Hesiod’s Theogony is a profoundly political poem that introduced deities to embody the concepts of justice, good governance, social peace, strife, war and others. These deities and the hierarchal relations between them, such as structuring the world around patriach-Zeus, left a fundamental mark on contemporary understanding and interpretation of socio-political imaginary and ‘normality’. In this lecture-performance, Avenir Institute will discuss this timeless context first introduced by Theogony. Special attention will be paid to Zeus, Athena and Dionysos, as representations of past, present and alternative futures. 

After the introduction, participants will be invited to perform an anticipatory creative writing exercise, which is structured around developing the stories of the protagonists with high potential to form alternative futures, such as Styx, Medea, Prometheus and more. We recommend to read Theogony (in short translated, and adapted to prose version) in advance: https://drive.google.com/open…. However those unfamiliar with the text will receive basic introduction to it during the lecture.

The event is a part of The Mimosa House Queer Futures public programme and exhibition. Queer Futures is a public programme of events and exhibition exploring narratives for queer resistance, from mythology and folklore to speculative science fiction. The programme will include performances, screenings, discussions and workshops and each event will leave a contribution in the space to form a gradually expanding archive.

This event is free and everyone is welcome.

Image: AVENIR INSTITUTE. “Altar of Zeusian Justice”. Avenir Institute, 2018.