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Arabic background in a movie depicting Greece's Archaic period?


Throughout this 3-hour long movie, I heard Classical Arabic language spoken in the background and sometimes Moroccan Arabic. I also noticed that some of the music played during the feast celebrations in Penelope's house was of Berber Moroccan origin including the Rhaita flutes.

The Question is:
Why did the director choose to include Arabic in a movie depicting a city in Greece (Ελλάδα) during its Archaic period if not even earlier times since Homer (author of The Odyssey) existed before 800 BC (or 1200 BC - disputed) while Classic Arabic started to be spoken around 4th century AD and old North Arabic started around 6th century BC in the Arabia region.

Can someone help me?

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I don't know what movie you saw, possibly a dubbed version, but I don't recall a single word of Arabic in the background.

The other possibility is that because a lot of the exteriors were shot in Malta film studios, a predominantly Arabic holding, that what you heard were the extras talking in the background.

I think the Pan flute dates back to the classical era.

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Interesting observation!

I haven't heard Arabic in the background either, but scholars have traditionally located some of the spots Odysseus visited in North Africa, notably the Lotus Eaters (not shown in the movie, where it was merged with Circe and her servants) and Hades. Countries like Libya and Tunisia are often mentioned in relation to Odysseus' travels. I think this is respected by the casting of Calypso as an African (or mixed race) woman.

As for the music, I think it's hard to reconstruct what people listened to at the time, and how it was played. Instruments like the ney and rhaita flutes are found in a region ranging from Iran to Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Morocco, meaning it's likely that all these cultures influenced each other and used similar instruments and melodies.

Dicky

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