any sources as to what the greek battle cry “aera” means? or where it comes from?
and i dont mean translation i can google that š
any sources as to what the greek battle cry “aera” means? or where it comes from?
and i dont mean translation i can google that š
Comments
It doesn’t look like there’s a conclusive etymology. The word itself is identical to the Greek word for “air” or “wind”, but one of the contested etymologies considers it a coincidence and that it derived from/was a mocking response to the Italian battle cry “eja”.
Another etymology has it be an older Greek army inside joke that started in one area and then spread throughout the army before the Greek involvement in WW2. In that scenario it would be derived from the word for “wind”.
It’s also entirely possible that the two origins are both true and once reinforced the other’s usage, or neither is true.
Before this, I was entirely unaware of the etymology and I had my own private understanding: I assumed that it was shouted while attempting to break through enemy lines and that it was a cry for “air” in the sense of trying to break free from being surrounded. Interestingly, this is not even one of the recorded possible etymologies.