Greek Tragedy or High School Drama?
In many ways they are similar as I’m finding out. I set out to write an origin story about a great passionate love affair, and where did I discover the most intensely raw feelings for my protagonist? In an ancient Greek High School.
I’m not sure why I’m surprised. I associate ancient Greece with learning, scholarly pursuits, law, reason and everything else you can expect from a place of higher learning. Of course, that’s not the case in my current story Ragús, because as usual passion runs high and no one has time to study. Where else can you find all the drama of a Greek Tragedy—jealousy, rage, deceit, lust, fear and anger? Students are in a liminal phase, just on the cusp of adulthood. Many cultures celebrate this with rituals, some of them quite punishing. Turns out stepping into the next phase of life, no matter how old you are, is difficult and often involves some type of pain.
I write and the story flows out and it gets more and more complicated because this time we’re dealing with ancient gods even older than the Greek pantheon. The trouble is, feelings run high especially when you feel them for the first time, and it seems the ancients knew this well—just read or watch any of the plays. Fruiting ground for a writer such as myself. My book is due sometime in late Spring 2020.