The European Cultural Centre of Delphi (ECCD) will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its founding this year with an international symposium entitled “Women in Ancient Drama” along with a dedication to its founder, Greek statesman Constantine Karamanlis.

A ceremony unveiling a bust of Karamanlis, the uncle and namesake of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, is scheduled for July 22 at the ECCD, with EU Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Hans Gert Petering expected to attend.

This year’s series of events for the ECCD’s annual Cultural Amphictyony also include an event in memory of pre-eminent 20th century Greek lyric poet Angelos Sikelianos and his wife Eva, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the couple’s revival of the Delphic festival.

Plays, concerts and dance performances will again be on the schedule of the festival in Delphi - the mountainous seat of the eponymous ancient oracle in central Greece dedicated to the god Apollo - between July 6 and July 15, with ancient heroines the focus on this year’s theme.

One of the notable performances scheduled for this summer will be the staging of Aristophanes’ “Thesmophoriazusae” (Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria) by Chinese director Luo Yin Lin on July 11.

“Constantine Karamanlis was the first Greek political leader that realised the significance of establishing the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. He strived to turn the ancient ‘navel of the world’ into a modern hub of open and ecumenical dialogue,” Culture Minister George Voulgarakis said on Tuesday during a press conference in Athens to unveil the programme for this year’s festival.

Among others, he also noted that the ministry has allocated one million euros for the upgrading of the outdoor Delphi Odeon.

Source: Athens News Agency

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