As a Classical Philologist, I'm surprised to hear someone (who is clearly no expert on the matter, even though she is a "theatre scholar") declare that the Theater of the Sanctuary of Asklepios in Epidauros would not have seen any performances of Classical Greek tragedies or comedies. Of course there are no "inscriptions" in the theatre talking about such performances! Why would there be a need for that? Everybody at the time knew what a theatre of 12,000 seats was for. What this person is saying, makes no sense. It is like stating that the Colosseum in Rome never saw any gladiator fights because we didn't find any pictures or documents with the names of the fighters on the arena. Much worse even is the reference to Greece as being fascist in the 1930s. Greece at that time was not in the slightest way fascist, although it wasn't a democratic republic either. If it had been a fascist country, then why did it resist Mussolini's troops and the Nazi invasion so fiercely?! This is worse than bad journalism. This is an insult to journalism and the history of Greece! Apart from that, I find this documentary from the very start to the very end rather cynical in tone, and way too egocentric. I'm not interested in personal and very subjective musings. I'm interested in correct information. If the journalist finds Aristophanes' humour too crude, that is because she's not Greek and certainly not Ancient Greek and more than certainly not an expert on Greek comedies. Complaining about how everything used to be so well arranged in the past and now is "dead air", doesn't do justice to the content and quality of the festival but says everything about the journalist herself. Some of them are spoilt rotten, expecting everything everywhere for them to be free. Anyway, it is now 2018 and the Festival is more than ever alive and kicking.
As a Classical Philologist, I'm surprised to hear someone (who is clearly no expert on the matter, even though she is a "theatre scholar") declare that the Theater of the Sanctuary of Asklepios in Epidauros would not have seen any performances of Classical Greek tragedies or comedies. Of course there are no "inscriptions" in the theatre talking about such performances! Why would there be a need for that? Everybody at the time knew what a theatre of 12,000 seats was for. What this person is saying, makes no sense. It is like stating that the Colosseum in Rome never saw any gladiator fights because we didn't find any pictures or documents with the names of the fighters on the arena.
Much worse even is the reference to Greece as being fascist in the 1930s. Greece at that time was not in the slightest way fascist, although it wasn't a democratic republic either. If it had been a fascist country, then why did it resist Mussolini's troops and the Nazi invasion so fiercely?! This is worse than bad journalism. This is an insult to journalism and the history of Greece!
Apart from that, I find this documentary from the very start to the very end rather cynical in tone, and way too egocentric. I'm not interested in personal and very subjective musings. I'm interested in correct information. If the journalist finds Aristophanes' humour too crude, that is because she's not Greek and certainly not Ancient Greek and more than certainly not an expert on Greek comedies. Complaining about how everything used to be so well arranged in the past and now is "dead air", doesn't do justice to the content and quality of the festival but says everything about the journalist herself. Some of them are spoilt rotten, expecting everything everywhere for them to be free. Anyway, it is now 2018 and the Festival is more than ever alive and kicking.
May I use your video for a classroom presentation? It's purely for an educational purpose.
Intresting