CLASSICS 2D03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Pentheus, Cithara, Sparagmos
22 Sep 2016
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Born in thebes, son of semele & zeus founder of thebes = cadmus; his daughter = semele => dionysus belongs to the royal house of. Birth story: hera discovers zeus is having an affair w/semele & decides to exact her revenge on semele. Hera disguises herself as semele"s nurse & convinces semele to ask zeus to prove his god status; Semele asks zeus to make love to her the same way he does to hera; however, when mating w/hera, it"s in the form of the lightning bolt. => zeus kills semele but saves dionysus & sews the child into his thigh until maturation. => dionysus raised by a nymph upon zeus" will for protection from hera. God of wine, the theatre, song & ecstasy also god of the irrational ** Ritual of dionysus: sparagmos = the ripping apart of live flesh. Bacchae = female worshippers of bacchus/dionysus (aka maenads/bacchantes)
