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The unhinged things I would do to see this on stage
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The Bacchae of Euripides
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From the renowned contemporary American poet C. K. Williams comes this fluent and accessible version of the great tragedy by Euripides.
This book includes an introduction by Martha Nussbaum.
This book includes an introduction by Martha Nussbaum.
0 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,-0405
This edition
- Format
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0 pages, Paperback
- Published
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January 1, 1968 by University of Nebraska Press
- ISBN
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9780803201828
- ASIN
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0803201826
- Language
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English
Characters More characters
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Dionysus (mythology)
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. He is a god of epiphany, "the god that comes," and his "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults. ...
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Pentheus
In Greek mythology, Pentheus (Greek: Πενθεύς) was a king of Thebes. His father was Echion, the wisest of the Spartes. His mother was Agave, the daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, and the goddess Harmonia. His sister was Epeiros. He resisted agains...
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Cadmus (mythology)
Cadmus or Kadmos (Ancient Greek: Κάδμος), in Greek mythology, was a Phoenician prince, the son of king Agenor and queen Telephassa of Tyre and the brother of Phoenix, Cilix and Europa. He was originally sent by his royal parents to seek out and escort his...
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Tiresias
In Greek mythology, Tiresias (/taɪˈriːsiəs/; Greek: Τειρεσίας, Teiresias) was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo...
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Agave
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About the author
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Euripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (ca. 480 BC–406 BC) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him, but the Suda says it was ninety-two at most. Of these, eighteen or nineteen have survived more or less complete (Rhesus is suspect). There are many fragments (some substantial) of most of his other plays. More of his plays have survived intact than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles together, partly because his popularity grew as theirs declined—he became, in the Hellenistic Age, a cornerstone of ancient literary education, along with Homer, Demosthenes, and Menander.
Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, some of which are characteristic of romance. He also became "the most tragic of poets", focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown. He was "the creator of ... that cage which is the theatre of William Shakespeare's Othello, Jean Racine's Phèdre, of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg," in which "imprisoned men and women destroy each other by the intensity of their loves and hates". But he was also the literary ancestor of comic dramatists as diverse as Menander and George Bernard Shaw.
His contemporaries associated him with Socrates as a leader of a decadent intellectualism. Both were frequently lampooned by comic poets such as Aristophanes. Socrates was eventually put on trial and executed as a corrupting influence. Ancient biographies hold that Euripides chose a voluntary exile in old age, dying in Macedonia, but recent scholarship casts doubt on these sources.
Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, some of which are characteristic of romance. He also became "the most tragic of poets", focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown. He was "the creator of ... that cage which is the theatre of William Shakespeare's Othello, Jean Racine's Phèdre, of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg," in which "imprisoned men and women destroy each other by the intensity of their loves and hates". But he was also the literary ancestor of comic dramatists as diverse as Menander and George Bernard Shaw.
His contemporaries associated him with Socrates as a leader of a decadent intellectualism. Both were frequently lampooned by comic poets such as Aristophanes. Socrates was eventually put on trial and executed as a corrupting influence. Ancient biographies hold that Euripides chose a voluntary exile in old age, dying in Macedonia, but recent scholarship casts doubt on these sources.
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Dionysius stages a play. His Bacchic drama is wild, ecstatic, full of fun reversals, but also dangerous.
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bu kitabı klasik yunan tragedyası olduğunu varsayarak okumaya başlamayın çünkü bu bir inanç kitabı. üstelik klasik yunan tragedyalarında olduğu gibi sadece karşılıklı kısa diyaloglardan oluşmuyor, hikaye anlatımı da var.
Sabahattin Eyüboğlu kitabı iki farklı fransızca çevirisini karşılaştırarak çevirmekle birlikte Azra Erhat'a kontrol ettirmiş. Metni okurken üçüncü dilden okuyorsunuz gibi bir his hiç yok. O dönemin çevirmenlerindeki bu hassasiyet ve işini iyi yapma aşkına hayranım. Kitabın girişinde Mario Meunier'in Dionysos Dini başlıklı makalesini metinden önce okumakta fayda var, fakat makalenin aşırı akademik ve dipnotlarla bezeli olduğunu söylemeden geçemeyeceğim. Ben geçtiğimiz aylarda birkaç defa başlayıp karmaşık geldiği için bırakmıştım. Dionysos iki kere doğmasından başlayarak özünde ikilik barındıran ve bölgeye göre miti değişen bir tanrı. bu da okuduğunuzu anlamayı, kişileri ve tanrıları konumlandırmayı zorlaştırıyor.
Zeugma öncesi Mainadlarla tanışmam süper oldu, çingene kızını bambaşka bir gözle göreceğim şimdi.
Sabahattin Eyüboğlu kitabı iki farklı fransızca çevirisini karşılaştırarak çevirmekle birlikte Azra Erhat'a kontrol ettirmiş. Metni okurken üçüncü dilden okuyorsunuz gibi bir his hiç yok. O dönemin çevirmenlerindeki bu hassasiyet ve işini iyi yapma aşkına hayranım. Kitabın girişinde Mario Meunier'in Dionysos Dini başlıklı makalesini metinden önce okumakta fayda var, fakat makalenin aşırı akademik ve dipnotlarla bezeli olduğunu söylemeden geçemeyeceğim. Ben geçtiğimiz aylarda birkaç defa başlayıp karmaşık geldiği için bırakmıştım. Dionysos iki kere doğmasından başlayarak özünde ikilik barındıran ve bölgeye göre miti değişen bir tanrı. bu da okuduğunuzu anlamayı, kişileri ve tanrıları konumlandırmayı zorlaştırıyor.
Zeugma öncesi Mainadlarla tanışmam süper oldu, çingene kızını bambaşka bir gözle göreceğim şimdi.
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کادموس: ای دیونوسوس بر ما رحم آور اگرچه گناهکارانیم
دیونوسوس: دریغا که مرا دیر به جا آوردی نه آن زمان که می بایست
آگاوه: اما خدایان را نشاید که خشم آدمیان را با خشم پاسخ بگویند.
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باکخانت ها یا کاهنه های باکوس
دیونوسوس: دریغا که مرا دیر به جا آوردی نه آن زمان که می بایست
آگاوه: اما خدایان را نشاید که خشم آدمیان را با خشم پاسخ بگویند.
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باکخانت ها یا کاهنه های باکوس
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SECOND READING:
It's been a Bacchus kind of year. I've warmed up to him more since my first outing. Now I want to breastfeed wolf pups and frolic in the woods with my thyrsus and fawnskin.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Some backstory on this play: Dionysus (also known as Bacchus) is the son of Semele, a mortal woman, and Zeus, a god. He was already divinely conceived, so to speak, when his mother was destroyed by seeing Zeus’ true face (lighting) and she never got the chance to carry him to term. Zeus took the fetus Dionysus into his thigh and bore him himself (something I wish for every male anti-abortion advocate).
Some of Semele’s family, however, refuse to believe that she had really conceived Dionysus with Zeus. They claim that she had slept with some regular old mortal and essentially disown their divine kin. This is comparable to those who doubted Mary when she claimed to have given virgin birth. At the time the play takes place, king Pentheus, the cousin of Dionysus, is trying to drive his religious order from the land. To be fair to Pentheus, the Bacchae (female worshippers of Bacchus) do get weird sometimes, like when they tear animals apart with their bare hands, or go about stealing other people’s babies and...pots and pans (?!) I can see why a king might start to get nervous.
Dionysus is understandably angry and punishes the members of his family who talk smack about his mama and who refuse to honor him as a god. But he also punishes those family members who worship him gladly. He’s excessively cruel, even to his own followers. He does, however, have some redeeming qualities: He throws pretty interesting parties and seems to promote equality (young and old, royal and commoner – all party together). Those going into Bacchic frenzies gain access to foreknowledge. His female followers get to escape the patriarchy for a little while. And people do really like wine:
“The flowing wine, drunk to the full, provides
sleep and forgetfulness from daily pain,
nor is there any other cure for trouble.
This god is poured as offering to the gods,
so through this god comes human happiness.”
It's been a Bacchus kind of year. I've warmed up to him more since my first outing. Now I want to breastfeed wolf pups and frolic in the woods with my thyrsus and fawnskin.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Some backstory on this play: Dionysus (also known as Bacchus) is the son of Semele, a mortal woman, and Zeus, a god. He was already divinely conceived, so to speak, when his mother was destroyed by seeing Zeus’ true face (lighting) and she never got the chance to carry him to term. Zeus took the fetus Dionysus into his thigh and bore him himself (something I wish for every male anti-abortion advocate).
Some of Semele’s family, however, refuse to believe that she had really conceived Dionysus with Zeus. They claim that she had slept with some regular old mortal and essentially disown their divine kin. This is comparable to those who doubted Mary when she claimed to have given virgin birth. At the time the play takes place, king Pentheus, the cousin of Dionysus, is trying to drive his religious order from the land. To be fair to Pentheus, the Bacchae (female worshippers of Bacchus) do get weird sometimes, like when they tear animals apart with their bare hands, or go about stealing other people’s babies and...pots and pans (?!) I can see why a king might start to get nervous.
Dionysus is understandably angry and punishes the members of his family who talk smack about his mama and who refuse to honor him as a god. But he also punishes those family members who worship him gladly. He’s excessively cruel, even to his own followers. He does, however, have some redeeming qualities: He throws pretty interesting parties and seems to promote equality (young and old, royal and commoner – all party together). Those going into Bacchic frenzies gain access to foreknowledge. His female followers get to escape the patriarchy for a little while. And people do really like wine:
“The flowing wine, drunk to the full, provides
sleep and forgetfulness from daily pain,
nor is there any other cure for trouble.
This god is poured as offering to the gods,
so through this god comes human happiness.”
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DNA testinin olmaması sebebiyle Zeus evladı olduğuna inanmayanların hayatını kaydıran Dionysos, Thebai’ye musallat olur ve bu hikayede yanan Kadmos’un olaylarla tamamen ilgisiz karısı, Ares’ün kızı Harmonia olur. Son ana kadar adı bile geçmeyen kadını niye yılana dönüştürdün ki? Adaletin bu mu Bromios?
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"swoony type,
long hair, bedroom eyes,
cheeks like wine.”
long hair, bedroom eyes,
cheeks like wine.”
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Dionysus is my favourite ancient Greek god. Why? Because he is the coolest, simple as.
n “He is life's liberating force.
He is release of limbs and communion through dance.
He is laughter, and music in flutes.
He is repose from all cares -- he is sleep!"n
- The Young Bacchus by Caravaggio, 1595.
Not only is he the god of theatre (a huge passion of mine) but he is also the god of wine, festivals, ecstasy and madness. Every set of self-respecting Gods needs one like him on the team. In a way he represents excess, the excess of human emotion and passion. Every so often we all need a good binge of some sort and any god that denies our needs is a very poor god. Dionysus gets it. He understands.
And he is capable of great good and filling the needs of his subjects, but his whims can easily slip into darkness. In this play he presents himself in a clam collective manner; he does not really represent the aspects of human nature he is god of: he merely facilitates them. He gives man the opportunity to go too far; it’s up to him if he takes it and falls into complete intoxication. And this bespeaks his enthralling power. He is not controlling and does not tamper with free-will, if his subjects worship him to heavily then it is of their own accord.
The Dionysian cult Euripides creates here is one completely necessary in the society of Ancient Greece. He is the solution for the ongoing battle between freedom and restraint. He suggests that the irrational and the indulgent are both necessary for society to function and develop. Any society that denies these things will fall apart in misery. So Dionysus is an important force, but one that should be taken is small measures.
So this is a good play, and it’s completely character driven and loaded with this message (supposedly as a learning tool.) It’s real fun to read.
n “He is life's liberating force.
He is release of limbs and communion through dance.
He is laughter, and music in flutes.
He is repose from all cares -- he is sleep!"n
- The Young Bacchus by Caravaggio, 1595.
Not only is he the god of theatre (a huge passion of mine) but he is also the god of wine, festivals, ecstasy and madness. Every set of self-respecting Gods needs one like him on the team. In a way he represents excess, the excess of human emotion and passion. Every so often we all need a good binge of some sort and any god that denies our needs is a very poor god. Dionysus gets it. He understands.
And he is capable of great good and filling the needs of his subjects, but his whims can easily slip into darkness. In this play he presents himself in a clam collective manner; he does not really represent the aspects of human nature he is god of: he merely facilitates them. He gives man the opportunity to go too far; it’s up to him if he takes it and falls into complete intoxication. And this bespeaks his enthralling power. He is not controlling and does not tamper with free-will, if his subjects worship him to heavily then it is of their own accord.
The Dionysian cult Euripides creates here is one completely necessary in the society of Ancient Greece. He is the solution for the ongoing battle between freedom and restraint. He suggests that the irrational and the indulgent are both necessary for society to function and develop. Any society that denies these things will fall apart in misery. So Dionysus is an important force, but one that should be taken is small measures.
So this is a good play, and it’s completely character driven and loaded with this message (supposedly as a learning tool.) It’s real fun to read.
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