Odysseus, criminal.
Odysseus, criminal. Drama of a homecoming. is a play by Christoph Ransmayr , whichpremieredin Dortmund as part of the RUHR.2010 events.
action
First scene: Welcome to Ithaca
When Odysseus was washed up after twenty years of war in Troy and the wanderings of his homecoming to the coast of his homeland, Ithaca , he did not recognize his country again: snow lay on bare mountains, and in front of it smoldering rubbish mountains. Even Athena , a sandpiper and the first person Odysseus meets here, does not correspond to his ideas of a "child of Ithaca": In her territory, the "Bay of Pigs", she claims all the floating debris and what she uses to achieve her goals A lack of physical strength makes up for it with armed force. She also recognizes Odysseus very quickly, and instead of giving the returned king a proper greeting, she condemns him for his deeds in the war and for having abandoned his family and his kingdom so much. Finally, in her last few sentences, she establishes what will be confirmed in the further course of the plot: “Coming home? Nobody has returned home from a war, hero of Troy, city devastation - at least not as who he was. Welcome to Ithaca. "
Second scene: battles
In their night camp, three shepherds - Eumaios , the sow-herd, Philotios, the cattle-herder and Melanthos, the goatherd-play around a wreath of sausages. Your game is called “battles” and the winner is the one whose cards drawn can show the most dead. In their next conversation, the states in Ithaca are presented: In the time of Odysseus 'absence reformers have seized power, and in addition they make, especially the "Great Reformer" Antinous , Odysseus' wife Penelope the yard at on their side to gain full power over Ithaca.
Third scene: sleepers, fighters, subjects
Odysseus meets the shepherds; they pounce on him and can overwhelm him, but when they see the tattoo on the soles of his feet - the skull, the symbol of the kings of Ithaca - they recognize their master, fall at his feet and describe the state of his kingdom and the civil war-like conditions, who rule there.
Fourth scene: ghosts at dawn
When Odysseus wakes up, he is surrounded by a choir of cripples. In the group of ghosts he recognizes both fallen comrades and opponents killed by himself; they make fun of him and finally open his eyes to the grievances in his country: from the rubble of the garbage dumps rise ruins in which the homeless live - Ithaca has become poor and the population has withered into an "army of the poor".
In the subsequent conversation with the shepherds, Odysseus realizes that they cannot see the cripple choir; and yet it was not a dream: the neglected fields, the broken dams, the villages haunted by the wilderness - "This is Ithaca."
Fifth scene: father and son
For the first time in twenty years, Odysseus now meets Telemachus , his now grown-up son, whom he left behind as an infant. They talk about Penelope and about the difficult road that Odysseus has made since the war, the war that he believes he has overcome. Odysseus is still accompanied by the cripples, and Telemachus, who cannot see them either, recognizes very similar self-talk in his father as in his mother. Finally, Odysseus explains his plan to his son: he will go to his court unrecognized to “bring the reformers to their senses”. In the meantime the shepherds should arm themselves at the defense tower: “My name will be enough, believe me. We will only insure ourselves these weapons to prevent their misuse. No shot will be fired. My return home will be a feast for everyone, believe me, a feast. "
Sixth scene: See, he's coming
The reformers Antinous, Eurymachos and Amphinomos are sitting in their planning office in the former state hall of the royal house and are discussing the planned construction of a desalination plant when the madwoman Eurycleia disrupts their meeting. She claims that Odysseus finally came back. The reformers don't believe her, but still decide to see the newcomer so they can have fun with him.
When Odysseus enters the room, they actually do not recognize him, but make fun of him and call him “Tatter King”. A discussion develops that ultimately escalates and can only be kept in check by Penelope's appearance. She orders the reformers to leave the room and leave them alone with him.
Seventh scene: Alone with him, alone with her
Penelope has already recognized Odysseus on the screens of the palace guards and now accuses him of having abandoned his family and, instead of being heard from and returning home as quickly as possible, preferring to spend the time with other women. Odysseus protests his innocence and says that he has now come back for good, but Penelope replies: "But the man I loved stayed at war ... and the woman he left suffers like a widow."
Their argument is interrupted by Telemachus, who reports on the unrest that has developed: the people have learned of Odysseus' return and are now demanding to see him, while the reformers try to appease the angry pack. Odysseus decides to fight the reformers with his son and contrary to Penelope's express wish: “Every peace is fought for. And a voice is never more audible and clearer than in the silence after the battle. "
Eighth scene: blood
The battle is over, the reformers are dead. Odysseus feels right, he thinks he acted in the only possible way, but his son Telemachus paid for the fight in which he killed Antinous and Eurymachos with his mind: He, too, now sees the chorus of cripples and the fallen, to which the killed reformers have now joined. Penelope is horrified: “You have done him the worst that a father can do to his son, you have made him your kind. Odysseus, criminal, you made him your kind. "
It reminds Odysseus of a puppet show that was once performed at court on Telemach's birthday: after long wanderings, the hero had to set out again to actually return home at some point and not just get stranded at home, had to take his oar with him and put it in one Carrying land whose inhabitants thought it was a shovel because they did not know the sea. Odysseus, too, is now supposed to lug away his “death item” and carry it to people who consider it a tool with which bridges can be built or wounds can be treated.
"And only from a land of such gates could he finally return home - and stay?"
“From a land of fools? Oh, Odysseus. From a ... paradise. "
Characters
Odysseus, criminal
Odysseus, the cunning man who tried to solve all problems first with his mind and only then with violence, had ten years of war in Troy and ten years of wanderings full of one-eyed giants and man-eating islanders behind him when he finally stranded on his home coast. This time has changed him: the shadows of his past haunt him in the form of cripples and fallen soldiers, who leave him no peace and constantly remind him of the enemies he has killed, comrades he has led to death and also of them Women with whom he wasted his time. But not only these inner demons, also the very obvious external changes bother him: Ithaca has changed, no longer needs his old king, and his wife and child are no longer the same as they left twenty years ago. The returnees have renounced arms, but in his attempt to restore order, he quickly falls back into the patterns of violence that served him well in his war years, and he becomes a butcher again.
Telemachus, prodigal son
Telemachus last saw his father when he was a small child, so he can only remember him through what his mother told him and otherwise grew up without a father. When he faces Odysseus for the first time, he is unsure and doesn't even know what to call this man. Nevertheless, partly out of childish admiration, partly out of the desire to prove himself, he supports Odysseus through his mediation with the people and finally fights at his side against the reformers, of whose rule he is ultimately most affected as the rightful heir to the throne. However, the killing is too much for him, who until now has at most shot at ptarmigan, and he goes mad. The spirits of the fallen, who were with his father every step of the way, now haunt him too.
Penelope, forsaken
Since Odysseus left her to march against Troy, Penelope has taken over the rule of the country and raised her son alone. Although she cannot prevail against the majority of power-hungry reformers, she steadfastly refuses to try to woo them as suitors. She still believes in her husband's return; however, when he actually faces her, she has to realize that this is no longer the man she loved. In the argument, she clearly takes the side of her son, whom she desperately wants to protect, but still cannot prevent Telemachus from going into battle and being made a butcher by Odysseus.
Eurycleia, madmen
Eurycleia, childless herself, was already Odysseus' nurse, as was Telemach's. She is one of the few who remained loyal to Odysseus and is still hopefully waiting for his return. In the course of Odysseus' absence, however, she has gone mad and takes everyone who knocks on the gate of the palace for her returning master, and in this mistaken belief she even kisses the feet of a vacuum cleaner salesman. When Odysseus really comes, she recognizes him clearly by his royal tattoo; but now you don't believe any more.
Athena, sandpiper
Athena represents the new order in Ithaca: She has come to terms with the reformers and trades with them, in return she receives the necessary support from them to defend herself against the other sandpipers. Your bay is so favored by the currents that the largest and most useful parts of the alluvial debris land here; the other sandpipers envy her this privilege, but actually she is only interested in the “lasting values”: weapons and ammunition. Odysseus washes ashore here too, but when she recognizes the old king, she only disdains him. For a fair share, however, she is willing to help him hide his spoils of war.
Shepherds
The shepherds represent the common people of Ithaca: They complain about the rule of the reformers, but actually don't care so much about who they are ruled by as long as their own well-being in terms of food, drink, play and their flocks is concerned , is secured. Yet they are - besides Eurycleia - the only ones who willingly receive Odysseus (after they have recognized him) and willingly support him in his struggle against the reformers.
reformer
The reformers, a generation of men who could not go into battle at the beginning of the war because they were still too young, have divided rule in Ithaca among themselves. Everyone rules a different section of the empire, and yet each of them wants everything, but does not dare to take power by force; instead, they want to be crowned at Penelope's side. They are distinguished by a great arrogance, and of course each of them is very concerned about his own advantage; Overall, however, they are planning the imperial business, building dams and wanting to maneuver the country out of the crisis into which it has slid through Odysseus' absence.
Choir of the cripples and prisoners
The chorus of cripples and prisoners does not really exist, but only in Odysseus' (and later Telemach) head. Nevertheless, they have enormous power over him, so that he can soon no longer perceive the boundaries between reality and dream. Odysseus recognizes both former friends and enemies in their ranks, but they no longer have names and any difference between them fades. They express what Odysseus basically knows but does not want to admit, and there is no way of escaping them.
expenditure
- Christoph Ransmayr: Odysseus, criminal. Drama of a homecoming. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-10-062945-6 .