752 THE SURVIVAL OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY
script by Carl Theodor Dryer; the chilling horror of the murder of the children
is devastating. Startling, to say the least, is a production of Medea by the New
York Greek Drama Company in the original Greek of Euripides, with English
subtitles; the actors wear masks, and William Arrowsmith provides introduc-
tory comments that tell us why we should appreciate this strange attempt at
authenticity.^62
The highest standard for the filming of Euripidean plays has been set by the
Greek director Michael Cacoyannis: his Electra (1962), with Irene Papas; The Tro-
jan Women (1971), with Katharine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave, and Irene Papas;
and Iphigenia (1977), with Irene Papas, should not be missed. Each of these movies
is a masterpiece in its own way, full of passion and meaning for today. The per-
formance of Papas in all three is outstanding: she is totally different and thor-
oughly convincing in the diverse roles of Electra, Helen, and Clytemnestra. The
genius of Cacoyannis becomes all the more evident in comparison with a movie
like Bacchantes, directed by George Ferroni—an embarrassing travesty of Eu-
ripides to be avoided by all but the insatiably curious.
A video (offered by Creative Arts Television), Andre Serban: The Greek Tril-
ogy (1974), presents excerpts from the experimental productions, off Broadway,
of this flamboyant director: Euripides' Electra, Medea, and The Trojan Women.
Of great interest is the movie of Eugene O'Neill's Desire under the Elms (1958);
this version of the Hippolytus legend, set in New England, also combines the-
matic elements from the legends of Oedipus and Medea; Anthony Perkins,
Sophia Loren, and Burl Ives give strong performances. Anthony Perkins is also
the Hippolytus figure in a modern adaptation of Phaedra (1962), directed by Jules
Dassin and also starring Melina Mercouri. Although heavy-handed and at times
absurd, this movie has some power.OEDIPUS AND ANTIGONE
Sophocles' Oedipus the King is presented in the ancient Greek theater of Amph-
iaraion, with the actors wearing masks. James Mason plays Oedipus; Claire
Bloom, Jocasta; and Ian Richardson, Tiresias. This abridged performance in-
cludes narration by Anthony Quay le. Among other performances of Oedipus the
King, a version directed by Tyrone Guthrie (1957) should be singled out. This
film of a performance of the Stratford Shakespearean Festival Players of Canada
employs William Butler Yeats' translation. Although not entirely a cinematic suc-
cess, its professionalism and its use of striking masks are of great interest. A
strong British version (1967), starring Christopher Plummer, Orson Welles, and
Lilli Palmer, makes more of an attempt to transform the play into a movie.
The film by the Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, Oedipus Rex (1967), in-
cludes many unforgettable episodes from the saga, for example, the brutal ex-
posure of the infant Oedipus and later his youthful and bloody encounter with
his father; such amplifications reveal psychoanalytic insight and a personal and