1.5 Social, Political and Religious Themes in Tragedy

Justice and Revenge

1. in trying to administer justice it is brought upon them

- tyrannical / pre-legal age

- Aristotle

> a common theme in tragedy is the problem which revenge can create - unchecked vengeance and retaliation can spiral out of control

- eg. Oedipus killing Laius, at each stage of retaliation, the violence is increased

- because neither party is willing to let go of their desire for revenge, it ends in a bloodbath

> the Greek word 'timōra' means both 'vengeance' and 'the punishment decided by the court'

- the city exacted the revenge on the individual

> Tragedy is set in a pre-legal age, where formal law courts did not exist - tragedy shows the superiority of the Athenian legal system.

- Oedipus' 'legal system' of his own judgement is shown to be dangerous in his conversation with Creon - his passions rule over the justice he ensues

2. The tragedies revolve around trying to give justice to those who do badly

- the plague / the frenzy

- Tom McAlindon

3. Divine/the punishment = unjustified

- Kastan

- Euripides is drawing connections to contemporary sophists who questioned what true justice is and whether it is something derived from humans or imposed by the gods.

> The dangers of reciprocity are what separate gods and man - the gods can respond as harshly as they like

- eg. Cadmus to Dionysus: "it is not right that the gods should resemble mortals in their passions"

> Founding principle of justice for a Greek was to help one's friends and harm one's enemies

> general sense that the 'doer suffers' - regardless of if the punishment fits the crime - predictable justice system - however the tragedies question if this is right

Critics on justice and revenge

ROSIE WYLES - (the chorus' response to hearing of Pentheus' death): "their ecstatic joy is chilling, while heightening the pathos for the circumstances of Pentheus' destruction."

The Nature of Heroes and Heroism

> Aristotle has very firm and set views of a tragic hero: not too good or bad and have a harmatia

1. Good

> Oedipus is a good example of a hero not having a set harmatia: neither his actions in ignorance / anger / intelligence - what he did wrong was in the past, and the focus of the play is not that

> However, tragic heroes are often preeminent in their capacity for certain virtues: bravery/tenacity/loyalty/perseverance

- it is because we admire these values that we sympathise with their falls

> 'hero' in Greek meant a character who was larger than life, they hold their traits to excess.

- They are proud, violent and cruel as well as strong

- Knox - inability to yield

- Barry - understandable

2. Bad

> heroes do not have a set harmatia / flaw - some can have multiple within themselves as well

- violent / against a god - dramatic irony makes it obviously wrong

- goes against the communal ritual

3. Own fault

> The hero's ruin is result of their own behaviour

- sympathise with their suffering but fear their excess

- ignorant / mistake (garvie / w.i.)

Critics on family

GOLDHILL - (Oedipus): "Oedipus is a paradox in himself - he is both a saviour and a monster. "Oedipus conquers a monster, the Sphinx, becomes leader of the city...yet this leads to a final discovery of Oedipus' untenable position in the order of the city" as he has gone against norms of society by killing his father and marrying his mother."

Fall of the family is beneficial to the whole state - Cartledge

Importance of Family Relationship

1. The punishment is on the whole family

- Hall - maternal

- Hall - the moment when private and public life meet

> tragedy is invested in the different components that make up a stable society - the primary unit of society is the oikos - so the fact that tragedy is filled with dysfunctional families is unsurprising

>eg Agave kills her son and is exiled, Cadmus is cursed to become a snake, P dead

2. perverted family

> parent-child relationships are perverse - brings danger instead of protection

> both set plays feature distorted family relationships - but without the characters knowing (D motivated by familial rejection, OED unaware of incestuous relationship)

> the punishment for the heroes is brought down on the whole family not the individual

> a child whose parents try to kill him at birth - who grows up to kill rather than kill his father and marry his mother

> depicts also killing with the family, since Pentheus is killed by his mother and aunts

3. the family unit is associated with the whole polis

> Oedipus is concerned of the prospects of his daughters - they won't be able to get married

> Pentheus' mistake destroy his own family - he is the sole heir

- ensuring the safe continuation of one's family line was a central part of male identity - he failed his forefathers

> Fall of the family is beneficial to the whole state - Cartledge

Political Ideas and Ideals

1. Their search for identity and the individual in the city - they become tyrannical = it is bad

- Barry

- Seaford

> The Playwrights used this to show the dangers of a 'tyrannos' - in Athenian democracy this would have been a troubling prospect.

> perhaps association with the kings of Persia (and Sparta)

> the kings are always arrogant and rash

- Oedipus is originally benevolent and determined to help Thebes but then becomes rashly tyrannical and has traits associated with tyranny for the Greeks ('trial'/accusation of Creon - paranoid constantly)

> Pentheus believes his authority to be above a god's

- he is paranoid / rash / angry / hubristic - tries to violently stop Tiresias and Dionysus / maenads

- Pentheus will not join in with the collective identity and Oedipus forgets about the city

2. Questions the free will and the fate of our decisions

- Knox

- Higgins - fate is powerful

- how to decide of voting - the conservative mindsets we hold

- is there a force much stronger which we cannot overcome?

>Pentheus was being manipulated unknowingly by a force far stronger than he

>Oed’s actions are set in the past as a product of fate

3. Set in a time and fantasy before law and justice - wild n not good

> Tragedy is set in a time when cities were ruled by kings

>Athens democratic spirit

- Dionysus' punishment - why we have law

- Oedipus' self punishment

- all excessive

- Kastan

Critics on men and women

MACDOWELL - (Dionysus visually): "A saffron-coloured robe and buskins (high boots) were generally women's rather than men's attire, but they were also the traditional dress of Dionysus. Dionysus is wearing them because they are his normal clothes, but because they look rather effeminate they make a ridiculous contrast with the exceedingly virile lion-skin and club."

FOITH HALL - (women): "every single transgressive woman in tragedy is temporarily or

permanently husbandless. This convention can be interpreted as a symptom of the Athenian citizen's anxiety about the crises which might afflict his household during his absence...For example, in Bacchae, the sisters of Semele have been sent maddened to the mountains; Pentheus has been out of town'; Echion, Agave's husband, is either dead or not present

MORWOOD - (Dionysus & disorder): "In driving the Theban women from the city to worship him on the mountainside, Dionysus has profoundly disrupted the city's social structure. The women have abandoned not only their looms but their children too."

Position and Role of Men and Women

1. They don't conform to their gender norms

> depicts a breakdown in these social codes, since the women of Thebes have abandoned their duties to worship.

- the ideal for a woman was to stay in doors, away from the public eye

- the marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta is one of mutual respect, thinks more of her than he does of the chorus elders/leaders

- overturns the idea that women were inferior to men

> Jocasta is concerned for her husband's wellbeing - they listen to each other with affection and Creon even comments that Oedipus shares his power with her

> however, the knowledge of the truth for the audience creates horror equally as well - the happiest marriage should never have been

- stamnos pot

2. Showcases the power and horror of women uncontrolled

- in his opening speech, Dionysus tells us that the women are sitting outside away from their houses

> the messenger describes the miracles they perform - we see the negative consequences of women abandoning their position (leaving babies behind and snatch other babies) - they should be at home caring and protecting children

> The Maenedism of Bacchae relies on the breaking down of norms that society is founded on - extra-marital sex

> could be exploring the tensions of a patriarchal society

- what happens if women are not properly controlled enough or restricted too much

> presents a more positive depiction of gender relations

- Hall - "husbandless"

- Wyles - overwhelming feminine presence

3. Presents men insecure in their masculinity

- Barry - understandable

- Morales - feminisation

- Pentheus asserts - violence

- Dodds - Dionysus uses Pentheus' desire

- Oedipus - cannot protect his family and his city - the desperation leads to his descent and hubris

Critics on the importance of the polis

EDITH HALL - (importance of polis): Athenian dependence on recognised membership of the polis was expressed in the recurrence of the themes of exile and loss of civic rights.

MORWOOD - (Dionysus & disorder): "In driving the Theban women from the city to worship him on the mountainside, Dionysus has profoundly disrupted the city's social structure. The women have abandoned not only their looms but their children too."

Aristotle argued that "man is a political animal"- they are designed to live in a polis

Importance of the Polis

1. Both try and find individualism away from the polis - and they become tyrants in the process

> In Greek thought, human ability to live in a community was one of the most important things that distinguished them from animals.

> Aristotle argued that "man is a political animal"- they are designed to live in a polis

- Seaford

- Barry - fails to recognise the importance of the polis

- Pentheus backs away from Bacchic ritual in his attempt to asset his power

- Oedipus attempts to find his identity - takes him away from the issue of the plague and turns him against religious ritual of the oracle

2. Both of them try and save the city - danger is posed to the whole polis

> Tragedy is interested in how people live together and face conflict together as individuals

- Knox - uncompromising

- Barry

- Pentheus is struggling to get the women back into his city

- The Chorus and the plague help to highlight how desperate the situation with the plague is

3. Collective ritual and theatre - question its importance

- Rehm - the chorus question why they are there

- the chorus in oedipus beg to a god and nothing happens to help

- Hall - very meditation of theatre

- Bacchants

Critics on prophecy and prophets

HIGGINS - (Athenian impiety): "The ridicule of the prophet and his prophecy reflects a change in Athens during the fifth century B.C., when the proponents of reason began to challenge the authority of spiritual power."

GARVIE - (Oedipus & Tiresias): "Tiresias is physically blind, while Oedipus, the physically sighted, knows nothing."

EDITH HALL - (performance) "one actor played Dionysus and Tiresias, another Pentheus and Agave, the third Cadmus and the two messengers; this continuity of actors, who will not have been able to disguise their voices altogether, must have affected the impact of the performances."

GARVIE - (Tiresias): "The tragedians usually treat Tiresias with great respect, and those characters who question his wisdom usually find cause to regret it."

Prophecy and Prophets

1. Prophecy highlights the cruelty of the gods and ritual - question our piety

> Apollo misleads Oedipus in his prophecies - playing with him - cruel

> Tiresias also does not answer the questions directly when he comes - even though Oedipus is desperate for help

> Bacchae seems to take a more stoic approach - is it fate and prophecy or is it just the will of the gods

> Tiresias rebukes Pentheus even though he too is desperate

- Wyles - director of his own play

Dionysus chooses the punishment

2. Tiresias is shown to be always correct and speaking the truth - but also horrible

> Sommerstein - he is always right

> Bacchae - shouldn't put logic against the gods - will bring destruction

> dramatic irony in Oedipus

> Oedipus makes himself like Tiresias at the end - the truth is too much to bear - own religion and ritual (Tiresias as a reasonable model?)

> Prophecies in both are shown to be absolute by Tiresias - he also represent the clash between political and religious forms of authority - the kings disrespect him but are proven to be wrong.

- Jocasta makes it clear that she does not believe in prophecies rather than the gods.

3. Ultimately the prophecies come true - always correct and un-refutable

> Fagles - free will

> Knox - Oedipus = c5th Athenian

> Norwood - Pentheus remains ignorant

Critics on Fate

GARVIE - (Oedipus): "It seems that both fate and Oedipus's own character are responsible for his fall”

HIGGINS - (Oedipus and fate): "Watching Oedipus' fate unfold, the audience identifies with the hero, sharing vicariously in the horror of the reversal he suffers and acknowledging the power of destiny."

HIGGINS - (catharsis): "The pity and terror aroused by Oedipus' tragic fall brings about a

catharsis, the realisation that the power of fate cannot be overcome by will - even by the will of a king."

> Pentheus is "deprived" of his free will and reason (Winnington-Ingram) seen through the costume (Wyles)

double determination

an important principle in tragic religion is double determination, the idea that an action has 2 explanations simultaneously, a divine and human one (the blinding of Oedipus is both on him and Apollo)

Fate and Free Will

Helps us to question our democratic decisions

1. Events are double determination - gods and will - question our decisions in life - relieving

> In Oedipus - do his actions make any difference since he is fated to do everything that happens.

- an important principle in tragic religion is double determination, the idea that an action has 2 explanations simultaneously, a divine and human one (the blinding of Oedipus is both on him and Apollo)

- Although Pentheus is mad he also chooses this fate because of his violence (Prologue)

- Dodds

- divine intervention does not diminish the responsibility the person holds however - they are shaped by forces greater than them but still the blame is on them.

2. Power of the gods are shown to be cruel in their administration of fate

> it seems unfair in Oedipus as he takes steps to avoid his fate but still ends up doing it - he is a victim of fate

- Fagles - human freedom is made a mockery of

- although we see his anger and rude behaviour and how his own truth searching led to his downfall (double determination)

> Pentheus is "deprived" of his free will and reason (Winnington-Ingram) seen through the costume (Wyles)

- the Maenads also have no will to stop killing Pentheus

3. The free will of the individual leads to their down fall - democracy - decisions should be made together

> In Bacchae, Pentheus' own intentional ignorance seal his fate

- Pentheus and Oedipus become violent - against the will of everyone else

> Higgins - the power of fate cannot be overcome

> Barry - understandable

Critics on the Gods

CHRIS CAREY - (Dionysus' control over Pentheus): "We have the uncanny sense that the god is simultaneously beside him and within him."

CHRIS CAREY - (Dionysus' control over Pentheus): "We have the uncanny sense that the god is simultaneously beside him and within him."

SOPHIE MILLS - (Dionysus and Pentheus): "Dionysus is a god in human form; Pentheus is a human but aspires to be like a god in human form."

GOLDHILL - "Dionysus' role as a god of subversion was essential to Tragedy"

CARTLEDGE - "All Athenian Tragedy was performed within the context of religious rituals in honour of ...that elusive but compelling god Dionysus."

GARVIE - (audience' prior knowledge of all events to take place): "The audience is, as it were, in the position of the gods themselves."

MORWOOD - (Dionysus): "The audience finds itself tugged in two different directions by a tragedy which centres on a figure who is both 'most terrifying and most gentle to mortals'."

- Pentheus rejects communal ritual in his "destructive hyper-individualism" - Seaford

The Role of the Gods

1. They provide punishment - moral warning

-The failure of heroes to honour the gods is often responsible for their downfall

>Pentheus outright disrespects the God (dismisses his divine status, claims he is promiscuous, wishes to hunt and imprison the bacchants, ignores Tire)

>Jocasta claims not to trust prophecies (only visiting temples at the end when she has lost hope, post anagnorosis) and Oedipus disrespects the gods

-the punishment of the gods can transcend from just the one person to a whole community (Thebes)

>plague, removal of women

> they represent a force that punishes regardless of intention (Oedipus is ignorant) - heightens tragic effect and also the political message

- Oedipus npre-emptive punishment

- Pentheus openly opposes the god and the whole family is punished - Nietzsche "warning to non-believers"

- Wyles "directing much of the action"

2. They are the embodiment of democratic principle

> the heroes' search for their own identity takes them away from religious practices

- Oedipus rejects prophecy in his search for his identity

- Pentheus rejects communal ritual in his "destructive hyper-individualism" - Seaford

- the gods are the communal and democratic lifestyle

3. Their presentation can question traditional religious belief

> Can sometimes question and criticise traditional views of the gods and religion

- Dionysus is shown to be openly arrogant and excessively cruel

>Cadmus' punishment also

>gods should not match mortals in their passions / agave rejects it at the end - no surprise

- Kovacs - "wayward modernist" - is this supposed to be against the gods

- The gods and prophecies lie and fail Oedipus throughout - tell him that it is multiple

- Winnington-Ingram "simple ignorance"

What do some Scholars say about Euripides' belief in the gods?

-Since Aristophanes' portrayal of him in Frogs, he is often seen as a writer who undermined traditional belief in the gods.

>Many read his plays as espousing unorthodox or even atheist ideas.

>or he could be commenting on the rise of Sophists

- Nietzsche "a warning non-believers"

- Kovacs "wayward modernist"

Sophists

A group of influential philosophers in C5th Athens, whose interests included religion, ethics, rhetoric and science

What does Plato's Republic 5.377d-391e say about the role of gods in tragedy?

Socrates finds the portrayal of the gods so troubling as to ban it from the ideal city (along with Homer etc.)

1. The search for individualism away from religious ritual destroys them

-Pentheus represents rational authority and order, seeking to control Thebes through law and logic

>views the Dionysian rituals as a threat to the social and political order, perceiving them as irrational chaos that undermines civic stability.

>His rejection of Dionysus and his attempts to suppress Bacchic worship stem from a desire to impose human authority over the divine (hubristic)

>He refuses to acknowledge the validity of the Bacchic rites, interpreting them as madness and debauchery rather than sacred religious expression.

• • “I’ll stop their obscene revels! I’ll catch them with their hands in the act and put an end to all this nonsense.”

>This statement underscores his belief that he can use force and reason to subdue what he perceives as irrational and uncontrollable.

>By rejecting religious ritual and disregarding the sacred mysteries of Dionysus, Pentheus isolates himself from the divine order and his own community.

>His refusal to participate in the Bacchic worship separates him from collective religious experience and sets him on a path of destruction.

👗 Irony of Cross-Dressing and Submission to Dionysus

>unknowingly submit to Dionysus’s will.

>Disguised as a Bacchant to spy on the women, Pentheus enters a state of humiliation and vulnerability, embodying the very chaos he sought to suppress.

OEDIPUS TYRANNUS

-Oedipus embodies rational inquiry and intellectual independence, seeking to solve the mystery of the plague in Thebes through logic and reason.

>His relentless pursuit of truth and knowledge is driven by his belief that he can control his own fate through his intellect.

• • “I will bring it all to light!”

  • Oedipus’s commitment to exposing the truth reflects his confidence in human reason and his conviction that he can uncover and change his own destiny.

-Oedipus dismisses the warnings of Tiresias, the blind prophet who speaks on behalf of the gods, and ridicules his reliance on divine insight.

• “You have no power or truth. You are blind in your ears and mind and eyes.”

  -In his attempt to escape the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus inadvertently fulfills it.

  >His pursuit of individual freedom and control over his life only serves to trap him in the divine plan he sought to avoid.

  >Irony of Free Will: Oedipus’s insistence on rational investigation and autonomy leads him to the exact fate he tried to escape, highlighting the futility of rejecting divine prophecy.

  -By attempting to sever his fate from divine will, Oedipus isolates himself from both the gods and his community.

BOTH

• Pentheus and Oedipus exhibit hubris by believing that they can assert individual will over divine power. Their disrespect for religious tradition and dismissal of prophecy or ritual ultimately leads to their tragic downfall.

🤝 2. Isolation from Religious and Social Community

• By rejecting the divine, both characters separate themselves from their communities.

  >Pentheus distances himself from the Bacchic cult, while

  >Oedipus distances himself from the prophetic tradition of Thebes.

🌀 3. The Paradox of Control and Submission

• Both Pentheus and Oedipus seek to control their fates but ultimately become victims of divine will.

  >Pentheus, in trying to suppress the Bacchants, succumbs to Dionysus’s plan

  >Oedipus, in trying to escape his prophecy, fulfills it.

💀 4. Destruction as a Consequence of Rejecting Ritual

Pentheus’s Death:

• Torn apart by his own mother, Agave, in a Bacchic frenzy—symbolizing his complete annihilation by the very forces he sought to control.

Oedipus’s Exile:

• Blinded and exiled, Oedipus becomes a living symbol of human limitation, punished for attempting to surpass divine boundaries.

Religious Rituals and Acts in Bacchae

1. The search for individualism away from religious ritual destroys them

- Seaford

2. Ritual acts fail them

> Greek religion focused on action rather than belief

- Sommerstein - Cadmus

- Stuttard - expediency

> Apollo lies / the trust and reverence that Oedipus has is turned against him - when he tries to do goof through ritual is backfires - unjust

3. Rituals' importance is questioned by Chorus although it is eventually proved to be important

- the 1st messenger speech in Bacchae shows us that religious ritual cause destruction to agricultural life and communities - two core elements of human civilisation - presented as being against normal civic life

- The Chorus in Oedipus question why they are even in the theatre (Rehm) if prophecies don't come true

- Garvie - the play offers us little guidance to how to properly worship

- the Maenads show the joy in ritual - bacchic frenzy

- the pot stamnos

- but then they feel sympathy for Agave

- garvie - paradox - god who promised joy brings nothign but suffering and pain

How does the 'Red-figure 'maenad' stamnos' by Dinos Painter show Religious Rituals and acts?

> Similar to how the maenads are in Bacchae

> it shows an artist's impression of Dionysiac worship

> the women are dancing around a statue of Dionysus, which is fastened to a pillar and decorated with ivy

> some maenads carry a thyrsus, others play a tambourine while one ladles wine from a vessel

> they have their hair down and are wearing ivy garlands

> However, the messenger in Bacchae makes it clear that they are not drunk.

Religious Rituals and Acts in Oedipus

> discusses the consequences of pollution - Oedipus is not only polluted himself but brings it upon the whole of Thebes too in the plague

> In Greece, someone polluted would require religious purification

What has Modern Scholarship said about the Role of Gender in Tragedy?

> some argue that tragedy affirms the core values shared by the Athenian audience

> others argue that the plays are fundamentally subversive to the culture

> others try to detach tragedy from its contexts altogether.

Role of Slaves

1. Loyalty to the household

- In Oedipus the (slave) messenger took the abandoned Oedipus to the Polybus out of sympathy for his childlessness

- In Bacchae the 2nd messenger says he feels sorrow for the royal house of Thebes even though he is just a slave.

2. they have a lot of knowledge - essential

- Hall

> they are frequently featured in tragedy.

> there is little reflection on the morality of slavery, but the way slave-characters are presented may give us insight into the values of the audience.

> Slaves tend to be loyal to their masters and we find no suggestion that they resent the position.

3. Shows tyranny and arrogance

> Oedipus behaves very harshly towards the shepherd very quickly - shocking

> Oedipus assumes that Jocasta is upset because he might be of slave-descent - this would be a normal thing to be sad over

Why would tragic heroes appeal to an Athenian audience?

They represent the aristocrats of their own day

- whilst Athens was fiercely democratic there was still a rich class which were the prominent figures in the assembly and generals and paid for the festivals etc.

What does Bernard Knox say about the tragic hero in response to Aristotle?

> he defines it as someone who makes a decision rooted in his personal nature (physis) and maintains it to a point of his destruction

> Knox saw the crucial feature of the hero as his inability to yield: he is faced with opposition but 'remains true to himself'

- eg. Oedipus won't give up on his quest to find the murderer of Laius, even though people try to stop him

> his inflexibility could be seen as a positive thing - badge of honour

What does Aristotle say about desire for revenge?

"To take vengeance on one's enemies is nobler than to come to terms with them; for to retaliate is just, and what is just is noble; and a real man does not himself to be beaten."

Topic Review: How political do you think the set tragedies are?

Topic Review: To what extent do you think Sophocles and Euripides uphold traditional beliefs about women, and to what extent do you think they undermine them?

the progression of Oedipus’ character

reversal of fortune from king to blind beggar

concern for Thebes, desire for the truth and pride cause him to keep searching, despite warnings

pride results in his punishment

Oedipus’ self-blinding and Jocasta’s death graphically described by the messenger