Mantinades, Rizitika, Historical, Allegorical, etc.

Proverbial Mantinades, Mantinades of Life

My first inspiration in the realm of our cultural heritage came when I started documenting some proverbs, phrases, and even words that I saw were slowly being abandoned from the vernacular of rural Crete. I easily noticed that my grandfather used certain words that my parents did not (e.g., έχουσι instead of έχουνε, έναι instead of είναι), and my parents in turn used words that we, the children who attended elementary school, no longer used (e.g., βούηθηξε instead of βοήθησε, ματσαοίς instead of τους Αγίους). Although I lacked even secondary education, I began to record what I later learned are called “folklore materials,” which constitute part of our “cultural heritage.”