Achilleis – Reconstruction “A crowned jewel of literature”
This is the fascinating story of the discovery of an ancient text which was thought to be lost, while in fact, it was in front of us all this time, asleep inside some of the more famous works of the world. On the other hand, we have a culture that has decided to deprive mankind of the knowledge of ancient Greece, choosing to reveal only those elements which were considered useful so as to establish the current building of the modern civilization. But today, with the help of technology, we can travel other paths, to use the knowledge that will lead us into other lost knowledge which may overturn our values and the things we take for granted.
The Achilleis, the most famous work of the ancient world, written by the father of the theater, Aeschylus, is reborn in front of the unsuspecting eyes of the audience-reader after 2500 years from its first presentation. This reconstruction is not just the accumulation of data studied for centuries by scientists, but it literally brings back to life the lost tragedy of Achilles, the most famous hero in the history of mankind.These are stories of passion and revenge, of violent conflicts and battles and reflections, of loyalty and of redemption. This is the first work in the history of human civilization which refers to the relationship of two men and manages to overcome the narrow limits of the flesh and become a chariot of eternal faith, devotion, and forgiveness. If Romeo and Juliet is the most emblematic work symbolizing the relationship between a boy and a girl, then, in comparison, the story of Achilles and Patroclus, coming from the pen of Aeschylus, finds its exact match overturning the image we had until now for homosexuality. This is a deeply tender and also a tragic work, with love being born amidst the fiercest battle. It is yet another link connecting Greece with its glorious past and it is one more step in the struggle for an ascension so as to understand the miracle of the ancient Hellenic civilization.
The text presented as Malandris worked on it, who accepted from the beginning that he used parts of Homer to manage an approach and possibly with some interfere by the director, it was a text in a normal form. So maybe the play lacks some Aeschylian conflicts but to have some idea of a lost play of Aeschylus, when this happens in a good performance, is not bad at all. Not at all. Because the performance inspired by this text could be characterized only by the word “magic”.
“A thrilling lesson of ancient tragedy”
Eleutheros Typos, Panagiotis Timogiannakis 10 August 2004
A LOST tragedy by Aeschylus has been recovered from ancient ashes. Called Achilleis, it is part of his trilogy about the Trojan War. We knew that it existed. The play was mocked by Aristophanes and glossed by ancient commentators, but only fragments and references have survived. The only known copy had vanished, presumed burnt in the fire that destroyed the Library of Alexandria in the late third century AD.During excavations in Egypt, archaeologists discovered papyrus fragments of Achilles inside mummies.Debris from the fire had been discarded as rubbish and used as stuffing for the dead.The German scholar Bruno Snell placed together the fragments.
Elias Malandris, a Greek author, has reconstructed the entire play, using other fragments from the glosses and parts of the Iliad to fill gaps. Aeschylus based his tragedies on Homer, so there is justification for this pastiche.As a result we have rescued from oblivion the closest possible version to Aeschylus’ lost masterpieces..
Aeschylus wrote his tragedies about three centuries after Homer and he draws heavily on the language and morality of Homer.To recover a lost tragedy by him is a crowned jewel of literature..
Now we have the oldest, hottest ticket on the universal stage, the Achilleis.
For the oldest, hottest ticket on the universal stage,
Philip Howard & M.Theodoulou
The Times 15
This is the fascinating story of the discovery of an ancient text which was thought to be lost, while in fact, it was in front of us all this time, asleep inside some of the more famous works of the world. On the other hand, we have a culture that has decided to deprive mankind of the knowledge of ancient Greece, choosing to reveal only those elements which were considered useful so as to establish the current building of the modern civilization. But today, with the help of technology, we can travel other paths, to use the knowledge that will lead us into other lost knowledge which may overturn our values and the things we take for granted.
The Achilleis, the most famous work of the ancient world, written by the father of the theater, Aeschylus, is reborn in front of the unsuspecting eyes of the audience-reader after 2500 years from its first presentation. This reconstruction is not just the accumulation of data studied for centuries by scientists, but it literally brings back to life the lost tragedy of Achilles, the most famous hero in the history of mankind.These are stories of passion and revenge, of violent conflicts and battles and reflections, of loyalty and of redemption. This is the first work in the history of human civilization which refers to the relationship of two men and manages to overcome the narrow limits of the flesh and become a chariot of eternal faith, devotion, and forgiveness. If Romeo and Juliet is the most emblematic work symbolizing the relationship between a boy and a girl, then, in comparison, the story of Achilles and Patroclus, coming from the pen of Aeschylus, finds its exact match overturning the image we had until now for homosexuality. This is a deeply tender and also a tragic work, with love being born amidst the fiercest battle. It is yet another link connecting Greece with its glorious past and it is one more step in the struggle for an ascension so as to understand the miracle of the ancient Hellenic civilization.
The text presented as Malandris worked on it, who accepted from the beginning that he used parts of Homer to manage an approach and possibly with some interfere by the director, it was a text in a normal form. So maybe the play lacks some Aeschylian conflicts but to have some idea of a lost play of Aeschylus, when this happens in a good performance, is not bad at all. Not at all. Because the performance inspired by this text could be characterized only by the word “magic”.
“A thrilling lesson of ancient tragedy”
Eleutheros Typos, Panagiotis Timogiannakis 10 August 2004
A LOST tragedy by Aeschylus has been recovered from ancient ashes. Called Achilleis, it is part of his trilogy about the Trojan War. We knew that it existed. The play was mocked by Aristophanes and glossed by ancient commentators, but only fragments and references have survived. The only known copy had vanished, presumed burnt in the fire that destroyed the Library of Alexandria in the late third century AD.During excavations in Egypt, archaeologists discovered papyrus fragments of Achilles inside mummies.Debris from the fire had been discarded as rubbish and used as stuffing for the dead.The German scholar Bruno Snell placed together the fragments.
Elias Malandris, a Greek author, has reconstructed the entire play, using other fragments from the glosses and parts of the Iliad to fill gaps. Aeschylus based his tragedies on Homer, so there is justification for this pastiche.As a result we have rescued from oblivion the closest possible version to Aeschylus’ lost masterpieces..
Aeschylus wrote his tragedies about three centuries after Homer and he draws heavily on the language and morality of Homer.To recover a lost tragedy by him is a crowned jewel of literature..
Now we have the oldest, hottest ticket on the universal stage, the Achilleis.
For the oldest, hottest ticket on the universal stage,
Philip Howard & M.Theodoulou
The Times 15
