National Theatre of Greece - Thomas Moschopoulos
Sophocles, The Trachiniae (Women of Trachis)
9-10 August, 21:00
Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
A devastating tragedy set in motion by Deianeira’s all-consuming passion for Heracles.
A world in which Eros-inflamed heroes commit wild and uncontrollable acts; a poisonous, destructive world in which the gods are vengeful and knowledge does not lead to the light.
Deianeira, madly in love and desperate, will try to win back Heracles’ love with a magic potion made from the blood of Nessus the centaur, but her efforts to ward off the inevitable will lead ineluctably, and without her wishing it, to the death of her beloved.
Thomas Moschopoulos returns to the Greek National Theatre after the success of Alceste to direct a 26-member cast in one of Sophocles’ finest tragedies.
The Plot:
The story begins with Deianeira, the wife of Heracles, relating the story of her early life and her plight adjusting to married life. She is now distraught over her husband's neglect of her family. Often involved in some adventure, he rarely visits them. She sends their son Hyllus to find him, as she is concerned over prophecies about Heracles and the land he is currently in. After Hyllus sets off, a messenger arrives with word that Heracles, victorious in his recent battle, is making offerings on Cape Cenaeum and coming home soon to Trachis.
Lichas, a herald of Heracles, brings in a procession of
captives. He gives Deianeira a false story of why Heracles had laid siege to
the city of Oechalia (in Euboea). He claimed Eurytus, the city's king, was
responsible for Heracles being enslaved, and therefore Heracles vowed revenge
against him and his people. Among the captured girls is Iole, daughter of
Eurytus. Deianeira soon learns that in truth Heracles laid siege to the city
just to obtain Iole, whom he has taken as a lover.
Unable to cope with the thought of her husband falling for
this younger woman, she decides to use a love charm on him, a magic potion that
will win him back. When she was younger, she had been carried across a river by
the centaur, Nessus. Halfway through he made a grab at her, but Heracles came
to her rescue and quickly shot him with an arrow. As he died, he told her his
blood, now mixed with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra in which Heracles' arrow
had been dipped, would keep Heracles from loving any other woman more than her,
if she follows his instructions. Deianeira dyes a robe with the blood and has
Lichas carry it to Heracles with strict instructions that (a) no one else is to
wear it, and (b) it is to be kept in the dark until he puts it on.
After the gift is sent, she begins to have a bad feeling
about it. She throws some of the left-over material into sunlight and it reacts
like boiling acid. Nessus had lied about the love charm. Hyllus soon arrives to
inform her that Heracles lies dying due to her gift. He was in such pain and
fury that he killed Lichas, the deliverer of the gift: "he made the white
brain to ooze from the hair, as the skull was dashed to splinters, and blood
scattered therewith".
Deianeira feels enormous shame for what she has done,
amplified by her son's harsh words, and kills herself. Hyllus discovers soon
after that it wasn't actually her intention to kill her husband. The dying
Heracles is carried to his home in horrible pain and furious over what he
believes was a murder attempt by his wife. Hyllus explains the truth, and
Heracles realizes that the prophesies about his death have come to pass: He was
to be killed by someone who was already dead, and it turned out to be Nessus.
In the end, he is in so much pain that he is begging for
someone to finish him off. In this weakened state, he says he is like a woman.
He makes a final wish, which Hyllus promises to obey (under protest), that
Hyllus is to marry Iole. The play concludes with Heracles being carried off to
be burned alive, as an ending to his suffering.
50€ (VIP)
40€ (Zone A)
20€ (Zone B)
13€ (Students)
13€ (Upper tier - people with movement difficulties)
source: http://www.greekfestival.gr/
Hotel Segas
Only 1hr' drive from the magnificent theatre of Epidaurus
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