The Hymn of Panathinaikos or Syllogos Megalos (''Great Club'') is the anthem of
Panathinaikos A.O. It was written in 1958. The music is by
Giorgos Mouzakis, a well-known musician and trumpeter of the era, and the lyrics are by George Oikonomidis.
Leandros Papathanasiou
Leo Leandros (born 23 August 1926) is a Greek musician, composer and producer. Born in Astakos, Greece, Leandros left in the 1950s for Germany to pursue a career in singing and composing. He had some success, but shifted his focus to his daught ...
and the Trio Belcanto and later
Giannis Vogiatzis
Giannis Vogiatzis ( el, Γιάννης Βογιατζής; born 12 June 1926) is a Greek actor.
Biography
Vogiatzis was born in Aitoliko, Aetolia-Acarnania on 12 June 1926. He studied at the Dramatic School at the Royal Theatre and for one spa ...
were the singers.
According to the composers, the song was written after a winning game of Panathinaikos, while they left together the
Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium
Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium ( el, Γήπεδο Απόστολος Νικολαΐδης), commonly known as Leoforos Alexandras Stadium or Leoforos Stadium, is a football stadium and multi-sport center in Athens, Greece. It was inaugurated in 19 ...
. Oikonomidis improvised the first verse "Syllogos Megalos..." and Mouzakis sketched a staff on a
cigarette pack
A pack or packet of cigarettes (also informally called fag packet in British slang; as in the idiom "back of a fag packet" or "fag-packet calculation") is a rectangular container, mostly of paperboard, which contains cigarettes. The pack is des ...
on the spot. The whistling heard in the beginning and end of the hymn imitates the style of "
Colonel Bogey March
The "Colonel Bogey March" is a British march that was composed in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881–1945) (pen name Kenneth J. Alford), a British Army bandmaster who later became the director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymout ...
" from the 1957 film ''
The Bridge on the River Kwai
''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, th ...
''.
Great Club
Older hymns
The first Hymn of Panathinaikos was recorded in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in 1931, of whom only the refrain has survived.
The second hymn was created in 1948 by Kostas Kofiniotis, who wrote the lyrics and Giannis Vellas, who composed the score. It was sung by Panos Kokkinos and titled "Προχωρείτε πρός την Νίκη"
(Make your way to Victory)
References
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Panathinaikos A.O.
Greek music
Football songs and chants
1958 songs