CLA232H1 Lecture : Euripides' The Bacchants (Jan29 Lecture)
Document Summary
Tiresias: belief in the oracles = belief in the goodness of the gods. Chorus: if the oracle doesn"t come t rue, there is no reason to believe; religion becomes meaningless: tragedy allows us to play the other, by defining the self through the other, reaffirms the identity of the self. Bacchants: everything other, that a greek man is not supposed to be, expansion of the self = dissolves the self, nothing in excess (meden agan) If you avoid excess, is it possible to know yourself: apollo (sophrosune) moderation, rationality, wisdom, restraint = thinking safely", dionysus wine, madness, theatre, both central and peripheral. 11. 01. 24: dionysus has a foreign origin greeks" way of understanding dionysus, parents: immortal zeus & mortal semele. Inspires wonder and fear: the play based off real dionysian worship, women escape from normal lives and become followers = inversion of social norms.
