Euripides
Paperback | Pages: 96 pages Rating: 3.88 | 13545 Users | 618 Reviews
Itemize Books Supposing The Bacchae
| Original Title: | Βάκχαι |
| ISBN: | 1854594117 (ISBN13: 9781854594112) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Dionysus (mythology), Pentheus, Cadmus (mythology), Tiresias, Agave |
| Setting: | Thebes(Greece) |
Commentary Conducive To Books The Bacchae
Dionysus is my favourite ancient Greek god. Why? Because he is the coolest, simple as. “He is life's liberating force. He is release of limbs and communion through dance. He is laughter, and music in flutes. He is repose from all cares -- he is sleep!"
- The Young Bacchus by Caravaggio, 1595.
Not only is he the god of theatre (a huge passion of mine) but he is also the god of wine, festivals, ecstasy and madness. Every set of self-respecting Gods needs one like him on the team. In a way he represents excess, the excess of human emotion and passion. Every so often we all need a good binge of some sort and any god that denies our needs is a very poor god. Dionysus gets it. He understands.
And he is capable of great good and filling the needs of his subjects, but his whims can easily slip into darkness. In this play he presents himself in a clam collective manner; he does not really represent the aspects of human nature he is god of: he merely facilitates them. He gives man the opportunity to go too far; it’s up to him if he takes it and falls into complete intoxication. And this bespeaks his enthralling power. He is not controlling and does not tamper with free-will, if his subjects worship him to heavily then it is of their own accord.
The Dionysian cult Euripides creates here is one completely necessary in the society of Ancient Greece. He is the solution for the ongoing battle between freedom and restraint. He suggests that the irrational and the indulgent are both necessary for society to function and develop. Any society that denies these things will fall apart in misery. So Dionysus is an important force, but one that should be taken is small measures.
So this is a good play, and it’s completely character driven and loaded with this message (supposedly as a learning tool.) It’s real fun to read.Identify Out Of Books The Bacchae
| Title | : | The Bacchae |
| Author | : | Euripides |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 96 pages |
| Published | : | April 1st 1999 by Nick Hern Books (first published -405) |
| Categories | : | Plays. Classics. Drama. Fantasy. Mythology. Fiction. Theatre |
Rating Out Of Books The Bacchae
Ratings: 3.88 From 13545 Users | 618 ReviewsAssess Out Of Books The Bacchae
This is why I dont go to partiesDon't mess with Dionysus.Again, the gods don't take slights well. To be fair, not having your mother acknowledged in her home town can irritate. Pentheus makes the classic mistake of discounting/refuting a god -- big mistake. So we have the hubris of the leader of Thebes leading to his ate (foolish act) resulting in nemesis, which to be fair is a kinda dark and disturbing. Not going to spoil it because it's too awesome, but if you have a familiarity with Orpheus you know where this is headed.I
We have forgotten "that agreement, age with age, we made to deck our wands, to dress in skins of fawn and crown our heads with ivy."* * *Oh Bacchae! Oh Bacchae!Follow, glory of golden Tmolushymning Dionysus with a rumble of drums,with the cry,Euhoi! to the Euhoian God,with the cries in Phrygian melodies,when the holy pipe like honey playsthe sacred song for those who go to the mountain!to the mountain!* * *We do not trifle with divinity.No, we are the heirs of customs and traditions hallowed by
The introduction to this play, in the edition I have, has a lot of great things to say about different kinds of wisdom. Maybe someday I will be able to read it for those themes. This first time through, though, I read a terrifying little horror story in which an arrogant guy challenged a pagan god and paid a gruesome penalty for it. The play is shocking and nauseating, and I can certainly applaud Euripedes' skill at creating such strong visceral moments even with most of the actual violence
Lately, Ive been reading a lot of Greek tragedy. But when I attempt reviews, my tongue turns to ashes in my mouth. Its not that theyre too old (Ive reviewed older books), nor because theyre so foundational (Ive reviewed equally fundamental books). Its because I strongly suspect that I just dont get it. It strikes me that the Greek tragedians were trying to accomplish something essentially different from what Ive come to expect from literature.Greek tragedy has not even the slightest element of
The introduction to this play, in the edition I have, has a lot of great things to say about different kinds of wisdom. Maybe someday I will be able to read it for those themes. This first time through, though, I read a terrifying little horror story in which an arrogant guy challenged a pagan god and paid a gruesome penalty for it. The play is shocking and nauseating, and I can certainly applaud Euripedes' skill at creating such strong visceral moments even with most of the actual violence
Euripides doesn't reveal too much about his various characters in the Bacchae, which is odd because I think he's usually valued for exposing the emotions and humanity of his characters. Pentheus's character seems to be the most well-drawn. One thing that interested me quite a bit was how straight-laced he was, sexually. He wanted to spy on the Maenads, but he was too ashamed to be seen in town, dressed as a woman (which the Stranger told him was a requirement for the spying mission). He railed
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