The "Hymn to Liberty", or "Hymn to Freedom", is a poem written by Dionysios Solomos in 1823 that consists of 158 stanzas and some of its stanzas are used as the national anthem of Greece and Cyprus.
Hymn to Liberty
Dionysios Solomos, author of the lyrics
Execution of Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople by Nikiforos Lytras
Siege of Tripolitsa by Peter von Hess
Dionysios Solomos was a Greek poet from Zakynthos, who is considered to be Greece's national poet. He is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty, which was set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros and became the Greek and Cypriot national anthem in 1865 and 1966 respectively. He was the central figure of the Heptanese School of poetry. He is considered the national poet of Greece, not only because he wrote the national anthem, but also because he contributed to the preservation of earlier poetic tradition and highlighted its usefulness to modern literature. Other notable poems include Ὁ Κρητικός, Ἐλεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι. A characteristic of his work is that no poem except the Hymn to Liberty was completed, and almost nothing was published during his lifetime.
Dionysios Solomos
Dionysios Solomos statue in Zakynthos (city)
Solomos when young
Cover of the "Hymn to Liberty" (Ύμνος εις την ελευθερίαν), published on 1825 (second Greek edition)