# το μαντήλι



## Theseus (Jan 28, 2017)

What is the significance of το μαντήλι in traditional dances, often used, it seems by women in συρτά? :mellow:


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## SBE (Jan 29, 2017)

Not sure what you are asking Theseus. 
In ye olden days before the arrival of disposable handkerchiefs everyone had a cotton or linen handkerchief on them and it was often used for purposes other than wiping one's nose. 
Foe example, you wave someone goodbye by waving your handkerchief (so they can see you in the distance). 
Κουνώ το μαντήλι= wave goodbye
Also, instead of holding hands with the person next to you in a dance, you hold one end of the handkerchief and they hold the other, allowing the person at the front of the dance to make turns and other fancy dance moves. As we all know (we don't actually) in traditional Greek dancing the only person who actually dances is the first one in the circle and the others follow by taking small steps to the music. As this does not look very good in modern choreography, you will notice that in performances everyone does the same, but in a village square with a hundred of people in a circle it would be too hard to do. 

And a piece of folk culture from the Peloponnese, which I witnessed as recently as 2000 at a village wedding: the family of the bride do not participate in the post-wedding celebrations. They have a separate party the night before the wedding, not attended by the groom's family and guests, then they attend the ceremony and go home, their job done (they handed over the bride who is now a member of another family).


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## Theseus (Jan 29, 2017)

Thanks for the fascinating details which answer what I was looking for. I have been trying to read an article on the subject at http://www.roumlouki.gr/politismos/...υ-μαντηλιού-στον-χορό-σε-ελλάδα-και-ρουμλούκι.
It seems exhaustive in its detail but does, I think, try to explain its use & significance as regards men & women. 

By the way, can you look at my other question--ο χορός της νύφης--& find for me the words of the beautiful song used here.

Your piece of folk culture from the Peloponnese is very interesting. Such folk customs are almost extinct in the UK except in some Hebridean islands & parts of rural Wales. I suppose that TV & the mass media, despite their obvious benefits, have made for a mono-culture & ironed out customs once unique to different areas & villages throughout the land.
A Greek friend of mine from Ios knew a goatherd, who, one day in solitude on summer pasture duty in the mountains, witnessed a dance of the Neraides. When I sceptically asked him-my friend- if he believed in fairies he replied scornfully that they had appeared to his friend as bewitching women, with long dark hair, who danced slowly in a circle & almost stole his wits away. Anyway this spectral vision apparently haunted him for the rest of his life.:woot:


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