euripides

It's the annual etymology quizlusionist! I’m on a family holiday for the first time since 1988, so enlisted my brother Andy Zaltzman of the Bugle podcast to test his/your wits on singing goats, explosives, mythological Greek sweeteners, attics, left-handedness and whales.

Can you beat Andy’s score? Play along using the interactive scoresheet at theallusionist.org/andyquiz.

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Don't care about the likes of Homer and Sophocles and Thucydides? You should! 

Since the 1970s, Marion Bailey has worked pretty consistently on screen and on stage in a huge variety of films, plays and TV shows. Today, she is currently starring in a brand new production of Medea, directed by Dominic Cooke at the brand new @Soho Place Theatre. The show explores the themes of injustice and revenge, and Marion kindly took the time to discuss how the show has remained relevant throughout the years. In this new production, audiences will also be treated to a lesser known translation by Robertson Jeffers, who Marion describes as "breathtaking". Sophie Okonedo and Ben Daniels will also be starring alongside Marion as Medea and Jason/Creon/Aegues respectively.

Marion Bailey is perhaps best known to audiences for her collaboration with Mike Leigh on films such as Meantime, Secrets & Lies and Mr. Turner where she received universal critical acclaim for her portrayal of Mrs Booth. More recently, Marion also collected 2 SAG awards alongside Season 3 and 4 cast of Netflix drama The Crown for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. In this special interview, Marion also reveals her thoughts on controversy around the latest season of The Crown as well as which other Royal Family member she'd be interested in playing. Just after the Queen passed away last year, Marion also reprised the role of Q in Handbagged and she shares her memories of playing the role during that time of national mourning. Now, as she plays the Nurse in Medea,  Marion reflects on her 40 year career as a true character actress, collaborating with various acclaimed directors, writers and actors. We hear her share her gratitude to those who have supported her and it seems we still have a lot to look forward to from Marion Bailey in the years ahead.

Medea plays at @SohoPlace Theatre until Saturday 22nd April.

Photo by Paul King

"He is a young god.
Mythologically obscure,
always just arriving

at some new place
to disrupt the status quo,
wearing the start of a smile."

--from Ann Carson' translation "The Bakkhai"

In the northern hemisphere we began our collective descent into winter's darkness, with the fall equinox on Wednesday September 22nd.

This is a good time to meditate on the most famous myth of the god Dionysus, intoxicating god of the night. It's a play written by Euripides in the 5th century BCE called "The Bacchae."

Athenians found the cautionary message of this play subversive. It disturbed their image of Greek reason, democracy, social order, and power. The women don't stay in their place. It ends on a gruesome note.

A few years after the play was performed, Athens fell to Sparta and their empire building was over. Euripides was in self-imposed exile, and perhaps he saw something that his fellow citizens could not...

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The perfect cautionary tale for why you should never receive gifts from an angry ex. In the final of our three Greek Tragedy episodes for season one, we discuss how playwright Euripides modified the story of Medea and take a quick dive into Greek mythology. 

Content Warning: Discussion of family violence and filicide.

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To find out more about Prospect Park Productions NZ and our other theatre work go to https://www.prospectpark.co.nz/

Super heroes and super twisted plots... is Sophocles a better psychological playwright than Euripides? How can we understand ancient art? And would Plato have liked cubism? 

This Classical Wisdom Speaks Episode is with Nickolas Pappas, Professor of Philosophy and Executive Officer of the Philosophy Program, at the City University of New York Graduate Center. He is an expert in Plato and author of several books, including "Plato's Exceptional City, Love, and Philosopher, Politics” and “Philosophy in Plato's Menexenus” as well as “The Routledge Guidebook to Plato's Republic.”

We discuss how we can understand ancient art and theater and the role psychology plays in its understanding...

You can purchase Nicklas’ book,  "Plato's Exceptional City, Love, and Philosopher, Politics”, here: https://www.routledge.com/Platos-Exceptional-City-Love-and-Philosopher/Pappas/p/book/9780367424473 

For more information about Classical Wisdom's Podcast Classical Wisdom Speaks, please check out our website at: http://classicalwisdom.com

Sign up to get Classical Wisdom's Free newsletter as well as a FREE E-book on the "Two Sides of Jesus", Here: https://classicalwisdom.com/free-e-book-two-sides-of-jesus/ 

For 60 years, Nancye Hayes has been a mainstay of the Australian stage, starring in the Australian premieres of shows like Sweet Charity and Chicago and championing new work and young artists. She joins us to reflect on a life spent treading the boards.

Also, we meet a group of Melbournians who spent their Friday nights in lockdown on Zoom delving into Greek tragedies. We log on with them and discover how these 2,000-year-old plays are strangely resonant with life in 2020.