2 In the text the capitalized term ‘Karaghiozis’ will indicate the name of the principal character, while the term ‘karaghiozis’ will denote the genre of Greek shadow theatre in which Karaghiozis is that character.

3 For the characteristics and tradition of karaghiozis performance, see the following studies in English: Myrsiades, L. S. and Myrsiades, K., The Karagiozis Heroic Performance in Greek Shadow Theater (Hanover NH 1988)Google Scholar; Myrsiades, L. S. and Myrsiades, K., Karagiozis: Culture and Comedy in Greek Puppet Theatre (Lexington KY 1992)Google Scholar; Gudas, R., The Bitter-Sweet Art: Karaghiozis, the Greek Shadow Theater (Athens 1986)Google Scholar.

4 Mystakidou, A., Karagöz: To θέατρο σκιών στην Ελλάδα και στην Τουρκία (Athens 1982)Google Scholar; Stavrakopoulou, A., Ottoman Karagöz and Greek shadow theater: Communicational shifts and variants in a multi-ethnic and ethnic context’, in Brookshaw, D. P. (ed.), Ruse and Wit: The Humorous in Arabic, Persian and Turkish Narrative (Cambridge MA 2012) 146-57Google Scholar.

5 Finnegan, R., Oral Poetry: Its Nature, Significance and Social Context (Bloomington and Indianapolis IN 1992) 16 Google Scholar.

6 This term translates the Greek word ‘συντεχνία’ which is used by Hadzipantazis, T., H εισβολή τον Καραγκιόζη στηνΑθήνα του 1890 (Athens 1984) 51 Google Scholar.

7 Myrsiades, L., ‘Oral traditional form in the Karagiozis performance’, Ελληνικά 36 (1985) 129 Google Scholar, on the basis of Beech-Braithwaite, J., Taped Performances and Interviews with Seven Karagiozis Players, nine tapes, Greece 1971 (deposited in Center for the Study of Oral Literature, Harvard University)Google Scholar.

8 Hatzipantazis, Εισβολή του Καραγκιόζη, 50.

9 Mimaros (who performed during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century), Dinos Theodoropoulos (1890-1975) and Vasilaros were known exceptions of literate shadow-theatre puppeteers in the pre-war era. For Theodoropoulos, see Stavrakopoulou, A., ‘Παράδοση και ανανέωση: о καραγκιοζοπαίχτης Ντίνος Θεοδωρόπουλος στην Πάτρα της δεκαετίας του 1930’, in Vivilakis, I. (ed.), To ελληνικό θέατρο από mv 17° στον 20ό αιώνα (Athens 2002) 264 Google Scholar.

10 According to his daughter Aikaterini Alexandropoulou, Vasilaros actually graduated from the Σχολοφχείον, a three-year school of the pre-war Greek educational system that stood on an intermediary level between the four-year primary school and the three-year high school (see Milionis, A., Σκιές στο φως twv κεριών, ed. Nikolopoulou, M. [Patras 2001] 63 Google Scholar).

11 Milionis, Σκιές cno φως των κεριών, 70.

12 The original French melodrama Les Deux Sergents was first published in 1823. It was initially translated and performed by a Greek theatre company in 1862 (see Hatzipantazis, T., Από του Νείλουμέχρι τουΔουνά- βεως, vol. A1 [Herakleion 2002] 514 Google Scholar). During the 1880s it was adapted for pantomime, and in 1899 for puppet theatre (see Hatzipantazis, T., Από του Νείλου μέχρι του Δουνάβεως, vol. B1 [Herakleion 2012] 190 Google Scholar; Magouliotis, A., Ιστορία του νεοελληνικού κουκλοθέατρου (1870-1938) [Athens 2012] 119-20Google Scholar). Vasilaros’ play has survived in three manuscripts preserved in the Collection of the IMS, although there is a fourth written version of the same play, dated 23 April 1934, in the private collection of shadow-theatre puppeteer Kostas Makris in Patras, which is not available for inspection. The earliest text of the play in IMS was written in 1931 (Οι δύο λοχίαι, Notebook no. 1). It was followed by a long section of the second act of the play, which was added at some time between 4 November 1932 and 1 June 1933, and was a more thorough reworking of the beginning of the original’s third act (the family reunion and separation). The third version of the same play was created in April 1974 (Οι δύο λοχίαι, IMS, Notebook no. 6). The first and third versions are both structured in three acts. The adapted texts have a number of similarities with the dramatic translation of the French original (see the anonymous Greek translation of the drama: Daubigny, B., Οι δύο λοχίαι [Athens 1924]Google Scholar). The play was first performed by Vasilaros at Patras on 29 and 30 May and 3 June 1934 (Νεολόγος Πατρών, 29 and 30 May 1934, and 3 June 1934).

13 Αι δύο ορφαναί was adapted from an anonymous Greek translation of Les deux orphelines (1874) and is preserved in the Performing Arts Documents Collection, ELIA—MIET, Notebook no. 47 (1950). Vasilaros asserted that he initially created it on 18 June 1944 (ibid., unnumbered page before p. 1). He made some significant changes to the original dramatic text. The comparison of the texts was made with the Greek translation: d’Ennery, A., Ai δύο ορφαναί, trans. Lambros, S. (Athens 1903)Google Scholar.

14 At the end of the text, Vasilaros noted that initially he wrote the play in 1955 without mentioning any source apart from Hugo’s novel (see Οι άθλιοι, , IMS, Notebook no. 37 [(1970)] 40 Google Scholar). The specific Greek translation of the French original used by Vasilaros has not yet been identified. However, a dramatic adaptation of the novel (which has not yet been found) was performed by Greek theatre companies after 1878 and during the interwar years (see Hatzipantazis, , Από τουΝείλου , B2,394 Google Scholar; Vasileiou, A., Εκσυγχρονισμός ή παράδοση; To θέατρο πρόζας στην Αθήνα τον Μεσοπολέμου [(Athens 2004)]Google Scholar, supplementary CD, entry: Οι άθλιοι).

15 Vasilaros, , Ηάγνωστος, IMS, Notebook no. 47 (1975)Google Scholar. Vasilaros dated the initial creation of the play to 1937 (ibid., 75). The shadow-theatre puppeteer Giannaros asserted that La Femme X... was adapted for the shadow theatre by public servant Michail Margaritis, who wrote several other plays for Vasilaros. (This information was provided to the author during an interview with Giannaros on 24 June 2012.) For the comparison between Vasilaros’ text and the dramatic play, the French edition of the play was used because the translated drama has not been found (see Bisson, A., La Femme X..., drame en cinq actes dont un prologue [(Paris 1908])Google Scholar.

16 For the structure of comedies in traditional karaghiozis, see Sifakis, G., Ηπαραδοσιακή δραματουργία του Καραγκιόζη (Athens 1984)Google Scholar.

17 See entry ‘melodrama’ in The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (Glasgow 197.1), I, 321-22Google Scholar.

18 Brockett, O., History of the Theatre (Boston 1991) 386 Google Scholar. See also Gerould, D., ‘Russian formalist theories of melodrama’, Journal of American Culture 1 (1987) 152-68CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Smith, J., Μελόδραμα, trans. Ralli, I. and Chatzidimou, K. (Athens 1981) 29 Google Scholar; Steele, W. P., The Character of Melodrama: An Examination through Dion Boucicault’s ‘The Poor of New York’ (Orono ME 1968) 4–9 Google Scholar. Brockett’s description of melodrama, although contained in a general history of theatre, is accurate and comprehensive.

19 Hyslop, G., ‘Pixérécourt and the French melodrama debate: Instructing boulevard theatre audiences’, in Redmond, J. (ed.), Themes in Drama, 14: Melodrama (Cambridge 1992) 61–85 Google Scholar; Williamson, G., ‘What killed August von Kotzebue? The temptations of virtue and the political theology of German nationalism, 1789-1819’, The Journal of Modern History 72 (2000) 890–943 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

20 Denis, A., ‘L’influence dramatique allemande: 1798-1820’, Europe 703/704: Le Mélodrame (1987) 33-8Google Scholar; Hays, M., ‘Άναπαραστάσεις της αυτοκρατορίας: Τάξεις, κουλτούρα και το λαϊκό θέατρο του 19ου αιώνα’, in Nikolopoulou, A. and Patsalidis, S. (eds.), Μελόδραμα: Ειδολογικοί και ιδεολογικοί μετασχηματισμοί (Thessaloniki 2001) 63–92 Google Scholar; A. Nikolopoulou, “Ή τελευταία εξέγερση των εργατών”: Αγροτικά και λουδιτικά μελο-δράματα στην Αγγλία’, ibid., 93-122.

21 Hatzipantazis, Από του Νείλον, A1, 248-54.

22 Papageorgiou, I., ‘Οι αποκλίνουσες ηρωίδες του μυθιστορηματικού δράματος ως αφετηρία διαλόγου για τονρόλο της γυναίκας (1871-1879)’, in Papandreou, N. and Vafeiadi, E. (eds.), Ζητήματα ιστορίας του νεοελ-ληνικον θεάτρου (Herakleion 2007) 135-51Google Scholar, and L. Métayer, ‘La leçon de l’héroïne (1830-1870)’, Europe, ibid., 39-40.

23 Brooks, P., The Melodramatic Imagination: Balzac, Henry James, Melodrama, and the Mode of Excess (New Haven and London 1995) viii–xii Google Scholar.

24 Kiourtsakis, G., Καρναβάλι και Καραγκιόζης. Οι ρίζες και οι μεταμορφώσεις του λαϊκού γέλιου (Athens 1985)Google Scholar.

25 Puchner, W., Λαϊκό θέατρο στηνΕλλάδα και σταΒαλκάνια (Athens 1988) 167-9Google Scholar; Hatzipantazis, Από του Νείλον, B1, 220; Myrsiades, Heroic Performance, 14-15.

26 Hatzipantazis, Εισβολή του Καραγκιόζη, 34-6.

27 Christopoulos, V., Ορέστης: О Πατρινός καραγκιοζοπαίχτης Ανέστης Βακάλογλου (Patras 1999) 14 Google Scholar, 82.

28 Tsipiras, K., Έλληνες καραγκιοζοπαίχτες πίσω από τα φώτα του μπερντέ (Athens 2002)Google Scholar supplementary CD, recording no. 4.

29 Korasidou, M., Οι άθλιοι των Αθηνών και οι θεραπευτές τους: Φτώχεια και φιλανθρωπία στην ελληνική πρωτεύουσα τον 19ο αιώνα (Athens 2000)Google Scholar; Varika, E., H εξέγερση των κυριών: H γένεση μιας φεμινισηκής συνείδησης στην Ελλάδα 1833-1907 (Athens 2004) 49–56 Google Scholar.

30 Myrsiades, L., ‘The female role in the Karaghiozis performance’, Southern Folklore Quarterly 44 (1980) 48–154 Google Scholar.

31 Bakhtin, M., Rabelais and His World, trans. Iswolsky, H. (Bloomington 1965) 62-4Google Scholar; Kiourtsakis, Καρναβάλι και Καραγκιόζης.

32 Myrsiades, L., ‘Theater and society: Social content and effect in the Karaghiozis performance’, Folia Neohellenica 4 (1982) 150-2Google Scholar.

33 Christopoulos, Ορέστης, 157-8.

34 For a discussion of the terms ‘oral tradition’ and ‘written tradition’, see Goody, J., The Interface Between the Written and the Oral (Cambridge 1987) 80-1Google Scholar.

35 Myrsiades and Myrsiades, Culture and Comedy, 15-17.

36 Schmid, C., Γενοβέφα, ή Ηαρετή θριαμβεύουσα: Ιστορία αρχαία, trans, and adapted from the German by Apostolos, I. (Hermoupolis 1846)Google Scholar.

37 Hatzipantazis, , Από mv Νείλου, B1, 190 Google Scholar.

38 Hatzipantazis, T., ‘Προσαρμογή λογύον κειμένων στο δραματολόγιο του Καραγκιόζη’, in ‘Οψεις τηςλαϊκής και της λόγιας νεοελληνικής λογοτεχνίας: 5η επιστημονική Συνάντηση αφιερωμένη στον Γιάννη Αποστολάκη, θεσσοΛονίκη, 14-16 Μαΐου 1992 (Thessaloniki 1984) 50 Google Scholar.

39 Two texts of Γενοβεφα for karaghiozis performances have been found. The first is a summary written by the puppeteer Sotiris Spatharis. The second was written by Vasilaros. A third version, written by Vasilaros and dated 1937, is preserved in the private archive of Kostas Makris and is not accessible to the public. The play remained in the post-war repertoire of Nionios Patras and Manthos Athinaios (see S. and Spatharis, E., OKap-αγκιόζης των Σπαθάρηδων, ed. Soldatos, G. [Athens 1979] 149-50Google Scholar; Vasilaros, , Γενοβέφα , IMS, Notebook no. 27 [1975]Google Scholar; Tsipiras, K., О ήχος του Καραγκιόζη [Athens 2001] 200, 303 Google Scholar).

40 Pefanis, G., To βασίλειο της Ευγένας. Λογοτεχνικά διακείμενα και ανθρωπολογικά περιεχόμενα στην Ευγένα του θεόδωρου Μοντσελέζε (Athens 2005) 114-26Google Scholar.

41 For the popular narratives regarding Belisarius and its adaptations to karaghiozis theatre, see Andreadis, G., Ta παιδιά της Αντιγόνης: Μνήμη και ιδεολογία στην νεώτερη Ελλάδα (Athens 1989) 301-9Google Scholar; Hatzipantazis, ‘Προσαρμογή λογίων κειμένων’, 123; Chotzakoglou, A., ‘Βυζαντινές πηγές της λαογραφίας: To παράδειγμα της “μετάγγισης” του μύθου της τύφλωσης του στρατηγού Βελισάριου στο θέατρο σκιών’, in Πρακτικά Διεθνούς Επιστημονικού Συνεδρίον («Λα’ίκός πολιτισμός και έντεχνος λόγος, Αθήνα 08-12/12/ 2010»), Κέντρον Ερεύνης της Ελληνικής Λαογραφίας, II (Athens 2013) 585–608 Google Scholar, 708.

42 There are seven recorded versions of Βελισσάριος for karaghiozis, four of them written by Vasilaros. See О Βελισσάριος και о Αυτοκράτωρ Ιουστινιανός, ELIA-MIET, Notebook no. 105 [part of the play] (1940); О Βελισσάριος και о Αντοκράτωρ Ιουστινιανός, ELIA-MIET, Notebook no. 164 (1955); О στρατάρχης Βελισσάριος mv Βυζανήου και о αυτοκράτωρ Ιουστινιανός, 554 μ. Χριστόν, IMS, Notebook no. 8 (1971); О σφατάρχης Βελισσάριος mv Βνζαντίον και о αυτοκράνορ Ιοιχτανιανός, 554 μ. Χριστόν, IMS, no. 9 (1973). A summary of the play was made by Tsipiras (Ήχος του Καραγκιόζη, 139–40) from a tape recording of the dictation of the play by Vasilaros in the period 1974 to 1977. The version of the play that Vasilaros performed after 1939, according to his own testimony, was composed by the learned shadow-theatre puppeteer and high-school teacher Ioannis Bobotinos (Ioannis Georgiopoulos). Later, Vasilaros included some additions made by Michail Margaritis. The version he used from 1932 until 1939 was composed by the actor Petros Vlachos (see Vasilaros, , Βελισσάριος, IMS, Notebook no. 8, 71-2Google Scholar). Tsipiras has also recorded and transcribed, in the form of short summaries, the performances of Kouzaros, Manthos Athinaios and Orestis (see Tsipiras, Ήχος του Καραγκιόζη, 138-40).

43 Métayer, ‘La leçon de l’héroïne’, 42.

44 In the newspapers of the period only one reference has been found to a karaghiozis performance of Πίστις, ελπίς και έλεος in 1892. The play was probably borrowed from the glove-puppet theatre. For the theatrical melodrama see D. Spathis, ‘H εμφάνιση και καθιέρωση του μελοδράματος στην ελληνική σκηνή’, in Nikolopoulou and Patsalidis, Μελόδραμα, 199-200.

45 H κακούργος μητέρα was performed by Vasilaros and Dimitris Manolopoulos (see Νεολόγος Πατρών, 3 May 1930 and 4 June 1930). Vasilaros’ version of the play was originally composed in 1934 with the collaboration of the lawyer Ioannis Bezerianos ( Vasilaros, , To Δικαστήριον των ενόρκων εις το δικαστήριον του Ερρίκου - και H κακούργος μητέρα απάτη φιλίας, IMS, Notebook no. 1 [1934] 24 Google Scholar).

46 Magouliotis, Ιστορία του νεοελληνικού κουκλοθέατρου, 118,119, 132.

47 To ναυάγιον της πτωχής Μαρίας was performed with various titles on the karaghiozis berdés. A play entided H ανεύρεσις του Υιού εν μέσω τω ωκεανώ was performed in 1930 in Patras, and О Καραγκιόζης ναναγός και το ταξίδι του στηνΑγγλία was performed in the same city in 1937 and 1939 by Dinos Theodoropoulos (ΝεολόγοςΠατρών, 5 August 1930 and 29 and 30 May 1937, Τηλέγραφος, Patras, 3 December 1939).

48 According to Hatziavatis, Maria is ‘πολύ καλή, ευγενικιά, γλυκομίλητη, φιλόξενη, και αξιοπρεπεστάτη [γυναίκα]’ ( Vasilaros, , To νανάγιον της πτωχής Μοφίας, IMS, Notebook no. 35 [1972] 4)Google Scholar.

49 Spatharis, Καραγκιόζης των Σπαθάρηδων, 155-6.

50 Vasilaros, Ναυάγιον, 9.

51 Papageorgiou, I., Ή γυναικεία ταυτότητα στο ελληνικό θέατρο σκιών κατά την περίοδο του Μεσοπολέμου (1918-1940): H διεκδίκησητηςερωηκήςα\)τοδιάθεσης’, in Dimadis, K. A. (ed.), Identities in the Greek World (from 1204 to the Present Day): Papers Read in the fourth Congress of the European Society of Modern Greek Studies (Granada 9-12 September 2010), IV (Athens 2011) 208-9Google Scholar. Retrieved 22 January 2013 from http://www.eens.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Identities-in-the-Greek-world-Granada-2010-Congress-Vol_4-2011-isbn_978-960-99699-6-31 .pdf.

52 Papageorgiou, Όι αποκλίνουσεςηρωίδες’.

53 Vasilaros, Ηάγνωστος, 47 and Bisson, La Femme X..., 65.

54 Avdela, E., Am λόγους τιμής: Βία, συναισθήματα και αξίες σε μια μετεμφυλιακή Ελλάδα (Athens 2002)Google Scholar.

55 Mavrogeni, M., Άμαρτωλές κοα παραστρατημενες γυναίκες στη νεοελληνική δραματουργία του Μεσοπο-λέμου’, in Fotopoulos, A. (ed.), Hνεοελληνική λογοτεχνία στονΜεσοπόλεμο. Ιστορικη και φιλολογική προσέγ-γιση, Πρακτικά Συνεδρίου (Πύργος Ηλείας 14-16 Μαΐου 2010) (Pyrgos 2012) 497–510 Google Scholar.

56 A play ‘αποκλειστικώς για οικογένειες’, see Vasilaros’ note in Hάγνωστος, 74.

57 H άγνωστος, 2.

58 Ηάγνωστος, 17, 30-4; Bisson, La Femme X..., 48, 99.

59 Vasileiou, Εκσυγχρονισμός ή παράδοση; 81-2, 98-9, 223-6; Mavrogeni, Άμαρτωλές και παραστρατη-μενες’, 508-10.

60 Moustakas, I., To διαζύγιον του Καραγκιόζη (Athens 1939-40)Google Scholar.

61 D’Ennery, Δύο ορφαναί, 17-18, 27-8, 33-5, 73-5.

62 Vasilaros, Οι δύο λοχίαι, Notebook 1; Daubigny, Δύο λοχίαι, 42.

63 Vasilaros, Άθλιοι, 1.

64 Vasilaros, Άθλιοι, 6-8.

65 Vasilaros, Άθλιοι, 1-6, 18-19, 35-7.

66 Ηάγνωστος was adapted for the cinema and directed by Orestis Laskos in 1956. Vasilaros’ melodramas were mostly performed by his own pupils, such as Giannaros and Orestis. Giannaros, according to his own oral testimony, used to perform Οι δύο λοχίαι, Ηάγνωστος, and Ai δύο ορφαναί. He recalled that, except for H άγνωστος, these plays were performed by his colleagues (Giannaros, interview). Ac δύο ορφαναί was also played by Thanasis Spyropoulos (see his notes in Vasilaros’ notebook). Οι άθλιοι belonged to the repertoire of Kouzaros (see private archive of his son Anastasios Kouzis, Athens), and, according to Giannaros, of Panagiotaras. Ηάγνωστος was performed by Kostaros (Kostas Palaiothodoros).

67 Giannaros, interview.

68 Chotzakoglou, A., “‘Φτώχεια και ορφάνια”: άγνωστο χειρόγραφο έργου (1946) του καραγκιοζοπαίχτη Α. Π. Κοκωνά’, Κυπριακαί Σπουδαί 74 (2012) 263 Google Scholar.

69 See the relevant passage from an interview with Athenian karaghiozopaichtis Vangos (1922-2008) by researcher Anthi Chotzakoglou in 2007. Vangos does not specify the period during which he decided to increase the number of melodramas in his repertoire (see Chotzakoglou, ‘Φτώχεια και ορφάνια’, 264).

70 Kiourtsakis, G., Προφορική καράδοση και ομαδική δημιουργία: To παράδειγμα του Καραγκιόζη (Athens 1983) 144–217 Google Scholar; Myrsiades and Myrsiades, Culture and Comedy, 79-91.

71 Myrsiades and Myrsiades, Culture and Comedy, 17-18.

72 Kiourtsakis, Προφορική παράδοση, 122-4; Myrsiades and Myrsiades, Culture and Comedy, 17-30; Damianakos, St., Κοινωνιολογία του ρεμπέτικου (Athens 2001) 83–118 Google Scholar, 241-4, 260-4.

73 Robert, chef de brigands (1793) was a melodramatic adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s The Brigands (1781).

74 More than 40 bandit plays have been composed for the karaghiozis berdés. Some popular titles were: Βάγγος о αρχιληστής, Φώτης Γιαγκούλας, О λήσταρχος ΚοΛπούζος, О λήσταρχος Αγγελόγιαννος, О λήσταρχος ■ Ντελής και η Αγγέλω του Пала, О λήσταρχος Τρομάρας, О λήσταρχος Νταβέλης, Μαρία Πενταγιώτισσα, Γιάννος και Παγώνα, О λήσταρχος Τσακιτζής and О λήσταρχος Πανόπουλος.

75 Myrsiades and Myrsiades, Culture and Comedy, 72-5; Papageorgiou, I., ‘The mountain-bandits of the Hellenic shadow theatre of Karaghiozis: Criminals or heroes?’, Popular Entertainment Studies, 5.2 (Sept. 2014) 79–102 Google Scholar, available at https://novaojs.newcastle.edu.au/ojs/index.php/pes/article/view/125.

76 Tolias (Apostólos Karastergiopoulos), Μαρία Πενταγιώτισσα, ELIA-MIET, unclassified notebook (1939); various performers, Γιάννος και Παγώνα, Tsipiras, Ήχος του Καραγκιόζη, 11-14; Vasilaros, , O λήσταρχος Ντελής και η Αγγελω του Пенса, ELIA-MIET, Notebook no. 12 (1967)Google Scholar.

77 Hatzipantazis, Εισβολή του Καραγκιόζη, 75-7; Hatzipantazis, ‘Προσαρμογή λογίων κειμένων’, 124-5.

78 Vasilaros, Οι άθλιοι, separate sheet glued to p. 40.

79 Gerould, ‘Russian formalist theories’, 158-61.

80 Sifakis, Παραδοσιακή δραματουργία του Καραγκιόζη, 45-6.

81 Kiourtsakis, Προψορική παράδοση, 244.