The Bacchae: The Cult of Dionysus
Theatre is an evolving art form, due to its prevalent themes, in which the creators ‘…express the complications of life through a shared enterprise’ (Lee Hall, 2008). The modernisation of a text whilst maintaining the history relevant to the play has been reinforced by Brisbane based Physical Theatre Company Zen Zen Zo through their 1996 reinterpretation of Eurpide’s The Bacchae, adapted into ‘The Cult of Dionysus’ (Zen Zen Zo, 2016). ‘The Cult of Dionysus’, entails the story of Dionysus, the Greek God of fertility, wine and pleasure, seeks revenge on the ruler of Thebes’ Pentheus, who has just outlawed the worship of Dionysus. The elements of drama have been manipulated to engage the audience, specifically
…show more content…
The minimalistic set is a vehicle for the director to divert the audience’s attention to the complexity of the language and the physicality, a clear link to Jerzy Growtowski’s Poor Man’s Theatre . The staging that consists of a walkway of sand in the centre of the stage symbolises the Earth and, in combination with the use of bare feet, symbolises a connection to the Earth . This is a clear link to the Suzuki method as Tadashi Suzuki believes that everything ‘begins and ends with the feet ’, a method employed by Pentheus as it shows that he is grounded and reinforces his power showing that the themes of the play are common in mankind (BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts, 2015). Pentheus and Dionysus disrupting the sand is symbolic for a disturbance in earth’s hierarchy as Dionysus disturbs the city with his arrival . The Bacchic women are staged in a circle around Pentheus, reinforcing Dionysus’s language as he entails his scheme to seek revenge on Pentheus. Their spacing indicates that whatever action Pentheus undertakes against Dionysus, he will receive worse . The spacing of the women in a shape representative of a snake foreshadows the revenge that Dionysus seeks on Cadmus and his wife and how the women seek revenge for Dionysus (Zen Zen Zo, 1996). The director has employed these choices to ensure the audience will question Dionysus’s power to seek revenge on his family and foreshadow the ending. The use of directorial choices in Zen Zen Zo’s interpretation of The Bacchae emphasises the common themes associated with society and how man’s predetermined faults can be the foundation for their
In The Bacchae, I believe that Euripides uses the relationship of male and female to explore the alluring concept of feminine empowerment in a patriarchal society and to demonstrate the cost this empowerment subsequently has on ordered civilization. In this paper, I will argue that Euripides uses the conflictual relation between the genders to criticize the role of women in Greek society while also showing the consequences of a total feminine revolt. Through developing this conflict, Euripides is demonstrating how the path to the most successful civilization is through a balance of masculine rationality and feminine emotional freedom. I will prove this by analyzing the positions of Pentheus, the Bacchants, and Dionysus throughout the play. The character Pentheus
The theater of Dionysus stands at the foot of the acropolis and its date originates back to the 6th Century, B.C.. Its originally wood seats rise in tiers above one another against the slope of the acropolis, creating a natural setting for the plays (D'ooge, 231). The Greek Theater was built to house a drama which, during the festivals of Dionysus, had evolved from the long tradition of choral hymns which were presented each year. As Greek culture changed and flourished, entertainment transformed from being a series of choral chanting and dancing to placing an emphasis on the actor. As the actors' importance grew, there became a need for a stage from which they could be seen by each of the fourteen thousand spectators the theater housed. The chorus was still a very active part of the entertainment and they resided in the orchestra (Norwich, 64). The orchestra was the oldest part of the Greek theater and thus, when the actor was given
The Winnipeg Art Gallery hosted Olympus, an exhibition on Greek art. One of the many
Some evaluations claim that the Dionysus appearing in The Bacchae is fairly true embodiment of the ideals of ancient Athens. He demands only worship and proper reverence for his name, two matters of honor that pervaded both the Greek tragedies and the pious society that viewed them. In other plays, Oedipus' consultations with Apollo and the many Choral appeals to Zeus reveal the Athenian respect for their gods, while Electra's need for revenge and Antigone's obligation to bury Polyneices both epitomize the themes of respect and dignity. Yet although Dionysus personifies these two motifs, his clashes with the rest of Athenian tradition seem to make him its true adversary. Dionysius distinctly opposes the usual views on gender, age, rationality and divinity, leaving the reader to wonder whether these contrasts were Euripidean attempts to illuminate specific facets of the culture itself.
3 & 4. 27 B.C – A.D 68 by unknown artist, but restored by Pacetti Vincenzo
When Mary Zimmerman adapts a play from an ancient text her directing process and the way she engages with text are woven together, both dependent on the other. She writes these adaptations from nondramatic text, writing each evening while working through the pre-production rehearsals and improvisations during the day with the cast. The rehearsal process influences the text, and the text enriches the rehearsal process, so that one cannot exist without the other. Every rehearsal is structured the same but each production is unique because as Zimmerman states in “The Archaeology of Performance”, she is always “open to the possibilities”. The piece is open to everything happening in the world and to the people involved, so the possibilities are honest and endless.
While visiting the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, I came across The Indian Triumph of Dionysus. Originating in Rome, it was created by a wealthy follower of Dionysus’s mystery cult in the late second century A.D. This worshiper evidently wanted to construct a sarcophagus in tribute of Dionysus’s accomplishments. Furthermore, Dionysus is surrounded by characters that are within the mystery cult because the creator wants the viewers to know with whom he is associated. With these two things combined, the patron hoped to shed light on a piece of history that they believed to be prominent during his life.
The impact of female rebellion on society is illustrated as so intense that it must be stopped before it becomes overtly uncontrollable and violent. However, there is a mysticism to the fringe society of Bacchant which both tantatlizes and concerns its viewers. The Bacchae uses this ambiguity with not only female rebellion but also other attributes such as the relationship between Dionysus and Pentheus, violence, crossdressing, and others. The dual nature of The Bacchae leads it to be highly readable and rebels against conventional thinking.
The Bacchae indicates that Dionysus is not concerned with morality since his way of controlling people and seeking revenge is viewed as corrupt. Dionysus is a god born of a mortal mother, therefore the people of Thebes deny he’s a god. He sought revenge against those who denied him as a god by murdering and driving them insane. Pentheus denied his status as a god and failed to honor him as such. Dionysus got revenge by forcing Pentheus’s mother to kill his own son. The women of Thebes denied his status as a god, therefore, he drove them insane. The way the women worshipped Dionysus is viewed as immoral and cruel since they are controlled without their own will. Dionysus is the god of wine; wine represents celebration and festivities. Although wine can help people relieve their worries, it can cause them to experience drunkenness. Once someone is drunk they can be destructive and lose control of their thoughts and judgment. Once they are controlled by Dionysus they do not always know the difference between what is
This complication presents another challenge to the Athenian masculine identity and conceptualisation of gender. In Pentheus, femininity represents weakness, submission, madness; in Dionysus, femininity is power. Dionysus’ use of femininity is what destroys Pentheus, dressing him in women’s clothing (Euripides, Bacchae 915) and, even earlier, capturing his intrigue with his own feminine disguise (Euripides, Bacchae 455). Pentheus and Dionysus’ roles switch with Pentheus’ madness; Dionysus as the Stranger first appears as the subjugated, passive actor of the two, in the traditionally feminine role once he is captured, and his appearance reflects this (Euripides, Bacchae 450). Pentheus appears in the active, masculine role, having captured and restrained Dionysus, cutting his hair and interrogating him, even cutting his hair in an attempt to strip him of some of his feminine beauty (Euripides, Bacchae, 455-510). With Pentheus’ madness, however, these roles are reversed, though Dionysus still appears feminine – this enduring quality a sign of femininity as power in his case – and Pentheus appears similarly, though this symbolises his passivity. It is notable that, alongside being presented as feminine in appearance, Dionysus appears multiple times in the play in
In Greek Mythology a rivalry always occurs between certain Gods and Goddesses. In the case of Apollo and Dionysus there is no exception. They are half brothers, both sons of Zues and they compete just as most brothers do. Though the two Greek Gods, Apollo and Dionysus, were actually very similar in some ways, they severely contrasted in others.
The University Playhouse’s performance of The Dispute displayed a conglomeration of Greek, Elizabethan, and French Neoclassical staging conventions. This comedy balanced out elements of presentational theatre and non-localized sets reminiscent of Greek theatre with representational theatre and localized sets resonant of Elizabethan theatre. The presence of elements of comedy, Farce, Satire, and the use of deus ex machina within the play utilized French Neoclassical staging conventions adopted from earlier Greek, Elizabethan, and Italian Renaissance conventions. In the following sections, I will discuss the reminiscence of these conventions embraced through this production of The Dispute.
Throughout Greek and Roman mythology there are many themes, motifs, and symbols that are consistent amongst the different myths. Some of the more common ones include the abuse of mortals from the gods, the relationship between men and women, and the way in which lust operates in society. All of these are apparent in the writing style of Euripides in his text the Bacchae. This myth explores the battle between Dionysus, who has just returned dressed as a stranger, and Pentheus, who is the current ruler of the state, over the city of Thebes. As one reads this myth they will clearly identify some of the important subjects, however one detail that may not be noticed is the portrayal of Pentheus holding gender identity issues. There are many examples
Greek and Elizabethan theatre, while similar in some respects, had a few large differences. The Greeks believed in a certain unity of theme, which was prevalent throughout the production. Greek plays were often drawn from myth or of historical significance, so it seems that only ki...
As the roles were essentially cemented into the culture, manipulations such as crossovers provide a source of conflict and intrigue into the narrative of the plays. Two of Shakespea...