Feb031,197 notes
As per my previous post, I’m working on something with Iphigenia in Aulis. This film adaptation is still on my watchlist, but I heard from someone I trust on this topic that it is a heartwrenching one.
Michael Cacoyannis is perhaps best known for directing Zorba the Greek (1964) but has also made a film adaptation of Elektra (1962) and The Trojan Women (1971, starring Katherine Hepburn as Hecuba).
Its age gives it its charm and merely based on the trailers I would already say that I prefer Cacoyannis’ visualization of this Greece as a world that struggles, not the marbled and glittering version we see in many Hollywood productions.
Jan301 note
I’m analyzing parts of scene 5 of Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis, comparing two translations with the original text.
One of the case studies is a translation by Edward Einhorn, who happens to be a theatremaker. Going back to the site where his translation can also be found, I noticed that it has been adapted into an audio play by Untitled Theatre Company no. 61. Textwise, there are some changes made to make it better suited for modern performance groups. Also, changes in word translation to add a more impactful or tense meaning.
It is a fairly short listen (about 90 minutes) and performed with great voice work accompanied by some sound effects. Pretty much like your usual audio-drama podcast.
And for those interested, there is also a graphic novel adaptation of the script.
Jan282 notes
In search of some background music, I came across this lovely group.
Daemonia Nymphe is a band founded in 1994 by Spyros Giasafakis and Evi Stergiou. Their music is made with replicas of ancient Greek instruments, such as the aulos and kithara. The group has not been active much in recent years. Their most recent album stems from 2013, but they have released a couple of singles in the meantime. Judging from videos of live performances, these are quite theatrical.
Though their songs definitely have modern influences, they use original hymns as a basis for lyrics and composition.
Recommended listen:
Daemonia Nymphe (2006 album).
Hypnos from Psychostasia (2013).
Jan260 notes
Jan219,057 notes
ALT“Ladies in Blue”
1600-1450 BCE / Palace of Knossos, Crete
This largely reconstructed fresco was discovered between 1900 and 1905 by Sir Arthur James Evans in the palace of Knossos on Crete. It is one of a number of images found that depict women of the Minoan civilization (3500 - 1100 BC). The women depicted are dressed in colorful clothing, while also wearing elaborate jewelry in their hair and on their bodies. The chest, in typical Minoan fashion, is bare. The image that is reconstructed by Émile Gilliéron does not indicate the breasts as is the case in other Minoan imagery.
ALT
ALTRecommended reading:
Lee, Mireille M.. “9. Deciphering Gender in Minoan Dress” In Reading the Body: Representations and Remains in the Archaeological Record edited by Alison E. Rautman, 111-123. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000. https://doi-org.proxy-ub.rug.nl/10.9783/9781512806830-011
Jan2140 notes
Lower back tattoos may seem like an early 21st century fad popularized by low-rise-jeans clad celebrities, but new archaeological evidence from Egyptian mummies shows the practice is actually more than three millennia old.
At the New Kingdom site of Deir el-Medina (1550 B.C. to 1070 B.C.), researchers Anne Austin and Marie-Lys Arnette have discovered that tattoos on ancient flesh and tattooed figurines from the site are likely connected with the ancient Egyptian god Bes, who protected women and children, particularly during childbirth. They published their findings last month in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology.
Deir el-Medina lies on the western bank of the Nile, across from the archaeological site of Luxor. Beginning in 1922, around the same time that King Tut’s tomb was found, the site was excavated by a French team. Read more.