The blog aggregates news about publications, activities, etc. related to Egyptian/Arabic scholarship in the field of Greco-Roman studies and thus seeks to challenge the Eurocentrism prevalent in the field. It aims also at directing the attention to relevant materials from modern nonacademic/public contexts; roughly from 1798-to the present. The news comes mainly from Egypt without excluding other Arabic countries.
The fabula crepidataMedea of Seneca the Younger is performed in Arabic based on the professional translation of Prof. Abdel Moaty Shaarawy, see the post about this translation here .
The performance was produced by the cultural program of the Egyptian Radio (Radio Cairo) and now available on the You Tube channel of this program. Medea is done by the famous Egyptian actress Samira Abdelaziz. It is a familiar voice for every Egyptian as she is moderating, since 1975 until today, a radio program called "Said the philosopher", in which she, as a female student with an angelic voice, asks a certain philosopher about a certain virtue. Now, as a Medea, she lectures us about her the virtue of revenge !
The You Tube hosts an extensive lecture in Arabic about the historical context of Homer's Iliad. The lecture is delivered by one of the pioneering Egyptian classicists and papyrologists; Prof. Abdellatif Ahmed Ali. It is uploaded by his son Dr. Moones Ali (Thanks, Dr. Moones, for this valuable addition). Prof. Ali took his PhD from University of Michigan in 1949. He came back to teach in Cairo University (department of Classics and History) until 1974. In this year he moved to Kuwait, where he was teaching Greek and Roman History. The lecture seems to be delivered in Kuwait in 1975 or after this year. In the calendar behind the moderator, I can see a date reading Monday 15/4/88 or 85. With a map and extensive knowledge of the Greek history and mythology, he relates the epic as well as the modern history of scholarship about it in a very interesting, sensational and lively (sometimes theatrical) manner as evidenced by the audience' laughter. Enjoy watching and hearing !
The Egyptian Radio has produced a Radio drama in Arabic based on Homer's Iliad. It is unknown when this drama was broadcasted, but most probably after 1967. This approximate date is based on the fact that Ali Azzab, one of the two writers of the drama, graduated from the higher institute for theatrical fine arts in Cairo in 1967. The second writer of the drama is Helal Abouamer. No more information is available about the second writer or this adaptation. Fortunately You Tube hosts the full audio (about two hours) of this piece.
According to Wikipedia, a radio drama is "a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story: "It is auditory in the physical dimension but equally powerful as a visual force in the psychological dimension".
The Algerian Iliad is an epic poem of 1001 verse lines composed by Cheikh Zakaria (1908-1977), the poet of the Algerian revolution, to celebrate the long history of the Algerian people's resistance against foreign occupations from "the most ancient times to the present day", as Mouloud Kacem (1927-1992), the famous Algerian politician, philosopher, historian, and writer,stated in the preface of the printed poem. Mouloud Kacem was the one who commissioned Cheikh Zakaria to compose this poem. With its 1001 verse lines, it is not only an Iliad, but a clear parody to One Thousand and One Nights of the famous folk tales know as Arabian Nights.
A first short version of this poem of only 610 verse lines was recited by Cheikh Zakaria himself in the inauguration of the sixth conference of the Islamic thought on July 24, 1972 in Club of Pines in Algeria where Houari Boumédiène (1932-1978), Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, was one of the participants. There is a recording on You Tube where one can listen to the very sensational recitation by the author himself. Here it is:
