were hardly ready for such a revolt, as they had virtually no weapons. Yet, when in 1770, a Russian fleet under Count Aleksey Grigoryevich Orlov appeared in the Aegean, precipitating the Orlov Revolt, Daskaloyiannis and his Cretan followers revolted. However, when the Russo-Turkish conflict ran to an end, the Cretans were left alone against Turkish troops from Chania, Rethymno, and Heraklion. The pasha of Crete had captured the brother and daughters of Daskaloyiannis and with the promise of leniency he demanded that Daskaloyiannis surrender. Daskaloyiannis decided to surrender so that he could see his brother and daughters released. Most of the other leaders of the revolt were killed, and the pasha had Daskaloyiannis first tortured in order to provide any valuable strategic information. Naturally, Daskaloyiannis refused to surrender his people to the Turks. Even after the pasha had the Sfakian flayed alive in front of hundreds summoned at a public square, Daskaloyiannis did not betray his people. Neither the failed revolt of 1770 AD nor the death of Daskaloyiannis went in vain since both events aroused the national sentiments of all Cretans. The revolts made by the Cretans and the legendary Sfakians contributed to the rise of the independent Cretan state in 1898, which also paved the way for Crete’s union with Greece in 1912. The Sfakian dialect The Sfakian dialect is similar to other Cretan dialects, and yet it is also quite different. Like many other Cretan dialects, , , , and before front vowels become , , , and . However, one oddity present in the Sfakian dialect is how it treats . Before an or an , ⟨λ⟩ is a lateral . However, before an , , or , it becomes an approximant , much like the English "r" sound. For example, "θάλασσα" (thalassa, meaning "sea") is pronounced by a Sfakian as , but πουλί (pouli, meaning bird) is , closer to standard Greek. This feature is not shared anywhere else outside of Crete, except for certain villages in the Aegean, including the village of Apiranthos on the Cyladic island of Naxos. Indeed, the Sfakians believe that hundreds of years ago, probably after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, a group of Sfakians left Crete and came to Apiranthos on Naxos. The cultures of Sfakia and Apiranthos bear many striking similarities, not least of which includes the aforementioned dialectal peculiarity. Notable Sfakians Georgios Tsontos, general and politician Emmanouil