BLOGG #41 A GIGANTIC GREEK TRAGEDY

A Greek tragedy of gigantic proportions This past Saturday I attended the opera- another of my passions almost equal to blogging and was submerged,overwhelmed and almost destroyed by the unremitting tragic passion of “LE TROJANS” by Berlioz. Greek drama I am familiar with and it is close to my heart even when created by a French composer. However five hours later. yes dear readers, five hours later-even I was satiated but not exhausted –oh no- I have great stamina when it comes to opera especially the Metropolitan opera. What really moved me was this tragic epic written thousands of years ago seemed not at all irrelevant and I was amazed how contemporary the theme still is. I totally identified with it- a modern tale of epic proportions. There in the exotic setting only the Met. can create, the misguided Trojans in despair and panic milled around gesticulating dramatically and completely ignoring the voice of reason represented by Cassandra the daughter of the King and a prophetess,as she protested and remonstrated in beautiful poetically phrased dire words of warning in a melodious voice. To no avail she warned the Trojans not to bring the huge statue of the horse into the gates. No one would listen but instead turned their fearful eyes to their betraying Gods who had their own agenda, thus sealing their own fate. Now dear readers, I ask you, does not this sound familiar? In vain poor Cassandra warned them, thus becoming the first to voice the old saw “beware of Greeks bearing gifts.” And sure enough, there were those damn Greeks in their signature helmets, spears and cute little skirts barely covering essentials, raping and pillaging the misguided Trojans. It was enough to make one tear one’s hair and cover oneself with ashes. The epic went on and on involving also the tragic Carpathians and two longish breaks before the opera finally ended in wild applause. As I gathered together my frazzled but exhilarated {the music and singers were incredibly beautiful] self, my drinks, the remains of my picnic lunch, and stumbled out into the mundane world outside the theater, I said to myself “Yes, I recognize the human element and tragedy, it is so familiar in today’s events and no, we have not come a long way baby." And so dear readers. take heed so you don't share the same fate as those blind Trojans,tear your eyes away from the false Gods represented here by T.V. and media and read my wise blogg instead-- Your tongue -in-cheek blogger s