The Museum of Cycladic Art is planning an archeological exhibition on the subject of ancient theater for the end of 2023. The new exhibition, the title of which will be announced soon, will be the first curated by the museum’s new Scientific Director, Nikolaos Kaltsas.
The exhibition will focus on ancient drama as an expression of democratic thought. Sculptures, vases with scenes from tragedies, artifacts related to actors’ costumes and the cult of Dionysus, the god of theater, sourced from museums in Greece and Europe, will frame the exhibition, enabling the visitor to explore the deeper meaning of drama and its role as both education and entertainment in ancient Greek society.
Connected with the worship of Dionysus, the god of vegetation, fertility, and ritual madness, theaters in ancient Greece were originally used for important religious festivals. Mythology and the Epic Cycle inspired the great tragedians of the 5th century BC, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, to compose texts that touched upon universal themes, exploring moral, social and political issues, while the satirical comedies of Aristophanes poked fun at the state of society and its ruling elites; the cornerstone of free expression in early democratic Athens. Most importantly of all, attendance at the theater was open to everyone, even slaves.
Ancient Greek tragedy provided the blueprint for the writing of similar works during the Roman period, notably by Seneca and Quinto Ennio, then in the Renaissance and later by writers such as Racine, Voltaire, Alfieri, Shakespeare, Goethe, and others. It was also a source of inspiration for the creation of another genre, opera.
In a statement on the website of the Museum of Cycladic Art, Scientific Director Nikolaos Kaltsas commented:
“If equality, the equal possibility of freedom of speech in public, is one of the basic components of Athenian democracy, then it is no coincidence that, when the seed of this new political system was planted in Athens, at the southern foot of the Acropolis the theater developed as an expression of free democratic thought. In tragedy the myth is only the occasion; everything else is the work of the poet, who poses dilemmas on stage, judges, criticizes, praises, challenges and lets the viewer choose their side. But mostly it leaves them with questions. On the other hand, comedy does not use a mythical place and time, but the city of Athens and the present, commenting on the news with satire.”
“One could describe as a miracle this perfect poetic-theatrical genre that was developed and magnified in Athens 2,500 years ago and is still valid today, with the works of ancient tragedy being played by the biggest troupes, both in Greece and around the world, to charm and excite the public. Renowned Greek and famous foreign directors, such as Dimitris Rontiris, Karolos Koun, Peter Stein, Max Reinhardt, Bob Wilson, Yukio Ninagawa of No theater and many others, have staged ancient Greek plays with great success. At the Museum of Cycladic Art, we chose theater as the theme of our next exhibition, as so far no exhibition has been presented that “teaches” the public about ancient drama in its entirety, from its beginnings in the framework of religious worship to its development as the highest literary and theatrical genre,” he added.
Source: ekathimerini.com
