Greek Theatre Quotes

Punishment of mortals by gods is extravagant and undiscriminating

Dover - punishment of mortals

The universal power of two obols!

The price for entry into the underworld is the same as entry into the theatre

I don’t understand a word you’re saying

Dionysus reveals his ignorance

What you wrote about other men’s wives rebounded on you

Dionysus mocks Euripides over rumours that his wife was unfaithful

Persuasion is insubstantial and has no mind of its own

Dionysus shows his cleverness in understanding the weighing scales

All citizens should be treated as equals

Aristophanes’ view of democracy

It is right for a holy chorus to encourage and instruct the city

The role of a comic chorus especially in the parabasis

Change your ways and go for gold again

Aristophanes’ view on the political debate may be seen through the conclusion to the parabasis

Other gods… tongue… native wit… nostrils

Euripides’ impious prayers seem to almost address himself

Slaves and women, old and young… My drama was democratic

Euripides presents his own drama as more democratic than that of Aeschylus through the people that he puts in it

Every man watching was filled with a passionate desire to fight

Aeschylus claims to inspire a sense of patriotism in his audience

Come to this land and returned

The myth of Orestes is used by Aeschylus as coded imagery of Alcibiades

Hurl you down that pit… cut that throat of his out

Plathane and Pandoceutria show their violent streak

I hate a man who’s slow to aid his country

Euripides praises democracy and involvement in ‘Frogs’

The men’s spearpoints drew no blood, but the women… wounded the men

The bacchants’ attack on the villagers

This day will bring your birth and your destruction

Tiresias’ prophecy servers as a reminder of Aristotle’s unities of time, place and action

Children have teachers to instruct them, young men have the poets

Aristophanes’ acknowledgement of the purpose of poets to teach

Blood spurts from the roots, splashing his beard

Visceral imagery of his blinding; a beard is a symbol of wisdom

Enemy of gods, laws and justice

The chorus’ criticisms of Pentheus

No longer I cower in the fear of chains

The Bacchic chorus celebrate their freedom after Pentheus’ death

Shut up! Every word you say offends me

Creon’s kinglike behaviour in ‘Antigone’, which was played 12 years previous

Healthy strife that keeps the city strong

Description of democracy in ‘Oedipus the King’

How great he will be in Greece

Sly breaking of the fourth wall in ‘Bacchae’, as Tiresias acknowledges the 17,000 strong audience at the City Dionysia

Made up the story that he was sewn up in Zeus’ thigh

Tiresias impiously trying to make sense of the prophecy

Great slaughter

What Pentheus threatens to commit of his own subjects on Mount Cithaeron

Gender ambivalence

Ruffel

Lousy shit

Euripides’ insult of Dionysus in ‘Frogs’

Slaughter with a stab through the throat

Violent choral song of the maenads

Call off this search… I want the best for you

Jocasta’s attempts to protect Oedipus harm the polis

He wasn’t three days old… poor defenceless thing

Jocasta’s description of Oedipus being abandoned on Mount Cithaeron is sympathetic

Sweep it from your mind forever

Although Jocasta’s language is suitably domestic, her dismissal of oracles is impious

Destructive mother is a hideous possibility

Griffin - destructive mother

Frailty, thy name is a woman

Shakespeare, ‘Hamlet’

Your words move me

Oedipus is moved by the chorus

The marauding thief… scheming to steal my grief and power

Oedipus accuses Creon of trying to steal his power

The worst thing is to rush into action before the consequences have been properly debated

Pericles - discussion and democracy

Blind to the corruption of your life

Tiresias foreshadows both Oedipus’ blinding and the corruption of his wife and children

I have a terrible fear the blind seer can see

Oedipus comes to the realisation that Tiresias might be telling the truth

Eyes peeled for his own profit

Tiresias is accused of working for his own gain

That fear is always with me

Oedipus does seem to genuinely fear the oracle

Many a man before you in his dreams, has shared his mother’s bed

Jocasta tries to make sense of the oracle

Terrible myths call men to the worship of the gods

Piety in Euripides’ ‘Elektra’

Apollo - he ordained my agonies

Oedipus blames Apollo for his fate

I will fight for him as if he were my father

Oedipus foreshadows the revelation that Laius is his father

Monstrous progeny

Description of Oedipus and Jocasta’s children

They’re nothing, worthless

Oedipus’ impious dismissal of oracles

Inexorable destiny guiding men to ruin

Kitto - destiny

The oracle impels Oedipus to an inquiry into his own past

Siberman - oracle

The voice of destiny in the play is the oracle of Apollo

Knox - oracles and Apollo

Will to power

Nietzsche - power

Pride breeds the tyrant

The damning description of pride by the chorus in ‘Oedipus the King’ which links to Lord Acton’s quote

The lash would teach you

Oedipus demonstrates violence towards Tiresias

A man who minds his own business in Athens; we say he has no business here at all

Pericles’ quote on democracy

Greek tragedy is concerned with family breakdown

Jones - family

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Lord Acton

As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.

Shakespeare, King Lear

The most tragic of the poets

Aristotle - Euripides

Civilised life demands period release

Dover - release

Empowerment of the little man

Dover - little man

The humour of excretion belongs to all cultures

Dover - scatological humour

Comedy is not an effective medium for political intervention

Jones - comedy and politics

Hallmark of Old Comedy

Compton - Political satire

Spilling out of excess sexuality

Dover - sexuality

Express the moral and religious lessons to be drawn

Dover - use of the chorus

An exercise in propaganda

Carey - use of drama festivals

Submission to the divine

Freud - submission

Unholiest of deeds

Medea - infanticide

Cadmus’ clever suggestion

Whilst spoken sarcastically, Pentheus’ mockery of Cadmus emphasises the importance of piety and wisdom that become themes in the plays

Stung them into a frenzy

The madness of the Bacchae compared to an insect sting

Pentheus, who now fights with gods - with me!

Pentheus’ impiety and power

I have more authority

Pentheus showing impiety towards Dionysus

Stand still, calm down and relax

Imperatives to show Dionysus’ true power over Pentheus

You will pay for your ignorance and irreverence to the god

Clear punishment for impiety in Bacchae

Destroyed us; with justice yes, but excessively

Cadmus mourning the (sometimes over the top) punishments of the gods

You must clothe your body in a linen dress

Description of drag attire in Bacchae

I am ashamed, grandfather

Pentheus not demonstrating filial piety with his disrespect towards older family members

Holy band of worshippers

Dionysus’ bacchae

Straining dance of ecstasy

Description of the chorus suggests movement and musicality of the bacchants

Claiming to be the god, Dionysus

Pentheus’ impiety in his ignorance

How ignorant you are of what you are saying!

Pentheus’ lack of knowledge actually generates pity for him

Unholy insult

Short quote for impiety in Bacchae

You are not bad looking - to women, at least

Pentheus’ add-on may be suggestive of fluid sexuality

He rages, how he rages

Dionysus’ unrestrained anger

I fear… your temper, which is excessively kinglike

The comparison to a king encourages the democratic Athenian audience to dislike Pentheus

Left their shuttles at the loom… let their hair down to their shoulders

The description of madness and reversal from how normal women should act in Bacchae is shocking to a Greek audience

You must not take up arms against the god

Tiresias’ foreboding warnings against impiety in Bacchae

I am quite ensnared by this impossible stranger

Alludes to the hunting metaphor present throughout the play and suggests a fluid sexuality of Pentheus

Scream after scream

Audial description of Pentheus’ death evokes pity

Foaming at the mouth and rolling her eyes in all directions

The madness of the Bacchae is emphasised through the comparison to a rabid dog

Pain that cannot be measured or looked upon

Pity for Cadmus as his royal house falls apart in front of his eyes

Director of the play

Easterling - Dionysus in Bacchae

The reversal of female nature… is the ultimate nightmare

Griffin - reversal

Vindictive, cruel and unjust

Dover - Dionysus’ punishment of the house of Thebes

That the women of a city should sever all their domestic ties and behave without restraint as if they were part of the natural world is profoundly shocking to a Greek world

Dover - reaction to the actions of women in Bacchae

A warning to anyone who rejects the claims of divinity

Dover - warning

The destruction of the royal family is, no matter how pitiable, no disaster for Thebes

Seaford - royal family in Bacchae

I come away with a year off my life

The reaction to baggage handling routines both mocks other comedy plays and is reminiscent of classic comedy duos (Laurel and Hardy)

Dionysus, son of Flagon

Both impiety, by mocking Dionysus’ parentage, and piety to him as the god of wine

Why didn’t I fight in that sea battle?

Catharsis for the failures of Arginusae

Little yellow number

Yellow is a colour often associated with cowardice, and it provides visual humour. Dionysus is a god of transgression