The cult of Dionysus is rooted in the celebration of the animal.
In the Bacchic experience, the emphasis is on a lack of society – a disregard
of the laws and customs of man. The ancient Greeks in their wisdom saw the human
being as an entity consisting of many aspects, including (but not restricted to) those
which we would consider the ‘cultured’ and ‘moral’. The
Greeks’ acknowledged the fact that humans are also motivated by more animal
instincts. This is evident in the Dionysian celebration of these aspects, just as
other Gods were worshiped for their representative qualities. For example, Apollo is
celebrated as being, (among other things) the patron of wisdom and self- restraint:
‘Nothing in excess’ and ‘Know yourself’. In the worship of
Bromius, this untamed side of man is embodied by the image of the wild beast. Sexual
desire, unrestricted by the moral judgements of human society, is celebrated.
Notably, it is the women in particular who are permitted to assume this
aggressively sexual role, despite the fact that in ancient Greek culture, female fidelity
was a very important recurring theme. The nature of this cult amidst the Greeks, who
took pride in their civilization, suggests the question, "Surely there were those who
disapproved?". In Euripides' Bacchae we see the struggle between Pentheus the
disbeliever and the god Dionysus, whose Maenads imitate and celebrate the animal.
What is the importance of animal imagery in the play? Throughout the work
countless references are made to hunting. What significance does this metaphor
represent?
Indeed, in the play almost every character is likened to an animal which matches
an individual role in the hunt. One important point however is the pair of role
reversals which occur: the metaphorical hunter becomes the prey in at least two separate
instances. In all cases, this change occurs to the advantage of the Bacchae and
their god. Dionysus is represented as the ‘man-beast’ or
‘deity-beast’. Known as "the bull-horned god" (§101), Dionysus
begins his interaction with Pentheus in the role of the hunted. Pentheus sends his
men to look for the mysterious stranger, and when they return successfully they report
"We captured the quarry you sent us to catch." (§435). Of course, the
plot revolves around the reversal of this particular relationship between Pentheus and the
god. Although one could argue that in fact Pentheus is being cunningly hunted by
Bromius throughout the work, these initial roles are more symbolic; they serve to portray
Pentheus as a man who commits a sacrilege and is thus doomed, since, in the words of the
chorus, "The gods ... hunt the unholy" (§887-890).
The second such role reversal occurs when the herdsmen attempt to disrupt the
activities of the Maenads on the mountainside. One should note the association of
these men with sheep and cows, which are not typically animals of prey; this foreshadows
the developments which follow. After we see the "cowherds and shepherds ...
wondering and arguing among ourselves at these fantastic things" (§714-716), they
contemplate whether they might catch the Maenads, asking "Shall we earn a little
favor with King Pentheus by hunting his mother Agave out of the revels?" (§720-721).
What follows is the predictable reversal in which clearly, the Bacchae immediately
become the hunters:
"Hounds who run with me, men are hunting us down! Follow, follow me ...
Unarmed, they swooped down upon the herds of cattle" (§731-735).
In this case it is those who practice the worship of Dionysus,
abandoning themselves to their animal tendencies, who become the hunters.
The Maenads themselves are the most obvious example of the
‘man-beast’ in the play. In fact, they are associated with several
different types of creature – both predatory and otherwise. For example, after
they attack the shepherds: "they flew like birds ... they swooped on Hysiae and on
Erythrae" (§748-752). In another example the Maenads are described as taking
the role of mothers to different types of wild animals: "new mothers who had left
their babies behind at home nestled gazelles and young wolves in their arms, suckling
them" (§699-701). In yet other situations, they are compared with cattle: "...
trampled underfoot by the murderous herd of your Maenads" (§1020-1021) and then with
animals which are more naturally associated with prey "tossing my head for joy ... as
a running fawn might frisk ... free from fear of the hunt" (§864-866). The
women are used as metaphors for all aspects of Bacchic worship. They represent all
of the untamed nature that they celebrate, fulfilling many animal roles.
Ever the disbeliever, Pentheus himself is consistently identified
with the animals as "son of Echion, born of the breed of Earth, spawned by the
dragon" (§540-542). This is significant also when we take into account that
this particular dragon was slain by Cadmus in the founding of Thebes itself; in this
context, we see that now Pentheus must also be slain, but this time to save Thebes from
the god's anger: "O Justice, stab the evil earth-born spawn of Echion!" (§995).
Ironically, it is Agave who does not recognize her own son, and unknowingly makes
reference to herself when she asks, "What bore him, Bacchae? This man was born
of no woman. Some lioness gave him birth" (§988-990). Lastly, Cadmus: He
is punished in the end by the god despite the fact that he, along with Tiresias, joins the
Bacchic revels. Note the fact that Cadmus seems to miss the point completely,
rationalizing his acceptance of the whole procedure with the words
"Even if this Dionysus is no god, as you assert, persuade
yourself that he is. The fiction is a noble one, for Semele will seem to be the mother of
a god, and this confers no small distinction on our family" (§333-337).
Cadmus never receives any comparison with animals. He is not
one of the true revelers, however he does not scoff as Pentheus does and therefore plays
no role in the hunt.
Near the end of the play, as Pentheus is about to meet his doom,
we are treated to a multitude of references to Dionysus in the role of the hunter: As he
prepares to lead the doomed king to the mountain where the Maenads dance, he says
"Women, our prey now thrashes in the net we threw" (§847) and begins his
metamorphosis from human-like creature to animal in the eyes of Pentheus. Pentheus
asks "And you – you are a bull who walks before me there. Horns have sprouted
from your head. Have you always been a beast?" (§920-921). As Dionysus makes
the transition from man (god) to beast, he also completes the transformation from prey to
hunter.
There remains the question, "how successfully can humans live
the animal life?". In the play Cadmus makes a superficial attempt to do so, and
his family is destroyed. Clearly this can be explained away by the fact that his
participation is half-hearted and insincere. On the other hand, Agave is a full
participant in the revels, but regardless suffers a horrible loss at the hands of the
vengeful Dionysus. However, Agave is guilty of the same ‘impiety’ as her
son: she is not punished as a consequence of her joining the Maenads in their rituals.
On the contrary, Dionysus compels Agave and the other women of the city to assemble
on the mountainside because she and Semele’s other sisters had initially denied his
divinity. She is punished for her prior transgressions. Thus, Euripides
effectively argues against resisting the Bacchic worship – he does not suggest that
humans cannot successfully live the animal life.
Hunting is the most prominent recurring theme throughout this
work. As Pentheus is killed the chorus of women celebrate the final hunt which has
occurred, singing "Bacchus the hunter lashed the Maenads against his prey"
(§1190), and after the Maenads return home from the mountain, twice Agave exclaims
"Happy was the hunting" (§1171,1181). Thus the whole play represents one
hunt, where the ‘hunter’ becomes ‘prey’ to the hunter god Dionysus.
The importance of the animal imagery in the Bacchae is evident in that the whole
idea of Bacchic worship is to celebrate the natural – the instinctive and untamed.
Maybe in the modern day, we too believe in the Bacchic celebration as the Greeks
did, "getting back to nature" and recognizing in man (and woman) the animal as
well as the civilized. Indeed, one might suggest that we have modem-day equivalents
in "Primal scream therapy" and therapeutic weekend retreats for shouting and
running through the forest. In any event, the Dionysian religion used these animal
symbols to represent the animal side of man, and Euripides utilizes this along with the
metaphor of the hunt to argue effectively for the worship of Bromius, and more importantly
for recognition of this aspect of our natures as human beings.
References
Euripides, "The Bacchae," Greek Tragedies, Volume
3, 2nd Edition, Ed: David Greene and Richard Lattimore. Trans: William Arrowsmith
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960), pp 195-260.