Thucydides from Page to Stage

Jocasta Classical Reception Greece is pleased to organise, as part of the course Reception of Ancient Greek Drama, a lecture and discussion with Professor Spyridon Rangos, entitled “Τὰ γενόμενα καὶ αἰεὶ ἐσόμενα: Thucydides on the consequences of a crisis”, followed by a workshop by director and theatrologist Georgina Kakoudaki, entitled “Δημόσιον σῆμα: History through the Narrative of the Polis”.

Recently there has been a renewed interest in the re-reading of Thucydides’ History of The Peloponnesian War in relation with today’s society (e.g. Kokkinou’s dramatic cyborgean rendering of Thucydides’ History (2014-2015), Robert Zaretsky’s article “What Would Thucydides Say About the Crisis in Greece” in NY Times, Christine Lee and Neville Morley’s A Handbook to the Reception of Thucydides, 2015 which explores the reception of Thucydides’ work in Modernity, the conference “From Thucydides to Twitter: Towards a History of the Soundbite”, London). Thucydides’ work seems to be all the more relevant for the negotiation of contemporary societal problems and the uprising crises. In this respect, this event seeks to explore the relevance of Thucydides’ work form two different angles.

Rarely does Thucydides deliver direct personal judgements. Usually he relies merely on the accurate description of events and the creative redevelopment of selected speeches. However, in two cases he deviates from his usual practice. After the exposure of the plague symptoms which struck the Athenians in 430 BC and after the description of the civil conflict between oligarchs and democrats in Corfu in 427 BC, Thucydides makes straight and even intentionally generalised judgments about the demoralisation and the shameless violation of human and divine law that caused these events. Chapters II.52-53 and III.82-83 of Thucydides’ work deserve to be analysed in detail because they constitute enlarged images of the consequences of any intense social crisis.

Georgina Kakoudaki, a director and theatrologist who has over the years developed a special interest in the theatre for teens, adaptation of classical drama for the stage and site-specific performances, will conduct a workshop entitled  “Δημόσιον σῆμα: History through the Narrative of the Polis”.  The workshop seeks to explore how Pericles’ Funeral Oration can be re-addressed in a peripatetic theatre performance articulating and being articulated by the polis.

Because of the limited number of available seats (35) please prebook your seat electronically here, should you wish to attend the event.

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