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LONDON, UK 1950
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You invited me here to talk...
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about the poet Constantine Kavafis
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I'll begin by reading these lines ...
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from one of his poems in the language
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in which he wrote it.
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Poem: In 200 b.C.
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We; the Greeks of Alexandria,
of Antioch, of Seleucia and .....
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00:00:48,355 --> 00:00:54,048
the numerous rest of the Greeks
of Egypt and Syria....
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00:00:54,349 --> 00:00:59,886
And the Common Greek Language
we carried to the heart of Bactria...
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00:00:59,887 --> 00:01:03,888
......to the Hindus
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00:01:04,489 --> 00:01:11,388
We emerged; a great new Greek world.
A great world !
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CONSTANTINE KAVAFIS
(Greek Poet 1863 - 1933)
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Starring: Dimitris Kataleifos
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Vasilis Diamantopoulos
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Maya Lyberopoulou
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Lazar Georgakopoulos,
Alexander Koukos, Vasilis Seimenis
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Costumes
Damian Zarifis
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Music by Vaghelis
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Writer - Director
Yannis Smaragdis
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Alexandria, Egypt 29/April/1933
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You have a visitor
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At last, Europe begins
to appreciate your work
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Kavafis is a modern poet
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A poet of future generations
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The rare poets, like Kavafis....
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will occupy first place in a world..
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much more spiritual than ours today
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"" Draft notes on the Life and Work
of K. P. Kavafis ""
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I brought the notes that I promised
you, for the Preface
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For any errors and omissions,
could you....?
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Alexandria, a hospitable
trade center of Egypt....
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gave birth on 29/April/1863 to the
Greek poet Constantine Kavafis
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The Kavafis family was rich....
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His parents were Peter John, a merchant
and Hariklia Kavafis nee Fotiadis
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00:05:56,274 --> 00:06:01,120
Poem: I've brought to Art
I've brought to Art desires....
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.......and sensations
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I've brought to Art things
half-glimpsed, faces or lines
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00:06:16,238 --> 00:06:22,988
...certain indistinct memories
of unfullfilled love affairs
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Let me submit to Art
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00:06:30,295 --> 00:06:34,351
My youngest one,
my little honey
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Let's make s short stop.
The boys are thirsty
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Alexandria, 1871
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Poem: When they are roused
Try to guard them, poet
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00:08:02,354 --> 00:08:06,403
However few they are
that can be held
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00:08:08,038 --> 00:08:12,412
Hair as though stolen
from Greek statues,
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00:08:14,036 --> 00:08:18,567
always lovely, even uncombed
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00:08:18,967 --> 00:08:25,263
and falling slightly
over pale foreheads
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00:08:27,412 --> 00:08:33,348
Figures of love,
as my poetry desired them
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00:08:35,442 --> 00:08:37,536
Constantine ! ?
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00:08:38,980 --> 00:08:42,307
Come ! We still have a long
way to go....
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00:09:00,185 --> 00:09:03,196
Sham el Nessim is the
Egyptian Spring Festival
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00:09:03,197 --> 00:09:06,023
something like our Ash Wednesday
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00:09:06,830 --> 00:09:10,967
At the local Fair, we' ll see
African girls dancing naked
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00:09:14,203 --> 00:09:16,422
Why are you silent ?
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00:09:16,933 --> 00:09:20,049
How can you be so secretive ?
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00:09:21,424 --> 00:09:24,853
There is a gap in narration here
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00:09:25,182 --> 00:09:28,837
Could you talk to me
about your youth ?
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00:09:30,278 --> 00:09:34,498
Or write about it, perhaps ?
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00:09:47,057 --> 00:09:50,028
Tennyson's poem was very touching.
Barrell's biography was entertaining...
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00:09:50,129 --> 00:09:52,723
a masterpiece, like a novel by
Alexander Dumas as you said
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00:09:52,724 --> 00:09:54,958
your beloved Shakespeare
was a bit tiresome
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00:09:55,121 --> 00:09:58,188
as for McCauley, you will lend him
to me again during the vacations
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00:09:59,259 --> 00:10:03,321
But here you are.....something better
than the pages you bury yourself in
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00:10:05,198 --> 00:10:07,718
Only, don't let our mothers find out !
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00:10:07,819 --> 00:10:10,133
Let's go to your room
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00:10:10,158 --> 00:10:13,439
Mike....... the waltz that
you promised me !
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00:10:24,747 --> 00:10:26,858
Constantine !
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00:10:47,452 --> 00:10:50,468
Isn't my partner having any fun...?
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00:12:16,364 --> 00:12:19,019
The Arabs have revolted,
burning shops and houses
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00:12:19,220 --> 00:12:22,396
They are going to take over
the Cityhall (= 1882 AD)
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00:12:34,747 --> 00:12:36,790
Have you found a coach ? (carriage)
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00:12:36,791 --> 00:12:39,357
My uncle will take you to port for 20 Lira
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00:12:39,458 --> 00:12:43,121
OK OK take these out.....out.
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00:12:55,802 --> 00:12:59,187
OK mother, we did it. Holders of
British passports may leave.
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00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,323
We'll sail with the ship "Castore"
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Something is screaming inside my head
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Quickly !
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00:13:41,305 --> 00:13:46,335
Constantine ! Hurry up !
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00:13:50,117 --> 00:13:52,307
I'll miss you....
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00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:39,191
Constantinople, 1882
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My dear grandson.....
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00:15:05,979 --> 00:15:08,235
What have I promised you ....?
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00:15:24,409 --> 00:15:27,083
Turn it over, on the other side
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00:15:34,291 --> 00:15:37,181
Your family tree
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00:15:37,789 --> 00:15:41,553
It starts here.....15th century AD
Five centuries ago !
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00:15:41,831 --> 00:15:45,573
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire,
at the Armenian-Iranian border (=1453)
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00:15:45,651 --> 00:15:49,092
The Kavafis family were always at the
periphery (border), never in the Center
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00:15:49,420 --> 00:15:52,959
This is your great-grandfather John,
1701 - 1762 AD
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00:15:53,779 --> 00:15:57,784
He was governor of the city of Iasi
in Moldova, a periphery (border)
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00:15:58,348 --> 00:16:00,269
Then, here.....
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00:16:00,828 --> 00:16:04,995
George Kavafis 1745 - 1792
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Highpriest of the Church of Antioch,
in the periphery again....
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00:16:10,029 --> 00:16:14,753
And myself, your grandfather George
Fotiades from the island of Hios
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00:16:15,537 --> 00:16:20,092
once upon a time,
merchant of diamonds !
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00:16:22,069 --> 00:16:25,233
Your mother,
the Center of everything !
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00:16:26,288 --> 00:16:28,009
Constantine !
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00:16:28,010 --> 00:16:32,288
Another family member, George,
son of aunt Amalia
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00:16:32,289 --> 00:16:36,091
George would like to take you out,
to show you Istanbul
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00:23:20,611 --> 00:23:27,932
He is an Apollo ! An Apollo !
(= Greek God of male Beauty)
101
00:24:38,239 --> 00:24:42,390
When the mother returned from Istanbul
to Alexandria with Constantine...
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00:24:42,691 --> 00:24:45,559
their homecity was not the same as
when they had left....
103
00:24:46,209 --> 00:24:48,594
but also the Kavafis family
were not the same anymore....
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00:24:49,791 --> 00:24:52,641
they were living in a house at....
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00:26:18,133 --> 00:26:21,052
Typhus is rampant in Alexandria
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00:26:21,913 --> 00:26:24,446
I am very sorry !
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00:26:58,899 --> 00:27:04,646
And all in war with time....
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00:27:06,782 --> 00:27:09,867
for love of you....
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00:27:11,546 --> 00:27:14,332
as he takes from you....
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00:27:14,691 --> 00:27:17,853
I engraft you new
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00:27:17,854 --> 00:27:21,838
(Shakespeare Sonnet 15)
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00:27:41,824 --> 00:27:46,658
Poem: Return Return often and
take me beloved sensation
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00:27:46,659 --> 00:27:49,910
return and take me !
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00:27:49,911 --> 00:27:53,288
when the memory of the body awakens
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00:27:53,289 --> 00:27:57,607
and an old desire runs again
through the blood
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00:27:57,608 --> 00:28:02,079
when the lips and the skin remember
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00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,509
and the hands feel
as if they touch again
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00:28:07,609 --> 00:28:11,943
My Lord.......the Soul.....
(=reads in Classic Greek)
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00:28:16,174 --> 00:28:21,895
in the month of Athyr
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00:28:23,457 --> 00:28:30,109
Lefkios...... went to sleep...
121
00:28:34,155 --> 00:28:44,289
Him....Our tears...Grief...Sorrow...
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00:28:58,346 --> 00:29:01,123
I thought that....
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00:29:02,951 --> 00:29:06,331
our ancestors lived only
to enjoy their pleasures...
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00:29:07,145 --> 00:29:09,839
and not for their sorrows
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00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:08,703
Something is screaming inside my head
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00:30:20,981 --> 00:30:25,038
- 100 English Pounds
- 100 Pounds ? For all these ??
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00:30:33,708 --> 00:30:38,253
Life without money is a
big nothing, my dear son
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00:31:00,825 --> 00:31:02,310
As from today....
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00:31:02,411 --> 00:31:05,174
Mr Kavafis will also be working with us
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00:31:05,175 --> 00:31:08,132
The gentleman is Greek
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00:31:31,449 --> 00:31:33,600
Coming back to Alexandria....
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00:31:33,901 --> 00:31:39,039
the bankruptcy of the family,
force Kavafis to go to work
133
00:31:39,980 --> 00:31:43,262
He's hired as an extra scribe at the
Egyptian Irrigation Company
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00:31:44,124 --> 00:31:47,023
He'll work there for 33 full years !
135
00:31:47,530 --> 00:31:50,558
For a long time he'll be just
a text scribe with no salary
136
00:31:51,252 --> 00:31:54,022
His first salary was 7 Lira
137
00:31:54,353 --> 00:31:56,187
At an old age, Kavafis.....
138
00:31:56,588 --> 00:31:59,780
informs his supervisors that for
personal reasons...
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00:32:00,081 --> 00:32:03,580
he didn't wish to
renew his contract.
140
00:32:14,263 --> 00:32:18,052
Poem: Far Off
I should like to relate this memory
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00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:22,217
but it is so faded now
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00:32:22,718 --> 00:32:25,367
scarcely anything is left
143
00:32:26,892 --> 00:32:28,807
because it lies far off
144
00:32:28,842 --> 00:32:32,586
in the years of my early manhood
145
00:32:34,601 --> 00:32:39,492
A skin as if made of jasmine
146
00:32:40,688 --> 00:32:43,216
that night in August
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00:32:44,868 --> 00:32:50,386
was it August ? -- that night ...
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00:32:51,624 --> 00:32:55,710
I can just barely remember the eyes
149
00:32:56,280 --> 00:33:01,177
they were, I think, blue
150
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:15,825
Ah yes, blue; a sapphire blue
151
00:35:19,578 --> 00:35:23,148
Madam has not slept yet
152
00:35:31,108 --> 00:35:33,926
It's not enough
153
00:35:40,713 --> 00:35:42,758
It's not enough
154
00:36:30,037 --> 00:36:36,862
I succumbed again.
There is no hope at all.
155
00:36:45,366 --> 00:36:54,904
Unless I stop....
156
00:37:22,461 --> 00:37:25,132
I wish to have my picture taken
157
00:38:55,907 --> 00:39:00,365
You are the only one who
will weep for me
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00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:39,367
Athens, Greece 1901
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00:40:51,486 --> 00:40:57,186
Ancient Agora (Market)
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00:41:02,496 --> 00:41:08,798
Cape Sounion - Temple of Poseidon
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00:41:22,329 --> 00:41:28,853
Thission - Temple of Hephaistos
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00:41:51,863 --> 00:41:55,461
....of the Gods....
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00:41:57,029 --> 00:42:05,089
....succumb to desires.....
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00:42:08,982 --> 00:42:12,608
In 1901 the poet visits Greece
for the very first time
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00:42:13,470 --> 00:42:17,754
He saw all the monumets in a way that
very few people do that today.
166
00:42:18,932 --> 00:42:22,138
In Athens he meets and befriends
certain intelectuals and artists
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00:42:23,491 --> 00:42:25,590
One of them....
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00:42:27,166 --> 00:42:30,127
is the young poet Mavroudis
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00:42:40,681 --> 00:42:42,139
Good day !
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00:42:43,788 --> 00:42:45,972
- I'm sorry I'm late..
- As always Mr Mavroudis.....
171
00:42:46,073 --> 00:42:49,639
- You see it's this sudden rain...
- This is Mr Kavafis.
172
00:42:50,088 --> 00:42:52,099
Pleased to meet you
173
00:44:02,205 --> 00:44:06,740
This is Antinoos ! A beautiful
young man from Vithynia
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00:44:06,944 --> 00:44:09,772
The beloved of the Emperor Hadrian
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00:44:09,807 --> 00:44:14,337
According to the tradition, he
drowned in the river Nile in 133 AD
176
00:44:14,338 --> 00:44:17,554
Poem: Ionian Just because
we've torn their statues down
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00:44:17,955 --> 00:44:21,044
and cast them from their temples
178
00:44:21,903 --> 00:44:25,734
doesn't for a moment mean
the gods are dead
179
00:44:26,643 --> 00:44:32,030
Oh Land of Ionia, they love you yet
(Ionia=cradle of Classic Greek Art)
180
00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:37,178
their spirits still remember you
181
00:44:38,997 --> 00:44:41,880
When an August morning
breaks upon you
182
00:44:42,181 --> 00:44:48,567
a vigour from their lives
stabs through your air
183
00:44:48,968 --> 00:44:53,228
and sometimes an ethereal
and youthful form
184
00:44:54,078 --> 00:44:57,465
in swiftest passage, indistinct
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00:44:58,682 --> 00:45:02,501
passes up above your hills
186
00:46:20,333 --> 00:46:22,846
There isn't only statues in life
187
00:46:23,589 --> 00:46:27,281
Come !! There is no better place
than this !
188
00:47:54,295 --> 00:48:00,059
Return to Alexandria
189
00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:25,237
Poem: The Satrapy What a misfortune,
although you are made...
190
00:48:25,338 --> 00:48:28,348
for fine and great works
191
00:48:28,349 --> 00:48:31,367
this unjust fate of yours always
192
00:48:31,668 --> 00:48:36,566
denies you encouragement and success
193
00:48:37,573 --> 00:48:42,202
that, base customs should block you
194
00:48:42,507 --> 00:48:47,967
and pettiness and indifference
195
00:48:49,293 --> 00:48:53,761
Your soul seeks other things,
weeps for other things
196
00:48:54,788 --> 00:48:59,082
the praise of the public
and the Sophists
197
00:48:59,683 --> 00:49:02,985
the hard-won and
inestimable Well Done
198
00:49:03,015 --> 00:49:07,514
the Agora, the Theater,
and the Laurels
199
00:49:07,615 --> 00:49:11,999
How can Artaxerxes give you these ?
(=Artaxerxes : King of ancient Persia)
200
00:49:12,306 --> 00:49:16,082
where will you find these
in a satrapy ?
201
00:49:16,283 --> 00:49:20,581
and what life can you live
without these ?
202
00:49:38,669 --> 00:49:41,715
"The Regiment of the Senses " (prose)
203
00:49:41,905 --> 00:49:44,405
" All of morality's laws .... "
204
00:49:44,605 --> 00:49:47,704
"poorly understood and applied ...."
205
00:49:47,805 --> 00:49:50,305
"are nil and cannot stand"
206
00:49:50,405 --> 00:49:53,770
"when the Regiment of Senses parades"
207
00:49:53,771 --> 00:49:56,958
"with music and with banners "
208
00:49:57,259 --> 00:50:04,583
Your duty is to give in to Desires
209
00:50:58,387 --> 00:51:01,832
Athens , 1903
210
00:51:47,072 --> 00:51:50,752
Poem: September 1903 And yet
I came so close so many times.....
211
00:51:50,752 --> 00:51:54,431
And yet how paralyzed I was,
how cowardly
212
00:51:56,010 --> 00:51:58,702
why did I keep my lips sealed
213
00:51:58,919 --> 00:52:01,741
while my empty life wept inside me
214
00:52:04,494 --> 00:52:09,923
my desires wore robes of mourning ?
215
00:52:15,408 --> 00:52:17,871
I admire your poetry....
216
00:52:18,954 --> 00:52:20,876
but.......
217
00:57:02,094 --> 00:57:04,665
Please, leave the room !
218
00:58:16,496 --> 00:58:20,665
It is distressing that he lost the
capability to speak
219
00:58:20,966 --> 00:58:24,394
This man, who was such a
fascinating speaker
220
00:58:27,443 --> 00:58:31,318
Anyway, when he was able to speak,
Kavafis always said what he wanted
221
00:58:33,804 --> 00:58:37,277
And not what others wanted him to say
222
00:58:37,678 --> 00:58:40,024
What do you mean ?
223
00:58:48,431 --> 00:58:51,476
Mr Sekopoulos, you are the person
closest to him.....
224
00:58:51,577 --> 00:58:53,953
I'm sorry, but there is nothing
we can do anymore
225
00:58:54,254 --> 00:58:58,578
I think it'd be wise to call
the Greek Orthodox Patriarch
226
00:58:58,779 --> 00:59:02,107
My wife has already gone
to inform him
227
00:59:03,187 --> 00:59:06,513
So, he was finally convinced to
accept him
228
00:59:27,157 --> 00:59:31,273
I mentioned the name Mavroudis to him
and he was very upset
229
00:59:32,298 --> 00:59:34,312
Is it true that Kavafis.....?
230
00:59:34,613 --> 00:59:39,625
My dear sir, Kavafis keeps
his secrets to himself only !
231
01:00:53,477 --> 01:00:54,477
Poem:Sculptor of Tyana
232
01:00:54,478 --> 01:00:59,589
I've handled a lot of stone in my time
233
01:01:00,233 --> 01:01:07,506
and in my own country, Tyana,
I'm really quite famous
234
01:02:45,767 --> 01:02:48,862
Poem: Myris We'd known of course
that Myris was a Christian
235
01:03:03,983 --> 01:03:06,551
But he lived exactly as we did
236
01:03:06,714 --> 01:03:09,936
more devoted to pleasure
than all of us
237
01:03:16,085 --> 01:03:19,190
his friends were not Christians
238
01:03:53,985 --> 01:03:58,065
Poem: Tomb of Iasis
You know the pace of our life
239
01:03:58,983 --> 01:04:04,515
its fever,
its absolute devotion to pleasure
240
01:04:55,183 --> 01:05:02,337
Poem: in the Tavernas Living a vile life
I wallow in the tavernas
241
01:06:09,040 --> 01:06:12,862
Not long ago, he was asking me to
go again to the library
242
01:06:13,063 --> 01:06:16,771
He wanted some info on
the ancient city of Antioch...
243
01:06:19,909 --> 01:06:23,797
in order to finish a poem
244
01:06:23,798 --> 01:06:29,841
(priest voice): This is the last Holy
Communion for the servant of God.....
245
01:06:30,142 --> 01:06:35,677
May all your sins be atoned and
may you earn eternal life
246
01:08:37,728 --> 01:08:41,814
"" Bring me some water.
I'm in pain ""
247
01:08:46,291 --> 01:08:51,332
"" Only gods know the future. They only
and uniquely possess the Light ""
248
01:08:55,783 --> 01:08:57,853
"" Time ""
249
01:08:58,407 --> 01:09:03,491
"" Our minds are on Charmides ""
(=book by Greek philosopher Plato)
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"" Draft notes on the Life and Work
of K. P. Kavafis ""
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Poem: ITHACA
As you set out for Ithaca
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hope that your road is a long one
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full of adventure
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full of discovery
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The Laistrygonians, the Cyclops
(=mythical monsters)
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and angry Poseidon -
don't be afraid of them
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ask that your road is a long one
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may you gain fine things
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mother of pearl and coral,
amber and ebony
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sensual perfumes of every kind
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as many sensual perfumes as you can
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Keep Ithaca always in your mind
(Ithaca = homecoming after a journey)
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Arriving there is
what you're destined for
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But don't hurry the journey at all
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Better if it lasts for years
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so you're old by the time
you reach the island
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wealthy with all you've gained
on the way
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not expecting Ithaca
to make you rich
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Ithaca gave you
the marvellous journey
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Without Ithaca,
you wouldn't have set out
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She has nothing left
to give you now
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And if you find her poor,
Ithaca won't have fooled you
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Wise as you will have become,
so full of experience
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you'll have understood by then
what these Ithacas mean
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K. Kavafis died in Alexandria in 1933,
on his birthday 29/April
21720
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