As observed by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), “in the ancient rites we have the use of an extremely developed gesture-language,” while “the ritual of the ancient myths was [in itself] a language”. The concept of ritual, understood as the link between man and the supernatural, is central to Christou’s work. It becomes a salient feature of the music he composes for various productions of Attic drama during the 1960s, in collaboration with the National Theatre and the Art Theatre of Karolos Koun (1908–1987). Christou was one of the first musical pioneers in Greece to compose for ancient tragedy, effectively introducing the use of electronic music within these works.
At the same time, he began to compose for the moving image, writing the score for an American TV production titled The Inner World (1963). Directed by Alexis Minotis (1900–1990), this production featured a compilation of excerpts from ancient Greek tragedies. In 1968, he completed the soundtrack for Oedipus the King, which is his only cinematic work.
