Aeolus and the Voyage of Odysseus

 

 

play by Ruth Salles

This piece is a magnificent work by Professor Edith Asbeck, which I enlarged and rewrote in hexameters, a rhythm so used in ancient Greece. In it, an episode of Odysseus' journey back to Ithaca after the capture of Troy takes place, when the curiosity of his men leads them to open a wineskin with the gift that Aeolus, the king of the winds, made to Odysseus. The gift is not gold or silver, but winds, and they escape as soon as the skin is opened. With that, the boat of Ulysses again loses the course that would take him to his land. At the entrance of the piece, a Greek melody from the Scholium of Seikilos is played on the flute. The same melody can also be played at the end, depending on the teacher's choice.

CHARACTERS:
greeks
Trojans (may later play the role of the winds)
sea waves
winds
Aeolians, inhabitants of the island of Aeolia
Aeolus, father of the winds

 

LAYOUT (SUGGESTIONS):
TROY—————–BARCA OF ULYSSES—————-AEOLIA
Greeks————————-Waves—————————Aeolian
Trojans————————————————————Aeolus
Ulysses

There must be higher plans for the Greeks at Troy, the Greeks on the barge (a place initially occupied by the waves, as a choir), and the Aeolians. As for Ulysses and Aeolus, it's up to the professor. The colors of the robes must have a meaning. Check with the eurythmy teacher.

 

1st STAGE
in troy

In this 1st stage, the action takes place between Greeks, Trojans and Odysseus, while the waves and the Aeolians play the role of chorus. Aeolus must always take part in the chorus of the Aeolians. The Trojans are prostrate on the steps of the Greeks, in the role of vanquished. When they speak, they must already be half-raised.

 

GREEKS:
– Glory to Ulysses! Your skillful resources have given us victory.

ULYSSES:
– Yes, it is the victory. Surrounded by flames, Troy crumbles.

GREEKS:
– Troy defeated!

WAVES AND WAVES:
– So rich city… So miserable luck…

GREEKS:
– Lies among rubble, surrounded by flames, mortally wounded.

ULYSSES:
– War is hard. An inglorious victory, with a bitter taste…

TROIANS (half-raised):
– Cry for Ilio, abode of the gods, city of Priam!
Famous walls, which were such a strong, hard shield,
they lie on the ground, broken, burned, in sad ruins.

AEOLI:
– Merciful gods, allow at least some to be saved!

WAVES:
– Hey, Trojans, go to the seas looking for other shores!

TROIANS:
– Troy vanquished Odysseus contemplates…

ALL (except Ulysses):
- And think about leaving!

AEOLI:
– The ardor of victory hurts in his chest…

ALL (except Ulysses):
- And think about leaving!

GREEKS:
– Fame and power!

TROIANS:
– Solitude and silence…

ALL (except Ulysses):
- And think about leaving!

WAVES (while Odysseus beckons the Greeks with a gesture):
– Your companions Ulysses calls.

ALL (except Ulysses):
- Just think about leaving!

 

2nd STAGE
on the ferry

In this 2nd stage, the Greeks and Ulysses go up to the boat, that is, to the highest plane where the waves were. These descend and start to make the movement of the sea. The Trojans stand to act as a chorus with the Aeolians.

 

GREEKS AND ULYSSES:
– Ithaca! Ithaca! Distant island, O dreamed homeland!

ULYSSES:
- In it awaits me the wise and constant adored wife.

GREEKS:
– Ah, if the winds that sweep the swift waves
and, whispering, give us news of the homeland so far away…

ULYSSES:
– Ah, if the winds flew back, carrying in their voices
our sighs, longing for loved ones…

TROIANS AND AEOLIANS:
– Waves of the seas and blows of the winds, load the boat!
Singram the waves, brave warriors, return to the homeland!

ULYSSES (with his hand on his forehead, looking into the distance):
– Between Italy and Sicily, I see a small island!

WAVES:
– Aeolian Island is its name. It floats surrounded by walls.
Within the walls stands the palace of Aeolus, its king,
owner of the winds that fly in the world by order of Zeus.

AEOLI:
– Zephyr, Boreas, and Euro, and Noto, and all the rest…

TROIANS AND AEOLIANS:
– Twelve are they, the restless winds guarded by Aeolus.

 

3rd STAGE
in Aeolia

In this 3rd stage, Odysseus and the Greeks get off the boat and head towards Aeolus.Troianos and waves play the role of chorus.

 

ULYSSES (to Aeolus):
– Sovereign King, O owner of the winds, here we land.

AEOLO:
- Be welcome! And tell the deeds of heroic wars!

(During the following verses, spoken by the chorus of Trojans and waves, Greeks and Aeolians mingle with each other signifying what is said.)

TROIANS AND WAVES:
– The month passes between parties and dances, smiles and flowers.
Well rested, the men gather around Odysseus.
Aeolus let him leave for his homeland. When that time comes,
gives him a gift kept in a skin of ox skin.
In it are trapped the courses of the winds, the most turbulent.

AEOLO (to Ulysses):
– I give you this skin. It is proof of my sincere friendship.
Guard it well, for this is a gift from the gods to men.

ULYSSES (to Aeolus):
– We are grateful, O Aeolus!
(to the Greeks):
- And now, let's go on our journey!

TROIANS AND WAVES (while the Greeks and Odysseus board the boat):
– Blow the waves only the light and smooth Zephyr,
that will take them to the beaches of Ithaca, homeland of Ulysses.

 

4th STAGE
on the boat

In this 4th stage, waves and aeolians form the chorus, and the Trojans prepare to be the winds, which will emerge from behind the barge, if possible. Odysseus holds the skin in one hand and looks into the distance. The Greeks point to the wineskin and talk, curious, and coveting what might be inside it.

 

1st GREEK:
– What is the treasure of silver or gold in this wineskin?

2nd GREEK:
- It would be right to share the fortune among all.

3rd GREEK:
– Gold or silver, looking at such a treasure is no great harm.

4th GREEK:
- Stay tuned! So we will act at the right moment.

WAVES AND WAVES:
– Strong warriors, in the sea and in the wind, rule the boat.
They spend nine days and nights wandering towards their homeland.

(Ulysses, in the first verse he says, stretches out one of his arms. In the second, he stretches out both, dropping the wineskin. Then, when the choir speaks, the Greeks steal the wineskin and try to open it.)

ULYSSES:
– Over on the horizon I can already see the outlines of Ithaca!
Son Telemachus! O sweet Penelope, adored wife!

WAVES AND WAVES:
– Faced with the carelessness of Odysseus, dreaming of the prompt arrival,
the gestures that steal the enchanted wineskin are sneaky.
are curious opening their ties. Fatal interest!

(The Greeks gesture, trying to keep the boat safe from the force of the winds. Movement of the winds.)

WAVES AND WAVES:
– The winds are loose, and they turn and turn, hiss, ululate,
they hum, they whisper, they fill the sails that, madly, go away…
Fools move, spinning, taking the hero's barge
so far away that you can't even see anything on the horizon.

ULYSSES:
– Ithaca! Ithaca! The distant homeland is no longer in sight.

GREEKS:
– Lost Island…Maybe forever…Maybe for a day…

ULYSSES:
– Who answers me? Which way to go? My kingdom… My ground…

ALL (except Ulysses):
– Who would know? Just the gods. And they won't say anything.

 

 

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