| The most famous of the traditional Carnival | | | | rights, the disputed results of card games, and |
| celebrations is held on the island of Skyros. By far | | | | women. The most deadly insult which could be |
| the most important and striking of the Carnival | | | | offered to a yeros was to cut the ropes holding |
| figures which make their appearance there is the | | | | his bells. Outbreaks of fighting, sometimes |
| yeros, or "old man". | | | | between large crowds of yeroi and their |
| The costume of the yeros is very elaborate. | | | | supporters, were a common occurrence. |
| Basically it is the traditional dress of an island | | | | During the twentieth century the atmosphere |
| shepherd: wooden clogs, the black woolen | | | | mellowed. With the decline of shepherding and |
| shepherds' jacket with a hood, with the inside, or | | | | large-scale emigration from the island, there are |
| furry side, out; long, white, baggy, woolen | | | | fewer yeroi. Such is the strength and stamina |
| trousers; white leggings fastened with black | | | | required to be a yeros, it had already long been |
| garters, and laced shepherds' sandals. However, | | | | the practice for strong men to adopt the role, |
| under his jacket at the back the yeros stuffs a | | | | whatever their occupation, and to borrow the |
| pillow, to provide the appearance of a hump. His | | | | bells of shepherds unable to act as yeroi |
| belt is joined at the front by means of a | | | | themselves. Hundreds of yeroi would once appear |
| handkerchief. | | | | in town on the last two Sundays of Apokreas, |
| Over his face, the yeros wears a mask with two | | | | whereas now they are numbered only in tens. |
| eyeholes cut into it, made from the skin of a kid, | | | | Yet every year men still return to their home |
| either one still-born, or too weak to survive. The | | | | island from Athens to take part in these |
| skin is tied by its back legs behind the wearer's | | | | festivities. But, as Joy Coulentianou points out, |
| head, and the head of the animal dangles over his | | | | these townsmen are neither so rude, nor so |
| face and chest. Holes are cut for the eyes, but | | | | tough, as their ancestors. |
| not for the nose or mouth. Since the skins are | | | | Today the ubiquitous plastic masks are also worn |
| likely to have a very strong smell, they are | | | | by revellers, and the children dress up in fancy |
| frequently sprinkled with ouzo. | | | | dress, as elsewhere in Greece. The younger boys, |
| Long white goats-hair ropes, knotted at the back | | | | aspiring yeroi, walk the streets with goat bells tied |
| are crossed over the shoulders. Hanging from | | | | around their waists. Women today sometimes |
| these are the goat bells. These are of three | | | | take the part of the korella, or even, occasionally, |
| distinct types, each of which has its own range of | | | | as a yeros. |
| sounds. Although each bell is unique, a shepherd | | | | A curious and singularly unconvincing story is told |
| could recognise his goats individually by the sound | | | | by the islanders to explain the strange appearance |
| of the bells they wore, and it is said that out of | | | | of the "goat dancers". It is said that many years |
| the cacophony made by a herd on the move, he | | | | go there was a particularly cold winter, and snow |
| could detect a single missing bell. The hooped | | | | lay thick on the ground for several weeks. When |
| wooden collars of the bells are threaded onto the | | | | a goatherd went out to retrieve his animals |
| ropes and fastened with looped knots at a | | | | following the thaw, he found every one of them |
| suitable distance from each other. These are | | | | dead. Afterwards he entered the town, |
| placed in two series, with the larger at the back. | | | | accompanied by his raggedly-dressed wife, with all |
| The arrangement of the bells is made very | | | | his valuable sheep and goat bells tied around his |
| carefully with two considerations in mind. The first | | | | waist. On that day during the next year, someone |
| is that they will not injure the wearer as they | | | | re-enacted the scene, and the practice grew in |
| swing, and the second is determined by the | | | | popularity. |
| different sounds produced by different | | | | Clearly however, the goat-dancers of Skyros are |
| arrangements of bells. | | | | a local version of the carnival figures found |
| If the wearer is strong, he may carry as many | | | | throughout the north. In any case, there are |
| as seventy or eighty bells, depending upon his | | | | many tantalising traces of a close connection |
| strength and stamina; although thirty to forty, | | | | between this rite and the cult of Dionysos. In |
| perhaps weighing forty or fifty kilos, is more usual. | | | | ancient times, the goats of Skyros were |
| To steady himself, and also to tease and provoke | | | | proverbial for their productivity, being lauded for it |
| onlookers, he carries a shepherd's crook. Freshly | | | | in the odes of Pindar, so that a particularly |
| cut wild flowers decorating the hood, breast and | | | | productive person was known as a "Skyros goat". |
| crook complete his remarkable outfit. | | | | King Aegeus, from whom the Aegean took its |
| Not surprisingly, it is very difficult to move at all in | | | | name, (the name is said to mean 'goatish',) was |
| this strange costume, and the first few steps he | | | | believed to have thrown himself to his death into |
| takes will determine whether or not he will have | | | | the sea which took his name from the cliffs of |
| to be completely redressed. Traditionally, six | | | | Cape Sounion. His son Theseus, was believed to |
| "gaits" are recognised, by which the yeros makes | | | | have suffered a similar, but involuntary, fate on |
| his way about the town. Some seem to be | | | | Skyros, by being pushed by a treacherous host, |
| designed to allow for mobility, and others to help | | | | from a cliff. |
| him create the greatest possible cacophony with | | | | The goat was the animal most commonly |
| his bells. Thus a yeros will occasionally stop, either | | | | associated with Dionysos, who is frequently |
| alone or in a group, stand with his legs firmly | | | | depicted in art with satyrs, or goatmen, as his |
| planted apart, and his staff stuck in the ground in | | | | attendants. According to myth, the god was |
| front to steady him. He then bends over | | | | disguised in infancy as a kid and nurtured by |
| backwards and forwards from the waist, while at | | | | nymphs to escape from the wrath of Hera, and |
| the same time shaking his shoulders. The result is | | | | reared in disguise as a girl. In a similar manner, |
| an incredible din. | | | | Achilles was sent by his mother, Thetis, to |
| The bells on the yeros are like a local dance. Can | | | | Skyros, to be brought up as a girl, in a vain |
| everyone dance well? The yeros must be a ... | | | | attempt to prevent him from going off to his |
| craftsman or expert, his steps must be ... jumpy | | | | doom in the Trojan war. The korella shows that |
| or springy; he must calculate in order to make the | | | | cross-dressing plays an important role in the |
| sound ... have the right beat, and to ... thunder or | | | | Skyrian carnival. Although part of the general |
| boom correctly... Exceptional yeri are famous | | | | pattern observed across northern Greece, this is |
| across the island. One such, yeri were supposed | | | | evidence of an ancient cult of Dionysos as a |
| to be anonymous, the occasion frequently would | | | | goat-god on Skyros, traces of the ritual of which |
| be taken to settle old scores over stolen animals, | | | | have survived until today. |
| or animals thought to have been stolen, pasture | | | | |