Unconventional reading of Yannis Ritsos 100 years after his birthGalery 4 3 2 1 Zdravka Michailova Exclusively for GRReporter Today, when the smoke from last century’s ideological battles has spread and spirits have settled down, we can make a new reading of the work of Yannis Ritsos with a different look, distanced from the separation and rigid views of the past. We have to accept what is implied, that Ritsos’ political commitment is synonymous with the poetic word that his integral alloy is the backbone of his poetry and existence: "Your first and last word uttered love and revolution. Poetry uttered your entire silence". This verse is a maxim of the poet himself. For better or worse Ritsos is a leftist poet, because this is who he could be and who he wanted to be (as Fr. Celin and E. Pound, for example, were sympathizing fascism). Even in his most obscure poems he speaks simply with everyday words “overused” for similar and humble things. Ritsos is one of the greatest - not only Greek - artists and intellectuals who have devoted their creative energy to the so-called "committed" art of their time, sunk deep into history, taking significant aesthetic and civic decisions, once right, sometimes wrong. As the artist himself writes: "If poetry is not forgiveness - privately whispered, - then we should not expect mercy from anywhere”. with his antitheses and syntheses. He discovers poetry early on. which befell his family. are sung around the world. and his own illness from tuberculosis and his difficult life in Athens. Ritsos experiences the non-confessed and dramatic separation. His poetic compositions from the 50s and 60s. Michailova) based on ancient Greek myths motifs. which will reach the reading public and all who love poetry.poet and a citizen” was compared to the sound of the prophetic voice of the poet with the resonance and its perception by the younger generation. He becomes a bard of the Left and part of his poetry serves it. as a minor. He is empathetic to the sufferings and tribulations of the Greek people. that his work is unequal. For a long time Ritsos remained outside the canon of modern Greek poetry. always intertwining references to Greek folklore in his poetry. during the years when he serves poetry like the "first navy poet” (in his own words) is the true recognition of his work. the financial ruin. the cycle of poetic-philosophical monologues "Fourth Dimension" (Bulgarian edition by "Foundation for Bulgarian Literature. Conscious modernist. which has found an elegant. 2002. filled with surges and heights. From his first poetry collection Ritsos bears high the flag of a revolutionary speech and causes confusion and awkwardness in all ideological circles in Greece. influenced by trends in the West. but with mediocre works as well because the volume created by him is enormous: 127 books with poems. poet. with his contradictions and exaggerations. Ritsos’ poems for which music was composed by artists such as Mikis Theodorakis and other famous Greek composers. By conservative governments he was repeatedly sent in exile in remote Aegean islands. so it can be blessed or exiled by different ideological currents and to serve diverse expediencies. mostly the . translated by Z. the only firm integral position of the poet as a citizen is his allegiance to the communist ideal. While the clash between the two dominant ideologies in the twentieth century reached their apogee in the world and in Greece during the period from the end of the 40s to the mid 70s. "committed". however. Offered were new approaches and interpretations. definition. The discussion about his work gradually gained momentum and the poet became an icon and the body of his poetry was indented. plays and prose. The conservative critic Andreas Karandonis even denied him the right to be called a poet and the literary critic of the Left calls for a little more modernism and to comply with the standards of socialist realism. so that a wider discussion can be provoked. expression by well-intentioned critics in their assessment of him as a "comprehensive poet”. who have shed light on history of the twentieth century with their truths or delusions. All congress participants shared the belief that Ritsos takes a place among the constellation of the most highlighted Greek poets of the last century with dignity. the Athens “Benaki” Museum organized an international congress entitled "Yannis Ritsos . either left-leaning or not. Definition caused by the fact that Ritsos is the most productive writing modern Greek poet.Fifteen years after the death of the poet in 1990. What Ritsos has been deprived from throughout his lifetime. deeply marked by the loss of close relatives and mourning in the family. to which he turned in his late creative period. the mental illness of his father and his beloved sister. Shaping his soul are the sorrow over the death of his mother and brother. but also by the Soviet avant-garde art. but his he stays right up there next to high caliber artists from all over the world with universal sound. Exactly through this accessible writing for the simple people.". never accepted him as an equal interlocutor. destruction and their overcoming. Because his work is loved and understandable to a broad audience Ritsos clears the way for modernists like Elitis and Seferis – all three poets belong to the so-called generation of the 30s in Greek literature. .. Reading the poem "The Moonlight Sonata". perhaps. His writing strongly vacillates between perishability. "These strange things" (another title from the same works) face the poet heretical and bare to his own desires and to eternity. “With Ritsos pathos always lies in the simplicity of things. his short poems from his last period. and will make the criticism of the orthodox Left to refer to him with yet greater suspicion and will make an attempt to downplay and ignore him.” 2005. the French poet says he felt the "thrill of the bright genius”.Atreidai cycle. nevertheless. death. Unconventional reading of Yannis Ritsos 100 years after his birth 20 April 2010 / 08:04:18 GRReporter 0 4431 reads Galery 4 3 2 1 People like the poet Louis Aragon recognize right away an ally in young Ritsos. Michailova). Imperfection stands up even from the brightest of his poems. "Balkans. which.. translated by Z. and above all his nine prose works under the general title "Iconostasis of anonymous saints" (one of which "Careful Ariostos tells moments of his dreams and life" . says Aragon.issued in Bulgarian ed. Ritsos offers his greatest service for Greek modernism. “Monstrous masterpiece" and others. evaluates the set in it values and doubts regular motivation of the usual mythological events. like many other Greek writers . In later poems we can recognize constant references to ancient myths and heroes." "Neighborhoods of the world”. we can recognize Electra. fills myth with contemporary content and motifs. G. by offering his own interpretation. in mixing of the myths. are not random. N. In the face of the sister. is much more consistent with the logic of human behavior. through one of his most representative works: poetry "Spring Symphony". who speaks in the "Dead house" (1959). After his death in 1990 comes a period of silence enveloped his speech. Ritsos’ burning interest in ancient mythology and his reference to it. He transfers associative bridges between modernity and mythology. Elena. almost all of them are sketches and variations of a mythological theme. layered writing of the poet from Monemvasia. "Greece". freely handled mythological motifs. "Testimonies". even Freudian complexes that . which in his opinion. The lengthy preface of the author is a luminous introduction to the work of Ritsos and thanks that her successful selection the reader has an idea of the many-faced. These are poems which are inspired by mythology. who is a recognized connoisseur of the poet’s work. Yannis Ritsos’ approach to mythology in the cycle dramatic poems monologues "Fourth Dimension” significantly differs from the traditional interpretation of the myth. The poet gives up any "aesthetics" of the myth. shows the complex relationships of a character with society and history expands and deepens in the later poems. Cavafy. without fearing that this would limit the circle of his readers.C.Although a literary icon. "Burial mourning (Epitasis”). recreates situations. and they bear their names: Philoctetes. in the peculiar use of the mythological "hints". only to a certain extent. as in modern Greek literature. K. tumbled and identified with palaces of Mycenae. Kazantzakis. which was marked by particularly tragic fate. "Dead House" is the wealthy father's house in Ritsos’s native Monemvasia in Peloponnese. evidence of the revived interest in the creativity of the poet in Greece. Here. "guides". he moves the frameworks of the traditional story by developing it in time and space. The greater freedom in this interpretation is expressed in the absence of any sequence of events. The confidential confessions of the characters are imbued with subtle lyricism. in the poet's childhood can be recognized the fundamental psychological layers of the poems. Iphigenia. etc. Ajax. Ritsos’ poetry remains not completely discovered in depth even in Greece. Izmena. The philosophical summary in the earliest of them "Moonlight Sonata". who has lost her mind. 2000) by Greek literary critic Chryse Prokopaki. Varnalis. and Phaedra. "Stones". Today. multidimensional view of the world and epic sweep of the narrative. Their structure and action are much more complex. Persephone Chrysothemis. Proximity to the rich folk traditions gives a hint of why Ritsos. 'Kedros. “Walls". "Stone Time. They are attributed to the wealth of literary tradition. With its collapse socialism dragged to forgetfulness even its great names. Agamemnon. the key of personal relationships in the family. Sophocles and Euripides.from childhood and his family. Homer and ancient tragedy writers like Aeschylus. The poet draws from personal memory of one different mythological time . Orestes. Seferis. seen in their rise and decline. Greek mythology feels "at home". based on three or four major tragic motifs. was the published the most complete to date Anthology of the poet (Ed. which are internally kindred to the mythological ones. "Gestures”. and under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture held were celebrations. “the statues are not in the museum”. last year was dedicated to the poet. as if this is the time of antiquity. they wedge in life and at the same time are reflections of the tribal memory.become alive in such an interesting way in these texts. in which drains the thread of duties. etc. destruction and mourning. Unconventional reading of Yannis Ritsos 100 years after his birth 20 April 2010 / 08:04:18 GRReporter 0 4432 reads Galery 4 3 2 1 Abstract mythologizing is not inherently for Ritsos. On the occasion of the centennial of his birth in 1909 in Monemvasia. surrounded by the nature of Laconia. introducing . Most often the area in which monologues are read out loud is the closed home. The houses and homes in it are a mix of ancient palaces and ruins. fields near Eurotas. the cut “blue ridges" of Taygetus from his childhood. Standing out is the heavy emotional load of a child's life. the birth of the idealized image of mother Clytemnestra and one extremely tyrannical father. For him the myth it is an important tool for organizing the narrative and a technique for dealing with social and historical material. This is the space. Thus. perished by the signs of ruin and decay that is synonymous with the poet's father's home. which stores the historical memory that in its core contains heritage. poetry readings. Also. his poems "travelled" in the subway. for Ritsos determining is the Greek space. but viewed from his historical perspective. which later is destined to sink in diseases. The publication can be found in all well-stocked bookstores in Bulgaria. You will recognize him by the cover. this is a journey after the cries of a common man and hope generated by his sacrifice. Stigmati. poetry "Statuettes of Tanagra".. which shines where public coercion meets rigorous god of Poetry.. Ritsos creates many such works during his exile in the Aegean islands. Following the fibers of the stone.. curator of the archives of the poet in the Benaki Museum said for the artist: "Like Maxim Gorky. Michailova) appeared . Philosophical-poetic impressions of "Ariostos. it is the excavation of language layers and that "landmark”. "Twelve Poems of Cavafy"..." surprise those who knew the poet from the early period of his work. a poet who did not hesitate to plunge into reality and to raise high in the solar orb humble things of life." the edition "Writings of the Sighted" is another attempt to introduce the unknown in Bulgaria Ritsos.image reminiscent of ancient male profile. the tree roots and other natural materials.to the lives of Athenians his non-art and vital as bread words. Supported by the National Book Centre of Greece. translated in Bulgaria mainly until the late eighties for obvious reasons." . Dimitris Arvanitakis. translation Z. donated by his daughter Erie Ritso to the Benaki Museum. the Bulgarian edition of “Writings of the Sighted” (Ed. Yannis Ritsos wished to become one with language and substance of the dreams of his time. "Word of flesh" and others. Yannis Ritsos could show us his "universities": This is the seething breath of history. With its flexible language. from the time of his proletarian revolutionary poetry. Along with the "Fourth Dimension" and "Careful Ariostos. certainly in the "Bulgarian Knizhitsi" “under the columns of the former Crystal”. illustrated by one of Ritsos’ "painted rocks" .. rich associativity and pictorial emotions these short forms act as elegant impressions and in places their metaphorical depth makes them seem like parables. "Gestures.. "Ariostos." “The world is one". "Repeats". It contains miniatures in which memories of experiences are interwoven with the insights of thought and visions of fantasy.an anthology of works by a hitherto unknown in Bulgaria periods of his works: cycle of philosophical poems "Fourth Dimension”." is also an unusual book in its genre.
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