Adages of Cyprus Folklore

The People of Cyprus by Adamandos Diamantes

The Adages of Cyprus Folklore

The Adages
of Cyprus Folklore

Pavlos Xioutas

Audio of Folklore Sketches

Adages (or Parimiae, as they are pronounced in the Cyprus dialect) play a very important role in the folklore of Cyprus and they relate to the unwritten laws, customs and habits of the Cypriot culture. They are saved and are being passed from generation to generation. They are a means for preserving the cultural standards, traditions and superstitions of a population.

Some of the adages of the Cypriots appeared in print from time to time; however, it was not until 1978 to 1985 when Pavlos Xioutas compiled the only known complete and exhaustive written compendium on the adages of the Cyprus People. This compendium, consisting of four volumes and more than 2,000 pages, presents an exhaustive collection of more than 6,000 Cyprus adages and more than 600 ancient Greek and Byzantine adages.

Each cited adage is accompanied by explanations relating to its origin, meaning, significance and its moral and historical connections to the centuries of Cyprus history. The first volume, entitled Animals and the Cyprus Folklore (Kypriaki Loagraphia ton Zoon), was published 1978 with an addendum published in 1979. This volume was followed by the publication of three additional volumes (one in 1984 and two more in 1985) entitled Adages in the Folklore of the Cyprus People (Parimies tou Kypriakou Laou).

Had Xioutas not completed this arduous task prior to his death in 1991 this rich chapter of Cyprus culture could have been lost forever. For over 55 years Xioutas traveled Cyprus interviewing its people and recorded the stories and anecdotes of the Cypriots, relating to the relationship between Cypriot and fellow Cypriot and between the Cypriot and the animals which were especially close to his every day life.

Since the beginning of time with the growing domestication of animals there has always existed a certain association that has been developed within each cultural group and the animals they have come in contact with. Certain animals became a part of their folklore, personifying human behaviors.

Xioutas discussed how the Cypriot people identified animals by their age, sex, color of their coat, skeletal dimension, disposition, function in everyday life, historical inclusion into Cyprus society, superstitions, and diseases, all of which are represented in Cypriot folklore.