Kritikos Ymnos| English: Cretan Anthem | 
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| National anthem of
  Cretan State 
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| Lyrics | Ioannis Polemis | 
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| Music | Dionysios Davrangas | 
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| Adopted | 1898 | 
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| Relinquished | 1908 | 
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The Cretan Anthem (Greek: Κρητικός Ύμνος, Kritikos Ymnos) was the national anthem of the Cretan State. It was adopted in 1898[1] and it was sung to the tune of the Greek national anthem, originally composed by Nikolaos Mantzaros and adopted by Dionysios Davrangas, with new words by the poet Ioannis Polemis, celebrating Crete's bloody struggles for freedom from the Ottoman Empire.
The anthem never gained much popularity, since the Cretans viewed the Cretan State as a temporary measure; the Greek national anthem was the de facto unofficial anthem, and after Crete unilaterally declared its union with the Kingdom of Greece in 1908 (not formally recognized until 1913, after the Balkan Wars), the Greek national anthem was used officially as well.
Lyrics
| Original Greek 
 
Μεσ' το αίμα βουτημένη,με πληγαίς νωπαίς ακόμα,
 απ΄ της Κρήτης τ' άγιο χώμα,
 επεταχθ' η Λευθεριά•
 κι' αγκαλιάζοντας τη Δόξα
 τη δαφνοστεφανωμένη
 παίρνει δρόμους κι ανασταίνει
 πολιτείαις και χωριά.
 Χαιρετούν τον ερχομό της
 βροντερόφωνα ντουφέκια,
 κι' αστραπαίς κι' αστροπελέκια
 χύνουν λάμψι περισσή•
 και φωνή παλληκαρίσια
 απ' την Ίδη κατεβαίνει
 Χαίρε, Κρήτη ανδρειωμένη,
 Χαιρ' ελεύθερο νησί.
 
 | Transliteration 
 
Mes' to aíma voutiméni, me pligaís nopaís akóma,
 ap΄ tis Krítis t' ágio chóma,
 epetachth' i Leftheriá•
 ki' ankaliázontas ti dóxa
 ti dafnostefanoméni
 paírnei drómous ki anastaínei
 politeíais kai choriá.
 Chairetoún ton erchomó tis
 vronterófona ntoufékia,
 ki' astrapaís ki' astropelékia
 chýnoun lámpsi perissí•
 kai foní pallikarísia
 ap' tin Ídi katevaínei
 Chaíre, Kríti andreioméni,
 Chair' eléfthero nisí.
 
 | English translation 
 
Drenched in bloodwith wounds still fresh
 from Crete's holy soil
 Liberty sprang forth
 and embracing Glory
 crowned with laurels
 she seizes the streets
 and raises up cities and villages.
 Welcoming her arrival
 rifles thunder,
 and bolts and flashes of lightning
 pour forth their shining abundance
 and a young voice
 calls down from Ida
 Hail, mighty Crete
 Hail, free island.
 
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References
- ^ "Greece". www.worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 2025-06-22.