M.A. / Our main objective in this M.A. dissertation was to explore the position of women in Greek folk songs and examine if these folk songs are representative of the social environment which created them or they oppose to it. For this purpose, we carefully studied a wide variety of folk songs and selected a number of songs concerning women in different phases of their lives. These songs belong to the kleftic songs and the songs of the cycle of life. They are widespread all over Greece with slight differences. To support our arguments we also used a wide range of studies concerning our subject. Thus, following the planned scheme of the work and applying the methodology and approaches we defined in the introduction, this study has taken the following form. We divided this study in three parts. The first one consists of two chapters. In the first chapter we defined the socio-historical framework of the Tourkokratia, the era of which the songs we used. In the second chapter we gave general information about the folk songs concerning their origin, characteristics, language and their place in literature, tradition and laography. The second part consists of four chapters. Here we examine the woman as a daughter, wife, mother, mother-in-law, widow. The first chapter includes the love songs and the wedding songs. We saw the woman as a maiden and a would-be wife. We explored the social framework of marriage, the match-making and the issue of dowry. In the second chapter, which includes lullabies, we saw the woman as an affectionate mother, projecting her love but also all her unfulfilled dreams or ideals regarding her child. In the third chapter, where we analysed five paraloges, we witnessed the transformation of this loving mother into a possessive mother and an evil mother-in-law. We saw the way she builds up her world and establishes her position within the family. In the fourth chapter, studying laments, we saw how her world can collapse with the death of one of the members of the family, especially her husband’s. But we also saw the alternative mechanisms she invents and uses to relieve the pain and continue her social existence. The third and last part consists of two chapters. In the first chapter we examine the unfaithful wife and why adultery is such a capital crime in the traditional Greek society. We also examined the social and psychological dimensions of the issue. In the last chapter we examined the heroine and going back in time we began with an akritic song. Finally we placed the heroine in the general spirit of the kleftic songs. In the epilogue, the conclusions of this study are presented. The conclusions prove that these songs, which we studied and compared with the existing social institutions of those times, can sometimes depict reality and sometimes not. A great number of songs give voice to women but at the same time another great number of songs deprive her of her voice. Some praise her, some condemn her. But through the fantasy, the myth, the metaphors, the allusions they ease off the tensions and conflicts inherent in the traditional Greek society always maintaining a balance.

Les chansons populaires grecques sont imprégnées d’une profonde religiosité qui apparaît à la fois comme cadre et comme vecteur d’action. Le poète populaire entretient une relation multidimensionnelle avec le Dieu de la Bible et de l’Ancien Testament et fait des saints et des anges des personnages actifs et récurrents dans les textes ; ils évoluent parallèlement avec les héros et leurs destinées s’entrecroisent. Charos est une figure mythique qui joue un rôle fondamental dans l’ensemble des chansons. Personnage mythologiquement et symboliquement sophistiqué, Charos constitue le pilier des mirologues. Ses relations ambiguës avec la divinité déterminent celles qu’il entretient avec l’homme et fait de lui un être à part. A la fois incarnation du mal et agent de la mort, son riche parcours historique dévoile ses nombreuses facettes, ainsi que ses liens avec certaines figures héroïques ambigües telles que Digenis ou Tsamados. La nature et les animaux détiennent un rôle significatif, caractérisé d’une sacralité profonde, et ils accompagnent l’homme des chansons dans tous les aspects de sa vie personnelle et sociale. Leur capacité de métamorphose et leur rôle d’annonciateurs dans les ballades, placent les animaux sur le devant de la scène et leur accordent un rôle de première importance dans le déroulement de l’action. Le poète accorde une importance particulière à l’aspect social du sacré en explorant la notion de la trahison divine mais également celle de l’obéissance de l’homme à son dieu. La vie monacale et le clergé comme l’altérité religieuse, deviennent l’objet d’une critique d’ordre social et une source d’humour. Les chansons populaires véhiculent en les adaptant un nombre important de mythes qui ont une logue présence sur le territoire hellénique : le mythe de Tantale, de Calypso et d’Adonis en font partie. L’héritage antique de l’expression publique du deuil, du rachat du mort et du tombeau du héros vient former les bases de la philosophie populaire et fait de la mort un véritable croisement de cultures. / Greek folk songs are infused with a profound religiosity that appears both as a framework and as a means of action. The folk poet has a multidimensional relationship with the God of the Bible and of the Old Testament and makes saints and angels active and recurrent personalities in his texts; they evolve in parallel with the heroes, and their destinies intertwine. Charos is a mythical figure that plays a fundamental role throughout the songs. A mythologically and symbolically sophisticated personality, Charos is the pillar of the lament songs. His ambiguous relationship with the divine determines his relationship with man, and makes him a separate being. Both incarnation of evil and agent of death, his rich historical journey reveals his many faces, as well as his links with some heroic and ambiguous figures such as Digenis or Tsamados. Nature and the animals hold a significant role, characterised by a profound sacredness, and they accompany man in all aspects of his personal and social life. Their ability to transform and their role as announcers in the ballads, place the animals on the front of the stage and grant them a major role in the unfolding of the action. The poet attaches particular importance to the social aspect of the sacred by exploring the notion of divine betrayal but also that of obedience of man to his god. Monastic life and the clergy, as well as religious diversity, become objects of social criticism, and a source of humour. Folk songs preserve an important number of myths by adapting them, that have a literary presence in the Hellenic territory: the myths of Tantalus, Calypso and Adonis belong to them. The ancient heritage of the public expression of grief, of the redemption of the dead and of the hero's tomb, forms the basis of folk philosophy and makes death a true crossroads of cultures.