The dance originated in the Middle Ages as a battle mime with swords performed by the Greek butchers' guild, which adopted it from the military of the Byzantine era.
[1] In Constantinople during the Byzantine times, it was called in Greek μακελλάρικος χορός (makellárikos horós, "butcher's dance", from μακελλάριος “butcher”).
Some Greeks, however, reserve the latter term only for the fast version of the dance.
It is variously called γρήγορο χασάπικο (grigoro hasapiko, "fast hasapiko") or χασαποσέρβικο (hasaposerviko),[2] the last two terms in reference to Serbian and other Balkan influences on this version of the dance.
The fast version is also called μακελλάριος χορός (makellarios horos), [citation needed] Sirtaki, the modern staple Greek dance, is a relatively new, choreographed dance, based on hasapiko.