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Full 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.
Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Definitions
Part One: Summary and Context
1. The Plays, the Eleusinian and Great Dionysia Festival
2. Mysteries and Mystical Initiation in Athens
3. Initiates and Theatre Audiences in Athens
4. Mystery Rituals and Theatre Performances
5. The Polis, Mystery Cults and Civic Ideology
6. Historical Context and Episodes
Part Two: The Plays
7. The Plays and Scholarship
8. Politics in the Plays
9. Mystery Cults and the Choruses
10. Political Implications
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
Index
