HerMa Aeschylus – 4th

Performing Arts

This event scrutinizes Aeschylus’ perceived status as a venerable literary monument .. and as someone with a fundamental concern for core societal values .. do they have relevance for us today?

Aeschylus is the first ancient Greek playwright who bequeathed to European culture significant tragedies. Only seven (the Oresteia trilogy, Persians, Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliants, and Prometheus Bound) of his estimated seventy to ninety plays have survived. However, the key notion, the core theme in all of his plays, appears to be the concept of authority (ἐξουσία). This subject and his observations on it, perhaps more appropriate than ever in this globalised world, is of utmost importance to modern societies.

Thus, be it a matter of ancient tragedies or timeless societal notions, of physical monuments and even their ruins, all these local and global aspects can be integrated and woven into a structure, through whose contemplation and exploration new and substantive approaches to the importance of heritage in the postmodern world can be achieved.