We
are entering the final week of The
Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours an excellent on line class from Harvardx,
hosted by my personal hero Gregory Nagy.
A
“bacchae” is a frenzied female follower of the god Bacchus, also known as
Dionysus. It is also a famous Greek
tragedy by Euripides. One of the major
characters in the play ends up dressed like a bacchae. This is King Pentheus of
Thebes.
Pentheus
had an aunt named Semele. Semele use to
brag that she was the consort of the king of the gods; Zeus. For her boast she got blasted with a
thunderbolt. Well at least that is what
the Thebans believed. One day a “man”
arrives on the scene with a chorus of women from Asia Minor. He looks remarkable like Pentheus. This should have been a clue to the king. In fact, this man was Dionysus; the thrice-born god of wine and
Pentheus’ first cousin. The deceased
Aunt Semele was in fact the consort of Zeus.
Dionysus’ embroyic body survived the fire that consumed his mother and
survived.
Things
get really confusing at this point in the play. I will try to explain what
comes next, meanwhile be aware that by the end of the play Pentheus is ripped
to pieces by his frienzied mother and surviving aunts. (As an aside, legend says that at the end of his life the
playwright Euripides was ripped to pieces by his patron’s dogs.)
Here
is what happens between Dionysius’ arrival and Pentheus’ death. Pentheus refuses to recognize Dionysius as
prodigal cousin or as a god. As a
consequence the women of the royal household, go crazy and run off into the
wild. Professor Nagy point out in
Chapter 21 of “The
Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours” at section 31 that the women of Thebes, the
Theban bacchae “have lost control of
themselves. But that does not mean that they are “out of control…. They are still under control, but the
controller is now the god.” At 21§32 he adds, “So, the possession of a woman’s mind by Dionysus is a positive
experience when the woman possessed is performing a ritual”.
Greek Myths
are often associated with particular rituals. Ancient Greek tragedies are
often based on myths. So plays often explain rituals. Hence The Eumenides explains the trial by juror system. Hippolytus explains initiation rituals
in a town on the outskirts of Athens and Oedipus
at Colonus explains rituals in the suburbs of Athens. So the Bacchae is
explaining rituals too. What wasn't clear to me and unfortunately wasn't clear
to Pentheus ; is that the Bacchae is demonstrating two rituals at once.
The
Ancient Greeks staged tradegies with a handful of actors (if that ) and a
chorus. The chorus could represent the
old men of a city, a group of woman concerned for the heroine or any other sort
of homogenous peoples. The chorus
interacted with the actors and often voiced the questions they audience might
have. If you are a “Frankie Fan”; if you
ever saw “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” you know how a chorus works because the
entire audience is the chorus for that film.
The
women who came from Asia Minor with
Dionysus are the chorus for the play.
This play, this myth explains the orgins of the annual festival where
the tragedies were performed. This is
the first Greek tragedy. To use Nagy
phraseology the women; “ are in a mental
state of equilibrium or balance when they participate in the rituals of Dionysian
theater by performing the myth that motivates these rituals.” ( 21.33)
With
Dionysus help, Pentheus dresses like a bacchae, so he can observe their
rituals. His mind befuddled by the god,
Pentheus some how doesn’t realize that
the chorus of women he is going to spy
on . “ is not the chorus of the Bacchae.
It is not the chorus of Asiatic women who have followed Dionysus to Thebes -
and who are the ritually correct chorus of the drama. Rather, this would-be
chorus consists of all the women of Thebes. They have left the urban
civilization of Thebes and have relocated themselves in the wilderness of the
mountains,”
The
women on the mountain are reinacting another myth and another much darker
ritual. Long ago Dionysus was called
Zagreus. He was the son of Zeus and heir
to the throne of the universe. The
Titans, the elder gods enticed the child away from safety ripped him to pieces
and ate his flesh. This is the ritual
that Pentheus sees reinacted upon Mt Cithaeron.
When the women see him, the result is common to the uninitiated that
trespass on the mysteries; death.
Pentheus is ripped apart on the exact same spot his Uncle Acteon was
ripped apart and eaten by his own hunting hounds.
The
play ends with the Pentheus’ mother accompanied by the other women proudly
marching into town to show off “this lion's head, my booty from the chase.” As the frenzy fades, it is left up to
Pentheus and Dionysus’ grandfather to explain the will of the gods.
