Greek Time in a Bottle

Subject:

The Bacchae is my first experience with Greek theatre and to be honest, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take from this experience. Without a working knowledge of Greek culture, let alone the playwright Euripides, my brain is still processing the events of the play in an attempt to interpret them in some semblance of order.

If anything, I can say that theatre acts as a time capsule, capturing the ideas and the events of the past (when written by playwrights of that era). I’m not saying that what took place in The Bacchae is something that actually happened, nor do I believe that the ancient Greek believed it happened either; however, the play does capture the beliefs of the time.

Since the Greeks worshipped a pantheon of gods, each dealing with some object, emotion, or event, and considering some gods were considered patrons of a city, there is no doubt that a fear of angering one’s god(s) was a real influence on Greek society. The violent description of the death of Pentheus makes the reader wonder if the Greeks were used to such violence (and didn’t mind the gore) or if this graphic description was so out of the ordinary that it could be used successfully in making a point.

Speaking of points, I’m sure Euripides had one when he wrote this play – since Dionysis is the god of wine, perhaps the is a message that intoxication is a terrible vice that literally “possesses” an individual and makes them do things they normally would not do; hence the clouds lifting that Agave experiences in the final act (ie – hangover). If this is the case, then this tells us that Euripides felt that drinking was an all to common practice of the Greeks that leads to corruption and destruction of the body.

These are just thoughts, as I say – without even the slightest bit of Greek history, I’m not sure what this play is actually about, but at least I can tell you what I believe it to be.