Main Characters
Alexandra
A young woman of strong character, with a passion for life and a restless nature, at an age when searching for her own deep and unique truth defines her actions and existence. She is heartbreakingly beautiful, a creature that not only cannot go un-noticed, but also marks the people she associates with, especially the men. A young femme-fatale, but with the innocence of her youth and the non-awareness of her sexual power being trades that make her even more attractive. Inevitably, she is torn between the love of the two brothers, one representing a more settled way of life, the other being more mysterious and unpredictable, a fact that will draw out her own "dark" passions, and will make her discover and understand her own nature, which is deeply connected with sexual awareness and power. The fact that Orestes, her fiance, is also quite passive, regarding the political troubles that shadow the Cypriot summer of 1974 is also another way of demonstrating the awakening from an innocence that is also a characterisation of a whole country. So for Alexandra the loss of innocence and the coming of age are both at a personal level and a more social/political level.
Phaedra
Another woman with strong character who also affects the people in her environment, especially the men. In a way she and Alexandra are one of a kind, Phaedra being an older version of Alexandra or vice-versa. She had to choose the more passive way of life and gave up the dreams of her youth including her true love, Manolis, marrying instead Yiannis, a kind hearted man who adores her blindly. Phaedra's story belongs to the past, but the remains of that passion still haunt both her and the two men involved. Their triangle is also strongly connected with the politics of the island, especially because Manolis is still struggling for Enosis, Unification with Greece. Phaedra, more mature politically, senses that Manolis' actions will inevitably be associated with treason and warns him accordingly. Her persistence to mount a performance of the Trojan Women demonstrates her own passion for life and artistic expression, an effort that will bring together a whole community just before the brink of disaster. She understands the nature of Alexandra as she senses a kindred spirit in her. Her relationship with Yiannis, her husband, is one of convenience from her part, but when disaster comes, she turns to him with despising words, hurting his feelings, and showing her frustration of a lifetime.
Orestes
The youngest of the two sons of Phaedra and Yiannis, the man who brings Alexandra to the island as his fiancee. He is a faithful, honest and passionate lover to Alexandra, the kind of man a woman can depend on with his feet to the ground. On the other hand he is innocent both in the personal level and the socio-political one. He doesn't offer Alexandra the deep understanding of her restless, somewhat dangerous nature that she needs from him, since he is more straightforward and less complicated. He is one to be taken for granted by her, a fact that will inevitably bring the disintegration of their relationship. His attitude towards politics is also straightforward and somewhat simple-minded, since he doesn't believe that the political situation hides a volcano that is about to erupt. His childhood differences with his older brother soon grow to a rivalry for the heart of the beautiful Alexandra. Orestes cannot understand his brother's dark, restless nature, but he senses Alexandra's attraction to him. When Alexandra decides to leave him Orestes does something that is somewhat out of character: he rapes her, in a desperate attempt to force his manhood on her. But it is too late. This summer will be a coming of age for him as well.
Stefanos
A passionate, intelligent attractive young man, a man seeking his own identity through his passion with the politics of his country, that at the time were in a real chaos... He is unpredictable and much more complicated than his brother Orestes who takes things at face value. Stefanos always questions things and searches for a purpose for his life, since he is a man who is unsettled and lives for risk. Both at a personal and a socio-political level he is restless, and ready to face change, danger and passion. He has a dark side that makes him mysterious and sometimes hard, but also is the common feature he shares with Alexandra, and the inevitable magnet that will draw them together. His brother Orestes describes him to Alexandra as someone always looking for something to excite him, always looking for a great "cause" to serve, otherwise he gets bored. Party, this is true, but is also a characteristic of a restless spirit, someone who wants to live life to its outmost. In a way, he resembles Manolis as Orestes resembles his father Yiannis. One could argue that the two love-triangles in the story are somewhat of a parallel dynamic.
Yiannis
Phaedra's husband and the father of her children, he is a quiet, low profile man with a deep devotion to his wife and his family. For him life is simple. He doesn' t have any deep psychological or philosophical questions he needs to answer. He looks up to Phaedra, admiring her and at the same time not understanding her deeper needs. He knows of Phaedra's past history with Manolis and chooses to watch over her discreetly as the years go by and even offer a comforting shoulder when at the end Phaedra finds out about Manolis' death. In a way he offers his love to her unconditionally and is maybe the most sensitive, tormented character in the story although he doesn't show it.
Manolis
A man caught amidst the chaos and troubles of 1974 Cyprus, carrying his old dream of ENOSIS(=unification) with the Motherland, as he proudly calls Greece. He belongs to the generation of the 1955 struggle for independence from the British rule who ultimately turned to EOKA B (a guerrilla organisation of the time), taking part in the coup d' etat against Makarios, which finally brought disaster to the country as it signalled the Turkish invasion. He is as passionate and self-destructive as his ideals. He has never recovered from his youthful passion for Phaedra, but their love had the luck of all great loves that do not necessarily belong to everyday reality. In the end he tries to make things right by helping Stefanos escape from the Greek colonels. He is one of those Greek Cypriots who mistakenly thought that the Greek Junta would solve the political complexities of the island. He lived his whole lifetime dreaming of the unattainable, both personally and for his country. A tragic character, serving as the key tool for the epilogue of the story.
Aristides
The padre padrone of the story, an attractive, strong 75year old, who in no way considers himself as old as his years. An incorrigible womaniser, a bon-viveur, he is a funny note as part of the surrounding atmosphere, giving life, colour and humour to the tavern. His fights with his enamoured faithful old cook Meropi are a vital element in the life of the house and his flirt with the widow Maria is a constant source of tension and jealousy, spicing up their relationship.
Meropi
The plump, faithful cook, an assistant in the tavern for many years, considers herself as part of the family and sees Aristides as husband material although his appetite is for younger women. Nevertheless she does not give up and has the attitude of a demanding wife, not hesitating to show her rage when in her view Aristides crosses the line, often causing chaos and disaster in the kitchen. Aristides is used to this; their legendary fights are considered a routine with the family and the customers of the tavern.
Nellin
She is the deaf Turkish-Cypriot neighbour, the daughter of the gardener Aziz and close friend of the house. Nellin has grown up with the two boys, Orestes and Stefanos, and shares their memories of paradise summers spent playing, swimming and creating hiding places in a careless and innocent world. She is secretly in love with Orestes, but her love is only discreetly sensed, since her presence is as delicate and elf-like as her looks. She is the voice behind the voice-over of the beginning and end, and in a way is the silent eye watching the characters and understanding their innermost thoughts and desires. She is also a silent observer to a world that in the end the viewer realises no longer exists and is only seen through the shots of the 8mm camera, as something belonging to a distant, unobtainable past. Nellin is the innocence of that world, an innocence that in a way continues to exist as a hope for the future. The story's epilogue takes place in the present time just before the 2003 opening of the "boarders" between the two communities, when contact between the Greek and the Turkish Cypriots was extremely difficult.