How lucky were we????? We just happened to be in Siracusa for the time of the Ancient Greek fesitval. (yes, there is no way our planning would be that good)
So here we have the Greek amphitheatre set up to do what it was built to do well over 2000 years ago. Ok, due to some modifications made by the Romans (they really wanted to stage their navel battles here) and the intervening time, the amphitheatre no longer provides seating for the original 16000 and the acoustics require the assistance of mics and amps etc But gee golly wizz this is something else!
AND we had seats in the 3rd row only just slightly off centre... (this pic was taken afterwards from the top)
So what did we watch? We sat for three hours completely spellbound by Euripides' Phaedra...all in Italian... Yes ok, i know we've been here for a while and so should understand a fair share of Italian but in the end it wasn't the dialogue that brought meaning to the play for us. The performance was incredible. Phaedra's nurse was particularly captivating. I mean seriously, the half an hour dialogue between Phaedra and her nurse had the audience visibly drained. You really felt her anguish as she threw herself across the stage. (ok, enough of that. Lets just say 'it was situational')
Below is Phaedra (red) being held by her nurse, and the onlooking chorus, who incidentally put modern rock stars to shame with the movements they pulled off while holding their one choral note for what seemed an eternity.
And once again my impatience to learn how this programme really works has led to wrong photos and photos in the wrong place. So ignore the one below (it is correctly in a previous post too) and back to the first photo showing Hippolytis, son of Theseus, who the ladies apparently could not leave alone...and the tragedy begins. In short Hippolytis has pledged himself to the Goddess Artemis, the virgin huntress, to whom he is making the sacrifice in the first picture (you should have seen all the firefighters on standby for that one) Of course then, Aphrodite falls in love with him and is offended to the extent that only a female Greek goddess can be when our hero wont break his vow of chastity to Artemis, to be with her. In revenge, Aphrodite curses Phaedra to fall in love (um more like lust) with Hippolytis, the problem being that she is his stepmother. In complete anguish at this unrequited 'love' Phaedra confesses all to her nurse (the above picture) and a few other bits about her family too (apparently her mother had um well, relations with a bull, resulting in the Minotaur, and her sister was the object of Poseidon's 'love')
Phaedra's nurse promises a "Love Cure" (what a contrary notion) for her charge and so needs a hair from the object of her affection's head. To get the hair she confesses all to Hippolytis and, as only a Greek hero can, he gets all dramatic about this unnatural love (bare in mind the mere humans know nothing of Aphrodite's involvement at this stage) denouncing Pheadra to all who will listen. Petrified that he will reveal her secret to Theseus, her husband, Phaedra decides that the only way to save her honour is...yes, to commit suicide. Oh and of course the usual "if i'm going down, i'm taking him with me". So before hanging herself, she attaches a a tablet to her wrist accusing Hippolytis of driving her to suicide (something about improper advances he made on her hmmmm). Theseus then, of course, believes the tablet over the word of his son and banishes him all the while bringing a curse down on him courtesy of his father...Posiedon... Yes, the obliging Deity provides a seabull to frighten the young man's horse who drags said young man to his death. Finally, the elusive Artemis shows up and explains exactly what happened to the terrifying Theseus (he seriously had me shaking during his curse monologue). As a consolation prize, Artemis starts the cult of Hippolytis (lucky him)
What an incredible evening!!!And we finished the trip off with a typical Sicilian Granite - ice and almond cream (um and maybe some other delicious things...)
