By Anthony O. Miller
THE CYPRUS Association of Magicians had no illusions yesterday about the benefits of having world-famous magician David Copperfield make the Rock of Aphrodite ‘disappear’, even though the Paphos Bishopric staunchly opposes the plan.
“We think it’s an excellent idea to have a great magician come to Cyprus to perform,” Association Chairman Dimis Michaelides told The Sunday Mail.
“From a commercial point of view, if we can get a one-hour TV special – David Copperfield does approximately one show a year with one very big illusion, such as making the Statue of Liberty disappear, or walking through the Great Wall of China – it’s an excellent public relations vehicle,” Michaelides said.
“The point is not making the rock disappear for half an hour for an audience of 1,000 people… The whole point is getting live TV coverage all over the world.”
He suggested Copperfield might want to make the rock disappear and have a beautiful girl emerge from the water. “That’s the Birthplace of Venus, and I think that’s the way the illusion should be structured,” Michaelides said.
“Of course, a priest might not want to watch that in public,” he laughed, noting that Paphos Bishop Chrysostomos opposes the trick and is even threatening to sit on the rock to prevent it from going ahead. “How mediaeval!”
Charalambos Hadjicharalambous, head of the Religious Enlightenment Office of the Paphos Bishopric, yesterday confirmed that the bishop opposes anyone making the Rock of Aphrodite ‘vanish’.
“First of all it has to do with the respect we give to the place. We can’t play with such places that have taken on a very important meaning in our culture. And then it has to do with the expenses – the priorities some persons in the government have in their thinking,” he said, noting the trick is expected to cost more than £1 million.
Hadjicharalambous conceded that the rock is associated with the pagan myth of Aphrodite, “and of course we do not believe in such a goddess”.
“But the objection is not based on this, but on the meaning the place has taken in our culture and history. So even if it is a pagan myth and a place associated with a pagan myth, it is respected,” he said.
Having Copperfield make ‘disappear’ Aphrodite’s Rock is one of two millennium stunts under consideration by the Ministry of Commerce, Tourism & Industry.
Minister Nicos Rolandis is still working out what facility on the island is capable of staging an international beauty pageant. And he has yet to sign any deal with Copperfield about making Aphrodite’s Rock disappear as a complementary event to the beauty contest.
