Many of the various themes featured in Classical comedies still retain their relevance for our current age and exploring these themes can provide fruitful insights to the problems and phenomena we are facing today. The Finnish Institute at Athens will organise a series of lectures between 23 June and 21 July 2021 on the plays of Aristophanes, the best-known comic playwright in antiquity. Aristophanes Now! includes online lectures given by Antti Lampinen, Vesa Vahtikari, Petra Pakkanen and Tua Korhonen, examining such topics as Aristophanes’ political relevance, his references to ethnicity and sexuality, and the role of animals in his plays. Additionally, the institute will be delighted to host a performance in Athens entitled ‘Aristophanes Hits Different’ given by the acclaimed actor Gary Pillai, who will be interpreting parts of Aristophanes’ The Knights and will also discuss from an actor’s point of view his experiences concerning the performance of classical comedies. The performance will be filmed and made available online. All the events will take place on Wednesdays at 7 pm (EEST/UTC+3). The duration of the lectures is around 45 minutes and afterwards there is approximately 15 minutes reserved for questions
Please register via the following link. The registration allows the participation to all of the online lectures:
Wednesday 23.6.
Antti Lampinen: ’Do you still fear the Scythian?’ Race and Ethnicity in Aristophanes.
Wednesday 30.6.
Vesa Vahtikari: Let’s talk about sex
Wednesday 7.7.
Gary Pillai: Aristophanes Hits Different
Wednesday 14.7.
Petra Pakkanen: Stinking politics: Aristophanes and polis-affairs
Wednesday 21.7.
Tua Korhonen: ‘I am a bird’: Animals, Animality, and Aristophanes