Question: What does RGTO read when it’s not reading Greek Tragedy?
Answer: PLAUTUS
ARGUMENTUM
Jupiter turns himself into an Amphityron
While the real one wars against the Tele-boys
and takes his wife Alcmene for his own use.
So Mercury puts on the face of the absent Sosia,
his slave and Alcmena falls for these tricks!
When the real Amphitryon and Sosa return,
they are both mocked in wonderful ways.
This makes a fight for the real husband and wife,
until Zeus makes his sound with thunder and lighning
and copes to the adultery himself.”
In faciem uersus Amphitruonis Iuppiter,
dum bellum gereret cum Telobois hostibus,
Alcmenam uxorem cepit usurariam.
Mercurius formam Sosiae serui gerit
apsentis; his Alcmena decipitur dolis.
postquam rediere ueri Amphitruo et Sosia,
uterque deluduntur [dolis] in mirum modum.
hinc iurgium, tumultus uxori et uiro,
donec cum tonitru uoce missa ex aethere
adulterum se Iuppiter confessus est.
Today, Reading Greek Tragedy Online arrives in new territory: ROMAN COMEDY.
To be fair, the story of the Amphitruo is not entirely new. It tells of the night Herakles–well, in this case, Hercules, eheu–was born. It is perfect for the stage: filled with doubles, jokes, misrecognition, and gods sharing the stage with comic slaves. It is everything Roman audiences would have loved.
But how will it translate to the smallest of screens? Tune in to find out.
Cast and Crew
Jasmine Bracey
Paul O’Mahony
Rene Thornton Jr.
Translator and Special Guest: Toph Marshall
Amazing People
Artistic Director: Paul O’Mahony (Out of Chaos Theatre) Host and Faculty Consultant: Joel Christensen (Brandeis University) Producers: Keith DeStone (Center for Hellenic Studies), Hélène Emeriaud, Janet Ozsolak, and Sarah Scott (Kosmos Society) Director of Outreach: Amy Pistone (Gonzaga University) Poster Illustration Artist: John Koelle
if you can’t make it in person, catch the live stream at 6 PM EDT
Sophocles, Elektra 1070-1074
“Tell them that their home is already plagued,
and that the strife among their children
is no longer balanced out
by the fact that they all love life.”
“Do not send me from this land in dishonor,
but as a master of my wealth and the captain of my house.
I have said enough now. Old man, it is your task
to go and safeguard this need.
And the two of us will go: for it is the perfect moment
and the perfect moment is man’s greatest guide in every deed.”
Each week during the pandemic, we selected scenes from a play, actors and experts from around the world, and put them all together for 90 minutes or so to see what will happen. This process was therapeutic for us; and it helped us think about how tragedy may have had similar functions in the ancient world as well.
This year and last we have been experimenting with new formats, appearing twice in person for hybrid events. This performance of Sophocles’ Electra, using Ann Carson’s translation, is sponsored by UIC, Loyola College, and the Center for Hellenic Studies.
Sophocles, Elektra 91-95
“This hateful bed in our painful house
shares the pains of all my nights
how much I mourn for my wretched father…”
At this in-person and online event, we return to one of many plays set around the House of Atreus, Sophokles’ Elektra. This story follows Orestes’ return home to murder his mother (and her lover Aegisthus) for the killing of his father Agamemnon. For fans of tragedy, the tale is famous from our only full trilogy from ancient Athens, Aeschylus’ Oresteia. But it was legendary—and perhaps even paradigmatic—Homer’s Odyssey as well, where Orestes is held up repeatedly as a model of youthful initiative to Telemachus and Clytemnestra’s betrayal of her husband appears as a constant threat to Odysseus’ homecoming.
The story of Orestes is, like the end of the Odyssey, about the cycle of vengeance and the dangerous narrative pull of the call to revenge. In Aeschylus’ Eumenides, Orestes ends up in Athens where he is judged by a jury for his mother’s murder: his story pits the orders of one god (Apollo) against he claims of others (the Furies) and the loyalty of a son to mother or father. The story of the Elektra is a prolonged rumination on the choices made before that crises. This version of the tale is often dated to the end of Sophocles’ life, during the middle of the Peloponnesian War. It features Orestes returning with Pylades in disguise to announce his death. The title character, Electra, has been mourning her father’s murder and longing for her brother’s return. Once she finds out about Orestes’ true identity, the play turns to the murder, but prior to that ever delayed moment of recognition, the audiences witnesses Orestes’ hesitation and Electra’s sorrow.
“No noble person wants
to ruin their good reputation by living badly
namelessly, my child.
So you have accepted for yourself
a life of fame and constant sorrow,
making a weapon from a noble cure–
with one strike you win two prizes
to be called a child excellent and wise.”
“My love–I am hearing a voice
I never hoped to hear,
but still I kept my eagerness quiet.
I heard with no cry in response.
But now, I have you. You are clear as day,
holding the dearest vision before me,
something I never could forget in any troubles.”
“There are many wonders and none
is more awe-inspiring than humanity.
This thing that crosses the sea
as it whorls under a stormy wind
finding a path on enveloping waves.
It wears down imperishable Earth, too,
the oldest of the gods, a tireless deity,
as the plows trace lives from year to year
drawn by the race of horses….”
In our third season of the series, we are returning to plays we have performed before from different angles. We started a few weeks ago with a live, in-person performance at Harvard.
Sophocles, Antigone 737
“The state which belongs to one man is no state at all.”
πόλις γὰρ οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ἥτις ἀνδρός ἐσθ᾽ ἑνός.
This week we return to Sophocles’ Antigone, arguably one of the most famous plays from antiquity. Alongside Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannos and Euripides’ Bacchae, Antigone is one of the most re-interpreted and translated plays in the last generation. Our performance will be bilingual in Modern Greek and English.
Sophocles, Antigone 1056
“The race of tyrants loves shameful profit.”
τὸ δ᾽ ἐκ τυράννων αἰσχροκέρδειαν φιλεῖ.
Translations
Sophocles, Antigone 141-145
“The seven leaders appointed to their seven gates
dedicated their bronze arms
to Zeus who turns the battle
except for only those two born
of a singer mother and father
who faced each other’s spears
each with a share of victory and death.”
Artistic Director: Paul O’Mahony (Out of Chaos Theatre) Director of Outreach: Amy Pistone (Gonzaga University) Executive Producer: Allie Marbry(Center for Hellenic Studies) Producers: Keith DeStone (Center for Hellenic Studies), Hélène Emeriaud, Janet Ozsolak, and Sarah Scott (Kosmos Society) Poster Artist: John Koelle Poster Designer: Allie Marbry (Center for Hellenic Studies)
Sophocles, Antigone 72–77
“It is noble for me to do this and then die.
I will lie with him because I belong to him, with him,
Once I have completed my sacred crimes. There’s more time
When I must please those below than those here,
Since I will lie there forever. You? Go head,
Dishonor what the gods honor if it seems right.”
“Stop speaking before you fill me with rage!
And you’re revealed as a fool as well as an old man.
You speak of unendurable things, claiming that the gods
Have some plan for this corpse.
Did they do it to honor him so greatly for his fine work,
Concealing him, the man who came here
To burn their temples and their statutes,
To ruin their land and their laws?
Do you see the gods honoring evil people?”
About a year ago, I asked my friend and colleague, Elijah Fleming, what she thought about hosting a movie review podcast. I had just defended my dissertation, the pandemic was in full swing and the year ahead promised mostly solitary work punctuated by the occasional zoom meeting. I needed something new, something engaging, something fun. So, I asked Eli, a fellow grad student at UT Austin, if she’d be interested in talking about movies, a frequent hobby of ours, but into a microphone and (hopefully) for an audience. Thus, Movies We Dig was born. You can listen to our first season on our website or on multiplestreamingplatforms.
Now, as the school year enters full swing, we’re excited to announce we’re returning for another season. We recently released a short episode laying out some teasers and plans, but I wanted to reflect a little more about our past and future plans, for both current and potential listeners.
From its first conception, we wanted MWD to go beyond nitpicking what movies get right or wrong, though shedding our pedantic tendencies remains a struggle (2004’s Troy has llamas!). Instead, we wanted to review movies as both works of art and of reception; how perceptions of the past intersect with contemporary media and culture. Moreover, we wanted to approach our material without the formal trappings of academic presentations or lectures, to get earnest and humorous reactions from experts but also movie-lovers. If it wasn’t fun, then what’s the point?
Very excited to announce @elijahfleming19 and Colin are returning for another season of Movies We Dig. Today we released a short proem teasing our upcoming episodes which promise more films, more not-films, more wonderful guests and all the hot-takes https://t.co/gVf6h6JXPm
Looking ahead, our initial goal of a lighthearted but (somewhat) informed show remains largely unchanged. If anything, we’re expanding. In addition to tackling some big titles we’ve kept in reserve (looking at you, Gladiator), we’re also branching out into other media. The ancient world has been a popular setting for many television programs, from the foundational I, Claudius to several current historical dramas like Barbarians and Britannia. Additionally, the last few years have seen a small blossoming of Classical myth and history in video games just begging for attention from our field, including two Assassin’sCreed titles and the indie smash hit Hades. It’s all on our radar.
Concerning expansion, our other goal for S2 is to bring in more voices to our hot-take-centric approach to ancient film criticism. Our first season was graced by a wonderful array of guests from public-facing classicists and archaeologists, including SA’s own Joel Christensen, and we’ve already got several exciting guests booked already. Still, we’re constantly seeking new guests, especially non-professors. Last year, we were joined by a fantastic group of first-year students from Adam Rabinowtiz’s class on the Trojan War to discuss Troy: Fall of a City.
This brings us to our final vocatio. Classicists near and far, if you, your colleagues or your students know a film, show or game that needs discussion, reach us at movieswedig@gmail.com or on Twitter at @dig_movies. Please listen, like, review, subscribe and get ready to dig some more movies, not-movies and all the hot takes.
You can learn more about us the hosts on our website, where you can also find links on where to listen.
Just a few days left to win money and immortal fame! (For students in the US and Canada, at least. The competition in Greece is open to December 18 and so is the UK version)
Let’s start with the basic details:
High School and College students in North America (and UK and Greece): Create a short video of yourselves performing part of Euripides’ Medea
The contest is open to high school and college students in the US and Canada (as well as the UK and Greece, but on a different schedule with different translations) and there is a $400 prize for first place, and two $200 prizes for second place. We’re using Diane Rayor’s translation and you can choose from a selection of scenes, all of which are available here.
So, record a scene from Medea and submit it by 23rd October 2020. Our panel of judges (including representatives from the British American Drama Academy) will watch all submissions and then announce the winners during the Reading Greek Tragedy Online episode on Medea on 11th November 2020.
This competition has grown out of the weekly meetings of Reading Greek Tragedy Online. We started this project during the early days of the pandemic lockdown in the United States and have learned a lot about Greek tragedy and performance while also maintaining some sense of community even while living alone. We know that this is a year of unparalleled isolation and stress for students and teachers alike, so we designed this project to expand our community and encourage others to strengthen their own.
We encourage creativity and daring, and we welcome all contributions however modest they may seem. Entries can be recorded entirely on zoom, or by groups who are able to share the same space. University or high school groups can enter multiple times, but each actor can appear in only one submission.
Our website also includes a dramaturgy pack (thanks to Emma Pauly for putting it together) which includes information about the play, its characters, and its production history. There is also a wonderful Medea ebook created by the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama.
Here’s a video of Amy Pistone, Paul O‘Mahony and me trying to be clear in on 3 or 5 takes.
The contest is open to high school and college students in the US and Canada (there will be separate competitions in assorted other countries) and there is a $400 prize for first place, and two $200 prizes for second place. We’re using Diane Rayor’s translation and you can choose from a selection of scenes, all of which are available here.
So, record a scene from Medea and submit it by 23rd October 2020. Our panel of judges (including representatives from the British American Drama Academy) will watch all submissions and then announce the winners during the Reading Greek Tragedy Online episode on Medea on 11th November 2020.
This competition has grown out of the weekly meetings of Reading Greek Tragedy Online. We started this project during the early days of the pandemic lockdown in the United States and have learned a lot about Greek tragedy and performance while also maintaining some sense of community even while living alone. We know that this is a year of unparalleled isolation and stress for students and teachers alike, so we designed this project to expand our community and encourage others to strengthen their own.
We encourage creativity and daring, and we welcome all contributions however modest they may seem. Entries can be recorded entirely on zoom, or by groups who are able to share the same space. University or high school groups can enter multiple times, but each actor can appear in only one submission.
Our website also includes a dramaturgy pack (thanks to Emma Pauly for putting it together) which includes information about the play, its characters, and its production history. There is also a wonderful Medea ebook created by the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama.
Here’s a video of Amy Pistone, Paul O‘Mahony and me trying to be clear in on 3 or 5 takes.
“Would you rather be a tyrant or save your country?”
πότερα τυραννεῖν ἢ πόλιν σῶσαι θέλεις,
Euripides, Phoenician Women 357-360
“Mother, I have come with good intentions among enemy men Even though it is a bad plan. Still, everyone loves their country By necessity. Anyone who claims otherwise is just playing with words— Keeping their true thought deep inside.”
“I want to offer some bit of wisdom to you: Whenever a friend is angry with a friend And comes together to look them in the eyes, One must examine on those things they are discussing And make no reminder of troubles they had before.”
Tamieka Chavis – Jocasta/Tiresias Tabatha Gayle – Antigone/Eteocles Richard Klautsch – Creon Sara Valentine – Menoeceus/Messenger Noree Victoria – Chorus Argyris Xafis – Polynices/Oedipus
Special Guest: Anna Lamari
Euripides, Phoenician Women 469-472
“The story of truth is simple. It does not require sophisticated interpretations. Its very character is the occasion! But unjust speech Is sick and needs clever medicines to work.”
Artistic Director: Paul O’Mahony (Out of Chaos Theatre) Associate Director: Liz Fisher Director of Outreach: Amy Pistone (Gonzaga University) Dramaturg: Emma Pauly Executive Producer: Lanah Koelle (Center for Hellenic Studies) Producers: Keith DeStone (Center for Hellenic Studies), Hélène Emeriaud, Janet Ozsolak, and Sarah Scott (Kosmos Society) Poster Artist: John Koelle Poster Designer: Allie Marbry (Center for Hellenic Studies)
Upcoming Episodes
Performing Epic 1, Homer’s Iliad, October 7th
Euripides, Rhesus, October 14th
Aeschylus, Agamemnon, October 21
Euripides, Phoenician Women 889-890
“Since the wicked part is stronger than the good, There is one other strategy for salvation.”
“When god has given us this kind of support for life Are we not truculent if it isn’t pleasing to us? Arrogance seeks to be stronger than god— Because we have boasts in our thoughts we think We are wiser than divinities.”
“There are three groups of citizens: the wealthy Are useless and are always longing for more. Those who have nothing and struggling for a living Are frightening because they honor envy too much And aim their wicked barbs at the well-to-do, Directed by the words of their cowardly leaders. Those people in the middle third save cities By preserving the order that each state creates.”
“There is nothing more hateful to a state than a tyrant. There, first, there are no common laws Because one person rules, holding the law In his control. This is not equality. When laws are written both the weak And the wealthy receive equal judgment. It is possible then for the weak to accuse The lucky whenever they are slandered And the smaller person overcomes the great if his cause is just. This is freedom: “Who has a good idea And wants to offer counsel to the state?”
This week keeps us in the city of Thebes and contemplating unburied dead, but with a typical Euripidean twist. Instead of just the body of Polynices being at issue, Euripides’ play centers around the chorus of mothers of the Seven Against Thebes who supplicated Theseus in Athens to force Thebes to allow their bodies to be buried. Beyond the basic expansion of the funerary rites theme to the entire expedition, this play also introduces fascinating questions of Athenian empire and the ability of any one Greek city state to force another to maintain some basic level of civilization.
This play was allegedly performed in 423 BCE and reflects some earlier historical changes in ritual (there were tombs to the seven warriors erected on the borders of Attica in the historical period. But it would not be strange to wonder how this reflects the concerns of the Athenian and people during the Peloponnesian War.
Euripides, Suppliant Women 486-488
“All people certainly understand the better Of two arguments, the good and the bad, By how much peace is better than war for mortals.”
Artistic Director: Paul O’Mahony (Out of Chaos Theatre) Associate Director: Liz Fisher Director of Outreach: Amy Pistone (Gonzaga University) Dramaturg: Emma Pauly Executive Producer: Lanah Koelle (Center for Hellenic Studies) Producers: Keith DeStone (Center for Hellenic Studies), Hélène Emeriaud, Janet Ozsolak, and Sarah Scott (Kosmos Society) Poster Artist: John Koelle Poster Designer: Allie Marbry (Center for Hellenic Studies)
Upcoming Episodes
Euripides, Phoenician Women, September 30
Performing Epic 1, Homer’s Iliad, October 7th
Euripides, Rhesus, October 14th
Euripides, Suppliant Women 1006-1008
“The sweetest death Is to die together with your loved ones If some god will allow such things.”
This week brings us back to Thebes, one of the central locations for Ancient Greek myth, and likely the second most famous tale of a besieged city from the ancient world. The tale of Seven Against Thebes is part of the Oedipus story, following on from his departure from the city and his cursing of his sons. We have records of a famous epic which told this tale, the lost Thebais, but Aeschylus’ version is our earliest full text dedicated to the struggle between Eteocles and Polyneices. Sophocles and Euripides will provide their own versions of this story, focusing in part on different aspects.
Aeschylus’ account takes us from the anticipation before the battle right up through the conflict over burying the brothers (more well-known from Sophocles’ Antigone). This play was produced in 467 BCE as part of a trilogy dedicated to the family of Oedipus, apparently with a play dedicated to each generation: Laios, Oedipus, and the warring sons. The bulk of this play is the run up to the action, the description of where each of the famous seven fights, and the aftermath.
Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 287-295
“I care about this, but my heart cannot sleep in fear. Anxiety lives next door To my heart, growing fear About the enemies around my wall Just as a dove shakes all over Afraid of the snakes with evil plans For the children sleeping in their beds.”
“The story hunts through my chest Each strand of my hair stands straight up As I leason to the boasts of these boastful Unholy men. If the gods are gods, I pray they destroy them in our land.”
Artistic Director: Paul O’Mahony (Out of Chaos Theatre) Associate Director: Liz Fisher Director of Outreach: Amy Pistone (Gonzaga University) Dramaturg: Emma Pauly Executive Producer: Lanah Koelle (Center for Hellenic Studies) Producers: Keith DeStone (Center for Hellenic Studies), Hélène Emeriaud, Janet Ozsolak, and Sarah Scott (Kosmos Society) Poster Artist: John Koelle Poster Designer: Allie Marbry (Center for Hellenic Studies)
“It is just as if the sea is driving on
Waves of troubles. One recedes but another rises
Three times as strong. And it crashes around
The city’s prow.
In between all we have
Is this thin breadth of a wall.”
“Our state is hard to please and loves complaints”
δυσάρεστος ἡμῶν καὶ φιλόψογος πόλις.
Euripides, Elektra 112-119
“Quicken the move of your foot with song Walk on, walk on in tears. Ah, my life. I am a child of Agamemnon, And Klytemnestra also bore me, That horrible daughter of Tydnareus. The citizens around call me Unlucky Elektra.”
“Stranger, women love their husbands not their children.”
γυναῖκες ἀνδρῶν, ὦ ξέν᾿, οὐ παίδων φίλαι
If this week’s story sounds familiar, well, it should. Euripides’ Electra revisits some of the same basic myths as his Orestes and the same story as Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers and Sophocles’ Electra. Of course, since this is Euripides, the tale is far from the same as either playwright or his own treatment. In this version, Electra really is front and center and she has a husband–who doesn’t touch her, don’t worry–and a kind of agency over the action she does not enjoy elsewhere.
This play, then, is famous for its engagement with Aeschylus and Homer (watch for a fabulous scar) while also offering potential parallels for Sophocles’ own version which may have been written later. This play likely proceeds Euripides’ Orestes with its murderous ends and responds in different ways to the Orestes who appears in foreign lands in Iphigenia at Tauris. But it is still Euripides: tune in for thelock of hair and footprints, stay for the Dioscuri taking it all home.
Euripides, Elektra 585-595
“You have come, You have come! O long-coming day, You are shining bright and you have shown A clear sign to the city, a torch which went On an ancient flight from paternal halls Wandering miserably abroad. A god, some god, brings us victory, Friend. Raise up your hands! Raise up the tale! Let loose prayers to the gods that with luck, With luck your brother enters our city now.”
Artistic Director: Paul O’Mahony (Out of Chaos Theatre) Associate Director: Liz Fisher Director of Outreach: Amy Pistone (Gonzaga University) Dramaturg: Emma Pauly Executive Producer: Lanah Koelle (Center for Hellenic Studies) Producers: Keith DeStone (Center for Hellenic Studies), Hélène Emeriaud, Janet Ozsolak, and Sarah Scott (Kosmos Society) Poster Artist: John Koelle Poster Designer: Allie Marbry (Center for Hellenic Studies)
Euripides, Electra938-945
“What deceived you the most, what you misunderstood, Is that someone can be strong because of money. Money can only stay with us for a brief time. Character is strength, not money. Character always stands at our sides and bears our troubles. Wealth shacks up with fools unjustly and then disappears Leaving their houses once it bloomed for a little while.”
“I join in pity for this woman, undone by her children. God certainly gives out justice at some point or another. You suffered terribly things, but, wretched woman You did unholy things to your husband.”
