I think that most Hungarian readers do not need an introduction to Mronk’s tango video Óriási kognitív disszonancia (Enormous Cognitive Dissonance), the unofficial anthem of the Hungarian regime change of April 12, 2026. The entire clip, both its lyrics and its video, consists of excerpts cut together from the election night broadcast of Hír TV, the mouthpiece of the Orbán government’s propaganda. In this broadcast, Ottó Gajdics – a former communist propagandist turned right-wing commentator and Fidesz sycophant – first takes malicious pleasure in how the real, genuine data will have such a sobering effect on Péter Magyar and his party. Then, when these figures begin to arrive and the results of the Tisza representatives, contrary to the expectations of those sitting in the Hír TV studio, surpass those of the “orange” party almost everywhere by a wide margin, he is left bewildered and begins searching for the scapegoat in Facebook and other ö-ö-ö-things of that sort.
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Óriási kognitív disszonancia lehet |
Enormous cognitive dissonance it may be |
Even in these few minutes there is already present the complete structure of a Greek tragedy: the hubris, in which the hero is convinced that the gods – or, in this case, reality itself – will prove him right; then the misreading of signs; and finally the collapse of thought and speech when the world no longer fits the story he has constructed for himself.
• Hubris is the excessive self-confidence through which a person believes that he controls not only the situation, but reality itself.
• In Greek tragedy this almost always brings about até, that is, a clouding of the mind: the hero is no longer capable of interpreting the signs correctly. While events on the screen are already moving in the opposite direction, he continues to repeat the same narrative.
• This is inevitably followed by peripeteia (reversal): the moment when it becomes clear that reality does not confirm his story.
Moreover, in Greek tragedies the hero often believes that he knows the truth, while the audience already knows far more than he does. This is the essence of tragic irony. The same thing happens in the Gajdics scene: the viewer sees the incoming results, while the protagonist is still describing a future that corresponds to his own preconceived worldview.
• Nemesis: the obvious divine retribution, that is, the total and undeniable Fidesz defeat.
• Anagnorisis (recognition): this is precisely what is missing. This is one of the reasons why the scene is both comic and tragic for the viewer. In classical tragedy, Oedipus eventually recognizes the truth. Here, there is no such moment.
• Instead, there is aporia, complete bewilderment. The train of thought falls apart: “Facebook and those things that… uh… uh… uh… belong there.” This is no longer an argument, but the disintegration of the tragic hero’s speech. As if language itself could no longer follow the worldview that is collapsing before it.
It is therefore no wonder that such a work with a classical Greek structure lends itself particularly well as a subject for an ancient Greek epic poem.
The clip quickly became a viral meme. Many people set it as their phone ringtone, and according to reports, when it starts playing on a tram it causes general amusement, with some even breaking into dance. Variations also began to multiply. First Mronk himself published a dozen remixes in modern pop arrangements. Then Scratchmen created a series of Gajdics Multiverse clips in various styles and languages. Finally, Pepper Boon released nearly one hundred and fifty (!!!) versions across an extraordinarily broad spectrum, ranging from Hittite lament songs through Ottoman whirling dervish versions and Taliban jihadist chants to Old Norse Viking skaldic poetry and Moldavian Csángó folk songs.
From what has been said above, it is already clear that among these versions the Homeric ancient Greek epic adaptation could not be missing either.
The song is, of course, accompanied by the classical Greek lyric poem recently presented here. Its magnificent sound and melody alone make this adaptation a pleasure to listen to.
But since the various linguistic versions are not literal translations of the Hungarian original, but rather adapt themselves in one way or another to their respective genres, the ancient Greek version offers a special pleasure when one understands its text and sees how genuinely Homeric turns of phrase it employs. For example, the Odyssean invocation of the Muse, which we analyzed recently.
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Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, διχόφρονα, τοῖ μέγα μέλλε
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Sing to me, O Muse, of a man of two minds, whose great dissonance shall come, |
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