''Ithaka'' is a 1996 play by the German writer
Botho Strauß
Botho Strauß (; born 2 December 1944) is a German playwright, novelist and essayist.
Biography
Botho Strauß's father was a chemist. After finishing his secondary education, Strauß studied German, History of the Theatre and Sociology in Col ...
. It has the subtitle ''Schauspiel nach den Heimkehr-Gesängen der Odyssee'', meaning "play after the homecoming songs from the ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...
''". It tells the story of how
Odysseus
Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
, the Greek hero from the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
, returns after 20 years to his court in
Ithaca
Ithaca most commonly refers to:
*Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey''
*Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca
*Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College
Ithaca, Ithaka ...
, where he massacres the suitors of his wife
Penelope
Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...
to recreate order.
Production history
The play premiered on 17 July 1996 at the
Munich Kammerspiele
The Munich Kammerspiele (German: Münchner Kammerspiele) is a state-funded German-language theater company based at the ''Schauspielhaus'' on Maximilianstrasse in the Bavarian capital. The company currently has three venues: the main stage of ...
, directed by
Dieter Dorn
Dieter Dorn (born 31 October 1935 in Leipzig) is a German theatre director, also for the opera, the manager of the Münchner Kammerspiele from 1983 to 2001 and now manager of the Bavarian Staatsschauspiel.
Career
Dieter Dorn studied at the Theat ...
. It was produced for the
Deutsches Theater in Berlin by Thomas Langhoff the following year.
Reception
Several critics, including Wolfgang Höbel of ''
Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' and Rolf Michaelis of ''
Die Zeit
''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles.
History
The ...
'', speculated whether the play was related to a passage from Strauß' heavily debated essay "Anschwellender Bocksgesang", about how "blood sacrifice" is the means by which a nation imposes its moral laws, and whether the play thereby has an anti-democratic message.
Roland Koberg of the ''
Berliner Zeitung
The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...
'' was skeptical of such an interpretation and wrote that the play easily can be interpreted as a "peace text", as the gods who incite the violence are condemned for it.
Höbel, who reviewed the Munich performance, criticized Dorn's portrayal of the suitors in
punk rock style, as it did not make them appear as serious threats to "manners, law and state", and made it incomprehensible "why Odysseus specifically has to pierce their chests, instead of simply pulling their ears".
Koberg reviewed the Berlin performance, and wrote that Langhoff's version was "somewhat wiser", with the suitors portrayed as a "stylized counter-chorus".
References
External links
Presentationat
Rowohlt Verlag
Rowohlt Verlag is a German publishing house based in Hamburg, with offices in Reinbek and Berlin. It has been part of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Group since 1982. The company was created in 1908 in Leipzig by Ernst Rowohlt.
Divisions
* Kinder
* ...
{{Odyssey navbox
1996 plays
German-language plays
Plays by Botho Strauß
Works based on the Odyssey
Plays based on works by Homer