the time studied law and became a judge. She now is a specialist on immigration and asylum law and decides on admitting immigrants.

 

“You may forget but let me tell you this: someone in some future time will think of us”
- Sappho -