Athanasios Diakos Athanasios Diakos ( ) ( 1788 – 24 April 1821 ) , a Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence and a national hero , was born Athanasios Nikolaos Massavetas ( ) in the village of Ano Mousounitsa , Phocis . Early life . The grandson of a local outlaw , or klepht , he was drawn to religion from an early age and was sent away by his parents to the Monastery of St . John The Baptist ( ) , near Artotina , for his education . He became a monk at the age of seventeen and , due to his devotion to his faith and good temperament , was ordained a Greek Orthodox deacon not long afterwards . Popular tradition has it that while at the monastery , an Ottoman Pasha visited with his troops and was impressed by Athanasios ' s good looks . The young Athanasios took offence to the Turk ' s remarks ( and subsequent proposal ) and the ensuing altercation resulted in the death of the Turkish official . Athanasios was forced to flee into the nearby mountains and become a klepht . Soon afterwards he adopted the pseudonym " Diakos " , or " Deacon " . Klephtis and Armatolos . Diakos served under a number of local klepht leaders in the region of Roumeli , distinguishing himself in various encounters with the Ottomans . He also served for a time as a mercenary in the army of Ali Pasha at Ioannina , Epirus , where he befriended Odysseas Androutsos , another klepht . When Androutsos became the captain of a unit of armatoloi at Livadeia , Diakos served for a time as his " protopallikaro " ( literally " " first warrior " " , or lieutenant ) . In the years leading up to the Greek War of Independence , Diakos had formed his own band of klephtes and , like many other klepht and armatoloi captains , had become a member of the Filiki Eteria . Independence fighter . Soon after the outbreak of hostilities , Diakos and a local brigand captain and friend , Vasilis Bousgos , led a contingent of fighters to capture the town of Livadeia . On 1 April 1821 , after three days of vicious house - by - house fighting , and the burning of Mir Aga ' s residence , including the harem , the Greeks liberated the town . Hursid Pasha sent two of his most competent commanders from Thessaly , Omer Vryonis and Köse Mehmed , at the head of 8 , 000 men with orders to put down the revolt in Roumeli and then proceed to the Peloponnese and lift the siege at Tripolitsa . Diakos and his band , reinforced by the fighters of Dimitrios Panourgias and Yiannis Dyovouniotis , decided to halt the Ottoman advance into Roumeli by taking defensive positions near Thermopylae . The Greek force of 1500 men was split into three sections . Dyovouniotis was to defend the bridge at Gorgopotamos , Panourgias the heights of Halkomata , and Diakos the bridge at Alamana . Setting out from their camp at Lianokladi , near Lamia , the Ottoman Turks soon divided their force . The main force attacked Diakos . The other attacked Dyovouniotis , whose force was quickly routed , and then Panourgias , whose men retreated when he was wounded . The majority of the Greek force having fled , the Ottomans concentrated their attack on Diakos ' s position at the Alamana bridge . Seeing that it was a matter of time before they were overrun by the enemy , Bousgos , who had been fighting alongside Diakos , pleaded with him to retreat to safety . Diakos chose to stay and fight with 48 men ; they put up a desperate hand - to - hand struggle for a number of hours before being overwhelmed . The severely wounded Diakos was taken before Vryonis , who offered to make him an officer in the Ottoman army if he converted from Christianity to Islam . Diakos refused the offer , replying " I was born a Greek , I shall die a Greek " ( " Εγώ Γραικός γεννήθηκα , Γραικός θε να πεθάνω " transliterated as : " Ego Graikos yennithika , Graikos the na pethano " ) . The next day he was impaled . According to popular tradition , as he was being led away to be executed , he said : Poetic : Oh , what a moment Hades chose for me to perish . Spring grass everywhere and branches with blossoms to cherish . Literally : Look at the time Charon chose to take me , now that the branches are flowering , and the earth sends forth grass ( Greek : Για δες καιρό που διάλεξε ο Χάρος να με πάρει , τώρα π ' ανθίζουν τα κλαριά και βγάνει η γης χορτάρι - Ya thes kero pou dialexe o Haros na me parei , tora p ' anthizoun ta klaria kai vganei i yis hortari ) . This was a metaphor for the independence and freedom of Greece . The brutal manner of Diakos ' s death initially struck fear into the populace of Roumeli , but his final stand near Thermopylae , echoing the heroic defence of the Spartan King Leonidas , made him a martyr for the Greek cause . A monument now stands at the bridge near Alamana , the site of his final battle . His birthplace , the village of Ano Mousounitsa , was later renamed " Athanasios Diakos " in his honour . The Greek Army honoured him with the rank of General . Also streets and statues in several parts of Greece as well as in nearly every one of the larger towns and cities bears his name .