Tragic connections

I went to my lovely local Questors Theatre this month to see a brilliant production of Antigone, a premiere version of a new translation by the British poet, Ruth Fainlight. What made the tale of Creon's tragic pig-headedness all the more resonant were the stories and reminiscences of Margaret Thatcher's stubbornness which filled the media following her death, that same week. It was so amazing that the impact of conviction politics and the inability to bend to consensus could be so well mirrored over a period of more than two thousand years.
Another poignant moment came after a memorable short break in Istanbul, also this past month. We stayed centrally in the Sultanahmet district, surrounded by so many beautiful domes and minarets. From the balcony of our little hotel over looking the massive Blue Mosque, we loved to hear the returning calls of muezzins, beating through the evening air. And so it was especially sad to hear that the UNESCO World Heritage Site 11th century minaret of the mosque in the ancient city of Aleppo has just been destroyed in the bloody civil war over there in Syria, each side blaming the other for this latest cultural catastrophe. This on top of the destruction last year of the medieval souk in Aleppo. When will all the tragedies come to an end in Syria, we wonder?