The noblest aim of politics
As a quintessential political art, theater has always served as a valuable conduit for reminding and updating the timeless demands of a well-ordered state. The pursuit of a fairer world has long been a constant reference point for art, with the theater’s focus on justice emerging as a recognizable motif since the archetypal dramaturgy of the great Greek tragedians.
In the context of Euripides’ Hecuba, Tiago Rodrigues, a restless Portuguese director with a universal perspective, authored and directed the play “Hecuba, not Hecuba,” which was staged by the Comedie-Francaise a few weeks ago in the privileged theatrical setting of Ancient Epidaurus. Through his aesthetic and political interpretation of Hecuba, Rodrigues primarily confirms the timeless nature of high art and the enduring voice of classical tragedians.
In Rodrigues’ adaptation, a contemporary actress preparing with her theater group to perform Euripides’ tragedy as Hecuba learns about the abuse of her autistic son by the staff of the public institution where he resides. Rodrigues’ references point to a recent case related to the conditions of a Swiss social structure intended to ensure the safe residence, socialization and education of children diagnosed within the autistic spectrum.
The Hecuba of ancient Greek tragedy, a defeated queen of a relentless war, wife of Priam, and mother of many children, having mourned many – if not all but one, according to the myth – of her children during the long madness, entrusts her youngest son, Polydorus, to Polymestor, the king of Thrace. Her only concern is to keep him away from the danger of the destructive conflict. Ruthless Polymestor seizes the treasure given to him by the royal couple in exchange for his expected services, and kills the child entrusted to him.
The betrayal of trust, especially when it involves the most vulnerable, such as children, is ancient history – a timeless, incurable wound that not only overturns human laws but literally destroys the moral order, shared cultural norms, and everything that collectively constitutes “the city of men.” This very connection links the irrevocable choice of the powerful king against the defenseless child with the treacherous officials who man the failing institutions of Swiss public administration. By narrating this story – “theater within theater” – Rodrigues abolishes the temporality of the text and affirms the universality of art, which manages through an isolated circumstance to relate to the eternal realm of humanity.
The betrayal of trust, especially when it involves the most vulnerable, such as children, is ancient history – a timeless, incurable wound that not only overturns human laws but literally destroys the moral order
Euripides, Rodrigues, and many others before and after them claim and will continue to claim justice. Power, no matter how strong, does not override justice as defined by humanitarian achievements and, for several centuries now, by the institutions of the democratic state. The profound director sees in the limits set by Euripides regarding the rights of the defeated in war a precursor to the Geneva Convention. The responsibility for the abusive treatment of autistic children does not simply fall on the few caregivers of the specific facility. In “Hecuba, not Hecuba” it becomes clear: Public policies leading to the weakening of social rights and the withering of the welfare state are at the root of decline. The critical responsibility primarily lies with those who must oversee the effective operation of state services, followed by the shared responsibility of public officials as direct perpetrators, even if these officials are often excessively portrayed as scapegoats for a dystopia that exceeds them.
Euripides’ Hecuba and Rodrigues’ Hecuba will always have much to say to the parents of abused children both within and outside institutional structures – to those parents who, when faced with their children’s differences, were further isolated by negligent caregivers and inadequate high-ranking officials. To Maria Karystianou and all the parents mourning the loss of their children due to the negligence of those entrusted with protecting the public interest, Hecuba will also speak, always with a recognizable voice. For the unburied children of Pylos, Gaza, and wherever the vulnerable are found, the advocacy of Euripides and Rodrigues will never cease to undermine convenient oblivion.
The rest of us must unite our voices in the manner and spirit taught by “Hecuba, not Hecuba.” The administration of justice has always been the noblest aim of politics, the only way to restore trust in the wisdom of communal institutions and the value of collective existence as a continuous condition of social cohesion. However, for justice to be transformed from an abstract idea into action, from an indeterminate wish into a definitive present-time reality, the courageous mobilization of all is required, with the responsibility primarily falling on those of us honored to exercise authority in the name of the people from whom we originate.
Katerina Papanicolaou is a lawyer and a former member of the Hellenic Independent Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE).
