The Representations of Dionysian in Bacchae and Art
The Representations of Dionysian World
In Bacchae and Art
Dionysus was the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Semele, the daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes, and he was the last god that became an Olympian. Dionysus had an unusual birth which caused him to have some problems about fitting into the Olympian Pantheon. In fact, the problem lies behind the mortality of Dionysus’s mother, Semele. According to the mythology, when Hera discovered the relationship between Zeus and Semele, she decided to deceive them. Appearing as a crone, Hera established contact with Semele and managed to perplex her about the splendor of his divine lover. The seeds that Hera planted in Semele’s mind caused Semele to have miscarriage and die. However, while Semele was miscarrying, Zeus rescued the baby and hid it into his thigh until the baby was ready to be born. Lastly, Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zeus and this gave Dionysus immortality. When Dionysus grew up, Hera struck him with madness and then, Dionysus started to be mentioned as the god of madness. As it can be seen, even from the strange birth, Dionysus was always a part of differences in Greek mythology. In order to construct the figure of Dionysus better by taking his different characteristics into consideration and understand the mythological stories in which Dionysus is the leading figure, it can be a significant step to examine the representations of the characteristics of Dionysus, the companions of him and some mythological events in which Dionysus has a big role both in art and “Bacchae” of Euripides.
To begin with, one of the well-known characteristic of Dionysus and the followers of him is putting on an ivy crown. It is easy to see the representations of ivy crown both in work of art in fifth century and “Bacchae”. In “Bacchae”, while the chorus, which consists of women companies of Dionysus, is calling out to the Thebes at the beginning of the tragedy, they command that “… crown your
In Bacchae and Art
Dionysus was the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Semele, the daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes, and he was the last god that became an Olympian. Dionysus had an unusual birth which caused him to have some problems about fitting into the Olympian Pantheon. In fact, the problem lies behind the mortality of Dionysus’s mother, Semele. According to the mythology, when Hera discovered the relationship between Zeus and Semele, she decided to deceive them. Appearing as a crone, Hera established contact with Semele and managed to perplex her about the splendor of his divine lover. The seeds that Hera planted in Semele’s mind caused Semele to have miscarriage and die. However, while Semele was miscarrying, Zeus rescued the baby and hid it into his thigh until the baby was ready to be born. Lastly, Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zeus and this gave Dionysus immortality. When Dionysus grew up, Hera struck him with madness and then, Dionysus started to be mentioned as the god of madness. As it can be seen, even from the strange birth, Dionysus was always a part of differences in Greek mythology. In order to construct the figure of Dionysus better by taking his different characteristics into consideration and understand the mythological stories in which Dionysus is the leading figure, it can be a significant step to examine the representations of the characteristics of Dionysus, the companions of him and some mythological events in which Dionysus has a big role both in art and “Bacchae” of Euripides.
To begin with, one of the well-known characteristic of Dionysus and the followers of him is putting on an ivy crown. It is easy to see the representations of ivy crown both in work of art in fifth century and “Bacchae”. In “Bacchae”, while the chorus, which consists of women companies of Dionysus, is calling out to the Thebes at the beginning of the tragedy, they command that “… crown your
Cited: Carpenter, Thomas H. Dionysian Imagery in Fifth-Century Athens. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997 Euripides. Bacchae. Trans. Donald Sutherland. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968. Oranje, Hans. Euripides’ Bacchae The Play and Its Audience. The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1984