Once upon a time in ancient Greece, the almighty Zeus and his divine family directed the lives of the ancient Greek people from the Mount Olympus. High in the mountains, a temple was built in honor of Zeus and in his glory, a statue was erected as well made of ebony, ivory, and gold! Since everything was attributed to deities, so were the origins of the Olympic games. There are many myths surrounding it, but what is certain is that Olympic games were held to celebrate Zeus (with some ritual sacrifices, of course, which was a usual thing back in the days).
Now, in 2016. – many years after Zeus’s era, another magnificent statue is watching over the Olympic games from another mountain called Corcovado (with a slightly less romantic name, meaning ‘the hunchback’). But, before the games traveled from Greece to Brazil, Zeus’s grandson appeared in this land of fantasy in the movie “Black Orpheus”, hopping straight from the myth to the movie screen.
Ancient Orpheus played the lute so wonderfully that rocks and trees moved closer to him so they could hear his divine music. The 20th century ‘Orfeu’ from Brazil played samba, with rhythms that have still not bored Corcovado after all these years. There’s no doubt that the mountain swings to it a bit, especially during the time of the Carnival, while everyone is too busy celebrating to notice it. But, what these two Orpheuses have in common is the curse we remember them for – they could not resist turning and making sure that Eurydice is a few steps behind – which in the end caused losing her.
Manha de Carnaval is the most known song from the movie Black Orpheus, the vocalist is the great Elizete Cardoso. Its‘rival’ and at the same time, its pair on this carnival morning is a sunny day in Greece – Aspri Mera with Nana Mouskouri.