Ask a Dramaturg

Here is where you will find all the questions that came up during the rehearsal process and their answers.

Question: Is there any correlation between tattoos and Ancient Greece?

Answer: What a fun question to research! Because the answer actually leads us right into the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The Thracian people, who were a part of Ancient Greece, were known for a few things, but two were their tattoos and talented musicians. Their women were known for their tattoos, a sign of prestige and royalty, and they wore them proudly.

Now here comes the fun twist... Orpheus was Thracian!

In fact, according to a couple of the myths of how Orpheus met his demise, he was torn asunder by Thracian women who were angry at him (the "why" they were mad is entertaining all on its own).

Sources: Tattoos in Antiquity, March 2023. https://womeninantiquity.wordpress.com/2023/03/28/tattoos-in-antiquity/

Ancient Thracian Women Covered Their Arms and Legs in Tattoos. Burgas Museum, Bulgaria.

https://www.burgasmuseums.bg/en/article/ancient-thracian-women-covered-their-arms-legs-tattoos-439

Tsiafakis, Despoina. “Thracian Tattoos.” D. Tsiafakis, “Thracian Tattoos”, in D. Boschung, A. Shapiro, F. Waschek (Eds.) Bodies in Transition: Dissolving the Boundaries of Embodied Knowledge, Fink Wilhelm, 89-118., 2015. https://www.academia.edu/15080736/Thracian_Tattoos

Question: What is the significance of blowing through a straw?

Answer: Sarah Ruhl did not state specifically why she has this moment in the play. Perhaps it is because of the ideas behind burial practices in the Ancient Greek world. Ancient Greeks believed that the spirit of the dead would leave in a puff of air or breath. The Ancient Egyptians would do a ritual called "the opening of the mouth," where the god Horus would open the mouth of the mummy so that the dead would be able to "breathe" in the afterlife.

Sources:

Death, Burial and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm

Question: What is the significance of straws and the dead?

Answer: In this moment with Orpheus, Ruhl may be referencing the Ancient Greek belief that when the spirit leaves the body, it emerges in a breath or puff of air. But there are also many references to breath and breathing in Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy.

Plato believed there were different types of pneuma, with the first being the intake of breath that fills the lungs. “Pneuma” was considered the natural spirit; it was the body's driving force, and many philosophers believed the body functioned. In Stoic philosophy, pneuma was called “The Breath of Life”. The Stoics thought pneuma was a human soul (psyche) and “...is the active element that organizes both the individual and the cosmos.”

Erasistratus believed that the pneuma was breathed into the body through the nose and provided the body “vital heat.”

The importance of breath and the dead can also shown in Ancient Egyptian funerary rites-

The Ancient Egyptians would perform “The Opening of the Mouth” ceremony on mummies so they could talk and eat in the land of the dead and during festivals celebrating the dead. The priests would use a tool called a pesesh-kef to both “open” and literally open the mouth of the mummy. The peseh-kef was also used during the birth of a child and was used to cut the umbilical cord.

Sources-

Duchan, Judy. Pneuma Theory in Ancient Greece and Rome. https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~duchan/new_history/ancient_history/pneuma_theory.html

Dr. Calvert, Amy. Mummification an Funeral Rites- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/egypt-art/beginners-guide-egypt/a/mummification-and-funeral-rites

Question: What are popular retellings of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice?

Answer: I wrote a blog post that highlights some of the many beautiful retellings of the myth in the arts. Here are a couple of articles that highlight Orpheus and Eurydice in popular culture.

This first article includes references to the recent Tony award winning musical Hadestown. It also mentions Neil Gaiman's comic series Sandman and even a couple of video games that have the lovers in their plots. This article also cites the many different contemporary songs that have nods to the two doomed lovers.

https://americanshakespearecenter.com/2023/03/eurydice-in-pop-culture/

Here is a great article about the many movies that have used the myth in its storytelling. While not all of these stories have overt references, some are subtle nods to Orpheus and Eurydice.

http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2020/10-great-movies-inspired-by-the-myth-of-orpheus-and-eurydice/