The Bacchae:- First performed in 405BC

 The Bacchae is a play about people giving into urges

 Upsets gender binaries
 ALL GREEK TRAGEDIES ARE MUSICALS-they all contain their own use of
sound, music, and rhythm
 One of the last of the “classical” tragedy plays

Euripides the writer:

 Arguably one of the most controversial playwrights of his time as a
tragedian.
 He was famous for giving well known stories twists
 Rarely one first prize at the festival of Dionysos
 Unsuccessfully prosecuted for impiety
 The Bacchae is undoubtedly a tragedy, yet it contains a mix of comical and
tragic elements

Dionysos- The god of theatre-wine-fertility-desire (losing oneself)

“Gods cannot reveal their true form to mortals”

Dionysos is liminal, half human, half god

Dionysos was not an original Greek god, he is from Asia, from the east.

He is a deceptive God

Initially appears claiming to “teach Thebes a lesson” yet at the end it appears that
he embarked on a quest for revenge against those that rejected him.

Tiresias- “how else could we ease the ache of living’- is this a way about thinking
about: wine, theatre, giving into impulse, even tragedy.

“Us and them” the notion of everyone being in on something while another is
sceptically on the fringes.

Ecstasis: ecstasy- giving in to something powerful, losing the sense of oneself---

central to the ideas of this play.

Dionysos Worship in this play is never seen, but only ever described. When
depicted by Dionysos himself, his description suggests that it is not necessarily a
benevolent experience.

His worshippers are women, and are foreign. Perhaps also slaves, all people that
Athenian society in real life were so quick to cast out and offer lesser rights to.

The worship Is not about sex-Tiresias refutes, claiming that the play is not about
sex.
The Thyrsos staff- a powerful tool to create, and a powerful one to destroy.

The Apollonian and the Dionysian:

 Apollonian- form, structure, control, rational thought, reason, beauty

 Dionysian- irrationality, intoxication, loss of self, animalism, sex

Nietzsche argues that all Greek tragedies are works where there is direct conflict
between apollonian and Dionysian thoughts.

Does Dionysus’ control and puppeteer Pentheus so that he goes to his death out
of his free will or is it a choice Pentheus makes out of his own free will.

Spacial symbolism- The city(rationality) versus the mountain(Irrationality and

ecstasy)

Is Tiresias the appropriate balance of Apollonian and Dionysian? He is Apollo’s

prophet, but worships Dionysos Equally.
NOTE: Tiresias is played by the same man who would have played Dionysius
Tiresias is potentially the first ever transgender character.

Is it also significant that the actor who played Pentheus doubled as Agave?-
Something very interesting happens in this play about actors that double as
different characters.

The play itself in performance by being performed is a direct worship from the
audience and actors to the actual god of Dionysos.

Quotations to use:

Re the apollonian and Dionysian divide? : Here I am in Thebes – a city

At the confluence of two rivers –
Always a bad sign.(7)

Cut from his immortal crotch,

A chip off the old block.
Dionysos.
Divine.(8)- desire and emphasis on his god status, like he needs to prove
himself.

Was it not in this city that

My mother's sisters put the word
Out that I was not a real god?
They told everyone my mother
Was nothing but a simple slut
Who just used Zeus as an excuse.
Oh aunts – you should have known better.(9)
So, Thebes,
You will acknowledge me
Whether you want to or not,
You will acknowledge me
And love me because I am
Dionysos. (10)

Kadmos: Yes, you're a god, and gods don't rage

Like this – it's too much – too human.(sixth episode)

The Chorus
No – you can't choose the gods that you worship
No – you just have to worship them all
No – you can't choose which prayers they will answer
No – you just have to answer their call
No – you can't choose the gods that you worship.

So you must learn to sing

You must sing this hymn
This hymn to the Scream.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.