The second part of the 2018 performance that became the talk of the town, acclaimed by both audiences and critics. Lessons of War II: The ‘Sicilian Dramas’ present episodes from the second
phase of the Peloponnesian War, the disastrous Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC), drawing material from the 6 th , 7 th , and part of the 8 th book of Thucydides’ History. The action traces the highlights of what was, for Athenian politics, the most dramatic phase of the war: from the ambitious fantasy of Athenian rule over the West, and the various turns of fortune during the fighting in Sicily, to the crushing defeat of the Athenian forces and the final collapse of expansionist plans. The tragic hero in the political and military ‘tragedy of
Athens’ is the impersonal Athenian Demos [i.e. the citizens] and its tragic consciousness as embodied in the great protagonists (politicians and generals), especially controversial Alcibiades and contradictory Nicias. The concept of the work is based upon the conventional structure of Greek tragedy: tragic flaw, hubris, and nemesis.
With English surtitles
Before each performance, a brief introductory talk by Dr Androniki Makri
Co-produced by Dramaticus and the Athens Concert Hall
In collaboration with the DIAZOMA Association MET HD Live
Giacomo Puccini: Turandot