DAN 2520 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Terpsichore, Maenad, Dithyramb
Document Summary
The importance of dance in ancient greece: Dance was divinely inspired, believed that it was originally an activity of the gods. Dance was watched over by terpsichore the muse of dance. There are 9 muses of the arts, they are all goddesses. Crossed the line between religion and secular life. Military danced for a healthy physical body, religious purposes, to please the gods, for success. Apollo and dionysus symbolize two types of art: Apollonian: surreal and majestic, structure and form, balance. Enthousiasmos: or enthusiasm is a trance like state produced by dancing. Oreibasa: done by maenads or women believed to be possessed by dionysus, met in secret in the woods without clothes to dance with torches to praise. Aristotle: believed education is the blend of music and gymnastics creating movement. Socrates: believed dance should be done more because those who honored the gods by dance won more wars. Plato: to sing and dance well meant you were well educated.
