rings, singing, jazz and musicology.
Ta Karnavalia
Another venerable Corfu tradition is known as the Carnival or Ta Karnavalia. Venetian in origin, festivities include a parade featuring the main attraction of Karnavalos, a rather grotesque figure with a large head and smiling face , leading a diverse procession of colourful floats. Corfiots, young and old, dress up in colourful costumes and follow the parade, spilling out into the area's narrow streets (kantounia) and spreading the festivities across the city, dancing and socialising. At night, in the island's more sophisticated social circles, dance and costume parties are traditional.
Corfu in myth
• It is in Corfu that Hercules, just before embarking on his ten labours, slept with the Naiad Melite ; she bore him Hyllus, the leader of the Heraclids.
• Corfu marks the Argonauts' refuge from the avenging Colchic fleet, after their seizure of the Golden Fleece.
• In the mythical sea adventure of Homer's Odyssey, Kerkyra is the island of the Phaeacians, (Phaiakes) wherein Odysseus (Ulysses) meets Nausica, the daughter of King Alkinoos. The bay of Palaiokastritsa is considered to be the place where Odysseus disembarked.
Corfu in literature
• British naturalist Gerald Durrell wrote three well-loved books about his 1935–1940 childhood on Corfu: My Family and Other Animals; Birds, Beasts and Relatives; and The Garden of the Gods. His brother, literary author Lawrence Durrell, also wrote a volume about Corfu: Prospero's Cell: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corcyra (Corfu).
• Mary Stewart's novel This Rough Magic is set in Corfu.
Corfu in film
• A number of cinema productions have been filmed in Corfu, including the 1981 James Bond movie, For Your Eyes Only. The most memorable scene
