The Children of Niobe


The children of Niobe is a novel written by Tasos Athanasiadis. In this novel Athanasiadis describes the way Greeks lived in Anatolia by the example of the small community of Salihli. Probably the title is inspired by the myth of Niobe. In 2003 the novel was serialized on Greek television.

Plot summary

So we are in Salihli and watching life before the advent of the Greek Army. Central role played by the family of Michael Anastasiadis or Sarris, a notable and a banker of Salihli with a beautiful wife and four children, madly in love with the Tarsi, a beautiful teenage gazelle who refuses to marry the son of wealthy Turkish businessman, for whom she worked, and enchants everybody with her provocative teen flesh. In the meantime, we are watching the raids of the Turkish gendarmerie and terror they caused to the Greeks, the close relationship of Turks and Greeks, hidden hopes for better days.
Then the novel described the pleasant life during the Greek occupation to get up to the Destruction of Smyrna. In the presence of the Greek army, dreams of the Greeks for freedom seem to come true. But follows the error handling, leading to the collapse of the front and the devastating consequences for Asia Minor. We will follow Asia Minor refugees and their efforts initially to save and then to find their feet in the new homeland.
In the twelve chapters of the first book, the life just before the Greek occupation in Anatolia is being described.
In the twelve chapters of the second book, the life up to the destruction of İzmir is described.
In the eight chapters of the third book and in the seven chapters of the fourth book of the novel, the displacement in Greece is being described.