St. George (c. 280 - 303)
Who has not been to Greece and not met at least one person called George, or Giorgios (Georgia for a woman)? Who has not seen his famous icons or heard the story of this dragonslayer?
St.
George is one if the best loved saints in Greece and on his name day, 23/5,
all the country is celebrating. On Skiathos, horse races are held by the airport
lake and in the evening, a great party is held by the Church of Holy Trinity,
near the health centre.
The name George means farmer and the first syllable, Ge, literally means earth
and we e encounter it in words like "geology" or "geography". The saint is
honoured amongst Orthodox and Catholics alike and stories are told about him
by both the church and folklore. In the latter he is sometimes likened with
Alexander the Great and a popular motif is painting Alexander like a dragonslayer,
much in the style of St. George.
The
historical St. George was a Roman soldier or who was born towards the end
of the 3rd century in Cappadocia (today's Turkey) to a Cappadocian father
and Palestinian mother. His family was Christian, which posed no problem at
the time but after George had served in the Roman army for some years the
emperor Diocletian decided to have any Christian soldiers arrested and made
to renounce their faith. George underwent terrible torments but stuck to his
faith and was subsequently beheaded.
The legend of George the Dragonslayer developed centuries later and has many similarities to those of the ancient here Perseus. The story goes that a terrible dragon tormented Libya and to keep it from killing everyone, young women were chosen by lot to be sacrificed to the monster. When the local princess had been unfortunate enough to be chosen as the next victim, St. George turned up and managed to capture the dragon and drag it into town. After the citizens had converted to Christianity, George slayed the monster and order was restored. This motif is extremely popular in icons, where the dragon stands as a symbol of evil and paganism.
Like
his fellow saint Dimitrios, St. George
is depicted as a young soldier on a horse. Whereas Dimitrios' horse is usually
brown, George's is white, and whilst Dimitrios is seen killing a gladiator,
George is killing a dragon. The veneration of St. George was brought to England
by the crusaders and in 1190 he became the patron saint of the country, with
his red and white flag still incorporated in the Union Jack.
The Venetians also worshipped him and the fortress on the small island we
today call the Bourtzi was originally named Citadello di San Giorgio, The
Citadel of St. George, as his church was built here along with the fortress
in 1207. Today, visitors can go to the lovely little church
of St. George near the boatyard just outside Skiathos town (close to the
airport).
St. George is
the protector of a wide plethora: soldiers, knights, farmers, prisoners, the
poor and working animals. He is invoked against the plague, leprosy, syphilis,
snake bites and witches. He is also a rescuer of maidens in distress. The
day of St. George is traditionally the first day of spring.
For a described walk to this church, look at our book "Exploring
Skiathos Town - with Three Suggested walks".