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Odysseas Androutsos
Portrait by Dionysios Tsokos
Native name	Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος
Birth name	Odysseas Verousis (Οδυσσέας Βερούσης)
Nickname(s)	Lysseos (Λυσσέος)
Born	c. 1788 Ithaca or Preveza, Republic of Venice (now Greece)
Died	5 June 1825 (aged 37) Frankish Tower, Athens, First Hellenic Republic
Buried	Base of the north side of the Acropolis (1825–1865) First Cemetery of Athens (1865–1967) Central square of Preveza (1967–present)
Allegiance	First Hellenic Republic
Service / branch	Filiki Etaireia Greek Revolutionary Army
Commands	Commander-in-Chief of Central Greece
Battles / wars	Greek War of Independence  Battle of Gravia Inn
Spouse(s)	Eleni Kareli
Children	Leonidas Androutsos
Relations	Andreas Verousis (father) Akrivi Tsarlampa (mother) Lambros Katsonis (godfather)

Odysseas Androutsos (Template:Lang-el; 1788 – 1825; born Odysseas Verousis Template:Lang-el) was a Greek military and political commander in eastern mainland Greece and a prominent figure of the Greek War of Independence.

He grew up in the court of Ali Pasha of Tepelena and was one of his commanders. In 1818 he joined the Greek revolutionary organization Filiki Eteria. After Ali Pasha's defeat, he joined the Greek War of Independence and was distinguished as a commander in the Battle of Gravia Inn in 1821. As a result of the battle, he was appointed military commander of eastern mainland Greece by the Greek revolutionary government. In 1825, after falling out with the rebels, he asked for amnesty from the Imperial court and joined the Ottomans. In a battle near Livadeia, he was captured by the units of the revolutionary army and executed a few days later. In spite of this, in Greece he is today considered one of the most prominent heroes of the Greek War of Independence. Some scholars have described him as a traitor to the Greek cause in the Greek War of Independence.

Early life

He was born in Ithaca in 1788, his family was from the village of Livanates in Phthiotis prefecture. Androutsos was an Arvanite. His father was Andreas Verousis, a klepht from Livanates, while his mother, Akrivi Tsarlampa was from Preveza.

Ali Pasha era

After losing his father, Androutsos was taken by Ali Pasha in Ioannina and later became an officer. In Ali's court Androutsos became one of his distinguished Greek military commanders. He also managed to learn Arvanitika and Italian fluently. Androutsos was soon found in antagonism with Ali's men, as such Ali had ordered his execution but was saved after intervention by Alexis Noutsos. Ali Pasha positioned him as armatolos of Livadeia in eastern central Greece in 1816. In 1818 he became a member of the Filiki Eteria with Athanasios Diakos, an organisation that aimed at the independence of Greece. In 1820, in a local factional dispute he lost his position to Athanasios Diakos. In late 1820, the Ottomans sent an army to remove Ali Pasha from power in Yannina. Androutsos who was involved with the upcoming Greek War of Independence met on September 1, 1820 with Albanian commanders from Ali Pasha's court who had defected to the Ottomans - including Omer Vrioni, Ali Pasha's steward. He condemned their betrayal of Ali Pasha and after negotiations they all signed an agreement, which stipulated that in the upcoming revolt in Greece they would not send their troops against the rebels, but revolt in favor of Ali Pasha.

Greek Revolution

In May 1821, Omer Vrioni, now the commander of the Ottoman army, advanced with 8,000 men, after crushing the resistance of the Greeks at the river of Alamana and putting Athanasios Diakos to death, headed south into the Peloponnese to crush the Greek uprising.

Odysseas Androutsos with a band of 100 or so men took up a defensive position at an inn near Gravia, supported by Panourgias and Diovouniotis and their men. Vrioni (Vryonis) attacked the inn but was repulsed with heavy casualties (over 300 dead). Finally, he was forced to ask for reinforcements and artillery, but the Greeks managed to slip out before the reinforcements arrived. Androutsos lost six men in the battle and earned the title of Commander in Chief of the Greek forces in Central Greece.

Androutsos seeked to establish his power base in Attica and Euboea and sent his bands in the region in 1822. The regional government sent a Christos Palaskas and an Alexios Noutsos to replace him. Palaskas was to relieve him of the military command and Noutsos was to take over the taxation apparatus. Androutsos had both men killed. The regional assembly fearing for their lives fled to other areas and the army of Dramali passed through his area of command virtually uninterrupted. In the consequent clash with his political opponent Ioannis Kolettis and the Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece he was accused for collaboration with the Ottomans and the government dismissed him from commander. However, soon, he was restored and kept command in Eastern Central Greece. In September 1822, Androutsos, on the instances of the Athenian municipal authorities, with Gouras and Makrigiannis took control of the Acropolis in Athens which had capitulated in June. To ensure the occupation he had a bastion built to protect the ancient Klepsydra spring, which had just being rediscovered by chance on the north-western slope of the rock. Androutsos made himself general-in-chief of Attica and sent his men to plunder the wealthy villages of Attica. In late 1822 he contacted the Ottomans and offered them to sign a secret agreement under which he would recognize their authority if they gave him as a hereditary title an armatolik. Androutsos (referred to as Disava in Ottoman sources of his era) explained his position in a letter to the Ottoman government in November 1822 when he presented the Greek revolt not as a "national revolution" but as the result of social grievances which could be resolved if he was to be appointed in the right position. Androutsos seems to have gained in the aftermath the compliance of both Ottomans and Greeks for the continuation of his hold in the region, but was mistrusted by both governments.

Downfall

In early 1825, as the Greek Government still wanted to take the command of him and replace him, Androutsos, in anger, began a correspondence with Omer Pasha of Karystos, offering to hand over the Acropolis if aided by Ottoman troops and placed in control of the districts of Livadia, Thebes, and Atalanti. Though the terms of their agreement are not preserved in Ottoman archives, Androutsos was sent a firman granting him amnesty on March 31. In the next days, the locals from Livadeia, Thebes and Atalanti asked for amnesty from the court. He joined forces with the Ottoman army to defend the villages around Livadia. After promised reinforcements failed to arrive, he wanted to retreat towards Megara but was captured by Greek insurgents.

The provisional government accused Odysseas Androutsos of collaboration with the Ottomans and imprisoned him in the Frankish Tower of the Acropolis of Athens. He was not given a trial due to the belief that his democratic character could turn the people against the government.

Once he was imprisoned, he was tortured, and ultimately executed. His body was thrown from the Acropolis and was buried at its base on the north side.

His execution came at the order of Ioannis Gouras, who was once Androutsos' second in command. His execution took place on 5 June 1825 and was carried out by Ioannis Mamouris and two others. This treatment by Gouras is often viewed negatively.

Androutsos' sister Tersitsa married Edward John Trelawny, who had commanded Androutsos' forces in his absence.

Legacy

Androutsos is listed among the main Greek military figures and heroes of the Greek war of Independence. Some scholars have described him as a traitor to the Greek cause in the Greek War of Independence. Among those who lived in the same period, Edward Trelawny who was married to his half-sister presents him as a noble figure, while Thomas Gordon calls him a "physically imposing man" who was "bloodthirsty, vindictive and as treacherous as an Arnaut" and "guilty of barbarious acts". Roessel contends that through his connection with Trelawny, the traitor Androutsos became in England a hero of the Greek War of Independence. G. Finlay adds that "his ambition was to ape the tyranny of Ali in a small sphere" and describes him also as "Odysseus, a partisan of Ali's". Finlay called Androutsos' agreement with the Ottomans "the most celebrated instance of trachery among the Greeks during their Revolution". Klephts, such as Androutsos, fought only when it suited them. As a matter of policy, they also made temporary agreements with the enemy. It was not treason to the infant Greek nation, because the notion of the nationhood was not known for them. Androutsos has been held up as symbol of innate Greek values and freedom, in particular by the Greek left wing.

In 1865, his body was recovered from the base of the Acropolis and given a proper funeral at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. He was buried in the First Cemetery of Athens, where he remained for just over a century. On 15 July 1967, his bones were moved to an ossuary beneath a statue of himself in the central square of Preveza.

See also

• Battle of Gravia Inn

References

1. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): 12.
2. John S. Koliopoulos; Thanos M. Veremis (27 October 2009). Modern Greece: A History since 1821. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-1-4443-1483-0. OCLC 1037469979.
3. Nigel Patten (8 June 2021). Byron: A Play in Three Acts. Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency. ISBN 978-1-68235-455-1. OCLC 1258219244.
4. Philip de Souza (19 May 2013). Christopher Matthew; Matthew Trundle (eds.). Beyond the Gates of Fire: New Perspectives on the Battle of Thermopylae. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-78346-910-9. OCLC 1047705748.
5. Thomas W Gallant (21 January 2015). Edinburgh History of the Greeks, 1768 to 1913. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-3607-5. OCLC 1062180277.
6. Ian F. W. Beckett (26 July 2001). Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies: Guerrillas and their Opponents since 1750. Routledge. pp. 9–. ISBN 978-1-134-55394-5.
7. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): pp. 13.
8. Ioanna Diamantourou (1975): Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους, Τόμος ΙΒ΄: Η Ελληνική Επανάσταση (1821 - 1832) (in Greek). Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon. pp. 113-115. ISBN 978-960-213-108-4.
9. Kalliopi Fouseki; Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen; Grete Swensen, eds. (25 July 2019). Heritage and Sustainable Urban Transformations: Deep Cities. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-87099-6.
10. ^ Stavrou, Theofanis (1985). Modern Greek Studies Yearbook. University of Minnesota. p. 97. That Odysseus Androutsos ended his days less a hero than a traitor is simply ignored
11. ^ Koliopoulos, G.; Veremēs, T. (2002). Greece: The Modern Sequel : from 1831 to the Present. Hurst. p. 214.
12. Magliveras, Simeon (2009). The ontology of difference: nationalism, localism and ethnicity in a Greek Arvanite village (PDF) (Thesis). Durham University. p. 55.
13. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): 14.
14. Η μάχη της Γραβιάς
15. Gallant, Thomas W. (21 January 2015). Edinburgh History of the Greeks, 1768 to 1913. Edinburgh University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-7486-3607-5. His top military commanders were men like the Muslim Omar Vryonis from Berat and the Greek Odysseus Androutsos
16. Beckett, Ian F. W. (26 July 2001). Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies: Guerrillas and their Opponents since 1750. Routledge. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-134-55394-5. Many of the best Greek military commanders, such as Odysseus Androutsos and George Karaiskakis, had served as armatulai under Ali Pasha,
17. ^ Georgiou, Menelaidou. "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος - IKEE / Aristotle University of Thessaloniki - Library". ikee.lib.auth.gr. p. 26. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
18. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): pp. 13-14.
19. ^ Ilıcak 2021, pp. 1649–1650
20. Ilıcak 2021, p. 17.
21. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): 17.
22. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): 17.
23. ^ Mazower 2021, p. 139
24. AL. N. Œkonomides. L'Acropole d'Athenes. Editions K. Gouvoussis, p. 21
25. Mazower 2021, p. 140.
26. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): 17.
27. H. Sukru Ilicak, "Revolutionary Athens Through Ottoman Eyes", in Georgopoulou, M. and Thanasakis, K. , Ottoman Athens: Archaeology, Topography, History, (Athens 2019), pp.249–252.
28. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): 23.
29. Deligiannis, Periklis (2009). "Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος : Η μάχη της Γραβιάς (8 Μαϊου 1821)" . Στρατιωτική Ιστορία ("Military History") (in Greek). Περισκόπιο ("Periskopio") (151): 23.
30. Trelawny, Edward John (1 August 2013). Records of Shelley, Byron and the Author. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-0-14-139279-0. An incorrigible romancer Trelawny had three marriages — the second of which was to Tersitza, sister of the Greek warlord Odysseus Androutsos, whose cause he had joined and whose mountain fortress he looked after when Odysseus was arrested.
31. Koliopoulos, John S.; Veremis, Thanos M. (27 October 2009). Modern Greece: A History since 1821. John Wiley & Sons. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4443-1483-0. ...so did the feats of Greek heroes. Theodoros Kolokotronis, Markos Botsaris, Odysseas Androutsos, Kitsos Tzavelas, and other freedom warriors became the heroes of a West lacking at the time similar heroes of its own.
32. Thomopoulos, Elaine (2012). The History of Greece. ABC-CLIO. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-313-37511-8. Heroes of the Greek Revolution. Here is a partial list of the heroes. Odysseas Androutsos
33. ^ Kitromilides 2021, p. 309
34. ^ Roessel, D.E. (2002). In Byron's Shadow: Modern Greece in the English & American Imagination. Oxford paperbacks. Oxford University Press. p. 58.
35. Eliot, A. (1972). A Concise History of Greece. Cassell Council of Europe Series. Cassell. p. 193. The revolutionaries were both blessed and cursed in their leadership. Among the klephts who bore the brunt of the land fighting were Odysseus Androutsos of Boeotia , Marko Bozzaris , and Theodoros Kolokotronis. Such men did battle only when it suited them, being inveterate guerrilla warriors. They also made temporary arrangements with the enemy as a matter of policy . This was not treason to the infant Greek nation, since the very concept of nationhood was itself foreign to the thinking of the klephts.
36. Clair, William St (2008). That Greece Might Still be Free: The Philhellenes in the War of Independence. Open Book Publishers. p. xviii. ISBN 978-1-906924-00-3.

Sources

• Ilıcak, Şükrü, ed. (2021). Those Infidel Greeks: The Greek War of Independence through Ottoman Archival Documents. Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004471306. ISBN 978-90-04-47129-0.
• Kitromilides, Paschalis (2021). The Greek Revolution: A Critical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674259317.
• Mazower, Mark (4 November 2021). The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-197875-8.

• 1788 births
• 1825 deaths
• Arvanites
• Greek revolutionaries
• Greek military leaders of the Greek War of Independence
• People from Ithaca
• Greek prisoners and detainees
• Executed Greek people
• Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens
• People executed for treason against Greece