Vangelis Les 40 Braves Lyrics

Saranta palikaria
apo ti Le-, mor' ap' ti Levadia
pane gia na patisoune
tin Trompo- mor' tin Trompolitsa
Sto dromo pou pigenane
geronta, vre geronta apantoun. -Ora kali sou gero
-Kalos ta ta, kalos ta ta pedia
pou pate, palikaria,
pou pate ores, pou pate ore pedia
-Pame gia na patisoume
tin Trompo- mor' tin Trompolitsa

[40 young men form Levadeia go to conquer Tripolitsa. In their way they meet an old man.]

- "Good day to you, old man"
- "Welcome, my youths; where are you going, young men?
"Where are you going, my youths?"
- "We are going to conquer Tripolitsa"

[This is one of the best-known traditional songs, and refers to an incident during the last years of 18th century or early 19th; Lebadeia is in central Greece, Tripolitsa in the center of the Peloponnese. The geography does not make sense, but I have read that the song refers to a small village near Lebadeia, called Drombolitsa, which is abandoned now and only confused with Tripolitsa because of the similar names. The poem is longer: The 40 were caught by the authorities, and when the old man heard it, he went to the bey of the place and demanded their release:]

- "I am Tzavellas, the leader of the klephts, and if you don't give them to me, I will burn your village"

[Klephts were the guerilla fighters against the Ottomans]