A revolution of one’s own: Elizabeth Edmonds translates the Greek War of Independence

Abstract

In the wake of a ‘crushing sorrow’ at the age of 50, Elizabeth Edmonds (c.1821–1907) turned to Modern Greece for a solution. After four months’ stay in Athens in 1880, she returned to London a confirmed Philhellene. Her connections in Athens saw her engaging with the emergent Athenian generation of the 1880s; Palamas, Karkavitsas, Drosinis, Xenopoulos and Vizyinos were published in English translation long before they became figures of the Greek establishment. Edmonds’s links to Oscar Wilde and the diplomat Ioannis Gennadios put her in a fine position from which to promote the Greek cause in Britain. It is widely known that the Cretan Insurrection generated a ripple effect that prompted writers to return to events of 1821. My argument is that Edmonds did so with more subtlety than most. By translating Greek poetry and writing detailed articles, as well as publishing her own fiction inspired by the earlier revolution, Edmonds began to drip-feed a Philhellenism more in keeping with her own times to a British audience. The lives of Rhigas Feraios, Theodoros Kolokotronis and Bouboulina all emerged in Edmonds’s writing, along with the warrior figure of the andreiomeni lygeri. This article traces the development of Greek independence in Edmonds’s writing, from early fiction to later translation work. Through a consideration of this material, and Edmonds’s own correspondence, the article explores how the War of Independence served belatedly to give Edmonds a sense of voice and vocation.