A new production is brewing in Hollywood, one that will recreate a much celebrated event from Armenia’s heroic past: the Vartanants War. As was reported in the May 31st edition of The Armenian Reporter, a new film titled “East of Byzantium” is in the planning stage, whose producers are currently holding fundraisers to finance the production. If the roster of the individuals involved in the upcoming production is any indication, the film promises to be in the best traditions of Hollywood’s epic movies: Roger Kupelian, the man behind the visual effects of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Flags of Our Fathers; Serj Tankian from the System of a Down, who will write the music score; comedian Vahe Berberian, etc. In fact, the producers consider the film to be the Armenian “Braveheart”. Surely, such an undertaking deserves applause and all the encouragement and success.

As most would agree, film and cinematic art in general offer the most influential medium in influencing popular perceptions and forming public opinions. Therefore, accurate depiction of the historical events and their overall context is of paramount importance. Yet, the scant information that is publicly available already offers cause for concern. Specifically, the article published in The Armenian Reporter and titled “L.A. organizations will join forces to fundraise for an epic film on Armenian history” (pg 8, http://www.reporter.am/pdfs/A0531-W.pdf) quoted Mr. Alex Kalognomos, director of the Arpa International Film Festival, who noted that “‘The characters of East of Byzantium are epic men and women of Armenian history – Gregory the Illuminator, Vartan Mamigonian, and the great warrior goddess Anahita.'” It must be noted that this quote not only mispronounces the name of the Armenian pagan goddess Anahit, but it also mischaracterizes the true nature of this deity.

First, the name of the goddess in Armenian is Anahit. Anahida (or Anahita) was the name used to refer to the same (or similar) goddess in the old Persian pantheon. Strabo, the Greek geographer, in narrating about Armenia refers to the same goddess as Anaitis. In fact, if one refuses to use the accurate Armenian version Anahit, it would be more logical (yet still incorrect) to use the Greek version Anaitis rather than the Persian Anahida. Afterall, the ancient Greek civilization, in contrast to the ancient Persian civilization, lies in the foundation of the Western civilization, to which this film production belongs. Nevertheless, calling goddess Anahit as Anahida (or even Anaitis) in “East of Byzantium” would be equivalent to calling William Wallace in “Braveheart” with his Arabic (or French) version or pronunciation.

Second, Anahit was not the goddess of war, but that of motherhood and fertility. Here is how Sargis Haroutyounyan describes Anahit in his book on ancient Armenian myths and tales: “The most worshipped and loved goddess Anahit was the daughter or the wife of Aramazd. She was a mother goddess, depicted with a child in her hands, with a special hairstyle unique to Armenian mothers and women … As a mother deity Anahit was the embodiment of motherhood, harvest and fertility” ( http://www.armenianhouse.org/harutyunyan/04-gods.html#2 ). Please note that Sargis Haroutyounyan is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of History and Philology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, associate member of the Academy, doctor of philological sciences, professor, head of the department of history and theory of philology of the Academy’s Institute of Archeology. In short, he is considered an authority on Armenian mythology. Even if Anahit was confused by another deity in the same region and was assigned some features of divinity of war (e.g. its counterpart in the Assyrian/Babylonian pantheon, goddess Ishtar, who was the divinity of love, fertility and war), Anahit was still worshipped in Armenia as the goddess of motherhood and fertility. In the Armenian pantheon the god of war was Vahagn.

As noted earlier, it is of utmost importance that such a significant period in the history of Armenia is presented in an accurate manner. It is not yet known what other inaccuracies exist in the script or what other unintentional misrepresentation could creep in as an inevitable result of artistic freedom. As is customary, the development of the script and further production of “East of Byzantium” should include the advice of trusted and respected scholars of Armenian history. It would be rather prudent to enlist experts from Armenia’s own academic circles, in order to exclude the possibility of “alternative” (i.e. false or inaccurate) interpretations of Armenian history present in foreign academia. Otherwise, knowing the enthusiasm with which Armenians embrace any presentation of Armenian history or culture in the mass media, a new generation of Armenians could potentially develop the wrong perception of that period in our own history. This also concerns the foreign audiences, who would base their understanding of Armenian history and civilization solely on cinematic interpretations.

Stepan Sargsyan
Contributing Correspondent (Los Angeles),
ARARAT Center for Strategic Research

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