Anastasia Bakogianni (Massey University)

Greek tragedy’s long reception history has given rise to a wealth of cross-media adaptations that resonate off each other to create rich nexuses. Jim Cogswell’s 2022 installation celebrating Michael Cacoyannis’ Euripidean cinematic trilogy [Electra (1962), The Trojan Women (1971), and Iphigenia (1977)] offers viewers a distinctive take on the films in the arts’ center that houses the foundation the Greek-Cypriot director set up a decade ago.[1] Cacoyannis’ thematically-linked trilogy has been closely analyzed by scholars (Bakogianni 2015, Karalis 2017, Michelakis 2013), but Gogswell’s artistic visual response adds another rich layer to the reception process that further illuminates Greek tragedy’s role in shaping our modern conceptualization of the impact of war on women. This paper draws on an interview with the artist.

Bakogianni, Anastasia (2015). “The Anti-War Spectacle: Denouncing War in Michael Cacoyannis’ Euripidean Trilogy,” in A. Bakogianni and V. M. Hope (ed.), War as Spectacle: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Display of Armed Conflict, Bloomsbury Publishing: 291–311. Karalis, Vrasidas (2017). Realism in Greek Cinema: From the Post-War Period to the Present. Bloomsbury Publishing. Michelakis, Pantelis (2013). Greek Tragedy on Screen. Oxford University Press.  Interview with the artist Artist’s website below