Η ΦΟΝΙΣΣΑ / THE MURDERESS
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Autor:
ALEXANDROS PAPADIAMANTIS
Country:
Greece (GR)
Book Theme:
Classic novels and Authors representing your country culture
Publisher:
KARAKOSTOGLOU
Publishing Year:
2014
Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851–1911) was a Greek writer and journalist, often called the “saint of Greek literature.” Born on the island of Skiathos, he studied in Athens but never completed his studies. He made a living as a writer and translator, producing novels, short stories, and journalistic pieces. His works depict rural Greek life, highlighting themes of poverty, faith, and social injustice. His most famous novel, The Murderess (1903), is a psychological and social critique of patriarchy. A deeply religious and reclusive figure, Papadiamantis lived modestly, dedicating his life to literature. His legacy remains vital in modern Greek literature. His literary genius was fully appreciated posthumously.
National Award for Children’s and Young People’s
Abstract
The Murderess (Η Φόνισσα) is a 1903 social novel by Greek writer Alexandros Papadiamantis. Written in the Greek katharevousa, it consists of 17 chapters and was originally published in pieces in the magazine Panathenaea from January to June 1903. The book was first published in 1912 containing five more Papadiamantis’ works. It is a psychological and social novel by Alexandros Papadiamantis. Set on the Greek island of Skiathos, it follows the tragic fate of Hadoula, an old woman burdened by poverty and a rigid patriarchal society. Having witnessed the suffering of women throughout her life, she comes to believe that death is a form of mercy for young girls doomed to oppression. Acting on this belief, she begins to kill infant girls, seeing it as a way to spare them from inevitable hardship.
As Hadoula’s crimes unfold, her conscience is torn between guilt, justification, and the fear of divine retribution. When her actions are discovered, she flees into the island’s wilderness, seeking refuge in nature and ultimately attempting to find solace in a church. However, her pursuit ends in tragedy as she drowns while crossing a body of water, symbolizing both her physical escape and her spiritual reckoning.
Papadiamantis masterfully blends psychological depth with social critique, exposing the harsh realities of gender roles, poverty, and superstition in 19th-century Greece. Through Hadoula’s tragic journey, The Murderess explores themes of fate, morality, and the inescapable grip of societal norms. The novel remains a powerful and haunting meditation on justice, guilt, and the struggles of marginalized individuals.
From the presentation on the back cover of the book:
The “Murderess” (1903) occupies, admittedly, a special place in the work of Papadiamantis (1851-1911). Special in both senses of the word: special and prominent. Were it not for “The Murderess”, this work would remain incomplete, at least as far as the problem of evil is concerned, a problem that dominates the Papadiamantine corpus. Papadiamanian evil is, as a rule, the everyday, current evil, stiflingly miserable often, it is the evil of the everyday normal man. Papadiamante’s evil is not crime, it is not the extreme transgression that endangers the very existence of the community, it is not exceptional it is commonplace. The exception is “The Murderess”, and by no means negligible, since it is a leading text not only of its author but of all modern Greek prose. Without ‘The Slayer’, the Papadiamantic work would be completely different. The evil committed by Graia Hadoula is not the everyday evil, the ordinary, the social evil, but the great evil, the radical, the unforgivable. But who is this Fragogiannou, what kind of person is this woman who commits such an extreme crime? And what is it that drives her to dare to do it?
