Kimberley Christine Patton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195091069
- eISBN:
- 9780199871568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195091069.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter explores what has been said about the problem of the sacrificing gods, and the implications of each commentary. With some exceptions, two intellectual tendencies prevail in discussions. ...
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This chapter explores what has been said about the problem of the sacrificing gods, and the implications of each commentary. With some exceptions, two intellectual tendencies prevail in discussions. One is a real reluctance on the part of classical scholars to confront or analyze the anomaly. Comments dating from the late 19th century onward are characteristically brief, and are sometimes included almost as an afterthought to a more general discussion of libation or the larger theme of sacrifice. More common, however, is an aside—a “stab in the dark” at an explanation of this religious phenomenon—in the scholarly publication of a particular artifact or group of artifacts that happen to feature the libating gods theme.Less
This chapter explores what has been said about the problem of the sacrificing gods, and the implications of each commentary. With some exceptions, two intellectual tendencies prevail in discussions. One is a real reluctance on the part of classical scholars to confront or analyze the anomaly. Comments dating from the late 19th century onward are characteristically brief, and are sometimes included almost as an afterthought to a more general discussion of libation or the larger theme of sacrifice. More common, however, is an aside—a “stab in the dark” at an explanation of this religious phenomenon—in the scholarly publication of a particular artifact or group of artifacts that happen to feature the libating gods theme.
Kimberley Christine Patton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195091069
- eISBN:
- 9780199871568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195091069.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the possible meanings of images of gods performing religious rituals, which was prompted by vase painting ascribed to the Berlin painter, one of ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the possible meanings of images of gods performing religious rituals, which was prompted by vase painting ascribed to the Berlin painter, one of the great masters of ancient Greek vase-painting. It argues that it is virtually impossible to solve the hermeneutical problem of the “libating gods” in ancient Greek vase painting by staying within the evidence afforded by the tradition. We need to look elsewhere, and we need to subject these images to the multiple recombination afforded only through comparative analysis. Similar images from other religions of the world are then considered in this chapter. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the possible meanings of images of gods performing religious rituals, which was prompted by vase painting ascribed to the Berlin painter, one of the great masters of ancient Greek vase-painting. It argues that it is virtually impossible to solve the hermeneutical problem of the “libating gods” in ancient Greek vase painting by staying within the evidence afforded by the tradition. We need to look elsewhere, and we need to subject these images to the multiple recombination afforded only through comparative analysis. Similar images from other religions of the world are then considered in this chapter. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.
Kimberley Christine Patton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195091069
- eISBN:
- 9780199871568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195091069.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter considers the question of how best to understand the ancient Greek ceremony of libation within its religious context. Questions addressed include: What kind of an offering was libation, ...
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This chapter considers the question of how best to understand the ancient Greek ceremony of libation within its religious context. Questions addressed include: What kind of an offering was libation, and to whom, in anyone, was it offered? How did it reach its recipients? In what sense is libation “sacrifice?”Less
This chapter considers the question of how best to understand the ancient Greek ceremony of libation within its religious context. Questions addressed include: What kind of an offering was libation, and to whom, in anyone, was it offered? How did it reach its recipients? In what sense is libation “sacrifice?”
Kimberley Christine Patton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195091069
- eISBN:
- 9780199871568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195091069.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter addresses the intellectual reasons for why the Greek god with libation bowl in hand has been so problematic. It analyzes the common theoretical stumbling blocks observed in the secondary ...
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This chapter addresses the intellectual reasons for why the Greek god with libation bowl in hand has been so problematic. It analyzes the common theoretical stumbling blocks observed in the secondary literature, both religionist and archaeological. It then suggests a workable theoretical solution, based on an ancient Greek understanding of the relationship between their gods and their practiced religion. The chapter goes on to present a new descriptive category, “divine reflexivity,” which can dissolve some of the previous hermeneutical obstacles, in that it comprises rather than avoids paradox, and allows religious worlds both self-referential and self-organizing potentials. Seven characteristics that are the signifying characteristics of divine reflexivity are discussed.Less
This chapter addresses the intellectual reasons for why the Greek god with libation bowl in hand has been so problematic. It analyzes the common theoretical stumbling blocks observed in the secondary literature, both religionist and archaeological. It then suggests a workable theoretical solution, based on an ancient Greek understanding of the relationship between their gods and their practiced religion. The chapter goes on to present a new descriptive category, “divine reflexivity,” which can dissolve some of the previous hermeneutical obstacles, in that it comprises rather than avoids paradox, and allows religious worlds both self-referential and self-organizing potentials. Seven characteristics that are the signifying characteristics of divine reflexivity are discussed.
Kimberley Christine Patton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195091069
- eISBN:
- 9780199871568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195091069.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
There appears to be nothing in ancient Greek literature that sheds light on the possible religions meaning of gods pouring libations. Contemporaneous written interpretations of Olympian gods who pour ...
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There appears to be nothing in ancient Greek literature that sheds light on the possible religions meaning of gods pouring libations. Contemporaneous written interpretations of Olympian gods who pour out wine offerings from cultic bowls are lost, or never existed. This chapter considers known ancient literary evidence that may bear upon the question of divine libations in classical art. These comprise both descriptions of actual cult statues and a more nebulous category made up of classical passages in which gods take part in the performance of ritual—with or without editorializing on the part of the ancient author.Less
There appears to be nothing in ancient Greek literature that sheds light on the possible religions meaning of gods pouring libations. Contemporaneous written interpretations of Olympian gods who pour out wine offerings from cultic bowls are lost, or never existed. This chapter considers known ancient literary evidence that may bear upon the question of divine libations in classical art. These comprise both descriptions of actual cult statues and a more nebulous category made up of classical passages in which gods take part in the performance of ritual—with or without editorializing on the part of the ancient author.
Kimberley Christine Patton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195091069
- eISBN:
- 9780199871568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195091069.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter discusses some of the more important iconographic issues pertaining to the Greek evidence for the theme of “gods pouring libations”, namely, that of red-figure vase-painting. It draws ...
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This chapter discusses some of the more important iconographic issues pertaining to the Greek evidence for the theme of “gods pouring libations”, namely, that of red-figure vase-painting. It draws from a representative catalogue of such vases from the late archaic, classical, and Hellenistic periods of antiquity, and includes an analysis of their cultic features.Less
This chapter discusses some of the more important iconographic issues pertaining to the Greek evidence for the theme of “gods pouring libations”, namely, that of red-figure vase-painting. It draws from a representative catalogue of such vases from the late archaic, classical, and Hellenistic periods of antiquity, and includes an analysis of their cultic features.
Michael D. Konaris
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198737896
- eISBN:
- 9780191801426
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198737896.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This book examines major theories of interpretation of the Greek gods in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century German and British scholarship, and their implications and influence with a primary, ...
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This book examines major theories of interpretation of the Greek gods in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century German and British scholarship, and their implications and influence with a primary, though not exclusive, focus on Apollo. German and British scholars of the time drew on philology, archaeology, comparative mythology, anthropology, or sociology to advance radically different theories on the Greek gods. The book focuses on the theory of the Greek gods as gods of natural elements; its principal rival, the theory of K.O. Müller and his followers that the Greek gods had originally been tribal and universal gods; H. Usener’s theory of Sondergötter, as well as theories inspired by anthropology and sociology (Lang, Farnell, Harrison). The book situates the rival theories in their intellectual and cultural context, and explores their underlying assumptions and agendas. It lays particular stress on how the interpretation of the Greek gods was informed by confessional and national rivalries and on how it was implicated in broader contemporary debates in Germany and Britain—such as over the origins and nature of religion, or the relation between Western culture and the ‘Orient’. In addition, the book looks at the impact of these theories on the study of Greek religion in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and draws implications about current debates and approaches.Less
This book examines major theories of interpretation of the Greek gods in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century German and British scholarship, and their implications and influence with a primary, though not exclusive, focus on Apollo. German and British scholars of the time drew on philology, archaeology, comparative mythology, anthropology, or sociology to advance radically different theories on the Greek gods. The book focuses on the theory of the Greek gods as gods of natural elements; its principal rival, the theory of K.O. Müller and his followers that the Greek gods had originally been tribal and universal gods; H. Usener’s theory of Sondergötter, as well as theories inspired by anthropology and sociology (Lang, Farnell, Harrison). The book situates the rival theories in their intellectual and cultural context, and explores their underlying assumptions and agendas. It lays particular stress on how the interpretation of the Greek gods was informed by confessional and national rivalries and on how it was implicated in broader contemporary debates in Germany and Britain—such as over the origins and nature of religion, or the relation between Western culture and the ‘Orient’. In addition, the book looks at the impact of these theories on the study of Greek religion in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and draws implications about current debates and approaches.
Robert Parker
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520293946
- eISBN:
- 9780520967250
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520293946.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This is a book about interaction between Greek religion and the religious cultures of the many regions of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond with which it came into contact during the long period ...
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This is a book about interaction between Greek religion and the religious cultures of the many regions of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond with which it came into contact during the long period when Greek was the lingua franca of the ancient world. It studies the practice of identifying Greek gods with those of other countries, and its limits. It shows how Greek gods were named and referred to within Greece, and how these ways of naming were adopted, extended and adapted in new cultural contexts. It argues, following Hermann Usener’s Götternamen, that such naming practices provide essential insight into religious psychology and values.Less
This is a book about interaction between Greek religion and the religious cultures of the many regions of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond with which it came into contact during the long period when Greek was the lingua franca of the ancient world. It studies the practice of identifying Greek gods with those of other countries, and its limits. It shows how Greek gods were named and referred to within Greece, and how these ways of naming were adopted, extended and adapted in new cultural contexts. It argues, following Hermann Usener’s Götternamen, that such naming practices provide essential insight into religious psychology and values.
Michael D. Konaris
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198737896
- eISBN:
- 9780191801426
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198737896.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
The Conclusion looks at the influence of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarship on the course of the study of Greek religion in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (from Wilamowitz ...
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The Conclusion looks at the influence of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarship on the course of the study of Greek religion in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (from Wilamowitz to M.P. Nilsson to J.-P. Vernant and W. Burkert), and draws implications for the current study of the Greek gods. An Appendix surveys the interpretation of Apollo in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.Less
The Conclusion looks at the influence of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarship on the course of the study of Greek religion in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (from Wilamowitz to M.P. Nilsson to J.-P. Vernant and W. Burkert), and draws implications for the current study of the Greek gods. An Appendix surveys the interpretation of Apollo in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Pietro Pucci
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781501700613
- eISBN:
- 9781501704055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501700613.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book explores the two overarching and interconnected objectives of Euripides's poetic game and law of composition: first, to elucidate a consistent criticism of the anthropomorphic nature of the ...
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This book explores the two overarching and interconnected objectives of Euripides's poetic game and law of composition: first, to elucidate a consistent criticism of the anthropomorphic nature of the Greek gods and second, to provide audiences and readers with the wisdom and the strength to endure the distress of life. Both objectives are at the heart of the Euripidean revolution. The criticism of anthropomorphism undercuts the interventions that are enacted by the gods among the mortals. This book examines Euripides's “under cover strategy” and his main aims in plays and scenes that focus on three of the most debated issues of his time: language, eros, and politics.Less
This book explores the two overarching and interconnected objectives of Euripides's poetic game and law of composition: first, to elucidate a consistent criticism of the anthropomorphic nature of the Greek gods and second, to provide audiences and readers with the wisdom and the strength to endure the distress of life. Both objectives are at the heart of the Euripidean revolution. The criticism of anthropomorphism undercuts the interventions that are enacted by the gods among the mortals. This book examines Euripides's “under cover strategy” and his main aims in plays and scenes that focus on three of the most debated issues of his time: language, eros, and politics.
Maria Michela Sassi
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691180502
- eISBN:
- 9781400889761
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691180502.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter examines the origins of Greek philosophy in the context of the cosmogonies. It begins with an analysis of Hesiod's poem Theogony, which describes the genealogies of the Greek gods and ...
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This chapter examines the origins of Greek philosophy in the context of the cosmogonies. It begins with an analysis of Hesiod's poem Theogony, which describes the genealogies of the Greek gods and delineates a picture of the origin of the cosmos. It then considers the cosmogony of Anaximander of Miletus, with a particular focus on his theory of celestial bodies which ascribes the origin of the cosmos to an entity called apeiron. It also discusses a historical framework in which philosophy starts as cosmogony and is a daughter of the polis, along with Aristotle's view regarding the theologians' cosmogonies. The chapter goes on to explore Pherecydes of Syros's “mixed theology,” which combines traditional elements with his personal reflections on the problem of the origin of the cosmos, before concluding with a commentary on whether Thetis is a divine figure endowed with conscious control of the “ways” of the cosmos.Less
This chapter examines the origins of Greek philosophy in the context of the cosmogonies. It begins with an analysis of Hesiod's poem Theogony, which describes the genealogies of the Greek gods and delineates a picture of the origin of the cosmos. It then considers the cosmogony of Anaximander of Miletus, with a particular focus on his theory of celestial bodies which ascribes the origin of the cosmos to an entity called apeiron. It also discusses a historical framework in which philosophy starts as cosmogony and is a daughter of the polis, along with Aristotle's view regarding the theologians' cosmogonies. The chapter goes on to explore Pherecydes of Syros's “mixed theology,” which combines traditional elements with his personal reflections on the problem of the origin of the cosmos, before concluding with a commentary on whether Thetis is a divine figure endowed with conscious control of the “ways” of the cosmos.
Pietro Pucci
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781501700613
- eISBN:
- 9781501704055
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501700613.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book explores Euripides's revolutionary literary art. While scholars have long pointed to subversive elements in Euripides's plays, this book goes a step further in identifying a Euripidean ...
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This book explores Euripides's revolutionary literary art. While scholars have long pointed to subversive elements in Euripides's plays, this book goes a step further in identifying a Euripidean program of enlightened thought enacted through carefully wrought textual strategies. The driving force behind this program is Euripides's desire to subvert the traditional anthropomorphic view of the Greek gods—a belief system that in his view strips human beings of their independence and ability to act wisely and justly. Instead of fatuous religious beliefs, Athenians need the wisdom and the strength to navigate the challenges and difficulties of life. Throughout his lifetime, Euripides found himself the target of intense criticism and ridicule. He was accused of promoting new ideas that were considered destructive. Like his contemporary, Socrates, he was considered a corrupting influence. No wonder, then, that Euripides had to carry out his revolution “under cover.” This book lays out the various ways that the playwright skillfully inserted his philosophical principles into the text through innovative strategies of plot development, language and composition, and production techniques that subverted the traditionally staged anthropomorphic gods.Less
This book explores Euripides's revolutionary literary art. While scholars have long pointed to subversive elements in Euripides's plays, this book goes a step further in identifying a Euripidean program of enlightened thought enacted through carefully wrought textual strategies. The driving force behind this program is Euripides's desire to subvert the traditional anthropomorphic view of the Greek gods—a belief system that in his view strips human beings of their independence and ability to act wisely and justly. Instead of fatuous religious beliefs, Athenians need the wisdom and the strength to navigate the challenges and difficulties of life. Throughout his lifetime, Euripides found himself the target of intense criticism and ridicule. He was accused of promoting new ideas that were considered destructive. Like his contemporary, Socrates, he was considered a corrupting influence. No wonder, then, that Euripides had to carry out his revolution “under cover.” This book lays out the various ways that the playwright skillfully inserted his philosophical principles into the text through innovative strategies of plot development, language and composition, and production techniques that subverted the traditionally staged anthropomorphic gods.
Mary Lefkowitz
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199752058
- eISBN:
- 9780190463113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199752058.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In modern productions, translators and directors, aided by our own imaginations, edit the gods away in order to concentrate on human action. Because modern readers do not try to comprehend the ...
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In modern productions, translators and directors, aided by our own imaginations, edit the gods away in order to concentrate on human action. Because modern readers do not try to comprehend the theology of an ancient and foreign civilization, they fail to see that in Euripides’ plays (as in dramas by other poets), it is the gods who control what happens in human life, even when the human characters in the dramas are unable to imagine the full extent of the gods’ power. The chapter discusses the modern tendency to omit divine action in Euripides’ Trojan Women, and inability to recognize its presence in Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, even though Aristotle understood that the contrast between human ignorance and divine omniscience was a central feature of Athenian drama. It also explains why this book discusses the roles played by individual gods, as well as the function of divine epiphanies in general.Less
In modern productions, translators and directors, aided by our own imaginations, edit the gods away in order to concentrate on human action. Because modern readers do not try to comprehend the theology of an ancient and foreign civilization, they fail to see that in Euripides’ plays (as in dramas by other poets), it is the gods who control what happens in human life, even when the human characters in the dramas are unable to imagine the full extent of the gods’ power. The chapter discusses the modern tendency to omit divine action in Euripides’ Trojan Women, and inability to recognize its presence in Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, even though Aristotle understood that the contrast between human ignorance and divine omniscience was a central feature of Athenian drama. It also explains why this book discusses the roles played by individual gods, as well as the function of divine epiphanies in general.
Mary Lefkowitz
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199752058
- eISBN:
- 9780190463113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199752058.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Gods are always involved in the action of dramas, even though the mortal characters in the drama may be unaware of them. In the Hecuba, Heraclidae, Iphigenia at Aulis, and Phoenissae, they allow ...
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Gods are always involved in the action of dramas, even though the mortal characters in the drama may be unaware of them. In the Hecuba, Heraclidae, Iphigenia at Aulis, and Phoenissae, they allow innocent children to be murdered and demand child sacrifice in war. But even though Euripides makes sure that his audiences will have no doubts about what it means to die on behalf of an army or a city, it does not follow that he believes or wants his audiences to suppose that the gods do not exist or that ritual perpetuates an illusion. If anything, the outcomes of the dramas would suggest that the theology of the traditional religion of Athens provides an accurate account of a world dominated by powers with which human beings have few effective means of communicating and over which they have little or no influence or control.Less
Gods are always involved in the action of dramas, even though the mortal characters in the drama may be unaware of them. In the Hecuba, Heraclidae, Iphigenia at Aulis, and Phoenissae, they allow innocent children to be murdered and demand child sacrifice in war. But even though Euripides makes sure that his audiences will have no doubts about what it means to die on behalf of an army or a city, it does not follow that he believes or wants his audiences to suppose that the gods do not exist or that ritual perpetuates an illusion. If anything, the outcomes of the dramas would suggest that the theology of the traditional religion of Athens provides an accurate account of a world dominated by powers with which human beings have few effective means of communicating and over which they have little or no influence or control.
Pietro Pucci
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781501700613
- eISBN:
- 9781501704055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501700613.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines some of the textual moves employed by Euripides that have the effect of suspending or undercutting the Greek gods' anthropomorphism. It considers how the universal forces, which ...
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This chapter examines some of the textual moves employed by Euripides that have the effect of suspending or undercutting the Greek gods' anthropomorphism. It considers how the universal forces, which in Euripides appear to be synonyms or substitutions for the traditional gods and are also indifferent, cosmic principles, can be understood as divine entities and objects of cult. It also explores how these universal forces' specific relationship to the traditional gods can be described. It shows that the conflation of a divine figure with a cosmic force gives rise to an impersonal principle, “Necessity,” the realm of which fially absorbs the mythological figures, Zeus, Thanatos (the personifid name of death), and Charon (the bogeyman) with their dramatic interventions.Less
This chapter examines some of the textual moves employed by Euripides that have the effect of suspending or undercutting the Greek gods' anthropomorphism. It considers how the universal forces, which in Euripides appear to be synonyms or substitutions for the traditional gods and are also indifferent, cosmic principles, can be understood as divine entities and objects of cult. It also explores how these universal forces' specific relationship to the traditional gods can be described. It shows that the conflation of a divine figure with a cosmic force gives rise to an impersonal principle, “Necessity,” the realm of which fially absorbs the mythological figures, Zeus, Thanatos (the personifid name of death), and Charon (the bogeyman) with their dramatic interventions.
Pietro Pucci
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781501700613
- eISBN:
- 9781501704055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501700613.003.0027
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter shows that Dionysus carries out his revenge against Pentheus by driving him mad so that he will consent to being initiated into the Bacchic rites. In Bacchae, Pentheus passes through a ...
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This chapter shows that Dionysus carries out his revenge against Pentheus by driving him mad so that he will consent to being initiated into the Bacchic rites. In Bacchae, Pentheus passes through a fictive, parodic initiation, and then, as a savage animal victim by the way of the sparagmos, is murdered/sacrificed by his mother. There is no spiritual elation in these acts, which are performed through fakery, mockery, and black comedy. This chapter examines how Dionysus's revenge turns into reverse retaliation and how Dionysus initiates Pentheus by turning him into a puppet. It suggests that the folly instilled by Dionysus in Pentheus is a mythical, tragic device used by the Greek gods to exact their revenge against mortals.Less
This chapter shows that Dionysus carries out his revenge against Pentheus by driving him mad so that he will consent to being initiated into the Bacchic rites. In Bacchae, Pentheus passes through a fictive, parodic initiation, and then, as a savage animal victim by the way of the sparagmos, is murdered/sacrificed by his mother. There is no spiritual elation in these acts, which are performed through fakery, mockery, and black comedy. This chapter examines how Dionysus's revenge turns into reverse retaliation and how Dionysus initiates Pentheus by turning him into a puppet. It suggests that the folly instilled by Dionysus in Pentheus is a mythical, tragic device used by the Greek gods to exact their revenge against mortals.
Pietro Pucci
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781501700613
- eISBN:
- 9781501704055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501700613.003.0028
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines Euripides's polemical representation of the anthropomorphic divine characters and the distressing vision of the failure of the state in Bacchae. More specifically, it shows that ...
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This chapter examines Euripides's polemical representation of the anthropomorphic divine characters and the distressing vision of the failure of the state in Bacchae. More specifically, it shows that a brutal Dionysus would not have had access to the city. Like Euripides's other wretched stories of revenge, the story of Dionysus's revenge exhibits various symmetries. Pentheus and Dionysus gain satisfaction in the same way: Pentheus by insanely attacking the source of prophecies, Dionysus by inflicting on Cadmus the future sack of the seat of Apollo's oracular voice. This chapter considers Cadmus's imputation that Dionysus has behaved like a mortal and how Dionysus justifies his actions. It suggests that the anthropomorphism of Greek gods is absurd because as universal forces they need nothing personally or emotionally. It also explains how Bacchae renews the presentation of the tragic ambivalence of revenge.Less
This chapter examines Euripides's polemical representation of the anthropomorphic divine characters and the distressing vision of the failure of the state in Bacchae. More specifically, it shows that a brutal Dionysus would not have had access to the city. Like Euripides's other wretched stories of revenge, the story of Dionysus's revenge exhibits various symmetries. Pentheus and Dionysus gain satisfaction in the same way: Pentheus by insanely attacking the source of prophecies, Dionysus by inflicting on Cadmus the future sack of the seat of Apollo's oracular voice. This chapter considers Cadmus's imputation that Dionysus has behaved like a mortal and how Dionysus justifies his actions. It suggests that the anthropomorphism of Greek gods is absurd because as universal forces they need nothing personally or emotionally. It also explains how Bacchae renews the presentation of the tragic ambivalence of revenge.
Tobias Myers
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198842354
- eISBN:
- 9780191878350
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198842354.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book lays out and explores a new ‘metaperformative’ approach to scenes of divine viewing, counsel, and intervention in the Iliad. Critics have often described the gods’ activities in terms of ...
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This book lays out and explores a new ‘metaperformative’ approach to scenes of divine viewing, counsel, and intervention in the Iliad. Critics have often described the gods’ activities in terms of attendance at a ‘show’ and have suggested analogies to theatre and sports, but have done little to investigate the particular strategies by which the poet conveys the impression of gods attending a live, staged event. This book’s analysis of those strategies points to a ‘metaperformative’ significance to the motif of divine viewing: the poet is using the gods, in part, to model and thereby manipulate the ongoing dynamics of performance and live reception. The gods, like the external audience, are capable of a variety of emotional responses to events at Troy; notably pleasure, pity—and also great aloofness. By performing the speeches of the provocative, infuriating, yet ultimately obliging Zeus, the poet at key moments both challenges his listeners to take a stake in the continuation of the performance, and presents a sophisticated critique of possible responses to his poem. The result is a conception of epic not only as song that will transcend time through re-performance—as famously evinced in the Iliad’s meditations on kleos—but also as raw spectacle, in which audience ‘participation’, and complicity, magnify and complicate the emotional impact of the devastation at Troy.Less
This book lays out and explores a new ‘metaperformative’ approach to scenes of divine viewing, counsel, and intervention in the Iliad. Critics have often described the gods’ activities in terms of attendance at a ‘show’ and have suggested analogies to theatre and sports, but have done little to investigate the particular strategies by which the poet conveys the impression of gods attending a live, staged event. This book’s analysis of those strategies points to a ‘metaperformative’ significance to the motif of divine viewing: the poet is using the gods, in part, to model and thereby manipulate the ongoing dynamics of performance and live reception. The gods, like the external audience, are capable of a variety of emotional responses to events at Troy; notably pleasure, pity—and also great aloofness. By performing the speeches of the provocative, infuriating, yet ultimately obliging Zeus, the poet at key moments both challenges his listeners to take a stake in the continuation of the performance, and presents a sophisticated critique of possible responses to his poem. The result is a conception of epic not only as song that will transcend time through re-performance—as famously evinced in the Iliad’s meditations on kleos—but also as raw spectacle, in which audience ‘participation’, and complicity, magnify and complicate the emotional impact of the devastation at Troy.
Greg Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190886646
- eISBN:
- 9780190886677
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190886646.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
By way of illustration, Part Three (“Life in a Cosmic Ecology”) revisits the primary case study, showing how the proposed paradigm shift can help us to produce an entirely new, more historically ...
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By way of illustration, Part Three (“Life in a Cosmic Ecology”) revisits the primary case study, showing how the proposed paradigm shift can help us to produce an entirely new, more historically meaningful account of the Athenian politeia. The chapter introduces this alternative account by reconstructing the a priori template of social being upon which demokratia was premised. This model seems to have taken the form of a kind of cosmic ecology of gods, land, and demos (“people”) in Attica, an a priori symbiosis between the human and non-human constituents of the polis, whereby the former subsisted as a kind of human superorganism, not as an aggregate of modern-style individuals. In the chapters that follow, the principal practices and mechanisms of the Athenian politeia are then duly re-examined in this original metaphysical conjuncture, thereby demonstrating the profound differences which separate an ancient demokratia from a modern democracy.Less
By way of illustration, Part Three (“Life in a Cosmic Ecology”) revisits the primary case study, showing how the proposed paradigm shift can help us to produce an entirely new, more historically meaningful account of the Athenian politeia. The chapter introduces this alternative account by reconstructing the a priori template of social being upon which demokratia was premised. This model seems to have taken the form of a kind of cosmic ecology of gods, land, and demos (“people”) in Attica, an a priori symbiosis between the human and non-human constituents of the polis, whereby the former subsisted as a kind of human superorganism, not as an aggregate of modern-style individuals. In the chapters that follow, the principal practices and mechanisms of the Athenian politeia are then duly re-examined in this original metaphysical conjuncture, thereby demonstrating the profound differences which separate an ancient demokratia from a modern democracy.
Mary Lefkowitz
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199752058
- eISBN:
- 9780190463113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199752058.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
At the end of dramas the gods may not have solved all problems, that does not mean that Euripides sought to have his original audiences cease to honor them. On the contrary, it reminds us that the ...
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At the end of dramas the gods may not have solved all problems, that does not mean that Euripides sought to have his original audiences cease to honor them. On the contrary, it reminds us that the gods exist to please themselves, not in order to make humans happy. The codas to five dramas (even though they were probably not written by Euripides) state explicitly and without any hedging that the gods do what they choose to do and that humans only understand what has happened after the fact, by which time it is too late to prevent further suffering and loss. This outlook is shared by the other dramatists. Theatrical performance gives the audience a fleeting opportunity to look down upon human life with all its limitations from a distance, as a god might see it, without the usual mist of partial understanding that clouds mortal eyes.Less
At the end of dramas the gods may not have solved all problems, that does not mean that Euripides sought to have his original audiences cease to honor them. On the contrary, it reminds us that the gods exist to please themselves, not in order to make humans happy. The codas to five dramas (even though they were probably not written by Euripides) state explicitly and without any hedging that the gods do what they choose to do and that humans only understand what has happened after the fact, by which time it is too late to prevent further suffering and loss. This outlook is shared by the other dramatists. Theatrical performance gives the audience a fleeting opportunity to look down upon human life with all its limitations from a distance, as a god might see it, without the usual mist of partial understanding that clouds mortal eyes.
