Looking ahead to the Dionysia

Written by thehouseofvines

moderndionysos

The next festival on our calendar is the Dionysia, which spans the 10th through the 17th of the month Thyrsos (or March 4-10 by the common reckoning.)

Although it’s still a ways off I spent much of last night doing research on theatrical culture in the Black Sea region, starting with Edith Hall’s masterful study.

One of the things that stood out for me is that historical subjects seem to have been nearly as popular as mythological; which further got me thinking that it might be fun to write a play for the festival.

But I’m uncertain if I should do one on Themistokles, Skyles, Mithridates Eupator, Grigori Rasputin, or Aleksandr Dugin.

What do you guys think?

Cast your vote in the comments section below.

10 thoughts on “Looking ahead to the Dionysia”

  2. Speaking of theatre, would you happen to know where I can get my hands on Ivanov’s work? Particularly his The Hellenic Religion of the Suffering God?

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      1. I’ve found some commentaries on his work but nothing too crazy. Just some critiques of Friedrich Nietzsche that he made. Apparently Ivanov felt that Nietzsche lost his touch after Thus Sprake Zarathustra.

        I wonder what would happen if we searched for it in Ivanov’s mother tongue…

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  4. Cleopatra VII: “I test poisons on prisoners so that I may learn their affects”.
    Mithridates Eupator: “That’s cute. Here…hold my Hemlock”

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    1. That exchange has an extra level of comedy when you remember that Mithridates Eupator tried to escape being captured by poisoning himself but it didn’t work because he truly became immune to poisons through his own treatment. Hoisted by his own petard…

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      1. @tetradactyl that was the inspiration behind my joke. Also, I try to speak Meme whenever I can…part of my attempt to stay as young as possible.

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