2023. Four friends, Annie (French), Paul (German), Juan (Spanish) and Vassiliki (Greek), meet up again in Athens, fifteen years after living there together during their Erasmus year. In 2008, the crisis was beginning to ravage Greece. And in December, tragedy struck: the police murdered young Alexandros Grigoropoulos, sparking riots across the country. The four young men had taken part in the uprisings: for them, it was a time of great commitment, but also a time when everyone’s loyalty was put to the test. And what of loyalty, fifteen years on? And despite the reunion, don’t we all realise how deeply alone we are?

The book brings together this contemporary episode with the actions of top-level politicians who decide the destiny of an entire people, as well as the ordeal suffered by Prometheus, punished by the gods for stealing fire and giving it to mankind. Will the Titan’s words be heard?

Alternating between monologues and frenzied dialogue, Christos Chryssopoulos combines burlesque and seriousness, laughter and pain. A highly original way of telling the story of the crisis that ravaged Greece for years and whose profound effects on relationships between individuals are still being felt.

In parallel with this book, Camille Trouvé and Brice Berthoud (Les Anges au Plafond), directors of the CDN Normandie-Rouen, are putting on a theatre staging of the same title, which premiered on 14 November 2023 and has been on tour ever since.