The Hellenic Society Prometheas
Τη γλώσσα μου έδωσαν Ελληνική
Το σπίτι
φτωχικό στις
αμμουδιές του
Ομήρου.
Μονάχη
έγνοια η
γλώσσα μου
στις αμμουδιές
του Ομήρου.
www.Prometheas.org Οδυσσέας Ελύτης
Newsletter
November 2008
Prometheas Upcoming Events
·
Saturday,
November 8, 2008: "Prometheus". Opera in concert
version sung in English based on Aeschylus’d tragedy Prometheus Bound, in
celebration of the 30th anniversary of Prometheas. See flyer for more
details.
·
Friday,
November 14, 2008, Greek Movie: “Το φως που σβηνει“ at Saint Katherine’s Greek Orthodox
Church, Community Center. See flyer for more details.
On October 3, Mr.
James Marketos gave a presentation with the title “Christopher Columbus: A
Greek Nobleman?”. A summary of his presentation is provided in this newsletter
below while the entire lecture is in our website.
Prometheas Lecture
Christopher
Columbus
A Greek
Nobleman
Just
in time for Columbus Day, 130 members and friends of Prometheas gathered
in the Founder’s Hall at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bethesda on
October 3, 2008, to consider whether the Discoverer of America was a Byzantine
Greek nobleman. In a fascinating evening
lecture, Washington lawyer and Chairman of the American Hellenic Institute,
James L. Marketos, acquainted his listeners with the thesis of Seraphim G.
Canoutas, whose obscure but intriguing 1943 book, Christopher Columbus: A
Greek Nobleman, made the case for Columbus’s noble Greek origins.
Mr.
Marketos explained that Canoutas, a Greek lawyer who settled in the U.S. in
1905, spent eight years researching his book on Columbus. But because the book was privately published
and has been out of print for sixty-five years, its thesis has been mostly overlooked
and forgotten. As expounded by Mr.
Marketos, Canoutas made a very persuasive case based on logical conclusions
drawn from credible evidence. His thesis
has the appeal of reason and common sense, and Mr. Marketos’s simple goal was
to revisit Canoutas’s arguments and evidence and allow his listeners to make
their own judgments about whether Columbus was Greek.
According
to Canoutas, Columbus’s Greek origins are traceable from statements Columbus
made about himself. In particular, he
said that he was of noble origin, that he was not the first admiral in his
family, and that he had sailed for a long time with a famous corsair “of his
name and family,” whom he identified as “Colon the Younger” to distinguish him
from another famous seaman before him also named Colon.
As
Mr. Marketos explained, Canoutas took the findings of earlier scholars in a new
direction. The earlier scholars had
discovered from fifteenth century records who Colon the Younger was -- a
displaced Byzantine prince related to the last Byzantine emperors. This Greek prince fled the empire after the
fall of Constantinople in 1453 and eventually settled in France, becoming a
trusted advisor to the King of France (Louis XI) and admiral of the king’s
English Channel fleet. In France, Colon
the Younger was known as Georges le Grec and Georges Paléologue de
Bissipat.
But
the scholars who discovered Colon the Younger’s true identity were wedded to
the traditional view that Columbus was a Genoese wool-worker. They therefore rejected Columbus’s claim of
kinship to this Byzantine nobleman. They
also failed to discover, as Canoutas did, that George le Grec’s true
Greek name was Georgios Palaiologos Dishypatos.
Dishypatos
was from one of the oldest and most distinguished noble Byzantine
families. His ancestors had been
important ecclesiastics, officers of the imperial court, and diplomats. And there were four other famous admirals in
the family, buttressing Columbus’s claim that he was not the first admiral in
his family.
As
Mr. Marketos explained, Canoutas convincingly posited that Columbus was telling
the truth when he claimed to be related to Colon the Younger, i.e.,
Georgios Palaiologos Dishypatos. If
Columbus was telling the truth, then his relationship to Dishypatos undercuts
the traditional idea that Columbus was a humble Genoese craftsman and explains
many of the perplexing mysteries about Columbus. Why, for example, if Columbus grew to
adulthood in Genoa did he know little Italian and rarely use it? How did a mere wool-worker marry to the foot
of the Portuguese throne within three years after settling in Portugal? How did a mere merchant gain access not
merely to the King and Queen of Spain for purposes of presenting his plan of
discovery, but also to the Kings of Portugal, France, and England, as he is
known to have done?
Canoutas
easily answered such questions, explained Mr. Marketos, by demonstrating that
Columbus was himself a nobleman of Greek origin. If Canoutas’s thesis is correct and Columbus
was not a simple Genoese wool-worker, then it would no longer be necessary to
accuse Columbus of being an impostor, as scholars who adhere to the Genoese
wool-worker story must do.
Mr.
Marketos illustrated his remarks with maps, photos, and other graphics,
pictures of Columbus’s books, portraits of Columbus’s contemporaries, and the
sources Canoutas relied on to build his case.
A lively question-and-answer session followed.
The
full text of Mr. Marketos’s lecture can be found at the www.prometheas.org website.
Other Upcoming Events
·
“Loot:
The battle over the stolen treasures of the ancient world” on Wednesday,
November 12, 2008, 7:00 p.m. at The Embassy of Greece; rsvp at: mourtoupala@greekembassy.org See flyer for more
details.
November 6-25, 2008: AFI European Union Film
Showcase
The American Film Institute in collaboration with the EU Cultural
Counselors and the European Commission Delegation in Washington DC is
presenting a selection of the best films of European cinema. The Greek movies
are:
·
Sunday, November 9 at 8:30 p.m. and Tuesday, November 11 at 7:00
p.m. El Greco - National
First Prize award for fiction film. By Iannis Smaragdis Music by Vangelis An
epic tale of an uncompromising artist and fighter for freedom, Cretan painter
Domenicos Theotokopoulos, known to the world as «El Greco». Set in the 16th
century, El Greco’s search for freedom, and love, ranges from the courts of
Crete and Venice to Toledo in Spain. Here he is confronted by his greatest
adversary the Holy Inquisition. Never backing down in his fight with the
establishments of his day El Greco’s story is one of unusual heroism, betrayal,
love, and the power of one man and his creative consciousness to stand out and
overcome barbarity and ignorance. The movie was filmed at three countries,
Greece, Italy, and Spain, where El Greco lived and created his
masterpieces. To view the trailer of the movie visit: http://www.elgrecothemovie.com/trailer.htm, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqB4IBj6dGg
·
November 18 at 9:40 p.m. and November 19 at 7:00 p.m.: Correction - Foreign Film Oscar nomination Diorthosi (Correction), Thanos
Anastopoulos' second feature, is the Greek official submission for the
foreign-language Academy Award. The film produced by Anastopoulos' own Fantasia
Audiovisual outlet and backed by the Greek Film Centre, is a powerful drama
that tackles the interracial tensions between Greeks and immigrant Albanians
living and working in Greece. The film has earned a critical praise in Greece
and abroad since its appearance at the 2007 Thessaloniki film festival.
·
November 15-22, 2008: FotoWeek/DC The week of November 15-22,
2008 will mark the launch of FotoWeek DC, the first annual gathering of a diverse
and wide-ranging photography community in the nation’s capital, including
photographers, museums, universities and all those involved in the profession
across the metro D.C. area, including Virginia and Maryland. Unique among
American cities, Washington, D.C. is a nexus of artistic, business, political
and public sector energy, in which photography plays an integral role. http://www.fotoweekdc.org Athena Tacha particates with her 36
Years of Aging (1972-2007), 216 photos taken every year of her face and
body, at the Uncommon Beauty show curated by Sarah Tanguy at the Ellipse
Gallery, Arlington, VA, opening October 2 (5 – 9 p.m.) – Dec. 23 and at the
Marsha Mateyka Gallery in Washington with a solo show, Rock and Water: New
Photoworks by Athena Tacha, opening Nov. 7 (6 - 8 p.m.).
·
November 19, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.: Ancient Greek Treasures from
the Walters Art Museum at the Embassy of Greece Photography exhibition from the Greek
collection. The Walters, located in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Cultural District,
has one of the largest and finest assemblages of ancient art in the United
States, an educational and cultural resource of exceptional quality and
breadth. Opening remarks by Dr. Sabine Albersmeier, Associate Curator of
Ancient Art. She will introduce a major exhibition project, entitled Heroes!
Morals and Myths in Ancient Greece planned for the fall of 2009, exploring
heroes and hero cults in ancient Greece.
Website of the month
Laterna,
ftohia ke filotimo (Manos Hadjidakis, 1955) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNkt8P2X6jQ&feature=related
Book Selection of the Month: ”Antigone:
the New Labour years”
Rebecca Abrams on Melissa
Benn's One of Us, a brilliant
reworking of a classic Greek tragedy
One of Us
by Melissa Benn
279pp, Chatto & Windus,
£16.99
While the 9/11
attacks have spawned a number of recent novels, the decision to go to war
against Iraq has received relatively little attention in fiction. Melissa
Benn's second novel puts that disastrously decisive event at its moral centre
as well as locating it within the wider context of the Labour party's recent
history. Few could be better placed than Benn to chart Labour's painstaking
reinvention of itself through the repeated election defeats of the 1970s and
80s, via the landslide victory of 1997, to the debacle of the Iraq war and its
sorry aftermath. As the daughter of Tony Benn, the sister of Hilary Benn and a
campaigning journalist in her own right, she has witnessed public and private
contours of Labour's journey over the last 30 years.
Tempting, then,
to approach One of Us as a roman à clef, an insider's guide to New Labour. But
while it is certainly true that Benn is concerned with and perceptive about
Labour's transformation, particularly as experienced by those involved, her
real focus is a much bigger theme: the risks and rewards of kinship, political,
professional and, most importantly of all, personal.
It was an
inspired decision, then, to tell this tale through a reworking of the story of
Antigone, of all the Greek tragedies the one that addresses most directly the
dilemma of wise governance, the conflicting pulls of familial bonds, civic
interest and political authority. Benn's Antigone, now Anna Adams, through
whose eyes we follow events, is the youngest daughter of a distinguished
lawyer. Eleven years old when the novel begins in 1971, and 44 in 2003 when it
ends, Anna is both a participant in and an observer of the complex ties that
bid and divide her family: her clever father, professionally brilliant but
emotionally unseeing; her beautiful, stoical mother; her ambitious older and
troubled younger brothers, and her narcissistic socialite sister.
Benn is
wonderful on the telling details of family life, the delicate balance between
individual and collective identities within a family, the creation of what she
calls "this infinitely delicate, infinitely precious creature called
'us'". There is a beautifully observed moment near the start of the novel
when, during Sunday lunch with another family in 1971, Anna's 14-year-old
brother Jack tells his mother to "fuck off", shattering the easy
conviviality her parents are striving for. "Anna saw her mother's
shoulders drop and, as if reading her mind, saw her decide, in a split second,
that this reply might - should - had to be - permitted to approximate
normality, the minor abuse of earlier set aside in the interests of a speedy
resolution to her own embarrassment." In fact, Jack is taking a stance
towards his parents' lives and values that will have more serious repercussions
than embarrassment.
Iraq is the
vehicle for Jack's ultimate crisis. The catalyst for the unfolding tragedy,
however, is the intense friendship, inaugurated at that ill-fated lunch,
between the Adams family and their guests, the Givings family (both names sly
jokes on Benn's part). Andy Givings is an ambitious young lawyer in Anna's
father's chambers. His shoulder-pumping impersonation of Edward Heath shortly
after Jack's "fuck off" moment saves the day. But three years later,
Andy decides to abandon law for a career in politics, and it is his rise from
talented backbencher under Kinnock to cabinet minister under Blair that gives
One of Us its political arc and allows Benn to explore the makings of a
politician and the nature of ambition.
Eager, personable,
and with "the divine gift of apparent self-forgetting" when we first
meet him, Givings metamorphoses into something far more complex; possessed of
"the killer instinct", he becomes one of those who learn how to
"patch up their own wounds and, most crucially, to abandon those who are
more badly damaged". Benn is too good a writer to make a straight villain
of Givings; instead she shows us how time hardens his contours, privileges some
facets of his personality, fatally compromises others.
The stories of
the two families are intricately interwoven. Anna's brother, Matt, is a key
adviser to Givings and, it turns out, an equally political animal. In
contemptuous, idealistic, increasingly drastic opposition is Jack. Anna,
straddling both worlds despite herself, will ultimately, like Antigone, honour
her brother against the wishes of the ruling elite, and pay a dreadful price.
Alongside
Labour's journey to power, we see Anna's progress from sensitive, unworldly
child, through marriage and motherhood, joy and grief, to mature womanhood. The
portrayal of her private domestic life is central to One of Us; her feelings
about her children, her relationships with her husband, Chris, and her siblings
are portrayed with delicacy and insight. Struggling to write and look after
young children on little sleep and even less support from Chris, she ruefully
reflects that "marriage and parenthood have diminished me and emboldened
him. The idea that we're equal, he and I against the world, in the world, it
just hasn't worked out like that. At times, I feel more like his PA."
Men, it has to
be said, don't come out too well in this novel - ambitious men, anyway. Anna's
father is blind to his wife's loneliness, obstinately resistant to his younger
son's distress. Chris turns out to be a faithless adulterer. Andy and Matt -
well, I won't spoil the surprise. The only men who retain their moral integrity
are annihilated. It is the women - Anna, her mother, Andy's wife - who make the
sacrifices and absorb the private consequences of driving public ambition.
One of Us is
unashamedly a novel about politics, a damning indictment of New Labour and the
fatal erosion of moral discernment in political life. It is a novel about
marriage and the unseen, unacclaimed domestic lives that we all lead. Above
all, it is about the fragile, precious web of personal connections.
Benn has
succeeded in bringing the ancient themes of Sophocles up to date with a keen
eye, a subtle intelligence, and an unwavering decency sorely lacking in many of
the characters she so tenderly yet mercilessly portrays. Rebecca Abrams' novel Touching
Distance will be published in July.
The Guardian , Saturday March 8, 2008
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2263307,00.html
Misc Articles
On the occasion of the upcoming 68th
anniversary of the OXI Day(28th of October, 1940), the interpretation below
by on-site reporter, Leland Stowe, who
wrote a whole book later, is reproduced here, as printed by The Hellenic Voice
of Boston 10-22-08.
“Oxi" Day: A
lesson from the Greeks
By Leland Stowe
Editor's note:
October 28 is Oxi Day, marking the 68th anniversary of Greece's rejection of
Italian dictator Mussolini's ultimatum to allow Italy's Fascist forces to
occupy "strategic locations" inside Greece or face war. Greece's
dictator loannis Metaxas answered in one word: oxi (ohi) -no. American
correspondent Leland Stowe covered the Greek campaign of 1940-1941 for the
Chicago Daily News and later wrote a book about it called, "No Other Road
to Freedom." A portion of that book is reproduced here:
Long
afterward people asked me repeatedly how the Greeks defeated the
Fascist army. Although it may
seem premature to mention it here, I think
this is as good a place as any to offer my own explanation.
On
this first trip, from one end of the Greek-Albanian front to the other and
covering some two hundred and fifty miles from the island of Corfu up to Lake Ochrida far to
the north, we saw all that
anyone needed to know about what lay behind
the Greek victories. By the end of December,
and in two short months, the Greeks had
battered Mussolini's troops to the very verge of a final knockout blow,
and only the ruthless bitterness of winter
and the formidable Albanian mountains saved them from being driven into the Adriatic Sea.
But
even in early December the Greek soldiers had proved what they so often
asserted, that one Greek
soldier was worth five or ten Fascist soldiers.
But how and why did the little Greek army drive the Italians back and backward, scoring one astonishing
triumph after another?
On
the basis of my own experiences and observations I would list six reasons, in the order of their relative importance:
1. The fighting hearts of the entire Greek people.
2. The extraordinary unity of the
Greek people.
3. The remarkably high caliber of
the Greek general staff; combined with the fact that virtually all officers, from the rank of lieutenant-colonel upward, were
fighting in their fourth war.
4. The startling inefficiency of the
Italian general staff and the extremely poor direction of the Italian air force.
5. Pronounced lack of combative spirit and an understandable lack of conviction (even respect for what they were commanded to do) on the part
of the Fascist soldiers.
6. The highly important aid given by the British air force and British naval units where
the Greeks most needed help.
I
am certain that all six of these reasons were definite
factors in the Greeks’ military successes, but without the first three the
Greek miracles could never have happened. In this respect the
fighting spirit and the extraordinary unity of the Greek people were by all odds the most significant. The Greeks knew they would fight, whether they had a chance or not. The little, sloppily
uniformed Greek soldier never
entertained the shadow of a doubt
about his combative superiority to one or a dozen Italians.
The
Greek people, utterly disregarding the long and bitter feud which had divided them between partisans of the Metaxas dictatorship and the republicans whom Metaxas had overthrown,
completely buried all party animosities and formed a solid phalanx as
Greeks.
To understand what this meant, after years of rivalry and hatred, an American must consider what an unbelievable accomplishment it would be if - to-day or tomorrow, at a moment of great
national danger - every anti-Rooseveltian citizen should abandon all hatred of Franklin D. Roosevelt for the duration of the war. This was what
happened with the Greeks.
We
spent our first day at the front with General Lavranos and Captain Alex Melas. The captain had
been a deputy, a republican deputy, in the parliament
which Metaxas dissolved, and until the
war came he had been an exile from the Metaxas
regime.
"I
am a lifelong republican," Captain Melas told us. "I tell you frankly
I am only here because,
first of all, I am a Greek. Two months ago I
would never have spoken to the general here. Isn't that so, General?"
General
Lavranos was an army man of the old school. "Yes, that's quite true," he said.
"The captain and I have been political
enemies for years. But all that does
not matter any more. Nothing matters
except to defeat the Fascists. We Greeks
are no longer republicans and Metaxans. We are all Greeks. That's why Mussolini can never defeat us."
On
New Year's Eve Premier Metaxas told me exactly the same thing. I had asked him
if it had not been difficult for him to decide that Greece would fight. "No, it was not
difficult," he replied. "I knew the Greek people, that was
all. I knew
that any Greek, man or woman and no matter of what rank in society, how rich
or how humble -1 knew that any Greek in my position would have done exactly what I was doing. You have seen the Greek army and the Greek people. Is it not
true?"
Yes, it was true; unanimously, inspiringly, magnificently true. That is the
glory that is Greece. And that, I believe, is the great and enduring lesson from the Greeks
for all human beings who
desire to remain free through and beyond the
twentieth century's world revolution. Will
the American people understand this? Look in your heart and you shall
see one vital figment of the ultimate answer.”
Opinion
poll results on expatriate Greeks
FRANKFURT (
Conclusions
of an unprecedented opinion poll on the Greek expatriate identity were
presented in the SAE Europe regional convention held here last week, with the
participation of 220 delegates from 20 European countries.
The
poll was conducted by the Athens-based Kapa-Research firm between 2006 and 2008
on a sample of 15,000 ethnic Greeks living around the world.
According
to the poll, held under the auspices of the foreign ministry, Greeks who
immigrated to America left in search of a better future, whereas Greeks who
left the country and moved to Europe did so because of poverty. Most of the
Greek immigrants came from the provinces of
Most
marriages between expatriate Greeks are still held in a traditional manner, thus
forming a link with the homeland, while one in three families speaks mostly
Greek at home. Family ties are also very strong, with
As
regards language, the majority of expatriates believe that good Greek schools
are impossible to exist abroad.
A
majority of expatriate Greeks believe that they are more hardworking compared
to residents in Greece. Entrepreneurship is also apparently higher among
expatriates, whereas in
Overall,
Greeks abroad are in a better financial state, considering that only one in 10
say that they are on the verge of poverty, compared to 20 percent in Greece.
Three in four have property in
According
to results, a large majority of Greek expatriates have high self-esteem, are
hard-working and consider themselves responsible taxpayers. A vast majority
said they were extremely proud to be Greek-Americans or Greek-Australians and
nine in 10 said they wanted their children and themselves to preserve their
Greek identity.
Conversely,
most of the Greeks abroad expressed bitterness vis-à-vis the stance of the
Greek state through the years.
In
their overwhelming majority, respondents believe that they are integrated in
their country of residence and that in the future they will be fully
assimilated. Nationality, a good profession and a high-level education are
regarded as the fundamental elements for their integration in the societies of
their adopted countries, the opinion poll showed.
The
work of the Orthodox Church is evaluated in positive light, generally speaking,
and one in three ethnic Greeks sees the Church as the foundation for developing
social relations.
A
high percentage of the Greeks of the Diaspora watch Greek satellite TV; one in
three reads Greek newspapers, while also one in three wants subtitled TV shows.
The majority has a positive view of ERT, the Greek national broadcaster, while
Greeks abroad are more familiar with the Internet than Greeks in
A
detailed presentation of the opinion poll conclusions will be held in Athens on
Nov. 28-29.
ΠΡΕΜΙΕΡΑ
Πενηντάχρονη
και θρυλική
Πέντε
δεκαετίες μετά
τη δημιουργία
της στη Νέα
Υόρκη η
«Κλυταιμνήστρα»
της Μάρθας
Γκράχαμ
αναβιώνει σε
παγκόσμια
πρεμιέρα στο
Μέγαρο Μουσικής
ΝΙΚΟΣ ΜΠΑΚΟΥΝΑΚΗΣ
Σκηνή από τη
σύγχρονη
παραγωγή που
θα παραουσιαστεί
στο Μέγαρο
Μουσικής. Η
Φανγκ Γι Σου,
αριστερά, στον
ρόλο της
Κλυταιμνήστρας
Ηταν
γι' αυτούς ένα
κομμάτι
ανθολογίας από
τη μακρινή
εποχή του 1950, μια
εποχή που
ταυτίζεται με
τον αμερικανικό
μοντερνισμό
και που σήμερα
θεωρείται
κλασική. (Ακόμη
και ο τότε πρόεδρος
των Ηνωμένων
Πολιτειών
Ντουάιτ
Αϊζενχάουερ
εξέφραζε έναν modern republicanism.) Αυτή
ακριβώς ήταν η
εντύπωση - το
μοντέρνο που
είναι πια
κλασικό - των
φοιτητών και
της κοινότητας
του
Πανεπιστημίου
της Νέας
Υόρκης, του NYU, στο
θέατρο του
οποίου, το Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, στην πλατεία
Ουάσιγκτον,
είδαμε το preview του
χοροδράματος
«Κλυταιμνήστρα»
της Μάρθας
Γκράχαμ στις 19
Σεπτεμβρίου.
Δεν θα
μπορούσε να
υπάρχει καλύτερο
κοινό, νέο και
δυναμικό, για
να δοκιμαστεί
ένα μπαλέτο
που πρωτοπαρουσιάστηκε
πριν από 50
χρόνια και του
οποίου η παγκόσμια
πρεμιέρα της
αναβίωσης θα
γίνει στο Μέγαρο
Μουσικής της
Αθήνας στις 23
Οκτωβρίου. Η
Τζάνετ Αϊλμπερ,
καλλιτεχνική
διευθύντρια
του Martha Graham Dance Company και
πρώτη
χορεύτρια της
Μάρθας Γκράχαμ
την περίοδο
του 1970 και του 1980,
στην οποία
οφείλεται η τωρινή
αναβίωση, είχε
κάθε λόγο να
είναι
ευχαριστημένη
όταν τη
συναντήσαμε
λίγο μετά το
τέλος της παράστασης
στο ελληνικό
εστιατόριο της
περιοχής του
Γκράμερσι
«Περιγιάλι». «Ο
σύγχρονος
χορός καλλιεργεί
την αντίληψη
του
καινούργιου»
λέει η Τζάνετ Αϊλμπερ.
«Να όμως που
συνειδητοποιούμε
ότι το σύγχρονο
έχει κιόλας
την ιστορία
του, έργα που
είναι πια
κλασικά και
αριστουργήματα».
Η
ταύτιση με τον
ρόλο
Πενήντα
χρόνια πριν,
την
Πρωταπριλιά
του 1958, στο θέατρο
Αντέλφι της
Νέας Υόρκης,
στη γωνία της
6ης λεωφόρου
και της 54ης οδού,
στην ίδια θέση
όπου σήμερα βρίσκεται
το ξενοδοχείο «Hilton», οι 1.500
θεατές της
πρεμιέρας της
«Κλυταιμνήστρας»
έβλεπαν
πραγματικά ένα
μοντέρνο
θέαμα, που από
την κριτική
αντιμετωπίστηκε
όμως αμέσως ως
κλασικό,
τουλάχιστον ως
προς την
πρόθεση της
Μάρθας Γκράχαμ
να πλησιάσει
το μέγεθος της
ελληνικής
τραγωδίας. Η
Μάρθα Γκράχαμ,
η οποία ήταν
τότε 65 ετών (είχε
γεννηθεί το 1893),
χόρευε η ίδια
τον ρόλο της
αρχαίας
βασίλισσας,
ίσως μέσα από
μια διαδικασία
ταύτισης
ερμηνεύτριας
και ηρωίδας. Η
Τζάνετ Αϊλμπερ
μάς
επιβεβαιώνει
σήμερα ότι
πράγματι το
φορτίο της
βιογραφίας
βαραίνει ιδιαίτερα
στον ρόλο
αυτόν. Η Μάρθα
Γκράχαμ
φανταζόταν ότι
η
Κλυταιμνήστρα
θα είχε
πάνω-κάτω την
ίδια ηλικία με
αυτήν όταν
δούλευε τον
ρόλο. Αλλωστε
όλη η δουλειά της
Μάρθας Γκράχαμ
επάνω στην
ελληνική
μυθολογία (ένας
«ελληνικός
κύκλος» με 17
χορογραφίες)
είχε ως στόχο
την ανάδειξη
της γυναικείας
προσωπικότητας
μέσα από μια
σύγχρονη
γυναικεία
ματιά. «Η Μάρθα
Γκράχαμ ήταν
εκ φύσεως
φεμινίστρια,
πριν από τον
φεμινισμό»
λέει τώρα η
Τζάνετ
Αϊλμπερ. «Και η
"Κλυταιμνήστρα"
της μοιάζει να
εικονογραφεί
μια σημερινή
κατάσταση
έχοντας στο
κέντρο μια
γυναικεία
ηγετική μορφή».
Ο ελληνικός κύκλος
Η Μάρθα
Γκράχαμ και ο
Ντέιβιντ Γουντ
σε σκηνή από την
πρώτη
παράσταση του 1958
Η
Μάρθα Γκράχαμ
άρχισε να
δουλεύει τα
ελληνικά θέματά
της το 1946, στην
προσπάθειά της
να προσεγγίσει
την αρχετυπική
γυναίκα. Είχε
προηγηθεί ένας
μεγάλος κύκλος
διερεύνησης
της αμερικανικής
ταυτότητας,
του οποίου
αποκορύφωμα ήταν
το μπαλέτο
«Ανοιξη στα
Απαλάχια Ορη»,
σε μουσική Ααρον
Κόπλαντ, το 1944.
Στον ελληνικό
κύκλο, η
«Κλυταιμνήστρα»
αποτελεί
σίγουρα την
επιτομή. Η
Μάρθα Γκράχαμ
είχε σχεδόν
αφοσιωθεί στον
ρόλο. Είχε πει
ότι «η Κλυταιμνήστρα
είναι κάθε
γυναίκα που
σκοτώνει». Από την
αυτοβιογραφία
της (Blood Memory)
ξέρουμε ότι
περνούσε
ολόκληρες
ημέρες στο
στούντιό της
δουλεύοντας
τον ρόλο,
τοποθετώντας
στο πάτωμα
μεγάλα
κομμάτια από
κόκκινο υλικό,
κυρίως ύφασμα.
Το βλέπουμε
αυτό πολύ καλά
στο
κατακόκκινο
κοστούμι της
Κλυταιμνήστρας
στη σκηνή του
εφιάλτη που η
ίδια σχεδίασε.
Πιο
κοντά στο
θέατρο
Αυτό
το μπαλέτο
είναι
περισσότερο
χοροθέατρο ή χορόδραμα.
Οπωσδήποτε πιο
κοντά στο θέατρο.
Η Μάρθα
Γκράχαμ
δούλεψε πολύ
επάνω στην
κίνηση που
αποτυπώνεται
σε αρχαία
τεκμήρια,
κυρίως σε αγγεία
ή σε ειδώλια.
Δούλεψε επίσης
πολύ πάνω σε φόρμες
του
παραδοσιακού
ανατολικού θεάτρου
του Καμπούκι
και του Νο.
Θυμίζουμε ότι
την ίδια
χρονιά η Μαρία
Κάλλας
προσπαθεί να
προσεγγίσει
την τραγωδία
μέσα από την
όπερα «Μήδεια»
του Κερουμπίνι
και για τη
σκηνική της
στάση μιμείται
τις κινήσεις
των αρχαίων
ειδωλίων. Για
τα σκηνικά η
Μάρθα Γκράχαμ
συνεργάστηκε
με τον γλύπτη
και αρχιτέκτονα
Ιζάμου
Νογκούσι (1904-1988),
στενό
συνεργάτη της
την περίοδο 1944-1967. Ο
αμερικανός
γλύπτης (από
ιάπωνα πατέρα
και ιρλανδέζα
μητέρα)
σχεδίασε έναν
σκηνικό χώρο
πολύ λιτό, όπου
βασικό ρόλο
έχει το ύφασμα
αλλά και τα
αντικείμενα -
σύμβολα
εξουσίας,
σύμβολα δύναμης
αλλά και
όργανα
εγκλήματος -
που παραπέμπουν
σε αφρικανική
ή ασιατική
τέχνη. Εκείνη
την εποχή η
κοινωνία της
Νέας Υόρκης
παθιαζόταν με
τις περιπέτειες
του νεαρού
γόνου Μάικλ
Ροκφέλερ στη Νέα
Γουινέα, όπου
και τελικά
πέθανε
(εξαφανίστηκε;
δολοφονήθηκε;)
το 1961 και ο
οποίος είχε
φέρει στη Νέα
Υόρκη δείγματα
της
«πρωτόγονης»
τέχνης της
Ασίας, σαν αυτά
που σχεδίασε ο
Νογκούσι.
Για τη
μουσική η
Μάρθα Γκράχαμ
απευθύνθηκε
στον νέο τότε
αιγύπτιο
συνθέτη Χαλίμ
ελ Νταμπ. Ο Ελ
Νταμπ, ο οποίος
έχει γεννηθεί
το 1921, ο μόνος που
ζει από αυτή τη
θρυλική ομάδα
του 1958, έγραψε
μια μουσική με
στέρεα κλασική
βάση αλλά με πολλά
έθνικ
στοιχεία,
ιδιαίτερα
ανατολικής
μουσικής. Το 1958
αυτή η
παρτιτούρα θα
ακουγόταν πολύ
πρωτοποριακή,
ίσως και
εξωτική, αλλά
σήμερα ακούγεται
εντελώς
σύγχρονη, σαν
να έχει βγει
μέσα από έναν
δίσκο του
Κουαρτέτου
Κρόνος.
Ανατροπή του μύθου
Η Γιουρίκο
Κιμούρα
ενσάρκωσε την
Κλυταιμνήστρα
σε
μεταγενέστερες
παραστάσεις,
στη διάρκεια
της δεκαετίας
του '70
Το
καστ της
«Κλυταιμνήστρας»
περιλαμβάνει 21
χορευτές. Αν
και ο μύθος
είναι από την
πλευρά των
γυναικών, οι
άνδρες,
ιδιαίτερα ο
Ορέστης αλλά
και ο Αδης, ο θεός
του Κάτω
Κόσμου, έχουν
βασικούς
ρόλους. Το
μπαλέτο αρχίζει
στον Κάτω
Κόσμο, όπου η
Κλυταιμνήστρα
προσπαθεί να
ερμηνεύσει το
παρελθόν και
τη μοίρα,
συνεχίζεται
στις Μυκήνες,
στο
υπνοδωμάτιο
της Κλυταιμνήστρας,
και κλείνει
πάλι στον Κάτω
Κόσμο, όπου η
Κλυταιμνήστρα επιλύει
τις τρομερές
συγκρούσεις
της ζωής της και
της καρδιάς
της.
Η
Τζάνετ Αϊλμπερ
αναβίωσε πιστά
αυτή τη
χορογραφία,
ακόμη και τους
φωτισμούς.
Αλλωστε πώς θα
μπορούσε να
κάνει
επεμβάσεις ή
εκπτώσεις σε
ένα έργο που
θεωρείται
ολικό θέατρο;
Παρ' όλα αυτά,
έκανε μια
επέμβαση: πήρε
όλο το κείμενο
για την εξέλιξη
του μύθου που
ήταν
δημοσιευμένο
στο πρόγραμμα
της πρεμιέρας
και το έκανε
υπέρτιτλους
που προβάλλονται
στη διάρκεια
της
παράστασης.
Οπως ακριβώς
γίνεται στην
όπερα. Αλλωστε
έχει στοιχεία
όπερας η «Κλυταιμνήστρα»
της Μάρθας
Γκράχαμ καθώς
υπάρχουν κομμάτια
που
τραγουδιούνται,
αν και η κίνηση
είναι η
πρωταρχική
γλώσσα του
έργου.
«Η νέα
γενιά σήμερα
έχει ανάγκη
από
πληροφορίες, ζει
με τις
πληροφορίες,
μέσα από το Internet κτλ. Οι
υπέρτιτλοι
παίζουν αυτόν τον
ρόλο» λέει η
Τζάνετ
Αϊλμπερ.
Εκείνο
το βράδυ του
Σεπτεμβρίου
στο εστιατόριο
«Περιγιάλι» της
Νέας Υόρκης,
στο ίδιο
τραπέζι με τον σύζυγό
της, τον
σεναριογράφο
του Χόλιγουντ
Τζον Γουόρεν, η
Τζάνετ Αϊλμπερ
αγωνιά για το
ποια θα είναι η
υποδοχή αυτής
της αναβίωσης
(για την
ακρίβεια reconstruction) στην
Αθήνα. Εφτασε η
ώρα.
Ο μύθος της
ηρωίδας
Η
Μάρθα Γκράχαμ
δούλεψε τη
δική της
Κλυταιμνήστρα
με βάση τον
Αισχύλο. Αν
στον Ομηρο η
Κλυταιμνήστρα
είναι μια
αδύναμη
γυναίκα σε
σχέση με τους
άνδρες, στον
Αισχύλο
παίρνει
διαστάσεις
μιας δυναμικής
γυναίκας, μιας
ηγετικής
μορφής έτσι
όπως την
αντιλαμβανόμαστε
σήμερα. Είναι
μια μορφή που
εκδικείται τον
κόσμο των
ανδρών, τόσο
για τη
βιαιότητά τους
όσο και για την
προδοσία τους.
(Ο Αγαμέμνονας
δεν διστάζει να
σκοτώσει την
κόρη τους
Ιφιγένεια και
να φέρει στο
σπίτι μια άλλη
γυναίκα, την
Κασσάνδρα.)
Χάρη στον
Αισχύλο η Κλυταιμνήστρα
περνά στην
παγκόσμια
τέχνη ως αρχέτυπο
έρωτα,
προδοσίας και
φόνου. Η μορφή
της διαπερνά
τη δυτική
τέχνη σε
πλήθος έργων.
Μετά τον Γιουνγκ
και τον Φρόιντ
γίνεται ένα
μοντέλο
αρχετυπικών
ερμηνειών και
ψυχαναλυτικών
συνδρόμων.
Η
«Κλυταιμνήστρα»
της Μάρθας
Γκράχαμ είναι
ίσως το πιο
σημαντικό έργο
του 20ού αιώνα
που έχει ως
κεντρική
ηρωίδα τη
βασίλισσα των
Μυκηνών.
Πρωταγωνιστεί
βέβαια σε
πλήθος έργων
που μπορεί ο
τίτλος να
είναι «Ηλέκτρα»,
όπως η φερώνυμη
όπερα του
Ρίχαρντ
Στράους σε
λιμπρέτο του Χούγκο
φον
Χόφμανσταλ.
Δεν πρέπει
όμως να
αγνοούμε και
τις
προσεγγίσεις
του Μιχάλη
Κακογιάννη.
Δεν είναι
τυχαίο ότι
στον ιστότοπο
του Martha Graham Dance Company (www.marthagraham.org/company) βίντεο
από ταινίες
του Κακογιάννη
δίνουν στον σύγχρονο
χρήστη του
μύθου όψεις
ερμηνείας της
Κλυταιμνήστρας
με κύρος και
άποψη.
Το ΒΗΜΑ, 19/10/2008 , Σελ.: C02
Κωδικός
άρθρου: B15490C021
ID: 297650
http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=15490&m=C02&aa=1
October 23–25, 2008Athens, Greece
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Web site
October 27–28, 2008Nicosia, Cyprus
Strovolos Municipal Theater
November 1–2, 2008Thessaloniki, Greece
Macedonian Studies Theater
December 9–10, 2008Washington, DC
Kennedy Center
Web site
Parthenon Sculptures Newsletter NOV 2008 (click here)