Opera Cancer Ward link

Hello...Just sharing the news of the completion of my third opera with everyone. Opera, "Cancer Ward," based on the novel by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in 17 scenes, including Overture. The libretto is in Russian -- English translation of the libretto can be found with the audio files by going to the music page of the link below.

Link to audio files and English translation of librettos by scene.

Fourth Opera (draft post)

Θηβαι is the greek word for Ancient Thebes -- the site of the great palaces of the Valley of the Kings, and the Valley of the Queens; the site of the Luxor Temple; and the al-Karnak -- a great Temple complex. Thebes was the capitol of the unified Ancient Egypt. But it is not the Thebes of Oedipus. The Myceneans were precursors to the Greeks, and Thebes was one of their major cities -- as was Athens. Mycenean artifacts have been found in Caucus Georgia, Bavaria Germany; and Mycenean bronze battle axes dating from 13th century BC have been found in Ireland, Wessex, and Cornwall, England.

The distance from Athens to Thebes, Greece is not great. As a matter of fact, Google Map says the driving time is about an hour and ten minutes. Athens is in a region, called Attica, while Thebes Greece, is in a region, called Boeotia, and is separated from Athens by a mountain range, the Cithaeron range. The Cithaeron range, located just north of Athens, attains heights of 4500 ft. What makes this interesting, is, that, while we are aware that the history of the rivalry between Athens and Sparta is storied and well known, the Boeotian city-state (polis) of Thebes was also a rival of Athens, and was a major player in the Ancient Grecian struggle for dominance and supremacy.

Ogyges was a mythical aboriginal king of Thebes. Poets referred to Thebans, as Ogygidae, in Greek, 'Ωγυγιδαι. Ogygian is a word, or more properly, a name, that also refers to a world wide deluge in Greek mythology. This name is related to the word Okeanos, and to the Phoenician word meaning, "to encircle." Later Ogygian came to mean, "from earliest days." Aeschylus would distinguish Boeotian Thebes from Egyptian Thebes, by referring to Thebes of Egypt, as "Ogygian Thebes."

Mycenean
Mycenae, Tiryus
Pylos
Athens
Thebes, Orchomenus
Iolkos
Knossos
Settlements: Epirus, Macedonia, Islands in Aegean Sea, Coast of Asia Minor, Levant, Cyprus, Italy
Mycenean artifacts in Georgia, Caucus; amber artifact Bavaria Germany; bronze battle axes dating from 13 th c. bc Ireland, Wessex, Cornwall in England

Unlike Minoans who relied upon trade, Myceneans were people of conquest
warrior aristocracy
Neolithic
Early Bronze Age 2000 BC Indo Europeans 2100-1700 BC some say 1000 years earlier

Late Bronze
Late Helladic I II III
megaron, or throne room
link Amenhotep III Queen Tiye of Egypt

1200 BC decline > Bronze Age Collapse
causes: (?) Dorian Invasion (from north); Sea Peoples > destroyed Hittite Empire, 19th and 20th dynasties of Egypt; drought; earthquakes

divine> any object that inherited an internal power (anime)
Hindus> dyaus Pita Latin>deus pater > Jupiter

Mycenaen> before 1000 BC
Ancient Thebes  Θηβαι
Mycenean city Μυκηναι or Μυκηνη

Boeotia > Boeotian city-state (polis)
located north of the Cithaeron range
Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysius
major rival of Athens
sided with Persians/ Xerxes/ 480 BC invasion
Theban forces under command of Epaminondas
battle of Leuctra 371 BC
Sacred Band of Thebes - elite military unit
Battle of Caeronea 338 BC
Battle of Deluim/Battle of Haliantus/Battle of Coronea
Death of Epaminadas at Battle of Mantinea
Thebes -- birthplace of Herakles

Orchomenos and Thebes
2500 BC Minyas
1500 BC Kadmus
Phoenicians

'Αμφιων and Ζηθος
Amphion is the son of Zeus and the nymph Antiope, the queen of Thebes.
Zethus > twin brother
Amphion learned music from Hermes and with a golden lyre built Thebes by moving the stones into place with the sound of his playing.
Built the walls around Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes.
Married Niobe >killed himself after loss of wife and children (>the Niobids) at the hands of Apollo and Artemis.

Other Amphions> Son of Iasus and Persephone (a mortal, not the wife of Hades). Said to be king of the Minyans of Orchomenus, in Boeotia.

panflute, panpipes syrinx > συρινξ >plural syringes
Συρινξ  > nymph and follower of Artemis, known for her chastity

word music comes from the Muses, daughters of Zeus, patron goddesses of creative and intellectual endeavors.

Sicyon Sikyon Σικυων  gen. Σικυωνος