Mystery Cults, Theatre and Athenian Politics: A Reading of Euripides' Bacchae and Aristophanes' Frogs

Description

This new comparative reading of Euripides' Bacchae and Aristophanes' Frogs sets the two plays squarely in their contemporary social and political context and explores their impact on the audiences of the time. Both were composed during a crucial period of Athenian political life following the oligarchic seizure of power in 411 BC and the restoration of democracy in 410 BC, and were in all likelihood produced nearly simultaneously a few months before the rise of the Thirty Tyrants and the ensuing civil war. They also demonstrate significant similarities that are particularly notable among extant Attic theatre productions, including the role of the god Dionysos as protagonist and architect of religious and political action, and the presence of Demetrian and Dionysiac mystic choruses as proponents of the appeasement of civil discord as the cure for Athens' ills. Focusing on the mystic, civic and political content of both Bacchae and Frogs, this volume offers not only a new reading of the plays, but also an interdisciplinary perspective on the special characteristics of mystery cults in Athens in their political context and the nature of theatrical audiences and their reaction to mystic themes. Its illumination of the function of each play at a pivotal moment in fifth-century Athenian politics will be of value to scholars and students of ancient Greek drama, religion and history. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Epigraph Contents Acknowledgements Map Preface Definitions Part One Summary and Context 1 The Plays, the Eleusinian and Great Dionysia Festival 1.1 The plays 1.2 The Attic cult of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis 1.3 The Great Dionysia 2 Mysteries and Mystery Initiation in Athens 2.1 Mystical initiation in a world context 2.3 Plutarch’s initiation experience 2.4 Mysteries, ethics and the afterlife in Plato 2.5 The imagery of the mysteries 2.6 Modern visions of the afterlife 3 Initiates and Theatre Audiences in Athens 3.1 Initiates in Athens 3.2 Theatre audiences in Athens 3.3 Women in theatre audiences 4 Mystery Rituals and Theatre Performances 4.1 Theatre and poetic inspiration 4.2 Music and divinity 4.3 Catharsis and theatre reception 4.4 Ecstasy and the aulos 4.5 Dance, chorus and audience 5 The Polis, Mystery Cults and Civic Ideology 5.1 Political implications of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter 5.2 Mystical/political values in Aeschylus’ Oresteia 6 Historical Context and Episodes 6.1 Stasis 6.2 Epimenides, the Initiation of the Polis and Solon 6.3 Demeter, Miltiades and Telines 6.4 The Herms’ and Eleusinian mysteries’ scandal 6.5 Aeschylus, Diagoras and Asebeia 6.6 Religion, the demos and the Arginusae trial 6.7 The overthrow of the Thirty and civic reconciliation Part Two The Plays 7 Audiences, Similarities and Scholars’ Misapprehension of Pentheus 7.1 Bacchae and its audience 7.2 Similarities between the Bacchae and Frogs 7.3 Politics and scholarship 7.4 The ‘paradox’ of Bacchae 8 Politics in the Plays 8.1 The polis and stasis 8.2 The polis and tyranny 8.3 Euripides and tyranny 8.4 Pentheus the tyrant 8.5 The adversaries of the chorus in Frogs 8.6 The polis and money 9 Mystery Cults and the Choruses 9.1 Dionysus and Demeter, mystery deities 9.2 Mystery cults’ spaces 9.3 Lights in the night, fire and torches 9.4 The choruses/ thiasoi 9.5 Religious, moral and political values 9.6 Interpreting Bacchae ’s stasima 10 Political Implications 10.1 Equality in Bacchae and Frogs 10.2 The plays’ political goal Conclusions Notes References Index