The Reception of Ancient Greek Tragedy in Late Modernity : from the citizen viewer of the city-state to the consumer viewer of the global cosmopolis
Part of : Γράμμα : περιοδικό θεωρίας και κριτικής ; Vol.22, No.1, 2014, pages 41-52
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Ancient Drama constitutes a unique cultural synthesis of elements focusing on the Athenian democracy of the fifth century BC. Its recipient, the Citizen-Spectator of the City-State, was receiving and interpreting the stage spectacle against a background of relatively homogeneous state narratives. Today, however, this relative consensus is very much weakened. The contemporary recipient is more of a Spectator- Consumer, rather than a traditional "spectator." S/he is a consumer with totally different world philosophy and sociopolitical background and certainly a different memory bank, a bank now enriched by numerous spectacles of ancient drama throughout the world, which, altogether have created dissimilar expectations and demands. And it is at this point that the role of the director gains additional importance and becomes an indispensable mediator between the contemporary spectator and the revisited classical text.
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