Word: cadmus
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...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...
...Zeus and vows to wipe out his followers in Thebes. Dionysus appears incognito, and a chorus of Asian-women converts hymn the beatific peace of serving the god of joy. Pentheus claps Dionysus in irons. The god miraculously escapes. Despite the politic advice of his sage grandfather Cadmus (Philip Bosco), the blind seer Tiresias (Tom Klunis) and Dionysus' chillingly prophetic warnings, Pentheus speeds to his appointed doom...
...Merchant, Sulzberger's knowledge is very much in evidence, but so is a distinct sense of humor. He presents a slippery, multilingual Armenian named Kevork Sasounian, who discovers the original dragon's teeth (sacksful of them), which have been lying in a cave in Asia Minor since Cadmus' and Jason's time. What to do? Why, sell them as potential shock troops to the highest bidder in the cold war world of the 1950s...