[Milton-L] Samson as suicide bomber

[srevard at siue.edu]

Miltonists might be interested in the article today on the front
page of the Arts section of the NY TIMES, as it deals with
the question of Samson as suicide bomber and reverses the
cultural identifications, turning the biblical Jews into
Palistinians and biblical Philistines into present-day Israelis.

Flanders Opera's production of Saint-Saens opera deals with
a question Miltonists have been repeatedly considering: is
Samson into a suicide bomber? The production does so by
reversing the roles in the bible and thus making opera-goers
confront the present political situation in the middle East.
A fuller account of the production is found on the NY TIMES
website for today in the Arts section.

As I noted in my article on musical treatments of Samson,
Saint-Saens's opera has some interesting connections with
Milton's poem, particularly on the political front.

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