The Evzones
Who among the visitors to Athens has not sent an illustrated postcard of an Evzone, literally ’the one who wears his belt well’, or has not directly photographed this legendary Hellenic Presidential Guard, traditionally dressed in its short-flared petticoat, fustanelle and its pompom shoes. Emblematic figures of Greek national folklore and at the same time a historical elite body, the Evzones are the appointed epigones of the klephtes, literally the thieves, these bandits – supporters of the Greek War of Independence from 1821 to 1830, liberating the country from the yoke of the Ottoman Empire.
