More from the ever-growing depths of the ‘to blog’ file of my mailbox … for the past while, the fine folks at ABC Tasmania have been bringing Classicist Geoff Adams in to enlighten us about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World … the series has just concluded (I think), so here they all are in one convenient post (n.b.: I couldn’t get the player to work in any of these, but downloading the file worked fine):
Category: Popculch
Discussing the Discobolus
The Discobolus seems to be much in the news today because it is being featured at the Olympics, of course, but also because a Chinese sculptor has made a ‘companion piece’, to wit:
The BBC has a nice interview with Ian Jenkins about the BM’s version of the discobolus, and a bit of chat about this fellow hanging out with that Roman copy:
Mary Beard has a bit of commentary on all this as well:
Socrates Going on Trial Again
I first read about this in Greek Reporter a few days ago, but it wasn’t sufficiently detailed for my liking … now ANSA comes through, however:
Have you ever dreamed of having a time machine to travel as you wish into the past and personally witness an historical event? Today, in some ways, this is possible. As a matter of fact the aficionados of great trials will be able to witness online and live the replica of one of the most famous trials in history, the one against the Greek philosopher Socrates which took place about 2500 years ago and ended with the death penalty for the defendant charged with hemlock poisoning. This time there will be new judges in the case and there is the possibility that the final verdict might even be different.
The initiative of repeating the trial, as Kathimerini newspaper reported, came from the Onassis foundation and will take place on May 25 in the prestigious headquarters of the foundation’s cultural centre in Athens. Famous European and American jurists were invited to re-examine the social and legal claims which were taken against Socrates, whereas the final decision will be up to the members of the public which will follow the trial in the courtroom and online.
Socrates had been accused of heresy towards the locals, wanting to introduce new gods and to corrupt the young. He was put on trial by 500 citizens of Athens as jurors and judges and the philosopher was found guilty with a majority of 280 votes and was condemned to death. Historical accounts have told us that Socrates remained tranquil and composed during the whole trial and also after hearing his sentence.
Today, many centuries after his death in 399 BC, the great philosopher is back in the dock. Presenting extensive discussions and talks from both parts, the event is aimed to re-examine the trial based on historical and contemporary accounts, trying to adapt the court case to the modern day standards of public ethics and current perception of justice.
This exchange of judicial arguments also proposes a new approach to Socrates as a Philosopher and to his contribution to the public life of ancient Athens.
A similar virtual trial against Socrates was organised by the Onassis Foundation last May at the Federal Court in New York and ended with his acquittal. Will this year’s verdict be different? Those in defence of Socrates this year will be the British lawyer Michael Beloff and his French colleague Patrick Simon, whereas the lawyers called to represent the Public Ministry and the interests of the city of Athens will be Ilias Anagnostopoulos, lawyer at the Supreme Court and professor at Athens University and the lawyer Anthony Papadimitriou who is also Chairman of the Onassis Foundation.
Taking part in the jury are Sir Richard Aikens and Sir Stephen Sedley, both members of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales; Sophie-Caroline De Margerie, judge of the French State Council; Pierre Delvolve and Francois Terre, both members of the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences; Stephan Gass, vice-president of the Swiss Court of Appeal; Giuseppe Nay, former president of the Swiss Federal Court; Loretta Preska, Head judge of New York City’s south district; Anna Psarouda-Benaki, professor of criminal law and former president of the Greek Parliament; Vasilleios Rigas, vice-president of the Supreme Court of Athens and Peter Westermann, professor of law at Tubingen University.
The new Socrates virtual trial will be shown live on the website: www.sgt.gr/dikisocrati.
- via: Greece: philosopher Socrates back in the dock (ANSA)
Interestingly, last year — almost to the day — they did a similar thing in New York: Socrates Retried Redux; I don’t think that one was generally available like this one seems to be. If the link up there doesn’t work for you, try this one (I think the above is the actual broadcast and isn’t live yet; the latter link is the Greek homepage for the event). Not sure if this is going to be an English thing or subtitled or what.
Some Ancient/Modern Olympics Commentary
A couple of items of interest comparing Olympics ancient and modern:
- The real ancient Olympic spirit: political, bawdy, and brutal (Boston Globe) [by Neil Faulkner, of Military Times and Current Archaeology fame]
- Paying your way to the Olympics (Courier) [by David Pritchard from UQueensland]
Kermit as Caligula?
Strange one from the Independent:
It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights – Kermit the Frog is in appearing in a tale of dictatorship, violence and sexual depravity.
Audiences will see the children’s character, along with hero He-Man and clown Ronald McDonald, in a much darker way later this month when new versions take to the stage for English National Opera’s UK premiere of the German composer Detlev Glanert’s opera Caligula. Members of the chorus will wear costumes reminiscent of the famous figures of fun to represent a society living in terror. Other costumes will include those inspired by Miss World-style beauty-pageant contestants, show girls, a doughnut and a turkey. Costume designer Alice Babidge said that while people might associate the characters with “colour and movement and fun, light fluffy things”, there were things that were “sad and different and frightening” about her surreal interpretations.
Based on Albert Camus’ play of the same name, which he wrote as a response to Hitler and Stalin, Glanert’s 2006 opera examines the rise of the modern dictator. Both versions chart the rule of the tyrannical and decadent Roman emperor Caligula, whose life, following the death of his sister and lover, Drusilla, loses meaning. He pursues a destructive path of cruelty, murder and depravity.
The ENO’s production is the latest from the imaginative and acclaimed Australian director Benedict Andrews, who last month directed Hollywood star Cate Blanchett in Sydney Theatre Company’s staging of Big and Small (Gross und Klein) at the Barbican.
The opera’s 40-strong chorus represents Caligula’s people. Andrews said their unusual costumes – which provide a contrast in Act II to the fine suits, fur and diamonds that characterise a wealthy society in the first act – are used “to portray the abused citizens of a totalitarian state”. “They are examples of a populace living in terror, perhaps forced to dress up by Caligula. A senator says, ‘It is all a dream. He will change all of his nightmares into corpses.’ These unusual costumes help form a portrait of this nightmare society… a society whose ruler Caligula has gone insane.”
Andrews, who last year directed the ENO’s powerful production of The Return of Ulysses at the Young Vic, has set Caligula in a football stadium in a nameless, fictional state run by a military dictatorship. “The staging concept comes from studying images of ancient Roman stadiums, and of contemporary sports fields,” he said. “I was struck how these places have been co-opted by the forces of state terror, ie the National Stadium in Chile under Pinochet… The stadium becomes filled with people, sometimes they seem to be real, at other times creatures from Caligula’s imagination.”
Artistic director John Berry said that Andrews, “one of the hottest directors” in theatre, not only had an “amazing visual sense” but was also a wonderful director of performers. He added that Caligula’s score did not put any barriers in front of an audience new to contemporary opera. “It feels very modern but it also has a romantic air to it,” he said. “It’s emotional, it’s atmospheric. It varies from absolutely explosive music that is highly technical to music that is incredibly simple.”
via: Kermit the Frog joins the chorus – in ‘Caligula’ (Independent)
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