Help identify this Greek spoken word performance I heard on the radio

May 24, 2017 2:23 AM

Was listening to Greek public radio when I caught some of this dramatic spoken word reading (audio link) of a man and woman who sounded like they were on a 1960s record. Could only make out a couple of words like "tomorrow" and "freedom." Any ideas what this is?
posted by johngoren to Society & Culture (2 answers total)

Best answer: With help from my husband: It's a poem by Odysseus Elytis, "Song Heroic and Mourning for the Lost Second Lieutenant of the Albanian Campaign" (Άσμα ηρωικό και πένθιμο για τον χαμένο ανθυπολοχαγό της Αλβανίας), "his epic poem connecting Greece's—and his own—Second World War experience to the myth of the eternal Greek hero." (description from here)

The poem was published in 1946, and the broadcast, by Greek theatrical stage actors, was in 1954.
posted by taz at 8:00 AM on May 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks!!!
posted by johngoren at 3:14 AM on May 25, 2017