Zeus | First Time on Ancient Lyre | Psarantonis

All things are full of gods. — Thales (c. 624–546 BCE) “The First Lyra Player of Greece,” as Manos Hadjidakis once called him, Psarantonis has often been introduced at major music festivals as “the cry of the gods.” A legendary musician and master of the Cretan lyra, he draws from the ancient mythology of Crete, where myth and folk memory remain vividly alive. In this song, Psarantonis brings Zeus down from the distant heights of myth into the mountains of Crete. No longer a remote god, Zeus becomes a shepherd of Anogeia, walking the land where, according to ancient tradition, he was born and raised in secret. His story begins in a cave in Crete, where Rhea hid him from Cronus, while the Kouretes clashed their shields to hide the cries of the infant god beneath their thunder. In other tellings, he was nourished by the goat Amalthea or raised by shepherds of the mountains. These stories, carried through centuries, never left the island. Though the ancient lyre vanished for millennia, her name and spirit endured, reappearing in instruments that carry the same primal force. The Cretan lyra is one of them. In this video, Thanasis Kleopas performs on a custom LUTHIEROS lyre, handcrafted in Greece by the LUTHIEROS family. He is joined by Giorgos Livanos on handpan and Loukiani Papadaki on dance. This is Psarantonis’ “Zeus,” interpreted on the ancient lyre for the first time, exploring the living bond between myth, land, and sound. 🏺 Discover the ancient lyre at https://luthieros.com/ 🌿 Learn the lyre at https://lyreacademy.com/ 🏛 Explore the SEIKILO Museum of Ancient Music (Thessaloniki): https://seikilo.com/ 🔔 Subscribe to our channel for more journeys into ancient world music: https://www.youtube.com/seikilo?sub_c... 🎼 A collaborative work by A music film by Nikolaos Koumartzis, D.Phil. Filming & color grading: Yiannis Karakatsianis Music production by Evagoras Bekiaris 🇬🇧 🎶 English Translation On the peak of Psiloritis, the snow never ends. Before the old can melt away, the new crushes down upon it. Zeus was once a shepherd, in the mountains of Anogeia. And there he made his home, within Perachori. 🇬🇷 🎶 Original Lyrics in Greek Στου Ψηλορείτη τη κορφή το χιόνι δεν τελειώνει ώστε να λιώσει το παλιό καινούριο το πλακώνει Ο Δίας ήντονε βοσκός στ’ Ανωγειανό αόρι ήντονε και το σπίτι του μέσα στο Περαχώρι 👍 Follow us on Facebook:   / seikilo   ❤️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luthieros/?... 🔴 For more videos like this, subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/seikilo?sub_c... 🟢 SEIKILO is on Spotify too! Follow us at https://open.spotify.com/artist/6BeEN...