A DIFFERENT ORPHEUS STORY: ANOUILH’S EURYDICE

Abstract

One of the most important functions of myth, in terms of humanity, is that it is a tool of knowledge concerning people or events which have the distinction of being the first. According to their qualities, they bear political, historical and psychological reflections on man and society. They also contain a narrative process which requires constant renewal as they include three periods of time (past, present, and future) and as they continue to exist by not remaining in the past. This is closely related with the acts of imagination and exploration. The re-evaluation of myths and the maintenance of narrative continuity depend generally on the societal, historical and psychological data of the given period, and on the way the artist reflects these data (style). Then, if in a text, regardless of the date of the production, a myth is re-discovered and re-evaluated, naturally, the analysis of the reflections on the individual and the society of the period and politic and historical events of the period are inevitable. In this context, it is natural that the myths that were re-discovered and re-evaluated in the 20th century French Literature – especially in theatre – reflect politic, social and historical characteristics of the period