Elevate July 2017 | Air Serbia

nije ni bizaran, niti kič, već predstav- lja ono univerzalno što karakteriše grčko biće bez obzira na pol, rasu, klasu i ostale razlike, treba se vrati- ti Aristofanu, dve i po hiljade godi- na unazad. Napisati nešto duhovito, a poučno prozvati najviđenije i naj- uticajnije ljude male, elitne zajedni- ce kakva je bila demokratska Atina s kraja V i početkom IV veka pre no- ve ere svakako je za duh kakav je bio Aristofan bio izazov. Tako je i danas, jer Aristofan nikad nije prestao da po- stoji u grčkom društvu, u narodu ko- ji ima taj aristofanovski duh da kroz smeh kaže zbilju. Za strance, turiste koji posećuju Grčku, to je zemlja mora, sunca, ne- kada ledene frape kafe, a danas espre- so fredo kafe i njenih mnogobrojnih derivata (sa slatkom pavlakom – ka- da se zove kapućino fredo, sa kara- melom, musom od čokolade ili jago- dom – takozvani fredoćino...), nadalje, to je zemlja dobre mediteranske hra- ne i, uopšte, uživanja. Ali svakodnevne vesti, koje sluša- mo već dugo, govore o jednom druga- čijem mestu. To je mesto gde se teš- ko nalazi posao, teško zarađuje i živi. To je mesto bogatih brodovlasnika, visprenih biznismena, bankara i lu- kavih političara, demagoga starog i novog kova i običnog naroda koji, tek što se malo oporavio od građanskog rata, diktature i nerešenog kiparskog pitanja, ponovo grca.

To the question of why Greece does not have the theatre of the absurd, the answer is: because life itself in Greece is more absurd than any theatre Na pitanje zašto u Grčkoj nema pozorišta apsurda, odgovor je – zato što je sam život u Grčkoj apsurdniji od svakog pozorišta

tellectual, a fusion that for Greek standards is neither bizarre nor kitsch, but rather rep- resents something universal that charac- terises the Greek being, regardless of gen- der, race, class and other differences… they should return to Aristophanes, two and a half thousand years ago. Write something humorous, and instructively “call out” the most prominent and most influential peo- ple of a small elite community like the one in democratic Athens at the end of the 5th century BC and the start of the fourth, is certainly the kind of challenge for the spir- it as it was for Aristophanes. And so it is to- day, because Aristophanes has never ceased to exist in Greek society, in the people who have that spirit of Aristophanes to speak of reality through a laugh. For foreigners, tourists visiting Greece, it is a land of sea, sun, former icy frappe cof- fees and today espresso fredo coffee and its many derivatives (with whipped cream - when called cappuccino fredo, with cara- mel, chocolate or strawberry mousse - so- called‘fredoccino’...), and even more, it is the land of good Mediterranean food and gen- eral enjoyment. But the daily news, which we’ve been listening to for a long time, talks about a dif- ferent place. This is a place where it’s tough to find a job and tough to earn and live. This is a place of wealthy ship owners, ingenious businessmen, bankers and crafty politicians, demagogues of old and new moulds, and or- dinary people who, having just recovered a little from civil war, dictatorship and the un- resolved Cyprus issue, are again choking.

saying You just work, poor one, so I won’t have to follow your example. However, those poor folk in Greece, de- spite working, always knew how to live, to enjoy the sun, life and love, regardless of their poverty, which is a Greek phenome- non also embodied in characters like Ka- zantzakis’s Zorba the Greek. After the fall of the dictatorship in 1974, this motto was taken on by almost everyone, without any measure, which seems to have contribut- ed to Greeks in general living beyond their means. However, this is not about some phe- nomenon of the modern era, but rather the faults and virtues that have been transpar- ent since the days of ancient theatres and the famous contemporary interpretations of ancient dramas, which were revived by the Theatro Technis (Theatre of Art) “Karo- los Koun” after World War II. When it comes to the Greek mentality and that combination of the “folk” and in-

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