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In Euripides’ Hippolytus, Phaedra, Theseus’ wife, falls in love with her stepson Hippolytus. The young man is son of Theseus and an Amazon. He is not moved by women and his pride is to worship Artemis, goddess of hunting, wildlife and chastity. His disdain for goddess Aphrodite and for the love she inspires in men, … Continue reading Hippolytus – Second Day of the Lenaia 2022
This is the third time I’m introducing the Lenaia festival and I assume the roots of this Dionysian celebration of drama arts don’t really need any more explanation or description. The four days that constitute the Λήναια [Lēnaia] are the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th days of the month of Γαμηλιών [Gamēliōn] - which is … Continue reading Introduction to the Lenaia 2022
When the god of madness entered his native city of Thebes, expecting that his royal family would acknowledge him, he was rejected by king Pentheus, by the king’s mother Agave and by his aunts, but not by Cadmus, grandfather of both the god and the king. Angry, the god introduced his cult of madness to … Continue reading The Bacchae – 4th Day of Lenaia 2021
Released in 1960 and directed by K. Asif, the Indian movie called Mughal-e-Azam, is a tale made after the scenario created by Imtiaz Ali Taj about the legend of Anarkali. Dreamy version of India’s Moghul Empire’s history, Anarkali could have been a court dancer which Prince Salim, son of the famous Emperor Akbar, was supposed … Continue reading Mughal-e-Azam
Electra by Sophocles is the last text chosen for the fourth day of the Lenaia. I couldn’t avoid ending with one of the traditional winners of an original Lenaia’s prize. The daughter of the murdered king Agamemnon is kept hopeless in Mycenae. She’s however waiting for the return of her brother Orestes who would provide … Continue reading Electra – 4th and Last Day of Lenaia 2020
Meditation for the first day of Λήναια, is the last scene from Life is A Dream by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. After having tasted both the sweetness of a prince’s life and the harshness of a prisoner’s life, Sigismund finally gets to the point where good or bad conditions have no more power on … Continue reading Life Is A Dream – 1st Day of Lenaia 2020
Through these four coming days, I have selected four texts by play writers from different regions of the world. I propose a meditation on each of them. The Lenaia are traditionally made of four days during which comedy and tragedy are honoured and bring us closer to Dionysus. This is the reason why the meditation … Continue reading Introduction to the Λήναια 2020
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