Lecture 16 Flashcards
1
Q
Bacchae
A
- Euripides
- produced Iphigenia at Aulis (story of her death), Alcmaeon in Corinth, lost satyr play
- won first prize at City Dionysia
2
Q
Dionysus
A
- Bromius or Bacchus or Liber
- returning to his home city
- Son of Zeus and Semele
- God of altered states of being (changing how you see things or changing your personalities in some ways)
- born in Thebes where the play is set
3
Q
Story of Dionysus’ Birth
A
- Zeus threw a lighting bolt at Dionysus’ mother Semele and that led to Dionysus being a premature baby so to save him Zeus sewed him up in his thigh.
- Zeus threw a lightning bolt because Hera is upset he got Semele pregnant
- Zeus appears in his true form as a lightening bolt and blows Semele up.
- Zeus is sleeping with Semele and Hera is angry. Hera shows up to her and says how do you know it’s actually Zeus? Semele then makes Zeus swear that he’ll tell her anything and he’ll do anything and she makes him appear in his true form and this kills her and Hera wins
4
Q
Why is he a god not a demigod?
A
-born out of Zeus
5
Q
Tiresias’ story of his birth
A
- Double birth of Dionysus
- Dionysus son of Zeus and Persephone
- Hera convinces Titans to tear him apart and eat him
- Athena saves his heart and delivers it to Zeus who swallows it, then impregnates Semele with the child of two gods
- Both versions say he travels in the east in his early life
6
Q
The House of Cadmus
A
- Cadmus is the king and founder of Thebes
- Cadmus is the brother of Europa who was one of Zeus’ lovers
- Had a daughter Semele, who has sex with Zeus and gives birth to Dionysus
- Other daughter (2/4) Agave gives birth to Pentheus
- has origins in the east
7
Q
Why does Dionysus come back to Thebes?
A
- to vindicate his mother
- family doesn’t beleive he’s a god so he wants to show them
- sends all the women to worship him and two men chose to as well (Tiresias and Cadmus)
- turns all women into Bacchae
8
Q
Sporagmos
A
-tearing apart a living animal
9
Q
Ormophalgia
A
-eating the animal raw
10
Q
Practices of Sporagmos and Ormophalgia
A
- very animalistic, getting rid of human/civilized self and giving into wild animal nature inside which is very much related to Dionysys
- very different than normal sacrifice
11
Q
Chorus
A
- Asian Bacchae
- only surviving dithyramb (choral ode in honor of Dionysus), origin of tragedy
12
Q
Tiresias to Cadmus
A
- Says it’s not wise to question the gods
- Realizes that if you try to mess with the gods you’re not going to come out on top.
- Compares Dionysus to Demeter because they each bring a side to human sustenance so you definitely don’t want to mess with him
13
Q
Tiresias’ advice to Pentheus
A
- Don’t get confused you have the power to rule by force but that’s not necessarily real power as would be compared to the gods
- Pentheus is being stupid and his words aren’t making sense
14
Q
The Chorus on Tiresias’ advice
A
- Compare Dionysus to Apollo (god of self-control and civilization)
- Opposites
- Apollo is the god of what makes us human
- Dionysus is the god of what makes us animals
- both are important and we can’t deny either one without giving into chaos
15
Q
Cadmus’ Advice to Pentheus
A
- The gods will not be okay with this (read)
- Cadmus will be punished for this
- As a human you don’t get to say that the gods may not be real but that it might benefit you to say they are
- establishes that Cadmus is not a true believer and not using valid reasons to worship him
