DIONYSUS AND THE BACCHAE
I. Euripides' last play (406 in Macedonia); echoes of earlier tragedies: Thebes, role of chorus, divine (in)justice, role of women, recognition scene, hybris; deus ex machina
II. The Cult of Dio-nysus
A. origins: Semele (sister of Agave); Minoan/Mycenean religion; Greek or Asian?; conquest of India (cf. lines 10ff.)powerful and associated with other deities: 275ff. (Demeter), 307-28 (Apollo and Delphi), 402 (Aphrodite), Muses (410), Olympus (560)B. characteristics (myth vs. cult): ekstasis (play on this in line 359), enthusiasmos, mania, sparagmos, omophagia (cf. 738ff., 1130ff.)
C. the gospel according to Dionysus in the choral odes: 65ff., 386- 430, 902ff., 1003ff.: Luckenbach, TX, only more vital
III. The Bacchae proper
A. Pentheus (780-861, 918ff.), voyeur: 957-60, 1058-62; Cadmus, Tiresias (169ff., 333ff.
B. Dionysus (e.g., 860-61)
C. the choral odes (see above)
IV. Epilogue: not Apollo vs. Dionysus (Friedrich Nietzsche), but the fragility of human existence
WEDNESDAY: Review session; course evaluation (bring #2 pencils).
FRIDAY: Exam #4. Bring bluebooks and #2 pencils.