Najbolja od Euripida, zasad! :D DIONIS FOR LIFE!

Dionysius stages a play. His Bacchic drama is wild, ecstatic, full of fun reversals, but also dangerous.

Ummm okay wine dude plz chill *backs away from Greek mythology*

Dionysus is the true God of Tits and Wine and there is a lot of that in here. Also madness, death, orgies, cross dressing and suckling wildlife. Imagine reading the script to some x-rated and campy, 80's video-nasty, but you can feel smugly pretentious about it.

Story wise, this is one of vengeance, with the debauched God returning to his late mother's homeland to avenge himself on his maternal family, those who dared deny both his greatness and his mother's story that her boyfriend was an Olypmian God.

Since extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, Dionysus proves his divinity by sending a bunch of women stark raving bonkers, and most of the play concerns Dionysus (disguised as a Dionysian priest) and Pentheus (King of Thebes and the God's cousin) having an argument about the former's divinity and spread of his worship. There's also voyuerism, house destruction, 'sparagmos' (move over defenestration, I've a new favourite word for an oddly specific murder technique) and a slightly Lovecraftian breakdown of sanity when faced with the divine, ultimately ending with Pentheus paying badly for his disrespect. The whole thing is gory and silly, and Dionysus is wonderfully sarcastic and cryptic throughout.

The play seems to have only one sole moral: do not piss off the Pantheon because they are an arrogant and vengeful bunch. As messages go it's brutally simple and brutally played out, and the simplicity of it manages to be a strength, with the play feeling more stupidly fun and gruesome than tragedy.

The main idea is communal intoxication and insanity through ritualistic practice. But I don't think Euripides' language or portrayal of violent scenery conveys the sense very strongly.

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.

Dionysus, the diva you are. Love it!

Whiplash!

How else can I describe the quick transition from Pearl S. Buck’s Korea to Euripides’ Greece?

This play would be authentic and current in any era, including today. Amazing. Stunning.

Euripides lived from 480-406 BCE. In this play, the protagonist, Dionysus, is the son of a mortal mother, Semele, and a divine ruler of the world, Zeus. He appears on Earth in human form, he is killed and resurrected. Sound like any other figure in history you might have heard about?

Dionysus, young and immortal, male and feminine, smiling and savage, born in Thebes but considered a barbarian, an animal, and a G-d. That is quite a lot to pack into one character. Oh, and I almost forgot, he is very into wine.

His rival, and of course, his cousin, Pentheus, the king, is a somewhat conflicted man, unsettled in his sexuality, shall we say? It is incredible how Euripides deconstructs the outwardly mannish king in a comedic and not insulting way, so that you must laugh in the middle of a great tragedy. This head of state appears darling in his royal gown and wig, when he is only slightly prodded to cross dress. (there is no reference to a Queen).

It is his last play, published posthumously, but it is an incomparable psychological masterpiece. Who knew? It is a study, in every aspect, of opposites. Dichotomies in each character. Wow.

Unlike Medea, (I have not read Phaedra) an example of extreme feminine emotionality; in Bacchae, the protagonist is male, yet the plays’ main concern is femininity, again; in thought, desire, and mind. This is what consumes Euripides thoughts and pen.

And the chorus, always the chorus. Fascinating. Dithyrambs. Offstage in this production, carrying verses to the main platform by way of messenger. Imagine, this is twenty-five hundred years ago.

In this period, the actors are all men, wearing masks to assume different roles. The audiences, in the thousands, are all men. I apologize, ladies, but I am only a reporter.

It is almost inconceivable, to me, how this could be pulled off, and I would give a hundred bitcoins, to be in the audience and to witness this through modern eyes.

It is short piece and I do not want to give any of it away. However, Euripides is peerless.

What's next? Aristophanes? Sophocles?

Surely not the news.

Quando penso a questa tragedia penso solo a Dioniso. E’ lui “ Le Baccanti”. Sullo sfondo in cui si muovono le sue donne, le menadi, rese folli da lui, è Dioniso che tira le fila del dramma. E’ lui che rifiutato dagli uomini come essere divino scaglia la sua furia cieca contro di loro, contro la sua stessa famiglia, fino a permettere che la madre uccida il figlio Penteo.
E’ la tragedia che segue il suo corso al ritmo di tamburelli e flauti, mentre il grido del dio “ Euoè” riecheggia per tutta la montagna fra i balli dei satiri e delle baccanti volteggianti in preda al delirio.
E’ la hybris greca che acceca Penteo e lo castiga, lui che ha negato la natura divina di Dioniso. Non ci sono eroi positivi qui. Dioniso e Penteo si scagliano l’uno contro l’altro accecati dalla vendetta. Forse solo Tiresia riconosce ciò che è giusto fare: coltivare saggezza e venerare gli dei e per questo si piega ad onorare un dio in cui poco crede. Un dramma che avvicina l’uomo al sacrificio da rendere al dio, una divinità che qui è orgoglio e violenza espresse al suo massimo grado. Qui Dioniso non è il dio della vite che rimedia alle fatiche dell’uomo, lo sollazza e lo solleva dalle sue pene, qui è cattiveria e vendetta.

A dark and bloody play about the wraith of the gods and the inability of man to fully suppress his more bestial appetites. This is the sort of stuff I want to write!

Que peça intensa! Ainda que até agora Sófocles seja meu preferido, as tragédias de Eurípides são dotados de uma força dramática impossível de ignorar. As Bacantes trata de outra vingança, desta vez de um deus, Dioniso, pelos homens negarem sua natureza divina. O principal alvo é Penteu, atual rei de Tebas, que chega a mandar prendê-lo (o que, como esperado, revela-se inútil, já que Dioniso escapa com facilidade). Mais interessante que o enredo é o conflito entre a racionalidade e descrença de Penteu e o frenesi religioso das Bacantes que ele quer capturar e encerrar dentro de seu mundo de lógica e senso comum. Nesse sentido, Dioniso representa essa contradição, pois não só confunde os outros com relação à sua verdadeira identidade, como também é “o revelador do mundo da loucura que existe na realidade das coisas.” Além disso, a peça também pode ser lida como uma representação lúdica que mimetiza a própria arte, pois Dioniso confunde Penteu com a linguagem poética, que ele não compreende pois menospreza esses jogos linguísticos. Assim como a poesia e o teatro, Dioniso mimetiza o aparente e reinventa-o de outra forma, tanto que consegue se manifestar como humano sem o distanciamento com que os outros deuses fazem o mesmo. Nesse sentido, a coerência de Dioniso está nessa diversidade do próprio teatro, que em vez de excluir o contraditório, faz nascer sua tensão desse encontro e sobreposição dos opostos.

“Em suas afinidades dionisíacas, o espírito do poeta possui tanto capacidade para imaginar ordem como para representar desordem; mas a criação e a verdadeira existência do trabalho acabado validam a ordem, sobrepõem a coesão à dispersão. As forças dionisíacas aglutinadas e canalizadas para a obra de arte, diferentemente das despendidas no Citero, são sempre a vitória do deus gentil sobre o terrível, embora, como Rilke diz, a beleza seja também o princípio do terrível.”

Innombrables sont les manifestations de la volonté divine; innombrables aussi les événements qu'ils accomplissent contre notre attente. Ceux que nous attendions ne se réalisent pas ; ceux qu'on n'attendait pas, un dieu leur fraye la voie.



Les Bacchantes (Βάκχαι) sont une pièce écrite par Euripide (-480;-406), mais jouée un an après sa mort en -405, et ayant remporté le prix du concours de théâtre Athénien des fêtes de Dionysos. Elle met en scène le dieu lui-même, retournant dans la patrie de sa mère, séduite par Zeus, et venant chercher vengeance du mépris de ses tantes, qui taxaient d'affabulation l'origine divine de leur neveu, et qu'il punit en les rendant folles. Il s'oppose aussi frontalement à Penthée, son cousin, qui tente follement de s'opposer aux menées du dieu asiatique en enfermant celles et ceux qui lui rendent un culte, si bien que ce Penthée finit lui-même déchiré par sa propre mère en proie au délire, alors qu'il tentait d'espionner les mystères du culte rendu à son rival.

n  Le sol de lait ruisselle, il ruisselle de vin, du nectar des abeilles. Il ruisselle - tandis que monte comme une vapeur d'encens de Syrien

Ce qui ressort de cette pièce, c'est le caractère ambivalent de Dionysos: il offre d'un côté un abord galant, un teint frais, de longs cheveux, des traits délicats, et ses propos son plein de gaité et d'alacrité: il est le dieu du vin et du miel, des douceurs qui font oublier les soucis, délient les langues, font naître l'amour et les discours inspirés; mais d'un autre côté, ce même Dionysos offre un spectacle inquiétant: l'oubli de la raison, la folie, engendrent la violence aveugle, une force démesurée et débridée, un gout du sang, une cruauté joyeuse et sans frein qui plongent dans la stupéfaction et l'horreur ceux qui reviennent à eux-même, après s'être laissé allé à l'ivresse. Au lendemain de la fête, tous les hommes sont perdants: celui qui s'est opposé au dieu, comme celui qui s'y est soumis, tous sont soit tués, soit ravagés par le chagrin; seul triomphe le dieu.

n  O mon enfant, dans quel terrible malheur nous sommes tombés, toi, malheureuse! et tes sœurs chéries, et moi, misérable! Je m'en irai chez les Barbares, malgré ma vieillesse, en étranger. Il m'est encore prédit que je conduirai en Grèce une horde barbare.n

Cette pièce peut offrir de nombreuses prises à l'interprétation, et je propose la mienne à prendre cum grano salis. Penthée représente l'homme raisonnable qui veut enfermer la part de divin et d’irrationnel dans ses raisonnements, comme il charge le dieu de fers dans la pièce. Il ne s'agit pas de critiquer l'usage de la raison en général, mais de celle qui s'aventure sur les terres du déraisonnable. C'est une critique du rationalisme, assez semblable à celle que Platon met dans la bouche de Socrate lorsque le vieux philosophe se moque de ceux qui cherchent à rationaliser tous les mythes, et tirer du sens de ce qui n'en a pas. C'est une critique de ceux qui veulent manier la folie et l'enthousiasme, religieux ou politique, pour leurs propres fins, croyant que leurs raisonnement seront une borne suffisante à la fureur qu'ils alimentent: ils finiront mis en pièce par ce qu'ils ont cru diriger. Mon interprétation, car comme le souligne Tirésias dans la pièce: un rhéteur habile, et fort de son audace, sans raison, n'est qu'un fléau pour la cité.