Greece - Korina Miller [37]
Euripides (c 485–406 BC), whose most famous works are Medea, Andromache, Orestes and Bacchae, was more popular than either Aeschylus or Sophocles because his plots were considered more exciting. He wrote 80 plays, of which 19 are extant (although Rhesus is disputed).
* * *
DON’T WORRY
You see men stroking, fiddling and masterfully playing with them everywhere – the de-stressing worry beads that are not just an enduring tradition but a fashion statement. There are many theories about the origins of the komboloï – one is that Greeks first improvised with Islamic rosary beads to mock their enemy’s religious habits; another is that they derived from Orthodox monks’ rosaries. Komboloïa (plural) were traditionally made from amber, but coral, handmade beads, semiprecious stones and synthetic resin are also widely used. Most of the ones you see in souvenir shops are plastic but you can get komboloïa worth more than €10,000 and rare old ones are collector’s items.
* * *
Aristophanes (c 427–387 BC) wrote comedies – often ribald – that dealt with topical issues: The Wasps ridicules Athenians who resorted to litigation over trivialities; The Birds pokes fun at Athenian gullibility; and Ploutos deals with the unfair distribution of wealth.
You can see plays by the Ancient Greek playwrights at the Athens and Epidavros festivals Click here, and at various historic venues and festivals around the country. Drama continues to feature prominently in domestic arts. Athens supports a lively winter theatre scene, with more than 200 theatres presenting anything from Sophocles to Beckett, as well as popular slapstick comedies and political satires (presented in Greek).
The most distinguished modern Greek playwrights are the father of postwar drama Iakovos Kambanellis, Yiorgos Skourtis and Pavlos Matessis, whose plays have been translated and performed outside Greece.
Literature
FROM HOMER TO ZORBA
The first, and greatest, ancient Greek writer was Homer, author of the ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’, telling the story of the Trojan War and the subsequent wanderings of Odysseus. Nothing is known of Homer’s life; where or when he lived, or whether, as it’s alleged, he was blind. The historian Herodotus thought Homer lived in the 9th century BC, and no scholar since has proved or disproved this.
* * *
Collected Poems by George Seferis and Selected Poems by Odysseus Elytis are excellent English translations of these Greek poets.
* * *
Herodotus (5th century BC) was the author of the first historical work about Western civilisation. His highly subjective account of the Persian Wars, however, led some to regard him as the ‘father of lies’ as well as the ‘father of history’. The historian Thucydides (5th century BC) was more objective in his approach, but took a high moral stance. He wrote an account of the Peloponnesian Wars and also the famous Melian Dialogue, which chronicles talks between the Athenians and Melians prior to the Athenian siege of Melos.
Pindar (c 518–438 BC) is regarded as the pre-eminent lyric poet of Ancient Greece. He was commissioned to recite his odes at the Olympic Games. The greatest writers of love poetry were Sappho (6th century BC) and Alcaeus (5th century BC), both of whom lived on Lesvos. Sappho’s poetic descriptions of her affections for women gave rise to the term ‘lesbian’.
Dionysios Solomos (1798–1857) and Andreas Kalvos (1796–1869), who were both born on Zakynthos, are regarded as the first modern Greek poets. Solomos’ Hymn to Freedom became the Greek national anthem. Other notable literary figures include Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851–1911) from Skyros, and poet Kostis Palamas (1859–1943).
The best-known 20th-century poets are George