Cynegetica: an ancestral heritage.

Today we decided to walk one of the many paths that follow the lake channels of Prespes.Surrounding us, forests of oak and beech trees; beyond them, densely-wooded vertiginous mountains. Every now and then a gleam of trout or flash of wild purle centaury (flower) pierces in the verdant canopy. We are reveling in the peace of this high trail when an unearthly shrieking cuts through the silence.

Echoing round the deep valley, it’s difficult to pinpoint its source. Then, we move around a corner; a clutch of stone dwellings clings to the hillside and at the open sight, we are confronted by a huge, just-slaughtered wild boar.

Blood is still running across the gravel lane, swept vigorously into the butchery by a bunch of local huntsmen. A group of them are busily taking ‘self-portraits’. When they see us they beckon us over…

We follow the gist, that we are just in time to join them in a drink to celebrate this fine beast’s readiness for the approaching feast. Do we imagine the smell of blood that seems to cling to our glasses of regional red wine? In any case, we squat by the side and tip ours discreetly into the soil. Our guide and driver, downs his in a single gulp and joins the conversation next to the bizarre centerpiece of this pig, suspended from its belly slit open, innards picked out in sickly shades of red. We leave the men to their ambivalent disassembly line and head out to rejoin the alpine landscape; though even if we briefly glimpsed this spectacle, it will be haunting us, disconcertingly fixed forever In our minds.

‘Practically this is a rooted tradition in every family of North Greece,’ and of course ‘few others who have this sport heritage in common, life and death go hand by hand here, afterall’, the driver reassured us. We will most likely never forget this outdoor sport nor the image of that huge hog with the blazing eyes that stared at us, the way a predator watches its prey.

FURTHER READING

Everything but the Oink.

(ONLINE)

On the native respect, and a desire to live strongly: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/12/hunting-for-euphemisms-how-we-trick-ourselves-to-excuse-killing/250213/. Also, this interesting take on Blessed Be My Freshly Slaughtered Dinner, published in The New York Times. On ethical hunting pursuits, and creative storytelling read the interview of Donnie Vincent on Modern Huntsman (biannual publication with the mission of restoring the perception of hunting in our modern society). Also, a great selection of essays on hunting cultures can be found here.

(PRINT)

Meditations on Hunting, buy the book here.