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Portrayal of women in greek mythology
Portrayal of women in greek mythology
Portrayal of women in greek mythology
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Throughout Greek and Roman mythology there are many themes, motifs, and symbols that are consistent amongst the different myths. Some of the more common ones include the abuse of mortals from the gods, the relationship between men and women, and the way in which lust operates in society. All of these are apparent in the writing style of Euripides in his text the Bacchae. This myth explores the battle between Dionysus, who has just returned dressed as a stranger, and Pentheus, who is the current ruler of the state, over the city of Thebes. As one reads this myth they will clearly identify some of the important subjects, however one detail that may not be noticed is the portrayal of Pentheus holding gender identity issues. There are many examples …show more content…
Pentheus has an over the top obsession with masculinity and sex and Euripides makes it obvious from the very beginning of this play. While these are two characteristics that one would tend to think would refute someone being transgender, however the over exaggeration of masculinity may be used as a cover up. An example of this is apparent in Pentheus’ opening lines of the play when he is describing the appearance of Dionysus. He repeatedly observes and makes note of Dionysus attractive appearance saying things like, “his long locks and golden curls all sweet-smelling” and “his eyes full of Aphrodite’s charms. Day and night he surrounds himself with young girls” (214). However immediately following these observations he attempts to try and reassert his masculinity by saying if he captures Dionysus he “will cut his head right off his body”(214). Throughout the play Pentheus consistently makes remarks that may come off as homosexual and immediately follows up with a comment in an attempt to reassert, and often over exaggerate, his masculinity. Another example of this can be seen during Pentheus’ first interaction, and in particular first sentence, with Dionysus. Pentheus states, “Well, stranger, your body is indeed quite shapely, at least for enticing the women” (222). Pentheus’ initial comments are all in awe of Dionysus …show more content…
As a ruler of the state one must be viewed as masculine and in control, however there are many examples in Euripides writing that leads one to believe deep inside he is not who he claims to be. One way in which this is evident during the play is that Pentheus is constantly negating his own viewpoints on masculinity and his outlook of women outwardly. However there are many actions he might not openly say that may lead one to believe he is confused about his gender identity. In the beginning of the play Pentheus criticizes the feminine appearance of Cadmus and Dionysus, however he finds himself dressed as a women and enjoyed it. Pentheus initially has a deep hatred for the women who abandoned their homes for the mountains to commit what he thinks are vile sex acts. Yet as the play progresses he becomes extremely curious about what the women on the mountainside are doing under Dionysus’ order and when the opportunity presents itself to spy on the women he is ecstatic. Pentheus makes it seem as if he needs to witness these women, not for the sake of the state, but for his personal voyeurism. His obsession with the women’s hidden behavior may reflect not sexual interest, but a desire to know more comprehensively a group with which he identifies himself as, but the social norms in society have restricted him from expressing. Between his
In The Bacchae, I believe that Euripides uses the relationship of male and female to explore the alluring concept of feminine empowerment in a patriarchal society and to demonstrate the cost this empowerment subsequently has on ordered civilization. In this paper, I will argue that Euripides uses the conflictual relation between the genders to criticize the role of women in Greek society while also showing the consequences of a total feminine revolt. Through developing this conflict, Euripides is demonstrating how the path to the most successful civilization is through a balance of masculine rationality and feminine emotional freedom. I will prove this by analyzing the positions of Pentheus, the Bacchants, and Dionysus throughout the play. The character Pentheus
Euripides was born in Athens, Greece, around 485 B.C, with parents Cleito and Mnesarchus. He married a woman named Melito and had three sons. Euripides was raised in an ambience of culture, he was witnessed to the rebuilding of the Athenian walls after the Persian Wars, but above all belonged to the period of the Peloponnesian War. Over his career, he has written about 90 plays, but only 19 have survived through manuscripts. Euripides has been named as the most intellectual poet of his time. He has been called the philosopher of the theater. In addition to his literary expertise, he is said to have been a great athlete and painter. Like all the major playwrights of his time, Euripides participated in the annual Athenian dramatic festivals held in honor of the god Dionysus. He first entered the festival in 455, and he
This distinction between men and women is emphasized in Euripides’ The Bacchae. It is the women, and not the men, who are allured to follow Dionysus and practice his rituals: dancing, drinking, etc. It is seen as problematic to Pentheus and something must be done: “Women are laving home / to follow Bacchus, they say, to honor him in sacred rites. / Our women run wild upon the wooded hills, dancing to honor this new God, Bacchus, whoever he is” (215-218). There is a sense of lost, a need to retrieve the women, and return them to their place. “Our women run wild” creates the comparison of what their women would do amongst men and their society, as well as a sense of possession of the women (217). Agave recognizes the freedom from her daily confinements of her home when amongst the Bacchantes: “I quit my shuttle at the loom / for a higher calling, the hunting of wild beasts / with my bare hands” (1214-1218). There is a contrast of sitting behind the machine, the loom, and creating, or in this case destroying, by her own hands. Is it this contrast what drives the women of Thebes towards Dionysus? For what better creates a feeling of accomplishment then achieving a finished product by one’s power alone? The women are consequently pushed towards Dionysus because of the freedom he offers.
Examination of Dionysus's challenges should begin with The Bacchae's most obvious perversion of custom, the question of gender. As Dionysus indicates early in the play, the enraptured band of Bacchant followers is comprised only of females: "Every woman in Thebes-but the women only- / I drove from home" (35-36). Though Cadmus further illuminates the matter by raising the question, "Are we the only men / who will dance for Bacchus?" (195-196), the text offers no definitive explanation for why Dionysus calls solely upon the women. A superficial reading might suggest that Euripides attempted to portray the stereotypical "weaker sex" as the one "more susceptible to invasive passions than men, especially eros and daemonic possession," but more is probably at stake.
Euripdies' The Bacchae is known for its celebration of women's rebellion and patriarchial overthrow, claims which hold truth if not supremely. The Thebans, along with other women, pursue the rituals and culture of Dionysus’s cult which enacts their rebellion against men and the laws of their community. However, this motion to go aginst feminine norms is short lived as they lose power. When Agave comes to her epiphany, Dionysus is the one who is triumphant over Pentheus's death, not Agave or her sisters These women must be punished for their rebellion against both men and community. This female power is weakened and the rebellion muted in order to bring back social order and also to provide the story with a close. Female rebellion actually becomes oppressed through The Bacchae due to its conseqences and leading events of the play. This alludes to the message that women who do not follow traditional roles of femininity are subject to the destruction of an established society.
This complication presents another challenge to the Athenian masculine identity and conceptualisation of gender. In Pentheus, femininity represents weakness, submission, madness; in Dionysus, femininity is power. Dionysus’ use of femininity is what destroys Pentheus, dressing him in women’s clothing (Euripides, Bacchae 915) and, even earlier, capturing his intrigue with his own feminine disguise (Euripides, Bacchae 455). Pentheus and Dionysus’ roles switch with Pentheus’ madness; Dionysus as the Stranger first appears as the subjugated, passive actor of the two, in the traditionally feminine role once he is captured, and his appearance reflects this (Euripides, Bacchae 450). Pentheus appears in the active, masculine role, having captured and restrained Dionysus, cutting his hair and interrogating him, even cutting his hair in an attempt to strip him of some of his feminine beauty (Euripides, Bacchae, 455-510). With Pentheus’ madness, however, these roles are reversed, though Dionysus still appears feminine – this enduring quality a sign of femininity as power in his case – and Pentheus appears similarly, though this symbolises his passivity. It is notable that, alongside being presented as feminine in appearance, Dionysus appears multiple times in the play in
Personal Development, one of the core values at Saint Leo University, plays an important role in students’ daily lives. From the moment you step foot on campus to the day you graduate, you automatically become a different person. As a first year student, you are entering a new life and not knowing what to expect. Once you are in college, it is the start of a new chapter. You will become more mature and all the obstacles that you will go through will make you a different person. In order to have a successful Undergraduate experience, it is crucial to have a balance between personal life and school. Your personal development will strengthen your academics and the community. The Campus Life Handbook states, “Saint Leo University stresses the development of every person’s mind, spirit, and body for a balanced life. All members of the Saint Leo University community must demonstrate their commitment to personal development to help strengthen the character of our community” (Saint Leo 1). Based on the Saint Leo core values, personal development, responsible stewardship, integrity, respect, and community exemplifies Medea’s character as a Hero devolving throughout the play.
Many different interpretations can be derived from themes in Euripides's The Bacchae, most of which assume that, in order to punish the women of Thebes for their impudence, the god Dionysus drove them mad. However, there is evidence to believe that another factor played into this confrontation. Because of the trend of male dominance in Greek society, women suffered in oppression and bore a social stigma which led to their own vulnerability in becoming Dionysus's target. In essence, the Thebian women practically fostered Dionysian insanity through their longing to rebel against social norms. Their debilitating conditions as women prompted them to search for a way to transfigure themselves with male qualities in order to abandon their social subordination.
In The Bacchae, Euripedes portrays the character of Pentheus as an ignorant, stubborn, and arrogant ruler. These character flaws accompanied with his foolish decisions set the stage for his tragic downfall. Pentheus' blatant disregard to all warnings and incidents, which prove that Dionysus is truly a god, lead him to his own death. In the end, his mistakes are unforgiving and his punishment is just.
(4) He lashes out at Pentheus to subdue his embarrassment and drives all the women mad and running to the mountainside. Who is Dionysus’ reprisal really meant for? I presume that this hate is directed towards his own mother, yet Pentheus and his family are the target. Pentheus is wise to not trust Dionysus.
Of all the things Yiannopoulos is known for, it is his burning hate for feminism and women’s rights. Yiannopoulos frequently appears on news networks to debate feminists and say that women do belong in the workplace. In a talk on a college campus, Yiannopoulos explained that “The only bit of feminism left is that which is more interested in hurting men than empowering women” (Thornberry and Nguyen, "Milo Yiannopoulos Talks on Campus, Targets Feminism, Rape Culture and Muslims"). Yiannopoulos displays his pronounced fear of women. Identically, Pentheus sees women as threatening as the go out to the mountains to perform bacchic rituals. During Pentheus’ dialogue with Tiresias and Cadmus mentions, “but I hear about disgusting things going on / here in the city—women leaving home / to go to silly Bacchic rituals.” Pentheus sees the Bacchic rituals as a rebellion against men. When the women leave for the mountain, they are doing acts that would be prohibited when men are around. Pentheus immediately tries to quell the Bacchic rituals.
Euripides shows his views on female power through Medea. As a writer of the marginalized in society, Medea is the prime example of minorities of the age. She is a single mother, with 2 illegitimate children, in a foreign place. Despite all these disadvantages, Medea is the cleverest character in the story. Medea is a warning to the consequences that follow when society underestimates the
The character of Penelope is portrayed as the archetype of the proper Homeric woman. She is faithful, passionate, and has her heart set on waiting for Odysseus’ return. Despite the constant pressures from her suitors, she puts them off by telling them that she will pick a new husband after she completes a burial shroud for Odysseus. The delaying tactics Penelope uses reveal her sly and cunning side. Although Penelope is intelligent, beautiful, and essentially has all the characteristics of the proper Homeric woman, because of her gender, she is forced to submit ...
In Greek society, the role of women was considered to be insignificant compared to the Greek men. The women had very few rights, no room to voice personal opinions, and a very bleak future with few options for a better life. According to Moses Hades, professor of Greek studies, women in ancient Greek plays are known to be the main characters and take the role of the villain, victim, or the heroine. In Euripides’ play Medea, Medea, the main character, plays all these roles. She represents the heroine by helping her husband secure the Golden Fleece prior to their marriage, and then portrays the victim by being betrayed by her husband, and finally the villain by murdering her loved ones. Therefore, Euripides follows the standard format for a Greek tragedy.
Atwood is playing with two levels of myth here: the Homeric myth of ‘faithful Penelope’ and cultural myths about women as either submissive or domestic (Howell 9). After marriage Penelope spends most of her time alone in boredom and Eurycelia, former nurse of Odysseus, often reminds her duties as wife by saying, “So you can have a nice big son for Odysseus. That’s your job” (63). Furthermore, Atwood recounts the vulnerability of alone woman in the male dominated world. To grab opportunity of being king, a number of suitors assemble at Ithaca, to marry Penelope, and she thinks, “They all were vultures when they spot the dead cow: one drops, then another, until finally every vulture for miles around is tearing up the carcass” (103). Moreover, Atwood argues about the partiality of sexual of freedom along with the vexed relationship between man and woman, as the former can do sex with any other woman such as Odysseus’s affairs with the goddess and whores, but the woman is restricted to marriage like Penelope. The foremost fatuous allegation makes on Penelope is about her faithfulness and loyalty for her husband Odysseus, and she defends herself from any sexual conduct in the chapter, “slanderous gossip”. The death of Amphinomus, the politest suitor among all, leaves the question of marital infidelity among the genders.