Wound, Melancholy, Difference: Mario Martone and Giorgina Pi Rewriting the Myth of Philoctetes

Abstract

This issue focuses on two significant theatrical rewritings of the Philoctetes myth: La seconda generazione (Neottolemo) (1988) by Mario Martone and Lemnos (2022) by Giorgina Pi. Although separated by decades, both works employ the Greek myth as a lens through which to interpret the present. Martone’s production constructs its dramaturgy through a mosaic of quotations from ancient and modern authors, transforming Neoptolemus into an emblem of a generation caught between reverence for and rejection of paternal models. Pi’s Lemnos symbolically relocates the action to Makronisos, a concentration camp for Greek political prisoners (1947-1974), interweaving Sophocles’ text with writings by Ritsos, Adrienne Rich, Derek Walcott, and Hélène Cixous.