50 years after the Transition, a MIET report reminded us of the time when censorship in Greece triumphed. Even the ancient tragedy in Procrusters. He was a nice kid Hippolytus, but he had not yet fallen into an erotic bed. So reasonable that the vivid ladies of antiquity would be appealed to him. And first of all the material responsible Aphrodite. But this atheophobic was constantly running behind Artemis, who was shooting all day in the mountains and the Lagadia. It is understood that Aphrodite raised and lifted the punishment of the virgin baby. He made the mother of Phaedra, the wife of the king of Athens Theseus, to fall in love with the youth. And while Phaedra realizing that her unfulfilled craving was a sinner, she was hanged, but also left a revenge on the husband that her son allegedly abused her.

The story of Hippolytus was told by Euripides in the homonymous tragedy that had the premiere of 428 BC who expected that two thousand years later Euripides’ tragedy would exaggerate the disapproval of the Graphies who served the junta in Athens? And yet it was. One of the censors of the dictatorship took in his hands the translation of the tragedy by Kostas Varnalis, released in 1965 and was unanimous. It was not only the general Euripides instead of Euripides in the title, that was the least. The scandal was in Hippolytus’ desperate apology to his father, as he tried to convince him that the objections were non -existent.

Is it “sweet king”?

The bad guy Hippolytus projects his virginity as a counter -argument: “I know this act but from paintings and conversations.” The censor deletes the lyrics, apparently because you would expose the imagination of the children who would seek the relevant paintings. But the regime, in addition to the ethical education of young people, also took care of their proper political education. So the censor deletes a little below and the following clip: “Or will you tell me the king’s sweet? For gnosts at all! Those who love to monarch, their minds spoiled! “

Hippolytus, even in the rather graphic than Varnalis ‘glorious translation, is trying to dismantle Theseus’ suspicions that through Phaedra he wanted to undermine his throne. But in 1967 and despite the junta coup, Greece was still a kingdom, so the lyrics had to be eliminated.

The copy with the censored edition of Hippolytus was presented at the exhibition “1967-1974: Cultures in contrast. Life – Art – Propaganda »organized by MIET at Einard Palace, 50 years after the Transition. It reminds us of the intellectual and political smallness that motivates every censorship, the fear of loss of control.

And fifty years after

Are there still such phenomena in the Cashed West? Of course. And in this year’s report, the American PEN is watching the exhilaration of books from libraries and their ostracism from schools in the US. On the one hand, hyper -conservative circles persecute sex books and could corrupt their children, on the other hand, on the other hand, they hunt timeless classical titles as “offensive” today for alien and strangers because they reflect perceptions and behaviors. In other words, reducing freedom of expression and with retrospective power. As fifty years ago.