Chapter 11 Lecture Two of Two Dionysus in Thebes Tragedy ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

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Presentation transcript:

Chapter 11 Lecture Two of Two Dionysus in Thebes Tragedy ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

DIONYSUS IN THEBES Euripides's Bacchae ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Dionysus in Thebes Best known story of resistance to the Dionysus told by Euripides in his tragedy, the Bacchae Dionysus in Thebes to spread his cult and to punish the blaspheme against his mother, Semelê, by her sisters Antonoë and Agavê ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Dionysus in Thebes The women and others are already in the mountains The king, Pentheus, will oppose the cult Even old Tiresias and Cadmus have put on the fawn skins and are going out Dionysus, in disguise, is brought to Pentheus by soldiers ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig A maenad and a satyr. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Staatliche Antikensammlugen und Glypthek, Munich; Erich Lessing/Art Resource, New York

Dionysus in Thebes Pentheus thinks that he is only a priest of Dionysus and taunts him. Dionysus is led away; the palace is destroyed by an earthquake and Dionysus comes back A report comes in about miracles and wonders being performed in the mountains by the Maenads ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Dionysus in Thebes Pentheus is about to go out with a force to capture the women, but Dionysus casts a spell over him Pentheus now wants to see the “orgies” for himself Dionysus helps disguise Pentheus as a woman and leads him away ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig The dismembering of Pentheus. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Pompeii VI; Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples; Scala/Art Resource, New York

Dionysus in Thebes A messenger reports that Pentheus was killed by the Bacchantes – He was pulled down from a tree and torn to pieces – His own mother, Agavê, pulled off his head Agavê comes on stage with the head on her thyrsus She is shown by Cadmus what she has done ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF THE DEAD ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Land of the Dead Dionysus goes to the underworld to release his mother, who had died Shown the way by a shepherd from Argos Near the swamp of Lerna Adorned the shepherd’s grave with a wooden phallus The two become immortal and live in Olympus ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

OBSERVATIONS Myths of Dionysus ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Myths of Dionysus Dio – -nysos – son? – Nysa – Another name for Dionysus (Hence Nysai) ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Myths of Dionysus Eastern origins not doubted Names – Semelê < Zemelô – Thyrsus < Hittite tuwarsa (vine) ? – Dionysus = Lydian bakivali ? Myths – From Thrace or Phrygia and Lydia ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Myths of Dionysus A historical fact – A new cult being brought into Greece around 800 BC ? – But he’s in Homer and Linear B tablets Etiological for viticulture (?) ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Myths of Dionysus Myths contain many folktale elements – Hasty wish – Vengeful stepmother – “portion of the kingdom” (Proteus and Melampus) – Short-sighted fool ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig Offerings to Dionysus ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Staatliche Museen, Berlin; Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, New York

Myths of Dionysus Deeper meaning begins with the fact he is god of fertility, preserved in epithets – he of the trees – god of blossoms – he of the black goatskin – followers called boukoloi (“bullherders”) – god of “wet” vegetation ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Myths of Dionysus A dying fertility god, like Dumuzi – Perhaps originally the consort of Semelê (Zemelô) Resistance to his cult – But even devotees can be destroyed Always depicted as a new and foreign god – Reflects perhaps Greek aversion to violence and irrationality ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

THE CULT OF DIONYSUS ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Cult of Dionysus Different from other cults – Olympians remote and known through their external works – Dionysus presence direct and personal ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Cult of Dionysus “the god who comes” enthousiasmos ekstatis lysios sparagmos ômophagia ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Cult of Dionysus Cult appealed especially to women Reflection of and reaction to their submissive social role? Dionysus eventually tamed and give a civic role – Romans suppressed it – Christians thought Dionysus was a demon, but elements of his cult are similar to Christian practices and thinking ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

DIONYSUS, GOD OF THE THEATER ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Dionysus, God of the Theater Tragedies performed at the Lenea – “Festival of the Maenads” (those of the wine vat) Tragedies also at the City Dionysia – Three days of tragedies – Three on each day – Each day ends with one satyr play ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig Theater in Athens ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Author’s photo

Dionysus, God of the Theater The relationship between theater and the cult of Dionysus is murky Three main theories – Emerged from dithyramb (Aristotle) – Emerged from ritual performances (anthological) – Emerged from a lament for the dead hero ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Dionysus, God of the Theater Perhaps a better explanation sees it as a literary invention and political need – Aristotle: Thespis first added the actor to a choral song. This is the innovation to the old form – Aeschylus added a second actor, and Sophocles the third and final ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig Dancing Chorus ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, Basel

Dionysus, God of the Theater This innovation (Thespis) made around the time of Pisistratus (530 BC) Pisistratus reorganized the old Dionysus festival and made it available to the dêmos of Athens – A citywide “drinking party” to celebrate the new order of things ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Dionysus, God of the Theater Origins of comedy even more obscure – Perhaps much older Original Dionysiac kômos given dramatic elements – plot, setting, actors – Aristophanes the major source of information about the earliest forms of comedy ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

PERSPECTIVE Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche challenged the conventional view in the 19th century that Greek culture was founded on a pursuit of reason and harmony. He pointed out that tragic theater combined elements both of the rational, as embodied by Apollo, and the irrational, as embodied by Dionysus. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Birth of Tragedy He developed his thesis into a critique of 19th European rationalism, arguing that we should plunge back into the Dionysiac world to save ourselves and to save our world. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

End ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.