Georgia Dagaki

Georgia Dagaki was born near Rethymnon on the northern coast of Crete, but at an early age moved to the metropolis of Athens, where she studied music, focusing on singing, the lyre and the piano. When she began to appear on stage, she repeatedly surprised her audiences with her music. Now sooner does she begin a piece on her lyre, but her inspiration guides her onwards. Her personal style on the lyre, which she plays, unusually, with her right hand, is complemented by her unique-sounding voice. The three-stringed fiddle-lyre, which is supported on the knees and whose strings are not pressed down but touched at the sides with the finger nails, is one of the typical instruments of ancient Greece. According to a widely-known myth, after his birth in a cave near Killini, Lesbos, one night Hermes stole bulls that were being guarded by Apollo. From his cave, Hermes spied a turtle, removed its carapace and attached strings from the entrails of the bulls to it. Thus the lyre was born. Apollo noticed the theft and complained to Zeus, whereupon Hermes offered Apollo the lyre. Apollo was enthralled by its sound.