Ecstasy: a Source of Intimacy or Applications of the Dionysiac Model
for Grotowski’s Theatre
Anna Misopolinou
The idea for my thesis and therefore for this article, was born of a sense of
frustration. As fanciful or commonplace as it may sound, the truth is that even
though I think that theatre represents an ideal, I have seen too many
performances in which ‘nothing happens’. Of course there was a plot and a
director, there were actors, etc, but there was no ‘soul’. Once I had an acting
teacher in Greece who shared my feelings and challenged us, the class, by
taking us to observe a ritual called Anastenaria. I will give more details about
this later in the article, but in short, it is a Greek custom in which the
participants dance until in a trance and then walk over burning coals. They are
not ordinary people. They all have the same origins and most of them are
descendants of people who used to perform the same ritual. Anyway, I
remember noticing how intimate the participants were with each other and
how they concentrated on what they where doing, even though they have
performed the same ritual time after time! I also remember a participant
talking to me about the curiosity of the visitors who come to the village and
ask questions, ‘ They ask what will happen to me. How should I know? I don’t
know. May it be God’s will that I dance again this year!’ That was the key
thought for me. They did not take their actions for granted. Every year, every
day, they were equally motivated to participate, to see what would happen.
Would they avoid getting burned once more? They have done it so many
times, but that makes no difference. Every time it is something new. This is
what I feel is from the theatre. This is what I call ecstasy: this moment of
ambiguity, which makes the person creative. It is a term hidden in a very old
Cult, the cult of Dionysus. It was also used, along with other notions, by a very
modern theatre, Jersy Grotowski’s. I would be very happy if I could define a
‘know-how’ of ecstasy so to make it transferable to all sorts of theatre, but
since it has as many forms as many people that exist on this planet, this is
almost impossible. So I have to limit the scope of my research, in the hope
that each of us can, afterwards, sense it, although not necessarily define it,
wherever it flourishes.
Therefore, I regard ecstasy as the Greek form of liminality, practised in the
Dionysiac Cult. Arnold van Genep describes liminality as the second of a
three-stage process, which one can observe in the rites of passage (1908:65115). During the intervening liminal period, the characteristics of the ritual
subject are ambiguous since the condition and the person who is the subject
in this, elude or slip through the network of classifications that normally locate
states and positions in cultural space. According to Victor Turner ‘liminal
entities are neither here nor there; they are betwixt and between the positions
assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention, and ceremony….liminality
is frequently likened to death, to being in the womb, to invisibility, to darkness,
to bisexuality, to the wilderness’ (1969:95). Ecstasy is perceived as the
threshold in between oppositions. It is considered to be a state where life itself
is phased out of the limits dualism sets. The aim of the Dionysus’ cult, as E,R.
Dodds stresses, was ecstasy, which again could mean anything from ‘taking
you out of your self to profound alteration of personality (1951:77)’. In
etymological terms, ecstasy derives from the Greek word ek-stasis [‘out’ +
’place’]. Put into personal terms, a person who is subject to ecstasy is taken
out of ‘what he’s been placed in’ either by himself or the social context in
which he grew up, as defined by conventions, customs, social rules and
regulations, habits and even principles. By being taken out of the context, one
is invited to speculate and criticise. Ecstasy is the will to abandon comfort in
pursuit of self-knowledge. Dionysiac ecstasy borders between consciousness
and unconsciousness, sanity and madness, exalted purity and abandonment,
strength and weakness. Turner stresses the productive role of this liminal
phase:
Prophets and artists tend to be liminal and marginal people,
"edgemen", who strive with a passionate sincerity to rid them
selves of the cliches associated with status incumbency and
role-playing and to enter into vital relations with other men in fact
or imagination. In their productions we may catch glimpses of
that unused evolutionary potential in mankind which has not yet
been externalized and fixed in structure (1969:128).
Similarly, one purpose of ecstasy is to allow the individual to lose his/her
sense of reality, but only momentarily. It occurs in a limited time and space
and under given rules and techniques. It could be expressed as a
spontaneous and eruptive feeling, but the individual never loses awareness of
him/herself. S/He always ‘comes back’ to be a vital and creative member of
his society. It is not an outsider activity. Ecstasy is a state in which liberation
along with growth and maturity is allowed. Richard Schechner describes this
as ‘not myself’ yet ‘not not myself’ (1985:4). In theatrical terms the former is
the blueprinted role whereas the latter the realized role. In ritual terms the
former is the neophyte in an ecstatic ritual, whereas the latter is an
experienced participant. Both the participant in Dionysiac rites and actors
have the opportunity to re-evaluate the standards and redefine him/herself so
that each of his/her expressions is genuine. Grotowski calls his actors to
come into ecstasy, to knock down their barriers so to allow the impulses to be
expressed (1968:15-26). Flazsen, according to Kumiega, describes in a poetic
way Grotowski’s productions aim:
Grotowski’s productions aim to bring back the utopia of those
elementary experiences provoked by collective ritual, in which
the community dreamed ecstatically of its own essence, of its
place in a total, undifferentiated reality, where Beauty did not
differ from Truth, emotion from intellect, spirit from body, joy
from pain; where the individual seemed to feel a connection with
the Whole of being. (Flazsen in Kumiega 1985:156)
I maintain that Grotowski’s work was based on the way ecstasy functions in
the Dionysiac Cult.
For the purpose of methodology, I introduce the idea of the Dionysiac Model
(or the circle of ecstasy). It is a spiral process with three main and three
secondary stages (SUFFERING – madness – DEATH – Catharsis –
RESURRECTION – Transformation) which interact with each other. The
Model shows the different phases via which an individual is allowed into
ecstasy for the purpose of coming into communion with him/herself and
others. The Model was formed by: a) the Dionysiac Myth itself as it has
survived in modern literature through the ancient sources (I do not use
primary sources for the reason that my knowledge of ancient Greek is
inadequate to approach such texts. On the other hand, I avoid using a
translation whose accuracy I can not check. Therefore, I used the modern
literature by well-known scholars to eliminate inconsistency); b) the practice of
the Dionysiac Cult in ancient Greece, Bacchic (1) ceremonies and especially
institutions such as the Eleusinian Mysteries; and c) the modern practice of
the Dionysiac cult. There is an ecstatic, Greek rite called Anastenaria and it
has Dionysiac origins. The data was selected primarily through field-work.
There is also a small, yet sufficient body of literature on this ritual.
I will continue presenting the way I composed the Dionysiac Model and will
then move on to explain the particular terms of the model and give the specific
definition they take in this research.
Firstly, I will examine the Dionysus Myth. There are two versions of the myth.
According to the first, Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Persephone,
Demeter’s daughter. She, as the goddess of the underworld, together with her
mother are the main figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries. In this legend, the
Titans, Zeus’ predecessors, tore Dionysus into 7 pieces after his birth.
Demeter saved him by joining the pieces together. In the second version he is
the son of Zeus and Semely, princess of Thebes. Semely, while she was
pregnant and persuaded by the jealous Hera, asked Zeus to appear to her in
his real form. So he did; he came to her in all his glory as a thunderbolt.
Semely was burnt to death but Zeus sewed the premature baby in his thigh
and let it live. Some versions of the myth identify Semely’s virtues with those
of Persephone. In addition to this there are other stories about the god as an
adult, which indicate again the same pattern. The one who suffers, dies and
eventually rises from the dead.
The most useful and indicative example of the practice of the Dionysiac cult is
the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Mysteries were initiatory institutions within the
ancient Greek religion. They were inaugurated in-between 1580 and 1500 BC
and celebrated at Eleusis for nearly 2000 years. Literature attributes the
Mysteries to Demeter and Persephone. Yet Persephone was considered to be
the female counterpart of Dionysus. Some scholars, such as Eliade, and
Kerenyi maintain that the Mysteries expressed the Dionysiac spirit, which is
the spirit of endless self – knowledge (Eliade,1978:290-301;
Kerenyi,1951:190-256). In the Mysteries, through mental and emotional tasks
the human condition, as Eliade claims, was modified (1978). To what extent
and how this happened can not be proven but it could scientifically be
assumed. The same scholar says that the initiate (mystes) at first wanders
into darkness and undergoes all sorts of terrors; then is struck by a marvelous
light and discovers pure regions and meadows, hears voices, and sees
dances. There he feels bliss and happiness. In the Mysteries the ordeals of
the initiate are compared with the experiences of the soul immediately after
death. I have to point out that it was a secular institution where everybody,
including women, could participate. Also, the participants did not form any
kind of ‘church’ so as to develop an eccentric way of viewing life. Thus it is
irrational to assume that all these people for so many years were solemnly
concerned with life after death! They must have derived a benefit for their
present life, which can be assumed by the pattern of the initiation: pursuit in
darkness – subjection to all sorts of terrors – enlightenment – bliss. I conclude
that the mystes, to use a modern expression, had a kind of break-down so as
to re-evaluate themselves. In any case, this was written at the entrance of the
temple: "self–knowledge". As such we are not far from the SUFFERING DEATH – RESURRECTION Model. Here, though, some secondary terms are
introduced: the break-down is a type of madness, and Dionysus is in any case
the god who drives people insane. Also, enlightenment and bliss is a way to
catharsis, which means ‘cleansing’. Finally the initiate becomes a ‘new’
person. ‘ A birth in death is something that must be termed ‘ mystic’ in the
ancient sense since the Mysteries revolved around such birth’, says Kerenyi
(1976:108). We discover the same essence in Grotowski’s words: ‘This is not
instruction of a pupil but utter opening to another person, in which the
phenomenon of "shared of double birth" becomes possible. The actor is
reborn – not only as an actor but as a man…’ (1968:25). More specifically,
Lisa Wolford, who worked with Grotowski for many years, claims that: ‘In "Art
as Vehicle", Grotowski’s aim is far more radical; he (re)appropriates the
means and structure of performance to serve an explicitly esoteric goal,
establishing a type of performance practice that attempts to reconstitute
certain elements associated with Orphic and Eleusinian Mysteries’ (1996:16).
Based on this I suggest that theatre might well be a process of initiation.
The third source I used for constructing the Dionysiac Model is Anastenaria. It
is a Greek ritual in which people dance until in a trance and eventually walk
over burning coals. The custom, brought by immigrants from Nothern Thrace
in the early twentieth century, takes place in some villages in the north of
Greece. It occurs twice a year, in January, when it lasts for three days, and in
May when it lasts for four days. It is considered by the participants to be a part
of the Greek Orthodox practice but all the scholars who have researched this
ritual, with the exception of a few whose conclusions are considered to be of
minor importance, maintain that Anastenaria is clearly a survival of Bacchic
Cult. This opinion is mainly based on a) the observable similarities between
the enactments in Anastenaria and of those in the Dionysiac worship in
ancient Greece; b) the geographical factors, which are the same both for
Dionysus and the practice of Anastenaria; c) the trance-like state reached by
both maenads and the participants in Anastenaria; and d) the same
symbolism. Observing their dance one can see that the participants,
especially when they are neophytes, are in an agony of suspense, uneasiness
and agitation. They let out screams of grief and even when not dancing, are
not aware of the presence of others. Eventually they step onto the coals
where they curse Evil with the words - ‘May it turn into ashes!’ After the
firewalking they seem released and happy, smiling and talkative. The above,
with the details I will give later in this article, demonstrate that especially in
Anastenaria we can observe the Dionysiac model in all its phases of
SUFFERING–Madness–DEATH–Catharsis–RESURRECTION–
Transformation.
The ultimate goal for the participants in the Dionysiac ritual is the Communion
with the ‘God’. This is more or less the aim of all traditional rituals. The
difference in the Dionysiac cult is that ‘God’ could be translated as the
primitive instincts and impulses of the persons involved.
I will move on now, on one hand, to explain each term of the Dionysiac Model
and at the same time to show the type of events and actions, which are
included in each of the stage of the Model. To do this I will present the way
each term operates in the Dionysiac Cult and in Grotowski’s acting
techniques.
SUFFERING is the first stage of the ecstatic process in which the subject
endures a mental, emotional or physical pain or effort. The cause is either
undefined or brought about by physical, external circumstances, which
exhaust the body, that is, cause the SUFFERING. The goal is for the
participant to release emotions of distress, agitation, anger and discomfort in
a primitive way. In the Dionysiac Cult the participants performed frenzied
dances for the whole night. Dionysus represents all these primitive elements
within the human condition, which need to be expressed. Resistance to them
could prove to be harmful as they can erupt in inappropriate circumstances.
The easiest way for an individual to release them is through an elementary
activity such as dance accompanied by vocal sounds or just screaming. In
Anastenaria the participants perform a very simple dance based on a cyclical
pattern which lasts for many hours before it culminates in the firewalking.
There is also another side to this ritual, particularly important for this study.
There are references by the participants, quoted by Loring Danforth, that they
suffered from depression or they had even had nervous break-downs before
starting to participate in this ritual (1979:141-163). Their initiation to this
ecstatic dance proved to be a cure for their condition. Also, when they first
started dancing it was painful to enter the trace-like state. When I see them
dancing it seems as if most of them are trying to rid themselves of something
that tortures them from inside. Grotowski seemed to have been fully aware of
the fact that for the impulses to be unblocked the exhaustion of the body is
necessary. ‘One must begin with movement to burn off the energy, to set fire
to the body, a kind of letting-go. It is as if your animal body becomes master of
the situation and starts to move - without obsession about what is dangerous
or not’ (1996a:262). He also maintains that, ‘When we find the courage to do
things that are impossible, we make the discovery that our body does not
block us’ (1996b:222). Koniordou (1999), a very famous Greek actress and a
teacher of mine, recalls an exercise she did with Flaszen, Grotowski’s own
colleague. She told me that he asked them to run in a circle to a fast rhythm
for more than half an hour. She said that even if she had been an athlete,
under normal circumstances, she couldn’t have done it. What happened there
was that the group was coordinated into a common rhythm, which surpassed
the individual’s limited possibilities. Despite this, it is common knowledge that
Grotowski’s actors were trained for hours on end and were given
exceptionally hard exercises to do. Similarly, in the Mysteries, the
peregrination in darkness gave considerable agony to the initiates. On a
symbolic level, the outer darkness is the inner one, which could be defined as
all the primitive and unexpressed elements of the human condition. I am not
saying that there is no other way for them to be expressed, so that an
individual could a healthy existence with them. I am suggesting, though, that
the body, as it has less complicated reactions than the mind, can be a handy
vehicle for access to those levels.
This condition of physical and mental exhaustion could legitimately result in a
loss of the individual’s hold on the clarity of those relations on which he
depends. This is what I call madness. It is important though to remember that
this type of ecstatic madness lasts only for a limited period of time and it is
always encouraged in a protected environment such as a ritual, an institution,
or a rehearsal room. Walter Otto describes Dionysus as the mad god of
wildness who, at the same time, can be a blessed deliverer because when
madness is released it can be productive and a source of joy (1965:65, 143).
Madness is the state where the person can not define himself as an
individual, nor does he know where he stands and what for. Since, as
Grotowski says, we base our existence on things we have been involved with
at a particular time (1996c:81-86); we came to an agreement with them
without having chosen them consciously, ‘at this point one can get lost in a
sort of primitivism: one works on the body’s instinctual elements losing control
of oneself’ (1996d:297). So when one losses control, one creates space to reevaluate old habits and inhibitions. This is an indispensable step to the next
stage, which is DEATH.
DEATH is used here as a metaphor. It is a state of transition, where the
individual abandons the undesirable elements uncovered in the state of
madness. ‘In this instance death is an abolishment of the barriers, the
classes, the exclusions, not by syncretism, but by simply getting rid of this old
spectre: Logical contradiction’ (Roland Barth, 1970:77). The psychologist
Abraham Maslow, who did a comprehensive study on ecstatic experiences,
calls them ‘a little death’ and a rebirth in various senses (1982:9). For him
‘death is not to be sought first at the end of life, but at its beginning…it [death]
attends all of life’s creations’. Ecstasy is a reconciliation with death, an
understanding of its necessity. For Grotowski what one should ‘kill’ is the
dressing, the covering, the possessing. For him actors should be ‘burned
alive’ like martyrs. Death is not a condition; rather, it is a process in which, as
the Polish director says, ‘what is dark in us slowly becomes transparent. In
this struggle with one’s own truth, this effort to peel off the life-mask, the
theatre, has always seemed to me a place of provocation’ (1968:21). In the
Mysteries, the initiates seem to have gone through a type of ‘death’ as the
ceremony manifests the Persephone’s/Dionysus’ resurrection circle.
According to the myth, both the deities descent to the under world to come
back in the Spring. The anastenarides (the participants in Anastenaria) try to
extinguish the fire with their feet when they step on the coals as, in this way,
they believe they will kill evil and diseases.
It is interesting for one to observe their behavior on the last night of the fiesta,
when everything is finished. The same people who, on the first days are quite
reserved, especially on the second day before the firewalking, are talkative
and telling jokes on the night of the last day, and their eyes portray a sublime
serenity, (describing such a phenomenon cannot but sound somewhat
subjective). Of course, it does not apply to all the participants and not every
time to the same people. This is what I define as practiced catharsis. It is a
term formed in the frame of ancient Greek Tragedy. It always arrives after
death and destruction. It is the moment when the individual stands ‘naked’ in
front of his/her own truth. Usually it is not pleasant. It depends on the level of
self-realization the person has reached. Marcel Dettiene comments in relation
to this, ‘the more insanity is unleashed the more room there is for catharsis’
(1989:21). In Grotowski’s Productions’ period, he seems to have ignored the
necessity of this stage, which is crucial for the mental as well as the physical
health of the people involved in such a process. The catharsis comes when
the intensity of work, trial or ceremony calms down. It is necessary for there to
be a time lapse from the events to allow catharsis to happen. It was only from
the time of the theatre of Sources onwards that Grotowski recognized the
necessity of people joining his training for a long, yet limited, period of time.
The participants in the Mysteries, upon conclusion of the actual days when
the institution operated, returned to their occupations, which could have been
anything from writers of tragedy to simple labourers or political figures. The
same applies to the anastenarides. I conclude that, when a process is so
intense and arouses such strong and contradictory feelings, then, the
participant should be given some space and time to consolidate his/her
personal conclusions. If rushed, then the participant becomes an employee of
the ‘masks’ instead of an employer of them. Presumably, when catharsis
operates as ‘cleansing’, it is a step towards self-realization. The individual
involved comes in contact with new options for his behaviour. As such, to use
a metaphor, he is re-born from his own ashes.
RESURRECTION is the final state of the Dionysiac Model process, in which
the individual can define a reasoning for his actions, his thoughts or his
feelings, better than he could before he entered this process. Adrian Del Caro
comments on this in Friedrich Nietzche’s work, ‘in the Nietzchean philosophy
the work of destruction and creation is carried out under the auspices of a
conscious, philosophical Dionysus, whose mission or ‘purpose’ is the
transvaluation’ (1981:18). The results are always relative to the previous
condition of the individual. Moreover, the results are never final or ultimate. It
is a spiral process, not a cyclical one. I have to mention, though, that the
outcome of such a process does not always derive from a ’conscious and
philosophical Dionysus’. The individual involved might just experience
relaxation and enjoyment, by ‘letting off steam’, which again provides him with
a clearer frame of mind. Referring to the actor, Grotowski says that, ‘when he
begins to penetrate, through a study of his body’s impulses, the relationship of
this contact, this process of exchange, there is always a rebirth in the actor’
(1996e:39). For Grotowski this process results in directness, drive and joy;
thus, referring to the life of a child -
We forgot about this state through the years of taming our body
and with it out mind. It is necessary to refind this hypothetical
child and his "ecstasies". Which, long ago, we "abdicated", as
Baudelaire said, if I well remember. It is something tangible,
organic, primal (1996a:258).
The main symbol of the Eleusinian Mysteries was a child, too. I kept notes
from the anastenarides saying, after the fiesta is finished, ‘I feel young again’.
The aim of this process is not for the participant to go back to his childhood
consciousness, but to regain the openness of a child, preserving though the
maturity of an adult. The actor in this case avoids ‘mechanical’ acting (a term
introduced by Stanislavski and used again by Grotowski) and discovers the
truth of the character in its own self.
The individual or the actor transforms him/herself into a role instead of
reforming the role for him/herself. Dionysus is the god of many faces, the god
of the mask. To him is attributed the original masks of Tragedy and Comedy.
On a symbolic level this is translated as the life mask. The mask one wears
for the different faces of one’s social life, without consciously using them. The
question is for the individual to be aware that behind the mask is hidden the
sincerity of the person, who has the privilege to choose the masks instead of
being chosen by them.
The ultimate purpose of this process is to prepare a fertile ground for
Communion. In terms of Dionysiac rituals, the aim is reunion with the deity,
which as we explained before is reunion with one’s own self. I also quoted
Grotowski’s words which claim that the person changes not only as an actor,
but as a man, too. This is the one side of the coin with the name Communion.
The other is what Grotowski describes, very poetically again, as the goal of
his theatrical work: ‘to cross the frontiers between you and me; to come
forward to meet you, so that we do not get lost in the crowd – or among
words, or in declarations, or among the beautifully precise thoughts’
(1996b:221). So, on one hand there is self-penetration, on the other the
person/actor shares the experience with others. The Dionysiac Model,
meaning the ecstatic process, is not a self-consuming one. It conveys the
results to others, to a kind of audience so that the experience can be
exchanged and recognised. This is apparent in Dionysus worship. Dionysus is
a secular god, and his worshipers formed a ‘thiasos’, meaning a group of
people who together experienced the nature of the deity and invite more
people to do so by their example. The Bacchic frenzy dances, where simple
citizens along with the authorities participated, were a way to worship
Dionysus. A good example can be found in Euripides’ Bacchae. Also
Dithyrambes were songs which were performed by the worshipers of
Dionysus in front of an audience. The Dionysiac rites aimed at achieving
communication between the god with the vast crowd. How similar to
Grotowski’s aim to communicate human sincerity to the audience! This
communion, apart from the spatial dimension (ME–YOU), also has a temporal
one. It attempts to join the past with the present and therefore with the future.
In the course of the Anastenaria ceremony, the participants claim to come in
contact with their ancestors, who were also anastenarides, and the saints who
protect the ritual. They also try to pass the custom on to the younger
generations to affirm the unity and the continuity of the community. The
element in this ritual which applies to theatre is what the master of the
ceremony said to us, the spectators, last year, ‘Do come next year;
Anastenaria without spectators do not exist’. The ritual becomes, on one
hand, a verification of the participants’ identity, and on the other, an
opportunity for the spectator to join it when he feels ready. Grotowski, in the
course of his career considered it essential for more and more people to
become involved with his work. People who come and go, would keep the
process alive. He suggested a theatrical tradition. Also, even though he
abandoned his ‘Productions’ period, he only stopped performing in a mainsteam way. In the ‘Art as Vehicle’ he gave performances in front of groups
from different cultures and in this way they exchanged performances. He did
not just refer to everybody in the spirit of ‘to whom it may concern’. For
Grotowski ‘ritual is performance, an accomplished action. Degenerated ritual
is a show’ (1996d). It is significant that his work, in its last phase, did not have
the middle of a trendy metropolis as its location. The same happens with
Anastenaria. One has to have a reason or desire to go there unless one
happens to live in the area.
I conclude that a theatre following the Dionysiac Model, as Grotowski’s
theatre appears to have done, becomes an instructive entertainment as well
as a life-long process based on very old traditions, such as the Dionysiac.
Friedrich Nietzche while suggesting that the Dionysiac spirit is the creator of
art and especially theatre, he also observes that this spirit is to an extent lost.
Yet he remains optimistic:
The struggle of the spirit of music to become manifest in image
and myth – a struggle that grew in intensity from the beginnings
of lyric poetry to the flowering of Attic tragedy – came to a
sudden halt and disappeared, as it were, from the Hellenic
scene. Yet the Dionysiac world view born of this struggle
managed to survive in the Mysteries, and even in its strangest
metamorphoses and debasements did not cease to attract
thoughtful minds. Who knows whether that conception will not
once again rise as art from its mystical depths (1956:104).
The answer to this could have been given by the Polish director, who wrote: ‘I
do not look to discover something new, but something forgotten ‘ (Grotowski,
1996f:374). The Theatre, as Grotowski suggested, can become a cradle for
such a tradition to be born again. This tradition does not need a certain type of
theatre to flourish. It does need, however, the right mentality. This can only be
created within a tradition. Then theatre could become a magnate for eruptive
creativity. Tradition comes from the past, but if we bear in mind that the
present will at some point become the past, then, a ‘tradition’ can very
legitimately start now.
Notes
1. Bacchos is another name for Dionysus. Also Bacche or maenad were
alternative names for Dionysus’ female followers who formed trance
dances and orgies.
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Anna Misopolinou
Ph. D. Student
Goldsmiths College
University of London
Email: misopoli@agro.auth.gr
Scholar of State Scholarships Foundation of Greece