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#there's a place in Greek myth for antigone AND ismene
amatalefay · 3 years
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@oc-october 
Day One: Ismeni and Teo, Basics
Yes, I’m giving myself double the work by doing two characters, so I won’t be answering every question for both. Just enough so that you get a feel for each of them. So, without further ado...
Ismeni
Full Name: Sovereign Lady Ismeni Melinoë Kyrini
What’s the meaning of their name? Ismeni comes from Ismene, a character from the Greek tragedy Antigone whose name means “knowledge.”  Melinoë is the minor goddess of nightmares and madness, the daughter of Persephone, and Kyrini means “woman of Kyrios” in the language I created for her culture.
Why did you name them this? I wanted to suggest a Mediterranean setting and create thematic parallels to the Persephone myth.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Age: 32
Sexuality: Bisexual
Occupation: Queen and conqueror
Height: 5′9″
What do people notice immediately upon looking at them? Her elaborately braided hair, threaded with gold ornaments, which also gives information about her gender, sexuality, and relationship status to others of her culture.
MBTI: INTJ
Strengths: Cunning, persuasive, an insightful manipulator. She knows what makes people tick and how to leverage that information to get what she wants.
Weaknesses: Cynicism and trust issues due to her abusive marriage. 
Fears: Powerlessness, burning alive
D&D Alignment: True Neutral
Family: Born into the ruling family of the city-state of Kyrios. Her mother died of childbed fever when Ismeni was six, leaving behind her, her sister Eilani, and their newborn brother Ariones. Her father was loving but made very clear to Ismeni and her sister that their duty was to marry well to secure their political position. Eilani married and moved out when Ismeni was fifteen. Ariones died in battle five years later during the siege. This broke Ismeni’s father’s spirit and he surrendered shortly after, offering the invaders a marriage alliance with Ismeni.
Favorites:
Color: Gold or pale green
Food: Baklava Honey pastries (essentially baklava)
Drink: Barley water
Mode of transportation: Horse
Time of day: Early morning, an hour or so after sunrise
Miscellaneous Character Questions
Are they single? It’s complicated. She was in an arranged marriage for nine years before she murdered her husband and took over his army. His spirit still haunts her, preventing her from moving on emotionally and romantically.
What are their religious beliefs? People are reincarnated upon cremation, but only if all the proper rituals are preserved.
What are their hobbies? Horse riding, games of strategy, plotting the murders of abusive husbands.
Do they have any dreams/goals? Killing her husband was the major one. After his death, she took on his dream of conquering all the city-states of the peninsula, and she almost succeeded. Now that she’s been thrown into another universe, her goal is much more narrow: escape this place.
Teo 
Full Name: I actually don’t know his sign name, as I am not at all confident in my ASL, but it involves the letter T handshape in some way and is written as Teo. I’m honestly probably going to change his surname, but right now, it’s Midshipman, reflective of where on the ship he was born.
Pronouns: he/him/his
Age: 24
Sexuality: Queer
Occupation: Rebel marauder (formerly one of the ship’s mechanics)
What time period do they live in? Post-apocalyptic dystopia where rising ocean levels means land is scarce and only the privileged can live on it, leading to “undesirable” populations being forced to wander the seas in old submarines.
Height: 5′11″
Build: Muscular and broad-shouldered yet slender
What do people notice immediately upon looking at them? His ear implant, though he usually tries to hide it. Even so, it’s usually not long before they realize he’s d/Deaf.
Clothing Style: Military-style jackets and cargo pants in muted browns and greens, with a few steampunk accessories such as his welder’s goggles and tool belt.
MBTI: ISTP
Strengths: Determined, resilient, strong-willed, and principled. Fiercely loyal and will defend those he considers “his” people to his dying breath.
Weaknesses: Defensive, quick to anger, lets his ideals blind him to reality.
Fears: Being captured, medical mutilation, genocide
D&D Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Family: On the ship, children are raised communally, though they do know who their parents are and are generally quite close to them. Teo’s father works in desalination, helping to purify the water, and his mother is a fisher. He has no full siblings but three half-siblings, one on his mother’s side and two on his father’s. Since all the children are raised together, Teo never really thinks of them as siblings rather than friends.
Do they have a good relationship with their family? Yes. He gets along well with his parents, especially his dad.
Favorites:
Color: Aquamarine
Snack: Kelp biscuits
Mode of transportation: Submarine, of course!
Time of day: His six hours of personal time
Miscellaneous Character Questions
Are they single? If not: who are they involved with? Are they happy with their partner(s)? He has a partner named Alej, who is non-binary. Alej once stole one of the ship’s escape pods to follow Teo, who had been captured, and infiltrated the military base to break him out. Teo would do exactly the same for Alej. They’re basically soulmates.
What are their hobbies? Whale watching, tinkering, a little piracy.
Do they have any dreams/goals? Wreak vengeance on the landmen and protect Alej, his crew, and his culture, whatever the cost.
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jolantzanakis-blog · 7 years
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Antigone_Review
Antigone, a young girl dressed in a school uniform, opposes Creon’s cosmic power when he goes against the divine law of dead’s burial ceremony. The sophoclean tragedy’s rendering in Modern Greek by D. Maronitis formed the basis of a performance rich in images, emotions and reflections of torture. The play’s premiere was staged in the ancient Greek theatre of Epidaurus on July 15, 2016 in a crowded amphitheatre; a co-production of National Theatre, National Theatre of Northern Greece and  the Cyprus Theatre Organization. The director, S. Livathinos,  approached the ancient myth of Theban Cycle in a direct way as if it was a simple, almost every day story without, though, ignoring the necessity of great decisions, high ideals, ultimate fall and unavoidable fate. D. Lignadis as Creon and A. R. Konidi as Antigone, through their rich and emotional acting, gave the story a more human dimension making the ancient myth extremely current and familiar.
The blood cycle does not seem to end in the ancient Greek city of Thebes with the death of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices; someone else needs to be sacrificed for the sake of the city. The play is about the tragic story of Antigone, who decides to bury one of her two brothers, Polynices, and Creon, the new king of Thebes, who decides to give the other brother, Eteocles, a proper hero’s burial. His decision stems from the fact that Eteocles defended the city to death in the battle that preceded while Polynices, who fought against his own city, shall rot in godless shame. Antigone, heiress of a tragic destiny, is summoned to purge the miasma from her incestuous line and the morally decayed Thebes after a fratricidal war. A fight begins between the two as both remain firm to their beliefs. The end is destructive for both; Antigone is buried alive and Creon receives punishment for his hubris against the gods.
In terms of set designing, one should take into consideration not only the available cyclic space of an outdoors ancient Greek theatre but also the symbolism behind it. In the case of Livathinos’ Antigone, the set was simple and minimal highlighting the political and moral aspect of the play. E. Manolopoulou, the set and costume designer, managed to support the said ancient tragedy play in a subtle and purposeful way. In the centre of the stage, there is a wooden platform with a swing on it, which turned into a gibbet (gallows) later in the performance, and some wooden benches placed in a circular pattern around the platform, serving sitting purposes. The genius sleight of this multipurpose swing-gibbet diptych refers to human mentality’s weakness and symbolizes the controversial nature of human actions and the volatile life itself. As for the benches, they function as seats for the Chorus who is either sitting or moving around this swing-gibbet; the Chorus seems to be referring to the eternal cycle of life that finally meets death.
What is, also, worth mentioning is the choice of costumes. On one side, we see the Chorus dressed in poor and shabby clothes resembling frustrated and devastated people wandering around like beggars. On the other side, we see Antigone dressed in a boy’s school uniform and combat boots while her sister, Ismene, in a girl’s school uniform. In the last scene, Antigone appears in a simple off-white bride-like dress prepared to be buried alive. The costumes’ choice seems to be a clear reference to a girls’ innocence and childishness (dress) as well as assertiveness and courage (boy’s clothes and boots). As for Creon, he appears wearing his crown and an old khaki-green military style jacket revealing his dual authority as a man-soldier and a king.
The director, using a simple and symbolic setting, manages to create a more anthropocentric play rather than an epic one. He successfully achieves to unite three generations of actors on stage. The veterans of National Theatre who formed the Chorus, the quite young Antigone, Ismene and Haemon,  and the middle-aged Creon; all of them co-existed in a dreamlike atmosphere. The young actress R. A. Konidi (Antigone) approached the role in a direct way, unfolding every aspect of the female psyche; at first, as a fragile teenager sitting carefree on the swing and then as a fearless and decisive woman ready to follow her doomed destiny. D. Lignadis (Creon) performed a multidimensional Creon extremely human, almost likable, powerful king, caring father, and a delusive man. The characters vacillate between past and present, cosmic and divine law, life and death, swing and gibbet. Undoubtedly, the designer’s idea of the swing became the reference point of the play’s direction.
Antigone is presented in the ancient Greek theatre of Epidaurus, a symbolic environment with artistic, religious and political references. It can be characterized as a “political” tragedy, where the audience is called to come to a political and moral decision as if participating in a court trial to find a solution to a political crisis. The conflict between the divine law and Creon’s denial-law not to bury Polynices become a burning issue for the city of Thebes with Antigone solving it “politically” through her ritual murder. The swing-gibbet ambiguous diptych reflects the eternal conflict between life and death, the innate and the manmade, the state and the citizens. The effort to stimulate the audience and activate their political flair did have an impact judging by their enthusiastic applause. The ultimate simplicity of the stage composed not only the basis of a deep anthropocentric approach but also an effort for inner thought. In a period when citizens are politically indifferent and detached, the play encourages them to actively participate and come to a decision ‘sitting’ on the symbolic swing-gibbet.
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