Perseus on the island of the eight hours

In a lonely corner of a sleepy beach on a small Cycladic island stands an austere monument to the memory of four miners: Michalis Zoilis, Themistocles Kouzoupis, Michalis Mitrofanis and Yiannis Protopappas. At the feet, some plastic flowers discolored by the sun. Cats take a nap under trees planted to provide some shade to bathers at Megalo Livadi, once the nerve center of mining activity on the Greek island of Serifos. There are a couple of restaurants, an old dilapidated house and little else. On one side of the bay, the rusted irons of an old loading bridge. This was the scene in which, on August 21, 1916, the Greeks won the first battle for the application of the eight-hour working day. And the two Michalis, Themistocles and Yiannis were the martyrs. In Greek mythology, Serifos is the island where the beautiful Danae and her young son Perseus arrive after their father, King Acrisius – who had been warned by an oracle that his own grandson would kill him – left them adrift in a wooden chest. And this is where the hero Perseus sets out in search of Medusa deceived by the king of Serifos, Polydectes, who intends to take advantage of his absence and probable death to marry Danae. A trick he will pay for with his life when Perseus returns with the gorgon’s head and turns it to stone. You could say that Konstantinos Speras was a kind of modern Perseus for the inhabitants of the island. Tired of being abused by the bosses, the German Gromman family, and being ignored in Athens, the miners thought of going in search of the young anarchist, born on the island but raised in Egypt, where he became involved in trade unionism during time as a tobacco worker. Speras returns to his native island and threads the needle. In July 1916 he founded the Mining Association and demanded the implementation of the eight-hour day (approved on paper since 1911…), wage increases and improvements in safety. There was no response, and on August 7 some 400 miners refused to load the iron on the ship Manousi, which had orders to set sail immediately for northern Europe. Faced with the rebellion of the workers and the refusal to accept the details offered by the company, certain local authorities decide to send a telegram to Athens, in which they warn of the violent attitude of the strikers. 30 gendarmes commanded by Lieutenant Chrisanthou arrive in Serifos. On the morning of August 21, this man with a reputation for being irrational calls Speras and other strikers to the Megalo Livadi gendarmerie under the pretext of being informed about the situation. But once there he stops them and threatens the strikers: if they don’t load the boat in five minutes, he will open fire. Without complying with the ultimatum, the lieutenant fires, kills Themistocles and orders his men to fire. The other three miners fall and chaos takes over the place. Miners, women and children throw themselves at the gendarmes, stone Chrisanthou to death and throw him into the sea. Two more agents die and almost all are wounded and disarmed. The miners gain control of the island, and then something amazing happens: they raise the French flag and send a telegram to the French Navy (stationed on the island of Melos) requesting entry to the land of Freedom, Equality and Fraternity. This move cannot be understood without considering that Greece was in political chaos in the midst of World War I, with French soldiers of the Triple Entente defending the government and the Triple Alliance supporting the king. Obviously, Paris said “thanks, but no”. And after two weeks of self-management, the Greek army put an end to the French dream. Speras and his people spent years in prison, but the Serifos miners succeeded in making the eight-hour day effective for the first time in the country. Long live the revolution! The mines were closed in the 1960s, and today Serifos is a low-key tourist destination with pretty empty beaches and strong rosé wine. Souvenir shops sell T-shirts of Medusa and the cyclops Polyphemus (locals argue that this was the island described by Ulysses), but few remember the feat of their grandparents. On Megalo Livadi beach, one of the restaurants is called 1916. Whoever wants to understand, let them understand.