The Song Remains the Same

Entry #6
Work: The Bacchae by Euripides

So the moral of the story seems to be "honor the gods or else." Or, as the Messenger laments,

"To be moderate and honor godly things/is best. I think it is the wisest possession/For mortal men, if they use it well" (1150-52).

Ruler, man of ego, denying the spiritual realm, suffers great punishment. His people, having been denied their god--once the dam of repression breaks loose--are at the mercy of its most ardent passions.

This god of fear is not so unlike the Christian god. I think of Sodom and Gomorrah, of the great flood, and of other plagues and pestilence said to be punishment for the immoral nature of man. In this case, the immorality is overly worshiping one's own intellect, one's own power of reason. But it's still fear-based: honor the god or suffer the consequences.

Many other thoughts on this piece, but I think I will wait until after the class discussion. I have come to the conclusion, with very little understanding of the Greek mythology, that Bacchus and Dionysos are one and the same. Also, I am not sure, at the end of the play, where my sympathies lie. I feel repulsion at the idea that reason is all, and yet I abhor the idea of an egotistical god. Perhaps the moral, that true being is somewhere between the extremes, is the point, and that, I can live with.

Till later...