Stupor at the sanctuary of Athena. The Athenian acropolis was in turn familiarized with the ancient believers close to the goddess of wisdom, with Christians fond of Marian worship, with the soldiers of the Ottoman era then with the waves of tourists who came to contemplate the prodigious remains. of classical Greece. She may not have expected to host the cryptic shooting of an independent short as well. Including a sex scene between two men, crudely filmed on the shoulder camera in the middle of ancient remains. The Greek Ministry of Culture, which did not issue a filming permit, did not expect this either. A preliminary investigation has been launched to determine the circumstances behind this illegal daring.
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"The archaeological site of the Acropolis is not suitable for the creation of militant content or for any other type of activity or crime that may affect respect for the monument
," the Greek Ministry of Culture said on Friday in a statement.
The investigation opened at the end of the week will aim in particular to identify possible flaws in the security of the Acropolis site, which receives more than one million visitors per year.
And to find the authors of the 36-minute short film entitled
Departhenon
(
Ξεπαρθενών,
in its original Greek title).
Homage to
Plato's
Banquet
Released in free access on the Internet, on December 21, the film presents the existential, festive and erotic peregrinations of a group of friends with hidden faces.
"A work of art as much as a political act"
, the short film presents, according to its anonymous authors, a sensual and contemporary reconquest of a monument which would symbolize
"nationalism, the cult of Antiquity,
the patriarchy
, the commercialism, mass culture and, among other things, a sedentary lifestyle. "
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The scene of the scandal is presented as a stimulating boldness, thought of as the recreation of a past experience of a man in the group. As well as a tribute to
Plato's
Banquet .
“Health, salacity and riot!”
Exclaim the extras with raised fists in the direction of the Acropolis, before going there. Shot in broad daylight, in front of the north portico of the Erechtheion but hidden behind comrades acting as a screen, the sequence - which lasts only a handful of seconds - takes place while groups of tourists can be heard passing through the immediate vicinity of the actors at work.
Uploaded to widespread indifference over two weeks ago, the explicit short began to be shared on social media in the early days of January.
"As a Greek, I am ashamed
," said the president of the Association of Greek Actors, Spyros Bibilas, for the Greek television channel ANT1 on Friday.
You can't do anything and everything in the name of activism.
From what I could see, by the way, I don't even consider it a militant act, but just something stupid.
A sentiment perhaps shared by the wise Athena.
In the absence of the immoderate Dionysus.