The dead man who wasn’t there

Pantelis Boukalas, ekathimerini.com, 04-11-2014

It is still too early to say whether the history of Ancient Amphipolis, where archaeologists are now digging up a massive and splendid tomb, will provide material for a Hollywood film – the ambition of many a Greek tourism minister. If we do get to enjoy a decent movie set here one day, it will hopefully not be reminiscent of those Indiana Jones-style movies that have so often come to memory over the past few weeks but more suited to the political fantasy genre. It could be the story of how the supposedly non-populist politicians hijacked science. Or we could be in for a crime thriller with a twist, as the most wanted man will not be the killer but, instead, the dead man.

Meanwhile, we appear to be closer to poetry territory rather than cinema. I quote here from Manolis Anagnostakis’s poem “The Dead Man:” “The first telegrams began to arrive / The newspaper presses ground to a halt and waited / Orders were given to the proper authorities. / But the dead man would not die on the appointed hour. / All wore black ties / Rehearsed broken-hearted postures before their mirrors / The first lamentations began to be heard. the grievous laudations. / But the dead man would not die on the appointed hour. / Finally the hours dragged into days / Those dreadful days of waiting […] But the dead man would not die on the appointed hour.”

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