Bacchae Flashcards
Who is Pentheus?
The young military king of Thebes, he denies Dionysis as a god causing the women to go mad. When trying to spy on the women, while dressed in women’s clothes. Is ripped apart by his own mother.
Who is Dionysius
The god of wine, the god that comes to town as a mortal in Bacchae. He wants you to see in double vision, seeing both sides.
What does Dionysus stand for?
Wine. Ecstasy. Ambiguities. Drama. Hierarchy. Anti Apollo themes. Masks.
Why does Dionysus comes to Thebes?
To punish the woman of Thebes because no one believed his mother was impregnated by Zuse. Also, to spread his cults of mystery.
Who is Semele?
Dionysis’ mother. Impregnated by Zuse but none of her family believes her. Hera is jealous and convinces her to beg Zuse to take his true form which kills her, literally with an orgasim
Who are the Bacche or Maenads?
Female worshipers of Dionysos/Bacchus. Very animalistic women.
who is the Chorus in the Bacche
Foreign maenads, who are initiates in Bacchic mysteries, true believers, stays within the city of Thebes.
What is the “warning” within the Bacche
don’t criticize what you don’t know, eccpescally religion
who are the two male Thebians that actually accept Dionysis?
Cadmus (Pentheus’s grandfather) and Teiresias (priest)
what modern day song describes the Baccahe?
“the end”- the doors
What did the german Philosopher, Nietzsche, have to say about the Bacche?
If you don’t learn to accept irrational situations to succeed in life, you will fail. We all need to be mor Dionystic
when was the Bacche written?
405 B.C.
How is Dionysus related to Pentheus?
Dionysus and Pentheus are first cousins
Why does Dionysus return to Thebes?
To punish the house of Cadmus for denying his divinity
How was Dionysus born?
) From the thigh of Zeus
What do the maenads wear?
Animal skins
At the start of the play, what does Tiresias ask Cadmus to do?
Put on ivy and deerskin and join the bacchantes in the mountains
What is the first thing Pentheus wants to do to his prisoner Dionysus?
Cut off his locks
After Dionysus’s imprisonment what is the first disaster to strike the palace?
earthquake
According to the cowherd, what comes out of the ground when the bacchants strike it?
Milk, honey, wine, water
How does Dionysus finally tempt Pentheus?
to see the women of Thebes
As Pentheus leaves the city, what does he see Dionysus turn into?
a bull
What act does Pentheus’s imagination dwell upon when he is about to spy on the bacchants?
Sex
How does Pentheus become vulnerable to the bacchants?
He is seen from the top of a tree
What does Agaue proudly think she is carrying into the city?
a lion
What does Dionysus ordain for Agaue?
She will be exiled, with her sisters but apart from her father
