CMLT316 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Pentheus, Cithaeron, Thyrsus
3 Jun 2018
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CH 13: Dionysus, Pan, Echo, and Narcissus
The Birth, Childhood, and Origins of Dionysus
● Zeus loved Smele, daughter of Cadmus
● Jealous Hera appeared to Semele and convinced her to trick Zeus into revealing himself
to her in the full magnificence of his divinity
● Smele was burned to a cinder by Zeus and his lightning flash
● Their unborn child was saved by Zeus and his sewed him up in his own thigh to be born
again at the proper time
● Dionysus was brought up by nymphs and by Semele’s sister Ino on a mountain named
Nysa, variously located
● Dionysus came to Greece from Phrygia and Thrace
● He brings happiness and salvation to those who accept him peacefully, and madness
and death to those who do not
The Bacchae of Euripides
● Fundamental for an understanding of Dionysus and his worship
● Dionysus himself has come in anger to Thebes bc his very divinity has been challenged
● The sisters of his mother claim that he, Dionysus, was not begotten by Zeus, but that
Semele became pregnant by some mortal
● Her father Cadmus induced her to say that Zeus was the real father, and Zeus struck her
dead
● Through the power of Dionysus, the women of Thebes have become possessed by
frenzy, and dressed in fawn skins, they raise the Bacchic cry on Mt Cithaeron to the
musical beat with the thyrsus (an ivy colored pine shaft) in their hands
● Cadmus and his young grandson Pentheus opposed to this new religion
● A play
● In the last scene of the play (for which the text is corrupt), Dionysus metes out his
justice, which includes exile for those who have sinned against him
● As Agave takes leave of Thebes, she exclaims that she will go where Mt. Cithaeron will
be out of her sight and where there will be no remembrance of the thyrsus
● It is for others to become Bacchae and care for the things of Dionysus.
The Nature of Dionysus, His Religion, and His Followers
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Document Summary
Jealous hera appeared to semele and convinced her to trick zeus into revealing himself to her in the full magnificence of his divinity. Smele was burned to a cinder by zeus and his lightning flash. Their unborn child was saved by zeus and his sewed him up in his own thigh to be born again at the proper time. Dionysus was brought up by nymphs and by semele"s sister ino on a mountain named. Dionysus came to greece from phrygia and thrace. He brings happiness and salvation to those who accept him peacefully, and madness and death to those who do not. Fundamental for an understanding of dionysus and his worship. Dionysus himself has come in anger to thebes bc his very divinity has been challenged. The sisters of his mother claim that he, dionysus, was not begotten by zeus, but that. Her father cadmus induced her to say that zeus was the real father, and zeus struck her dead.
