No One Ever Needs to Become Lost in This World

By John Antonakos

To conclude my story, I will briefly summarize the phases of my life. The life during my youth was terrible since I was completely orphaned at age twelve and had no one to support me. In our middle-aged years, John and I worked hard to raise and educate our children. But in our old-age life, it has indeed become a pleasure. I get together with my girlfriends two or three times a week for our various activities. Though my life started out badly, I am now very happy because I have good children and beautiful grandchildren. No one ever needs to become lost in this world if he believes in God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728310152

John Antonakos

John Antonakos is a retired electrical engineer who holds degrees in physics and electrical engineering. He was employed as an electrical engineer for over forty years, thirty-two of which were with the United States Army at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. He has always been interested in history, biography, language and philosophy, and has read widely in these fields. Being of Greek background, he is especially interested in exploring his roots. Because of these interests he has written the following books: Noted Greeks of Antiquity, Noted Greeks of the Middle Ages, The Greek American Community of Essex County, N.J., The Maniates of Newark, N.J., The Greek Handbook, A Compendium of World Classical Literature, A Proposed International Alphabet, English Spelling and Pronunciation Guide, and Life’s Objective.

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CHAPTER I

My Early Life

My Town Yitheion

My name is Evlavia (Eva) Xanthakos Antonakos. I was born in Yitheion, Laconia, Greece on Tuesday, December 18, 1931. I wish to relate this story of my life to you for two reasons: to show that a person who has faith in God is never lost and to memorialize those persons who suffered during the Second World War and the ensuing Greek Civil War. But before I go into my personnel story, I will give you a description of my birthplace to set the background for the first part of my story.

The southern part of Greece has three peninsulas. The two easternmost of these peninsulas is the state of Laconia. The state has four counties Oitilon, Yitheion, Lacedaemon, and Epithavros Limera. The first two of these is the district of Mani. Mani is the center peninsula of the three peninsulas. It is essentially Mt. Taïyetos, the third highest mountain in Greece. Greece is 80% unarable while Mani is 95% unarable. Olives and figs are practically the only farm products of Mani. Because of its barrenness and isolated position, Mani was one of three small regions of Greece that remained relatively independent of the Turks during the four hundred year domination of Greece.

My town Yitheion is the county seat of the County of Yitheion.Yitheion is twenty-six miles south of the state capital, Sparti. It lies like an amphitheater at the base of Mt. Akoumaros.

Yitheion has been settled from prehistoric times. Tradition says that Apollo and Zeus fought here over the magic tripod of the Oracle of Delphi. But finally they made peace and the place was named Yi Theon- land of the gods.

Yitheion was the naval port of ancient Sparti. During the Roman period she was the capital of the Commonwealth of the Free Laconians, an autonomous region of sixteen cities that Augustus Caesar established because the Laconians helped him defeat Marc Antony at Actium. During this period her theater, baths, homes, and acropolis were developed.

In 375 A.D. Yitheion was destroyed by an earthquake. Today part of the city is still seen underwater. Archeologists have recovered many things from the old city, and these can be viewed at the Archaeological Museum of Yitheion.

Today Yitheion has developed into a beautiful resort town. But for me it had been a place of suffering and death, for my problems of life started there almost from the moment I was born.

How I Got My Name

When I was born my parents were in disagreement about what my name should be. As is the Greek tradition, I was to receive my grandmother’s name. But the question was: Which grandmother? Father wanted his mother’s name, Kalliopi. And mother wanted her mother’s name, Kanella.

Now my christening was one connected with politics. Mr. Fikioris one time prime minister of Greece and oftentimes elected member of parliament from Laconia for political purposes decided to be my godfather by proxy. He sent a representative to christen me, the expenses being paid by him.

For my christening, Mr. Fikioris sent Mr. Tzanetoulakos to be my godfather. Each of my parents continually pushed Mr. Tzanetoulakos to christen me their mother’s name. The question had not been settled at the time of my christening. Now as the christening was proceeding my godfather was struck with the word evlavia that the priest had said in the service. When the priest asked my godfather for my name, godfather said Evlavia, and this is how I got my name. And I guess that my parents had to be happy with this compromise.

My Relatives

My parents were from two different villages of Lacedaemon County. My father Ilia Xanthakos came from the village of Ayios Nikolaos. Father’s father was named Nikolaos, and father’s mother was name Kalliopi. My paternal grandparents died three days of each other, first grandfather, then grandmother.

Father had one brother and three sisters. Their names are Yioryios, Athina, Chrisoula, and Stavroula. They all married and had children. Uncle Yioryios lived in Yitheion. Aunt Athina Exarchos and Aunt Stavroula Arfanis had emigrated to America and lived in New York City. And Aunt Chrisoula Piskopanis lived in Yitheion.

Uncle Yioryios and Aunt Maria had one son, Nikolaos. Aunt Athina had three children, Thomas, Thimitrios, and Areti. Aunt Stavroula had three children, Nikolaos, Konstantino, and Vasileiki. And Aunt Chrisoula had two sons, Ioanni and Miltiathi.

My mother Stavroula Klarevas was from the village of Kotsatina. Kotsatina is on the foothills of Mt. Taïyetos near the Cave of Avora. This cave contains a large mouth which gushes out great quantities of water and supplies water to a good portion of Mani.

Mother’s name was Stavroula Atsaves but the family eventually adopted the nickname Klarevas. Mother’s father was named Ilia and mother’s mother was named Kanella. Mother had two brothers and one sister, Ilia, Theofani, and Aikaterini.

Uncle Ilia became a forester on the island of Ikaria, and married and settled down there. Uncle Theofani left for America at the young age of fifteen to seek his fortune. In 1947 he returned to Greece to marry and immediately returned to America with his wife, Aunt Eleni. Aunt Aikaterini married Thimitrios Royakos of the Maniati village of Kokkina Louria and they lived there.

Uncle Ilia had three sons, Nikolaos, Thimitrios, and Ioanni. They all married and came to America. Nikolaos lives in Lock Haven, Pa. Thimitrios lives in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Ioanni lives in New York City.

Uncle Theofani had a son and a daughter, Ilia (Louis) and Kanella (Coleen). The children were born and raised in Lock Haven, Pa.

Aunt Aikaterini had two daughters Yioryia and Eleni. They moved to Athens where they married and had families.

My Parents’ Lives

Father had been stricken by poliomyelitis at a young age, which left him paralyzed on his left side. He had to learn to walk with crutches. He learned this and so was able to move from place to place. But he had to learn a trade where he would not be on his feet. So in his village of St. Nicholas he learned the trade of shoemaker. In father’s time shoes were made completely by hand not by machine. So he made shoes completely and also repaired shoes.

When father was twenty-five he proposed marriage to mother through an intermediary. The use of an intermediary was a common custom in those days. Mother accepted the proposal. They became engaged and after three months were married. As mother didn’t know any trade, as was the case with most Greek countrywomen, she was obliged to work in the fields on salary. Most of the time, she worked for Mr. Konstantino Arfanis. This person was Aunt Stavroula’s brother-in-law.

And thus my parents occupied their days, father as a shoemaker, and mother as a farmhand. When I was born, mother was obliged to take me to the fields with her. She did this for four years.

My earliest recollections are from the time when I was four years old. When I became this age, mother stopped taking me to the fields. Instead, I was left at home to be taken care of by a neighborhood woman who also looked after other children in a similar situation as mine.

During the summer months everything was fine. But in September things changed because it got dark earlier. If it got dark and mother had not arrived home I started to cry. I thought: Mother, why have you not returned home? I was afraid that something had happened to her. She probably worked the same number of hours each day, but at that age how could