Dionysiac Poetics and Euripides' Bacchae: Expanded EditionIn his play Bacchae, Euripides chooses as his central figure the god who crosses the boundaries among god, man, and beast, between reality and imagination, and between art and madness. In so doing, he explores what in tragedy is able to reach beyond the social, ritual, and historical context from which tragedy itself rises. Charles Segal's reading of Euripides' Bacchae builds gradually from concrete details of cult, setting, and imagery to the work's implications for the nature of myth, language, and theater. This volume presents the argument that the Dionysiac poetics of the play characterize a world view and an art form that can admit logical contradictions and hold them in suspension. |
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Actaeon action Aeschylus Agave Agave's ambiguous appears aspect associated Bacchae bacchants beast becomes birth brings Cadmus calls Chap Chorus chthonic civic civilized close contrast cult culture death describes destructive Dionysiac Dionysus divine Dodds double earlier earth effect emotional Euripides experience father female figure fire followers force gives god's gods Greek Greek tragedy hands hold human hunting identity illusion king language later leads lines madness maenads male marks meaning mortal mother mountain mysterious myth nature opposite origins pain palace paradoxes parallel passage Pentheus play polis present question reality reflects relation repressed reveals reversal rite ritual role says scene seems Segal sense sexual shows side space speech stage Stranger suffering suggests symbol takes Teiresias Theban Thebes tragedy tragic truth victim violence wild women worshipers young Zeus