Word: cadmus
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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DIED. PAUL CADMUS, 94, controversial artist known for his satirical, near-illustrational style; in Weston, Conn. He gained fame in 1934 when Navy officials yanked his painting The Fleet's In from a show because it depicted sailors with a gay man and prostitutes...
...third and central work of Calasso's five-book project about mythical and intellectual beginnings. The first book in the series was the critically and popularly acclaimed The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, which recounted with proper flair and fervor the entire chronology and theogeny of Greek and Roman mythology for over-stimulated postmodern audience. Next came The Ruin of Kasch, which told of how modern culture and ideas can spring from the complete decimation of a past culture. In Ka, Calasso tackles the myths of the Indian subcontinent and traces the theological origins of that culture from these stories...
...laughter was inappropriate, though. Cadmus (David Gullette '62) and Tiresius (Bashir Salhuddin '98) are both Theban wise men and comic duo. Their stichomythic exchanges even suggests lighthearted pastoral, but both are still capable of a rich gravity. I only thought that Cadmus' portentous admonition to Pentheus (of the fate of Acteon, ripped apart by his own hounds-Cadmus' own great-nephew!) was too droll...
Even considering the enormous complexity of the play's issues and personae, Walker chose to cast mostly undergraduates. "In many ways professional actors are less interesting than student actors, particularly Harvard actors." Walker says she looked to local professionals only for the roles of older men--Cadmus and Tiresias, who ought to be physically convincing...