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Euripides' Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus, Slides of Religion

As the plot intensifies, the actions of Dionysus and his maenads become increasingly sinister, culminating in the dismemberment of Pentheus by Agave. Scholars ...

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Download Euripides' Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus and more Slides Religion in PDF only on Docsity! Running Head: The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 1
 The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus Glenn Kurpiel Coe College The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 2
 Numerous scholars have utilized the Bacchae as a tool for verifying the disposition of the Cult of Dionysus. In this discourse, I will demonstrate Euripides’ critical portrayal of the Cult of Dionysus using a concise set of parameters. To fully explicate Euripides’ critical portrayal of the Cult of Dionysus it is first necessary to demonstrate the profound effect that theatre had on Greek society, especially with regards to Euripides, whose critical portrayal of Dionysiac worship would have greatly influenced the public’s perception of the cult. The Bacchae sheds light on a number of sinister rituals that were thought to be a part of the collective impression of Dionysiac worship, which appears to be fundamentally dangerous. The rituals of the Cult of Dionyus would have seemed threatening to the uninitiated because of the emphasis on dissolving gender roles, the sinister nature of the rites, the secrecy ascribed to the cult, the challenging of social constraints, the divergence from reality, and the deviant behaviors that were associated with Dionysiac worship. These forementioned parameters will be the basis of my analysis of the Bacchae. I. Euripides & The Art of Theatre in Classical Greek Society The English word ‘theatre,’ comes from the Greek term theatron, meaning ‘viewing place,’ and it played a paramount role in religious festival life. Attendance at plays held during religious festivals in cities like Athens drew crowds on an immense scale, comparable to the turnouts at football games today. These performances were organized in honour of the festival’s god. P.E. Easterling explains that “Athens, where drama developed many of its most significant traditions, the main Dionysus festival, held in the spring, was one of the most important events in the city’s calendar, attracting large numbers of citizens and visitors from elsewhere in the Greek The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 5
 claims in his work Theogony (c. 8th Century BCE) that “Semele, Cadmus’ daughter, lay with him in love and became the mother of a son with a glorious destiny – Dionysus the giver of joy.”6 Here we see that Dionysus is not only the son of Zeus, but he is also associated with joy. Dionysus is often associated with “joy” because of his identification as the god of wine.7 Dionysus’ association with wine has also applied him to the god of all vegetal growth. For instance, Plutarch explains that Dionysus is the master of every kind of “liquid growth.”8 In Bacchae, it is plain that Dionysus is associated with ivy, which is demonstrated in the Prologue, where Dionysus explains, “So in this land of Greece itself, it is Thebes I have first set ringing with cries, dressed the people in fawnskins, and put the thyrsus, the spear of ivy, into their hands” (lines 18-20). The spear referred to in this passage is made up of a fennel rod, called a narthex, that when wreathed in ivy becomes the thyrsus; the “ivy spear.” Christine Kalke proposes, “The ivy cluster itself becomes an important element in Euripides’ treatment of the Bacchic wand since, without it, the wand is not a thyrsus. A process of transformation is involved; only when crowned with leaves and raised by the Bacchic worshipper does the simple narthex, the fennel rod, acquire the power and symbolic value of the thyrsus.”9 Additionally, Dionysus’ attachment to nature includes his identification with animals. Seaford substantiates this claim, explaining, “In the Homeric Hymn to Dionysos not only does he create a vine (and ivy), and a shaggy bear: he himself turns into a roaring lion.”10 Dionysus’ association with animals can also be seen in the Bacchae where Dionysus takes the form of a 























































 6
Hesiod, Theogony, trans. Norman Brown. (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1953), p. 79. 7
Dionysus is also associated with “joy” in Homer’s Illiad, where he is referred to as a “joy for mortals” (Iliad 14.325). Euripides also designates the god alongside wine in the Bacchae where the chorus chants, “And the leader is bromios, euoi! The ground flows with milk, flows with wine” (lines 121-122). 8
Plutarch, Moralia, 365. 9
Christine M. Kalke, “The Making of a Thyrsus: The Transformation of Pentheus in Euripides’ Bacchae,” American Journal of Philology 106 (1985): 409. 10
Seaford, p. 23. The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 6
 bull (lines 778-780). This animal imagery is also applied to the female disciples of Dionysus (the bacchants) in the Bacchae, where these women are dressed “with boughs of oak and fir, and decorate cloaks of dappled fawnskin with fringes of white wool” (lines 94-96). The women of Thebes who are possessed into leaving the city to dwell in the woods by Dionysus in the Bacchae are attired in these garments of nature, verifying Dionysus’ association with nature. In addition to all of the physical characteristics associated with Dionysus and his cultic worshippers, the god is also noted for his ability to affect the psychological states of men and women. Hans-Josef Klauck uses the Bacchae as his focus text to describe three increasingly abnormal mental states (ecstasy, enthusiasm, and mania) that are associated with Dionysus and his cultic worshippers. Klauck defines the state of ‘ecstasy’ as “the human person’s transcendence of the narrow boundaries of the self.”11 The state of ‘ enthusiasm’ is defined by Klauck as, “The state of being filled by God.”12 Finally, Klauck describes the state of ‘mania’ as, “The intoxicating madness which bursts the bounds of what is normal through conspicuous behaviour.”13 These deviant psychological states resound throughout the Bacchae, demonstrating the sinister nature of the cult based on the mental distress precipitated by Dionysus. Before explicating why the Cult of Dionysus was perceived as being sinister, it is necessary to describe the foundations of Greek religion, and how the Cult of Dionysus may have deviated from the accepted practices of the day, specifically concerning offerings, sacrifices, and enthousiasmos (enthusiasm) and ecstasy. Concerning sacrifice, Burkert explains, “The sacrifice is a festive occasion for the community. The contrast with everyday life is marked with washing, dressing in clean garments, and adornment, in particular, wearing a garland woven from twigs on 























































 11
Klauck, p. 107. 12
Klauck, p. 107. 13
Klauck, p. 107. The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 7
 the head.”14 This explanation demonstrates the special nature of sacrifice, and how sacrifice was an occasion for the community to come together in dedication to the gods. In opposition to the communal bonding as the focus of sacrifice found in standard Greek religion, the Cult of Dionysus practiced their rituals away from the populace, leading to suspicions of deviant practices including sexual misconduct. In accord with this claim, Ross Kraemer posits, “From the detailed descriptions in Euripides’ play, one might argue that the Bacchae describes actual rituals practiced by Greek women prior to or contemporaneous with Euripides’ own lifetime.15 What is most notable about the rituals that are alluded to in the Bacchae is the radical role of women. In the era that Euripides would have written, women were confined to activities around their place of residence, therefore “The temporary abstinence from marital sexual obligations that is also reflected in the activities attributed to the worshippers of Dionysus,”16 would have challenged gender constraints. This might have caused a general sense of misgiving to be associated with the cult. The kinds of women that would have been attracted to the Cult of Dionysus were widows (who would not have lost many of their rights without a husband) and those without children (who 























































 14
Walter Burkhert, Greek Religion (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1987), p. 56. Sacrifice was seen as a distinctive type of dedication to the gods that would have been done on communal occasions, whereas everyday dedications to the gods were designated as offerings. The four main types of offerings are: gifts (relinquishing the first fruits of the harvest, whether it be figs, olives, or bread – all burnt to the gods), votive (voluntary act of renunciation – giving up spoils of war), libations (pouring out drink to the gods), and prayer. 15
Ross Kraemer, “Ecstasy and Possession: The Attraction of Women to the Cult of Dionysus,” The Harvard Theological Review, 72 (1979): 60. She goes on to explain, “Such rites might have included nocturnal wanderings on the mountains, the nursing of baby wild animals, frenzied dancing, the consumption of wine, honey and milk, and possibly the performance of a two-part sacrificial ritual, the sparagmos (“rendering apart”) and omophagia (“consuming raw”) of a wild beast.” The nocturnal wanderings in the mountains that Kraemer describes can be found in the Parados, lines 100-103 of the Bacchae where the women are waiting, “far from their shuttles and looms.” The consumption of wine is described as a ritual of the bacchants in the Third Episode where a bacchant “struck her staff against the ground, and for her the god sent up a spring of wine” (lines 595-596). The frenzied dancing and the two-part sacrificial ritual is alluded to in lines 115-119 – “Dionysus is glad when someone in the mountains falls to the ground from the whirling bands, wearing the sacred cloak of fawnskin, hunting the blood of goat-slaughter, the joy of eating raw flesh.” 16
Kraemer, p. 67. The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 10
 normal life being turned upside-down under the influence of Dionysus.”22 Dionysus accomplishes this overthrow via the manipulation of the minds of mortals, namely the bacchants and Pentheus, and it is a principal thread within this text. Christine Kalke presents a nearly identical argument, but terms the concept ‘transformation.’ She states, “The motif of transformation is important in the Bacchae and has been viewed variously as transformation from man to beast, from hunter to hunted, from powerful pursuer to powerless victim, from repressed to expressed sexuality, from reality to illusion or illusion to reality.”23 This view, with its contrasting sets of opposites further demonstrates the importance of understanding the divergent nature of Dionysus. Walter Burkhert also suggests that “The role of the sexes becomes less important”24 in the mysteries of Dionysus. This dissolution of the genders (would challenge the social constraints of the era) is best demonstrated in the bacchants ability to physically overpower the men. Additionally, Dionysus and his cult are portrayed as being sinister throughout the Bacchae. The forementioned associations will be the foundation on which the proceeding verses will be judged. The first time we see the sinister nature of the cult is with regards to the women of the Thebes that Dionysus has maddened, and subsequently drawn from the city into the wilderness in lines 100-103 of the Parados, or entry of the chorus. The verses state, “ To the mountain, to the mountain! There where the throng of women waits, far from their shuttles and looms, stung to madness by Dionysus.” The rituals of the cult of Dionysus were done away from the general populace (in nature, or in this case, the mountains), and this secrecy would naturally have made the rituals of the Cult of Dionysus seem sinister, or ominous to the uninitiated. The description of 























































 22
Franklin, p. 44. 23
Kalke, p. 410. 24
Burkert, p. 291. The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 11
 being “stung to madness by Dionysus” implies that the bacchants were powerless to resist participating in this deviant behavior. This is shown through the use of the verb “stung,” which suggests a level of pain (like a bee sting) was caused in Dionysus’ possession of the women. The absolute control (madness) Dionysus exerts over the women demonstrates his influence over the minds of mortals. The audiences that would have witnessed Euripides’ plays had misogynistic ideas about the role of women in society. In this era, women belonged in the household, where weaving was the accepted profession, therefore the description of being “far from” their residence would have challenged accepted social constraints, and would have been classified as deviant behavior. Ross Kraemer presents a similar argument (with different vocabulary – exchanging “socio-biological sphere” for “social constraints”), in which she states, “This motif of the reversal of normal states and judgments occurs in the sphere of socio-biological roles as well. Women possessed by Dionysus are compelled to abandon, at least temporarily, their domestic obligations of housework and child-rearing in favor of the worship of the god.”25 Kraemer’s claim is magnified by the sheer volume of the women from Thebes who left their duties behind to worship Dionysus in the mountains. Not only is deviance demonstrated with regards to the cult in the sense of social norms, but it is also established with regards to rituals. A deviant ritual that is alluded to in lines 115-121 of the Parados concerns the nature of sacrifice. These lines describe actions that make Dionysus “glad” (line 115). These actions include, “Hunting the blood of goat-slaughter, the joy of eating raw flesh” (lines 118-119). The consumption of raw flesh is translated to Greek as “omophagia,” which Hans-Josef Klauck describes as a “survival of an older cultural stage, and at the same time 























































 25
Kraemer, p. 60. The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 12
 something that breaks through the civilized world of everyday life.”26 In these verses Euripides is ascribing an especially deviant behavior to Dionysiac worship that would have seemed sinister to the average Greek citizen. In support of this assertion, Franklin states, “The wildness of the rites culminated in the eating of raw flesh. The dominant emotion for participants was joy. Outsiders, like Pentheus, tended to feel suspicion, revulsion or fear.”27 The deviant behaviors substantiated in lines 115-121 are not only further evidence of the sinister nature of the cult, but the behaviors would have also been scrutinized even more severely due to the radical nature of omophagia. In the Second Episode, after the capture of Dionysus (although he has not yet manifested himself as the god yet) Pentheus inquires, “Do you practise your worship at night or by day” (line 395). Dionysus responds, “Mostly at night. Darkness has sacred power” (line 396). This affirmation from Dionysus amplifies the secrecy alluded to in lines 100-103 (rituals took place away from the general populace), making the cult appear even more sinister. Kraemer asserts that from lines 395-398 “we may infer that Euripides knew of Dionysiac rites which were restricted to the initiated, which were celebrated by night, which involved dancing, and which carried with them the suspicion of sexual misconduct.”28 Even if Euripides’ description of cultic rites is inaccurate, he would have still heard rumors about the sinister nature of the Cult of Dionysus, leading him to portray the cult in a negative context in the Bacchae. In the Third Episode Dionysus “escapes” from the custody of Pentheus. Dionysus states in line 519 that “I freed myself, easily, without effort.” The events that Dionysus goes on to describe in lines 521-536 are paramount in fathoming the way in which Dionysus can bend the 























































 26
Klauck, p. 109. 27
Franklin, p. 8. 28
Kraemer, p. 60. The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 15
 Following the report of the messenger, Pentheus decides that a counterattack against the bacchants is necessary, so he orders the messenger to rally the troops. Line 672 foreshadows the possession of Pentheus by Dionysus who states, “What trick is there, if I wish to save you with my arts?” This foreshadows Pentheus’ alteration of emotion, which occurs between lines 676- 683. In line 676 Pentheus commands, “bring out my armour – and you stop talking!” However, by line 683 Dionysus has convinced him to observe the bacchants while “sitting in silence under the pine trees.” The sudden change of emotion seen in Pentheus supports the concept of life being turned upside-down by Dionysus. This change seems all the more remarkable given the fact that Pentheus is going to his doom. In line 684 where Dionysus states, “But they will track you down, even if you come in secret,” yet Pentheus is powerless to resist. This shows the audience that Dionysus has achieved unconditional control of Pentheus, which based on the grotesque nature of Pentheus’ death seems remarkably sinister. At this point Pentheus is unable to resist Dionysus, therefore Dionysus resolves to further shame him. Dionysus commands Pentheus to “clothe your body in a linen dress” (line 688). Pentheus then asks in line 696, “In what clothes? Woman’s? I am ashamed!” Dionysus proceeds to convince him by asking in line 697, “Do you no longer want to watch the bacchants?” Of course Pentheus cannot resist the influence of Dionysus, so he agrees to go to the palace to change into attire suited for a bacchant. In addition, Pentheus must garner the vestments of the bacchants, which include a headband (line 701), a thyrsus and a dappled fawnskin (line 704). Pentheus seems reserved at first, but decides at the conclusion of the Third Episode (lines 715- 716) that “I will go. Either I will go under arms, or I will follow your advice.” The Fourth Episode begins with Pentheus describing the metamorphosis of Dionysus physical body in lines 778-779 where he states, “you look like a bull leading me, and horns seem The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 16
 to have grown from your head!” This is the first point in the Bacchae where Dionysus shows his true form. At the start of the Fourth Episode Pentheus is already dressed like a woman, and his actions are very feminine in nature. This is demonstrated in lines 787-788 where Pentheus responds to Dionysus’ offer to put a curl back in place. Pentheus announces, “I must have thrown it out of place when I was dancing as a bacchant inside the palace, shaking my head up and down.” Transvestism (wearing clothes from the opposite gender) had been used in comedies prior to Euripides’ composition of the Bacchae, but Euripides utilizes it differently in this context.30 Franklin asserts, “It is common to parody tragedy in comedy, but in Bacchae Euripides does something stranger; he takes Aristophanes’ comic scene, and in a tragic context he makes it sinister. Pentheus’ appearance in women’s clothes, his madness and absurd vanity might well arouse laughter; but Dionysus’ ambiguous words hint at danger which Pentheus does not see.”31 The audience would think it was comical to see Pentheus dressed as a woman, and subsequently observe a less ominous ending, but Euripides amplifies the sinister nature of Dionysus through Pentheus’ transvestism before the ultimate destruction of the character. Euripides use of transvestism also demonstrates the dissolution of genders that is commonly associated with the Cult of Dionysus. In earlier passages, it was the dissolution of the roles of women that were associated with the Cult of Dionysus, but these lines demonstrate the overall lack of gender boundaries that are associated with the cult. Another aspect of Euripides’ negative portrayal of the cult in the verses is the reversal of states, or life being turned upside-down under the influence of Dionysus. This portrayal is demonstrated in Pentheus’ vehement refusal to 























































 30
Franklin, p. 50. Franklin asserts, “Five years before this play, the comic playwright Aristophanes poked fun at Eurpides in his comedy Thesmophoriazusae. In that play, an actor playing Euripides dresses his relative as a woman to go and spy on the women celebrating a religious festival.” 31
Franklin, p. 50. The Bacchae: Euripides’ Critical Portrayal Of the Cult of Dionysus 17
 venerate the god up until this point, but after Dionysus exerts his influence over the mind of the character, he is ruined. The Fourth Episode continues with Dionysus humoring Pentheus on the journey out of Thebes and into the wilderness. The nature of Pentheus’ slaughter is foreshadowed in lines 822- 825 where Dionysus remarks, “Follow me. I myself will go to guide and protect you, but someone else will bring you back,” to which Pentheus then exclaims “My mother!” Dionysus concludes by saying “as an example to all.” This last verse in which Dionysus is the speaker conveys the sinister nature of the god, which is enhanced due to the close proximity of the destruction of Pentheus described by the Messenger in the Fifth Episode. Dionysus inexorable desire for retribution because of Pentheus’ hubris makes the god appear human. Humans are known for their lack of consideration before acting, which is dangerous because of the extraordinarily dangerous powers Dionysus has. The Fifth Episode commences with the Messenger exclaiming, “Pentheus, the son of Echion, is dead” (line 887). Following this dispassionate bulletin, the Messenger, who observed the travesty, proceeds to orate the events that transpired against Pentheus in the wilderness. Dionysus had “took hold of the top branch of a fir, high as heaven, and pulled it down” (lines 916-917) so he could seat Pentheus on top of it. The language that Euripides uses to describe Dionysus’ placement of Pentheus is undeniably powerful, and could only have been done by a deity. Therefore, the sinister acts that the bacchants commit following this display of might suggest the dangerous nature of Dionysus’ tyranny. Instead of using his authority for good, he is ruining a single mortal that should have been of no consequence to him. Therefore, the power of Dionysus is recognized in Euripides’ description of the actions, but the character of Dionysus is
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