A Lifechanging Search for a Greek Pirate on Hydra

MNEMOSYNI’S MUSINGS…

Maria A. Karamitsos

You’ve heard of Mnemosyni, the Greek goddess of memory. Mythology buffs will know that she’s also the goddess of storytelling—and mother of the Muses! So, it’s only fitting to name a literary column in her honor. Here, you’ll learn about authors, poets, books, and all things “Greek” literary.
By: Maria A. Karamitsos

A Lifechanging Search for a Greek Pirate on Hydra
Memoir details Author Shelley Dark’s quest to uncover the past

Australian Author Shelley Dark has been a teacher, a mother, a garden designer, and a self-proclaimed “beach wanderer with an iPhone”. After her marriage to her husband John, she became a cattle rancher. But she hadn’t anticipated becoming a writer. But the fates—and DNA—had other ideas.

The first time anyone mentioned the word “writer” to her, came after she and her husband had traded Queensland’s Granite Belt for the Sunshine Coast.

“I became ‘Instagram tragic’,” she said, with her signature wit. She loved capturing images of the dawn and posted them on social media. The she posted them with increasingly longer captions. When her followers told her she should write a book, she didn’t give it any credence. Until more recently.

Twenty years ago, their son had been filming a TV show near the Snowy Mountains of Australia, where an infamous Greek pirate from Hydra—Ghikas Voulgaris—had been a landowner. Someone from the local historical society brought this news to his attention. At the first opportunity, he went home with startling news: John was descended from the pirate. He asked, ‘Are we Greek, Dad?’

Until that point, John had no idea he was Greek. “If anyone knew, they kept it to themselves. Ghikas had been quietly erased, most likely because of the convict past—things were different in those days, and it was probably considered a stain. Far more desirable for your ancestor to have been a free settler. So when our son (who was in his twenties at the time) shared the news, it was the first time any of us had heard about it.”

“John was skeptical, but I was hooked from that second. I started digging. I went full-on forensic detective.” Her interest grew as she learned that in 1829, Voulgaris, her husband’s great-great-grandfather, was one of only seven Greek pirates who narrowly escaped the gallows to become one of Australia’s first Greek convicts, and the only one to leave descendants. Dark devoured books about Greece, read death certificates and trial records. Then she enlisted the assistance of a genealogist from Athens. “I was intrigued not only by the fact that we had a pirate in the family, but also a vastly wealthy ship owning family, at a time when Hydra was the center of Greek naval power.”

Questions swirled in her head. “I started to wonder if criminal blood ran through my children’s veins. I had so many questions, more specifically I was drawn to the mystery of it. Why had he been erased from the family history?” She was determined to uncover the truth.

Then at Christmas that year, her family gifted her a plane ticket to Greece, and she set out solo on a mission to find out what happened on Hydra.

She’d never been to Greece or Hydra, and didn’t speak Greek, but Dark was not about to let that deter her. Though she enjoyed traveling with her husband and friends, this was a different experience. “When you travel with someone, you share it. But when you’re alone, you absorb. You notice things. Talk to strangers. You follow your instincts,” she added. “Honestly, I didn’t travel alone. Ghikas was with me every step of the way.”

In the span of her two-week stay, everything changed. “People on Hydra had head whispers about the pirates but no one knew the details. They were as intrigued—and as clueless about them—as me.” She said the locals were “cautious but kind” and gracious. “Once they saw I was there to listen, they welcomed me. They cooked for me, guided me, and the archivists were extremely helpful.”

Soon, Dark found herself slowing into the island’s rhythm. It was winter, and in the off-season, the island wasn’t crowded. She leaned into the storied island’s vibe and let it transform her. There, as she meandered the twisted lanes, she found a new path in life—likely captured by the spell that inspired by the island’s legendary writers, like Leonard Cohen and Charmian Clift. She said the story came about rather quickly, culminating years of research, writing in volunteer positions, and even photography. “Once I started writing, I couldn’t stop.” She added that upon retirement, she’d felt like she’d lost her identity. But “writing gave me purpose, community, and an unexpected third act.”

Hydra in Winter: An Island Escape in Search of a Greek Pirate (Shelley Dark Publications, November 2024) is a travel memoir about that research trip. Her journals and notes chronicle her quest, revealing a whimsical, light-hearted style that captures the heart of her readers. Through her beautiful prose and vivid descriptions, we follow her steps through Hydra.

She recently launched the book at Melbourne’s Hellenic Museum and has been invited to speak at festivals and libraries. “People write to me saying it made them laugh, cry, phone their grandmother, or book a trip.” You may discover that you to pack your bags, too.

Hydra in Winter dominated the #1 spot in at least one Amazon Australia category, and sometimes all—Travel Writing, Humor Essays, Solo Travel, or Travel Tips—from December 2024 through March 2025. It was also nominated as a Notable Book for 2025 by one of Australia’s top literary critics, Samuel Bernard, in Australia’s national newspaper, The Weekend Australian.

Dark said that after all the research, and subsequent trips to Malta and Ireland (where Ghikas’ wife hailed), she ultimately couldn’t connect all the dots, and there wasn’t enough information for a biography. So after six years of digging, questioning, studying writing craft, drafting and editing, she’s written a historical novel based on the pirate’s life and misdeeds, called Son of Hydra. “It took a lot longer, but I had to get it right.”

The novel opens after the start of the Greek War of Independence, when Ghikas is a naive 15-year-old. “He made a mistake that cost him everything, is tried for piracy in Malta, held in Portsmouth hulk.” Ghikas was exiled to a penal colony in faraway Australia and likely performed hard labor. “In New South Wales, no one knows who he is or cares. But that’s when his real story begins.” She said it’s about “hubris, exile, loss of identity, patriarchal society, survival, male friendships, and a fierce Irish orphan named Mary, who shows him that wealth and power are not the same thing as love.”

The novel is slated for release this fall. Dark continues to write. “Mary’s also tapping her foot, waiting for her turn. It’s in the works. “And more memoirs. And naturally, The Cream Bum Lover’s Guide to Australia,” she said with a chuckle.

Hydra in Winter: An Island Escape in Search of a Greek Pirate is available in Greece at Hydra Historical Museum Archive and elsewhere on all platforms. Don’t miss it.

Happy reading! See you next time for more of Mnemosyni’s Musings.

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Maria A. Karamitsos is a journalist, author, and poet. She’s the founder & former publisher/editor of WindyCity Greek magazine and former associate editor & senior writer for The Greek Star newspaper. Maria also contributes to Greek City Times and TripFiction. Her work has been published in The Magic of Us-A Moms Who Write Poetry Anthology, The Pen Poetry Magazine, Voices of Hellenism Literary Journal, Highland Park Poetry, Recipes & Roots, GreekCircle magazine, The National Herald, GreekReporter, Harlots Sauce Radio, Women.Who.Write, KPHTH magazine, and more. Maria has contributed to two books: Greektown Chicago: Its History, Its Recipes and The Chicago Area Ethnic Handbook. She’s currently editing her 1st novel. mariakaramitsos.com